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Sourceषट्-सन्दर्भ-नामक-श्री-भागवत-सन्दर्भे द्वितीयः भगवत्-सन्दर्भः श्री-श्री-राधा-गोविन्दो जयतः । तौ सन्तोषयता सन्तौ श्रील-रूप-सनातनौ । दाक्षिणात्येन भट्टेन प्नुअर् एतद् विविच्यते ॥ओ॥ तस्याद्यं ग्रन्थनालेखं क्रान्तम् उत्क्रान्त-खण्डितम् । पर्यालोच्याथ पर्यायं कृत्वा लिखति जीवकः ॥ओ॥[*एन्द्नोते #१] [१] अथैवम् अद्वय-ज्ञान-लक्षणं तत् तत्त्वं सामान्यतो लक्षयित्वा पुनर् उपासक-योग्यता-वैशिष्ट्येन प्रकटित-निज-सत्ता-विशेषं विशेषतो निरूपयति वदन्तीत्य् अस्यैवोत्तरार्धेन ब्रह्मेति परमात्मेति भगवान् इति शब्द्यते । [भ्प् १.२.११] अथ श्रीमद्-भागवताख्य एव शास्त्रे क्वचिद् अनयत्रापि तद् एकं तत्त्वं त्रिधा शब्द्यते । क्वचिद् ब्रह्मेति क्वचित् परमात्मेति क्वचिद् भगवान् इति च । किन्त्व् अत्र श्रीमद्-व्यास-समाधि-लब्धाद् भेदाज् जीव इति च शब्द्यते इति स्वयम् एव व्याख्यातो भवतीति प्रथमतस् ताव् एव प्रस्तूयते । मूले तु क्रमाद् वैशिष्ट्य-द्योतनाय तथा विन्यासः । अयम् अर्थः - तद् एकम् एवाखण्डानन्द-स्वरूपं तत्त्वं थुत्कृत-पारमेष्ठ्यादिकानन्द- समुदयानां परमहंसानां साधन-वशात् तादात्म्यम् आपन्ने सत्याम् अपि तदीय-स्वरूप-शक्ति-वैचित्र्यां तद्-ग्रहणासामर्थ्ये चेतसि यथा सामान्यतो लक्षितं तथैव स्फुरद् वा तद्वद् एवाविविक्त-शक्ति- शक्तिमत्ताभेदतया प्रतिपाद्यमानं वा ब्रह्मेति शब्द्यते । अथ तद् एकं तत्त्वं स्वरूप-भूतयैव शक्त्या कम् अपि विशेषं धर्तुं परासाम् अपि शक्तीनां मूलाश्रय-रूपं तद्-अनुभावानन्द-सन्दोहान्तर्- भावित-तादृश-ब्रह्मानन्दानां भागवत-परमहंसानां तथानुभवैक-साधकतम-तदीय-स्वरूपानन्द-शक्ति-विशेषात्मक- भक्ति-भावितेष्व् अन्तर्-बहिर् अपीन्द्रियेषु परिस्फुरद् वा तद्वद् एव विविक्त- तादृश-शक्ति-शक्तिमत्ताभेदेन प्रतिपाद्यमानं वा भगवान् इति शब्द्यते । एवम् एवोक्तं श्री-जड-भरतेन - ज्ञानं विशुद्धं परमार्थम् एकम् अनन्तरं त्व् अबहिर् ब्रह्म सत्यम् प्रत्यक् प्रशान्तं भगवच्-छब्द-संज्ञं यद् वासुदेवं कवयो वदन्ति ॥ [भ्प् ५.१२.११] इति । श्री-ध्रुवं प्रति श्री-मनुना च - त्वं प्रत्यग्-आत्मनि तदा भगवत्य् अनन्त । आनन्द-मात्र उपपन्न-समस्त-शक्तौ ॥ [भ्प् ४.११.३०] इति । एवं चानन्द-मात्रं विशेष्यं समस्ताः शक्तयो विशेषणानि विशिष्टो भगवान् इत्य् आयातम् । तथा चैवं विशिष्टये प्राप्ते पूर्णाविर्भावत्वेनाखण्ड-तत्त्व-रूपोऽसौ भगवान् । ब्रह्म तु स्फुटम् अप्रकटित-वैशिष्ट्याकारत्वेन तस्यवासम्यग् आविर्भाव इत्य् आगतम् । इदं तु पुरस्ताद् विस्तरेण विवेचनीयम् । भगवच् छब्दार्थः श्री-विष्णु-पुराणे [६.५.६६-६९, ७३-७५, ७९] प्रोक्तः । यत् तद् अव्यक्तम् अजरम् अचिन्त्यम् अजम् अक्षयम् । अनिर्देश्यम् अरूपं च पाणि-पादाद्य्-असंयुतम् ॥ विभुं सर्व-गतं नित्यं भूत-योनिम् अकारणम् । व्याप्य्-अव्याप्तं यतः सर्वं तद् वै पश्यन्ति सूरयः ॥ तद् ब्रह्म परमं धाम तद् ध्येयं मोक्ष-काङ्क्षिणाम् । श्रुति-वाक्योदितं सूक्ष्मं तद् विष्णोः परमं पदम् ॥ तद् एतद् भगवद्-वाच्यं स्वरूपं परमात्मनः । वाचको भगवच्-छब्दस् तस्याद्यस्याक्षरात्मनः ॥ इत्य्-आद्य् उक्त्वा --- सम्भर्तेति तथा भर्ता भकारोऽर्थ-द्वयान्वितः । नेता गमयिता स्रष्टा गकारार्थस् तथा मुने ॥ ऐश्वर्यस्य समग्रस्य वीर्यस्य यशसः श्रियः । ज्ञान-वैराग्ययोश् चैव षण्णां भग इतीङ्गना ॥ वसन्ति तत्र भूतानि भूतात्मन्य् अखिलात्मनि । स च भूतेष्व् अशेषेषु वकारार्थस् ततोऽव्ययः ॥ इति चोक्त्वा -- ज्ञान-शक्ति-बलैश्वर्य-वीर्य-तेजांस्य् अशेषतः । भगवच्-छब्द-वाच्यानि विना हेयैर् गुणादिभिः ॥ इति [विप् ६.५.७९] पर्यन्तेन । पूर्ववद् अत्र विशेष्य-विशेषण-विशिष्टता विवेचनीया । विशेषणस्याप्य् अहेयत्वं व्यक्तीभविष्यतीति । अरूपं पाणि-पादाद्य्-असंयुतम् इतीदं ब्रह्माख्य-केवल-विशेष्याविर्भाव-निष्ठम् । विभुं सर्व-गतम् इत्य् आदिकं तु विशिष्ट-निष्ठम् । अथवा अरूपम् इत्य् आदिकं प्राकृत-रूपादि- निषेध-निष्ठम् । अतएव पाणि-पादाद्य-संयुतम् इति संयोग-सम्बन्ध एव परिह्रियते न तु समवाय-सम्बन्ध इति ज्ञेयम् । विभुम् इति सर्व-वैभव- युक्तम् इत्य् अर्थः । व्यापीति सर्व-व्यापकम् । अव्याप्तम् इति अन्येन व्याप्तुम् अशक्यम् । तद् एतद् ब्रह्म-स्वरूपं भगवच्-छब्देन वाच्यम् । न तु लक्ष्यम् । तद् एव निर्धार्यति भगवच्-छब्दोऽयं तस्य नदी-विशेषस्य गङ्गा-शब्दवद् वाचक एव, न तु तट-शब्दवल्-लक्षकः । एवं सत्य-क्षर- साम्यान् निर्ब्रूयाद् इति निरुक्त-मतम् आश्रित्य भगादि-शब्दानाम् अर्थम् आह सम्भर्तेति. नेतास्व-भक्ति-फलस्य प्रेम्णः प्रापकः । गमयिता स्व-लोक- प्रापकः । स्रष्टा स्व-भक्तेषु तत्-तद्-गुणस्योद्गमयिता । जगत्- पोषकत्वादिकं तु तस्य परम्परयैव न तु साक्षाद् इति ज्ञेयम् । ऐश्वर्यं सर्व-वशीकारित्वम् । समग्रस्येति सर्वत्रान्वेति । वीर्यं मणि- मन्त्रादेर् इव प्रभावः । यशो वाङ्-मनः-शरीराणां साद्गुण्य-ख्यातिः । श्रीः सर्व-प्रकारा सम्पत् । ज्ञानं सर्वज्ञत्वम् । वैराग्यं प्रपञ्च-वस्त्व्- अनासक्तिः । इङ्गना संज्ञा । अक्षर-साम्य-पक्षे भगवान् इति वक्तव्ये मतुपो व-लोपश् छान्दसः । सम्भर्तेय्-आदिषु सम्भर्तृत्वादिष्व् एव तात्पर्यम् । यथा सुप्तिङ्-अन्तचयो वाक्यम् इत्य् अत्र पचति भवतीत्य् अस्य वाक्यस्य पाको भवतीत्य् अर्थः क्रियते यथा वा सत्तायाम् अस्ति भवतीत्य् अत्र धात्व्-अर्थ एव विवक्षितः । तद् एवम् एव भगवान् इत्य् अत्र मतुब्-अर्थो योजयितुं शक्यते । प्रकारान्तरेण षड्-भगान् दर्शयति ज्ञान-शक्ती ज्ञानम् अन्तः-करणस्य । शक्तिर् इन्द्रियाणाम् । ऐश्वर्य-वीर्ये व्याख्याते । तेजः कान्तिः । अशेषतः सामग्र्येणेत्य् अर्थः । भगवच्-छब्द-वाच्यानीति । भगवतो विशेषणान्य् एवैतानि न तूपलक्षआनीत्य् अर्थः । अत्र भगवान् इति नित्य-योगे मतुप् । अथ तथाविध-भगवद्-रूप-पूर्णाविर्भावं तत् तत्त्वं पूर्ववज् जीवादि- नियन्तृत्वेन स्फुरद् वा प्रतिपाद्यमानं वा परमात्मेति शब्द्यत इति । यद्यप्य् एतए ब्रह्मादि-शब्दाः प्रायो मिथोऽर्थेषु वर्तन्ते तथापि तत्र तत्र सङ्केत-प्राधान्य-विवक्षयेदम् उक्तम् ॥ श्री-सुतः ॥
ṣaṭ-sandarbha-nāmaka-śrī-bhāgavata-sandarbhe dvitīyaḥ bhagavat-sandarbhaḥ śrī-śrī-rādhā-govindo jayataḥ | tau santoṣayatā santau śrīla-rūpa-sanātanau | dākṣiṇātyena bhaṭṭena pnuar etad vivicyate ||o|| tasyādyaṃ granthanālekhaṃ krāntam utkrānta-khaṇḍitam | paryālocyātha paryāyaṃ kṛtvā likhati jīvakaḥ ||o||[*ENDNOTE #1] [1] athaivam advaya-jñāna-lakṣaṇaṃ tat tattvaṃ sāmānyato lakṣayitvā punar upāsaka-yogyatā-vaiśiṣṭyena prakaṭita-nija-sattā-viśeṣaṃ viśeṣato nirūpayati vadantīty asyaivottarārdhena brahmeti paramātmeti bhagavān iti śabdyate | [BhP 1.2.11] atha śrīmad-bhāgavatākhya eva śāstre kvacid anayatrāpi tad ekaṃ tattvaṃ tridhā śabdyate | kvacid brahmeti kvacit paramātmeti kvacid bhagavān iti ca | kintv atra śrīmad-vyāsa-samādhi-labdhād bhedāj jīva iti ca śabdyate iti svayam eva vyākhyāto bhavatīti prathamatas tāv eva prastūyate | mūle tu kramād vaiśiṣṭya-dyotanāya tathā vinyāsaḥ | ayam arthaḥ - tad ekam evākhaṇḍānanda-svarūpaṃ tattvaṃ thutkṛta-pārameṣṭhyādikānanda- samudayānāṃ paramahaṃsānāṃ sādhana-vaśāt tādātmyam āpanne satyām api tadīya-svarūpa-śakti-vaicitryāṃ tad-grahaṇāsāmarthye cetasi yathā sāmānyato lakṣitaṃ tathaiva sphurad vā tadvad evāvivikta-śakti- śaktimattābhedatayā pratipādyamānaṃ vā brahmeti śabdyate | atha tad ekaṃ tattvaṃ svarūpa-bhūtayaiva śaktyā kam api viśeṣaṃ dhartuṃ parāsām api śaktīnāṃ mūlāśraya-rūpaṃ tad-anubhāvānanda-sandohāntar- bhāvita-tādṛśa-brahmānandānāṃ bhāgavata-paramahaṃsānāṃ tathānubhavaika-sādhakatama-tadīya-svarūpānanda-śakti-viśeṣātmaka- bhakti-bhāviteṣv antar-bahir apīndriyeṣu parisphurad vā tadvad eva vivikta- tādṛśa-śakti-śaktimattābhedena pratipādyamānaṃ vā bhagavān iti śabdyate | evam evoktaṃ śrī-jaḍa-bharatena - jñānaṃ viśuddhaṃ paramārtham ekam anantaraṃ tv abahir brahma satyam pratyak praśāntaṃ bhagavac-chabda-saṃjñaṃ yad vāsudevaṃ kavayo vadanti || [BhP 5.12.11] iti | śrī-dhruvaṃ prati śrī-manunā ca - tvaṃ pratyag-ātmani tadā bhagavaty ananta | ānanda-mātra upapanna-samasta-śaktau || [BhP 4.11.30] iti | evaṃ cānanda-mātraṃ viśeṣyaṃ samastāḥ śaktayo viśeṣaṇāni viśiṣṭo bhagavān ity āyātam | tathā caivaṃ viśiṣṭaye prāpte pūrṇāvirbhāvatvenākhaṇḍa-tattva-rūpo'sau bhagavān | brahma tu sphuṭam aprakaṭita-vaiśiṣṭyākāratvena tasyavāsamyag āvirbhāva ity āgatam | idaṃ tu purastād vistareṇa vivecanīyam | bhagavac chabdārthaḥ śrī-viṣṇu-purāṇe [6.5.66-69, 73-75, 79] proktaḥ | yat tad avyaktam ajaram acintyam ajam akṣayam | anirdeśyam arūpaṃ ca pāṇi-pādādy-asaṃyutam || vibhuṃ sarva-gataṃ nityaṃ bhūta-yonim akāraṇam | vyāpy-avyāptaṃ yataḥ sarvaṃ tad vai paśyanti sūrayaḥ || tad brahma paramaṃ dhāma tad dhyeyaṃ mokṣa-kāṅkṣiṇām | śruti-vākyoditaṃ sūkṣmaṃ tad viṣṇoḥ paramaṃ padam || tad etad bhagavad-vācyaṃ svarūpaṃ paramātmanaḥ | vācako bhagavac-chabdas tasyādyasyākṣarātmanaḥ || ity-ādy uktvā --- sambharteti tathā bhartā bhakāro'rtha-dvayānvitaḥ | netā gamayitā sraṣṭā gakārārthas tathā mune || aiśvaryasya samagrasya vīryasya yaśasaḥ śriyaḥ | jñāna-vairāgyayoś caiva ṣaṇṇāṃ bhaga itīṅganā || vasanti tatra bhūtāni bhūtātmany akhilātmani | sa ca bhūteṣv aśeṣeṣu vakārārthas tato'vyayaḥ || iti coktvā -- jñāna-śakti-balaiśvarya-vīrya-tejāṃsy aśeṣataḥ | bhagavac-chabda-vācyāni vinā heyair guṇādibhiḥ || iti [ViP 6.5.79] paryantena | pūrvavad atra viśeṣya-viśeṣaṇa-viśiṣṭatā vivecanīyā | viśeṣaṇasyāpy aheyatvaṃ vyaktībhaviṣyatīti | arūpaṃ pāṇi-pādādy-asaṃyutam itīdaṃ brahmākhya-kevala-viśeṣyāvirbhāva-niṣṭham | vibhuṃ sarva-gatam ity ādikaṃ tu viśiṣṭa-niṣṭham | athavā arūpam ity ādikaṃ prākṛta-rūpādi- niṣedha-niṣṭham | ataeva pāṇi-pādādya-saṃyutam iti saṃyoga-sambandha eva parihriyate na tu samavāya-sambandha iti jñeyam | vibhum iti sarva-vaibhava- yuktam ity arthaḥ | vyāpīti sarva-vyāpakam | avyāptam iti anyena vyāptum aśakyam | tad etad brahma-svarūpaṃ bhagavac-chabdena vācyam | na tu lakṣyam | tad eva nirdhāryati bhagavac-chabdo'yaṃ tasya nadī-viśeṣasya gaṅgā-śabdavad vācaka eva, na tu taṭa-śabdaval-lakṣakaḥ | evaṃ satya-kṣara- sāmyān nirbrūyād iti nirukta-matam āśritya bhagādi-śabdānām artham āha sambharteti. netāsva-bhakti-phalasya premṇaḥ prāpakaḥ | gamayitā sva-loka- prāpakaḥ | sraṣṭā sva-bhakteṣu tat-tad-guṇasyodgamayitā | jagat- poṣakatvādikaṃ tu tasya paramparayaiva na tu sākṣād iti jñeyam | aiśvaryaṃ sarva-vaśīkāritvam | samagrasyeti sarvatrānveti | vīryaṃ maṇi- mantrāder iva prabhāvaḥ | yaśo vāṅ-manaḥ-śarīrāṇāṃ sādguṇya-khyātiḥ | śrīḥ sarva-prakārā sampat | jñānaṃ sarvajñatvam | vairāgyaṃ prapañca-vastv- anāsaktiḥ | iṅganā saṃjñā | akṣara-sāmya-pakṣe bhagavān iti vaktavye matupo va-lopaś chāndasaḥ | sambhartey-ādiṣu sambhartṛtvādiṣv eva tātparyam | yathā suptiṅ-antacayo vākyam ity atra pacati bhavatīty asya vākyasya pāko bhavatīty arthaḥ kriyate yathā vā sattāyām asti bhavatīty atra dhātv-artha eva vivakṣitaḥ | tad evam eva bhagavān ity atra matub-artho yojayituṃ śakyate | prakārāntareṇa ṣaḍ-bhagān darśayati jñāna-śaktī jñānam antaḥ-karaṇasya | śaktir indriyāṇām | aiśvarya-vīrye vyākhyāte | tejaḥ kāntiḥ | aśeṣataḥ sāmagryeṇety arthaḥ | bhagavac-chabda-vācyānīti | bhagavato viśeṣaṇāny evaitāni na tūpalakṣaānīty arthaḥ | atra bhagavān iti nitya-yoge matup | atha tathāvidha-bhagavad-rūpa-pūrṇāvirbhāvaṃ tat tattvaṃ pūrvavaj jīvādi- niyantṛtvena sphurad vā pratipādyamānaṃ vā paramātmeti śabdyata iti | yadyapy etae brahmādi-śabdāḥ prāyo mitho'rtheṣu vartante tathāpi tatra tatra saṅketa-prādhānya-vivakṣayedam uktam || śrī-sutaḥ ||
English translation
English witness · section(s) 1
Srila Jiva Gosvami’s Sri Bhagavat-sandarbha An Essay on Bhagavan Volume One
Introduction The second sandarbha, called Bhagavat-sandarbha, draws a distinction between impersonal Brahman and localised Paramatma, and describes the spiritual world and the domination of the mode of goodness devoid of contamination by the other two material modes. In other words, there is a vivid description of the transcendental position known a suddha-sattva. Material goodness is apt to be contaminated by the other two material qualities - ignorance and passion - but when one is situated in the suddha-sattva-position, there is no chance for such contamination. It is a spiritual platform of pure goodness. The potency of the Supreme Lord, and the living entity, is also described, and there is a description of the inconceivable energies and varieties of energies of the Lord. The potencies of the Lord are divided into categories - internal, external, personal, marginal, and so forth. There are also discussions of the eternality of Deity worship, the omnipotence of the Deity, His all-pervasiveness, Hi giving shelter to everyone, His subtle and gross potencies, His personal manifestations, Hi expression of form, qualities, and pastimes, His transcendental position and His complete form. It is also stated that everything pertaining to the Absolute has the same potency and that the spiritual world, the associates in the spiritual world, and the threefold energies of the Lord in the spiritual world are all transcendental. There are further discussions concerning the difference between the impersonal Brahman and the Personality of Godhead, the fullness of the Personality of Godhead, the objective of all Vedic knowledge, the personal potencies of the Lord, and the Personality of Godhead as the original author of Vedic knowledge. His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Table of Contents
Volume One
Brahman, Paramatma and Bhagavan, Anucchedas 1-9 Page 3
The Description of Bhagavan in Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.9.9-19 Anucchedas 10-11 Page 10
The Lord’s Potencies, Anucchedas 12-18 Page 16
The Jivas, the Senses, and Bhagavan, Anucchedas 19-20 Page 25
Bhagavan is Always in Full Control of His Potencies, Anucchedas 21-22 Page 28
Bhagavan is Transcendental and Blissful, Spiritual Potencies, the Maya Potency, Anuccheda 23 Page 29
Bhagavan’s Qualities and Opulences, Anucchedas 24-29 Page 32 The Lord’s Form, Anucchedas 30-31 Page 37
Anuccheda 1
In the previous (Tattva) Sandarbha I have described in a general way the nature of the non-dual Absolute Truth and the eternal distinction between that Absolute and the individual living entities, who are naturally the servants and worshippers of the Absolute. Now I shall describe some of the variegated features of the Absolute. The Absolute is known in three features, called Brahman, Paramatma and Bhagavan. This is described in the following statement of Srimad Bhagavatam (1.2.11): “Learned transcendentalists who know the Absolute Truth call this non dual substance Brahman, Paramatma or Bhagavan.”*
Bhagavat · Sanskrit §2 · English §2
Source[२] एवम् एव प्रश्नोत्त्तराभ्यां विवृणोति । राजोवाच - नारायणाभिधानस्य ब्रह्मणः परमात्मनः । निष्ठाम् अर्हथ नो वक्तुं यूयं हि ब्रह्म-वित्तमाः ॥ [भ्प् ११.३.३५] श्री-पिप्पलायन उवाच - स्थित्य्-उद्भव-प्रलय-हेतुर् अहेतुर् अस्य यत् स्वप्न-जागर-सुषुप्तिषु यद् बहिश् च । देहेन्द्रियासुहृदयानि चरन्ति येन सञ्जीवितानि तद् अवेहि परं नरेन्द्र ॥ [भ्प् ११.३.३६] अत्र प्रश्नस्यार्थः । नारायणाभिधानस्य भगवतः । ब्रह्मेति परमात्मेत्य् आदि-प्रसिद्ध-तत्-समुदाय-तृतीयतया पाठात् । नारायणे तुरीयाख्ये भगवच्-छब-शब्दिते इत्य् अत्र स्पष्टीभावित्वाच् च । निष्ठां तत्त्वम् । प्रश्न-क्रमेणैवोत्तरम् आह स्थितीति । यत् स्थित्यादि-हेतुर् अहेतुश् च भवति । यच् च जागरादिषु यद् बहिश् च भवति । येन च देहादीनि सञ्जीवितानि सन्ति चरन्ति । तद् एकम् एव परं तत्त्वं प्रश्न-क्रमेण नारायणादि-रूपं विद्धीति योजनीयम् । तथापि भ्रमत्व-स्पष्टीकरणाय विपर्ययेन व्याख्यायते । तत्रैकस्यैव विशेषण-भेदेन तद्-अविशिष्टत्वेन च प्रतिपादनात् तथैव तत् तद् उपासक-पुरुषानुभव-भेदाच् चाविर्भावनाम्भोदेर् भेद इत्य् उत्तर-वाक्य-तात्पर्यम् । एतद् उक्तं भवति । स्वयम् अहेतुः स्वरूप-शक्त्यैक-विलासमयत्वेन तत्रोदासीनम् अपि प्रकृतिजीव-प्रवर्तकावस्थ-परमात्मापर-पर्याय- स्वांश-लक्षण-पुरुष-द्वारा यद् अस्य सर्ग-स्थित्य्-आदि-हेतुर् भवति तद् भगवद्-रूपं विद्धि । परमात्मता चैवम् उपतिष्ठतीत्य् आह येन हेतु- कर्त्रा आत्मांश-भूत-जीव-प्रवेशन-द्वारा सञ्जीवितानि सन्ति देहादीनि तद्- उपलक्षणानि प्रधानादि-सर्वाण्य् एव तत्त्वानि येनैव प्रेरिततयैव चरन्ति स्व-स्व-कार्ये प्रवर्तन्ते तत् परअमात्म-रूपं विद्धि । तस्मै नमो भगवते ब्रह्मणे परमात्मने [भ्प् १०.२८.६] इत्य् अत्र वरुण- कृत-श्री-कृष्ण-स्तुतौ टीका च - परमात्मने सर्व-जीव-नियन्त्रे इत्य् एषा । जीवस्यात्मत्वं तद्-अपेक्षया तस्य परमत्वम् इत्य् अतः परमात्म-शब्देन तत्-सहयोगी स एव व्यज्यते इति । तत् तद् अविशिष्टत्वेन ब्रह्मत्व-मात्रं चैवम् उपतिष्ठतीत्य् आह, स्वप्नेति । यद् एव तत् तत्त्वं स्वप्नादौ अन्वयेन स्थितं यच् च तद्-बहिः शुद्धायां जीवाख्य-शक्तौ तथा स्थितं चकारात् ततः परत्रापि व्यतिरेकेण स्थितं स्वयम् अविशिष्टं तद् ब्रह्म-रूपं विद्धीति ॥ श्री-नारदः? ॥ श्री-नारदः॥२॥
[2] evam eva praśnotttarābhyāṃ vivṛṇoti | rājovāca - nārāyaṇābhidhānasya brahmaṇaḥ paramātmanaḥ | niṣṭhām arhatha no vaktuṃ yūyaṃ hi brahma-vittamāḥ || [BhP 11.3.35] śrī-pippalāyana uvāca - sthity-udbhava-pralaya-hetur ahetur asya yat svapna-jāgara-suṣuptiṣu yad bahiś ca | dehendriyāsuhṛdayāni caranti yena sañjīvitāni tad avehi paraṃ narendra || [BhP 11.3.36] atra praśnasyārthaḥ | nārāyaṇābhidhānasya bhagavataḥ | brahmeti paramātmety ādi-prasiddha-tat-samudāya-tṛtīyatayā pāṭhāt | nārāyaṇe turīyākhye bhagavac-chaba-śabdite ity atra spaṣṭībhāvitvāc ca | niṣṭhāṃ tattvam | praśna-krameṇaivottaram āha sthitīti | yat sthityādi-hetur ahetuś ca bhavati | yac ca jāgarādiṣu yad bahiś ca bhavati | yena ca dehādīni sañjīvitāni santi caranti | tad ekam eva paraṃ tattvaṃ praśna-krameṇa nārāyaṇādi-rūpaṃ viddhīti yojanīyam | tathāpi bhramatva-spaṣṭīkaraṇāya viparyayena vyākhyāyate | tatraikasyaiva viśeṣaṇa-bhedena tad-aviśiṣṭatvena ca pratipādanāt tathaiva tat tad upāsaka-puruṣānubhava-bhedāc cāvirbhāvanāmbhoder bheda ity uttara-vākya-tātparyam | etad uktaṃ bhavati | svayam ahetuḥ svarūpa-śaktyaika-vilāsamayatvena tatrodāsīnam api prakṛtijīva-pravartakāvastha-paramātmāpara-paryāya- svāṃśa-lakṣaṇa-puruṣa-dvārā yad asya sarga-sthity-ādi-hetur bhavati tad bhagavad-rūpaṃ viddhi | paramātmatā caivam upatiṣṭhatīty āha yena hetu- kartrā ātmāṃśa-bhūta-jīva-praveśana-dvārā sañjīvitāni santi dehādīni tad- upalakṣaṇāni pradhānādi-sarvāṇy eva tattvāni yenaiva preritatayaiva caranti sva-sva-kārye pravartante tat paraamātma-rūpaṃ viddhi | tasmai namo bhagavate brahmaṇe paramātmane [BhP 10.28.6] ity atra varuṇa- kṛta-śrī-kṛṣṇa-stutau ṭīkā ca - paramātmane sarva-jīva-niyantre ity eṣā | jīvasyātmatvaṃ tad-apekṣayā tasya paramatvam ity ataḥ paramātma-śabdena tat-sahayogī sa eva vyajyate iti | tat tad aviśiṣṭatvena brahmatva-mātraṃ caivam upatiṣṭhatīty āha, svapneti | yad eva tat tattvaṃ svapnādau anvayena sthitaṃ yac ca tad-bahiḥ śuddhāyāṃ jīvākhya-śaktau tathā sthitaṃ cakārāt tataḥ paratrāpi vyatirekeṇa sthitaṃ svayam aviśiṣṭaṃ tad brahma-rūpaṃ viddhīti || śrī-nāradaḥ? || śrī-nāradaḥ||2||
English translation
English witness · section(s) 2
Anuccheda 2
1 In this and other verses of the Bhagavatam, and in other Vedic literatures as well, the Absolute Truth is indicated by the use of these three words. In some places the Absolute is called Brahman, in other places Paramatma, and in other places Bhagavan. In the description of Srila Vyasa’s perception, in spiritual trance, of the Supreme (described in the Tattva Sandarbha), the individual living entities (jivas) are clearly described as different from the Supreme. For this reason no one should claim that the jivas are identical with the Supreme, and no one can artificially add the phrase “jiva iti ca sabdyate” (and the Supreme is also known as jiva) to this verse (1.2.11) of Srimad Bhagavatam. Although the Bhagavatam gives elaborate explanations of Brahman and Bhagavan first, and only after some while describes at length the feature of Paramatma, nevertheless this verse (1.2.11) gives the three features of the Supreme in the sequence Brahman, Paramatma, Bhagavan. This sequence shows the relative importance of the three features, the most important given last. 2 The non-dual Supreme, whose spiritual bliss is without interruption is understood in the three features of Brahman, Paramatma and Bhagavan. I shall now describe the feature called Brahman: Those transcendentalists who realise the Brahman feature of the Lord experience so much spiritual happiness by this realisation that they spit in contempt on the happiness attained by the demigod Brahma, what to speak of the little happiness available to the other insignificant creatures in the material world. By rigidly following the practices of spiritual life (sadhana), these transcendentalists are able to understand that the individual living entity is spiritual and his nature is like that of the Supreme. These persons however, remain unable to understand the variety of spiritual form and potencies in the transcendental world, and neither can they understand the difference between the potencies (sakti) and Supreme Lord who is the master of all potencies (saktiman). Their limited knowledge of the mutual spiritual nature of the individual living entities and the Supreme is known as the Brahman understanding of the Lord. 3 The Bhagavan feature of the Absolute Truth may be explained in the following way: The Supreme is in some ways different from His potencies, and He is the Supreme Shelter upon which all His transcendental potencies rest. The devotees directly perceive with their senses the personal form of the Lord everywhere, within and without everything, and in this way the devotees experience intense transcendental bliss. This realisation of the devotees, that the potencies (sakti) and the Supreme Lord who is the master of all potencies (saktiman) are different, is known as the Bhagavan understanding of the Lord. 4 These three features of the Supreme Lord are described in the same way in the following verse of Srimad Bhagavatam (5.12.11), where Jada Bharata says: “What, then, is the ultimate truth? The answer is that non dual knowledge is the ultimate truth. It is devoid of the contamination of material qualities. It gives us liberation. It is the one without a second, all-pervading and beyond imagination. The first realisation of that knowledge is Brahman. Then Paramatma, the Supersoul, is realised by the yogis who try to see Him without grievance. This is the second stage of realisation. Finally, full realisation of the same supreme knowledge is realised in the Supreme Person (Bhagavan). All learned scholars describe the Supreme Person as Vasudeva, the cause of Brahman, Paramatma and other.”* 5 The same description is found in the following verse (Srimad Bhagavatam 4.11.30) where Manu says to Maharaja Dhruva: “Regaining your natural position and rendering service unto the Supreme Lord (Bhagavan), who is the all-powerful reservoir of all pleasure and who lives in all living entities as the Supersoul, you will very soon forget the illusory understanding of ‘I’ and ‘my’.”*
Bhagavat · Sanskrit §3 · English §3
Source[३] इदम् एव त्रयं सिद्धि-प्रसङ्गेऽप्य् आह त्रिभिः । विष्णौ त्र्यधीश्वरे चित्तं धारयेत् काल-विग्रहे । स ईशित्वम् अवाप्नोति क्षेत्रं क्षेत्रज्ञ-चोदनम् ॥ नारायणे तुरीयाख्ये भगवच्-छब्द-शब्दिते । मनो मय्य् आदधद् योगी मद्-धर्मावशिताम् इयात् ॥ निर्गुणे ब्रह्मणि मयि धारयन् विशदं मनः । परानन्दम् अवाप्नोति यत्र कामोऽवसीयते ॥ [भ्प् ११.१५.१५-१७] टीका च । त्र्य्-अधीश्वरे त्रिगुण-माया-नियन्तरि । अतएव काल-विग्रहे आकलयिऋ-रूपे अन्तर्यामिणि । तुरीयाख्ये विराट् हिरण्य-गर्भश् च कारणं चेत्य् उपाधयः । ईशस्य यन्त्रिभिर् हीनः तुरीयं तत् पदं विदुः ॥ इत्य् एवं लक्षणे । ऐश्वर्यस्य समग्रस्य वीर्यस्य यशसः श्रियः । ज्ञान-वैराग्ययोश् चैव षण्णां भग इतीङ्गना ॥ [विप् ६.५.७४] तद्वति भगवच्-छब्द-शब्दिते । इत्य् एषा ॥ श्री-भगवान् ॥३॥
[3] idam eva trayaṃ siddhi-prasaṅge'py āha tribhiḥ | viṣṇau tryadhīśvare cittaṃ dhārayet kāla-vigrahe | sa īśitvam avāpnoti kṣetraṃ kṣetrajña-codanam || nārāyaṇe turīyākhye bhagavac-chabda-śabdite | mano mayy ādadhad yogī mad-dharmāvaśitām iyāt || nirguṇe brahmaṇi mayi dhārayan viśadaṃ manaḥ | parānandam avāpnoti yatra kāmo'vasīyate || [BhP 11.15.15-17] ṭīkā ca | try-adhīśvare triguṇa-māyā-niyantari | ataeva kāla-vigrahe ākalayiṛ-rūpe antaryāmiṇi | turīyākhye virāṭ hiraṇya-garbhaś ca kāraṇaṃ cety upādhayaḥ | īśasya yantribhir hīnaḥ turīyaṃ tat padaṃ viduḥ || ity evaṃ lakṣaṇe | aiśvaryasya samagrasya vīryasya yaśasaḥ śriyaḥ | jñāna-vairāgyayoś caiva ṣaṇṇāṃ bhaga itīṅganā || [ViP 6.5.74] tadvati bhagavac-chabda-śabdite | ity eṣā || śrī-bhagavān ||3||
English translation
English witness · section(s) 3
Anuccheda 3
1 In this verse the word ‘bhagavan’ is modified by the adjectival compounds ‘ananda-matre’ (the reservoir of all pleasure) and ‘upapanna-amastra-saktau’ (the master of all potencies). When the Supreme completely reveals Himself He is known as Bhagavan, and in comparison to this the Brahman feature, where the transcendental form of the Lord is not manifested, is only a partial manifestation of the Supreme. This will be discussed in great detail later on in this book. Now let us consider the definition of the word ‘Bhagavan’ given in the following verses of Visnu Purana (6.5.66-69): 2 “The impersonal Brahman feature of the Supreme is unmanifested, free from old-age, inconceivable, birthless, free from decay and diminution, indescribable, formless, without hands, feet, or other limbs, all-powerful, all-pervading, eternal, the origin of all material element, without any cause, present in everything, although nothing is situated in it, the source of the material cosmos, the object of vision for the demigods, and the object of meditation for they who aspire after liberation. The impersonal Brahman I the supremely subtle spiritual effulgence and abode of Lord Visnu, which I described in the mantras of the Vedas. Brahman is the effulgence of the Bhagavan feature of the Lord, and the all-pervading Supersoul (Paramatma) I the partial manifestation of the transcendental form of the imperishable Supreme Person, Sri Bhagavan.” 3 The Visnu Purana further explains (5.6.73-75): “O sage, the word Bhagavan may be explained in the following way: the syllable ‘bha’ may be understood to mean ‘bharta’, or ‘sambharta’, the maintainer and nourisher of the devotees, and the syllable ‘ga’ may be understood to mean ‘gamayita’, the leader of the devotees, or the original creator of the good qualities present in the devotees. 4 “The word ‘bhaga’ also means ‘opulences’. There are six opulences: wealth, strength, fame, beauty, knowledge, and renunciation. “Bhagavan” means the person who possesses all these opulences in full. 5 “In the word ‘bhagavan’, the syllable ‘va’ stands for the verb ‘vas’ to reside. Because all material elements and all living entities rest within the Supreme Lord, and because He is present in the heart of all conditioned souls, He is addressed by the syllable ‘va’.” 6 It is also said (Visnu Purana 6.5.79); “The Supreme Personality of Godhead possesses all strength, beauty, wealth, fame, knowledge, and renunciation, and therefore He is known as ‘bhagavan’. He is free from all faults.” 7 Now let us consider this description of Bhagavan from the Visnu Purana. In the first four verses (quoted in text 2), the word ‘brahma’ may be taken as an adjective (‘great’), modifying ‘visnoh paramam padam’ (supreme nature of Lord Visnu). Interpreted in this way the words ‘vibhum’ (all-powerful) and ‘sarva-gatam’ (all-pervading) describe Lord Bhagavan’s nature, which I full of all opulences (aisvaryasya samagrasya). The adjectives ‘arupam’ (formless) and ‘pani-padady-asamyutam’ (without hands, feet, or other limbs) should be understood to mean that the Supreme Lord Bhagavan has no material form, for His form is perfectly spiritual, and no material hands, feet, or other limbs, for His limbs are not made of matter. 8 In this passage the word ‘vibhum’ means ‘full of all powers and opulences’, ‘vyapi’ means ‘all-pervading’, and ‘avyapyam’ means ‘nothing else can enter Him and be pervading within Him.” The word ‘bhagavan’ directly indicates the Absolute Truth and is not in any way an indirect or incomplete description of Him. A certain river may be directly indicated by the name ‘ganga’, although this river is only indirectly indicated by the word ‘riverbank’. In the same way the word ‘bhagavan’ directly indicates the absolute Truth and ‘brahman’ indirectly refers to the Absolute Truth. 9 The Nirukta dictionary begins it’s list of definitions by announcing (1.2.1) “Now we shall give synonym for some difficult words’. In the same way we shall now explain some of the words quoted in the definition of the word Bhagavan. In that explanation the syllable ‘bha’ was described as standing for the word ‘bharta’. “Bharta” means ‘the nourisher, maintainer and establisher of the devotees.” In the same way the syllable ‘ga’ stands for the word ‘gamayita’, which means “He who creates all kinds of auspicious qualities within His devotees’, or “He who grants pure love of Godhead, which is the actual result of devotional service’, or ‘He who brings His devotees to His own transcendental planet’. The words ‘bharta’ and ‘gamayita’, should not be interpreted here to mean ‘the creator and maintainer of the universe.” In this context these words are used to express the relationship between the Supreme Lord and His devotees. This is the opinion of the disciplic succession of Vaisnava acaryas. 10 Synonyms for the next verse from the Visnu Purana (quoted in Text 4) follow: “Aisvarya” means “ability to control others”, “samagra” means “in all respects”, “virya” means “the potency of Vedic mantras chanted by great sages”, “yasah” means “fame of good qualities in relation to body, mind and words”, “Sri” means “all kinds of opulence and good fortune”, “jnana” means “omniscience”, “vairagya” means “non-attachment to material things”, and ‘ingana” means “name”. 11 The word “bhagavan” may be understood to mean “He who possesses (‘vat’ is the affix known as ‘matup’), the qualities previously described by the syllable ‘bha’, ‘ga’ and ‘va’ (bha+ga+van). The ‘a’ in the third quality (va), was elided, enabling the two v’s to join and become a single letter. In this way the word “Bhagavavan” becomes Bhagavan). “Bhagavan” is therefore the possessor of ‘bha’, ‘ga’ and ‘va’. 12 In the next verse (Text 6) the six opulences possessed by Bhagavan are also described. In this verse the word ‘jnana’ means ‘knowledge’, which is the domain of the mind and intelligence, ‘sakti’ mean ‘the power of the senses’, ‘balam’ means ‘the strength of the body’, ‘tejah’ means ‘beauty’, and ‘asesatah’ means ‘completely’ (‘aisvarya’ and ‘virya’ have been described in the previous texts). The possessor of all these in full (‘van’) is known as Bhagavan. The Supreme is manifest in three features: Brahman, Paramatma, and Bhagavan (Srimad Bhagavatam 1.2.11). The Bhagavan feature is the complete manifestation of the Supreme, and the other two are partial revelations of the actual nature of the Supreme.
Bhagavat · Sanskrit §4 · English §4
Source[४] अथ वदन्तीत्य् आद्यस्य पद्यस्य प्रत्यवस्थानं यावत् तृतीय-सन्दर्भम् उद्भाव्यते । यत्र योग्यता-वैशिष्ट्येनाविर्भाव-वैशिष्ट्यं वक्तुं ब्रह्माविर्भावे तावद् योग्यताम् आह - तथापि भूमन् महिमा-गुणस्य ते विबोध्हुम् अर्हत्य् अमलान्तरात्मभिः । अविक्रियात् स्वानुभवाद् अरूपतो ह्य् अनन्य-बोध्यात्मयतया न चान्यथा ॥ [भ्प् १०.१४.६] यद्यपि ब्रह्मत्वे भगवत्त्वे च दुर्ज्ञेयत्वम् उक्तम्, तथापि हे भूमन् स्वरूपेण गुणेन चानन्त ते तवागुणस्य अनाविष्कृत-स्वरूप-भूत-गुणस्य यो महिमा महत्त्वं बृहत्त्वं ब्रह्मत्वम् इति यावत् । अथ कस्माद् उच्यते ब्रह्म बृंहति बृंहयति चेति श्रुतेः । स तव महिमा अमलान्तरात्मभिः शुद्धान्तःकरणैर् गुणैर् विबोद्धुम् अर्हति । तेषां बोधे प्रकाशितुम् अर्हति समर्थो भवतीत्य् अर्थः । कस्मान् निमित्तात्? तत्राह स्वानुभवात् शुद्धत्वं पदार्थस्य बोधात् । नन्व् अनुभवः खल्व् अन्तःकरणस्य वृत्तिः, सा च स्थूल-सूक्ष्म-देह- विकार-मय्य् एव सती कथं निर्विकारत्वम्-पदार्थः विषयं कुर्वीत । तत्राह अविक्रियात् त्यक्त-तत्-तद्-विकारात् । ननु विषयाकार एवानुभवो विषयम् उपाददीत शुद्धत्वम्-पदार्थस् तु न कस्यापि विषयः स्यात् प्रत्यग्-रूपत्वात् । तत्राह अरूपतः रूप्यते भाव्यते इति रूपो विषयः तदाकारता-रहितात् । देह-द्वयावेश-विषयाकारता-राहित्ये सति स्वयं शुद्धत्वं-पदार्थः प्रकाशत इति भावः । ननु सूक्ष्म-चिद्-रूपत्वम्-पदार्थानुभवे कथं पूर्ण-चिदाकार-रूप- मदीय-ब्रह्म-स्वरूपं स्फुरतु । तत्राह अनन्य-बोध्यात्मतया चिद्- आकारता-साम्येन शुद्धत्वं-पदार्थैक्य-बोध्य-स्वरूपतया । यद्यपि तादृग्-आत्मानुभवानन्तरं तद्-अनन्य-बोध्यताकृतौ साधक-शक्तिर् नास्ति तथापि पूर्वं तद्-अर्थम् एव कृतया सर्वत्राप्य् उपजीव्यया साधन-भक्त्य्- आराधितस्य श्री-भगवतः प्रभावाद् एव तद् अपि तत्रोदयत इति भावः । तद् उक्तम् वदन्तीत्य् आदि-पद्यानन्तरम् एव - तच्-छ्रद्दधाना मुनयो ज्ञान-वैराग्य-युक्तया । पश्यन्त्य् आत्मनि चात्मानं भक्त्या श्रुत-गृहीतया ॥ [भ्प् १.२.१२] इति. सत्यव्रतं प्रति श्री-मत्स्यदेवोपदेशे च - मदीयं महिमानं च परं ब्रह्मेति शब्दितम् । वेत्स्यस्य् अनुगृहीतं मे सम्प्रश्नैर् विवृतं हृदि ॥ [भ्प् ८.२४.३८] इति. ब्रह्मा श्री-भगवन्तम् ॥४॥
[4] atha vadantīty ādyasya padyasya pratyavasthānaṃ yāvat tṛtīya-sandarbham udbhāvyate | yatra yogyatā-vaiśiṣṭyenāvirbhāva-vaiśiṣṭyaṃ vaktuṃ brahmāvirbhāve tāvad yogyatām āha - tathāpi bhūman mahimā-guṇasya te vibodhhum arhaty amalāntarātmabhiḥ | avikriyāt svānubhavād arūpato hy ananya-bodhyātmayatayā na cānyathā || [BhP 10.14.6] yadyapi brahmatve bhagavattve ca durjñeyatvam uktam, tathāpi he bhūman svarūpeṇa guṇena cānanta te tavāguṇasya anāviṣkṛta-svarūpa-bhūta-guṇasya yo mahimā mahattvaṃ bṛhattvaṃ brahmatvam iti yāvat | atha kasmād ucyate brahma bṛṃhati bṛṃhayati ceti śruteḥ | sa tava mahimā amalāntarātmabhiḥ śuddhāntaḥkaraṇair guṇair viboddhum arhati | teṣāṃ bodhe prakāśitum arhati samartho bhavatīty arthaḥ | kasmān nimittāt? tatrāha svānubhavāt śuddhatvaṃ padārthasya bodhāt | nanv anubhavaḥ khalv antaḥkaraṇasya vṛttiḥ, sā ca sthūla-sūkṣma-deha- vikāra-mayy eva satī kathaṃ nirvikāratvam-padārthaḥ viṣayaṃ kurvīta | tatrāha avikriyāt tyakta-tat-tad-vikārāt | nanu viṣayākāra evānubhavo viṣayam upādadīta śuddhatvam-padārthas tu na kasyāpi viṣayaḥ syāt pratyag-rūpatvāt | tatrāha arūpataḥ rūpyate bhāvyate iti rūpo viṣayaḥ tadākāratā-rahitāt | deha-dvayāveśa-viṣayākāratā-rāhitye sati svayaṃ śuddhatvaṃ-padārthaḥ prakāśata iti bhāvaḥ | nanu sūkṣma-cid-rūpatvam-padārthānubhave kathaṃ pūrṇa-cidākāra-rūpa- madīya-brahma-svarūpaṃ sphuratu | tatrāha ananya-bodhyātmatayā cid- ākāratā-sāmyena śuddhatvaṃ-padārthaikya-bodhya-svarūpatayā | yadyapi tādṛg-ātmānubhavānantaraṃ tad-ananya-bodhyatākṛtau sādhaka-śaktir nāsti tathāpi pūrvaṃ tad-artham eva kṛtayā sarvatrāpy upajīvyayā sādhana-bhakty- ārādhitasya śrī-bhagavataḥ prabhāvād eva tad api tatrodayata iti bhāvaḥ | tad uktam vadantīty ādi-padyānantaram eva - tac-chraddadhānā munayo jñāna-vairāgya-yuktayā | paśyanty ātmani cātmānaṃ bhaktyā śruta-gṛhītayā || [BhP 1.2.12] iti. satyavrataṃ prati śrī-matsyadevopadeśe ca - madīyaṃ mahimānaṃ ca paraṃ brahmeti śabditam | vetsyasy anugṛhītaṃ me sampraśnair vivṛtaṃ hṛdi || [BhP 8.24.38] iti. brahmā śrī-bhagavantam ||4||
English translation
English witness · section(s) 4
Anuccheda 4
1 The nature of Brahman and Bhagavan are revealed in the following question posed by Maharaja Nimi, and it’s answer by Pippalayana Muni (Srimad Bhagavatam 11.3.34 and 35): “King Nimi inquired: Please explain to me the transcendental situation of the Supreme Lord, Narayana, who is Himself the Absolute Truth and the Supersoul of everyone. You can explain this to me, because you are all most expert in transcendental knowledge.”*** 2 “Sri Pippalayana aid: The Supreme Personality of Godhead is the cause of the creation, maintenance and destruction of this universe, yet He has no prior cause. He pervades the various states of wakefulness, dreaming and unconscious deep sleep and also exists beyond them. By entering the body of every living being as the Supersoul, He enlivens the body, senses, life airs and mental activities and thus all the subtle and gross organ of the body begin their functions. My dear King, know that Personality of Godhead to be the Supreme.”*** 3 Maharaja Nimi’s question may be explained in the following way: The word ‘narayanabhidhanasya’ means ‘of Bhagavan, who is known as Narayana’ and ‘nistha’ means ‘the transcendental situation’. The Lord’s features as Brahman and Paramatma as mentioned in this verse are His appearance specifically within the material world. He appears as Bhagavan in the spiritual world, and His appearance as Brahman and Paramatma is limited, for the most part, to the material world. This is confirmed in the following statement of Srimad Bhagavatam (11.15.16): “Narayana, who is known as Bhagavan, appears in the spiritual world (turiya), unlike other manifestations of the Lord that appear in the material world.” 4 In this verse (11.3.35), in answer to King Nimi’s question, Pippalayana Muni speaks verse 11.3.35. He says there that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the ‘cause of the creation, maintenance and destruction of this universe (sthiti-adi-hetu) and He has no prior cause (ahetu). He enters the body of the living entity as the Supersoul and enlivens the body, senses, life-airs, and mental activities, and thus all the subtle and gross organs of the body begin their functions (dehendriyasu-hrdayani caranti yena sanjivitani). In his answer Pippalayana says: Please know that Personality of Godhead, who appears in the form of Narayana and other forms, to be the Supreme (avehi param). This explanations clearly describes the Bhagavan feature of the Supreme, for the Brahman feature has a different description. The three features of the Supreme (Brahman, Paramatma and Bhagavan) have different names and they appear in different ways to their worshippers. Each is distinct from the others. Brahman is different from Paramatma and Paramatma is different from Bhagavan. Pippalayana Muni answered the question of King Nimi by describing the Bhagavan feature of the Supreme. 5 The word ‘ahetu’ may also be interpreted to mean ‘Because the Supreme Lord in His Bhagavan feature always remains in the spiritual world with His transcendental pastime potency, He remains aloof from the activities of material creation.’ Bhagavan appears in the form of His partial expansion, Paramatma, who then creates the forms of the conditioned souls (who are the Lord’s parts and parcels) and the material energies. It is the Paramatma who ‘enters the body of every living entity, and enlivens the body, senses, life-airs and mental activities.’ The phrase ‘avehi param’ may then be interpreted to mean ‘Please know that this is the Paramatma feature of the Supreme.’ 6 The three features of the Supreme are mentioned by Varunadeva in the following prayer to Sri Krsna (Srimad Bhagavatam 10.28.7): “I offer my respectful obeisances to the Supreme Lord, who appears in three features as Bhagavan, Paramatma, and Brahman.” In commenting on this verse, Sridhara Svami said: “The word ‘paramatmane’ in this verse means ‘the controller of living entities.’” The Paramatma feature of the Lord is then the constant companion of the conditioned souls, but He I always their superior, and therefore He is called ‘paramatma’, or ‘the Supreme Soul’. In the verse from the Eleventh Canto (11.3.35) the Brahman feature of the Supreme is described in the following words: “He pervades the various states of wakefulness, dreaming and unconscious deep sleep, and also exists beyond them.” The word ‘ca’ (and) is significant in this verse, for it distinguishes Brahman from the individual living entities (“There are the individual living entities and there is also the Brahman”). In these ways in this verse (11.3.35) it is said: “Please understand the Bhagavan, Paramatma and Brahman features of the Supreme Lord.” This verse was spoken by Sri Narada Muni.
Bhagavat · Sanskrit §5 · English §5
Source[५] तादृशाविर्भावम् आह, सार्धेन - शश्वत् प्रशान्तम् अभयं प्रतिबोध-मात्रं शुद्धं समं सद्-असतः परमात्म-तत्त्वम् । शब्दो न यत्र पुरु-कारकवान् क्रियार्थो माया परैत्य् अभिमुखे च विलज्जमाना । तद् वै पदं भगवतः परमस्य पुंसो ब्रह्मेति यद् विदुर् अजस्र-सुखं विशोकम् ॥ [भ्प् २.७.४७] अयम् अर्थः । सर्वतो बृहत्तमत्वाद् ब्रह्मेति यद् विदुस् तत् खलु परम् अस्य पुंसो भगवतः पदम् एव । निर्विकल्पतया साक्षात्-कृतेः प्राथमिकत्वात् ब्रह्मणश् च भगवत एव निर्विकल्प-सत्ता-रूपत्वात् । विचित्र-रूपादि-विकल्प- विशेष-विशिष्टस्य भगवतस् तु साक्षात्-कृतेस् तद्-अनन्तरजत्वात् । तदीय- स्वरूप-भूतं तद् ब्रह्म तत् साक्षात्कारास्पदं भवतीत्य् अर्थः । निर्विकल्प-ब्रह्मणस् तस्य स्वरूप-लक्षणम् आह प्रतिबोध-मात्रम् इति । अजस्र-सुखम् इति च । जडस्य दुःखस्य च प्रतियोगितया प्रतीयते यद् वस्तु यच् च नित्यं तद् एक-रूपं तद्-रूपम् इत्य् अर्थः । यत् आत्म-तत्त्वं सर्वेषाम् आत्मत्नां मूलम् । आत्मा हि स्व-प्रकाश-रूपतया निरुपाधि-परम- प्रेमास्पदतया च तत्-तद्-रूपेण प्रतीयत इत्य् अर्थः । अथ तस्य सुख-रूपस्य अजस्रत्वे हेतुम् आह शाश्वत् प्रशान्तं नित्यम् एव क्षोभ-रहितं तद्वद् अभयं भय-शून्यं विशोकं शोक-रहितं चेति । न च सुख-रूपत्वे तस्य पुण्य-जन्यत्वं स्याद् इत्य् आह शब्दो न यत्रेति । यत्र क्रियार्थो यज्ञाद्य्-अर्थः पुरु-कारकवान् शब्दो न प्रवर्तते इत्य् अर्थः । त्वं त्व् औपनिषदं पुरुषम् इत्य् आदि रीत्या केवलम् उपनिषद् एव प्रकाशिका भवतीत्य् अर्थः । पुनः सुख-स्वरूपत्वे चेन्द्रिय-जन्यत्वं व्यावर्तयति शुद्धम् इत्य् आदिना । तत्र शुद्धं दोष-रहितम् । समम् उच्चावचता-शून्यम् । सदसतः परं कारण-कार्य-वर्गाद् उपरि-स्थितम् । किं बहुनेत्य् आह माया च यस्याभिमुखे यदुन्मुखतया स्थिते जीवन्-मुक्त-गणे विलज्जमानैव परैति पलायते ततो दूरं गच्छतीत्य् अर्थः ॥ श्री ब्रह्मा नारदम् ॥५॥
[5] tādṛśāvirbhāvam āha, sārdhena - śaśvat praśāntam abhayaṃ pratibodha-mātraṃ śuddhaṃ samaṃ sad-asataḥ paramātma-tattvam | śabdo na yatra puru-kārakavān kriyārtho māyā paraity abhimukhe ca vilajjamānā | tad vai padaṃ bhagavataḥ paramasya puṃso brahmeti yad vidur ajasra-sukhaṃ viśokam || [BhP 2.7.47] ayam arthaḥ | sarvato bṛhattamatvād brahmeti yad vidus tat khalu param asya puṃso bhagavataḥ padam eva | nirvikalpatayā sākṣāt-kṛteḥ prāthamikatvāt brahmaṇaś ca bhagavata eva nirvikalpa-sattā-rūpatvāt | vicitra-rūpādi-vikalpa- viśeṣa-viśiṣṭasya bhagavatas tu sākṣāt-kṛtes tad-anantarajatvāt | tadīya- svarūpa-bhūtaṃ tad brahma tat sākṣātkārāspadaṃ bhavatīty arthaḥ | nirvikalpa-brahmaṇas tasya svarūpa-lakṣaṇam āha pratibodha-mātram iti | ajasra-sukham iti ca | jaḍasya duḥkhasya ca pratiyogitayā pratīyate yad vastu yac ca nityaṃ tad eka-rūpaṃ tad-rūpam ity arthaḥ | yat ātma-tattvaṃ sarveṣām ātmatnāṃ mūlam | ātmā hi sva-prakāśa-rūpatayā nirupādhi-parama- premāspadatayā ca tat-tad-rūpeṇa pratīyata ity arthaḥ | atha tasya sukha-rūpasya ajasratve hetum āha śāśvat praśāntaṃ nityam eva kṣobha-rahitaṃ tadvad abhayaṃ bhaya-śūnyaṃ viśokaṃ śoka-rahitaṃ ceti | na ca sukha-rūpatve tasya puṇya-janyatvaṃ syād ity āha śabdo na yatreti | yatra kriyārtho yajñādy-arthaḥ puru-kārakavān śabdo na pravartate ity arthaḥ | tvaṃ tv aupaniṣadaṃ puruṣam ity ādi rītyā kevalam upaniṣad eva prakāśikā bhavatīty arthaḥ | punaḥ sukha-svarūpatve cendriya-janyatvaṃ vyāvartayati śuddham ity ādinā | tatra śuddhaṃ doṣa-rahitam | samam uccāvacatā-śūnyam | sadasataḥ paraṃ kāraṇa-kārya-vargād upari-sthitam | kiṃ bahunety āha māyā ca yasyābhimukhe yadunmukhatayā sthite jīvan-mukta-gaṇe vilajjamānaiva paraiti palāyate tato dūraṃ gacchatīty arthaḥ || śrī brahmā nāradam ||5||
English translation
English witness · section(s) 5
Anuccheda 5
1 The following three verses of Srimad Bhagavatam (11.15.15-17) describe the three features of the Absolute (Brahman, Paramatma and Bhagavan) in connection with the description of the attainment of mystic yoga powers. The Bhagavatam explains: “One who concentrates his consciousness in Visnu, the Supersoul, the prime mover and Supreme Lord of the external energy consisting of the three modes, obtains the mystic perfection of controlling other condition souls, their material bodies and bodily designations.*** 2 “The yogi who places his mind in My form of Narayana, known as the fourth factor, full of all opulences, becomes endowed with My nature and thus obtains the mystic perfection called vasita.”*** 3 “One who fixes the pure mind in Me in My manifestation as the impersonal Brahman obtains the greatest happiness, wherein all of his desires are completely fulfilled.”*** 4 Sridhara Svami explains these verses in the following way: “Of these three verses the first (quoted in Text 7) describes the Paramatma feature of the Lord. In that verse the word “try-adhisvare’ means ‘the supreme controller of maya”, which consist of three modes of nature’, and the word ‘kala-vigrahe’ means ‘the Supersoul who perceives everything’. “The second of these verses (quoted in Text 8) describes the Bhagavan feature of the Lord. In this verse Bhagavan I described as ‘turiyakhye’ (He who is known as the fourth factor). The meaning of this word is given in the following statement of Vedic literature: “Within the material world the Supreme Lord appears in three forms Karanodakasayi Visnu, Garbhodakasayi Visnu, and Ksirodakasayi Visnu. The original form of the Lord is different from these three forms, and therefore He is known as turiya, the fourth form of the Lord.” “This compound word ‘bhagavac-chabda-sabdite’ is explained in the following statement of Visnu Purana (6.5.74): ‘There are six opulences: wealth, strength, fame, beauty, knowledge and renunciation. Bhagavan means the person who possesses all these opulences in full.”
Bhagavat · Sanskrit §6 · English §6
Source[६] व्यञ्जिते भगवत्-तत्त्वे ब्रह्म च व्यज्यते स्वयम् । अतोऽत्र ब्रह्म-सन्दर्भोऽप्य् अवान्तरतया मतः ॥ अथ भगवद्-आविर्भावे योग्यताम् आह - भक्ति-योगेन मनसि सम्यक् प्रणिहितेऽमले अपश्यत् पुरुषं पूर्णं ॥ [भ्प् १.७.४] इति । व्याख्यातम् एव ॥६॥
[6] vyañjite bhagavat-tattve brahma ca vyajyate svayam | ato'tra brahma-sandarbho'py avāntaratayā mataḥ || atha bhagavad-āvirbhāve yogyatām āha - bhakti-yogena manasi samyak praṇihite'male apaśyat puruṣaṃ pūrṇaṃ || [BhP 1.7.4] iti | vyākhyātam eva ||6||
English translation
English witness · section(s) 6
Anuccheda 6
1 The view held by some that Impersonal Brahman is the ultimate feature of the Supreme will be discussed in the Third (Paramatma) Sandarbha. In that Sandarbha we will quote the following verse (Srimad Bhagavatam 10.14.6) which the impersonalists repeat to substantiate their position: 2 “O unlimited Lord, only persons who have cleansed their hearts of contamination are able to understand the glories of Your transcendental form. Because You do not undergo any material transformation, because You have no material form and because You are self-manifest, unless You choose to reveal Yourself to someone, there is no other means to understand You.” 3 This verse should be understood in the following way: “O Lord (bhuman), although it is very difficult to understand whether Your ultimate feature is Brahman or Bhagavan, nevertheless (tathapi), it is clear that the unlimited qualities of Your own transcendental form are now hidden (agunasya).” The word ‘mahima’ in this verse means ‘greatness’. We may note in this connection that the word ‘Brahman’ means ‘the great’. This is confirmed in the following statement of the Sruti-sastra: “What is the meaning of the word Brahman? Brahman means He whose greatness is expanded without limit (brmhati), or He who causes His devotees to become great (brmhayati).” 4 In this verse Brahma says: “O Lord, only persons who have cleansed their hearts of contamination (amalantaratmabhih) are able to understand (vibodhum arhati) Your glories (mahima).” One may ask: Why are only the pure-hearted able to understand the Lord? To this question the answer is given: “O Lord, because You are self-manifest (svanubhavat), unless You choose to reveal Yourself to someone, there is no other means to understand You.” 5 At this point someone may object: “According to our perception all gross and subtle bodies are subject to various kinds of material transformations (such as birth, growth, old-age, and death). For this reason we may assume that the form of Sri Krsna is also subject to these material transformation.” In order to answer this objection, Brahma uses the word ‘avikriyat’, which means ‘because Your form does not undergo any material transformations.” 6 At this point someone may raise the following objection: “All forms which we have perceived are material in nature, and therefore we consider that the form of Sri Krsna, which is perceivable by the senses, must also be material.” In order to answer this objection, Brahma uses the word ‘arupatah’ (the form of Sri Krsna is not material). 7 At this point Lord Krsna may pose the following question to Brahma: “How can My transcendental form become manifest before the living entities?” In order to answer this question, Brahma says: “ananya-bodhyatmataya (You can be understood only by devotional service).” Although no one has, by his own merit, the ability to understand Krsna, if one worships Him by Performing devotional service, the Lord voluntarily appears before that devotee. This is described in the following verse from Srimad Bhagavatam (1.2.12 the verse immediately following the description of Brahman, Paramatma and Bhagavan) where Suta Gosvami says: 8 “The seriously inquisitive student or sage, well equipped with knowledge and detachment, realises that Absolute Truth by rendering devotional service in terms of what he has heard from the Vedanta-sruti.”* 9 This is also confirmed in the following verse from Srimad Bhagavatam (8.24.38) where Lord Matsya instructs Maharaja Satyavrata in the following word: “You will be thoroughly advised and favoured by Me, and because of your inquiries, everything about My glories, which are known as param brahma, will be manifest within your heart. Thus you will know everything about Me.”*
Bhagavat · Sanskrit §7 · English §7
Source[७] तद् इत्थं ब्रह्मणा चोक्तम् -- त्वं भक्ति-योग-परिभावित-हृत्-सरोज आस्से श्रुतेक्षित-पथो ननु नाथ पुंसाम् ॥ इति ॥ [भ्प् ३.९.११] ॥ श्री-सुतः ॥७॥[*एन्द्नोते #२]
[7] tad itthaṃ brahmaṇā coktam -- tvaṃ bhakti-yoga-paribhāvita-hṛt-saroja āsse śrutekṣita-patho nanu nātha puṃsām || iti || [BhP 3.9.11] || śrī-sutaḥ ||7||[*ENDNOTE #2]
English translation
English witness · section(s) 7
Anuccheda 7
1 The three aspects of Brahman, Paramatma and Bhagavan are also described in the following statement of Srimad Bhagavatam (2.7.47): “What I realised as the Absolute Brahman I full of unlimited bliss without grief. That I certainly the ultimate phase of the supreme enjoyer, the Personality of Godhead (Bhagavan). He is eternally void of all disturbances and fearless. He I complete consciousness as opposed to matter. Uncontaminated and without distinctions, He is the primeval cause (Paramatma) of all causes and effects, in whom there is no sacrifice for fruitive activities and in whom the illusory energy does not stand.”* 2 Because the Absolute Truth I the greatest (brttama) He is known as Brahman (brahmeti yad viduh). Brahman and Bhagavan both refer to the same Supreme Truth (paramasya pumso bhagavatah padam), and therefore they are not different from each other. Bhagavan is, however, the original feature of the Supreme and Brahman is manifested at a later time from the form of Bhagavan, who I the reservoir in whom the Brahman and other features of the Supreme remain. 3 In this verse the Impersonal Brahma is described by the words ‘pratibodha-matram’ (complete consciousness, as opposed to matter), and ‘ajasra-sukham’ (unlimited bliss). The word ‘atma-tattvam’ indicates that the Supreme Truth is the original root from whom all individual spirit souls have become manifested. Because the Supreme is the original father of all spirit souls, He loves them all equally without discrimination. 4 The Absolute Truth is full of unlimited bliss because He is ‘sasvat’ (eternal), ‘prasantam’ (free from all disturbances), ‘abhayam’ (without fear), and ‘visokam’ (without grief). The Supreme does not need to perform pious activities in order to reap happiness as a result. This is confirmed in the following words: “The Supreme does not perform sacrifices in order to reap material benefits. This means that the fruitive sacrifices described in the karma-khanda section of the Vedas will not help one to understand the Absolute truth. Only the philosophical portions of the Vedas, such as the Upanisads, will help one to understand the Supreme. This is confirmed in the following statement of the Brhad-aranyaka Upanisad (3.9.26): “The Supreme Person is revealed in the Upanisads. 5 That the Lord’s transcendental bliss I not dependent on the interaction of senses with sense-objects is confirmed by the following words used in this verse to describe the Lord: ‘suddham’ (the Lord is uncontaminated), ‘saman’ (without distinction) and ‘sad-asatah param’ (and beyond the interactions of material causes and effects). The phrase ‘maya paraity abhimukhe ca vilajjamana’ means ‘The illusory energy maya is ashamed to come before the Lord of His devotees. She flees far away from them.”
Bhagavat · Sanskrit §8–9 · English §8
Source[८] तद्-आविर्भावम् आह सार्ध-दशभिः -- तस्मै स्व-लोकं भगवान् सभाजितः सन्दर्शयाम् आस परं न यत्-परम् । व्यपेत-सङ्क्लेश-विमोह-साध्वसं स्व-दृष्टवद्भिर् पुरुषैर् अभिष्टुतम् ॥९॥ प्रवर्तते यत्र रजस् तमस् तयोः सत्त्वं च मिश्रं न च काल-विक्रमः । न यत्र माया किम् उतापरे हरेर् अनुव्रता यत्र सुरासुरार्चिताः ॥१०॥ श्यामावदाताः शत-पत्र-लोचनाः पिशङ्ग-वस्त्राः सुरुचः सुपेशसः । सर्वे चतुर्-बाहव उन्मिषन्-मणि- प्रवेक-निष्काभरणाः सुवर्चसः । प्रवाल-वैदूर्य-मृणाल-वर्चसः परिस्फुरत्-कुण्डल-मौलि-मालिनः ॥११॥ भ्राजिष्णुभिर् यः परितो विराजते लसद्-विमानावलिभिर् महात्मनाम् । विद्योतमानः प्रमदोत्तमाद्युभिः सविद्युद् अभ्रावलिभिर् यथा नभः ॥१२॥ श्रीर् यत्र रूपिण्य् उरुगाय-पादयोः करोति मानं बहुधा विभूतिभिः । प्रेङ्खं श्रिता या कुसुमाकरानुगैर् विगीयमाना प्रिय-कर्म गायती ॥१३॥ ददर्श तत्राखिल-सात्वतां पतिं श्रियः पतिं यज्ञ-पतिं जगत्-पतिम् । सुनन्द-नन्द-प्रबलार्हणादिभिः स्व-पार्षदाग्रैः परिसेवितं विभुम् ॥१४॥ भृत्य-प्रसादाभिमुखं दृग्-आसवं प्रसन्न-हासारुण-लोचनाननम् । किरींइनं कुण्डलिनं चतुर्-भुजं पीतांशुकं वक्षसि लक्षितं श्रिया ॥१५॥ अध्यर्हणीयासनम् आस्थितं परं वृतं चतुः-षोडश-पञ्च-शक्तिभिः । युक्तं भगैः स्वैर् इतरत्र चाध्रुवैः स्व एव धामन् रममाणम् ईश्वरम् ॥१६॥ तद्-दर्शनाह्लाद-परिप्लुतान्तरो हृष्यत्-तनुः प्रेम-भराश्रु-लोचनः । ननाम पादाम्बुजम् अस्य विश्व-सृग् यत् पारमहंस्येन पथाधिगम्यते ॥१७॥ तं प्रीयमाणं समुपस्थितं कविं प्रजा-विसर्गे निज-शासनार्हणम् । बभाष ईषत्-स्मित-शोचिषा गिरा प्रियः प्रियं प्रीत-मनाः करे स्पृशन् ॥१८ [भ्प् २.९.९-१८] ॥ तस्मै भगवद्-आज्ञा-पुरस्कारेण श्री-नारायणाह्वय-पुरुष-नाभि- पङ्कजे स्थित्यैव तत्-तोषणैस् तपोभिर् भजते ब्रह्मणे सभाजितस् तेन भजनेन वशीकृतः सन् स्व-लोकं वैकुण्ठं भुवनोत्तमं भगवान् सम्यग् दर्शयामास । यद् यतो विअकुण्ठात् परम् अन्यद् वैकुण्ठं परं श्रेष्ठं न विद्यते परम-भगवद्-वैकुण्ठत्वात् । यद् वा, यद् यतो वैकुण्ठात् परं ब्रह्माख्यं तत्त्वं परं भिन्नं न भवति । स्वरूप- शक्ति-विशेषाविष्कारेण माययानावृतं तद् एव तद्-रूपम् इत्य् अर्थः । अग्रे त्व् इदं व्यक्तीकरिष्यते । तादृशत्वे हेतुः व्यपेतेति स्व-दृष्टेतो च । अविद्यास्मिताराग-द्वेषाभिनिवेशाः पञ्च क्लेशाः विइमोहस् तैः वैचित्र्यं साध्वसं भयं व्यपेतानि सङ्क्लेशादीनि यत्र तम् । स्वस्य दृष्टं दर्शनं तद् विद्यते येषां तैर् आत्मविद्भिर् अपि अभितः सर्वांशेनैव स्तुतं श्लाघितम् । अथ ते मुनयो दृष्ट्वा नयनानन्द-भाजनम् । वैकुण्ठं तद्-अधिष्ठानं विकुण्ठं च स्वयं-प्रभम् ॥ भगवन्तं परिक्रम्य प्रणिपत्यानुमान्य च । प्रतिजग्मुः प्रमुदिताः शंसन्तो वैष्णवीं श्रियम् ॥ [भ्प् ३.१६.२७-८] पुनस् तादृशत्वम् एव व्यनक्ति, प्रवर्तते इति । यत्र वैकुण्ठे रजस् तमश् च न प्रवर्तते । तयोर् मिश्रं सहचरं जडं यत् सत्त्वं न तद् अपि । किन्तु अन्यद् एव । तच् च या सुष्ठु स्थापयिष्यमाणा मायातः परा भगवत्- स्वरूप-शक्तिः तस्याः वृत्तित्वेन चिद्-रूपं शुद्ध-सत्त्वाख्यं सत्त्वम् इति तदीय-प्रकरण एव स्थापयिष्यते । तद् एव च यत्र प्रवर्तते इत्य् अर्थः । तथा च नारद-पञ्चरात्रे जितन्ते-स्तोत्रे - लोकं वैकुण्ठ-नामानं दिव्य-षड्-गुण-संयुतम् । अवैष्णवानाम् अप्राप्यं गुण-त्रय-विवर्जितम् ॥ पाद्मोत्तर-खण्डे तु वैकुण्ढ-निरूपशो तस्य सत्त्वस्याप्राकृतत्वं स्फुटम् एवं दर्शितम् । यतः प्रकृति-विभूति-वर्णनानन्तरम् - एवं प्राकृत-रूपाया विभूते रूपम् उत्तमम् । त्रिपाद्-विभूति-रूपं तु शृणु भूधर-नन्दिनि ॥ प्रधान-परम-व्योम्नोर् अन्तरे विरजा नदी । वेदाङ्गस्वेदजनित-तोयैः प्रस्राविता शुभा ॥ तस्याः पारे पर-व्योम्नि त्रिपाद्-भूतं सनातनम् । अमृतं शाश्वतं नित्यम् अनन्तं परं पदम् ॥ शुद्ध-सत्त्व-मयं दिव्यम् अक्षरं ब्रह्मणः पदम् ॥ इत्यादि ॥ प्राकृत-गुणानां परस्पराव्यभिचारित्वं तूक्तं साङ्ख्य-कौमुद्यां - अन्योन्य-मिथुन-वृत्तय इति । तट्-टीकायां च अन्योन्य-सहचरा अविनाभाव- वर्तिन इति यावत् । भवति चात्रागमः - अन्योन्य-मिथुनाः सर्वे सर्वे सर्वत्र-गामिनः । रजसो मिथुनं सत्त्वम् ॥ इत्य् आद्य् उपक्रम्य नैषाम् आदिश् च संयोगो वियोगो चोपलभ्यते ॥ इतीति ॥ तस्माद् अत्र रजसोऽसद्-भावाद् असृज्यत्वं तमसोऽसद्-भावाद् अनाश्यत्वं प्राकृत-सत्त्वाभावाच् च सच्चिदानन्द-रूपत्वं तस्य दर्शितम् । तत्र हेतुर् न च काल-विक्रमः इति । काल-विक्रमेण हि प्रकृति-क्षोभात् सत्त्वादयः पृथक् क्रियन्ते । तस्माद् यत्रासौ षड्-भाव-विकार-हेतुः काल-विक्रम एव न प्रवर्तते तत्र तेषाम् अभावः सुतराम् एवेति भावः । किं च तेषां मूलत एव कुठार इत्य् आह न यत्र मायेति । मायात्र जगत्-सृष्ट्य्-आदि-हेतुर् भगवच्-छक्तिर् न तु कापट्य-मात्रम् । रज-आदि-निषेधेनैव तद्-व्युदासात् । अथवा यत्र तयोः सम्बन्धि सत्त्वं प्राकृत-सत्त्वं यत् तद् अपि न प्रवर्तते । मिश्रम् अपृथग्-भूत-गुण-त्रयं प्रधानं च । अग्रे माया- प्रधानयोर् भेदो विवेचनीयः । कैमुत्येनोक्तम् एवार्थं द्रढयति । किम् उतापरे इति । तयोर् विमिश्रं किञ्चिद् रजस्-तमो-मिश्रं सत्त्वं च नेति व्याख्या तु पिष्ट-पेषणम् एव । सामान्यतो रजस्-तमो-निषेधेनैव तत्-प्रतिपत्तेः । वक्ष्यते च तस्य सत्त्वस्य प्राकृताद् अन्य्तमत्वं द्वादशे श्री-नारायण-र्षिं प्रति मार्कण्डेयेन -- सत्त्वं रजस् तम इतीश तवात्म-बन्धो मायामयाः स्थित्-लयोद्भव-हेतवोऽस्य । लीलाधृता यद् अपि सत्त्वमयी प्रशान्त्यै नान्ये नॄणां व्यसन-मोह-भियश् च याभ्याम् ॥ तस्मात् तवेह भगवन्न् अथ तावकानां शुक्लां तनुं स्व-दयितां कुशला भजन्ति । यत् सात्वताः पुरुष-रूपम् उशन्ति सत्त्वं लोको यतोऽभयम् उतात्म-सुखं न चान्यद् ॥ [भ्प् १२.८.३९-४०] इति ॥ अनयोर् अर्थः । हे ईश यद् अपि सत्त्वं रजस् तम इति तवैव माया-कृता लीलाः । कथम्भूताः - अस्य विश्वस्य स्थित्यादि-हेतवः तथापि या सत्त्वमयी सैव प्रशान्त्यै प्रकृष्ट-सुखाय भवति । नान्ये रजस् तमो-मय्यौ । न केवलं प्रशान्त्यभाव-मात्रम् अनयोः । किन्त्व् अनिष्टं चेत्य् आह व्यसनेति । हे भगवन् तस्मात् तव शुक्लां सत्त्व-मय-लीलाधिष्ठात्रीं तनुं श्री-विष्णु- रूपां कुशला निपुणा भजन्ति सेवन्ते न त्व् अन्यां ब्रह्म-रुद्र-रूपां ते भजन्ति अनुसरन्ति । न तु दक्ष-भैरवादि-रूपाम् । कथम्भूतां स्वस्य तवापि दयितां लोक-शान्ति-करत्वात् । ननु मम रूपम् अपि सत्त्वात्मकम् इति प्रसिद्धं । तर्हि कथं तस्यापि मायामयत्वम् एव । नहि नहीत्य् आह सात्वताः श्री-भागवता यत् सत्त्वं पुरुषस्य तव रूपं प्रकाशम् उशन्ति मन्यन्ते यतश् च सत्त्वात् लोको वैकुण्ठाख्यः प्रकाशते तद् अभयम् आत्म-सुखं पर-ब्रह्मानन्द- स्वरूपम् एवलक्षण-स्वरूप-शक्ति-वृत्ति-विशेष उच्यते । सत्त्वं विशुद्धं वसुदेव-शब्दितं यद् ईयते तत्र पुमान् अपावृतः । [भ्प् ४.३.२३] इत्याद्य् उदाहरिष्यमाणानुसारात् । अगोचरत्वे हेतुः प्रकृति-गुणः । सत्त्वम् इत्य् अशुद्ध-सत्त्व-लक्षण-प्रसिद्ध्य्-अनुसारेण तथाभूतश् चिच्-छक्ति-वृत्ति- विशेषः सत्त्वम् इति सङ्गति-लाभाच् च । ततश् च तस्य स्वरूप-शक्ति-वृत्तित्वेन स्वरूपात्मतैवेत्य् उक्तम् तद् अभयम् आत्म-सुखम् इति । अर्थान्तरे भगवद्-विग्रहं प्रति रूपं यद् एतद् [भ्प् २.८.२] इत्यादौ शुद्ध-सत्त्व- स्वरूप-मात्रत्व-प्रतिज्ञाभङ्गः । अभयम् इत्य् आदौ प्राञ्जलता-हानिश् च भवति । अन्यत् पदस्यैकस्यैव रजस् तमश् चेति द्विर्-आवृत्तौ प्रतिपत्ति- गौरवं चोत्पद्यते । पूर्वम् अपि नान्ये इति द्विवचनेनैव परामृष्टे । तस्माद् अस्ति प्रसिद्धाद् अन्यत् स्वरूप-भूतं सत्त्वम् । यद् एवैकादशे यत् काय एष भुवन-त्रय-सन्निवेश [भ्प् ११.४.४] इत्यादौ ज्ञानं स्वत इत्य् अत्र टीका-कृन्-मतं यस्य स्वरूप-भूतात् सत्त्वात् तनु- भृतां ज्ञानम् इत्य् अनेन । तथा परो रजः सवितुर् जात-वेदा देवस्य भर्ग [भ्प् ५.७.१४] इत्य् आदौ श्री-भरत-जाप्ये तन्-मतं परो रजः रजसः प्रकृतेः परं शुद्ध-सत्त्वात्मकम् इत्य् आदिना । अतएव प्राकृताः सत्त्वादयो गुणा जीवस्यैव न त्व् ईशस्येति श्रूयते । अथैकादशे सत्त्वं रजस् तम इति गुणा जीवस्य नैव मे [भ्प् ११.२५.१२] इति । श्री-भगवद्-उपनिषत्सु च - ये चैव सात्त्विका भावा राजसास् तामसाश् च ये । मत्त एवेति तान् विद्धि न त्व् अहं तेषु ते मयि ॥ त्रिभिर् गुण-मयैर् भावैर् एभिः सर्वम् इदं जगत् । मोहितं नाभिजानाति माम् एभ्यः परम् अव्ययम् ॥ दैवी ह्य् एषा गुण-मयी मम माया दुरत्यया । माम् एव ये प्रपद्यन्ते मायाम् एतां तरन्ति ते ॥ इति [गीता ७.१२-४] यथा दशमे - हरिर् हि निर्गुणः साक्षात् पुरुषः प्रकृतेः परः । स सर्व-दृग् उपद्रष्टा तं भजन् निर्गुणो भवेत् ॥ इति [भ्प् १०.८८.५] श्री-विष्णु-पुराणे च - सत्त्वादयो न सन्तीशे यत्र च प्राकृता गुणाः । स शुद्धः सर्व-शुद्धेभ्यः पुमान् आद्यः प्रसीदतु ॥ इति [विप् १.९.४४] अत्र प्राकृता इति विशिष्य अप्राकृतास् त्व् अन्ये गुणास् तस्मिन् सन्त्य् एवेति व्यञ्जितं तत्रैव । ह्लादिनी सन्धिनी संवित् त्वय्य् एका सर्व-संश्रये । ह्लाद-ताप-करी मिश्रा त्वयि नो गुण-वर्जिते ॥ इति [विप् १.१२.६९] तथा च दशमे देवेन्द्रेणोक्तम् -- विशुद्ध-सत्त्वं तव धाम शान्तं तपोमयं ध्वस्त-रजस्-तमस्कम् । मायामयोऽयं गुण-संप्रवाहो न विद्यते तेऽग्रणानुबन्ध ॥ इति [भ्प् १०.२७.४] अयम् अर्थः । धाम स्वरूप-भूत-प्रकाश-शक्तिः । विशुद्धत्वम् आह विशेषण-द्वयेन । ध्वस्त-रजस्-तमस्कं तपो-मयम् इति च । तपोऽत्र ज्ञानं स तपोऽतप्यतेति श्रुतेः । तपोमयं प्रचुर-ज्ञान-स्वरूपम् । जाड्यांशेनापि रहितम् इत्य् अर्थः । आत्मा ज्ञान-मयः शुद्ध इतिवत् । अतः प्राकृत-सत्त्वम् अपि व्यावृत्तम् । अत एव मायामयोऽयं सत्त्वादि-गुण-प्रवाहस् ते तव न विद्यते । यतोऽसाव् अज्ञानेनैवानुबन्ध इति । अतएव श्री-भगवन्तं प्रति ब्रह्मादीनां सयुक्तिकम् -- सत्त्वं विशुद्धं श्रयते भवान् स्थितौ शरीरिणां श्रेय-उपायनं वपुः । वेद-क्रिया-योग-तपः-समाधिभिस् तवार्हणं येन जनः समीहते ॥ सत्त्वं न चेद् धातर् इदं निजं भवेद् विज्ञानम् अज्ञान-भिदापमार्जनम् । गुण-प्रकाशैर् अनुमीयते भवान् प्रकाशते यस्य च येन वा गुणः ॥ [भ्प् १०.२.३४-३५] अयम् अर्थः । सत्त्वं तेन प्रकाशमानत्वात् तद्-अभिन्नतया रूपितं वपुर् भवान् श्रयते प्रकटयति । कथम्भूतं सत्त्वं विशुद्धम् । अन्यस्य रजस्-तमोभ्याम् अमिश्रस्यापि प्राकृतत्वेन जाड्यांश-संवलितत्वान् न विशेषेण शुद्धत्वम् । एतत् तु स्वरूप-शक्त्य्-आत्मत्वेन तद्-अंशस्याप्य् अस्पर्शाद् अतीव शुद्धम् इत्य् अर्थः । किम् अर्थं श्रये । शरीरिणां स्थितौ निज- चरणारविन्दे मनःस्थैर्याय सर्वत्र भक्ति-सुखाद् अनस्यैव त्वदीय- मुख्य-प्रयोजनत्वाद् इति भावः । भक्ति-योग-विधानार्थम् इति [भ्प् १.८.१९] श्री-कुन्ती-वाक्यात् । कथम्भूतं वपुः श्रेयसां सर्वेषां पुरुषार्थानाम् उपायनम् आश्रयम् । नित्यानन्द-परमानन्द-रूपम् इत्य् अर्थः । अतो वपुषस् तव च भेद- निर्देशोऽयम् औपचारिक एवेति भावः । अतएव येन वपुषा यद् वपुर् आलम्बनेनैव जनस् तवार्हणं पूजां करोति । कैः साधनैः वेदादिभिस् त्वद्-आलम्बकैर् इत्य् अर्थः । साधारणैस् त्व् अर्पितैर् एव त्वद्-अर्हण- प्रायतासिद्धाव् अपि । वपुषोऽनपेक्षत्वात् । तादृश-वपुः-प्रकाश-हेतुत्वेन स्वरूपात्मकत्वं स्पष्टयन्ति । हे धातश् चेद् यदि इदं सत्त्वं यत् तव निजं विज्ञानम् अनुभवं तदात्मिका स्व-प्रकाशता-शक्तिर् इत्य् अर्थः । तन् न भवेत् । तर्हि तु अज्ञान-भिदा स्व- प्रकाशस्य तवानुभव-प्रकार एव मार्जनं शुद्धिम् अवाप । सैव जगति पर्यवसीयते न तु तवानुभव-लेशोऽपीत्य् अर्थः । ननु प्राकृत-सत्त्व-गुणेनैष भवतु किं निजेनेत्य् आह । प्राकृत-गुण- प्रकाशैर् भवान् केवलम् अनुमीयते न तु साक्षात्क्रियत इत्य् अर्थः । अथवा तव विज्ञान-रूपम् अज्ञान-भिदाया अपमार्जनं च यन् निजं सत्त्वं तद् यदि न भवेन् नाविर्भवति तदैव प्राकृत-सत्त्वादि-गुण-प्रकाशैर् भवान् अनुमीयते त्वन्-निज-सत्ताविर्भावेण तु साक्षात्-क्रियत एवेत्य् अर्थः । तद् एव स्पष्टयितुं तत्रानुमाने द्वैविध्यम् आहुर् यस्य गुणः प्रकाशत इति । अस्वरूप-भूतस्यैव सत्त्वादि-गुणस्य त्वद्-अव्यभिचारि सम्बन्धित्व-मात्रेण वा त्वद् एव प्रकाश्यमानता-मात्रेण वा त्वल्-लिङ्गत्वम् इत्य् अर्थः । यथा अरुणोदयस्य सूर्योदय-सान्निध्य-लिङ्गत्वं यथा वा धूमस्याग्नि- लिङ्गत्वम् इति तत उभयथापि तव साक्षात्कारे तस्य साधकतमत्वाभावो युक्त इति भावः । तद् एवम् अप्राकृत-सत्त्वस्य तदीय-स्व-प्रकाशता-रूपत्वं येन स्वप्रकाशस्य तव साक्षात्कारो भवतीति स्थापितम् । अत्र ये विशुद्ध-सत्त्वं नाम प्राकृतम् एव रजस्-तमः-शून्यं मत्वा तत्-कार्यं भगवद्- विग्रहादिकं मन्यन्ते ते तु न केनाप्य् अनुगृहीताः । रजः- सम्बन्धाभावेन स्वतः प्रशान्त-स्वभावस्य सर्वत्रोदासीनताकृति-हेतोस् तस्य क्षोभासम्भवात् विद्यामयत्वेन यथावस्थित-वस्तु-प्रकाशितामात्र- धर्मत्वात्, तस्य कल्पनान्तरायोग्यत्वाच् च । तद् उक्तम् अपि अगोचरस्य गोचरत्वे हेतुः प्रकृति-गुणः सत्त्वम् । गोचरस्य बहुरूपत्वे रजः । बहुरूपस्य तिरोहितत्वे रजः । तथा परस्परोदासीनत्वे सत्त्वम् । उपकारित्वे रजः । अपकारित्वे तमः । गोचरत्वादीनि स्थित्-सृष्टि-संहाराः उदासीनत्वादीनि चेति । अथ रजो-लेशे तत्र मन्तव्ये विशुद्ध-पदवैयर्थ्यम् इत्य् अलं तन्-मत- रजो-घट-प्रघट्टनयेति । पाद्मोत्तर-खण्डे तु वैकुण्ठ-निरूपणे तस्य सत्त्वस्याप्राकृतत्वं स्फुटम् एव दर्शितम् । यत उक्तं प्रकृति-विभूति- वर्णनानन्तरम् । एवं प्राकृत-रूपाय विभूतेर् रूपम् उत्तमम् । त्रिपाद्-विभूति-रूपं तु शृणु भूधर-नन्दिनि ॥ प्रधान-परम-व्योम्नोर् अन्तरे विरजा नदी । वेदाङ्ग-स्वेद-जनित-तोयैः प्रस्राविता शुभा ॥ तस्याः पारे पर-व्योम्नि त्रिपाद्-भूतं सनातनम् । अमृतं शाश्वतं नित्यम् अनन्तं परं पदम् ॥ शुद्ध-सत्त्व-मयं दिव्यम् अक्षरं ब्रह्मणः पदम् ॥ इत्यादि । तद् एतत् समाप्तं प्रासङ्गिकं शुद्ध-सत्त्व-विवेचनम् । अथ प्रवर्तते इत्यादि प्रकृतम् एव पद्यं व्याख्यायते । ननु गुणाद्य्-अभावान् निर्विशेष एवासौ लोक इत्य् आशङ्क्य तत्र विशेषस् तस्याः शुद्ध-सत्त्वात्मिकायाः स्वरूपानतिरिक्त-शक्तेर् एव विलास-रूप इति द्योतयंस् तम् एव विशेषं दर्शयति हरेर् इति । सुराः सत्त्व-प्रभवाः असुराः रजस्- तमः-प्रभवाः तैर् अर्चिताः । तेभ्योऽर्हत्तमा इत्य् अर्थः । गुणातीतत्वाद् एवेति भावः । तान् एव वर्णयति श्यामावदाता इति । श्यामाश् च अवदाता उज्ज्वलाश् च ते । पीतवस्त्राः सुपेशसोऽतिसुकुमाराः उन्मिषन्त इव प्रभावन्तो मणिप्रवेका मण्य्-उत्तमा येषु तानि निष्काणि पदकान्य् आभरणानि येषां ते सुवर्चसस् तेजस्विनः । प्रवालेति [२.९.११] । केऽपि तेभ्यः श्री-भगवत्-सारूप्यं लब्धवद्भ्योऽन्ये प्रवालादि-सम-वर्णाः । पुनर् अपि लोकं वर्णयति भ्राजिष्णुभिर् इति । श्रीर् यत्रेति श्रीः स्वरूप-शक्तिः रूपिणी तत्-प्रेयसी-रूपा मानं पूजां विभूतिभिः रूपिणी तत् प्रेयसी-रूपा मानं पूजां विभूतिभिः स्व-सखी-रूपाभिः । प्रेङ्खमान्दोलनं श्रिता विलासेन । कुसुमाकारो वसन्तस् तद्-अनुगा भ्रमरास् तैर् विविधं गीयमाना । स्वयं प्रियस्य हरेः कर्म गायन्ती भवति । ददर्शेति तत्र लोक इति प्राक्तनानां यच्-छब्दानां विशेष्यं अखिल- सात्वतां सर्वेषां सात्वतानां यादव-वीराणां पतिः श्रियः पतिर् यज्ञ-पतिः प्रजापतिर् धियां पतिर् लोक-पतिर् धरापतिः । पतिर् गतिश् चान्धक-वृष्णि-सात्वतां प्रसीदतां मे भगवन् सतां पतिः ॥ इत्य् [भ्प् २.४.२०] एतद् वाक्य-संवादित्वात् । श्री-भागवत-मते श्री-कृष्णस्यैव स्वयं-भगवत्त्वेन प्रतिपादयिष्यमानत्वात् । तच् चैतद् अनन्तरं ब्रह्मणे चतुःश्लोकी-रूपं भागवतं श्री-भगवतोपदिष्टम् । तत्र च - पुरा मया प्रोक्तम् अजाय नाभ्ये पद्मे निषण्णाय ममादि-सर्गे । ज्ञानं परं मन्-महिमावभासं यत् सूरयो भागवतं वदन्ति ॥ इति तृतीये [भ्प् ३.४.१३] उद्धवं प्रति श्री-कृष्ण-वाक्यानुसारेण ॥ यो ब्रह्माणं विदधाति पूर्वं यो वै वेदांश् च प्रहिणोति तस्मै । तं ह देवम् आत्म-बुद्धि-प्रकाशं मुमुक्षुर् वै शरणम् अमुं व्रजेत् ॥ इति [ग्तु १.२२] श्री-गोपाल-तापन्य्-अनुसारेण च तस्मै वोपदेष्टृत्व-श्रुतेः ॥ तदु होवाच ब्रह्मसवनं चरतो मे ध्यातः स्तुतः परार्धान्ते सोऽबुध्यत गोपवेशो मे पुरुषः पुरस्तादाविर्बभूवेति श्रीगोपालतापन्य्- अनुसारेणैव क्वचित् कल्पे श्री-गोपाल-रूपेण च सृष्ट्यादाव् इत्थम् एव ब्रह्मणे दर्शित-निज-रूपतां तद्-धाम्नो महा-वैकुण्ठत्वेन श्री-कृष्ण- सन्दर्भे साधयिष्यमाणत्वाच् च द्वारकायां प्राकट्यावसरे श्रुत- सुनन्द-नन्दादि-साहचर्येण श्री-प्रबलादयोऽपि ज्ञेयाः । यथोक्तं प्रथमे सुनन्द-नन्द-शीर्षण्या ये चान्ये सात्वत-र्षभा इति [भ्प् १.१४.३२]। भृत्य-प्रसादेति [२.९.१५] । दृग् एवासव इव द्रष्टॄणां मदकरी यस्य तम् । श्रिया वक्षो-वाम-भागे स्वर्ण-रेखाकारया । अध्यर्हणीयेति चतस्रः शक्तयो धर्माद्याः । पाद्मोत्तर-खण्डे योग-पीठे त एव कथिताः । न बहिरङ्गा अधर्माद्या इति । तथा हि, धर्म-ज्ञान तथैश्वर्य- वैराग्यैः पाद-विग्रहैः । ऋग्-यजुः-सामाथर्वाण- रूपैर् नित्यं वृतं क्रमाद् ॥ इति । समस्तान्तस् तथा शब्द-प्रयोगस् त्व् आर्षः । षोडश-शक्तयश् चण्डाद्याः । तथा च तत्रैव - चण्डादि-द्वार-पालैस् तु कुमुदाद्यैः सुरक्षिता इति । नगरीति पूर्वेणान्वयः । ते च - चण्ड-प्रचण्डौ प्राग्-द्वारे याम्ये भद्र-सुभद्रकौ । वारुण्यां जय-विजयौ सौम्ये धातृ-विधातरौ ॥ कुमुदः कुमुदाक्षश् च पुण्डरीकोऽथ वामनः । शङ्के कर्णः सर्व-नेत्रः सुमुखः सुप्रतिष्ठितः ॥ एते दिक्पतयः प्रोक्ताः पुर्याम् अत्र सुशोभने ॥ इति । कुमुदादयस् तु द्वौ द्वाव् आग्नेयादि-दिक्-पतय इति शेषः । पञ्च-शक्तयः कूर्माद्याः । तथा च तत्रैव - कूर्मश् च नागराजश् च वनतेयस् त्रयीश्वरः । छन्दांसि सर्व-मन्त्राश् च पीठ-रूपत्वम् आस्थिता ॥ इति ॥ त्रयीश्वर इति वैनतेय-विशेषणम् । तस्य छन्दोमयत्वात् । यद्यप्य् उत्तर-खण्ड-वचनं तत् परम-व्योम-परं तथापि तत्- सादृश्यागमादि-प्रसिद्धेश् च श्री-कृष्ण-योग-पीठम् अपि च तद्वज् ज्ञेयम् । अत्र षोडश-शक्तयः साक्षात् श्री-कृष्ण एव श्री-कृष्ण-सन्दर्भे पुरस्ताद् उदाहरिष्यमाण-प्रभास-खण्ड-वचनात् श्रुतालम्बिन्यादय एव वा ज्ञेया इति । स्वैः स्वरूप-भूतैर् ऐश्वर्यादिभिर् युक्तम् । इतरत्र योगिषु अध्रुवैः प्राप्तैर् इत्य् अर्थः । स्व-स्वरूप एव धामानि श्री-वैकुण्ठे रममाणं अतएवेश्वरम् । कथम् अपि पराधीन-सिद्धत्वाभावात् । तद्-दर्शनेति [२.९.१७] । यत् पदाम्बुजं पारमहंस्येन पथाधिगम्यत इति सच्चिदानन्द-घनत्वं तस्य व्यनक्ति । त्वं प्रीयमाणम् इति तं ब्रह्माणं भगवान् बभाषे । प्रजा-विसर्गे कार्ये निजस्य स्वांश-भूतस्य पुरुषस्य शासनेऽर्हणं योग्यम् । नन्व् असौ पुरुष एव तम् अनुगृह्णातु श्री-भगवतस् तु परावस्थत्वात् तेन प्राकृत-सृष्टि-कर्त्रा सम्बन्धोऽपि न सम्बन्ध इत्य् आशङ्क्य तस्य भक्त- वात्सल्यातिशय एवायम् इत्य् आह, प्रियं तस्मिन् प्रेमवन्तम् । यतः सोऽपि प्रियः प्रेम-वशः । तत्रापि प्रीयमाणाम् इति प्रीतमना इति च विशेषणं तदानीं प्रेमोल्लासातिशय-द्योतकम् । तं प्रति भगवच्-चिह्न- दर्शनेन तस्यापि तत्र प्रीत्य्-अतिशयं व्यञ्जयति ईषत्-स्मित-रोचिषा गिरेति करे स्पृशन्न् इति च । अस्य श्री-कृष्णोपासकत्वं श्री-गोपाल-तापनी-वाक्येन दर्शितम् । तथा च ब्रह्म-संहितायां [५.२२-५] - तत्र ब्रह्माभवद् भूयश् चतुर्वेदी चतुर्मुखः । स जातो भगवच्-छक्त्या तत्-कालं किल चोदितः ॥ सिसृक्षायां मतिं चक्रे पूर्व-संस्कार-संस्कृताम् । ददर्श केवलं ध्वान्तं नान्यत् किम् अपि सर्वतः ॥ उवाच पुरतस् तस्मै तस्य दिव्या सरस्वती । कामः कृष्णाय गोविन्दाय गोपी-जन इत्य् अपि ॥ वल्लभाय प्रिया वह्नेर् अयं ते दास्यति प्रियम् । तप त्वं तप एतेन तव सिद्धिर् भविष्यति ॥ अथ तेपे स सुचिरं प्रीणन् गोविन्दम् अव्ययम् ॥ इत्य् आदि ॥ श्री-शुकः ॥८॥ [९] अथ सा भगवत्ता च नारोपिता किन्तु स्वरूप-भूतैवेत्य् एतम् अर्थं पुनर् विशेषतः स्थापयितुं प्रकरणान्तरम् आरभ्यते । तत्र वस्तुनस् तस्य शक्तित्वम् आह । वेद्यं वास्तवम् अत्र वस्त्व् इत्य् अस्य विशेषणाभ्याम् एव शिवदं ताप-त्रयोन्मूलनम् इति । [भ्प् १.१.२] शिवं परमानन्दः तद्-दानं स्वरूप-शक्त्या । ताप-त्रयं माया-शक्ति- कार्यं तद्-उन्मूलनं च तयैवेत ॥ श्री-व्यासः ॥९॥
[8] tad-āvirbhāvam āha sārdha-daśabhiḥ -- tasmai sva-lokaṃ bhagavān sabhājitaḥ sandarśayām āsa paraṃ na yat-param | vyapeta-saṅkleśa-vimoha-sādhvasaṃ sva-dṛṣṭavadbhir puruṣair abhiṣṭutam ||9|| pravartate yatra rajas tamas tayoḥ sattvaṃ ca miśraṃ na ca kāla-vikramaḥ | na yatra māyā kim utāpare harer anuvratā yatra surāsurārcitāḥ ||10|| śyāmāvadātāḥ śata-patra-locanāḥ piśaṅga-vastrāḥ surucaḥ supeśasaḥ | sarve catur-bāhava unmiṣan-maṇi- praveka-niṣkābharaṇāḥ suvarcasaḥ | pravāla-vaidūrya-mṛṇāla-varcasaḥ parisphurat-kuṇḍala-mauli-mālinaḥ ||11|| bhrājiṣṇubhir yaḥ parito virājate lasad-vimānāvalibhir mahātmanām | vidyotamānaḥ pramadottamādyubhiḥ savidyud abhrāvalibhir yathā nabhaḥ ||12|| śrīr yatra rūpiṇy urugāya-pādayoḥ karoti mānaṃ bahudhā vibhūtibhiḥ | preṅkhaṃ śritā yā kusumākarānugair vigīyamānā priya-karma gāyatī ||13|| dadarśa tatrākhila-sātvatāṃ patiṃ śriyaḥ patiṃ yajña-patiṃ jagat-patim | sunanda-nanda-prabalārhaṇādibhiḥ sva-pārṣadāgraiḥ parisevitaṃ vibhum ||14|| bhṛtya-prasādābhimukhaṃ dṛg-āsavaṃ prasanna-hāsāruṇa-locanānanam | kirīṃinaṃ kuṇḍalinaṃ catur-bhujaṃ pītāṃśukaṃ vakṣasi lakṣitaṃ śriyā ||15|| adhyarhaṇīyāsanam āsthitaṃ paraṃ vṛtaṃ catuḥ-ṣoḍaśa-pañca-śaktibhiḥ | yuktaṃ bhagaiḥ svair itaratra cādhruvaiḥ sva eva dhāman ramamāṇam īśvaram ||16|| tad-darśanāhlāda-pariplutāntaro hṛṣyat-tanuḥ prema-bharāśru-locanaḥ | nanāma pādāmbujam asya viśva-sṛg yat pāramahaṃsyena pathādhigamyate ||17|| taṃ prīyamāṇaṃ samupasthitaṃ kaviṃ prajā-visarge nija-śāsanārhaṇam | babhāṣa īṣat-smita-śociṣā girā priyaḥ priyaṃ prīta-manāḥ kare spṛśan ||18 [BhP 2.9.9-18] || tasmai bhagavad-ājñā-puraskāreṇa śrī-nārāyaṇāhvaya-puruṣa-nābhi- paṅkaje sthityaiva tat-toṣaṇais tapobhir bhajate brahmaṇe sabhājitas tena bhajanena vaśīkṛtaḥ san sva-lokaṃ vaikuṇṭhaṃ bhuvanottamaṃ bhagavān samyag darśayāmāsa | yad yato viakuṇṭhāt param anyad vaikuṇṭhaṃ paraṃ śreṣṭhaṃ na vidyate parama-bhagavad-vaikuṇṭhatvāt | yad vā, yad yato vaikuṇṭhāt paraṃ brahmākhyaṃ tattvaṃ paraṃ bhinnaṃ na bhavati | svarūpa- śakti-viśeṣāviṣkāreṇa māyayānāvṛtaṃ tad eva tad-rūpam ity arthaḥ | agre tv idaṃ vyaktīkariṣyate | tādṛśatve hetuḥ vyapeteti sva-dṛṣṭeto ca | avidyāsmitārāga-dveṣābhiniveśāḥ pañca kleśāḥ viimohas taiḥ vaicitryaṃ sādhvasaṃ bhayaṃ vyapetāni saṅkleśādīni yatra tam | svasya dṛṣṭaṃ darśanaṃ tad vidyate yeṣāṃ tair ātmavidbhir api abhitaḥ sarvāṃśenaiva stutaṃ ślāghitam | atha te munayo dṛṣṭvā nayanānanda-bhājanam | vaikuṇṭhaṃ tad-adhiṣṭhānaṃ vikuṇṭhaṃ ca svayaṃ-prabham || bhagavantaṃ parikramya praṇipatyānumānya ca | pratijagmuḥ pramuditāḥ śaṃsanto vaiṣṇavīṃ śriyam || [BhP 3.16.27-8] punas tādṛśatvam eva vyanakti, pravartate iti | yatra vaikuṇṭhe rajas tamaś ca na pravartate | tayor miśraṃ sahacaraṃ jaḍaṃ yat sattvaṃ na tad api | kintu anyad eva | tac ca yā suṣṭhu sthāpayiṣyamāṇā māyātaḥ parā bhagavat- svarūpa-śaktiḥ tasyāḥ vṛttitvena cid-rūpaṃ śuddha-sattvākhyaṃ sattvam iti tadīya-prakaraṇa eva sthāpayiṣyate | tad eva ca yatra pravartate ity arthaḥ | tathā ca nārada-pañcarātre jitante-stotre - lokaṃ vaikuṇṭha-nāmānaṃ divya-ṣaḍ-guṇa-saṃyutam | avaiṣṇavānām aprāpyaṃ guṇa-traya-vivarjitam || pādmottara-khaṇḍe tu vaikuṇḍha-nirūpaśo tasya sattvasyāprākṛtatvaṃ sphuṭam evaṃ darśitam | yataḥ prakṛti-vibhūti-varṇanānantaram - evaṃ prākṛta-rūpāyā vibhūte rūpam uttamam | tripād-vibhūti-rūpaṃ tu śṛṇu bhūdhara-nandini || pradhāna-parama-vyomnor antare virajā nadī | vedāṅgasvedajanita-toyaiḥ prasrāvitā śubhā || tasyāḥ pāre para-vyomni tripād-bhūtaṃ sanātanam | amṛtaṃ śāśvataṃ nityam anantaṃ paraṃ padam || śuddha-sattva-mayaṃ divyam akṣaraṃ brahmaṇaḥ padam || ityādi || prākṛta-guṇānāṃ parasparāvyabhicāritvaṃ tūktaṃ sāṅkhya-kaumudyāṃ - anyonya-mithuna-vṛttaya iti | taṭ-ṭīkāyāṃ ca anyonya-sahacarā avinābhāva- vartina iti yāvat | bhavati cātrāgamaḥ - anyonya-mithunāḥ sarve sarve sarvatra-gāminaḥ | rajaso mithunaṃ sattvam || ity ādy upakramya naiṣām ādiś ca saṃyogo viyogo copalabhyate || itīti || tasmād atra rajaso'sad-bhāvād asṛjyatvaṃ tamaso'sad-bhāvād anāśyatvaṃ prākṛta-sattvābhāvāc ca saccidānanda-rūpatvaṃ tasya darśitam | tatra hetur na ca kāla-vikramaḥ iti | kāla-vikrameṇa hi prakṛti-kṣobhāt sattvādayaḥ pṛthak kriyante | tasmād yatrāsau ṣaḍ-bhāva-vikāra-hetuḥ kāla-vikrama eva na pravartate tatra teṣām abhāvaḥ sutarām eveti bhāvaḥ | kiṃ ca teṣāṃ mūlata eva kuṭhāra ity āha na yatra māyeti | māyātra jagat-sṛṣṭy-ādi-hetur bhagavac-chaktir na tu kāpaṭya-mātram | raja-ādi-niṣedhenaiva tad-vyudāsāt | athavā yatra tayoḥ sambandhi sattvaṃ prākṛta-sattvaṃ yat tad api na pravartate | miśram apṛthag-bhūta-guṇa-trayaṃ pradhānaṃ ca | agre māyā- pradhānayor bhedo vivecanīyaḥ | kaimutyenoktam evārthaṃ draḍhayati | kim utāpare iti | tayor vimiśraṃ kiñcid rajas-tamo-miśraṃ sattvaṃ ca neti vyākhyā tu piṣṭa-peṣaṇam eva | sāmānyato rajas-tamo-niṣedhenaiva tat-pratipatteḥ | vakṣyate ca tasya sattvasya prākṛtād anytamatvaṃ dvādaśe śrī-nārāyaṇa-rṣiṃ prati mārkaṇḍeyena -- sattvaṃ rajas tama itīśa tavātma-bandho māyāmayāḥ sthit-layodbhava-hetavo'sya | līlādhṛtā yad api sattvamayī praśāntyai nānye nṝṇāṃ vyasana-moha-bhiyaś ca yābhyām || tasmāt taveha bhagavann atha tāvakānāṃ śuklāṃ tanuṃ sva-dayitāṃ kuśalā bhajanti | yat sātvatāḥ puruṣa-rūpam uśanti sattvaṃ loko yato'bhayam utātma-sukhaṃ na cānyad || [BhP 12.8.39-40] iti || anayor arthaḥ | he īśa yad api sattvaṃ rajas tama iti tavaiva māyā-kṛtā līlāḥ | kathambhūtāḥ - asya viśvasya sthityādi-hetavaḥ tathāpi yā sattvamayī saiva praśāntyai prakṛṣṭa-sukhāya bhavati | nānye rajas tamo-mayyau | na kevalaṃ praśāntyabhāva-mātram anayoḥ | kintv aniṣṭaṃ cety āha vyasaneti | he bhagavan tasmāt tava śuklāṃ sattva-maya-līlādhiṣṭhātrīṃ tanuṃ śrī-viṣṇu- rūpāṃ kuśalā nipuṇā bhajanti sevante na tv anyāṃ brahma-rudra-rūpāṃ te bhajanti anusaranti | na tu dakṣa-bhairavādi-rūpām | kathambhūtāṃ svasya tavāpi dayitāṃ loka-śānti-karatvāt | nanu mama rūpam api sattvātmakam iti prasiddhaṃ | tarhi kathaṃ tasyāpi māyāmayatvam eva | nahi nahīty āha sātvatāḥ śrī-bhāgavatā yat sattvaṃ puruṣasya tava rūpaṃ prakāśam uśanti manyante yataś ca sattvāt loko vaikuṇṭhākhyaḥ prakāśate tad abhayam ātma-sukhaṃ para-brahmānanda- svarūpam evalakṣaṇa-svarūpa-śakti-vṛtti-viśeṣa ucyate | sattvaṃ viśuddhaṃ vasudeva-śabditaṃ yad īyate tatra pumān apāvṛtaḥ | [BhP 4.3.23] ityādy udāhariṣyamāṇānusārāt | agocaratve hetuḥ prakṛti-guṇaḥ | sattvam ity aśuddha-sattva-lakṣaṇa-prasiddhy-anusāreṇa tathābhūtaś cic-chakti-vṛtti- viśeṣaḥ sattvam iti saṅgati-lābhāc ca | tataś ca tasya svarūpa-śakti-vṛttitvena svarūpātmataivety uktam tad abhayam ātma-sukham iti | arthāntare bhagavad-vigrahaṃ prati rūpaṃ yad etad [BhP 2.8.2] ityādau śuddha-sattva- svarūpa-mātratva-pratijñābhaṅgaḥ | abhayam ity ādau prāñjalatā-hāniś ca bhavati | anyat padasyaikasyaiva rajas tamaś ceti dvir-āvṛttau pratipatti- gauravaṃ cotpadyate | pūrvam api nānye iti dvivacanenaiva parāmṛṣṭe | tasmād asti prasiddhād anyat svarūpa-bhūtaṃ sattvam | yad evaikādaśe yat kāya eṣa bhuvana-traya-sanniveśa [BhP 11.4.4] ityādau jñānaṃ svata ity atra ṭīkā-kṛn-mataṃ yasya svarūpa-bhūtāt sattvāt tanu- bhṛtāṃ jñānam ity anena | tathā paro rajaḥ savitur jāta-vedā devasya bharga [BhP 5.7.14] ity ādau śrī-bharata-jāpye tan-mataṃ paro rajaḥ rajasaḥ prakṛteḥ paraṃ śuddha-sattvātmakam ity ādinā | ataeva prākṛtāḥ sattvādayo guṇā jīvasyaiva na tv īśasyeti śrūyate | athaikādaśe sattvaṃ rajas tama iti guṇā jīvasya naiva me [BhP 11.25.12] iti | śrī-bhagavad-upaniṣatsu ca - ye caiva sāttvikā bhāvā rājasās tāmasāś ca ye | matta eveti tān viddhi na tv ahaṃ teṣu te mayi || tribhir guṇa-mayair bhāvair ebhiḥ sarvam idaṃ jagat | mohitaṃ nābhijānāti mām ebhyaḥ param avyayam || daivī hy eṣā guṇa-mayī mama māyā duratyayā | mām eva ye prapadyante māyām etāṃ taranti te || iti [Gītā 7.12-4] yathā daśame - harir hi nirguṇaḥ sākṣāt puruṣaḥ prakṛteḥ paraḥ | sa sarva-dṛg upadraṣṭā taṃ bhajan nirguṇo bhavet || iti [BhP 10.88.5] śrī-viṣṇu-purāṇe ca - sattvādayo na santīśe yatra ca prākṛtā guṇāḥ | sa śuddhaḥ sarva-śuddhebhyaḥ pumān ādyaḥ prasīdatu || iti [ViP 1.9.44] atra prākṛtā iti viśiṣya aprākṛtās tv anye guṇās tasmin santy eveti vyañjitaṃ tatraiva | hlādinī sandhinī saṃvit tvayy ekā sarva-saṃśraye | hlāda-tāpa-karī miśrā tvayi no guṇa-varjite || iti [ViP 1.12.69] tathā ca daśame devendreṇoktam -- viśuddha-sattvaṃ tava dhāma śāntaṃ tapomayaṃ dhvasta-rajas-tamaskam | māyāmayo'yaṃ guṇa-saṃpravāho na vidyate te'graṇānubandha || iti [BhP 10.27.4] ayam arthaḥ | dhāma svarūpa-bhūta-prakāśa-śaktiḥ | viśuddhatvam āha viśeṣaṇa-dvayena | dhvasta-rajas-tamaskaṃ tapo-mayam iti ca | tapo'tra jñānaṃ sa tapo'tapyateti śruteḥ | tapomayaṃ pracura-jñāna-svarūpam | jāḍyāṃśenāpi rahitam ity arthaḥ | ātmā jñāna-mayaḥ śuddha itivat | ataḥ prākṛta-sattvam api vyāvṛttam | ata eva māyāmayo'yaṃ sattvādi-guṇa-pravāhas te tava na vidyate | yato'sāv ajñānenaivānubandha iti | ataeva śrī-bhagavantaṃ prati brahmādīnāṃ sayuktikam -- sattvaṃ viśuddhaṃ śrayate bhavān sthitau śarīriṇāṃ śreya-upāyanaṃ vapuḥ | veda-kriyā-yoga-tapaḥ-samādhibhis tavārhaṇaṃ yena janaḥ samīhate || sattvaṃ na ced dhātar idaṃ nijaṃ bhaved vijñānam ajñāna-bhidāpamārjanam | guṇa-prakāśair anumīyate bhavān prakāśate yasya ca yena vā guṇaḥ || [BhP 10.2.34-35] ayam arthaḥ | sattvaṃ tena prakāśamānatvāt tad-abhinnatayā rūpitaṃ vapur bhavān śrayate prakaṭayati | kathambhūtaṃ sattvaṃ viśuddham | anyasya rajas-tamobhyām amiśrasyāpi prākṛtatvena jāḍyāṃśa-saṃvalitatvān na viśeṣeṇa śuddhatvam | etat tu svarūpa-śakty-ātmatvena tad-aṃśasyāpy asparśād atīva śuddham ity arthaḥ | kim arthaṃ śraye | śarīriṇāṃ sthitau nija- caraṇāravinde manaḥsthairyāya sarvatra bhakti-sukhād anasyaiva tvadīya- mukhya-prayojanatvād iti bhāvaḥ | bhakti-yoga-vidhānārtham iti [BhP 1.8.19] śrī-kuntī-vākyāt | kathambhūtaṃ vapuḥ śreyasāṃ sarveṣāṃ puruṣārthānām upāyanam āśrayam | nityānanda-paramānanda-rūpam ity arthaḥ | ato vapuṣas tava ca bheda- nirdeśo'yam aupacārika eveti bhāvaḥ | ataeva yena vapuṣā yad vapur ālambanenaiva janas tavārhaṇaṃ pūjāṃ karoti | kaiḥ sādhanaiḥ vedādibhis tvad-ālambakair ity arthaḥ | sādhāraṇais tv arpitair eva tvad-arhaṇa- prāyatāsiddhāv api | vapuṣo'napekṣatvāt | tādṛśa-vapuḥ-prakāśa-hetutvena svarūpātmakatvaṃ spaṣṭayanti | he dhātaś ced yadi idaṃ sattvaṃ yat tava nijaṃ vijñānam anubhavaṃ tadātmikā sva-prakāśatā-śaktir ity arthaḥ | tan na bhavet | tarhi tu ajñāna-bhidā sva- prakāśasya tavānubhava-prakāra eva mārjanaṃ śuddhim avāpa | saiva jagati paryavasīyate na tu tavānubhava-leśo'pīty arthaḥ | nanu prākṛta-sattva-guṇenaiṣa bhavatu kiṃ nijenety āha | prākṛta-guṇa- prakāśair bhavān kevalam anumīyate na tu sākṣātkriyata ity arthaḥ | athavā tava vijñāna-rūpam ajñāna-bhidāyā apamārjanaṃ ca yan nijaṃ sattvaṃ tad yadi na bhaven nāvirbhavati tadaiva prākṛta-sattvādi-guṇa-prakāśair bhavān anumīyate tvan-nija-sattāvirbhāveṇa tu sākṣāt-kriyata evety arthaḥ | tad eva spaṣṭayituṃ tatrānumāne dvaividhyam āhur yasya guṇaḥ prakāśata iti | asvarūpa-bhūtasyaiva sattvādi-guṇasya tvad-avyabhicāri sambandhitva-mātreṇa vā tvad eva prakāśyamānatā-mātreṇa vā tval-liṅgatvam ity arthaḥ | yathā aruṇodayasya sūryodaya-sānnidhya-liṅgatvaṃ yathā vā dhūmasyāgni- liṅgatvam iti tata ubhayathāpi tava sākṣātkāre tasya sādhakatamatvābhāvo yukta iti bhāvaḥ | tad evam aprākṛta-sattvasya tadīya-sva-prakāśatā-rūpatvaṃ yena svaprakāśasya tava sākṣātkāro bhavatīti sthāpitam | atra ye viśuddha-sattvaṃ nāma prākṛtam eva rajas-tamaḥ-śūnyaṃ matvā tat-kāryaṃ bhagavad- vigrahādikaṃ manyante te tu na kenāpy anugṛhītāḥ | rajaḥ- sambandhābhāvena svataḥ praśānta-svabhāvasya sarvatrodāsīnatākṛti-hetos tasya kṣobhāsambhavāt vidyāmayatvena yathāvasthita-vastu-prakāśitāmātra- dharmatvāt, tasya kalpanāntarāyogyatvāc ca | tad uktam api agocarasya gocaratve hetuḥ prakṛti-guṇaḥ sattvam | gocarasya bahurūpatve rajaḥ | bahurūpasya tirohitatve rajaḥ | tathā parasparodāsīnatve sattvam | upakāritve rajaḥ | apakāritve tamaḥ | gocaratvādīni sthit-sṛṣṭi-saṃhārāḥ udāsīnatvādīni ceti | atha rajo-leśe tatra mantavye viśuddha-padavaiyarthyam ity alaṃ tan-mata- rajo-ghaṭa-praghaṭṭanayeti | pādmottara-khaṇḍe tu vaikuṇṭha-nirūpaṇe tasya sattvasyāprākṛtatvaṃ sphuṭam eva darśitam | yata uktaṃ prakṛti-vibhūti- varṇanānantaram | evaṃ prākṛta-rūpāya vibhūter rūpam uttamam | tripād-vibhūti-rūpaṃ tu śṛṇu bhūdhara-nandini || pradhāna-parama-vyomnor antare virajā nadī | vedāṅga-sveda-janita-toyaiḥ prasrāvitā śubhā || tasyāḥ pāre para-vyomni tripād-bhūtaṃ sanātanam | amṛtaṃ śāśvataṃ nityam anantaṃ paraṃ padam || śuddha-sattva-mayaṃ divyam akṣaraṃ brahmaṇaḥ padam || ityādi | tad etat samāptaṃ prāsaṅgikaṃ śuddha-sattva-vivecanam | atha pravartate ityādi prakṛtam eva padyaṃ vyākhyāyate | nanu guṇādy-abhāvān nirviśeṣa evāsau loka ity āśaṅkya tatra viśeṣas tasyāḥ śuddha-sattvātmikāyāḥ svarūpānatirikta-śakter eva vilāsa-rūpa iti dyotayaṃs tam eva viśeṣaṃ darśayati harer iti | surāḥ sattva-prabhavāḥ asurāḥ rajas- tamaḥ-prabhavāḥ tair arcitāḥ | tebhyo'rhattamā ity arthaḥ | guṇātītatvād eveti bhāvaḥ | tān eva varṇayati śyāmāvadātā iti | śyāmāś ca avadātā ujjvalāś ca te | pītavastrāḥ supeśaso'tisukumārāḥ unmiṣanta iva prabhāvanto maṇipravekā maṇy-uttamā yeṣu tāni niṣkāṇi padakāny ābharaṇāni yeṣāṃ te suvarcasas tejasvinaḥ | pravāleti [2.9.11] | ke'pi tebhyaḥ śrī-bhagavat-sārūpyaṃ labdhavadbhyo'nye pravālādi-sama-varṇāḥ | punar api lokaṃ varṇayati bhrājiṣṇubhir iti | śrīr yatreti śrīḥ svarūpa-śaktiḥ rūpiṇī tat-preyasī-rūpā mānaṃ pūjāṃ vibhūtibhiḥ rūpiṇī tat preyasī-rūpā mānaṃ pūjāṃ vibhūtibhiḥ sva-sakhī-rūpābhiḥ | preṅkhamāndolanaṃ śritā vilāsena | kusumākāro vasantas tad-anugā bhramarās tair vividhaṃ gīyamānā | svayaṃ priyasya hareḥ karma gāyantī bhavati | dadarśeti tatra loka iti prāktanānāṃ yac-chabdānāṃ viśeṣyaṃ akhila- sātvatāṃ sarveṣāṃ sātvatānāṃ yādava-vīrāṇāṃ patiḥ śriyaḥ patir yajña-patiḥ prajāpatir dhiyāṃ patir loka-patir dharāpatiḥ | patir gatiś cāndhaka-vṛṣṇi-sātvatāṃ prasīdatāṃ me bhagavan satāṃ patiḥ || ity [BhP 2.4.20] etad vākya-saṃvāditvāt | śrī-bhāgavata-mate śrī-kṛṣṇasyaiva svayaṃ-bhagavattvena pratipādayiṣyamānatvāt | tac caitad anantaraṃ brahmaṇe catuḥślokī-rūpaṃ bhāgavataṃ śrī-bhagavatopadiṣṭam | tatra ca - purā mayā proktam ajāya nābhye padme niṣaṇṇāya mamādi-sarge | jñānaṃ paraṃ man-mahimāvabhāsaṃ yat sūrayo bhāgavataṃ vadanti || iti tṛtīye [BhP 3.4.13] uddhavaṃ prati śrī-kṛṣṇa-vākyānusāreṇa || yo brahmāṇaṃ vidadhāti pūrvaṃ yo vai vedāṃś ca prahiṇoti tasmai | taṃ ha devam ātma-buddhi-prakāśaṃ mumukṣur vai śaraṇam amuṃ vrajet || iti [GTU 1.22] śrī-gopāla-tāpany-anusāreṇa ca tasmai vopadeṣṭṛtva-śruteḥ || tadu hovāca brahmasavanaṃ carato me dhyātaḥ stutaḥ parārdhānte so'budhyata gopaveśo me puruṣaḥ purastādāvirbabhūveti śrīgopālatāpany- anusāreṇaiva kvacit kalpe śrī-gopāla-rūpeṇa ca sṛṣṭyādāv ittham eva brahmaṇe darśita-nija-rūpatāṃ tad-dhāmno mahā-vaikuṇṭhatvena śrī-kṛṣṇa- sandarbhe sādhayiṣyamāṇatvāc ca dvārakāyāṃ prākaṭyāvasare śruta- sunanda-nandādi-sāhacaryeṇa śrī-prabalādayo'pi jñeyāḥ | yathoktaṃ prathame sunanda-nanda-śīrṣaṇyā ye cānye sātvata-rṣabhā iti [BhP 1.14.32]| bhṛtya-prasādeti [2.9.15] | dṛg evāsava iva draṣṭṝṇāṃ madakarī yasya tam | śriyā vakṣo-vāma-bhāge svarṇa-rekhākārayā | adhyarhaṇīyeti catasraḥ śaktayo dharmādyāḥ | pādmottara-khaṇḍe yoga-pīṭhe ta eva kathitāḥ | na bahiraṅgā adharmādyā iti | tathā hi, dharma-jñāna tathaiśvarya- vairāgyaiḥ pāda-vigrahaiḥ | ṛg-yajuḥ-sāmātharvāṇa- rūpair nityaṃ vṛtaṃ kramād || iti | samastāntas tathā śabda-prayogas tv ārṣaḥ | ṣoḍaśa-śaktayaś caṇḍādyāḥ | tathā ca tatraiva - caṇḍādi-dvāra-pālais tu kumudādyaiḥ surakṣitā iti | nagarīti pūrveṇānvayaḥ | te ca - caṇḍa-pracaṇḍau prāg-dvāre yāmye bhadra-subhadrakau | vāruṇyāṃ jaya-vijayau saumye dhātṛ-vidhātarau || kumudaḥ kumudākṣaś ca puṇḍarīko'tha vāmanaḥ | śaṅke karṇaḥ sarva-netraḥ sumukhaḥ supratiṣṭhitaḥ || ete dikpatayaḥ proktāḥ puryām atra suśobhane || iti | kumudādayas tu dvau dvāv āgneyādi-dik-pataya iti śeṣaḥ | pañca-śaktayaḥ kūrmādyāḥ | tathā ca tatraiva - kūrmaś ca nāgarājaś ca vanateyas trayīśvaraḥ | chandāṃsi sarva-mantrāś ca pīṭha-rūpatvam āsthitā || iti || trayīśvara iti vainateya-viśeṣaṇam | tasya chandomayatvāt | yadyapy uttara-khaṇḍa-vacanaṃ tat parama-vyoma-paraṃ tathāpi tat- sādṛśyāgamādi-prasiddheś ca śrī-kṛṣṇa-yoga-pīṭham api ca tadvaj jñeyam | atra ṣoḍaśa-śaktayaḥ sākṣāt śrī-kṛṣṇa eva śrī-kṛṣṇa-sandarbhe purastād udāhariṣyamāṇa-prabhāsa-khaṇḍa-vacanāt śrutālambinyādaya eva vā jñeyā iti | svaiḥ svarūpa-bhūtair aiśvaryādibhir yuktam | itaratra yogiṣu adhruvaiḥ prāptair ity arthaḥ | sva-svarūpa eva dhāmāni śrī-vaikuṇṭhe ramamāṇaṃ ataeveśvaram | katham api parādhīna-siddhatvābhāvāt | tad-darśaneti [2.9.17] | yat padāmbujaṃ pāramahaṃsyena pathādhigamyata iti saccidānanda-ghanatvaṃ tasya vyanakti | tvaṃ prīyamāṇam iti taṃ brahmāṇaṃ bhagavān babhāṣe | prajā-visarge kārye nijasya svāṃśa-bhūtasya puruṣasya śāsane'rhaṇaṃ yogyam | nanv asau puruṣa eva tam anugṛhṇātu śrī-bhagavatas tu parāvasthatvāt tena prākṛta-sṛṣṭi-kartrā sambandho'pi na sambandha ity āśaṅkya tasya bhakta- vātsalyātiśaya evāyam ity āha, priyaṃ tasmin premavantam | yataḥ so'pi priyaḥ prema-vaśaḥ | tatrāpi prīyamāṇām iti prītamanā iti ca viśeṣaṇaṃ tadānīṃ premollāsātiśaya-dyotakam | taṃ prati bhagavac-cihna- darśanena tasyāpi tatra prīty-atiśayaṃ vyañjayati īṣat-smita-rociṣā gireti kare spṛśann iti ca | asya śrī-kṛṣṇopāsakatvaṃ śrī-gopāla-tāpanī-vākyena darśitam | tathā ca brahma-saṃhitāyāṃ [5.22-5] - tatra brahmābhavad bhūyaś caturvedī caturmukhaḥ | sa jāto bhagavac-chaktyā tat-kālaṃ kila coditaḥ || sisṛkṣāyāṃ matiṃ cakre pūrva-saṃskāra-saṃskṛtām | dadarśa kevalaṃ dhvāntaṃ nānyat kim api sarvataḥ || uvāca puratas tasmai tasya divyā sarasvatī | kāmaḥ kṛṣṇāya govindāya gopī-jana ity api || vallabhāya priyā vahner ayaṃ te dāsyati priyam | tapa tvaṃ tapa etena tava siddhir bhaviṣyati || atha tepe sa suciraṃ prīṇan govindam avyayam || ity ādi || śrī-śukaḥ ||8|| [9] atha sā bhagavattā ca nāropitā kintu svarūpa-bhūtaivety etam arthaṃ punar viśeṣataḥ sthāpayituṃ prakaraṇāntaram ārabhyate | tatra vastunas tasya śaktitvam āha | vedyaṃ vāstavam atra vastv ity asya viśeṣaṇābhyām eva śivadaṃ tāpa-trayonmūlanam iti | [BhP 1.1.2] śivaṃ paramānandaḥ tad-dānaṃ svarūpa-śaktyā | tāpa-trayaṃ māyā-śakti- kāryaṃ tad-unmūlanaṃ ca tayaiveta || śrī-vyāsaḥ ||9||
English translation
English witness · section(s) 8
Anuccheda 8
1 When the truth of the Lord’s original feature, known a Bhagavan, becomes manifested, then the truth of the Impersonal Brahman feature automatically becomes manifested also. For this reason this explanation of Brahman has been included in this essay, which explains the nature of Bhagavan. 2 The proper method of understanding the Bhagavan feature of the Supreme is described in the following verse of Srimad Bhagavatam (1.7.4) where Suta Gosvami says: “Thus he fixed his mind, perfectly engaging it by linking it in devotional service (bhakti-yoga) without any tinge of materialism, and thus he saw the Absolute Personality of Godhead along with His external energy, which was under full control.”*
Bhagavat · Sanskrit §10 · English §9
Source[१०] ते च माया-शक्ति-स्वरूप-शक्ती परस्पर-विरुद्धे तथा तयोर् वृत्तयश् च स्व-स्व-गण एव परस्पर-विरुद्धा अपि बह्व्यः । तथापि तासाम् एकं निधानं तद् एवेत्य् आह । यच्-छक्तयो वदतां वादिनां वै विवाद-संवाद-भुवो भवन्ति । कुर्वन्ति चैषां मुहुर् आत्म-मोहं तस्मै नमो æनन्त-गुणाय भूम्ने ॥ [भ्प् ६.४.२६] स्पष्टम् ॥ दक्सः श्री-पुरुषोत्तमम् ॥१०॥
[10] te ca māyā-śakti-svarūpa-śaktī paraspara-viruddhe tathā tayor vṛttayaś ca sva-sva-gaṇa eva paraspara-viruddhā api bahvyaḥ | tathāpi tāsām ekaṃ nidhānaṃ tad evety āha | yac-chaktayo vadatāṃ vādināṃ vai vivāda-saṃvāda-bhuvo bhavanti | kurvanti caiṣāṃ muhur ātma-mohaṃ tasmai namo ænanta-guṇāya bhūmne || [BhP 6.4.26] spaṣṭam || daksaḥ śrī-puruṣottamam ||10||
English translation
English witness · section(s) 9
Anuccheda 9
That the Bhagavan feature of the Supreme may be understood only by devotional service is also confirmed in the following statement of Srimad-Bhagavatam (3.9.11) where Brahma says: “O my Lord, Your devotees can see You through the ears by the process of bona fide hearing, and thus their hearts become cleansed, and You take Your seat there. You are so merciful to Your devotees that You manifest Yourself in the particular eternal form of transcendence in which they always think of You.”* This verse was recounted by Srila Suta Gosvami.
Bhagavat · Sanskrit §11 · English §10
Source[११] तथा - यस्मिन् विरुद्ध-गतयो ह्य् अनिशं पतन्ति विद्यादयो विविध-शक्तय आनुपूर्व्यात् । तद् ब्रह्म विश्व-भवम् एकम् अनन्तम् आद्यम् आनन्द-मात्रम् अविकारम् अहं प्रपद्ये ॥ [भ्प् ४.९.१६] आनुपूर्व्या स्व-स्व-वर्गे उत्तम-मध्यम-कनिष्ठ-भावेन वर्तमाना विविध-शक्तयः प्रायः परस्परं विरुद्ध-गतयोऽपि यस्मिन् यद् आश्रित्य अनिशं पतन्ति स्व-स्व-व्यापारं कुर्वन्ति ॥ ध्रुवः श्री-पृश्निगर्भम् ॥११॥
[11] tathā - yasmin viruddha-gatayo hy aniśaṃ patanti vidyādayo vividha-śaktaya ānupūrvyāt | tad brahma viśva-bhavam ekam anantam ādyam ānanda-mātram avikāram ahaṃ prapadye || [BhP 4.9.16] ānupūrvyā sva-sva-varge uttama-madhyama-kaniṣṭha-bhāvena vartamānā vividha-śaktayaḥ prāyaḥ parasparaṃ viruddha-gatayo'pi yasmin yad āśritya aniśaṃ patanti sva-sva-vyāpāraṃ kurvanti || dhruvaḥ śrī-pṛśnigarbham ||11||
English translation
English witness · section(s) 10
Anuccheda 10
1 The Bhagavan feature of the Lord is described in the following ten and a half verses of Srimad Bhagavatam (2.9.9-19) where Sukadeva Gosvami says: “The Personality of Godhead, being thus very much satisfied with the penance of Lord Brahma was pleased to manifest His personal abode, Vaikuntha, the supreme planet above all others. This transcendental abode of the Lord is adored by all self-realised persons freed from all kinds of miseries and fear of illusory existence.* 2 “In that personal abode of the Lord, the material modes of ignorance and passion do not prevail, nor is there any of their influence in goodness. There is no predominance of the influence of time, so what to speak of the illusory, external energy; it cannot enter that region. Without discrimination, both the demigods and the demons worship the Lord as devotees.* 3 “The inhabitants of Vaikuntha planets are described as having a glowing sky-bluish complexion. Their eyes resemble lotus flowers, their dress is of yellowish colour, and their bodily features very attractive. They are just the age of growing youths, they all have four hands, they are all nicely decorated with pearl necklaces with ornamental medallions, and they all appear to be effulgent.* 4 “Some of them are effulgent like coral and diamonds in complexion and have garlands on their heads, blooming like lotus flowers, and some wear earrings. 5 “The Vaikuntha planets are also surrounded by various airplanes, all glowing and brilliantly situated. These airplanes belong to the great mahatmas or devotees of the Lord. The ladies are as beautiful as lightning because of their celestial complexions, and all these combined together appear just like the sky decorated with both clouds and lightning.* 6 “The goddess of fortune in her transcendental form is engaged in the loving service of the Lord’s lotus feet, and being moved by the black bees, followers of spring, she is not only being engaged in variegated pleasure-service to the Lord, along with her constant companions - but is also engaged in singing the glories of the Lord’s activities.* 7 “Lord Brahma saw in the Vaikuntha planets the Personality of Godhead, who is the Lord of the entire devotee community, the Lord of the Goddess of fortune, the Lord of all sacrifices, and the Lord of the universe, and who is served by the foremost servitors like Nanda, Sunanda, Prabala and Arhana, His immediate associates.* 8 “The Personality of Godhead, seen leaning favourably towards His loving servitors, His very sight intoxicating and attractive, appeared to be very much satisfied. He had a smiling face decorated with an enchanting reddish hue. He was dressed in yellow robes and wore earrings and a helmet on His head. He had four hands, and His chest was marked with the lines of the goddess of fortune.* 9 “The Lord was seated on His throne and was surrounded by different energies like the four, the sixteen, the five, and the six natural opulences, along with other insignificant energies of the temporary character. But He was the factual Supreme Lord, enjoying His own abode.* 10 “Lord Brahma, thus seeing the Personality of Godhead in His fullness, was overwhelmed with joy within his heart, and thus in full transcendental love and ecstasy, his eyes filled with tears of love. He thus bowed down before the Lord. That is the way of the highest perfection for the living being (paramahamsa).* 11 “And seeing Brahma present before Him, the Lord accepted him as worthy to create living beings, to be controlled as He desired, and thus being much satisfied with him, the Lord shook hands with Brahma and, smiling, addressed him thus.”* 12 The first of these verses (2.9.9 quoted in Text 1) should be interpreted in the following way: Brahma stayed in the lotus flower of the navel of the Purusa-avatara named Narayana, and there he worshipped the Lord by performing austerities for His satisfaction, as the Lord Himself had previously ordered. The Supreme Lord became pleased with Brahma (sabhajita), and showed him His own (sva-lokam) Vaikuntha realm, the topmost of all planetary systems. In this verse the word ‘yat-param’ may be interpreted to mean “The highest of all Vaikuntha planets: the abode of the original form of the Personality of Godhead”, or it may also be interpreted to mean ‘the Vaikuntha realm which is not different from the Supreme Truth, Brahman Himself.” This Vaikuntha realm is described in these verses as full of transcendental varieties and free from the influence of the illusory potency, maya. 13 In this verse (2.9.9) the Vaikuntha realm was revealed to Brahma. Vaikuntha is described here as free from all miseries and fears (vyapeta-sanklesa-vimoha-saddhvasam). According to Patanjali’s Yoga-sutras (Sadhana-pada, Sutra 3), the five miseries of material existence are: 1. Ignorance, 2. False-ego, 3. Lust, 4. Hatred, and 5. Attachment. Vaikuntha is free from these and all other sufferings. Self-realised souls are able to see Vaikuntha (sva-drstavadbhih), and they always worship and glorify it (abhistutam). 14 That self-realised souls are able to see Vaikuntha is confirmed by the following statement of Srimad Bhagavatam (3.16.27-28) which describes the Four Kumaras’ visit to Vaikunthaloka: “Lord Brahma said: After seeing the Lord of Vaikuntha, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, in the self-illuminated Vaikuntha planet, the sages left that transcendental abode.* 15 “The sages circumambulated the Supreme Lord, offered their obeisances and returned, extremely delighted at learning of the divine opulence of the Vaisnava.”* 16 In the next verse (2.9.10) we read that “In the personal abode of the Lord the material modes of ignorance and passion do not prevail, nor is there any of their influence in goodness.” The material mode of goodness, which is invariably mixed with the lower mode of passion and ignorance, does not exist in Vaikunthaloka. Only the spiritual mode of goodness, known as ‘suddha-sattva’, which is completely free from the touch of the illusory energy, maya, exists in the spiritual realm of Vaikuntha. 17 That the three modes of material nature are not present in the Vaikuntha planets is described in the following verse from the Jitanta-stotra of the Narada-pancaratra: “The planets known as Vaikuntha are filled with all six spiritual opulences. The three modes of material nature are not present on these planets, which cannot be entered by they who are not devotees of the Lord.” 18 In the description of Vaikunthaloka found in the Padma Purana Uttara-khanda, the mode of goodness present in the spiritual world is clearly described as being non-material. In this passage, after describing the opulences and powers of the material potency, Lord Siva explains (Padma Purana, Uttara-khanda 255.56.59): 19 “My dear Parvati, you have just heard about the opulences of the material energy, now hear about the supreme opulences of the spiritual world, which comprises three quarters of all existence. 20 “Produced from the perspiration of the Personality of Godhead, whose limbs are all the Vedic literatures, the auspicious Viraja River flows on the boundary that separates the material energy from the spiritual sky. 21 “On the farther shore of the Viraja River is the spiritual sky. In that spiritual sky I the abode of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That abode is eternal, imperishable, unlimited, effulgent, transcendental, and full of nectar. That abode is made of the transcendental energy known as the mode of pure goodness (suddha-sattva).” 22 The three modes of material nature never exist alone. If one of the modes is present, then the other two are also present. This I confirmed in the following statements of Vedic literature: “The three modes of material nature are present together.” Sankhya-kaumudi “The three modes of material nature are present together. They do not remain alone. If one is present, then the others are also present.” Bhattika “Wherever one mode of material nature is present, the other modes are also there. The mode of goodness, therefore, does not exist alone, but is always mixed with passion and ignorance. In the same way the other modes of nature cannot be manifested alone. They are always mixed with the other modes.” Agama-sastra “The three modes of material nature are always together, they cannot be separated from each other.” Vedic literature 23 Because in the Vaikuntha planets there is no mode of material passion, nothing is created there; because there is no mode of material ignorance, nothing is destroyed there; and because there is no mode of material goodness, nothing is material there, but everything is spiritual, eternal, full of knowledge and bliss. This verse (2.9.10) gives the reason for the absence of the three modes of material nature within the realm of Vaikuntha by saying: “There is no predominance of the influence of time.”* The time element agitates the material energy, and from that agitation the three modes of nature are born. Because in Vaikuntha there is no material time, which is the cause of the six varieties of material transformation, there are also no three modes of material nature. 24 In this verse (2.9.10) the phrase ‘na yatra maya’ (There is no predominance of the external, illusory energy) is like an axe that cuts at the root of any conception that material time or the modes of material nature have any influence in the Vaikuntha world. In this verse the word ‘maya’ does not only mean ‘illusion’, but it refers to a specific potency of the Personality of Godhead entrusted with the creation, maintenance and dissolution of the material universes. Because maya is absent in Vaikuntha, the modes of passion and ignorance, as well as material goodness, which is invariably contaminated by the lower modes of passion and ignorance, are also absent. In this verse the word ‘misram’ may also be interpreted to mean ‘pradhana’, or the unmanifested stage of the modes of nature, where the modes are not yet differentiated, but are merged together as a single unit. Interpreted in this way it may be understood that even at the beginning of the creation maya and pradhana were two distinct potencies of the Lord and were not identical. Because even at the beginning of material creation pradhana was different from maya, it may be understood that pradhana is always independent of both maya and time. It is a separate, independent potency. The phrase ‘kim utapare’ (what to speak of) reinforces the statement of this verse, that in Vaikunthaloka there is no influence of the material energy. There is no need to belabour this point, but it is sufficient to state, in a general way, that in Vaikunthaloka there is no influence of the mode of passion and ignorance. 25 At this point someone may object: “Is it not so that because in Vaikuntha there is no influence of the three modes of material nature, which are the origin of varieties, it may be logically concluded that there is no variety in Vaikunthaloka?” Considering that someone might raise this objection, Sukadeva Gosvami describes the varieties present in the Lord’ transcendental potency known as suddha-sattva, which prevails in the Vaikuntha planets. This description begins with the word ‘hareh’ in verse 2.9.10 (quoted in Text 2). 26 In this verse the word ‘sura’ means ‘those influenced by the mode of material goodness’, and ‘asura’ means ‘those influenced by the baser modes of passion and ignorance’. In Vaikuntha both these classes of living entities worship the Lord. In fact, however, because the residents of Vaikuntha constantly worship the Lord they are most exalted and are beyond all the modes of material nature. They are actually above the status of either demon or demigod. 27 Sukadeva Gosvami describes the residents of Vaikunthaloka in the following words (2.9.11): The inhabitants of the Vaikuntha planets are described as having a glowing sky-bluish complexion (syamavadatah). Their eyes resemble lotus flowers (sata-patra-locanah), their dress is of yellowish colour (pisanga-vastra), and their bodily features very attractive (surucah). They are just the age of growing youths (supesasah), they are all nicely decorated with pearl necklaces (mani-praveka) and with ornamental medallions (niskabharanah) and they all appear to be effulgent (suvarcasah). Many of the Vaikuntha residents have a bluish complexion like that of the Lord, but some have a different complexion and they are described in the following words (2.9.12): “Some of them are effulgent like coral and diamonds in complexion.” 28 In the next verses (2.9.13-15), Sukadeva Gosvami, after describing the residents of Vaikuntha, continues his description of the Vaikuntha planets. Synonyms for some of the words in these verses follow: “rih” means ‘the goddess of fortune, who is the transcendental potency of the Lord’, ‘rupini’ means ‘in the form of the most dear consort of the Lord’, ‘manam’ means ‘respectful services’, ‘vibhutibhih’ means ‘accompanied by her personal associates’, ‘prenkham’ means ‘movement of enjoyment’, ‘srita’ means ‘engaging in transcendental pastimes’, ‘kusumakarah’ means ‘spring’, ‘kusumakaranuga’ means ‘the bumble bees, who are followers of spring’, ‘giyamana’ means ‘being glorified in various ways’, and ‘priya-karma’ means ‘the activities of the dearmost Lord Hari.” 29 The Personality of Godhead is also described as the master of the heroes in the Yadava dynasty. This is confirmed in the following verse of Srimad Bhagavatam (2.4.19), where Srila Sukadeva Gosvami says: “May Lord Sri Krsna, who is the worshipable Lord of all devotees, the protector and glory of all the kings like Andhaka and Vrsni of the Yadu dynasty, the husband of all goddesses of fortune, the director of all sacrifices and therefore the leader of all living entities, the controller of all intelligence, the proprietor of all planets, spiritual and material, and the supreme incarnation on the earth (the supreme all in all), be merciful upon me.”* 30 In the next verse (2.9.16 quoted in text 8), Sukadeva Gosvami says that the very sight of the Lord is ‘intoxicating and attractive’, and ‘His chest is marked with the lines of the goddess of fortune.’ The goddess of fortune remains as a golden line on the left side of the Lord’s chest. In the next verse (2.9.17, quoted in Text 9), the four potencies mentioned may be interpreted to refer to the four spiritual potencies beginning with the potency of religious piety. The four potencies clearly does not refer to irreligion or any similar external, material energies. These spiritual potencies in the spiritual realm are described in the following statement of the Padma Purana, Uttara-khanda (91.100): 31 “In the spiritual world the Rg, Yajur, Sama and Atharva Vedas, as well as the four potencies: piety, knowledge, opulence, and renunciation, eternally remain.” We may note that the use of the word ‘tatha’ in this verse in the middle of samasa is not a grammatical flaw, for this verse is spoken by Srila Vyasadeva Himself. 32 The sixteen potencies mentioned in this verse (2.9.17 quoted in Text 9) are the sixteen doorkeepers of Vaikuntha, who are described in the following statement of Padma Purana Uttara-khanda (256.14-17), where Lord Siva says to Parvati: “O beautiful-faced Parvati, Canda and Pracanda are the guards posted at the eastern gate of Vaikuntha. Bhadra and Subhadraka guard the southern gate, Jaya and Vijaya remain at the western gate, and Dhata and Vidhata protect the northern gate. In addition to them Kumuda and Kumudaksa guard the southeast, Pundarika and Vamana guard the southwest, Sankukarna and Sarvanetra guard the northeast. These are the names of the sixteen protectors of Vaikuntha-puri.” 33 The five potencies mentioned in this verse (2.9.17 quoted in Text 9) are named in the following verse from the Padma Purana Uttara khanda (256-24): “Kurma, Nagaraja, Vainateya the master of the Vedas, Chandah and Sarvamantra are the five potencies that comprise the form of the spiritual realm.” 34 Later, in the Krsna-sandarbha, we will describe the personal abode of Sri Krsna, which is situated in the highest part of the Vaikuntha realm. In that realm of Sri Krsna there are also sixteen transcendental potencies, and their names beginning with Cyuta and Alambini will be given in a passage from the Prabhasa-khanda quoted in the Krsna-sandarbha. 35 In this verse (2.9.17 quoted in text 9) the word ‘svaih’ means ‘personal’, ‘bhagaih’ means ‘with various opulences and potencies’, and ‘yuktam’ means ‘empowered’. ‘Itaratra’ means ‘among the mystic-yogis’, and ‘adhruvaih’ means ‘temporary’. In other words, the mystic yogis attain opulences that are a faint reflection of those the Lord manifests in the spiritual world. The word ‘ve’ means ‘own’, and ‘dhaman’ means ‘in the Lord’s abode of Vaikuntha’. Because Lord Narayana is supremely independent and because He engages only in enjoying various pastimes (ramamanam) in the Vaikuntha world, therefore He should be understood to be the Personality of Godhead (isvaram). He is not an ordinary living entity. 36 The next verse (2.9.18 quoted in text 10) says: ‘bowing before the Lord’s lotus feet is the way of highest perfection for the living being.’ This statement confirms that the form of the Lord is not material, but purely spiritual, eternal, full of knowledge and full of bliss. 37 In the next verse (2.9.19 quoted in text 11), Sukadeva Gosvami says the Supreme Lord ‘accepted Brahma as worthy to create living beings, to be controlled as He desired (praja-visarge nija-sasanarhanam), and thus the Lord spoke to him as follow (babhase).’ 38 At this point someone may raise the following objection: “Brahma is merely the creator of the material universes, and is very insignificant in comparison to the Personality of Godhead, the greatest of the great. I do not think it is possible for Brahma to have a direct relationship with the Supreme Lord.” In order to answer this question, Srila Sukadeva Gosvami described the Supreme Lord’s intense love for His devotees in the next verse (2.9.19 quoted in text 11) by saying: “The Lord was very much satisfied with Brahma, shook hands with him, and, slightly smiling, addressed him thus.”*