Srimad-Bhagavatam: Canto 10 - Chapter 1 - Verse 53

Sanskrit:

भवापवर्गो भ्रमतो यदा भवे-ज्जनस्य तर्ह्यच्युत सत्समागम: ।सत्सङ्गमो यर्हि तदैव सद्गतौपरावरेशे त्वयि जायते मति: ॥ ५३ ॥

ITRANS:

bhavāpavargo bhramato yadā bhavejjanasya tarhy acyuta sat-samāgamaḥsat-saṅgamo yarhi tadaiva sad-gatauparāvareśe tvayi jāyate matiḥ

Translation:

When the material life of a wandering soul has ceased, O Acyuta, he may attain the association of Your devotees. And when he associates with them, there awakens in him devotion unto You, who are the goal of the devotees and the Lord of all causes and their effects.

Purport:

Ācāryas Jīva Gosvāmī and Viśvanātha Cakravartī agree on the following point: Although it is stated here that when material life ceases one attains the association of devotees, in fact it is the association of the Lord’s devotees that enables one to transcend material existence. Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī explains this apparent inversion of sequence by quoting the Kāvya-prakāśa (10.153) as follows: kārya-kāraṇayoś ca paurvāparya-viparyayo vijñeyātiśayoktiḥ syāt sa. “A statement in which the logical order of a cause and its effect is reversed should be understood as atiśayokti, emphasis by extreme assertion.” Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī cites the following commentary on this statement: kāraṇasya śīghra-kārītāṁ vaktuṁ kāryasya pūrvam uktau. “To express the swift action of a cause, one may assert the result before the cause.” In this connection Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī points out that the merciful association of the Lord’s devotees makes possible our determination to become Kṛṣṇa conscious. And the ācārya agrees with Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī that this verse is an instance of atiśayokti.