Shloka 44
Kṛṣṇa’s Impending Departure; Uddhava’s Surrender; King Yadu and the Avadhūta’s Twenty-Four Gurus
Beginnings
स्वच्छ: प्रकृतित: स्निग्धो माधुर्यस्तीर्थभूर्नृणाम् । मुनि: पुनात्यपां मित्रमीक्षोपस्पर्शकीर्तनै: ॥ ४४ ॥
svacchaḥ prakṛtitaḥ snigdho mādhuryas tīrtha-bhūr nṛṇām muniḥ punāty apāṁ mitram īkṣopasparśa-kīrtanaiḥ
ഹേ രാജാവേ, സാദു ജലത്തെപ്പോലെ നിർമലനും സ്വഭാവത്തിൽ മൃദുവും മധുരവാക്യങ്ങളാൽ ഒഴുകുന്നവനുമാണ്. അവനെ കാണുക, സ്പർശിക്കുക, അല്ലെങ്കിൽ അവന്റെ കീര്ത്തനം കേൾക്കുക മാത്രം ജീവനെ ശുദ്ധീകരിക്കുന്നു; തീർത്ഥംപോലെ അവൻ എല്ലാവരെയും പാവനമാക്കുന്നു।
The words apāṁ mitram, “just like water,” can also be read as aghān mitram, which means that a saintly person purifies all living entities by accepting them as mitram, or his personal friends, and saves them from their sinful reactions ( aghāt ). The conditioned living entity falsely identifies with his gross material body and subtle mind and thus falls from the platform of spiritual knowledge. A conditioned living being is always lusty for material sense gratification, and if he does not acquire it, he becomes angry. Sometimes he is so obsessed with fear of losing his material gratification that he enters a stage approaching madness.
FAQs
This verse teaches that a genuine muni becomes a living tīrtha who purifies others through simple contact—his glance, touch, association, and even through hearing or chanting his glories.
In the Uddhava-gītā, Kṛṣṇa instructs Uddhava on spiritual life; here He highlights the nature of true saintliness and how devotion is nourished and purified through sadhu-saṅga.
Seek the company of genuinely pure and compassionate devotees, hear their teachings, and engage in kīrtana about them and the Lord—because uplifting association steadily cleanses character and consciousness.