Verse 15: Who is an Uttama Adhikari? Sarva-Bhutesu

 

Śʟᴏᴋᴀ Fɪғᴛᴇᴇɴ: Wʜᴏ ɪs ᴀɴ ᴜᴛᴛᴀᴍᴀ-ᴀᴅʜɪᴋᴀ̄ʀɪ̄?

sarva-bhūteṣu yaḥ paśyed

bhagavad-bhāvam ātmanaḥ

bhūtāni bhagavaty ātmany

eṣa bhāgavatottamaḥ

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.2.45) 

① sarva-bhūteṣu – within all beings; yaḥ – who; paśyet – perceives; ② bhagavad-bhāvam – the existence of Bhagavān; ātmanaḥ – within himself; ③ bhūtāni – and all beings; bhagavati ātmani – within Bhagavān; ④ eṣaḥ – that person; bhāgavata-uttamaḥ – is the uttama-bhāgavata.

OR

① sarva-bhūteṣu – within all beings; yaḥ – who; paśyet – can perceive; ② bhagavad-bhāvam – ecstatic mood, or bhāva, towards Bhagavān; ātmanaḥ – his own; ③ bhūtāni – and all beings; bhagavati ātmani – within Bhagavān; ④ eṣaḥ – that person; bhāgavata-uttamaḥ – is the uttama-bhāgavata. 

One who perceives the existence of Bhagavān within all beings, including his own, and the existence of all beings within Bhagavān is an uttama-bhāgavata

OR 

One who perceives [just like the gopīs] his own bhagavad- bhāva, ecstatic mood of attraction towards Śrī Kṛṣṇacandra, in the hearts of all jīvas and sees all beings within Śrī Kṛṣṇacandra is an uttama-bhāgavata.

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Quoted by Sri Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu when speaking with Raya Ramananda, CC.M.8.275, and when speaking with Sanatan Goswami, CC.M.22.72, and when speaking with Prakāśānanda Sarasvati in CC.M.25.129.

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Quoted in Jaiva Dharma Chapter 8:

    “An uttama Vaiṣṇava perceives that all living beings love Bhagavān with the same particular feeling of transcendental love that he himself cherishes towards his iṣṭadeva. He also perceives that Bhagavān feels a reciprocal attitude of love towards all living beings. An uttama Vaiṣṇava has no disposition other than this.” 

Also cited by Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur in the famous Article on Vaishnav-Ninda. 

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Cited by Srila AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupad in purport to CC.M.8.44

The Lord replied to Rāmānanda Rāya, “Sir, you are the best of the topmost devotees; therefore simply the sight of you has melted everyone’s heart.
 

Purport

Unless one is a first-class devotee, he cannot be a preacher. A preacher is generally a topmost devotee, but in order to meet the general populace, he has to come to distinguish between devotees and nondevotees. Otherwise, an advanced devotee makes no such distinctions. Indeed, he always sees that everyone is engaged in the service of the Lord. When one engages in preaching work, he must distinguish between people and understand that some people are not engaged in the devotional service of the Lord. The preacher then has to take compassion upon such innocent people who do not know how to worship the Lord. In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.2.45), the symptoms of a topmost devotee are described as follows:
sarva-bhūteṣu yaḥ paśyed bhagavad-bhāvam ātmanaḥ
bhūtāni bhagavaty ātmany eṣa bhāgavatottamaḥ

“The advanced devotee sees that all living entities are part and parcel of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Everyone is in Kṛṣṇa, and Kṛṣṇa is also within everyone. Such a vision is possible only for a person who is very advanced in devotional service.”

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Cited by Srila AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupad in purport to  CC.M.16.74 

Symptoms of a first-class devotee are given in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.2.45):

sarva-bhūteṣu yaḥ paśyed bhagavad-bhāvam ātmanaḥ
bhūtāni bhagavaty ātmany eṣa bhāgavatottamaḥ

“The most advanced devotee sees within everything the soul of all souls, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Consequently, he sees everything in relation to the Supreme Lord and understands that everything that exists is eternally situated within the Lord.”

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