TEXT 38

premanjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena
santah sadaiva hrdayesu vilokayanti
yam syamasundaram acintya-guna-svarupam
govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami

WORD FOR WORD

prema--of love; anjana--with the salve; churita--tinged; bhakti--of devotion; vilocanena--with the eye; santah--the pure devotees; sada--always; eva--indeed; hrdayesu--in their hearts; vilokayanti--see; yam--whom; syama--dark blue; sundaram--beautiful; acintya--inconceivable; guna--with attributes; svarupam--whose nature is endowed; govindam-- Govinda; adi-purusam--the original person; tam--Him; aham--I; bhajami--worship.

TRANSLATION

I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who is Syamasundara, Krsna Himself with inconceivable innumerable attributes, whom the pure devotees see in their heart of hearts with the eye of devotion tinged with the salve of love.

PURPORT

The Syamasundara form of Krsna is His inconceivable simultaneous personal and impersonal self-contradictory form. True devotees see the form in their purified hearts under the influence of devotional trance. The form Syama is not the blue color visible in the mundane world but is the transcendental variegated color affording eternal bliss, and is not visible to the mortal eye. On a consideration of the trance of Vyasadeva as in the sloka, bhakti-yogena manasi etc., it will be clear that the form of Sri Krsna is the full Personality of Godhead and can only be visible in the heart of a true devotee, which is the only true seat in the state of trance under the influence of devotion. When Krsna manifested Himself in Vraja, both the devotees and non- devotees saw Him with this very eye; but only the devotees cherished Him, eternally present in Vraja, as the priceless jewel of their heart. Nowadays also the devotees see Him in Vraja in their hearts, saturated with devotion although they do not see Him with their eyes. The eye of devotion is nothing but the eye of the pure unalloyed spiritual self of the Jiva. The form of Krsna is visible to that eye in proportion to its purification by the practice of devotion. When the devotion of the neophyte reaches the stage of bhava-bhakti the pure eye of that devotee is tinged with the salve of love by the grace of Krsna, which enables him to see Krsna face to face. The phrase "in their hearts" means Krsna is visible in proportion as their hearts are purified by the practice of devotion. The sum and substance of this sloka is that the form of Krsna, who is Syamasundara, Natavara (Best Dancer), Muralidhara (Holder of the Flutes) and Tribhanga (Triple-bending), is not a mental concoction but is transcendental, and is visible with the eye of the soul of the devotee under trance.