तपोमयं तपोराशिं तपोमूर्तिं तपात्मकम्।
तपसा त्वां सुतप्तेन पश्यामि पुरुषोत्तमम्॥
tapomayaṁ tapo-rāśiṁ tapo-mūrtiṁ tapātmakam
tapasā tvāṁ sutaptena paśyāmi puruṣottamam
tapaḥ-mayam = You are worshipped through austerities; tapaḥ -rāśim = You grant the results of all austerities; tapaḥ -mūrtim = You are the very form of knowledge; tapa-ātmakam = and You possess knowledge; tapasā = through austerities; tvām = You; sutaptena = properly performed; paśyāmi = [Kaśyapa prayed:] I now see; puruṣa-uttamam = the Supreme Person.
[Kaśyapa prayed:] I now see You, the Supreme Person, through properly performed austerities. You are worshipped through austerities. You grant the results of all austerities. You are the very form of knowledge and You possess knowledge.
[3] tapa ālocane. (Dhātu-pāṭha)
Tapomayam indicates that He is abundantly achieved through austerities when accepted as the object of worship. In other words, He is to be worshipped through austerities. Tapo-rāśim indicates that He is the very form of all austerities in the sense that He grants the fruits of those austerities. Tapo-mūrtim indicates that He is the very form of knowledge, for tapas can mean knowledge.[3] Tapātmakam indicates that His very nature is that of knowledge, that is, He possesses knowledge. Puruṣottamam indicates that He is distinct from the jīvātmās both in their conditioned and liberated statuses.
Kaśyapa directly experiences this Supreme Person through austerities, that is, worship of the Supreme Lord, that have been properly performed as penances, that is, that have been carried out with no other purpose [other than to please Him]. This is what he has in his mind: “I now directly experience You who are the complete object of worship of all prescribed activities, who grants the fruits of every prescribed activity, who is the very form of knowledge, who possesses unlimited auspicious qualities such as knowledge and bliss that are the exact opposite of everything that is to be discarded [by the wise] and who is distinct from everyone else [as Puruṣottama, the Supreme Person]. Seeing You thus is actually my ultimate goal.”
NOTE. That the Supreme Personality of Godhead is distinct from the jīvātmās both in their conditioned and liberated statuses is clear from Bhagavad-gītā 15.16-20.