Devanagari
बहुजन्मविपक्वेन सम्यग्योगसमाधिना ।
द्रष्टुं यतन्ते यतय: शून्यागारेषु यत्पदम् ॥ २८ ॥
Verse text
bahu-janma-vipakvena
samyag-yoga-samādhinā
draṣṭuṁ yatante yatayaḥ
śūnyāgāreṣu yat-padam
Synonyms
bahu
—
many
;
janma
—
after births
;
vipakvena
—
which is mature
;
samyak
—
perfect
;
yoga-samādhinā
—
by trance in yoga
;
draṣṭum
—
to see
;
yatante
—
they endeavor
;
yatayaḥ
—
the yogīs
;
śūnya-agāreṣu
—
in secluded places
;
yat
—
whose
;
padam
—
feet.
Translation
After many births, mature yogīs, by complete trance in yoga, endeavor in secluded places to see the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
The yogīs attempt to see your impersonal feature in solitary places by complete samādhi through yoga, but this realization is achieved only after many births.
Among the second type of persons, they achieve their goal only after many births. by samādhi through yoga, they try to attain direct contact with your impersonal form (padam).
Purport
Some important things are mentioned here about yoga. The word bahu janma-vipakvena means “after many, many births of mature yoga practice.” And another word, samyag-yoga-samādhinā, means “by complete practice of the yoga system.” Complete practice of yoga means bhakti-yoga; unless one comes to the point of bhakti-yoga, or surrender unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one’s yoga practice is not complete. This same point is corroborated in the Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā. Bahūnāṁ janmanām ante: after many, many births, the jṣānī who has matured in transcendental knowledge surrenders unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Kardama Muni repeats the same statement. After many, many years and many, many births of complete practice of yoga, one can see the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord in a secluded place. It is not that after one practices some sitting postures he immediately becomes perfect. One has to perform yoga a long time — “many, many births” — to become mature, and a yogī has to practice in a secluded place. One cannot practice yoga in a city or in a public park and declare that he has become God simply by some exchange of dollars. This is all bogus propaganda. Those who are actually yogīs practice in a secluded place, and after many, many births they become successful, provided they surrender unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is the completion of yoga.