The Prayers Offered to the Lord by the Residents of Jambudvipa
Summary
5.18
In this chapter Sukadeva Gosvami describes the different varsas of Jambudvipa and the incarnation of the Supreme Lord worshiped in each.
The predominating ruler of Bhadrasva-varsa is Bhadrasrava.
He and his many servants always worship the incarnation known as Lord Hayagriva.
At the end of each kalpa, when the demon Ajnana steals the Vedic knowledge, Lord Hayagriva appears and preserves it.
Then He delivers it to Lord Brahma.
In the land known as Hari-varsa, the exalted devotee Prahlada Maharaja worships Lord Nrsimhadeva (The appearance of Lord Nrsimhadeva is described in the Seventh Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam.) Following in the footsteps of Prahlada Maharaja, the inhabitants of Hari-varsa always worship Lord Nrsimhadeva to receive from Him the benediction of being engaged in His loving service.
In the tract of land known as Ketumala-varsa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead (Lord Hrsikesa) appears in the form of Cupid.
The goddess of fortune and the demigods living there engage in His service day and night.
Manifesting Himself in sixteen parts, Lord Hrsikesa is the source of all encouragement, strength and influence.
The conditioned living entity has the defect of being always fearful, but simply by the mercy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he can rid himself of this defect of material life.
Therefore the Lord alone can be addressed as master.
In the tract of land known as Ramyaka-varsa, Manu and all the inhabitants worship Matsyadeva to this very day.
Matsyadeva, whose form is pure goodness, is the ruler and maintainer of the whole universe, and as such He is the director of all the demigods, headed by King Indra.
In Hiranmaya-varsa Lord Visnu has assumed the form of a tortoise (Kurma murti) and is worshiped there by Aryama, along with all the other residents.
Similarly, in the tract of land known as Uttarakuru-varsa, Lord Sri Hari has assumed the form of a boar, and in that form He accepts service from all the inhabitants living there.
All the information in this chapter can be fully realized by one who associates with devotees of the Lord.
Therefore in the sastras it is recommended that one associate with devotees.
This is better than residing on the banks of the Ganges.
In the hearts of pure devotees reside all good sentiments as well as all the superior qualities of the demigods.
In the hearts of nondevotees, however, there cannot be any good qualities, for such people are simply enchanted by the external, illusory energy of the Lord.
Following in the footsteps of devotees, one should know that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the only worshipable Deity.
Everyone should accept this proposal and worship the Lord.
As stated in Bhagavad-gita (15.15), vedais ca sarvair aham eva vedyah: the purpose of studying all Vedic literature is to worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna.
If after studying all the Vedic literature, one does not awaken his dormant love for the Supreme Lord, it is to be understood that he has labored for nothing.
He has simply wasted his time.
Lacking attachment for the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he remains attached to family life in this material world.
Thus the lesson of this chapter is that one should get out of family life and completely take shelter of the lotus feet of the Lord.
5.18.1
sri-suka uvaca
tatha ca bhadrasrava nama dharma-sutas tat-kula-patayah purusa bhadrasva-varse saksad bhagavato vasudevasya priyam tanum dharmamayim hayasirsabhidhanam paramena samadhina sannidhapyedam abhigrnanta upadhavanti.
SYNONYMS
sri-sukah uvaca—Sukadeva Gosvami said; tatha ca—similarly (just as Lord Siva worships Sankarsana in Ilavrta-varsa); bhadra-srava—Bhadrasrava; nama—known as; dharma-sutah—the son of Dharmaraja; tat—of him; kula-patayah—the chiefs of the dynasty; purusah—all the residents; bhadrasva-varse—in the land known as Bhadrasva-varsa; saksat—directly; bhagavatah—of the Supreme Personality of Godhead; vasudevasya—of Lord Vasudeva; priyam tanum—very dear form; dharma-mayim—the director of all religious principles; hayasirsa-abhidhanam—the Lord’s incarnation named Hayasirsa (also called Hayagriva); paramena samadhina—with the highest form of trance; sannidhapya—coming near; idam—this; abhigrnantah—chanting; upadhavanti—they worship.
TRANSLATION
Sri Sukadeva Gosvami said: Bhadrasrava, the son of Dharmaraja, rules the tract of land known as Bhadrasva-varsa.
Just as Lord Siva worships Sankarsana in Ilavrta-varsa, Bhadrasrava, accompanied by his intimate servants and all the residents of the land, worships the plenary expansion of Vasudeva known as Hayasirsa.
Lord Hayasirsa is very dear to the devotees, and He is the director of all religious principles.
Fixed in the topmost trance, Bhadrasrava and his associates offer their respectful obeisances to the Lord and chant the following prayers with careful pronunciation.
5.18.2
bhadrasravasa ucuh
om namo bhagavate dharmayatma-visodhanaya nama iti.
SYNONYMS
bhadrasravasah ucuh—the ruler Bhadrasrava and his intimate associates said; om—O Lord; namah—respectful obeisances; bhagavate—unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead; dharmaya—the source of all religious principles; atma-visodhanaya—who purifies us of material contamination; namah—our obeisances; iti—thus.
TRANSLATION
The ruler Bhadrasrava and his intimate associates utter the following prayer: We offer our respectful obeisances unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the reservoir of all religious principles, who cleanses the heart of the conditioned soul in this material world.
Again and again we offer our respectful obeisances unto Him.
PURPORT
Foolish materialistic persons do not know how they are being controlled and punished at every step by the laws of nature.
They think they are very happy in the conditioned state of material life, not knowing the purpose of repeated birth, death, old age and disease.
Therefore in Bhagavad-gita (7.15) Lord Krsna describes such materialistic persons as mudhas (rascals): na mam duskrtino mudhah prapadyante naradhamah.
These mudhas do not know that if they want to purify themselves, they must worship Lord Vasudeva (Krsna) by performing penances and austerities.
This purification is the aim of human life.
This life is not meant for blind indulgence in sense gratification.
In the human form, the living being must engage himself in Krsna consciousness to purify his existence: tapo divyam putraka yena sattvam suddhyet.
This is the instruction of King Rsabhadeva to His sons.
In the human form of life, one must undergo all kinds of austerities to purify his existence.
Yasmad brahma-saukhyam tv anantam.
We are all seeking happiness, but because of our ignorance and foolishness, we cannot know what unobstructed happiness really is.
Unobstructed happiness is called brahma-saukhya, spiritual happiness.
Although we may get some so-called happiness in this material world, that happiness is temporary.
The foolish materialists cannot understand this.
Therefore Prahlada Maharaja points out, maya-sukhaya bharam udvahato vimudhan: (SB 7.9.43) merely for temporary materialistic happiness, these rascals are making huge arrangements, and thus they are baffled life after life.
5.18.3
aho vicitram bhagavad-vicestitam
ghnantam jano ’yam hi misan na pasyati
dhyayann asad yarhi vikarma sevitum
nirhrtya putram pitaram jijivisati
SYNONYMS
aho—alas; vicitram—wonderful; bhagavat-vicestitam—the pastimes of the Lord; ghnantam—death; janah—a person; ayam—this; hi—certainly; misan—although seeing; na pasyati—does not see; dhyayan—thinking about; asat—material happiness; yarhi—because; vikarma—forbidden activities; sevitum—to enjoy; nirhrtya—burning; putram—sons; pitaram—the father; jijivisati—desires a long life.
TRANSLATION
Alas! How wonderful it is that the foolish materialist does not heed the great danger of impending death! He knows that death will surely come, yet he is nevertheless callous and neglectful.
If his father dies, he wants to enjoy his father’s property, and if his son dies, he wants to enjoy his son’s possessions as well.
In either case, he heedlessly tries to enjoy material happiness with the acquired money.
PURPORT
Material happiness means to have good facilities for eating, sleeping, sexual intercourse and defense.
Within this world, the materialistic person lives only for these four principles of sense gratification, not caring for the impending danger of death.
After his father’s death, a son tries to inherit his money and use it for sense gratification.
Similarly, one whose son dies tries to enjoy the possessions of his son.
Sometimes the father of a dead son even enjoys his son’s widow.
Materialistic persons behave in this way.
Thus Sukadeva Gosvami says, How wonderful are these pastimes of material happiness transacted by the will of the Supreme Personality of Godhead In other words, materialistic persons want to commit all kinds of sinful activities, but without the sanction of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, no one can do anything.
Why does the Supreme Personality of Godhead permit sinful activities? The Supreme Lord does not want any living being to act sinfully, and He begs him through his good conscience to refrain from sin.
But when someone insists upon acting sinfully, the Supreme Lord gives him the sanction to act at his own risk (mattah smrtir jnanam apohanam ca (Bg.15.15)).
No one can do anything without the sanction of the Lord, but He is so kind that when the conditioned soul persists in doing something, the Lord permits the individual soul to act at his own risk.
According to Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura, sons always outlive their fathers in other planeary systems and other lands in this universe, especially on Svargaloka.
However, on this plane earth a son often dies before his father, and the materialistic father is pleased to enjoy the possessions of his son.
Neither the father nor the son can see the reality—that both of them are awaiting death.
When death comes, however, all their plans for material enjoyment are finished.
5.18.4
vadanti visvam kavayah sma nasvaram
pasyanti cadhyatmavido vipascitah
tathapi muhyanti tavaja mayaya
suvismitam krtyam ajam nato ’smi tam
SYNONYMS
vadanti—they say authoritatively; visvam—the entire material creation; kavayah—great learned sages; sma—certainly; nasvaram—perishable; pasyanti—they see in trance; ca—also; adhyatma-vidah—who have realized spiritual knowledge; vipascitah—very learned scholars; tatha api—still; muhyanti—become illusioned; tava—your; aja—O unborn one; mayaya—by the illusory energy; su-vismitam—most wonderful; krtyam—activity; ajam—unto the supreme unborn one; natah asmi—I offer my obeisances; tam—unto Him.
TRANSLATION
O unborn one, learned Vedic scholars who are advanced in spiritual knowledge certainly know that this material world is perishable, as do other logicians and philosophers.
In trance they realize the factual position of this world, and they preach the truth as well.
Yet even they are sometimes bewildered by Your illusory energy.
This is Your own wonderful pastime.
Therefore, I can understand that Your illusory energy is very wonderful, and I offer my respectful obeisances unto You.
PURPORT
Not only does the illusory energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead act on the conditioned soul within this material world, but sometimes it also acts on the most advanced learned scholars, who factually know the constitutional position of this material world through realization.
As soon as someone thinks, I am this material body (aham mameti (SB 5.5.8)) and everything in relationship with this material body is mine he is in illusion (moha).
This illusion caused by the material energy acts especially on the conditioned souls, but it sometimes also acts on liberated souls as well.
A liberated soul is a person who has sufficient knowledge of this material world and is therefore unattached to the bodily conception of life.
But because of association with the modes of material nature for a very long time, even liberated souls sometimes become captivated by the illusory energy due to inattentiveness in the transcendental position.
Therefore Lord Krsna says in Bhagavad-gita (7.14), mam eva ye prapadyante mayam etam taranti te: Only those who surrender unto Me can overcome the influence of the material energy Therefore no one should think of himself as a liberated person immune to the influence of maya.
Everyone should very cautiously execute devotional service by rigidly following regulative principles.
Thus he will remain fixed at the lotus feet of the Lord.
Otherwise, a little inattention will create havoc.
We have already seen an example of this in the case of Maharaja Bharata.
Maharaja Bharata was undoubtedly a great devotee, but because he turned his attention slightly toward a small deer, he had to suffer two more births, one as a deer and another as the brahmana Jada Bharata.
Afterward he was liberated and went back home, back to Godhead.
The Lord is always prepared to excuse His devotee, but if a devotee takes advantage of the Lord’s leniency and purposefully commits mistakes again and again, the Lord will certainly punish him by letting him fall down into the clutches of the illusory energy.
In other words, theoretical knowledge acquired by studying the Vedas is insufficient to protect one from the clutches of maya.
One must strongly adhere to the lotus feet of the Lord in devotional service.
Then one’s position is secure.
5.18.5
visvodbhava-sthana-nirodha-karma te
hy akartur angikrtam apy apavrtah
yuktam na citram tvayi karya-karane
sarvatmani vyatirikte ca vastutah
SYNONYMS
visva—of the whole universe; udbhava—of the creation; sthana—of the maintenance; nirodha—of the annihilation; karma—these activities; te—of You (O dear Lord); hi—indeed; akartuh—aloof; angikrtam—still accepted by the Vedic literature; api—although; apavrtah—untouched by all these activities; yuktam—befitting; na—not; citram—wonderful; tvayi—in You; karya-karane—the original cause of all effects; sarva-atmani—in all respects; vyatirikte—set apart; ca—also; vastutah—the original substance.
TRANSLATION
O Lord, although You are completely detached from the creation, maintenance and annihilation of this material world and are not directly affected by these activities, they are all attributed to You.
We do not wonder at this, for Your inconceivable energies perfectly qualify You to be the cause of all causes.
You are the active principle in everything, although You are separate from everything.
Thus we can realize that everything is happening because of Your inconceivable energy.
5.18.6
vedan yugante tamasa tiraskrtan
rasatalad yo nr-turanga-vigrahah
pratyadade vai kavaye ’bhiyacate
tasmai namas te ’vitathehitaya iti
SYNONYMS
vedan—the four Vedas; yuga-ante—at the end of the millennium; tamasa—by the demon of ignorance personified; tiraskrtan—stolen away; rasatalat—from the lowest planeary system (Rasatala); yah—who (the Supreme Personality of Godhead); nr-turanga-vigrahah—assuming the form of half-horse, half-man; pratyadade—returned; vai—indeed; kavaye—to the supreme poet (Lord Brahma); abhiya-cate—when he asked for them; tasmai—unto Him (the form of Hayagriva); namah—my respectful obeisances; te—to You; avitatha-ihitaya—whose resolution never fails; iti—thus.
TRANSLATION
At the end of the millennium, ignorance personified assumed the form of a demon, stole all the Vedas and took them down to the plane of Rasatala.
The Supreme Lord, however, in His form of Hayagriva retrieved the Vedas and returned them to Lord Brahma when he begged for them.
I offer my respectful obeisances unto the Supreme Lord, whose determination never fails.
PURPORT
Although Vedic knowledge is imperishable, within this material world it is sometimes manifest and sometimes not.
When the people of this material world become too absorbed in ignorance, the Vedic knowledge disappears.
Lord Hayagriva or Lord Matsya, however, always protects the Vedic knowledge, and in due course of time it is again distributed through the medium of Lord Brahma.
Brahma is the trustworthy representative of the Supreme Lord.
Therefore when he again asked for the treasure of Vedic knowledge, the Lord fulfilled his desire.
5.18.7
hari-varse capi bhagavan nara-hari-rupenaste; tad-rupa-grahana-nimittam uttaratrabhidhasye; tad dayitam rupam maha-purusa-guna-bhajano maha-bhagavato daitya-danava-kula-tirthikarana-sila-caritah prahlado ’vyavadhanananya-bhakti-yogena saha tad-varsa-purusair upaste idam codaharati.
SYNONYMS
hari-varse—in the tract of land known as Harivarsa; ca—also; api—indeed; bhagavan—the Supreme Personality of Godhead; nara-hari-rupena—His form of Nrsimhadeva; aste—is situated; tat-rupa-grahana-nimittam—the reason why Lord Krsna (Kesava) assumed the form of Nrsimha; uttaratra—in later chapters; abhidhasye—I shall describe; tat—that; dayitam—most pleasing; rupam—form of the Lord; maha-purusa-guna-bhajanah—Prahlada Maharaja, who is the abode of all the good qualities of great personalities; maha-bhagavatah—the topmost devotee; daitya-danava-kula-tirthi-karana-sila-caritah—whose activities and character were so exalted that he delivered all the daityas (demons) born in his family; prahladah—Maharaja Prahlada; avyavadhana-ananya-bhakti-yogena—by uninterrupted and unflinching devotional service; saha—with; tat-varsa-purusaih—the inhabitants of Hari-varsa; upaste—offers obeisances to and worships; idam—this; ca—and; udaharati—chants.
TRANSLATION
Sukadeva Gosvami continued: My dear King, Lord Nrsimhadeva resides in the tract of land known as Hari-varsa.
In the Seventh Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam, I shall describe to you how Prahlada Maharaja caused the Lord to assume the form of Nrsimhadeva.
Prahlada Maharaja, the topmost devotee of the Lord, is a reservoir of all the good qualities of great personalities.
His character and activities have delivered all the fallen members of his demoniac family.
Lord Nrsimhadeva is very dear to this exalted personality.
Thus Prahlada Maharaja, along with his servants and all the denizens of Hari-varsa, worships Lord Nrsimhadeva by chanting the following mantra.
PURPORT
Jayadeva Gosvami’s ten prayers worshiping the incarnations of Lord Krsna (Kesava) contain His name in every stanza.
For example, kesava dhrta-nara-hari-rupa jaya jagad-isa hare, kesava dhrta-mina-sarira jaya jagad-isa hare, and kesava dhrta-vamana-rupa jaya jagad-isa hare.
The word jagad-isa refers to the proprietor of all the universes.
His original form is the two-handed form of Lord Krsna, standing with a flute in His hands and engaged in tending the cows.
As stated in Brahma-samhita:
cintamani-prakara-sadmasu kalpa-vrksa-
laksavrtesu surabhir abhipalayantam
laksmi-sahasra-sata-sambhrama-sevyamanam
govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami
(Bs.5.29)
I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, the first progenitor, who is tending the cows, yielding all desires, in abodes built with spiritual gems and surrounded by millions of purpose trees.
He is always served with great reverence and affection by hundreds and thousands of goddesses of fortune From this verse we learn that Govinda, or Krsna, is the adi-purusa (the original person).
The Lord has innumerable incarnations, exactly like the innumerable waves of a flowing river, but the original form is Krsna, or Kesava.
Sukadeva Gosvami refers to Nrsimhadeva because of Prahlada Maharaja.
Prahlada Maharaja was put into great distress by his powerful father, the demon Hiranyakasipu.
Apparently helpless before him, Prahlada Maharaja called on the Lord, who immediately assumed the gigantic form of Nrsimhadeva, half-lion and half-man, to kill the gigantic demon.
Although Krsna is the original person, one without a second, He assumes different forms just to satisfy His devotees or to execute a specific purpose.
Therefore Jayadeva Gosvami always repeats the name of Kesava, the original Personality of Godhead, in his prayers describing the Lord’s different incarnations for different purposes.
5.18.8
om namo bhagavate narasimhaya namas tejas-tejase avir-avirbhava vajra-nakha vajra-damstra karmasayan randhaya randhaya tamo grasa grasa om svaha; abhayam abhayam atmani bhuyistha om ksraum.
SYNONYMS
om—O Lord; namah—my respectful obeisances; bhagavate—unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead; nara-simhaya—known as Lord Nrsimha; namah—obeisances; tejah-tejase—the power of all power; avih-avirbhava—please be fully manifest; vajra-nakha—O You who possess nails like thunderbolts; vajra-damstra—O You who possess teeth like thunderbolts; karma-asayan—demoniac desires to be happy by material activities; randhaya randhaya—kindly vanquish; tamah—ignorance in the material world; grasa—kindly drive away; grasa—kindly drive away; om—O my Lord; svaha—respectful oblations; abhayam—fearlessness; abhayam—fearlessness; atmani—in my mind; bhuyisthah—may You appear; om—O Lord; ksraum—the bija, or seed, of mantras offering prayers to Lord Nrsimha.
TRANSLATION
I offer my respectful obeisances unto Lord Nrsimhadeva, the source of all power.
O my Lord who possesses nails and teeth just like thunderbolts, kindly vanquish our demonlike desires for fruitive activity in this material world.
Please appear in our hearts and drive away our ignorance so that by Your mercy we may become fearless in the struggle for existence in this material world.
PURPORT
Srimad-Bhagavatam (4.22.39) Sanat-kumara speaks the following words to Maharaja Prthu:
yat-pada-pankaja-palasa-vilasa-bhaktya
karmasayam grathitam udgrathayanti santah
tadvan na rikta-matayo yatayo ’pi ruddha-
srotoganas tam aranam bhaja vasudevam
Devotees always engaged in the service of the toes of the Lord’s lotus feet can very easily become free from hard-knotted desires for fruitive activities.
Because this is very difficult, the nondevotees—the jnanis and yogis—cannot stop the waves of sense gratification, although they try to do so.
Therefore you are advised to engage in the devotional service of Krsna, the son of Vasudeva Every living being within this material world has a strong desire to enjoy matter to his fullest satisfaction.
For this purpose, the conditioned soul must accept one body after another, and thus his strongly fixed fruitive desires continue.
One cannot stop the repetition of birth and death without being completely desireless.
Therefore Srila Rupa Gosvami describes pure bhakti (devotional service) as follows:
anyabhilasita-sunyam
jnana-karmady-anavrtam
anukulyena krsnanu-
silanam bhaktir uttama
(Madhya 19.167)
One should render transcendental loving service to the Supreme Lord Krsna favorably and without desire for material profit or gain through fruitive activities or philosophical speculation.
That is called pure devotional service Unless one is completely freed of all material desires, which are caused by the dense darkness of ignorance, one cannot fully engage in the devotional service of the Lord.
Therefore we should always offer our prayers to Lord Nrsimhadeva, who killed Hiranyakasipu, the personification of material desire.
Hiranya means gold and kasipu means a soft cushion or bed Materialistic persons always desire to make the body comfortable, and for this they require huge amounts of gold.
Thus Hiranyakasipu was the perfect representative of materialistic life.
He was therefore the cause of great disturbance to the topmost devotee, Prahlada Maharaja, until Lord Nrsimhadeva killed him.
Any devotee aspiring to be free of material desires should offer his respectful prayers to Nrsimhadeva as Prahlada Maharaja did in this verse.
5.18.9
svasty astu visvasya khalah prasidatam
dhyayantu bhutani sivam mitho dhiya
manas ca bhadram bhajatad adhoksaje
avesyatam no matir apy ahaituki
SYNONYMS
svasti—auspiciousness; astu—let there be; visvasya—of the entire universe; khalah—the envious (almost everyone); prasidatam—let them be pacified; dhyayantu—let them consider; bhutani—all the living entities; sivam—auspiciousness; mithah—mutual; dhiya—by their intelligence; manah—the mind; ca—and; bhadram—calmness; bhajatat—let it experience; adhoksaje—in the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is beyond the perception of mind intelligence and senses; avesyatam—let it be absorbed; nah—our; matih—intelligence; api—indeed; ahaituki—without any motive.
TRANSLATION
May there be good fortune throughout the universe, and may all envious persons be pacified.
May all living entities become calm by practicing bhakti-yoga, for by accepting devotional service they will think of each other’s welfare.
Therefore let us all engage in the service of the supreme transcendence, Lord Sri Krsna, and always remain absorbed in thought of Him.
PURPORT
The following verse describes a Vaisnava:
vancha-kalpa-tarubhyas ca
krpa-sindhubhya eva ca
patitanam pavanebhyo
vaisnavebhyo namo namah
Just like a desire tree, a Vaisnava can fulfill all the desires of anyone who takes shelter of his lotus feet.
Prahlada Maharaja is a typical Vaisnava.
He prays not for himself, but for all living entities—the gentle, the envious and the mischievous.
He always thought of the welfare of mischievous persons like his father, Hiranyakasipu.
Prahlada Maharaja did not ask for anything for himself; rather, he prayed for the Lord to excuse his demoniac father.
This is the attitude of a Vaisnava, who always thinks of the welfare of the entire universe.
Srimad-Bhagavatam and bhagavata-dharma are meant for persons who are completely free of envy (parama-nirmatsaranam).
Therefore Prahlada Maharaja prays in this verse, khalah prasidatam: May all the envious persons be pacified The material world is full of envious persons, but if one frees himself of envy, he becomes liberal in his social dealings and can think of others’ welfare.
Anyone who takes up Krsna consciousness and engages himself completely in the service of the Lord cleanses his mind of all envy (manas ca bhadram bhajatad adhoksaje).
Therefore we should pray to Lord Nrsimhadeva to sit in our hearts.
We should pray, bahir nrsimho hrdaye nrsimhah: Let Lord Nrsimhadeva sit in the core of my heart, killing all my bad propensities.
Let my mind become clean so that I may peacefully worship the Lord and bring peace to the entire world Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura has given us a very fine purport in this regard.
Whenever one offers a prayer to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one always requests some benediction from Him.
Even pure (niskama) devotees pray for some benediction, as instructed by Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu in His Siksastaka:
ayi nanda-tanuja kinkaram
patitam mam visame bhavambudhau
krpaya tava pada-pankaja-
sthita-dhuli-sadrsam vicintaya
O son of Maharaja Nanda (Krsna), I am Your eternal servitor, yet somehow or other I have fallen into the ocean of birth and death.
Please pick Me up from the ocean of death and place Me as one of the atoms at Your lotus feet In another prayer Lord Caitanya says, mama janmani janmanisvare bhavatad bhaktir ahaituki tvayi: Life after life, kindly let Me have unalloyed love and devotion at Your Lordship’s lotus feet When Prahlada Maharaja chants om namo bhagavate narasimhaya, he prays for a benediction from the Lord, but because he is also an exalted Vaisnava, he wants nothing for his personal sense gratification.
The first desire expressed in his prayer is svasty astu visvasya: Let there be good fortune throughout the entire universe Prahlada Maharaja thus requested the Lord to be merciful to everyone, including his father, a most envious person.
According to Canakya Pandita, there are two kinds of envious living entities: one is a snake, and the other is the man like Hiranyakasipu, who is by nature envious of everyone, even of his father or son.
Hiranyakasipu was envious of his little son Prahlada, but Prahlada Maharaja asked a benediction for the benefit of his father.
Hiranyakasipu was very envious of devotees, but Prahlada wished that his father and other demons like him would give up their envious nature by the grace of the Lord and stop harassing the devotees (khalah prasidatam).
The difficulty is that the khala (envious living entity) is rarely pacified.
One kind of khala, the snake, can be pacified simply by mantras or by the action of a particular herb (mantrausadhi-vasah sarpah khalakena nivaryate).
An envious person, however, cannot be pacified by any means.
Therefore Prahlada Maharaja prays that all envious persons may undergo a change of heart and think of the welfare of others.
If the Krsna consciousness movement spreads all over the world, and if by the grace of Krsna everyone accepts it, the thinking of envious people will change.
Everyone will think of the welfare of others.
Therefore Prahlada Maharaja prays, sivam mitho dhiya.
In material activities, everyone is envious of others, but in Krsna consciousness, no one is envious of anyone else; everyone thinks of the welfare of others.
Therefore Prahlada Maharaja prays that everyone’s mind may become gentle by being fixed at the lotus feet of Krsna (bhajatad adhoksaje).
As indicated elsewhere in Srimad-Bhagavatam (sa vai manah krsna-padaravindayoh) and as advised by Lord Krsna in Bhagavad-gita (18.65), man-mana bhava mad-bhaktah, one should constantly think of the lotus feet of Lord Krsna.
Then one’s mind will certainly be cleansed (ceto-darpana-marjanam (Cc.Antya 20.12)).
Materialists always think of sense gratification, but Prahlada Maharaja prays that the Lord’s mercy will change their minds and they will stop thinking of sense gratification.
If they think of Krsna always, everything will be all right.
Some people argue that if everyone thought of Krsna in that way, the whole universe would be vacated because everyone would go back home, back to Godhead.
However, Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura says that this is impossible because the living entities are innumerable.
If one set of living entities is actually delivered by the Krsna consciousness movement, another set will fill the entire universe.
5.18.10
magara-daratmaja-vitta-bandhusu
sango yadi syad bhagavat-priyesu nah
yah prana-vrttya paritusta atmavan
siddhyaty aduran na tathendriya-priyah
SYNONYMS
ma—not; agara—house; dara—wife; atma-ja—children; vitta—bank balance; bandhusu—among friends and relatives; sangah—association or attachment; yadi—if; syat—there must be; bhagavat-priyesu—among persons to whom the Supreme Personality of Godhead is very dear; nah—of us; yah—anyone who; prana-vrttya—by the bare necessities of life; paritustah—satisfied; atma-van—who has controlled his mind and realized his self; siddhyati—becomes successful; adurat—very soon; na—not; tatha—so much; indriya-priyah—a person attached to sense gratification.
TRANSLATION
My dear Lord, we pray that we may never feel attraction for the prison of family life, consisting of home, wife, children, friends, bank balance, relatives and so on.
If we do have some attachment, let it be for devotees, whose only dear friend is Krsna.
A person who is actually self-realized and who has controlled his mind is perfectly satisfied with the bare necessities of life.
He does not try to gratify his senses.
Such a person quickly advances in Krsna consciousness, whereas others, who are too attached to material things, find advancement very difficult.
PURPORT
When Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu was requested to explain the duty of a Vaisnava, a Krsna conscious person, He immediately said, asat-sanga-tyaga—ei vaisnava-acara.
The first business of a Vaisnava is to give up the association of persons who are not devotees of Krsna and who are too attached to material things—wife, children, bank balance and so on.
Prahlada Maharaja also prays to the Personality of Godhead that he may avoid the association of nondevotees attached to the materialistic way of life.
If he must be attached to someone, he prays to be attached only to a devotee.
A devotee is not interested in unnecessarily increasing the demands of the senses for gratification.
Of course, as long as one is in this material world, one must have a material body, and it must be maintained for executing devotional service.
The body can be maintained very easily by eating krsna-prasada.
As Krsna says in Bhagavad-gita (9.26):
patram puspam phalam toyam
yo me bhaktya prayacchati
tad aham bhakty-upahrtam
asnami prayatatmanah
If one offers Me with love and devotion a leaf, a flower, fruit or water, I will accept it Why should the menu be unnecessarily increased for the satisfaction of the tongue? Devotees should eat as simply as possible.
Otherwise, attachment for material things will gradually increase, and the senses, being very strong, will soon require more and more material enjoyment.
Then the real business of life—to advance in Krsna consciousness—will stop.
5.18.11
yat-sanga-labdham nija-virya-vaibhavam
tirtham muhuh samsprsatam hi manasam
haraty ajo ’ntah srutibhir gato ’ngajam
ko vai na seveta mukunda-vikramam
SYNONYMS
yat—of whom (the devotees); sanga-labdham—achieved by the association; nija-virya-vaibhavam—whose influence is uncommon; tirtham—holy places like the Ganges; muhuh—repeatedly; samsprsatam—of those touching; hi—certainly; manasam—the dirty things in the mind; harati—vanquishes; ajah—the supreme unborn one; antah—in the core of the heart; srutibhih—by the ears; gatah—entered; anga-jam—dirty things or infections of the body; kah—who; vai—indeed; na—not; seveta—would serve; mukunda-vikramam—the glorious activities of Mukunda, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
TRANSLATION
By associating with persons for whom the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Mukunda, is the all in all, one can hear of His powerful activities and soon come to understand them.
The activities of Mukunda are so potent that simply by hearing of them one immediately associates with the Lord.
For a person who constantly and very eagerly hears narrations of the Lord’s powerful activities, the Absolute Truth, the Personality of Godhead in the form of sound vibrations, enters within his heart and cleanses it of all contamination.
On the other hand, although bathing in the Ganges diminishes bodily contaminations and infections, this process and the process of visiting holy places can cleanse the heart only after a long time.
Therefore who is the sane man who will not associate with devotees to quickly perfect his life?
PURPORT
Bathing in the Ganges can certainly cure one of many infectious diseases, but it cannot cleanse one’s materially attached mind, which creates all kinds of contaminations in material existence.
However, one who directly associates with the Supreme Lord by hearing of His activities cleanses the dirt from his mind and very soon comes to Krsna consciousness.
Srimad-Bhagavatam (1.2.17):
srnvatam sva-kathah krsnah
punya-sravana-kirtanah
hrdy antah-stho hy abhadrani
vidhunoti suhrt-satam
The Supreme Lord within everyone’s heart becomes very pleased when a person hears narrations of His activities, and He personally cleanses the dirt from the mind of the listener.
Hrdy antah-stho hy abhadrani vidhunoti: He washes off all dirt from the mind.
Material existence is caused by dirty things within the mind.
If one can cleanse his mind, he immediately comes to his original position of Krsna consciousness, and thus his life becomes successful.
Therefore all the great saints in the devotional line very strongly recommend the process of hearing.
Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu introduced the congregational chanting of the Hare Krsna mantra to give everyone a chance to hear Krsna’s holy name, for simply by hearing Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare, one becomes purified (ceto-darpana-marjanam (Cc.Antya 20.12)).
Therefore our Krsna consciousness movement is chiefly engaged in chanting the Hare Krsna mantra all over the world.
After one’s mind becomes cleansed by chanting Hare Krsna, one gradually comes to the platform of Krsna consciousness and then reads books like Bhagavad-gita, Srimad-Bhagavatam, Caitanya-caritamrta and The Nectar of Devotion.
In this way, one becomes more and more purified of material contamination.
Srimad-Bhagavatam (1.2.18):
nasta-prayesv abhadresu
nityam bhagavata-sevaya
bhagavaty uttama-sloke
bhaktir bhavati naisthiki
By regularly hearing the Bhagavatam and rendering service unto the pure devotee, all that is troublesome to the heart is practically destroyed, and loving service unto the glorious Lord, who is praised with transcendental songs, is established as an irrevocable fact In this way, simply by hearing of the powerful activities of the Lord, the devotee’s heart becomes almost completely cleansed of material contamination, and thus his original position as an eternal servant who is part and parcel of the Lord becomes manifest.
While the devotee engages in devotional service, the passionate and ignorant modes of material nature are gradually vanquished, and then he acts only in the mode of goodness.
At that time he becomes happy and gradually advances in Krsna consciousness.
All the great acaryas strongly recommend that people be given a chance to hear about the Supreme Lord.
Then success is assured.
The more we cleanse the dirt of material attachment from our hearts, the more we will be attracted by Krsna’s name, form, qualities, paraphernalia and activities.
This is the sum and substance of the Krsna consciousness movement.
5.18.12
yasyasti bhaktir bhagavaty akincana
sarvair gunais tatra samasate surah
harav abhaktasya kuto mahad-guna
manorathenasati dhavato bahih
SYNONYMS
yasya—of whom; asti—there is; bhaktih—devotional service; bhagavati—to the Supreme Personality of Godhead; akincana—without any motive; sarvaih—with all; gunaih—good qualities; tatra—there (in that person); samasate—reside; surah—all the demigods; harau—unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead; abhaktasya—of a person who is not devoted; kutah—where; mahat-gunah—good qualities; manorathena—by mental speculation; asati—in the temporary material world; dhavatah—who is running; bahih—outside.
TRANSLATION
All the demigods and their exalted qualities, such as religion, knowledge and renunciation, become manifest in the body of one who has developed unalloyed devotion for the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vasudeva.
On the other hand, a person devoid of devotional service and engaged in material activities has no good qualities.
Even if he is adept at the practice of mystic yoga or the honest endeavor of maintaining his family and relatives, he must be driven by his own mental speculations and must engage in the service of the Lord’s external energy.
How can there be any good qualities in such a man?
PURPORT
As explained in the next verse, Krsna is the original source of all living entities.
This is confirmed in Bhagavad-gita (15.7), wherein Krsna says:
mamaivamso jiva-loke
jiva-bhutah sanatanah
manah sasthanindriyani
prakrti-sthani karsati
The living entities in this conditioned world are My eternal, fragmental parts.
Due to conditioned life, they are struggling very hard with the six senses, which include the mind All living entities are part and parcel of Krsna, and therefore when they revive their original Krsna consciousness, they possess all the good qualities of Krsna in a small quantity.
When one engages himself in the nine processes of devotional service (sravanam kirtanam visnoh smaranam pada-sevanam/ arcanam vandanam dasyam sakhyam atma-nivedanam (SB 7.5.23)), one’s heart becomes purified, and he immediately understands his relationship with Krsna.
He then revives his original quality of Krsna consciousness.
In the Adi-lila of Caitanya-caritamrta, Chapter Eight, there is a description of some of the qualities of devotees.
For example, Sri Pandita Haridasa is described as being very well-behaved, tolerant, peaceful, magnanimous and grave.
In addition, he spoke very sweetly, his endeavors were very pleasing, he was always patient, he respected everyone, he always worked for everyone’s benefit, his mind was free of duplicity, and he was completely devoid of all malicious activities.
These are all originally qualities of Krsna, and when one becomes a devotee they automatically become manifest.
Sri Krsnadasa Kaviraja, the author of Caitanya-caritamrta, says that all good qualities become manifest in the body of a Vaisnava and that only by the presence of these good qualities can one distinguish a Vaisnava from a non-Vaisnava.
Krsnadasa Kaviraja lists the following twenty-six good qualities of a Vaisnava: (1) He is very kind to everyone (2) He does not make anyone his enemy (3) He is truthful (4) He is equal to everyone (5) No one can find any fault in him (6) He is magnanimous (7) He is mild (8) He is always clean (9) He is without possessions (10) He works for everyone’s benefit (11) He is very peaceful (12) He is always surrendered to Krsna (13) He has no material desires (14) He is very meek (15) He is steady (16) He controls his senses (17) He does not eat more than required (18) He is not influenced by the Lord’s illusory energy (19) He offers respect to everyone (20) He does not desire any respect for himself (21) He is very grave (22) He is merciful (23) He is friendly (24) He is poetic (25) He is expert (26) He is silent.
5.18.13
harir hi saksad bhagavan saririnam
atma jhasanam iva toyam ipsitam
hitva mahams tam yadi sajjate grhe
tada mahattvam vayasa dampatinam
SYNONYMS
harih—the Lord; hi—certainly; saksat—directly; bhagavan—the Supreme Personality of Godhead; saririnam—of all living entities who have accepted material bodies; atma—the life and soul; jhasanam—of the aquatics; iva—like; toyam—the vast water; ipsitam—is desired; hitva—giving up; mahan—a great personality; tam—Him; yadi—if; sajjate—becomes attached; grhe—to household life; tada—at that time; mahattvam—greatness; vayasa—by age; dam-patinam—of the husband and wife.
TRANSLATION
Just as aquatics always desire to remain in the vast mass of water, all conditioned living entities naturally desire to remain in the vast existence of the Supreme Lord.
Therefore if someone very great by material calculations fails to take shelter of the Supreme Soul but instead becomes attached to material household life, his greatness is like that of a young, low-class couple.
One who is too attached to material life loses all good spiritual qualities.
PURPORT
Although crocodiles are very fierce animals, they are powerless when they venture out of the water onto land.
When they are out of the water, they cannot exhibit their original power.
Similarly, the all-pervading Supersoul, Paramatma, is the source of all living entities, and all living entities are part and parcel of Him.
When the living entity remains in contact with the all-pervading Vasudeva, the Personality of Godhead, he manifests his spiritual power, exactly as the crocodile exhibits its strength in the water.
In other words, the greatness of the living entity can be perceived when he is in the spiritual world, engaged in spiritual activities.
Many householders, although well-educated in the knowledge of the Vedas, become attached to family life.
They are compared herein to crocodiles out of water, for they are devoid of all spiritual strength.
Their greatness is like that of a young husband and wife who, though uneducated, praise one another and become attracted to their own temporary beauty.
This kind of greatness is appreciated only by low-class men with no qualifications.
Everyone should therefore seek the shelter of the Supreme Soul, the source of all living entities.
No one should waste his time in the so-called happiness of materialistic household life.
In the Vedic civilization, this type of crippled life is allowed only until one’s fiftieth year, when one must give up family life and enter either the order of vanaprastha (independent retired life for cultivation of spiritual knowledge) or sannyasa (the renounced order, in which one completely takes shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead).
5.18.14
tasmad rajo-raga-visada-manyu-
mana-sprha-bhayadainyadhimulam
hitva grham samsrti-cakravalam
nrsimha-padam bhajatakutobhayam iti
SYNONYMS
tasmat—therefore; rajah—of passion or material desires; raga—attachment for material things; visada—then disappointment; manyu—anger; mana-sprha—the desire to be respectable in society; bhaya—fear; dainya—of poverty; adhimulam—the root cause; hitva—giving up; grham—household life; samsrti-cakravalam—the cycle of repeated birth and death; nrsimha-padam—the lotus feet of Lord Nrsimhadeva; bhajata—worship; akutah-bhayam—the shelter of fearlessness; iti—thus.
TRANSLATION
Therefore, O demons, give up the so-called happiness of family life and simply take shelter of the lotus feet of Lord Nrsimhadeva, which are the actual shelter of fearlessness.
Entanglement in family life is the root cause of material attachment, indefatigable desires, moroseness, anger, despair, fear and the desire for false prestige, all of which result in the repetition of birth and death.
5.18.15
ketumale ’pi bhagavan kamadeva-svarupena laksmyah priya-cikirsaya prajapater duhitrnam putranam tad-varsa-patinam purusayusaho-ratra-parisankhyananam yasam garbha maha-purusa-mahastra-tejasodvejita-manasam vidhvasta vyasavah samvatsarante vinipatanti.
SYNONYMS
ketumale—in the tract of land known as Ketumala-varsa; api—also; bhagavan—the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Visnu; kamadeva-svarupena—in the form of Kamadeva (Cupid or Pradyumna); laksmyah—of the goddess of fortune; priya-cikirsaya—with a desire to bring about the satisfaction; prajapateh—of Prajapati; duhitrnam—of the daughters; putranam—of the sons; tat-varsa-patinam—the ruler of that land; purusa-ayusa—in a human lifetime (about one hundred years); ahah-ratra—the days and nights; parisankhyananam—which equal in number; yasam—of whom (the daughters); garbhah—fetuses; maha-purusa—of the Supreme Personality of Godhead; maha-astra—of the great weapon (the disc); tejasa—by the effulgence; udvejita-manasam—whose minds are agitated; vidhvastah—ruined; vyasavah—dead; samvatsara-ante—at the end of the year; vinipatanti—fall down.
TRANSLATION
Sukadeva Gosvami continued: In the tract of land called Ketumala-varsa, Lord Visnu lives in the form of Kamadeva, only for the satisfaction of His devotees.
These include Laksmiji (the goddess of fortune), the Prajapati Samvatsara and all of Samvatsara’s sons and daughters.
The daughters of Prajapati are considered the controlling deities of the nights, and his sons are considered the controllers of the days.
The Prajapati’s offspring number 36,000, one for each day and each night in the lifetime of a human being.
At the end of each year, the Prajapati’s daughters become very agitated upon seeing the extremely effulgent disc of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and thus they all suffer miscarriages.
PURPORT
This Kamadeva, who appears as Krsna’s son named Pradyumna, is visnu-tattva.
How this is so is explained by Madhvacarya, who quotes from the Brahmanda Purana: kamadeva-sthitam visnum upaste.
Although this Kamadeva is visnu-tattva, His body is not spiritual but material.
Lord Visnu as Pradyumna or Kamadeva accepts a material body, but He still acts spiritually.
It does not make any difference whether He accepts a spiritual or a material body; He can act spiritually in any condition of existence.
Mayavadi philosophers regard even Lord Krsna’s body as material, but their opinions cannot impede the spiritual activity of the Lord.
5.18.16
ativa sulalita-gati-vilasa-vilasita-rucira-hasa-lesavaloka-lilaya kincid-uttambhita-sundara-bhru-mandala-subhaga-vadanaravinda-sriya ramam ramayann indriyani ramayate.
SYNONYMS
ativa—very much; su-lalita—beautiful; gati—with movements; vilasa—by pastimes; vilasita—manifested; rucira—pleasing; hasa-lesa—mild smiling; avaloka-lilaya—by playful glancing; kincit-uttambhita—slightly raised; sundara—beautiful; bhru-mandala—by the eyebrows; subhaga—auspicious; vadana-aravinda-sriya—with His beautiful lotuslike face; ramam—the goddess of fortune; ramayan—pleasing; indriyani—all the senses; ramayate—He pleases.
TRANSLATION
In Ketumala-varsa, Lord Kamadeva (Pradyumna) moves very graciously.
His mild smile is very beautiful, and when He increases the beauty of His face by slightly raising His eyebrows and glancing playfully, He pleases the goddess of fortune.
Thus He enjoys His transcendental senses.
5.18.17
tad bhagavato mayamayam rupam parama-samadhi-yogena rama devi samvatsarasya ratrisu prajapater duhitrbhir upetahahsu ca tad-bhartrbhir upaste idam codaharati.
SYNONYMS
tat—that; bhagavatah—of the Supreme Personality of Godhead; maya-mayam—full of affection for the devotees; rupam—form; parama—highest; samadhi-yogena—by absorption of the mind in the service of the Lord; rama—the goddess of fortune; devi—divine woman; samvatsarasya—known as Samvatsara; ratrisu—during the nights; prajapateh—of Prajapati; duhitrbhih—with the daughters; upeta—combined; ahahsu—during the days; ca—also; tat-bhartrbhih—with the husbands; upaste—worships; idam—this; ca—also; udaharati—chants.
TRANSLATION
Accompanied during the daytime by the sons of the Prajapati (the predominating deities of the days) and accompanied at night by his daughters (the deities of the nights), Laksmidevi worships the Lord during the period known as the Samvatsara in His most merciful form as Kamadeva.
Fully absorbed in devotional service, she chants the following mantras.
PURPORT
The word mayamayam used in this verse should not be understood according to the interpretations of the Mayavadis.
Maya means affection as well as illusion.
When a mother deals with her child affectionately, she is called mayamaya.
In whatever form the Supreme Lord Visnu appears, He is always affectionate toward His devotees.
Thus the word mayamayam is used here to mean very affectionate toward the devotees Srila Jiva Gosvami writes in this regard that mayamayam can also mean krpa-pracuram, deeply merciful.
Similarly, Srila Viraraghava says, maya-pracuranatmiya-sankalpena parigrhitam ity arthah jnana-paryayo’tra maya-sabdah: when one is very affectionate due to an intimate relationship, one is described as mayamaya.
Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura explains mayamayam by dividing it into the words maya and amayam.
He explains these words to indicate that because the living entity is covered by the disease of illusion, the Lord is always eager to deliver His devotee from the clutches of maya and cure him of the disease caused by the illusory energy.
5.18.18
om hram hrim hrum om namo bhagavate hrsikesaya sarva-guna-visesair vilaksitatmane akutinam cittinam cetasam visesanam cadhipataye sodasa-kalaya cchando-mayayanna-mayayamrta-mayaya sarva-mayaya sahase ojase balaya kantaya kamaya namas te ubhayatra bhuyat.
SYNONYMS
om—O Lord; hram hrim hrum—the seeds of the mantra, chanted for a successful result; om—O Lord; namah—respectful obeisances; bhagavate—unto the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead; hrsikesaya—unto Hrsikesa, the Lord of the senses; sarva-guna—with all transcendental qualities; visesaih—with all varieties; vilaksita—particularly observed; atmane—unto the soul of all living entities; akutinam—of all kinds of activity; cittinam—of all kinds of knowledge; cetasam—of the functions of the mind, such as determination and mental effort; visesanam—of their respective objects; ca—and; adhipataye—unto the master; sodasa-kalaya—whose parts are the sixteen original ingredients of creation (namely the five objects of the senses and the eleven senses, including the mind); chandah-mayaya—unto the enjoyer of all ritualistic ceremonies; anna-mayaya—who maintains all living entities by supplying the necessities of life; amrta-mayaya—who awards eternal life; sarva-mayaya—who is all-pervading; sahase—the powerful; ojase—who supplies strength to the senses; balaya—who supplies strength to the body; kantaya—the supreme husband or master of all living entities; kamaya—who supplies all necessities for the devotees; namah—respectful obeisances; te—unto You; ubhayatra—always (during both day and night, or both in this life and the next); bhuyat—may there be all good fortune.
TRANSLATION
Let me offer my respectful obeisances unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Hrsikesa, the controller of all my senses and the origin of everything.
As the supreme master of all bodily, mental and intellectual activities, He is the only enjoyer of their results.
The five sense objects and eleven senses, including the mind, are His partial manifestations.
He supplies all the necessities of life, which are His energy and thus nondifferent from Him, and He is the cause of everyone’s bodily and mental prowess, which is also nondifferent from Him.
Indeed, He is the husband and provider of necessities for all living entities.
The purpose of all the Vedas is to worship Him.
Therefore let us all offer Him our respectful obeisances.
May He always be favorable toward us in this life and the next.
PURPORT
In this verse the word mayamaya is further explained in regard to how the Lord expands His mercy in different ways parasya saktir vividhaiva sruyate: the energies of the Supreme Lord are understood in different ways.
In this verse He is described as the original source of everything, even our body, senses, mind, activities, prowess, bodily strength, mental strength and determination for securing the necessities of life.
Indeed, the Lord’s energies can be perceived in everything.
As stated in Bhagavad-gita (7.8), raso ’ham apsu kaunteya: the taste of water is also Krsna.
Krsna is the active principle of everything we need for our maintenance.
This verse offering respectful obeisances unto the Lord was composed by Rama, the goddess of fortune, and is full of spiritual power.
Under the guidance of a spiritual master, everyone should chant this mantra and thus become a complete and perfect devotee of the Lord.
One may chant this mantra for complete liberation from material bondage, and after liberation one may continue to chant it while worshiping the Supreme Lord in Vaikunthaloka.
All mantras, of course, are meant for this life and the next life, as Krsna Himself confirms in Bhagavad-gita (9.14):
satatam kirtayanto mam
yatantas ca drdha-vratah
namasyantas ca mam bhaktya
nitya-yukta upasate
Always chanting My glories, endeavoring with great determination, bowing down before Me, the great souls perpetually worship Me with devotion A devotee who both in this life and the next chants the maha-mantra, or any mantra, is called nitya-yuktopasaka.
5.18.19
striyo vratais tva hrsikesvaram svato
hy aradhya loke patim asasate ’nyam
tasam na te vai paripanty apatyam
priyam dhanayumsi yato ’sva-tantrah
SYNONYMS
striyah—all women; vrataih—by observing fasting and other vows; tva—you; hrsikesvaram—the Supreme Personality of Godhead, master of the senses; svatah—of your own accord; hi—certainly; aradhya—worshiping; loke—in the world; patim—a husband; asasate—ask for; anyam—another; tasam—of all those women; na—not; te—the husbands; vai—indeed; paripanti—able to protect; apatyam—the children; priyam—very dear; dhana—the wealth; ayumsi—or the duration of life; yatah—because; asva-tantrah—dependent.
TRANSLATION
My dear Lord, You are certainly the fully independent master of all the senses.
Therefore all women who worship You by strictly observing vows because they wish to acquire a husband to satisfy their senses are surely under illusion.
They do not know that such a husband cannot actually give protection to them or their children.
Nor can he protect their wealth or duration of life, for he himself is dependent on time, fruitive results and the modes of nature, which are all subordinate to You.
PURPORT
In this verse, Laksmidevi (Rama) shows compassion toward women who worship the Lord for the benediction of possessing a good husband.
Although such women desire to be happy with children, wealth, a long duration of life and everything dear to them, they cannot possibly do so.
In the material world, a so-called husband is dependent on the control of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
There are many examples of a woman whose husband, being dependent on the result of his own fruitive actions, cannot maintain his wife, her children, her wealth or her duration of life.
Therefore, factually the only real husband of all women is Krsna, the supreme husband.
Because the gopis were liberated souls, they understood this fact.
Therefore they rejected their material husbands and accepted Krsna as their real husband.
Krsna is the real husband not only of the gopis, but of every living entity.
Everyone should perfectly understand that Krsna is the real husband of all living entities, who are described in the Bhagavad-gita as prakrti (female), not purusa (male).
In Bhagavad-gita (10.12), only Krsna is addressed as purusa:
param brahma param dhama
pavitram paramam bhavan
purusam sasvatam divyam
adi-devam ajam vibhum
You are the Supreme Brahman, the ultimate, the supreme abode and purifier, the Absolute Truth and the eternal divine person.
You are the primal God, transcendental and original, and You are the unborn and all-pervading beauty Krsna is the original purusa, and the living entities are prakrti.
Thus Krsna is the enjoyer, and all living entities are meant to be enjoyed by Him.
Therefore any woman who seeks a material husband for her protection, or any man who desires to become the husband of a woman, is under illusion.
To become a husband means to maintain a wife and children nicely by supplying wealth and security.
However, a material husband cannot possibly do this, for he is dependent on his karma.
Karmana-daiva-netrena: his circumstances are determined by his past fruitive activities.
Therefore if one proudly thinks he can protect his wife, he is under illusion.
Krsna is the only husband, and therefore the relationship between a husband and wife in this material world cannot be absolute.
Because we have the desire to marry, Krsna mercifully allows the so-called husband to possess a wife, and the wife to possess a so-called husband, for mutual satisfaction.
In the Isopanisad it is said, tena tyaktena bhunjitha: the Lord provides everyone with his quota.
Actually, however, every living entity is prakrti, or female, and Krsna is the only husband ekale isvara krsna, ara saba bhrtya
yare yaiche nacaya, se taiche kare nrtya
(Cc.Adi5.142)
Krsna is the original master or husband of everyone, and all other living entities, having taken the form of so-called husbands, or wives, are dancing according to His desire.
A so-called husband may unite with his wife for sense gratification, but his senses are conducted by Hrsikesa, the master of the senses, who is therefore the actual husband.
5.18.20
sa vai patih syad akutobhayah svayam
samantatah pati bhayaturam janam
sa eka evetaratha mitho bhayam
naivatmalabhad adhi manyate param
SYNONYMS
sah—he; vai—indeed; patih—a husband; syat—would be; akutah-bhayah—who is not fearful of anyone; svayam—self-sufficient; samantatah—entirely; pati—maintains; bhaya-aturam—who is very afraid; janam—a person; sah—therefore he; ekah—one; eva—only; itaratha—otherwise; mithah—from one another; bhayam—fear; na—not; eva—indeed; atma-labhat—than the attainment of You; adhi—greater; manyate—is accepted; param—other thing.
TRANSLATION
He alone who is never afraid but who, on the contrary, gives complete shelter to all fearful persons can actually become a husband and protector.
Therefore, my Lord, you are the only husband, and no one else can claim this position.
If you were not the only husband, You would be afraid of others.
Therefore persons learned in all Vedic literature accept only Your Lordship as everyone’s master, and they think no one else a better husband and protector than You.
PURPORT
Here the meaning of husband or guardian is clearly explained people want to become a husband, a guardian, a governor or a political leader without knowing the actual meaning of such a superior position.
There are many people all over the world—indeed, throughout the universe—who claim for some time that they are husbands, political leaders or guardians, but in due course of time the Supreme Lord desires their removal from their posts, and their careers are immediately finished.
Therefore those who are actually learned and advanced in spiritual life do not accept any leader, husband or maintainer other than the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Lord Krsna personally states in Bhagavad-gita (18.66), aham tvam sarva-papebhyo moksayisyami: I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions Krsna is not afraid of anyone.
On the contrary, everyone is afraid of Krsna.
Therefore He can actually give protection to a subordinate living entity.
Since so-called leaders or dictators are completely under the control of material nature, they can never give complete protection to others, although they claim this ability due to false prestige.
Na te viduh svartha-gatim hi visnum: (SB 7.5.31) people do not know that real advancement in life consists of accepting the Supreme Personality of Godhead as one’s master.
Instead of deceiving themselves and others by pretending to be all-powerful, all political leaders, husbands and guardians should spread the Krsna consciousness movement so that everyone can learn how to surrender to Krsna, the supreme husband.
5.18.21
ya tasya te pada-saroruharhanam
nikamayet sakhila-kama-lampata
tad eva rasipsitam ipsito ’rcito
yad-bhagna-yacna bhagavan pratapyate
SYNONYMS
ya—a woman who; tasya—of Him; te—of You; pada-saroruha—of the lotus feet; arhanam—the worship; nikamayet—fully desires; sa—such a woman; akhila-kama-lampata—although maintaining all kinds of material desire; tat—that; eva—only; rasi—You award; ipsitam—some other desired benediction; ipsitah—being looked to for; arcitah—worshiped; yat—from which; bhagna-yacna—one who desires objects other than Your lotus feet and who thus becomes broken; bhagavan—O my Lord; pratapyate—is pained.
TRANSLATION
My dear Lord, You automatically fulfill all the desires of a woman who worships Your lotus feet in pure love.
However, if a woman worships Your lotus feet for a particular purpose, You also quickly fulfill her desires, but in the end she becomes broken-hearted and laments.
Therefore one need not worship Your lotus feet for some material benefit.
PURPORT
Srila Rupa Gosvami describes pure devotional service as anyabhilasita-sunyam jnana-karmady-anavrtam (Madhya 19.167).
One should not worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead to fulfill some material desire for success in fruitive activities or mental speculation.
To serve the lotus feet of the Lord means to serve Him exactly as He desires.
The neophyte devotee is therefore ordered to worship the Lord strictly according to the regulative principles given by the spiritual master and the sastras.
By executing devotional service in that way, he gradually becomes attached to Krsna, and when his original dormant love for the Lord becomes manifest, he spontaneously serves the Lord without any motive.
This condition is the perfect stage of one’s relationship with the Lord.
The Lord then looks after the comfort and security of His devotee without being asked.
Krsna promises in Bhagavad-gita (9.22):
ananyas cintayanto mam
ye janah paryupasate
tesam nityabhiyuktanam
yoga-ksemam vahamy aham
The Supreme Lord personally takes care of anyone who is completely engaged in His devotional service.
Whatever he has, the Lord protects, and whatever he needs, the Lord supplies.
Therefore why should one bother the Lord for something material? Such prayers are unnecessary.
Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura explains that even if a devotee wishes the Lord to fulfill a particular desire, the devotee should not be considered a sakama-bhakta (a devotee with some motive).
In the Bhagavad-gita (7.16) Krsna says:
catur-vidha bhajante mam
janah sukrtino ’rjuna
arto jijnasur artharthi
jnani ca bharatarsabha
O best among the Bharatas (Arjuna), four kinds of pious men render devotional service unto Me—the distressed, the desirer of wealth, the inquisitive and he who is searching for knowledge of the Absolute The arta and the artharthi, who approach the Supreme Personality of Godhead for relief from misery or for some money, are not sakama-bhaktas, although they appear to be.
Being neophyte devotees, they are simply ignorant.
Later in Bhagavad-gita the Lord says, udarah sarva evaite: they are all magnanimous (udarah).
Although in the beginning a devotee may harbor some desire, in due course of time it will vanish.
Therefore the Srimad-Bhagavatam enjoins:
akamah sarva-kamo va
moksa-kama udara-dhih
tivrena bhakti-yogena
yajeta purusam param
A person who has broader intelligence, whether he is full of all material desire, is free from material desire, or has a desire for liberation, must by all means worship the supreme whole, the Personality of Godhead (Bhag.2.3.10) Even if one wants something material, he should pray to no one but the Lord to fulfill his desire.
If one approaches a demigod for the fulfillment of his desires, he is to be considered nasta-buddhi, bereft of all good sense.
Krsna says in Bhagavad-gita (7.20):
kamais tais tair hrta-jnanah
prapadyante ’nya-devatah
tam tam niyamam asthaya
prakrtya niyatah svaya
Those whose minds are distorted by material desires surrender unto demigods and follow the particular rules and regulations of worship according to their own natures Laksmidevi advises all devotees who approach the Lord with material desires that according to her practical experience, the Lord is Kamadeva, and thus there is no need to ask Him for anything material.
She says that everyone should simply serve the Lord without any motive.
Since the Supreme Personality of Godhead is sitting in everyone’s heart, He knows everyone’s thoughts, and in due course of time He will fulfill all desires.
Therefore let us completely depend on the service of the Lord without bothering Him with our material requests.
5.18.22
mat-praptaye ’jesa-surasuradayas
tapyanta ugram tapa aindriye dhiyah
rte bhavat-pada-parayanan na mam
vindanty aham tvad-dhrdaya yato ’jita
SYNONYMS
mat-praptaye—to obtain my mercy; aja—Lord Brahma; isa—Lord Siva; sura—the other demigods, headed by King Indra, Candra and Varuna; asura-adayah—as well as the demons; tapyante—undergo; ugram—severe; tapah—austerity; aindriye dhiyah—whose minds are absorbed in thoughts of superior sense gratification; rte—unless; bhavat-pada-parayanat—one who is wholly and solely engaged in the service of the Supreme Lord’s lotus feet; na—not; mam—me; vindanti—obtain; aham—I; tvat—in You; hrdayah—whose hearts; yatah—therefore; ajita—O unconquerable one.
TRANSLATION
O supreme unconquerable Lord, when they become absorbed in thoughts of material enjoyment, Lord Brahma and Lord Siva, as well as other demigods and demons, undergo severe penances and austerities to receive my benedictions.
But I do not favor anyone, however great he may be; unless he is always engaged in the service of Your lotus feet.
Because I always keep You within my heart, I cannot favor anyone but a devotee.
PURPORT
In this verse the goddess of fortune, Laksmidevi, clearly states that she does not bestow her favor on any materialistic person.
Although sometimes a materialist becomes very opulent in the eyes of another materialist, such opulence is bestowed upon him by the goddess Durgadevi, a material expansion of the goddess of fortune, not by Laksmidevi herself.
Those who desire material wealth worship Durgadevi with the following mantra: dhanam dehi rupam dehi rupa-pati-bhajam dehi O worshipable mother Durgadevi, please give me wealth, strength, fame, a good wife and so on By pleasing goddess Durga one can obtain such benefits, but since they are temporary, they result only in maya-sukha (illusory happiness).
As stated by Prahlada Maharaja, maya-sukhaya bharam udvahato vimudhan: (SB 7.9.43) those who work very hard for material benefits are vimudhas, foolish rascals, because such happiness will not endure.
On the other hand, devotees like Prahlada and Dhruva Maharaja achieved extraordinary material opulences, but such opulences were not maya-sukha.
When a devotee acquires unparalleled opulences, they are the direct gifts of the goddess of fortune, who resides in the heart of Narayana.
The material opulences a person obtains by offering prayers to the goddess Durga are temporary.
As described in Bhagavad-gita (7.23), antavat tu phalam tesam tad bhavaty alpa-medhasam: men of meager intelligence desire temporary happiness.
We have actually seen that one of the disciples of Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura wanted to enjoy the property of his spiritual master, and the spiritual master, being merciful toward him, gave him the temporary property, but not the power to preach the cult of Caitanya Mahaprabhu all over the world.
That special mercy of the power to preach is given to a devotee who does not want anything material from his spiritual master but wants only to serve him.
The story of the demon Ravana illustrates this point.
Although Ravana tried to abduct the goddess of fortune Sitadevi from the custody of Lord Ramacandra, he could not possibly do so.
The Sitadevi he forcibly took with him was not the original Sitadevi, but an expansion of maya, or Durgadevi.
As a result, instead of winning the favor of the real goddess of fortune, Ravana and his whole family were vanquished by the power of Durgadevi (srsti-sthiti-pralaya-sadhana-saktir eka (Bs.5.44)).
5.18.23
sa tvam mamapy acyuta sirsni vanditam
karambujam yat tvad-adhayi satvatam
bibharsi mam laksma varenya mayaya
ka isvarasyehitam uhitum vibhur iti
SYNONYMS
sah—that; tvam—You; mama—of me; api—also; acyuta—O infallible one; sirsni—on the head; vanditam—worshiped; kara-ambujam—Your lotus hand; yat—which; tvat—by You; adhayi—placed; satvatam—on the head of the devotees; bibharsi—You maintain; mam—me; laksma—as an insignia on Your chest; varenya—O worshipable one; mayaya—with deceit; kah—who; isvarasya—of the supremely powerful controller; ihitam—the desires; uhitum—to understand by reason and argument; vibhuh—is able; iti—thus.
TRANSLATION
O infallible one, Your lotus palm is the source of all benediction.
Therefore Your pure devotees worship it, and You very mercifully place Your hand on their heads.
I wish that You may also place Your hand on My head, for although You already bear my insignia of golden streaks on Your chest, I regard this honor as merely a kind of false prestige for me.
You show Your real mercy to Your devotees, not to me.
Of course, You are the supreme absolute controller, and no one can understand Your motives.
PURPORT
In many places, the sastras describe the Supreme Personality of Godhead as being more inclined toward His devotees than toward His wife, who always remains on His chest.
Srimad-Bhagavatam (11.14.15) it is stated:
na tatha me priyatama
atma-yonir na sankarah
na ca sankarsano na srir
naivatma ca yatha bhavan
Here Krsna plainly says that His devotees are more dear to Him than Lord Brahma, Lord Siva, Lord Sankarsana (the original cause of creation), the goddess of fortune or even His own Self.
Srimad-Bhagavatam (10.9.20) Sukadeva Gosvami says, nemam virinco na bhavo
na srir apy anga samsraya
prasadam lebhire gopi
yat tat prapa vimuktidat
The Supreme Lord, who can award liberation to anyone, showed more mercy toward the gopis than to Lord Brahma, Lord Siva or even the goddess of fortune, who is His own wife and is associated with His body.
Srimad-Bhagavatam (10.47.60) also states:
nayam sriyo ’nga u nitanta-rateh prasadah
svar-yositam nalina-gandha-rucam kuto ’nyah
rasotsave ’sya bhuja-danda-grhita-kantha-
labdhasisam ya udagad vraja-sundarinam
The gopis received benedictions from the Lord that neither Laksmidevi nor the most beautiful dancers in the heavenly planes could attain.
In the rasa dance, the Lord showed His favor to the most fortunate gopis by placing His arms on their shoulders and dancing with each of them individually.
No one can compare with the gopis, who received the causeless mercy of the Lord In the Caitanya-caritamrta it is said that no one can receive the real favor of the Supreme Personality of Godhead without following in the footsteps of the gopis.
Even the goddess of fortune could not receive the same favor as the gopis, although she underwent severe austerities and penances for many years.
Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu discusses this point with Vyenkata Bhatta in Caitanya-caritamrta (Madhya9.111–131): The Lord inquired from Vyenkata Bhatta, ‘Your worshipable goddess of fortune, Laksmi, always remains on the chest of Narayana, and she is certainly the most chaste woman in the creation.
However, My Lord is Lord Sri Krsna, a cowherd boy engaged in tending cows.
Why is it that Laksmi, being such a chaste wife, wants to associate with My Lord? Just to associate with Krsna, Laksmi abandoned all transcendental happiness in Vaikuntha and for a long time accepted vows and regulative principles and performed unlimited austerities.’ Vyenkata Bhatta replied, ‘Lord Krsna and Lord Narayana are one and the same, but the pastimes of Krsna are more relishable due to their sportive nature.
They are very pleasing for Krsna’s saktis.
Since Krsna and Narayana are both the same personality, Laksmi’s association with Krsna did not break her vow of chastity.
Rather, it was in great fun that the goddess of fortune wanted to associate with Lord Krsna.
The goddess of fortune considered that her vow of chastity would not be damaged by her relationship with Krsna.
Rather, by associating with Krsna she could enjoy the benefit of the rasa dance.
If she wanted to enjoy herself with Krsna what fault is there? Why are you joking so about this?’ Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu replied, ‘I know that there is no fault in the goddess of fortune, but still she could not enter into the rasa dance.
We hear this from revealed scriptures.
The authorities of Vedic knowledge met Lord Ramacandra in Dandakaranya, and by their penances and austerities, they were allowed to enter into the rasa dance.
But can you tell me why the goddess of fortune, Laksmi, could not get that opportunity? ’ To this Vyenkata Bhatta replied, ‘I cannot enter into the mystery of this incident.
I am an ordinary living being.
My intelligence is limited, and I am always disturbed.
How can I understand the pastimes of the Supreme Lord? They are deeper than millions of oceans.’ Lord Caitanya replied, ‘Lord Krsna has a specific characteristic.
He attracts everyone’s heart by the mellow of His personal conjugal love.
By following in the footsteps of the inhabitants of the plane known as Vrajaloka or Goloka Vrndavana, one can attain the shelter of the lotus feet of Sri Krsna.
However, the inhabitants of that plane do not know that Lord Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Unaware that Krsna is the Supreme Lord, the residents of Vrndavana like Nanda Maharaja, Yasodadevi and the gopis treat Krsna as their beloved son or lover.
Mother Yasoda accepts Him as her son and sometimes binds Him to a grinding mortar.
Krsna’s cowherd boy friends think He is an ordinary boy and get up on His shoulders.
In Goloka Vrndavana no one has any desire other than to love Krsna.’ The conclusion is that one cannot associate with Krsna unless he has fully received the favor of the inhabitants of Vrajabhumi.
Therefore if one wants to be delivered by Krsna directly, he must take to the service of the residents of Vrndavana, who are unalloyed devotees of the Lord.
5.18.24
ramyake ca bhagavatah priyatamam matsyam avatara-rupam tad-varsa-purusasya manoh prak-pradarsitam sa idanim api mahata bhakti-yogenaradhayatidam codaharati.
SYNONYMS
ramyake ca—also in Ramyaka-varsa; bhagavatah—of the Supreme Personality of Godhead; priya-tamam—the foremost; matsyam—fish; avatara-rupam—the form of the incarnation; tat-varsa-purusasya—of the ruler of that land; manoh—Manu; prak—previously (at the end of the Caksusa-manvantara); pradarsitam—exhibited; sah—that Manu; idanim api—even until now; mahata bhakti-yogena—by dint of advanced devotional service; aradhayati—worships the Supreme Personality of Godhead; idam—this; ca—and; udaharati—chants.
TRANSLATION
Sukadeva Gosvami continued: In Ramyaka-varsa, where Vaivasvata Manu rules, the Supreme Personality of Godhead appeared as Lord Matsya at the end of the last era (the Caksusa-manvantara).
Vaivasvata Manu now worships Lord Matsya in pure devotional service and chants the following mantra.
5.18.25
om namo bhagavate mukhyatamaya namah sattvaya pranayaujase sahase balaya maha-matsyaya nama iti.
SYNONYMS
om—O my Lord; namah—respectful obeisances; bhagavate—unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead; mukhya-tamaya—the first incarnation to appear; namah—my respectful obeisances; sattvaya—unto the pure transcendence; pranaya—the origin of life; ojase—the source of the potency of the senses; sahase—the origin of all mental power; balaya—the origin of bodily strength; maha-matsyaya—unto the gigantic fish incarnation; namah—respectful obeisances; iti—thus.
TRANSLATION
I offer my respectful obeisances unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is pure transcendence.
He is the origin of all life, bodily strength, mental power and sensory ability.
Known as Matsyavatara, the gigantic fish incarnation, He appears first among all the incarnations.
Again I offer my obeisances unto Him.
PURPORT
Srila Jayadeva Gosvami sings:
pralayo payodhi-jale dhrtavan asi vedam
vihita-vahitra-caritram akhedam
kesava dhrta-mina-sarira jaya jagad-isa hare
Soon after the cosmic creation, the entire universe was inundated with water.
At that time Lord Krsna (Kesava) incarnated as a gigantic fish to protect the Vedas.
Therefore Manu addresses Lord Matsya as mukhyatama, the first incarnation to appear.
Fish are generally considered a mixture of the modes of ignorance and passion, but we must understand that every incarnation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is completely transcendental.
There is never any deterioration of the Supreme Lord’s original transcendental quality.
Therefore the word sattvaya is used here, meaning pure goodness on the transcendental platform.
There are many incarnations of the Supreme Lord: Varaha murti (the boar form), Kurma murti (the tortoise form), Hayagriva murti (the form of a horse) and so on.
Yet we should never think any of Them material.
They are always situated on the platform of suddha-sattva, pure transcendence.
5.18.26
antar bahis cakhila-loka-palakair
adrsta-rupo vicarasy uru-svanah
sa isvaras tvam ya idam vase ’nayan
namna yatha darumayim narah striyam
SYNONYMS
antah—within; bahih—without; ca—also; akhila-loka-palakaih—by the leaders of the different planes, societies, kingdoms and so on; adrsta-rupah—not seen; vicarasi—You wander; uru—very great; svanah—whose sounds (Vedic mantras); sah—He; isvarah—the supreme controller; tvam—You; yah—who; idam—this; vase—under control; anayat—has brought; namna—by different names like brahmana, ksatriya, vaisya and sudra; yatha—exactly like; darumayim—made of wood; narah—a man; striyam—a doll.
TRANSLATION
My dear Lord, just as a puppeteer controls his dancing dolls and a husband controls his wife, Your Lordship controls all the living entities in the universe, such as the brahmanas, ksatriyas, vaisyas and sudras.
Although You are in everyone’s heart as the supreme witness and commander and are outside everyone as well, the so-called leaders of societies, communities and countries cannot realize You.
Only those who hear the vibration of the Vedic mantras can appreciate You.
PURPORT
The Supreme Personality of Godhead is antarbahih, present within and without everything.
One must overcome the delusion caused by the Lord’s external energy and realize His presence both externally and internally.
Srimad-Bhagavatam (1.8.19) Srimati Kuntidevi has explained that Krsna appears in this world nato natyadharo yatha, exactly like an actor dressed as a player In Bhagavad-gita (18.61) Krsna says, isvarah sama-bhutanam hrd-dese ’rjuna tisthati: The Supreme Lord is situated in everyone’s heart, O Arjuna The Lord is situated within everyone’s heart, and outside as well.
Within the heart He is the Supersoul, the incarnation who acts as the adviser and witness.
Yet although God is residing within their hearts, foolish people say, I cannot see God.
Please show Him to me Everyone is under the control of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, exactly like dancing dolls controlled by a puppeteer or a woman controlled by her husband.
A woman is compared to a doll (darumayi) because she has no independence.
She should always be controlled by a man.
Still, due to false prestige, a class of women wants to remain independent.
What to speak of women, all living entities are prakrti (female) and therefore dependent on the Supreme Lord, as Krsna Himself explains in Bhagavad-gita (apareyam itas tv anyam prakrtim viddhi me param).
The living entity is never independent.
Under all circumstances, he is dependent on the mercy of the Lord.
The Lord creates the social divisions of human society—brahmanas, ksatriyas, vaisyas and sudras—and ordains that they follow rules and regulations suited to their particular position.
In this way, all members of society remain always under the Supreme Lord’s control.
Still, some people foolishly deny the existence of God.
Self-realization means to understand one’s subordinate position in relation to the Lord.
When one is thus enlightened, he surrenders to the Supreme Personality of Godhead and is liberated from the clutches of the material energy.
In other words, unless one surrenders to the lotus feet of the Lord, the material energy in its many varieties will continue to control him.
No one in the material world can deny that he is under control.
The Supreme Lord, Narayana, who is beyond this material existence, controls everyone.
The following Vedic mantra confirms this point: eko ha vai narayana asit.
Foolish persons think Narayana to be on the platform of ordinary material existence.
Because they do not realize the natural constitutional position of the living entity, they concoct names like daridra-narayana, svami-narayana or mithya-narayana.
However, Narayana is actually the supreme controller of everyone.
This understanding is self-realization.
5.18.27
yam loka-palah kila matsara-jvara
hitva yatanto ’pi prthak sametya ca
patum na sekur dvi-padas catus-padah
sarisrpam sthanu yad atra drsyate
SYNONYMS
yam—whom (You); loka-palah—the great leaders of the universe, beginning with Lord Brahma; kila—what to speak of others; matsara-jvarah—who are suffering from the fever of envy; hitva—leaving aside; yatantah—endeavoring; api—although; prthak—separately; sametya—combined; ca—also; patum—to protect; na—not; sekuh—able; dvi-padah—two-legged; catuh-padah—four-legged; sarisrpam—reptiles; sthanu—not moving; yat—whatever; atra—within this material world; drsyate—is visible.
TRANSLATION
My Lord, from the great leaders of the universe, such as Lord Brahma and other demigods, down to the political leaders of this world, all are envious of Your authority.
Without Your help, however, they could neither separately nor concertedly maintain the innumerable living entities within the universe.
You are actually the only maintainer of all human beings, of animals like cows and asses, and of plants, reptiles, birds, mountains and whatever else is visible within this material world.
PURPORT
It is fashionable for materialistic persons to compete with the power of God.
When so-called scientists try to manufacture living entities in their laboratories, their only purpose is to defy the talent and ability of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
This is called illusion.
It exists even in the higher planeary systems, where great demigods like Lord Brahma, Lord Siva and others reside.
In this world everyone is puffed up with false prestige despite the failure of all his endeavors.
When so-called philanthropists, who supposedly want to help the poor, are approached by members of the Krsna consciousness movement, they say, You are simply wasting your time, while I am feeding vast masses of starving people Unfortunately, their meager efforts, either singly or together, do not solve anyone’s problems.
Sometimes so-called svamis are very eager to feed poor people, thinking them to be daridra-narayana, the Lord’s incarnations as beggars.
They prefer to serve the manufactured daridra-narayana than the original, supreme Narayana.
They say, Don’t encourage service to Lord Narayana.
It is better to serve the starving people of the world Unfortunately such materialists, either singly or combined in the form of the United Nations, cannot fulfill their plans.
The truth is that the many millions of human beings, animals, birds and trees—indeed, all living entities—are maintained solely by the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Eko bahunam yo vidadhati kaman: one person, the Supreme Lord, is supplying the necessities of life for all other living entities.
To challenge the authority of Narayana, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is the business of asuras (demons).
Yet sometimes suras, or devotees, are also bewildered by the illusory energy and falsely claim to be the maintainer of the entire universe.
Such incidents are described in the Tenth Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam, where Sukadeva Gosvami tells how Lord Brahma and King Indra became puffed up and were eventually chastised by Krsna.
5.18.28
bhavan yugantarnava urmi-malini
ksonim imam osadhi-virudham nidhim
maya sahoru kramate ’ja ojasa
tasmai jagat-prana-ganatmane nama iti
SYNONYMS
bhavan—Your Lordship; yuga-anta-arnave—in the water of devastation at the end of the millennium; urmi-malini—possessing rows of big waves; ksonim—the plane earth; imam—this; osadhi-virudham—of all kinds of herbs and drugs; nidhim—the storehouse; maya—me; saha—with; uru—great; kramate—You roamed; aja—O unborn one; ojasa—with speed; tasmai—unto Him; jagat—of the entire universe; prana-gana-atmane—the ultimate source of life; namah—my respectful obeisances; iti—thus.
TRANSLATION
O almighty Lord, at the end of the millennium this plane earth, which is the source of all kinds of herbs, drugs and trees, was inundated by water and drowned beneath the devastating waves.
At that time, You protected me along with the earth and roamed the sea with great speed.
O unborn one, You are the actual maintainer of the entire universal creation, and therefore You are the cause of all living entities.
I offer my respectful obeisances unto You.
PURPORT
Envious persons cannot appreciate how wonderfully the Lord creates, maintains and annihilates the universe, but devotees of the Lord can understand this perfectly well.
Devotees can see how the Lord is acting behind the wonderful workings of the material nature.
In Bhagavad-gita (9.10) the Lord says:
mayadhyaksena prakrtih
suyate sa-caracaram
hetunanena kaunteya
jagad viparivartate
This material nature is working under My direction, O son of Kunti, and it is producing all moving and unmoving beings.
By its rule this manifestation is created and annihilated again and again All the wonderful transformations of nature are happening under the superintendence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Envious persons cannot see this, but a devotee, even though very humble and even if uneducated, knows that behind all the activities of nature is the supreme hand of the Supreme Being.
5.18.29
hiranmaye ’pi bhagavan nivasati kurma-tanum bibhranas tasya tat priyatamam tanum aryama saha varsa-purusaih pitr-ganadhipatir upadhavati mantram imam canujapati.
SYNONYMS
hiranmaye—in Hiranmaya-varsa; api—indeed; bhagavan—the Supreme Personality of Godhead; nivasati—resides; kurma-tanum—the body of a tortoise; bibhranah—manifesting; tasya—of the Supreme Personality of Godhead; tat—that; priya-tamam—dearmost; tanum—body; aryama—Aryama, the chief resident of Hiranmaya-varsa; saha—with; varsa-purusaih—the people of that tract of land; pitr-gana-adhipatih—who is the chief of the pitas; upadhavati—worships in devotional service; mantram—hymn; imam—this; ca—also; anujapati—chants.
TRANSLATION
Sukadeva Gosvami continued: In Hiranmaya-varsa, the Supreme Lord, Visnu, lives in the form of a tortoise (kurma-sarira).
This most dear and beautiful form is always worshiped there in devotional service by Aryama, the chief resident of Hiranmaya-varsa, along with the other inhabitants of that land.
They chant the following hymns.
PURPORT
The word priyatama (dearmost) is very significant in this verse.
Each devotee regards a particular form of the Lord as most dear.
Because of an atheistic mentality, some people think that the tortoise, boar and fish incarnations of the Lord are not very beautiful.
They do not know that any form of the Lord is always the fully opulent Personality of Godhead.
Since one of His opulences is infinite beauty, all the Lord’s incarnations are very beautiful and are appreciated as such by devotees.
Nondevotees, however, think that Lord Krsna’s incarnations are ordinary material creatures, and therefore they distinguish between the beautiful and the not beautiful.
A certain form of the Lord is worshiped by a particular devotee because he loves to see that form of the Lord.
Brahma-samhita (5.33): advaitam acyutam anadim ananta-rupam adyam purana-purusam nava-yauvanam ca.
The very beautiful form of the Lord is always youthful.
Sincere servants of a particular form of the Lord always see that form as very beautiful, and thus they engage in constant devotional service to Him.
5.18.30
om namo bhagavate akuparaya sarva-sattva-guna-visesanayanu-palaksita-sthanaya namo varsmane namo bhumne namo namo ’vasthanaya namas te.
SYNONYMS
om—O my Lord; namah—respectful obeisances; bhagavate—unto You, the Supreme Personality of Godhead; akuparaya—in the form of a tortoise; sarva-sattva-guna-visesanaya—whose form consists of suddha-sattva, transcendental goodness; anupalaksita-sthanaya—unto You, whose position is not discernible; namah—my respectful obeisances; varsmane—unto You who, although the oldest, are unaffected by time; namah—my respectful obeisances; bhumne—to the great one who can go everywhere; namah namah—repeated obeisances; avasthanaya—the shelter of everything; namah—respectful obeisances; te—unto You.
TRANSLATION
O my Lord, I offer my respectful obeisances unto You, who have assumed the form of a tortoise.
You are the reservoir of all transcendental qualities, and being entirely untinged by matter, You are perfectly situated in pure goodness.
You move here and there in the water, but no one can discern Your position.
Therefore I offer my respectful obeisances unto You.
Because of Your transcendental position, You are not limited by past, present and future.
You are present everywhere as the shelter of all things, and therefore I offer my respectful obeisances unto You again and again.
PURPORT
In the Brahma-samhita it is said, goloka eva nivasaty akhilatma-bhutah: (Bs.5.37) the Lord always remains in Goloka, the topmost plane in the spiritual world.
At the same time, He is all-pervading.
This paradox is only possible for the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is full of all opulences.
The Lord’s all-pervasiveness is confirmed in Bhagavad-gita (18.61) where Krsna states, isvarah sarva-bhutanam hrd-dese ’rjuna tisthati: The Supreme Lord is seated in everyone’s heart, O Arjuna Elsewhere in Bhagavad-gita (15.15) the Lord says, sarvasya caham hrdi sannivisto mattah smrtir jnanam apohanam ca: I am seated in everyone’s heart, and from Me come remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness Therefore, although the Lord is present everywhere, He cannot be seen with ordinary eyes.
As Aryama says, the Lord is anupalaksita-sthana: no one can locate Him.
This is the greatness of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
5.18.31
yad-rupam etan nija-mayayarpitam
artha-svarupam bahu-rupa-rupitam
sankhya na yasyasty ayathopalambhanat
tasmai namas te ’vyapadesa-rupine
SYNONYMS
yat—of whom; rupam—the form; etat—this; nija-mayaya arpitam—manifested by Your personal potency; artha-svarupam—this entire visible cosmic manifestation; bahu-rupa-rupitam—manifested in various forms; sankhya—the measurement; na—not; yasya—of which; asti—there is; ayatha—falsely; upalambhanat—from perceiving; tasmai—unto Him (the Supreme Lord); namah—my respectful obeisances; te—unto You; avyapadesa—cannot be ascertained by mental speculation; rupine—whose real form.
TRANSLATION
My dear Lord, this visible cosmic manifestation is a demonstration of Your own creative energy.
Since the countless varieties of forms within this cosmic manifestation are simply a display of Your external energy, this virat-rupa (universal body) is not Your real form.
Except for a devotee in transcendental consciousness, no one can perceive Your actual form.
Therefore I offer my respectful obeisances unto You.
PURPORT
Mayavadi philosophers think the universal form of the Lord to be real and His personal form illusory.
We can understand their mistake by a simple example.
A fire consists of three elements: heat and light, which are the energy of the fire, and the fire itself.
Anyone can understand that the original fire is the reality and that the heat and light are simply the fire’s energy.
Heat and light are the formless energies of fire, and in that sense they are unreal.
Only the fire has form, and therefore it is the real form of the heat and light.
As Krsna states in Bhagavad-gita (9.4), maya tatam idam sarvam jagad avyakta-murtina: By Me, in My unmanifested form this entire universe is pervaded Thus the impersonal conception of the Lord is like the expansion of heat and light from a fire.
In Bhagavad-gita the Lord also says, mat-sthani sarva-bhutani na caham tesv avasthitah: the entire material creation is resting on Krsna’s energy, either material, spiritual or marginal, but because His form is absent from the expansion of His energy, He is not personally present.
This inconceivable expansion of the Supreme Lord’s energy is called acintya-sakti.
Therefore no one can understand the real form of the Lord without becoming His devotee.
5.18.32
jarayujam svedajam andajodbhidam
caracaram devarsi-pitr-bhutam aindriyam
dyauh kham ksitih saila-sarit-samudra-
dvipa-graharksety abhidheya ekah
SYNONYMS
jarayu-jam—one born from a womb; sveda-jam—one born from perspiration; anda-ja—one born from an egg; udbhidam—one born of the earth; cara-acaram—the moving and the stationary; deva—the demigods; rsi—the great sages; pitr—the inhabitants of Pitrloka; bhutam—the material elements air, fire, water and earth; aindriyam—all the senses; dyauh—the higher planeary systems; kham—the sky; ksitih—the earthly planes; saila—the hills and mountains; sarit—the rivers; samudra—the oceans; dvipa—the islands; graha-rksa—the stars and planes; iti—thus; abhidheyah—to be variously named; ekah—one.
TRANSLATION
My dear Lord, You manifest Your different energies in countless forms: as living entities born from wombs, from eggs and from perspiration; as plants and trees that grow out of the earth; as all living entities, both moving and standing, including the demigods, the learned sages and the pitas; as outer space, as the higher planeary system containing the heavenly planes, and as the planet earth with its hills, rivers, seas, oceans and islands.
Indeed, all the stars and planes are simply manifestations of Your different energies, but originally You are one without a second.
Therefore there is nothing beyond You.
This entire cosmic manifestation is therefore not false but is simply a temporary manifestation of Your inconceivable energy.
PURPORT
This verse completely rejects the theory of brahma satyam jagan mithya, which states that spirit, or Brahman, is real, whereas the manifested material world, with its great variety of things, is false.
Nothing is false.
One thing may be permanent and another temporary, but both the permanent and the temporary are facts.
For example, if someone becomes angry for a certain period, no one can say that his anger is false.
It is simply temporary.
Everything we experience in our daily lives is of this same character; it is temporary but real.
The different kinds of living entities coming from various sources are very clearly described in this verse.
Some are born from a womb and some (like certain insects) from human perspiration.
Others hatch from eggs, and still others sprout from the earth.
A living entity takes birth under different circumstances according to his past activities (karma).
Although the body of the living entity is material, it is never false.
No one will accept the argument that since a person’s material body is false, murder has no repercussions.
Our temporary bodies are given to us according to our karma, and we must remain in our given bodies to enjoy the pains and pleasures of life.
Our bodies cannot be called false; they are only temporary.
In other words, the energy of the Supreme Lord is as permanent as the Lord Himself, although His energy is sometimes manifest and sometimes not.
As summarized in the Vedas, sarvam khalv idam brahma: Everything is Brahman
5.18.33
yasminn asankhyeya-visesa-nama-
rupakrtau kavibhih kalpiteyam
sankhya yaya tattva-drsapaniyate
tasmai namah sankhya-nidarsanaya te iti
SYNONYMS
yasmin—in You (the Supreme Personality of Godhead); asankhyeya—innumerable; visesa—particular; nama—names; rupa—forms; akrtau—possessing bodily features; kavibhih—by great learned persons; kalpita—imagined; iyam—this; sankhya—number; yaya—by whom; tattva—of the truth; drsa—by knowledge; apaniyate—is extracted; tasmai—unto Him; namah—respectful obeisances; sankhya-nidarsanaya—who is the revealer of this numerical knowledge; te—unto You; iti—thus.
TRANSLATION
O my Lord, Your name, form and bodily features are expanded in countless forms.
No one can determine exactly how many forms exist, yet You Yourself, in Your incarnation as the learned scholar Kapiladeva, have analyzed the cosmic manifestation as containing twenty-four elements.
Therefore if one is interested in Sankhya philosophy, by which one can enumerate the different truths, he must hear it from You.
Unfortunately, nondevotees simply count the different elements and remain ignorant of Your actual form.
I offer my respectful obeisances unto You.
PURPORT
Philosophers and scientists have been trying to study the entire cosmic situation and have been theorizing and calculating in different ways for millions and millions of years.
However, the speculative research work of a so-called scientist or philosopher is always interrupted when he dies, and the laws of nature go on without regard for his work.
For billions of years changes take place in the material creation, until at last the whole universe is dissolved and remains in an unmanifested state.
Constant change and destruction (bhutva bhutva praliyate) is perpetually going on in nature, yet the material scientists want to study natural laws without knowing the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is the background of nature.
As Krsna states in Bhagavad-gita (9.10):
mayadhyaksena prakrtih
suyate sa-caracaram
hetunanena kaunteya
jagad viparivartate
This material nature is working under My direction, O son of Kunti, and it is producing all moving and unmoving beings.
By its rule this manifestation is created and annihilated again and again Now the material creation is manifest, eventually it will be annihilated and remain for many millions of years in a dormant state, and finally it will again be created.
This is the law of nature.
5.18.34
uttaresu ca kurusu bhagavan yajna-purusah krta-varaha-rupa aste tam tu devi haisa bhuh saha kurubhir askhalita-bhakti-yogenopadhavati imam ca paramam upanisadam avartayati.
SYNONYMS
uttaresu—on the northern side; ca—also; kurusu—in the tract of land known as Kuru; bhagavan—the Supreme Personality of Godhead; yajna-purusah—who accepts all results of sacrifices; krta-varaha-rupah—having accepted the form of a boar; aste—exists eternally; tam—Him; tu—certainly; devi—the goddess; ha—certainly; esa—this; bhuh—plane earth; saha—along with; kurubhih—the inhabitants of the land known as Kuru; askhalita—unfailing; bhakti-yogena—by devotional service; upadhavati—worship; imam—this; ca—also; paramam upanisadam—the supreme Upanisad (the process by which one can approach the Lord); avartayati—chants again and again for the purpose of practice.
TRANSLATION
Sukadeva Gosvami said: Dear King, the Supreme Lord in His boar incarnation, who accepts all sacrificial offerings, lives in the northern part of Jambudvipa.
There, in the tract of land known as Uttarakuru-varsa, mother earth and all the other inhabitants worship Him with unfailing devotional service by repeatedly chanting the following Upanisad mantra.
5.18.35
om namo bhagavate mantra-tattva-lingaya yajna-kratave maha-dhvaravayavaya maha-purusaya namah karma-suklaya tri-yugaya namas te.
SYNONYMS
om—O Lord; namah—respectful obeisances; bhagavate—unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead; mantra-tattva-lingaya—who is understood in truth by different mantras; yajna—in the form of animal sacrifices; kratave—and animal sacrifice; maha-dhvara—great sacrifices; avayavaya—whose limbs and bodily parts; maha-purusaya—unto the Supreme Person; namah—respectful obeisances; karma-suklaya—who purifies the fruitive activities of the living entities; tri-yugaya—unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is full with six opulences and who appears in three yugas (remaining concealed in the fourth yuga); namah—my respectful obeisances; te—unto You.
TRANSLATION
O Lord, we offer our respectful obeisances unto You as the gigantic person.
Simply by chanting mantras, we shall be able to understand You fully.
You are yajna (sacrifice), and You are the kratu (ritual).
Therefore all the ritualistic ceremonies of sacrifice are part of Your transcendental body, and You are the only enjoyer of all sacrifices.
Your form is composed of transcendental goodness.
You are known as tri-yuga because in Kali-yuga You appeared as a concealed incarnation and because You always fully possess the three pairs of opulences.
PURPORT
Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is the incarnation for this age of Kali, as confirmed in many places throughout the puranas, the Mahabharata, Srimad-Bhagavatam and the Upanisads.
The summary of His appearance is given in Caitanya-caritamrta (Madhya6.99) as follows:
kali-yuge lilavatara na kare bhagavan
ataeva ‘tri-yuga’ kari’ kahi tara nama
In this age of Kali, the Supreme Personality of Godhead (Bhagavan) does not appear as a lilavatara, an incarnation to display pastimes.
Therefore He is known as tri-yuga.
Unlike other incarnations, Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu appears in this age of Kali as a devotee of the Lord.
Therefore He is called a concealed incarnation (channavatara).
5.18.36
yasya svarupam kavayo vipascito
gunesu darusv iva jata-vedasam
mathnanti mathna manasa didrksavo
gudham kriyarthair nama iritatmane
SYNONYMS
yasya—whose; sva-rupam—form; kavayah—the greatly learned sages; vipascitah—expert in ascertaining the Absolute Truth; gunesu—in the material manifestation, consisting of the three modes of nature; darusu—in wood; iva—like; jata—manifested; vedasam—fire; mathnanti—stir; mathna—with a piece of wood used for producing fire; manasa—by the mind; didrksavah—who are inquisitive; gudham—hidden; kriya-arthaih—by fruitive activities and their results; namah—respectful obeisances; irita-atmane—unto the Lord, who is manifested.
TRANSLATION
By manipulating a fire-generating stick, great saints and sages can bring forth the fire lying dormant within wood.
In the same way, O Lord, those expert in understanding the Absolute Truth try to see You in everything—even in their own bodies.
Yet you remain concealed.
You are not to be understood by indirect processes involving mental or physical activities.
Because You are self-manifested, only when You see that a person is wholeheartedly engaged in searching for You do You reveal Yourself.
Therefore I offer my respectful obeisances unto You.
PURPORT
The word kriyarthaih means by performing ritualistic ceremonies to satisfy the demigods The word vipascitah is explained in the Taittiriya Upanisad as follows: satyam jnanam anantam brahma yo veda nihitam guhayam parame vyoman so ’snute sarvan kaman saha brahmana vipasciteti.
As Krsna states in Bhagavad-gita (7.19), bahunam janmanam ante jnanavan mam prapadyate: After many births and deaths, he who is actually in knowledge surrenders unto Me When one understands that the Lord is situated in everyone’s heart and actually sees the Lord present everywhere, he has perfect knowledge.
The word jata-vedah means fire which is produced by rubbing wood In Vedic times, learned sages could bring forth fire from wood.
Jata-vedah also indicates the fire in the stomach, which digests everything we eat and which produces an appetite.
The word gudha is explained in the Svetasvatara Upanisad.
Eko devah sarva-bhutesu gudhah: The Supreme Personality of Godhead is understood by chanting the Vedic mantras.
Sarva-vyapi sarva-bhutantar-atma: He is all-pervading, and He is within the heart of living entities.
Karmadhyaksah sarva-bhutadhivasah: He witnesses all activities of the living entity.
Saksi ceta kevalo nirgunas ca: The Supreme Lord is the witness as well as the living force, yet He is transcendental to all material qualities.
5.18.37
dravya-kriya-hetv-ayanesa-kartrbhir
maya-gunair vastu-niriksitatmane
anviksayangatisayatma-buddhibhir
nirasta-mayakrtaye namo namah
SYNONYMS
dravya—by the objects of sense enjoyment; kriya—the activities of the senses; hetu—the predominating deities of sensory activities; ayana—the body; isa—the predominating time; kartrbhih—by false egotism; maya-gunaih—by the modes of material nature; vastu—as a fact; niriksita—being observed; atmane—unto the Supreme Soul; anviksaya—by careful consideration; anga—by the limbs of yogic practice; atisaya-atma-buddhibhih—by those whose intelligence has become fixed; nirasta—completely freed from; maya—the illusory energy; akrtaye—whose form; namah—all respectful obeisances; namah—respectful obeisances.
TRANSLATION
The objects of material enjoyment (sound, form, taste, touch and smell), the activities of the senses, the controllers of sensory activities (the demigods), the body, eternal time and egotism are all creations of Your material energy.
Those whose intelligence has become fixed by perfect execution of mystic yoga can see that all these elements result from the actions of Your external energy.
They can also see Your transcendental form as Supersoul in the background of everything.
Therefore I repeatedly offer my respectful obeisances unto You.
PURPORT
The objects of material enjoyment, the sensory activities, attachment to sensual pleasure, the body, false egotism and so on are produced by the Lord’s external energy, maya.
The background of all these activities is the living being, and the director of the living beings is the Supersoul.
The living being is not the all in all.
He is directed by the Supersoul.
In Bhagavad-gita (15.15) Krsna confirms this:
sarvasya caham hrdi sannivisto
mattah smrtir jnanam apohanam ca
I am seated in everyone’s heart, and from Me come remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness The living entity depends on the Supersoul for directions.
A person advanced in spiritual knowledge, or a person expert in the practice of mystic yoga (yama, niyama, asana and so on) can understand transcendence either as Paramatma or as the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
The Supreme Lord is the original cause of all natural events.
Therefore He is described as sarva-karana-karanam (Bs.5.1), the cause of all causes.
Behind everything visible to our material eyes is some cause, and one who can see the original cause of all causes, Lord Krsna, can actually see.
Krsna, the sac-cid-ananda-vigraha (Bs.5.1), is the background of everything, as He Himself confirms in Bhagavad-gita (9.10):
mayadhyaksena prakrtih
suyate sa-caracaram
hetunanena kaunteya
jagad viparivartate
This material nature is working under My direction, O son of Kunti, and it is producing all moving and unmoving beings.
By its rule this manifestation is created and annihilated again and again
5.18.38
karoti visva-sthiti-samyamodayam
yasyepsitam nepsitam iksitur gunaih
maya yathayo bhramate tad-asrayam
gravno namas te guna-karma-saksine
SYNONYMS
karoti—performing; visva—of the universe; sthiti—the maintenance; samyama—winding up; udayam—creation; yasya—of whom; ipsitam—desired; na—not; ipsitam—desired; iksituh—of the one glancing over; gunaih—with the modes of material nature; maya—the material energy; yatha—as much as; ayah—iron; bhramate—moves; tat-asrayam—placed near that; gravnah—a magnetic stone; namah—my respectful obeisances; te—unto You; guna-karma-saksine—the witness of the actions and reactions of material nature.
TRANSLATION
O Lord, You do not desire the creation, maintenance or annihilation of this material world, but You perform these activities for the conditioned souls by Your creative energy.
Exactly as a piece of iron moves under the influence of a lodestone, inert matter moves when You glance over the total material energy.
PURPORT
Sometimes the question arises why the Supreme Lord has created this material world, which is so full of suffering for the living entities entrapped in it.
The answer given herein is that the Supreme Personality of Godhead does not wish to create this material world just to inflict suffering on the living entities.
The Supreme Lord creates this world only because the conditioned souls want to enjoy it.
The workings of nature are not going on automatically.
It is only because the Lord glances over the material energy that it acts in wonderful ways, just as a lodestone causes a piece of iron to move here and there.
Because materialistic scientists and so-called Sankhya philosophers do not believe in God, they think that material nature is working without supervision.
But that is not the fact.
In Caitanya-caritamrta (Adi6.18–19) the creation of the material world is explained as follows:
yadyapi sankhya mane ‘pradhana’——karana
jada ha-ite kabhu nahe jagat-srjana
nija-srsti-sakti prabhu sancare pradhane
isvarera saktye tabe haye ta’ nirmane
Atheistic Sankhya philosophers think that the total material energy causes the cosmic manifestation, but they are wrong.
Dead matter has no moving power, and therefore it cannot act independently.
The Lord infuses the material ingredients with His own creative potency.
Then, by the power of the Lord, matter moves and interacts Sea waves are moved by the air, the air is created from ether, the-ether is produced by the agitation of the three modes of material nature, and the three modes of material nature interact due to the Supreme Lord’s glance over the total material energy.
Therefore the background of all natural occurrences is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, as confirmed in Bhagavad-gita (mayadhyaksena prakrtih suyate sa-caracaram (Bg.9.10)).
This is also further explained in Caitanya-caritamrta (Adi5.59–61):
jagat-karana nahe prakrti jada-rupa
sakti sancariya tare krsna kare krpa
krsna-saktye prakrti haya gauna karana
agni-saktye lauha yaiche karaye jarana
ataeva krsna mula-jagat-karana
prakrti——karana yaiche aja-gala-stana
Because prakrti (material nature) is dull and inert, it cannot actually be the cause of the material world.
Lord Krsna shows His mercy by infusing His energy into the dull, inert material nature.
Thus prakrti, by the energy of Lord Krsna, becomes the secondary cause, just as iron becomes red-hot by the energy of fire.
Therefore Lord Krsna is the original cause of the cosmic manifestation prakrti is like the nipples on the neck of a goat, for they cannot give any milk Thus it is a great mistake on the part of the material scientists and philosophers to think that matter moves independently.
5.18.39
pramathya daityam prativaranam mrdhe
yo mam rasaya jagad-adi-sukarah
krtvagra-damstre niragad udanvatah
kridann ivebhah pranatasmi tam vibhum iti
SYNONYMS
pramathya—after killing; daityam—the demon; prativaranam—most formidable opponent; mrdhe—in the fight; yah—He who; mam—me (the earth); rasayah—fallen to the bottom of the universe; jagat—in this material world; adi-sukarah—the original form of a boar; krtva—keeping it; agra-damstre—on the end of the tusk; niragat—came out of the water; udanvatah—from the Garbhodaka Ocean; kridan—playing; iva—like; ibhah—elephant; pranata asmi—I bow down; tam—to Him; vibhum—the Supreme Lord; iti—thus.
TRANSLATION
My Lord, as the original boar within this universe, You fought and killed the great demon Hiranyaksa.
Then You lifted me (the earth) from the Garbhodaka Ocean on the end of Your tusk, exactly as a sporting elephant plucks a lotus flower from the water.
I bow down before You.