your servant

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> > >But in a sense it doesn't make much sense as the word "dasa" means a

> > >servant. So the translation would be:

> > >

> > >Your servant,

> > >Mahat-tattva servant

> >

> > That is not logical, since you are not Mahat-tattva obviously but His

> > servant, therefore das at the end.

>

> My understanding is that "dasa" indicates Krishna dasa in general.

 

The word 'dasa' forms a sasthi tat-purusa compound together with the

preceeding name of the Lord or His devotees/expansions/manifestations/etc.

In other words this word 'dasa' is not just hanging by itself there, making

some general sense of being a servant but specifically indicates whose

servant I am.

 

> Servant

> of mahat-tattva makes absolutely no sense. Another example could be given

> of Durvasamuni dasa, a name given to a devotee by Srila Prabhupada.

> Durvasa muni was a nondevote. Comments?

 

In SB, Fourth Canto it is stated that Durvasa Muni is a partial expansion of

Lord Siva.

 

As for the name 'Mahat Tattva' if we strain little bit our mental creative

ability we may also translate it as "Supreme Truth", though I agree that the

most common technical meaning of Mahat Tattva would normally be "the total

sum of material elements". It's difficult to imagine someone to be a servant

of the sum total of the material elements therefore in this particular case

we could take Mahat-tattva to mean Maha Visnu who is the source of the

material elements.

 

Your servant

Visista dasa