सिद्धिमांश्च श्रीजानकीवल्लभोति प्रतिनयममुच्चरन्नष्टयामवासी निष्ठो दयादिगुणयुक्तः। एतादृशं महात्मानं लब्ध्वा अष्टाङ्गप्रणामं कृत्वा पृच्छति—हे स्वामिन्, अस्य जीवस्य यन्नानायोनिषु वारंवारं जन्ममरणं तस्य किं बीजम्? अथानन्तरं मोह एव। (प्रश्न) मोहस्य किं रूपम्? उत्तरं—सद्वस्तु विस्मरणम्, असद्वस्तु सम्बन्धः। किं सत्यं किमसत्यञ्च कृपां कृत्वा वद प्रभो॥ स आत्माऽहं कुतः स्वामिन् कादशापि पुनः पुनः॥ उत्तरं—यदहं देहोऽस्मीति मन्यते, गृहकुटुम्बादिषु स्वकीयत्वं मन्यते, स मोहप्रभावः। सत्संग की इच्छा होने पर महात्माओं का दर्शन कहाँ होता है और उनका कैसा लक्षण है और उन महात्माओं से किस तरह के प्रश्न करना चाहिये, सो दिखलाते हैं। अत्यन्त निर्मल और एकान्त विजन स्थान को देखकर मन प्रसन्न हो जाय, उस स्थान में महात्मागण रहते हैं। ललाट पर श्रीसीतारामजी की जो मुद्रा है—धनुष, बाण इत्यादि—इसमें चिह्नित हों और ऊर्ध्वपुण्ड्रादि को धारण किये हों, कंठ में श्रीतुलसीजी की कंठी और माला हो, और हरेक क्षणों ‘श्रीजानकीवल्लभ’—इस युगलनाम का उच्चारण करते रहते हों, और मानसी अष्टयाम सेवा में परमनिष्ठ हों, दया आदि जो गुण हैं उनसे युक्त हों। ऐसे महानुभाव महात्मा को प्राप्त कर करवद्ध प्रणाम करके, अर्थात्—
Fresh English translation
Accomplished, regularly uttering ‘Śrī Jānakī-vallabha,’ abiding in the eight periods of contemplative service, steadfast, and endowed with compassion and the other virtues, such a person is a true great soul. Having found such a great soul, one makes a full prostration and asks: ‘Master, what is the seed of this living being’s repeated birth and death among many forms of life?’ The answer is: delusion. Question: What is the form of delusion? Answer: forgetting the real and forming a relationship with the unreal. ‘What is real and what is unreal? Be gracious and tell me, Lord. What is the self, who am I, and whence have I come? Master, I bow again and again.’ The answer: the influence of delusion is to think, ‘I am the body,’ and to regard house, family, and similar things as one’s very own. The text now shows where one may meet great souls when the desire for holy company has arisen, what their marks are, and how they should be questioned. Great souls dwell in an utterly pure, secluded place whose sight makes the mind serene. Their foreheads bear the emblem of Śrī Sītā-Rāma, marked by the bow, arrow, and related signs. They wear the upright Vaiṣṇava marks and a tulasī neck-thread and rosary. At every moment they continue to utter the paired name ‘Śrī Jānakī-vallabha.’ They are wholly steadfast in the mental service of the eight periods and possess compassion and the other virtues. Having reached such an exalted great soul, one bows with joined hands—that is—