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of the world, Thou dost assume Satva-made forms, which bring joy to
all good people and woe to the evil-minded."
"O Lotus-eyed, thou art the abode of Satva. Thy votaries,
by concentrating their minds on Thee and by resorting to Thy feet
which serve as boats to them, make an easy ford of this Ocean of
recurring births (Sansdra}"
"O Self manifest, the Ocean of recurring births, which is formid-
able and unfordable to others, gives way before Thy votaries, even at
the mere touch of the boat of Thy feet. So while they cross them-
selves, even without the boat, they leave that boat for others, for they
have boundless compassion for other beings." (z. e, Thy votaries lay
down the path of Bhakti. Sridhara^)
"There are others (followers of the Path of wisdom) who consi-
der themselves liberated (Mukta). But their intellect is impure as
they have no Bhakti in Thee. By ascetic efforts they rise to (near
about) the Supreme abode, but (being overpowered by obstacles)
they fall down, by their disregard of Thy feet."
"But Thy votaries, O Madhava, never slip away from Thy
path for they are bound by their attachment to Thee and Thou dost
preserve them. So fearlessly they tread over the heads of Vinayaka
hosts. (The Vinayaka are elementals who are supposed to cause
obstacles to all good works)."
"Thy body is pure Satva, for the preservation of the Uni-
verse. That body becomes the means of attaining the fruits of
(devotional?) karrna. It is by reason of that body that men are able to
worship Thee by means of Veda, Kriya Yoga, Tapas and Samadhi."
(There could be no worship, if no body had been assumed. Hence
there could be no attainment of the fruits of Karma, Stidhara. This
is not intelligible, if ordinary Karma is meant.)
"If this Satva body of Thine had not existed, direct perception
would not be possible. For through Thy manifestations in (the
world of) the Gunas, thoughts can (at last) reach Thee. The Gunas
only relate to Thee and are themselves manifested by Thee." (By
devotion to the pure Satva body, the mind partakes of its character
/. e. becomes purely Satvic. Then by the favor of Vishnu, there is
direct perception, i. e. the form is not the object of direct perception
but the means of direct perception. But these forms only serve the
purpose of devotion. The Purusha can not be known by these forms.
Hence the following Sloka, Srtdhara).
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v?