Continued from above…

Commentary:

As He spoke to Uddhava, discussing the method for reforming the distracted mind, Śrī Krishna recalled a previous incident when He instructed some sages who were headed by Sanaka Rishi. This happened a long, long time ago. Śrī Krishna fittingly recalled it. Uddhava’s mind was drawn to the memory.

श्री-भगवान् उवाच

पुत्रा हिरण्यगर्भस्य

मानसाः सनकादयः ।

पप्रच्छुः पितर सूक्ष्मां

योगस्यैकान्तिकीम् गतिम् ॥८.१६॥

śrī-bhagavān uvāca

putrā hiraṇyagarbhasya

mānasāḥ sanakādayaḥ

papracchuḥ pitaraṁ sūkṣmāṁ

yogasyaikāntikīm gatim (8.16)

śrī-bhagavān – the blessed lord; uvāca — said; putrā = putrāḥ — sons; hiraṇyagarbhasya — of Hiraṇyagarbha, the Procreator Brahmā; mānasāḥ — of the mind, of the will power; sanakādayah = sanaka – Sanaka + ādayaḥ — and others; papracchuḥ — asked; pitaram — from the father; sūkṣmām — subtle aspect of reality; yogasyaikāntikīm = yogasya — of yoga discipline + ekāntikīm — the ultimate; gatim — objective.

Translation:

The Blessed Lord said: Sanaka and others, who were produced by the will power of Hiraṇyagarbha, the Procreator Brahmā, asked their father about the subtle aspect of reality and of the ultimate objective of the yoga discipline. (8.16)

Commentary:

Sanaka Rishi and the others were mind-born sons of Brahmā. Just as a father begets a son by sexual intercourse, so Lord Brahmā begot his mind born sons by will power only. Thus Swāmī Mādhavānanda in his translation wrote that Sanaka and the others were the spiritual sons of Brahmā. This is not necessarily so but it is very likely. The mental begetting process used by Brahmā does not necessarily consign the progeny produced as spiritual off-spring, but it is likely. If so, then it means that in some creations, those spiritual sons of Brahmā disobey his order as we read in the early part of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam when Sanaka and the others, the four Kumāras, did disobey Brahmā, when he instructed that they become householders, to beget progeny by sexual indulgence.

Sanaka Rishi and the others were born yogins. They asked their father about the subtle aspect of reality. They wanted a sketch of the ultimate objective of the yoga disciplines, so that they would not have to waste time discovering something their father already knew. They wanted to accelerate yoga austerities so that they could get out of the material world quickly and set the same course for others.