Scripture declares that any human being at all is eligible for bhakti, for Vasiṣṭha, when telling the king that everyone is eligible for the Māgha bath, cited devotion to Hari as the parallel.
शास्त्र से सुना जाता है कि भक्ति में मनुष्य-मात्र का अधिकार है; क्योंकि माघ-स्नान में सबका अधिकार बताते हुए वसिष्ठ ने राजा के प्रति हरि-भक्ति को दृष्टान्त के रूप में रखा है।
The verse — line by line
L1citation
śāstrataḥ śrūyate bhaktau nṛ-mātrasyādhikāritā |
śāstrataḥfrom scripture (this is where the point is grounded) ablative of sourceशास्त्र से (शास्त्र के आधार पर)
śrūyateit is heard, i.e. scripture states passive, 3sgसुना जाता है
bhaktauwith respect to bhakti (devotion) locative of sphereभक्ति के विषय में
nṛ-mātrasyaof anyone who is merely human — of every human without qualification genitive; -mātra 'nothing more than'मात्र मनुष्य होने से ही, प्रत्येक मनुष्य का
adhikāritāthe state of being eligible, the right to take it upअधिकार (पात्रता)
śāstrataḥ — from scripture; śrūyate — it is heard; bhaktau — regarding bhakti; nṛ-mātrasya — of any human being at all; adhikāritā — that there is eligibility.
śāstrataḥ — शास्त्र से; śrūyate — सुना जाता है; bhaktau — भक्ति के विषय में; nṛ-mātrasya — मात्र मनुष्य होने से ही प्रत्येक मनुष्य का; adhikāritā — अधिकार (पात्रता)।
Scripture tells us this: when it comes to bhakti, the mere fact of being human is enough to qualify. You do not need to be of any particular birth. Simply being a person makes you eligible for devotion.
शास्त्र से यह सुना जाता है कि भक्ति में मात्र मनुष्य होने से ही, अर्थात् हर किसी को, अधिकार है।
adhikāra: in Mīmāṁsā/dharma-śāstra this is the technical 'entitlement' to perform a rite — often restricted by varṇa, gender, or age. Here Rūpa uses it in that same sense but claims the entitlement for bhakti is universal: birth-restrictions that gate Vedic rites do not gate devotion.
अधिकार शब्द मीमांसा और धर्मशास्त्र का पारिभाषिक पद है — किसी कर्म के अनुष्ठान की 'पात्रता', जो प्रायः वर्ण, लिंग या आयु से सीमित रहती है। रूप गोस्वामी उसी अर्थ में इसे लेते हैं, परन्तु कहते हैं कि भक्ति का यह अधिकार सर्वव्यापी है — जो जन्मगत बन्धन वैदिक कर्मों को रोकते हैं, वे भक्ति को नहीं रोकते।
L2citation
sarvādhikāritāṁ māgha-snānasya bruvatā yataḥ |
sarva-adhikāritāmthe eligibility of everyone — that all people, without exception, may do it accusative, object of bruvatāसबके अधिकार को (सर्व-अधिकार को)
māgha-snānasyaof the bath taken in the month of Māgha (a sacred bathing observance) genitive: whose eligibilityमाघ-स्नान के (जिसका अधिकार)
bruvatāby one who was declaring — i.e. while stating (that eligibility) instrumental of the present participle; agrees with vaśiṣṭhena in L3कहनेवाले (वशिष्ठ) के द्वारा
yataḥbecause — this gives the reason for the claim just made in L1 connective 'since'क्योंकि, जिस कारण से
yataḥ — because; māgha-snānasya — of the Māgha-month bath; sarva-adhikāritām — the eligibility of everyone; bruvatā — by [Vasiṣṭha] declaring it — [continues into L3].
sarva-adhikāritām — सबके अधिकार को; māgha-snānasya — माघ-स्नान के; bruvatā — कहनेवाले (वशिष्ठ) के द्वारा; yataḥ — क्योंकि (जिस कारण से)।
Here is the reason. Someone once declared that the Māgha-month bath is open to everyone, no exceptions. That declaration is where the proof begins — the sentence finishes in the next line, naming who said it and how.
क्योंकि माघ-स्नान के सर्व-अधिकार को कहनेवाले (वशिष्ठ) के द्वारा — (यह बात दृष्टान्त रूप में दिखाई गई)।
māgha-snāna: the observance of bathing (ideally in a holy river) through the lunar month of Māgha, praised at length in the Padma Purāṇa's Māgha-māhātmya as purifying and open to all. Rūpa leans on that 'open to all' status to make his point about bhakti.
माघ-स्नान — माघ मास भर (उत्तम तो पवित्र नदी में) स्नान का व्रत, जिसकी पद्म पुराण के माघ-माहात्म्य में पवित्र करनेवाले और सबके लिए खुले व्रत के रूप में विस्तार से प्रशंसा है। रूप गोस्वामी उसी 'सबके लिए खुला' होने पर आश्रित होकर भक्ति के विषय में अपना पक्ष सिद्ध करते हैं।
L3citation
dṛṣtāntitā vaśiṣṭhena hari-bhaktir nṛpaṁ prati ||
dṛṣṭāntitāwas held up as the illustrative example — was used as the accepted parallel case past participle, feminine (agrees with hari-bhaktiḥ)दृष्टान्त रूप में दिखाई गई
vaśiṣṭhenaby the sage Vasiṣṭha — he is the one doing the declaring in L2 instrumental of agentवशिष्ठ के द्वारा
hari-bhaktiḥdevotion to Hari — this is what he used as the example nominative subjectहरि-भक्ति (कर्ता)
nṛpaṁ pratitoward the king, i.e. addressing King Dilīpaराजा के प्रति (राजा को लक्ष्य करके)
vaśiṣṭhena — by Vasiṣṭha; nṛpaṁ prati — [speaking] to the king; hari-bhaktiḥ — devotion to Hari; dṛṣṭāntitā — was offered as the illustrative parallel.
dṛṣṭāntitā — दृष्टान्त रूप में दिखाई गई; vaśiṣṭhena — वशिष्ठ के द्वारा; hari-bhaktiḥ — हरि-भक्ति; nṛpaṁ prati — राजा के प्रति।
Speaking to the king, the sage Vasiṣṭha held up devotion to Hari as his illustration. This is a dṛṣṭānta — an argument by example. What Vasiṣṭha wanted to prove was that the Māgha bath is open to everyone; the accepted parallel he reached for was devotion to Hari, since everyone is already agreed to be eligible for that. So the analogy works like this: 'just as all people may take up devotion to Hari, so all may take the Māgha bath.' The whole force of the comparison depends on bhakti's openness to all being already settled — which is exactly the point Rūpa is proving. Where it stops: Vasiṣṭha is not equating bathing with devotion, only borrowing the one settled case (universal eligibility for bhakti) to establish the other (universal eligibility for the bath).
वशिष्ठ के द्वारा राजा के प्रति हरि-भक्ति दृष्टान्त रूप में दिखाई गई।
The reference is the well-known episode where Vasiṣṭha instructs King Dilīpa on the Māgha observance (Padma Purāṇa, Māgha-māhātmya). Rūpa's move is subtle: he cites a passage that was about the bath in order to extract, as a premise, its taken-for-granted claim that hari-bhakti is for everyone.
यह प्रसंग वही प्रसिद्ध कथा है जहाँ वशिष्ठ राजा दिलीप को माघ-व्रत का उपदेश देते हैं (पद्म पुराण, माघ-माहात्म्य)। रूप गोस्वामी की चाल सूक्ष्म है — वे स्नान-विषयक वचन को उद्धृत करके उसमें निहित इस स्वीकृत बात को प्रमाण रूप में निकाल लेते हैं कि हरि-भक्ति सबके लिए है।