karṇa-dhāra ivāpāre bhagavān pāra-darśakaḥ athābabhāṣe bhagavān nārado muni-sattamaḥ
Synonyms
karṇadhāraḥ—captain of the ship; iva—like; apāre—in the extensive ocean; bhagavān—representative of the Lord; pāradarśakaḥ—one who can give direction to the other end; atha—thus; ababhāṣe—began to say; bhagavān—the godly personality; nāradaḥ—the great sage of the Name; muni-sattamaḥ—the greatest amongst the devotee philosophers.
Translation
You are like the captain of the ship in the great ocean and you can give us the direction of the other end. On this the Godly personality Devarshi Narada the greatest amongst the philosopher devotees, began to say.
Purport
There are different types of philosophers and the greatest of all of them are those who have seen the Personality of Godhead and have surrendered themselves in the transcendental loving service of the Lord. Among all such pure devotees of the Lord Devarshi Narada is the chief and therefore He has been described herein as the greatest of all philosopher devotees. Unless one is sufficiently learned philosopher by hearing the Vedanta Philosophy from a bonafide spiritual master, one cannot be a learned philosopher devotee. One must be very much faithful, learned and possessing a calebre of renunciation otherwise one cannot be a pure devotee. Such pure devotee of the Lord can only give us direction towards the other end of nescience. Devarshi Narada used to visit the palace of Maharaj Yudhisthira because the Pandavas were all pure devotees of the Lord and the Devarshi was always ready to give them good counsel whenever needed.