Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.14.3

jñāne prayāsam udapāsya namanta eva

jīvanti san-mukharitāḿ bhavadīya-vārtām

sthāne sthitāḥ śruti-gatāḿ tanu-vāń-manobhir

ye prāyaśo 'jita jito 'py asi tais tri-lokyām

SYNONYMS

jñāne — for knowledge; prayāsam — the endeavor; udapāsya — giving up completely; namantaḥ — offering obeisances; eva — simply; jīvanti — live; sat-mukharitām — chanted by the pure devotees; bhavadīya-vārtām — topics related to You; sthāne — in their material position; sthitāḥ — remaining; śruti-gatām — received by hearing; tanu — with their body; vāk — words; manobhiḥ — and mind; ye — who; prāyaśaḥ — for the most part; ajita — O unconquerable one; jitaḥ — conquered; api — nevertheless; asi — You become; taiḥ — by them; tri-lokyām — within the three worlds.

TRANSLATION

Those who, even while remaining situated in their established social positions, throw away the process of speculative knowledge and with their body, words and mind offer all respects to descriptions of Your personality and activities, dedicating their lives to these narrations, which are vibrated by You personally and by Your pure devotees, certainly conquer Your Lordship, although You are otherwise unconquerable by anyone within the three worlds.

PURPORT

Here the word udapāsya clearly indicates that one should not even slightly endeavor to understand the Absolute Truth by the process of mental speculation, for it invariably carries one to an imperfect, impersonal understanding of God. The word jīvanti indicates that a devotee who always hears about Lord Kṛṣṇa will go back home, back to Godhead, even if he can do nothing except maintain his existence and hear topics concerning the Lord.

Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī has explained the words tanu-vāń-manobhiḥ ("by the body, words and mind") in three ways. In reference to devotees, through their body, words and mind they are able to conquer Lord Kṛṣṇa. Thus becoming perfect in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, they can touch His lotus feet with their hands, call Him to come with their words, and attain His direct audience within their mind simply by thinking about Him.

In the case of nondevotees, the words tanu-vāń-manobhiḥ refer to the word ajita, "unconquered," and indicate that those not engaged in the loving service of Lord Kṛṣṇa cannot conquer the Absolute Truth by their bodily strength, verbal expertise or mental power. Despite all their endeavors, the ultimate truth remains beyond their reach.

In reference to the word jitaḥ, "conquered," the words tanu-vāń-manobhiḥ indicate that the pure devotees of Lord Kṛṣṇa conquer His body, words and mind. Lord Kṛṣṇa's body is conquered because He always remains by the side of His pure devotees; Lord Kṛṣṇa's words are conquered because He always chants the glories of His devotees; and Lord Kṛṣṇa's mind is conquered because He always thinks about His loving devotees.

Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura has explained the words tanu-vāń-manobhiḥ in regard to the word namantaḥ, "offering obeisances." He explains that the devotees can take full advantage of the transcendental topics of the Lord by offering all respects to those topics with their body, words and mind. One should engage his body by touching the ground with his hands and head while offering obeisances to the topics of the Lord; one should engage his words by praising transcendental literatures such as Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, as well as the devotees who are preaching such literatures; and one should engage his mind by feeling great reverence and pleasure while hearing the transcendental topics of the Lord. In this way, a sincere devotee who has acquired even a small amount of transcendental knowledge about Lord Kṛṣṇa can conquer Him and thus go back home, back to Godhead, for eternal life at the Lord's side.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness
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