बहुजन्मार्जितैः पुण्यैः सद्गुरुर्यदि लभ्यते । तदा तद्वक्त्रतो ज्ञात्वा जन्मसाफल्यमाप्नुयात् ॥ १६ ॥
bahujanmārjitaiḥ puṇyaiḥ sadgururyadi labhyatē | tadā tadvaktratō jñātvā janmasāphalyamāpnuyāt || 16 ||
Translation
If, by merits gathered over many births, one finds a true guru, then, learning the mantra from his mouth, one gains the fruit of one's birth,
Word by word
- bahujanmārjitaiḥ
- gathered over many births
- puṇyaiḥ
- by merits
- sadgururyadi
- if a true guru
- labhyatē
- is found
- tadā
- then
- tadvaktratō
- from his mouth
- jñātvā
- having learned
- janmasāphalyamāpnuyāt
- one gains the fruit of one's birth
Meaning
The commentary glosses "from his mouth" as "from the mouth of the true guru": the mantra is received, not read.