Bhagavat · Sanskrit §46 · English §41
Source[४६] एवं तस्य नित्यत्व-विभुत्वे साधिते । तथैव व्याख्यातं श्री-स्वामिभिर् अष्टमस्य षष्ठे । अनाविराविरासेयं नाभूताभूद् इति ब्रुवन् । ब्रह्माभिप्रैति नित्यत्व-विभुत्वे भगवत्-तनोर् इति । तथा हि श्लोक-द्वयं तट्-टीका च -- अजात-जन्म-स्थिति-संयमाया- गुणाय निर्वाण-सुखार्णवाय । अणोर् अणिम्ने ऽपरिगण्य-धाम्ने महानुभावाय नमो नमस् ते ॥ रूपं तवैतत् पुरुषर्षभेज्यं श्रेयो ऽर्थिभिर् वैदिक-तान्त्रिकेण । योगेन धातः सह नस् त्रि-लोकान् पश्याम्य् अमुष्मिन्न् उ ह विश्व-मूर्तौ ॥ [भ्प् ८.६.८-९] इतीदम् । श्री-मूर्तेर् अयं आविर्भाव एव नत्वस्मद्_अदि-वज् जन्मादि तदास्तीत्य् आह - न जाता जन्मादयो यस्य । कुतः ? अगुणाय अतो निर्वाण-सुखस्यार्णवाय अपी᳙अर-मोक्ष-सुख-रूपायेत्य् अर्थः । तथापि अणोर् अणिम्न अतिसूक्ष्माय दुर्ज्ञातत्वात् । वस्तुतस् तु अपरिगण्यम् इयत्तातीतं धाम मूर्तिर् यस्य तस्मै । न चैतद् असम्भावितम् । यतो महान् अचिन्त्योऽनुभावो यस्य । तन्-मूर्तेः सनातनत्वम् अपरिमेयत्वं चोपपादयत्ति रूपम् इति । हे पुरुषर्षभ! हे धातः ! एतत् तव रूपं वैदेकेन तान्त्रिकेण च उपायेन श्रेयोभिः सदा इज्यं पूज्यं अतो नेदम् अपूर्वं जातम् इति भावः । ननु यूयं देवाः पूज्यत्वेन प्रसिद्धाः सत्यं सर्वेऽप्य् अत्रैवान्तर्भूता इत्य् आह । उ अहो ह स्फुटम् अमुष्मिंस् त्वयि नोऽस्मांस् त्रिलोकांश् च सह पश्यामि । तत्र हेतुः । विश्वं मूर्तौ यस्य अतस् तवैतद् रूपं परिच्छिन्नम् अपि न भवतीत्य् अर्थः । इत्य् एषा । अत्र निर्वाण-सुखार्णवायेति अर्णवत्व-रूपकेण निर्वाण-सुख-मात्रत्वं निरस्य ततोऽप्य् अधिक-सहासुखत्वम् दर्शितम् । तद् उक्तं श्री-ध्रुवेन -- या निर्वृतिस् तनु-भृतां तव पाद-पद्म- ध्यानाद् भवज्-जन-कथा-श्रवणेन वा स्यात् । सा ब्रह्मणि स्व-महिमन्य् अपि नाथ मा भूत् किं त्व् अन्तकासि-लुलितात् पततां विमानात् ॥ इति [भ्प् ४.९.१०] तथा अणोर् अणिम्ने इति प्रोच्य अपरिमेय-धाम्न इत्य् उक्तेर् अचिन्त्य-शक्तित्व- रूपेण महानुभावत्वेन सर्व-परिणामाधारत्वं तव दर्शितम् इति ज्ञेयम् ॥
[46] evaṃ tasya nityatva-vibhutve sādhite | tathaiva vyākhyātaṃ śrī-svāmibhir aṣṭamasya ṣaṣṭhe | anāvirāvirāseyaṃ nābhūtābhūd iti bruvan | brahmābhipraiti nityatva-vibhutve bhagavat-tanor iti | tathā hi śloka-dvayaṃ taṭ-ṭīkā ca -- ajāta-janma-sthiti-saṃyamāyā- guṇāya nirvāṇa-sukhārṇavāya | aṇor aṇimne 'parigaṇya-dhāmne mahānubhāvāya namo namas te || rūpaṃ tavaitat puruṣarṣabhejyaṃ śreyo 'rthibhir vaidika-tāntrikeṇa | yogena dhātaḥ saha nas tri-lokān paśyāmy amuṣminn u ha viśva-mūrtau || [BhP 8.6.8-9] itīdam | śrī-mūrter ayaṃ āvirbhāva eva natvasmad_adi-vaj janmādi tadāstīty āha - na jātā janmādayo yasya | kutaḥ ? aguṇāya ato nirvāṇa-sukhasyārṇavāya apī̀ara-mokṣa-sukha-rūpāyety arthaḥ | tathāpi aṇor aṇimna atisūkṣmāya durjñātatvāt | vastutas tu aparigaṇyam iyattātītaṃ dhāma mūrtir yasya tasmai | na caitad asambhāvitam | yato mahān acintyo'nubhāvo yasya | tan-mūrteḥ sanātanatvam aparimeyatvaṃ copapādayatti rūpam iti | he puruṣarṣabha! he dhātaḥ ! etat tava rūpaṃ vaidekena tāntrikeṇa ca upāyena śreyobhiḥ sadā ijyaṃ pūjyaṃ ato nedam apūrvaṃ jātam iti bhāvaḥ | nanu yūyaṃ devāḥ pūjyatvena prasiddhāḥ satyaṃ sarve'py atraivāntarbhūtā ity āha | u aho ha sphuṭam amuṣmiṃs tvayi no'smāṃs trilokāṃś ca saha paśyāmi | tatra hetuḥ | viśvaṃ mūrtau yasya atas tavaitad rūpaṃ paricchinnam api na bhavatīty arthaḥ | ity eṣā | atra nirvāṇa-sukhārṇavāyeti arṇavatva-rūpakeṇa nirvāṇa-sukha-mātratvaṃ nirasya tato'py adhika-sahāsukhatvam darśitam | tad uktaṃ śrī-dhruvena -- yā nirvṛtis tanu-bhṛtāṃ tava pāda-padma- dhyānād bhavaj-jana-kathā-śravaṇena vā syāt | sā brahmaṇi sva-mahimany api nātha mā bhūt kiṃ tv antakāsi-lulitāt patatāṃ vimānāt || iti [BhP 4.9.10] tathā aṇor aṇimne iti procya aparimeya-dhāmna ity ukter acintya-śaktitva- rūpeṇa mahānubhāvatvena sarva-pariṇāmādhāratvaṃ tava darśitam iti jñeyam ||
English translation
English witness · section(s) 41
Anuccheda 41
1 In the next verse (Srimad Bhagavatam 10.14.22) Lord Brahma concludes that Sri Krsna is the Original Form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead: “My dear Lord, this whole cosmic manifestation is just like a flashing dream, and its temporary existence simply disturbs the mind. As a result, we are full of anxiety in this existence; to live within this material world means simply to suffer and to be full of miseries. And yet this temporary existence of the material world appears to be pleasing and dear on account of its having evolved from Your body, which is eternal and full of bliss and knowledge. My conclusion is, therefore, that You are the Supreme Soul, Absolute Truth, and the supreme original person; and although You have expanded Yourself in so many Visnu forms, or in living entities and energies, by Your inconceivable transcendental potencies, You are the supreme one without a second, You are the supreme Supersoul.”* 2 In this verse Brahma says: ‘O Lord, You are the origin of everything that is material and everything that is spiritual. Because You are the origin of everything, Your own form is eternal, and full of knowledge and bliss. From Your unlimited form, all the material universes have become manifested.” 3 One may ask: “What is the nature of this transcendental form of the Lord?” The answer is given in the words: ‘udayad api yat sad ivavabhati’ (O Lord, the material cosmic manifestation is continually being manifested from Your body, and then again enters within it. In this way the material universe is in a state of constant flux).” 4 At this point Sri Krsna might say: “If I am the source of the constantly changing material nature, then why is it that You say that I am unchanging. I should also be constantly changing if I am the source of all this change.” In answer to this, Brahma uses the word ‘mayatah’. Brahma says: “O Lord, You are eternal, and unchanging. This changing material universe is manifested by the aid of Your inconceivable potency known as maya. You are Yourself aloof from the changes of matter, and Your contact with matter, is only by the means of Your maya potency. Therefore You do not change.” That the Personality of Godhead is unchanging is also confirmed by the Vedanta-sutra 2.1.27: “The Supreme Personality of Godhead is free from all faults. This is so because it is declared in the Vedas, the source of revealed knowledge.” Therefore the Supreme Lord never changes. 5 Brahma continues to differentiate Sri Krsna from the changing material manifestation. He says: “O Lord, this whole cosmic manifestation is just like a flashing dream. You, however, are reality. You are not another illusory manifestation like this material cosmos.” That dreams are an unreal state of existence is described in Vedanta-sutra (2.2.29): “Reality is different from the existence perceived in dreams.” 6 Brahma continues to describe the dreamlike state of material illusion by saying ‘asta-dhisanam’ (by depriving the conditioned souls of knowledge about the Supersoul, the maya potency places them in great mental anxiety). 7 For these reasons, although it may sometimes appear to be a place of happiness, the material world is a place of intense suffering (puru-duhkha-duhkham). Furthermore, Brahma says the material world is devoid of spiritual reality (asat-svarupam). Just as the horns of a rabbit have no real existence, in the same way the illusory conceptions of material existence have no reality. Brahma also explains that although the material world is temporary and changing, it appears to be eternal (sad iva) according to the mistaken conceptions of the bewildered conditioned souls. The implication of this verse is that because the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the origin of the awareness of material existence, He is also the origin of real transcendental knowledge, and thus the supreme teacher of everyone. Another implication of this verse is that because the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the origin of the material heavenly planets, He is the reservoir of all pleasure. 8 This concludes the explanation of how the form of Sri Krsna is simultaneously all-pervading and, by the agency of His internal potency, limited within a certain space.
Bhagavat · Sanskrit §47 · English §42
Source[४७] अथ स्थूल-सूक्ष्मातिरिक्तताम् आह द्वाभ्याम् । स वै न देवासुर-मर्त्य-तिर्यङ् न स्त्री न षण्ढो न पुमान् न जन्तुः नायं गुणः कर्म न सन् न चासन् निषेध-शेषो जयताद् अशेषः ॥ [भ्प् ८.६.२४] एवं गजेन्द्रम् उपवर्णित-निर्विशेषं ब्रह्मादयो विविध-लिङ्ग-भिदाभिमानाः नैते यदोपससृपुर् निखिलात्मकत्वात् तत्राखिलामर-मयो हरिर् आविरासीत् ॥ [भ्प् ८.६.३०] यस्य ब्रह्मादयो देवा[*एन्द्नोते #७] इत्य् आदि प्राक्तन-पद्य-द्वयेन यस्मात् सर्व-कारण-कारणत्वं व्यञ्जितं तस्माद् देवादीनां मध्ये कोऽपि न भवति । वैलक्षण्यं सात्त्विकत्व-भौतिकत्वादि-हीनतैव स्त्रीत्व- पुरुषत्व-हीनता च प्राकृत-तत्-तद्-धर्म-राहित्यम् । अतएव न षण्ड इत्य् उक्तम् । तस्मान् न कोऽपि जन्तुः । कारण-भूतः सत्त्वादिर् गुणः पुण्य-पाप- लक्षणं कर्म च नेत्य् आह । नायं गुणः कर्मेति । तयोर् अपि प्रवर्तकत्वाद् इति भावः । किं बहुना, यद् अत्र सत् स्थूलम् असत् सूक्ष्मं तद् एकम् अपि न भ्वति स्व-प्रकाश-रूपत्वाद् इति भावः । किन्तु सर्वस्य निषेधेऽवधित्वेन शिष्यत इति शेषः । मायया तत्-तद्-अशेषात्मकश् च । जयतात् मद्- विमोक्षणायाविर्भवत्व् इति । टीका च - एवम् उपवर्णितं निर्विशेषं देवादि-रूपं विना परं तत्त्वं येन तं गजेन्द्रम् । विविध-लिङ्ग-भिदाभिमानाः । विविधा चासौ लिङ्ग-भिदा देवादि-रूप-भेदश् च तस्याभिमानो येषाम् अतएव ते ब्रह्मादयो यदा नोपजग्मुस् तत्र तदा निखिलात्मकत्वात् निखिलानां तेषां परमात्म-सुख- रूपत्वात् तद्-विलक्षणो मायया अशेषात्मकत्वाद् अखिलामरमयो हरिर् आविरासीद् इति । एवम् आविर्भावं प्रार्थयमाने श्री-गजेन्द्रे यद् रूपेणाविर्भूतं तत् खलु तादृशम् एव भवितुम् अर्हतीति साधूक्तं स्थूल-सूक्ष्म-वस्त्व्-अतिरिक्तस् तव श्री-विग्रह इति । अन्यथा त्व् अपाणि-पाद-रूपत्वेनैव तच् चेतस्याविर्भूय तद् विदध्यात् । तद् उक्तं स्वेच्छामयस्येति । श्लोक-द्वयम् इदं श्लोकान्तरव्यवहितम् अप्य् अर्थेनाव्यवहितत्वाद् युगलतयोपदध्रे ॥ प्रथमं गजेन्द्रः श्री-हरिम्, द्वितीयं श्री-शुकः ॥४७॥
[47] atha sthūla-sūkṣmātiriktatām āha dvābhyām | sa vai na devāsura-martya-tiryaṅ na strī na ṣaṇḍho na pumān na jantuḥ nāyaṃ guṇaḥ karma na san na cāsan niṣedha-śeṣo jayatād aśeṣaḥ || [BhP 8.6.24] evaṃ gajendram upavarṇita-nirviśeṣaṃ brahmādayo vividha-liṅga-bhidābhimānāḥ naite yadopasasṛpur nikhilātmakatvāt tatrākhilāmara-mayo harir āvirāsīt || [BhP 8.6.30] yasya brahmādayo devā[*ENDNOTE #7] ity ādi prāktana-padya-dvayena yasmāt sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇatvaṃ vyañjitaṃ tasmād devādīnāṃ madhye ko'pi na bhavati | vailakṣaṇyaṃ sāttvikatva-bhautikatvādi-hīnataiva strītva- puruṣatva-hīnatā ca prākṛta-tat-tad-dharma-rāhityam | ataeva na ṣaṇḍa ity uktam | tasmān na ko'pi jantuḥ | kāraṇa-bhūtaḥ sattvādir guṇaḥ puṇya-pāpa- lakṣaṇaṃ karma ca nety āha | nāyaṃ guṇaḥ karmeti | tayor api pravartakatvād iti bhāvaḥ | kiṃ bahunā, yad atra sat sthūlam asat sūkṣmaṃ tad ekam api na bhvati sva-prakāśa-rūpatvād iti bhāvaḥ | kintu sarvasya niṣedhe'vadhitvena śiṣyata iti śeṣaḥ | māyayā tat-tad-aśeṣātmakaś ca | jayatāt mad- vimokṣaṇāyāvirbhavatv iti | ṭīkā ca - evam upavarṇitaṃ nirviśeṣaṃ devādi-rūpaṃ vinā paraṃ tattvaṃ yena taṃ gajendram | vividha-liṅga-bhidābhimānāḥ | vividhā cāsau liṅga-bhidā devādi-rūpa-bhedaś ca tasyābhimāno yeṣām ataeva te brahmādayo yadā nopajagmus tatra tadā nikhilātmakatvāt nikhilānāṃ teṣāṃ paramātma-sukha- rūpatvāt tad-vilakṣaṇo māyayā aśeṣātmakatvād akhilāmaramayo harir āvirāsīd iti | evam āvirbhāvaṃ prārthayamāne śrī-gajendre yad rūpeṇāvirbhūtaṃ tat khalu tādṛśam eva bhavitum arhatīti sādhūktaṃ sthūla-sūkṣma-vastv-atiriktas tava śrī-vigraha iti | anyathā tv apāṇi-pāda-rūpatvenaiva tac cetasyāvirbhūya tad vidadhyāt | tad uktaṃ svecchāmayasyeti | śloka-dvayam idaṃ ślokāntaravyavahitam apy arthenāvyavahitatvād yugalatayopadadhre || prathamaṃ gajendraḥ śrī-harim, dvitīyaṃ śrī-śukaḥ ||47||
English translation
English witness · section(s) 42
Anuccheda 42
1 In this way we have demonstrated that although the form of Sri Krsna may be situated within the cosmic manifestation, nevertheless, it is the resting place within which everything that exists is situated, and because it is the resting-place of everything, therefore, it is also all-pervading. Because Sri Krsna is by nature all-pervading, it is very easy for Him to expand into as many forms in as many places as He likes. An example of this is described in the following statement of Srimad Bhagavatam (10.69.2): “It is astounding that Lord Sri Krsna, who is one without a second, expanded Himself in sixteen thousand similar forms to marry sixteen thousand queens in their respective homes.”* 2 In this verse the words ‘citram bataitat’ mean ‘it is astounding’. One may ask: “What is so astounding?” In answer to this question, Narada Muni says “It is astounding that Sri Krsna, who is one without a second (ekah), married (udvahat) sixteen thousand queens (dvy-asta-sahasram).” Our questioner may answer: “What is so astounding about that?” In answer to this Narada says: “He married them in sixteen thousand places (grhesu).” Our unsatisfied questioner may respond: “That may be. Still, what is astounding in all this?” To this Narada may answer: “Lord Krsna did not marry them all together in one place, but He married each one of them individually (prthak).” Our questioner may answer: “That is all right. It is not possible for one husband to marry many wives one after another. Such things have occurred before.” At this point Narada says: “But Lord Krsna married all these queens at the same moment (yugapat).” Our question may say: “That’s all right. Many perfect yogis have the mystic power to expand into many forms. My dear Narada, you yourself are a great mystic yogi, worshipped by all other yogis, and therefore You know this mystic trick yourself. What can be considered to be astounding, therefore, in Lord Krsna’s expansion into many forms?” In answer to this, Narada says: “Lord Krsna’s expansion into many forms was not like the expansion of the yogis’, who can make reflections of their own form appear in many different places. These reflected forms of the yogis are not the yogis themselves, however, in the case of Lord Krsna, each one of His expansions was He Himself, and He could perform all sorts of activities in these expanded forms. In other words, these expansions of the Lord were not mere reflections of the Lord, but were the Lord Himself. Hearing this, our questioner may reply: “No. That is not possible. No one can do that.” 3 That each one of these expanded forms were not a mere reflection, but actually the Lord Himself is confirmed in the following statement of Srimad Bhagavatam (3.3.8), where Sri Uddhava says: “All those princesses were lodged in different apartments, and the Lord simultaneously assumed different bodily expansions exactly matching each and every princess. He accepted their hands in perfect rituals by His internal potency.”* 4 In this way all objections are removed and it is clearly established that Lord Krsna can manifest His personality in any number of places at the same moment (ekena vapusa prthag yugapat). This is certainly very wonderful. This is also confirmed by Srila Sridhara Svami, who states (in his commentary on Srimad Bhagavatam 5.20.40, which is a prose description of the Supreme Personality of Godhead’s form as the predominating Deity of the sphere known as Lokaloka): “Because He is the master of all supreme powers and opulences, the Personality of Godhead can be personally present in His own form in all places simultaneously.” 5 This expansion of Lord Krsna into many personal forms simultaneously is also described in the following statement of Srimad Bhagavatam (10.59.42): “After defeating Indra, Krsna, the changeless Supreme Personality of Godhead arranged to marry the 16 100 girls brought from the custody of Bhaumasura. By expanding Himself in 16 100 forms, He simultaneously married them all in different palaces in one auspicious moment.”* These expansions of Lord Krsna all had bodily features that were exactly identical with Lord Krsna Himself. There was no difference, as there is in other expansion of the Lord, such as the expansion of the Lord into the form of Narayana, whose bodily features are slightly different from those of Lord Krsna. The expansion of Lord Krsna into many forms whose features are all identical with His described in the following statement of Srila Rupa Gosvami’s Sri Laghu-bhagavatamrta (1.1.21): 6 “If numerous forms, all equal in their features, are displayed simultaneously, such forms are called praksas-vigrahas of the Lord.”*
Bhagavat · Sanskrit §48–49 · English §43
Source[४८] अथ प्रत्यग्-रूपतत्वम् अप्य् आह - स त्वं कथं मम विभोऽक्ष-पथः परात्मा योगेश्वरैः श्रुति-दृशामल-हृदि-भाव्यः । साक्षाद् अधोक्षज उरु-व्यवसनान्ध-बुद्धेः स्यान् मेऽनुदृश्य इह यस्य भवापवर्गः ॥ [भ्प् १०.६४.१८] टीका च - हे विभो स त्वं ममाक्ष-पथः लोचन-गोचरः एतच् चित्रम् इत्य् अर्थः । किम् अत्राश्चर्यं तद् आह पर आत्मा अतएव योगेश्वरैर् अपि श्रुति-दृशा अमल-हृदि विभाव्यश् चिन्त्यः । यतोऽधोक्षजः अक्षजम् ऐन्द्रियकं ज्ञानं तद् अधः अर्वाग् एव यस्य सः । यस्य हि भवापवर्गो भवेत् तस्य भवान् अनुदृश्यः स्यात् उरु-व्यसनेन कृकलास-भव-दुःखेन अन्ध-बुद्धेस् तु मम एतच् चित्रम् इत्य् अर्थः । इत्य् एषा । दर्शन-कारणं तूक्तं नारायणाध्यात्मे - नित्याव्यक्तोऽपि भगवान् ईक्ष्यते निज-शक्तितः । ताम् ऋते परमात्मानं कः पश्येतामृतं प्रभुम् ॥ इति । तादृश-शक्तेर् अप्य् उल्लासे तत्-कृपैव कारणम् । तद् उक्तं श्रुतौ -- न चक्षुषा पश्यति रूपम् अस्य यम् एवैष वृणुते तेन लभ्यस् तस्यैष आत्मा विवृणुते तनुं स्वाम् ॥ [कठउ १.२.२३] न सन्दृशे तिष्ठति रूपम् अस्य । इत्य् आदिकं च कुत्रचित् । एवम् एव मोक्ष- धर्मे नारायणीये नारदं प्रति श्री-श्वेतद्वीप-पतिनोक्तम् - एतत् त्वया न विज्ञेयं रूपवान् इति दृश्यते । इच्छन् मुहूर्तान् नश्येयम् ईशोऽहं जगतो गुरुः ॥ माया ह्य् एषा मया सृष्टा यन् मां पश्यसि नारद । सर्वभूतगुणैर् युक्तं नैवं त्वं ज्ञातुम् अर्हसि ॥ [म्भ् १२.३०६.४२-४३] यथाऽन्यो रूपवान् इति हेतोर् दृश्यते तथायम् अपीत्य् एतत् त्वया न ज्ञेयम् । ततश् च स्वय रूपित्वेऽप्य् अदृश्यत्वम् उक्त्वा निज-रूपस्याप्राकृतत्वम् एव दर्शितम् । तद्-दर्शने च परम-कृपा-मय्य् अकुण्ढा ममेच्छैव कारणम् इत्य् आह । इ इच्छन्न् इति । नश्येयम् अदृश्यताम् आपद्येयम् । तत्र स्वातन्त्र्यं जगद्- विलक्षणत्वं च हेतुम् आह - ईश इत्य् आदि । तथापि मां सर्व-भूत-गणैर् युक्तं यत् पश्यसि तद् युक्तत्वेन यत् प्रत्येषि एषा माया मयैव सृष्टा मम माययैव तथा भानम् इत्य् अर्थः । तस्मिन् नैवम् इत्य् आदि । मयात्र प्रतारण-शक्तिः । तथा हि तत्रैव श्री-भाष्य-वचनम् । प्रीतस् ततोऽस्य भगवान् देव-देवः सनातनः । साक्षात् तं दर्शयामास दृश्यो नान्येन केनचिद् ॥ इति । [म्भ् १२.३२३.११] तम् उपरिचरं वसुं प्रति स्वात्मानम् इति शेषः । तद्-अग्रे च वस्व्-आदि- वाक्यम् । न शक्यः स त्वया द्रष्टुम् अस्माभिर् वा बृहस्पते । यस्य प्रसादं कुरुते स वै तं द्रष्टुम् अर्हति ॥ इति । [म्भ् १२.३२३.१८] तद् एवं श्रुताव् अप्य् अदृश्यत्वादयो धर्माः श्री-विग्रहस्यैवोक्ताः । श्रुत्यन्तरं च न चक्षुषा पश्यति रूपम् अस्य । इति ॥ नृपः श्री-भगवन्तम् ॥४८॥ [४९] अतएव प्राकृतानि रूपादीनि निषिध्य अन्यानि सम्प्रतिपाद्यन्ते । न विद्यते यस्य च जन्म कर्म वा न नाम-रूपे गुण-दोष एव वा तथापि लोकाप्यय-सम्भवाय यः स्व-मायया तान्य् अनुकालम् ऋच्छति ॥ [भ्प् ८.३.८] अयम् अर्थः । अवस्थान्तर-प्राप्तिर् विकारः । तत्र प्रथम-विकारो जन्मेति । अपूर्णस्य निज-पूर्त्य्-अर्था चेष्टा कर्मेति । मनोग्राह्यस्य वस्तुनो व्यवहारार्थं केनापि सङ्केतितः शब्दो नामेति । चक्षुषा ग्राह्यो गुणो रूपम् इति । सत्त्वादि-प्राकृत-गुण-निदानो द्रव्यस्योत्कर्ष-हेतुर्-धर्म- विशेषो गुण इति प्रकृतिजे लोके दृश्यते । यस्य च सर्वदा स्वरूपस्थत्वात् पूर्णत्वात् मनसोऽप्य् अगोचरत्वात् स्वप्रकाशत्वात् प्रकृत्य्-अतीत्वात् तानि न विद्यन्ते । तथापि यस् तानि ऋच्छति प्राप्नोति तस्मै नम इत्य् [भ्प् ८.३.९] उत्तर- श्लोकेनान्वयः । अतएव श्रुत्यापि - निष्कलं निष्क्रियं शान्तम् इत्य् आदौ [श्वेतु ६.१९], अशब्दम् अस्पर्शम् अरूपम् अव्ययम् इत्य् आदौ [कठउ १.३.१५] च तन् निषिध्यापि सर्व-कर्मा सर्व-कामः सर्व-गन्धः सर्व-रस इत्य् [छाउ ३.१४.४] आदौ विधीयते । गुण-दोष इति अपरमार्थत्वाद् गुण एव दोष इत्य् अर्थः । ततो रूढ-दोषस् तु सर्वथा न सम्भवत्य् एवेति वक्ष्यते । तथा च कौर्मे - ऐश्वर्य-योगाद् भगवान् विरुद्धार्थोऽभिधीयते । तथापि दोषाः परमे नैवाहार्यः कथञ्चन । गुणा विरुद्धा अपि तु समाहार्याश् च सर्वतः ॥ इति । अयम् आत्मापहत-पाप्मा । इत्य् आद्याः [छाउ ८.७.१] श्रुतयश् च । एतं संयद् वाम इत्य् आवक्षते एतं सर्वाणि वामानि नयति एष उ एव भामणीः एष सर्वेषु वेदेषु भातीत्य् [छा ४.१५.२] आद्या च । अतएव सर्व- गन्ध इत्य् आदौ गन्धादि-शब्देन सौगन्ध्यादिकम् एवोच्यते । यदा तु ऋच्छतिनान्वयस् तु गुणस्य दोषत्वेन रूपकम् अविवक्षितं श्रुति-विरुद्धत्वात् परमार्थत्वेन प्रतिपादयिष्यमाणत्वाच् च । नन्व् एकत्र तेषां जन्मादीनां भावाभावयोर् विरोध इत्य् आशङ्क्य तद्- विरोधे हेतुम् आह स्व-मायया इति । अन्यथानुपपत्ति-प्रमिता दुस्तर्क्या स्वरूप-शक्तिर् एव तत्र हेतुः । अतएव स्वरूप-भूतत्वेन तेभ्यः प्राकृतेभ्यो विलक्षणत्वात् तान्य् अपि न विद्यन्त इति च वक्तुं शक्यत इति भावः । यथा शाङ्कर-शारीररके समाकर्षाद् इत्य् [व्स्. १.४.१५] अत्र नाम- रूप-व्याकृत-वस्तु-विषयः स्वच्छन्दः प्रायेण प्रसिद्ध इति तद्- व्यकरणाभावापेक्षया प्राग्-उत्पत्तेः सद् एव ब्रह्म-श्रुताव् असद् इत्य् उच्यते इत्य् उक्तम् तथैव ज्ञेयम् । अतएव श्री-विष्णु-पुराणे - गुणांश् च दोषांश् च मुने व्यतीत इत्य् [विप् ६.५.८३] उक्त्वा पुनर् आह समस्त-कल्याण-गुणात्मको हीति [विप् ६.५.८४] । तथा ज्ञान-शक्ति-बलैश्वर्य-वीर्य-तेजांस्य् अशेषतः । भगवच्-छब्द-वाच्यानि विना हेयैर् गुणादिभिः ॥ इति [विप् ६.५.७९] पाद्मोत्तर-खण्डे च - योऽसौ निर्गुण इत्य् उक्तः शास्त्रेषु जगद्-ईश्वरः । प्राकृतैर् हेय-संयुक्तैर् गुणैर् हीनत्वम् उच्यते ॥ इति । न च स्व-माययेत्य् अन्यथार्थं मन्तव्यम् । विशुद्ध-विज्ञान-घनं स्व-संस्थया समाप्त-सर्वार्थ-मयी वाञ्छितम् । स्व-तेजसा नित्य-निवृत्त-माया- गुण-प्रवाहं भगवन्तम् ईमहि ॥ इति [?][*एन्द्नोते #८] श्री-नारद- वाक्यात् । स्व-सुख-निभृतेद्यादि[*एन्द्नोते #९] । वक्तृ-हृदय-विरोधाच् च । ततः सर्वथा चिच्-छक्त्या इत्य् अर्थः । अतः स्वामिभिर् अपि योग-माया-शब्देन चिच्- छक्तिर् व्याख्याता । ननु प्राप्नोति कदाचित्कत्वम् अप्य् अवगम्यते, तत्राह - अनुकालं नित्यम् एव प्राप्नोति, कदाचिद् अपि न त्यजतीत्य् अर्थः । स्वरूप-शक्ति-प्रकाशित्वस्य च मिथो हेतुमत्ता ज्ञेया । ननु कथं जन्म-कर्मणोर् नित्यत्वम् ? ते हि क्रिये । क्रियात्वं च प्रति- निजांशम् अप्य् आरम्भ-परिसमाप्तिभ्याम् एव सिध्यतीति ते विना स्व-स्वरूप- हान्य्-आपत्तिः । नैष दोषः । श्री-भगवति सदिवाकारानन्त्यात् प्रकाशानन्त्यात् जन्म-कर्म-लक्षण-लीलानन्त्याद् अनन्त-प्रपञ्चानन्त- वैकुण्ठ-गत-तत्-तल्-लीला-स्थान-तत्-तल्-लीला-परिकराणां व्यक्ति-प्रकाशयोर् आनन्त्याच् च । यत एवं सत्योर् अपि तत्-तद्-आकार-प्रकाश-गतयोस् तद्-आरम्भ- समाप्त्योर् एकत्रिकत्र ते जन्म-कर्मणोर् अंशा यावत् समाप्यन्ते न समाप्यन्ते वा तावद् एवान्यत्राप्य् आरब्धा भवतीत्य् एवं श्री-भगवति विच्छेदाभावान् नित्ये एव तत्र ते जन्म-कर्मणी वर्तेते । तत्र ते क्वचित् किञ्चिद् विलक्षणत्वेनारभ्येते ते क्वचिद् ऐकरूप्येण चेति ज्ञेयम् । विशेषण- भेदाद् विशेषणैक्याच् च । एक एवाकारः प्रकाश-भेदेन पृथक् क्रियास्पदं भवतीति । चित्रं बतैतद् एकेन वपुषा इत्य् आदौ प्रतिपादितम् । ततः क्रिया-भेदात् तत्-तत्-क्रियात्मकेषु प्रकाश-भेदेष्व् अभिमान-भेदश् च गम्यते । तथा सति एकत्रैकत्र लीला-क्रम-जनित-रसोद्बोधश् च जायते । ननु कथं ते एव जन्म-कर्मणी वर्तेते इत्य् उक्तं पृथग्-आरब्धत्वाद् अन्ये एव ते । उच्यते । काल-भेदेनोदितानाम् अपि समान-रूपाणां क्रियाणाम् एकत्वम् । यथा शङ्कर-शारीरके । द्विर्-गो-शब्दोभयम् उच्चरितो न तु द्वौ गो-शब्दाव् इति । तथैव द्विः पाकः कृतोऽनेन न तु द्विधा पाकः कृतोऽनेनेति प्रतीत्या भविष्यति । ततो जन्म-कर्मणोर् अपि नित्यता युक्तैव । अतएवागमादाव् अपि भूत-पूर्व-लीलोपासन-विधानं युक्तम् । तथा चोक्तम् मध्व-भाष्ये - परमात्म-सम्बन्धित्वेन नित्यत्वात् त्रिविक्रमत्वादिष्व् अप्य् उपसंहार्यत्वं युज्यते इति । अनुमतं चैतत् श्रुत्या यद् गतं भवच् च भविष्यच् चेत्य् अनयैव । उपसंहार्यत्वम् उपासनायाम् उपादेयत्वम् इत्य् अर्थः । तत्र तस्य जन्मनः प्राकृतात् तस्माद् विलक्षणत्वं प्राकृत- जन्मानुकरणेनाविर्भाव-मात्रत्वं क्वचित् तद्-अननुकरणेन वा । अजायमाना बहुधा विजायत इति श्रुतेः । तद् यथा -- देवक्यां देव-रूपिण्यां विष्णुः सर्व-गुहाशयः । आविरासीद् यथा प्राच्यां दिशीन्दुर् इव पुष्कलः ॥ इति [भ्प् १०.३.८] तथा च - सत्यं विधातुं निज-भृत्य-भाषितं व्याप्तित्वं च भूतेष्व् अखिलेषु चात्मनः । अदृश्यतात्य्-अद्भूत-रूपम् उद्वहन् स्तम्भे सभायां न मृगं न मानुषम् ॥ इति [भ्प् ७.८.१७] कार्दमं वीर्यम् आपन्न इत्य् अत्र [भ्प् ३.२४.६] श्री-कपिल-देवावतार- प्रसङ्गे कर्दमस्य भक्ति-सामर्थ्य-वशीभूत इत्य् एव व्याख्येयम् । वीर्य-शब्द-न्यासस् तु प्रसिद्धं पुत्रत्वम् अपि श्लिष्टं भवतीत्य् एवम् अर्थः । तथा कर्मणो वैलक्षण्यं स्वरूपानन्द-विलास-मात्रत्वम् । तद् यथा लोकवत् तु लीला-कैवल्यम् इति [व्स् २.१.३३] । व्याख्यातं च तत्त्व-वादिभिः । यथा लोके मत्तस्य सुखोद्रेकाद् एव नृत्यादि-लीला न तु प्रयोजनापेक्षया एवम् एवेश्वरस्य । नारायण-संहितायां च - सृष्ट्यादिकं हरिर् नैव प्रयोजनम् अपेक्ष्य तु । कुरुते केवलानन्दाद् यथा मत्तस्य नर्तनम् ॥ पूर्णानन्दस्य तस्येह प्रयोजन-मतिः कुतः । मुक्ता अव्याप्त-कामाः स्युः किम् उतास्य् अखिलात्मनः ॥ इति । न चोन्मत्त-दृष्टान्तेनासर्वज्ञत्व प्रसञ्जयितव्यम् । स्वरूपानन्दोद्रेकेण स्व-प्रयोजनम् अननुसन्धायैव लीलायते इत्य् एतद् अंशेनैव स्वीकारात् । उच्छ्वास-प्रश्वास-दृष्टान्तेऽपि सुष्प्त्य्-आदौ तद्-दोषापातात् । तस्मात् स्वरूपानन्द-स्वाभाविक्येन तल्-लीला । श्रुतिश् च - देवस्यैव स्वभावोऽयम् आप्त-कामस्य का स्पृहा । इति । अत्र प्राकृत-सृष्ट्य्-आदि-गतस्य साक्षाद्-भगवच्-चेष्टात्मकस्य वीक्षणादि- कर्मणो वस्तुतस् तु तथा-विधत्वे वैकुण्ठादि-गतस्य कैमुत्यम् एवापतितम् । यथोक्तं नाग-पत्नीभिः अव्याकृत-विहाराय इति [भ्प् १०.१६.४७] । अतएव श्री-शुकादीनाम् अपि तल्-लीला-श्रवणे रागतः प्रवृत्तिर् युज्यते । अतश् च -- एवं च जन्मानि कर्माणि ह्य् अकर्तुर् अजनस्य च । वर्णयन्ति स्म कवयो वेद-गुह्यानि हृत्-पतेः ॥ इति [भ्प् १.३.३५] अत्र जन्म-गुह्याध्याय-पद्येऽप्य् एवम् एव व्याख्येयम् । यत्रेमे सद्-असद्- रूपे [भ्प् १.३.३३-४] इत्य् आदिभ्याम् अव्यवहित-पद्याभ्यां यथा स्वरूप- सम्यग्-ज्ञानेनैव कृतस्याविद्याकृतात्माध्यास-सद्-असद्-रूप-निषेधस्य हेतोर् ब्रह्म-दर्शनं भवति । यथा च - मायोपरताव् एव स्वरूप- सम्पत्तिर् भवति इत्य् उक्तम् । एवम् एव कवय आत्मारामा हृत्-पतेः परमात्मनो जन्मानि कर्माणि च वर्णयन्ति । तत्-तत्-प्रतिषेधे तद्-उपरतौ चैव सत्यां तज्-जन्म-कर्मानुभव-सम्पत्ती भवत इत्य् अर्थः । सम्पत्तिर् अत्र साक्षाद् दर्शनम् । तस्मात् स्वरूपानन्दातिशयित-भगवद्-आनन्द- विलास-रूपाण्य् एव तानीति भावः । अतएव प्राकृत-वैलक्षण्याद् अकर्तुर् अजनस्य इत्य् उक्तम् । अतएव वेद-गुह्यान्य् अपि तानीति । यथा अक्रूर-स्तुतौ त्वयोदितः [भ्प् १०.४८.२३-२४] इत्य् आदि द्वयं टीकायाम् एवेत्थम् उत्थापितम् । ननु तर्हि ममावतारास् तच्-चरितानि च शुक्ति-रजत-वद् अविद्या-कल्पितान्य् एव किम् ? नहि नहि इयं तु तव लीलेत्य् आह द्वयेन त्वयोदित इतीति । तथैव च भगवत्-स्वरूप-साम्येनोक्तं वैष्णवे - नाम-कर्म-स्वरूपाणि न परिच्छेद-गोचरे । यस्याखिल-प्रमाणानं स विष्णुर् गर्भगस् तव ॥ इति । [विप् ५.२.१९] रूप-कर्मेति वा पाठान्तरम्[*एन्द्नोते #१०] । इत्थम् एवाभिप्रेतं श्री- गीतोपनिषद्भिः - जन्म-कर्म च मे दिव्यम् एवं यो वेत्ति तत्त्वतः । इति । [गीता ४.९] तथा नाम्नो वैलक्षण्यं वाङ्-मनसागोचर-गुणावलम्बित्वेन स्वतः- सिद्धत्वम् । तद् यथा वासुदेवाध्यात्मे - अप्रसिद्धेस् तद्-गुणानाम् अनामासौ प्रकीर्तितः इति । ब्राह्मे - अनामा सोऽप्रसिद्धत्वाद् अरूपो भूत- वर्जनात् इति । न यत्र नाथ विद्यन्ते नाम-जात्यादि-कल्पनाः । तद् ब्रह्म परमं नित्यम् अविकारि भवान् अज ॥ न कल्पनामृतेऽर्थस्य सर्वस्याधिगमो यथः । ततः कृष्णाच्युतानन्त-विष्णु-नामभिर् ईड्यसे ॥ इति ॥ [विप् ५.१८.५३-५४] एतद्-वैष्णव-वचनानन्तरम् अपि न विरुद्धम् । तथा हि । अत्रापाततः प्रतीतार्थतायां कल्पना-शब्दो व्यर्थः स्यात् । नाम-जात्य्-आदयो न विद्यन्ते । इत्य् अनेनैव विवक्षितार्थ-सिद्धेः । स्वयम् एव ब्रह्माजादि-शब्दानां परमार्थ-प्रतिपादक-नामतया स्वीकृतश् च । अजाम् एकां लोहित-शुक्ल- कृष्णाम् [श्वेतु ४.५] इत्य् आदिष्व् अजायमानत्व-लक्षण-जातिश् च दृश्यत एव । तथा नामादि-कल्पना न विद्यन्ते इत्य् उक्ता स्वयं कृष्णादि-नाम-कल्पनोक्तिर् विरुद्धा स्यात् कल्पनया वा कथम् ईडयता स्यात् कल्पनाया अनियतत्वाच् च कथं कृष्णादिनाम् अनियत्यम् उच्यते । तस्मान् नाम-कर्म-स्वरूपाणीत्य् अनुसाराच् चायम् अर्थः । यथा यत्र नाम-जात्य्-आदीनां नामनि कृष्णादीनि जातयो देवत्व-मनुष्यत्व-क्षत्रियत्वादि-लीलाः तदादीनां कल्पना न विद्यन्ते । किन्तु स्व-संस्थया समाप्त-सर्वार्थम् इत्य् उक्त-दिशा स्वरूप-सिद्ध-नित्य- शक्ति-विलास-रूपाण्य् एव तानीत्य् अर्थः । ततश् च यतो यस्मात् सर्वस्यापि दृष्टस्य वस्तुनः कल्पनां नामादि-रचनामृते अधिगमो व्यवहारिक- बोधो न भवति । ततस् तस्माद् एव हेतोः कल्पना-मयं नाम तन्-नामिनं चार्थ सर्वम् अवज्ञाय निखिल-प्रमाण-परिच्छेदागोचरत्वेन वेदात्मतया स्वतः-सिद्धैः कृष्णादि-नामोपलक्षणैः प्रसिद्धैर् एव नामभिः स्वतः- सिद्धस् त्वम् एवेड्यसे मुनिभिर् वेदैश् च श्लाघ्यसे । न तु कल्पनामयैर् अन्यैस् त्वम् अपि श्लाघ्यसे तादृश-महिमभिस् तैर् एव तव महिमा व्यक्तीभवतीति । यद् वा । तैर् एवेड्यसे व्यक्त-माहात्मीक्रियस इति । अत्र यैः शास्त्रेऽतिप्रसिद्धैः श्री-भगवान् एव झटिति प्रतीतो भवति । येषां च साङ्केत्यादाव् अपि तादृश-प्रभावः श्रूयते । तेषां स्वतः सिद्धत्वम् अन्येषां कल्पनामयत्वं ज्ञेयम् । अथवा हे नाथ। यत्र नाम-जात्यादीनां कल्पना न विद्यन्ते तत् कवल-विशेष-रूपं परमं ब्रह्म भवान् । तत्-तत्-कल्पनाया अविषयत्वे हेतुः । विशेषेण करोति लीलायत इति विकारि तथा न भवतीत्य् अविकारि इति । तद्-रूपेण न जायते न प्रकटीभवतीति हे अजेति । ततः किम् अवलम्ब्य तत्र नाम-जात्य्-आदि-कल्पनाः क्रियन्ताम् इति भावः । तत्- तत्-कल्पनां विना च सर्वस्याप्य् अर्थस्य वस्तु-मात्रस्याधिगम-मात्रं न भवेत् । किम् उत तादृश-ब्रह्म-स्वरूपस्य भवतः । कल्पनामय-नाम- जात्य्-आदयस् तु न कस्यापि स्वरूप-धर्मा भवन्ति यत एवं ततः साङ्केत्यादिना भावितैर् अपि भवद्वत्-सर्व-पुरुषार्थ-प्रदैस् तत्-तद्- विशेष-प्रतिपादकैः कृष्णादि-नामभिर् एव त्वम् ईड्यसे नित्य-सिद्ध-श्रुति- पुराणादिभिः श्लाघ्यसे न तु निर्विशेषता-प्रतिपादकैर् नितरां कल्पनामयैर् इत्य् अर्थः । किन्तु कृष्णादीनां चतुर्णां नाम्नां उपलक्सणत्वम् एव ज्ञेयम् । नारायणादि-नाम्नाम् अपि साङ्केत्यादौ तथा प्रभाव-श्रवणात् । वर्ण एव तु शब्द इति भगवान् उपवर्ष इत्य् अनेन तस्य च नित्यत्वाद् इत्य् अनेन च न्यायेन वर्णतयैव नित्यत्वम् अस्य वेद-सार-वर्णात्मक-नाम्नः सिध्यति । तथैव गोपाल-तापनी-श्रुतौ नाम-मयाष्टदशाक्षर-प्रसङ्गे ब्रह्म- वाक्यम् - तेष्व् अक्षरेषु भविष्यज्-जगद्-रूपं प्रकाशयन्न् [ग्तु १.२६] इति । अत्रावतार-काल-जात-शब्दादिमय-जगत्-कारणत्वेन तद्-वैलक्षण्यात् स्वतः-सिद्धत्वं तथा भगवत्-स्वरूपाभिन्नत्वं च तद्-वैलक्षण्यं नाम्नः । तद् यथा श्रुतौ - ॐ आस्य जानन्तो नाम चिद् विविक्तन् महस् ते विष्णो सुमतिं भजामहे । ॐ तत् सद् इत्य् आदि । अयम् अर्थः । हे विष्णो! ते तव नाम चित् चित्-स्वरूपम् अतएव महः स्व- प्रकाश-रूपम् । तस्माद् अस्य नाम्नः आ ईषद् अपि जानन्तः न तु सम्यग् उच्चार-माहात्म्यादि-पुरस्कारेण । तथापि विवक्तन् ब्रुवाणाः केवलं तद्- अक्षराभ्यास-मात्रं कुर्वाणाः सुमतिं तद्-विषयां विद्यां भजामहे प्राप्नुमः । यतस् तद् एव प्रणव-व्यञ्जितं वस्तु सत् स्वतः-सिद्धम् इति । अतएव भय-द्वेषादौ श्री-मूर्तेः स्फूर्तेर् इव साङ्केत्यादाव् अप्य् अस्य मुक्तिदत्वं श्रूयते । तथा चोक्तं पाद्मे - अप्य् अन्य-चित्तः क्रुद्धो वा यः सदा कीर्तयेद् धरिम् । सोऽपि बन्ध-क्सयान् मुक्तिं लभेच् चेदि-पतिर् यथा ॥ इति । तथा श्री-भगवत इव तस्य नाम्नः सकृद् अपि साक्षात्कारः संसार- ध्वंसको भवति । यथा स्कान्दे - सकृद् उच्चारितं येन हरिर् इत्य् अक्षर-द्वयम् । बद्धः परिकरस् तेन मोक्षाय गमनं प्रति ॥ इति श्रुतौ च प्रणवम् उद्दिश्य । ॐ इत्य् एतत् ब्रह्मणो नेदिष्टं नाम यस्माद् उच्चार्यमाण एव संसार-भयात् तारयति तस्माद् उच्यते तार इत्य् आदि बहुतरम् । न चास्यार्थ-वादत्वं चिन्त्यम् । तथार्थवादो हरिनाम्नि कल्पनम् इति पद्म-पुराणानुसारेणापराधापातात् । यस्य तु गृहीत-नाम्नोऽपि पुनः संसारस् तस्य नानुव्रजति यो मोहाद् व्रजन्तं परमेश्वरम् । ज्ञानाग्नि-दग्ध-कर्मापि स भवेद् ब्रह्म- राक्षस इति श्री-विष्णु-भक्ति-चन्द्रोदयादि-प्रमाणित-पुराण-वचनवन् महद् अपराध-तद्-अर्थ-वाद-कल्पनादिकं प्रतिबन्धकं ज्ञेयम् । अतएवानन्द-रूपत्वम् अस्य महद्-धृदय-साक्षिकं प्रतिबन्धकं ज्ञेयम् । अतएवानन्द-रूपत्वम् अस्य म्हद्-धृदय-साक्षिकं यथा श्री-विग्रहस्य । तद् उक्तं श्री-शौनकेन - तद् अश्म-सारं हृदयं बतेदं यद् गृह्यमाणैर् हरि-नाम-धेयैः । न विक्रियेताथ यदा विकारो नेत्रे जलं गात्र-रुहेषु हर्षः ॥ [भ्प् २.३.२४] अतएव प्रभास-पुराणे कण्ठोक्त्या कथितैर् हेतुभिः सकल-वेद-फलत्वेन च भगवत्-स्वरूपत्वम् एव प्रतिपादितम् । मधुर-मधुरम् एतन् मङ्गलं मङ्गलानां सकल-निगम-वल्ली-सत्-फलं चित्-स्वरूपम् । सकृद् अपि परिगीतं श्रद्धया हेलया वा भृगु-वर नर-मात्रं तारयेत् कृष्ण-नाम ॥ इति ॥ तस्माद् भगवत्-स्वरूपम् एव नाम । स्पष्टं चोक्तं श्री-नारद- पञ्चरात्रेऽष्टादशाक्षरम् उद्दिश्य - व्यक्तं हि भगवान् एव साक्षान्-नारायणः स्वयम् । अष्टाक्षर-स्वरूपेन मुखेषु परिवर्तते ॥ इति । माण्डुक्योपनिषत्सु च प्रणवम् उद्दिश्य - ॐ इत्य् एतद् अक्षरम् इदं सर्वं [माण्डु १] । ओंकार एवेदं सर्वम् [छाउ २.२३.३] । प्रणवो ह्य् अपरं ब्रह्म प्रणवश् च परं स्मृतम् । अपूर्वोऽनन्तरोऽबाह्योऽनपरः प्रणवोऽव्ययः ॥ सर्वस्य प्रणवो ह्य् आदिर् मध्यम् अन्तस् तथैव च । एवं हि प्रणवं ज्ञात्वा व्यश्नुते तद्-अनन्तरम् ॥ प्रणवं हीश्वरं विद्यात् सर्वस्य हृदये स्थितम् । सर्व-व्यापिनम् ओङ्कारं मत्वा धीरो न शोचति ॥ अमात्रोऽनन्त-मात्रश् च द्वैतस्योपशमः शिवः । ओङ्कारो विदितो येन स मुनिर् नेतरो जनः ॥ इति [माण्डूक्य-कारिका २६-२९] न तु परमेश्वरस्यैव तत्-तद्-योग्यतास्मभवाद् वर्ण-मात्रस्य तथोक्तिः स्तुति-रूपैवेति मन्तव्यम् । अवतारान्तरवत् परमेश्वरस्यैव वर्ण- रूपेणावतारोऽयम् इति अस्मिन्न् अर्थे तेनैव श्रुति-बलेनाङ्गीकृते तद्-अभेदेन तत्-सम्भवात् । तस्मान् नाम-नामिनोर् अभेद एव । तद् उक्तं पाद्मे - नाम चिन्तामणिः कृष्णश् चैतन्य-रस-विग्रहः । पूर्णः शुद्धो नित्य-मुक्तो ऽभिन्नत्वान् नाम-नामिनोः ॥ इति ॥ अस्यार्थः - नामैव चिन्तामणिः सर्वार्थ-दातृत्वात् । न केवलं तादृशम् एव अपि तु चैतन्यादि-लक्षणो यः कृष्णः स एव साक्षात् । तत्र हेतुर् अभिन्नत्वाद् इतीति । ननु, तथाविधं नामादिकं कथं पुरुषेन्द्रिय-जन्यं भवति । न, वेद-मात्रस्य भगवतिव पुरुषेन्द्रियादिष्व् आविर्भावनात् । यथोक्तम् एकादशे स्वयं श्री-भगवता - शब्द-ब्रह्म सुदुर्बोधम् इत्य् [भ्प् ११.२१.३६] आरभ्य, मयोपबृंहितं भूम्ना ब्रह्मणानन्त-शक्तिना । भूतेषु घोष-रूपेण विशेष-पूर्णेव लक्ष्यते ॥ [भ्प् ११.२१.३७] इति ॥ द्वादशस्य षष्ठे वेदव्यसन-प्रसङ्गे क्षीणायुषः इत्य् आदौ [भ्प् १२.६.४७] । टीका च - तर्हि पुरुष-बुद्धि-प्रभवत्वान् नादरणीयं स्याद् इत्य् आशङ्क्याह हृदि-स्थाच्युत-चोदिता इति । कस्मै येन विभासितोऽयम् इत्य् आदौ [भ्प् १२.१३.१९] तद्-रूपेणेत्य् आदिवत् । एतत् सर्वम् अभिप्रेत्य गर्भ-स्तुताव् उक्तम् - न नाम-रूपे गुण-जन्म-कर्मभिर् निरूपितव्ये तव तस्य साक्षिणः । मनो-वचोभ्याम् अनुमेय-वर्त्मनो देव क्रियायां प्रतियन्त्य् अथापि हि ॥ [भ्प् १०.२.३६] इति ॥ तथा-रूपस्यापि वैलक्षण्यं स्व-प्रकाशता-लक्षण-स्वरूप- शक्त्यैवाविर्भावित्वम् । तच् च पूर्व-दर्शितम् । अतएव द्वितीये, आत्म-तत्त्व-विशुद्ध्य्-अर्थं यद् आह भगवान् ऋतम् । ब्रह्मणे दर्शयन् रूपम् अव्यलीक-व्रताद् ऋतः ॥ इत्य् [भ्प् २.९.४] अत्र । टीका च - यच् चोक्तम् अष्टमाध्यये परमेश्वरस्यापि देह- सम्बन्धाविशेषात् कथं तद्-भक्त्या मोक्षः स्याद् इति । आसीद् यद् उदरात् पद्मम् इत्य् आदिना [भ्प् २.८.८] तत्राह आत्म-तत्त्व-विशुद्ध्य्-अर्थम् इति । आत्मनो जीवस्य तत्त्व-विशुद्ध्य्-अर्थं तत्त्व-ज्ञानार्थं तद् भवेद् एव । किं तद् यत् तप्-आदिना स्व-भजनं भगवान् ब्रह्मण आह । किं कुर्वन्, ऋतं सत्यं चिद्-घनं रूपं दर्शयन् । दर्शने हेतुर् अव्यलीकेन तपसादृतः सेवितः सन् । अयं भावः । जीवस्याविद्यया मिथाभूत-देह-सम्बन्धः । ईश्वरस्य तु योगमायया चिद्-घन-विग्रहाविर्भाव इति महान् विशेषः । अतस् तद् भजने म्क्सोपपत्तिर् इति । इत्य् एषा ॥ अतएव, स त्वं त्रिलोक-स्थितये [भ्प् १०.३.१७-१८][*एन्द्नोते #११] इत्य् आदि-द्वये श्रीमद्-आनक-दुन्दुभिनापि समाहितम् । अत्र ह्य् अयम् अर्थः - स प्रपञ्चस्य सृष्टि-स्थिति-प्रलय-कर्ता त्वं त्रिलोक-स्थितये यदा तस्य स्थितम् इच्छसि । तदा स्व-मायया स्वाश्रितया माया-शक्त्या कृत्वा आत्मनः शुक्लं वर्णं स्वेन सृष्टां धर्म-परां विप्रादि-जातिं बिभर्षि पालयसि । अत्र सत्त्वमय्य् एव स्वमाया ज्ञेया निष्कृष्टत्वाद् उपयुक्तत्वाच् च । अथ यदा सर्गम् इच्छसि तदा रजसा रजोमय्या स्वमायया कृत्वा उपबृंहितं रक्तम् कामिनं विप्रादि-वर्णं बिभर्षि । यदा च जनात्ययम् इच्छसि तदा तमो-मय्या कृत्वा कृष्णं मलिनं पाप-रतं तं बिभर्षि । अथवा यदा स्थितिम् इच्छसि तदात्मनः श्री-विष्णु-रूपस्य शुक्लं शुद्धं गुण-सङ्कर-रहितम् इत्य् अर्थः । शिव-ब्रह्म-वत् तस्य तत्-सङ्गाभावात् । तथैव सिद्धान्तितं श्री-शुकदेवेन - शिवः शक्ति-युतः शश्वत् त्रिलिङ्गो गुण-संवृतः [भ्प् १०.८८.३] इत्य् आदौ, हरिर् हि निर्गुणः साक्षात् पुरुषः प्रकृतेः परः [भ्प् १०.८८.५] इत्य् आदि । अतएव -- चन्द्रिका-विशद-स्मेरैः सारुणापाङ्ग-वीक्षितैः । स्वकार्थानाम् इव रजः- सत्त्वाभ्यां स्रष्ंऋ-पालकाः ॥ [भ्प् १०.१३.५०] इति । अत्र सात्त्विकत्व-राज-सत्त्वे उत्प्रेक्षिते एव, न तु वस्तुतया निरूपिते । वर्णं रूपं, न तु कान्ति-मात्रम् । गुण-मयत्व-स्वीकारेऽपि तत् तद् गुण- व्यञ्जकाकारस्याप्य् अपेक्ष्यत्वात् न तु श्वेतं वर्णम् इति व्याख्येयं । श्री- विष्णु-रूपस्य पालनार्थं गुणावतारस्य परमात्म-सन्दर्भे क्षीरोद- शायित्वेन स्थापयिष्यमाणस्य तत्र श्यामत्वेनाति-प्रसिद्धेः । जनात्यय- हेतो रुद्रस्य श्वेतताति-प्रसिद्ध्या तद्-वैपरीत्य-पातात् । तथैव हि गोभिलोक्त-सन्ध्योपासनायाम् - अतोऽत्र ब्रह्मणो न शोणवर्णत्वे तात्पर्यम् । न च तत्-तद्-गुणानां तत्-तद्-वर्ण-नियमः । परमतामसानां बकादीनां श्यामत्व-श्रवणात् । स्व-मायया भक्तेषु कृपया बिभर्षि जगति धारयसि प्रकटयसीत्य् अर्थः । रक्तं रजोमयत्वेन सिसृक्सादि-राग- बहुलम् । कृष्णं तमोमयत्वेन स्वरूप-प्रकाश-रहितम् इत्य् अर्थः । पार्थिवाद् दारुणो धूमस् तस्माद् अग्निस् त्रयीमयः । तमसस् तु रजस् तस्मात् सत्त्वं यद् ब्रह्म-दर्शनम् ॥ [भ्प् १.२.२४] इत्य् उक्तेः । ननु, कथम् अन्यार्थेन वाक्येन लोक-भ्रामकं वर्णयसि, यतः सम्प्रति जनात्ययआर्थं कृष्णोऽयं वर्णो मया तमसा गृहीत इत्य् अर्थोऽप्य् आयाति तद् एतद् आशङ्क्य परिहरन्न् आह त्वम् अस्य इति [भ्प् १०.३.२१][*एन्द्नोते #१२] । निर्व्यूह्यमाना इतस् ततश् चाल्यमानाः । अयं भावः - आस्तां तावद् ब्रह्म- घनत्व-शुद्ध-सत्त्व-मयत्व-बोधकं प्रमाणान्तरं, गुणानुरूप- रूपाङ्गीकारेऽपि यथा प्रलयस्य दुःख-मात्र-हेतुत्वात् सुषुप्ति-रूपत्वाच् च तत्र तद्-अर्थावसरो भवति तथास्य तु कालस्य त्व-कृत-रक्षया जगत्-सुख- हेतुत्वात् तमोमयासुर-विनाश-योग्यत्वात् तेषाम् असुराणाम् अपि हनन- व्याजेन सर्व-गुणातीत-मोक्षात्मक-प्रसाद-लाभात् तद्-अर्थावसरो न भवति, सैन्धव-मानवेतिवत् । तथैवोक्तम् - जय-काले तु सत्त्वस्य देवर्षीन् रजसोऽसुरान् । तमसो यक्ष-रक्षांसि तत्-कालानुगुणोऽभजत् ॥ इति [भ्प् ७.१.८] तस्मान् न तमः-कृतोऽयं वर्ण इति रजः-सत्त्वाभ्यां रक्त-शुक्लाव् एव भवत इति पूर्व-पक्षि-मतम् । ततश् च पारिशेष्य-प्रमाणेन स्वरूप-शक्ति- व्यञ्जितत्वम् एवात्रापि पर्यवस्यति इति भावः । तथैव तम् एवार्थं श्री- देवकी-देव्य् अपि सम्भ्रमेण प्राग् एव विवृतवती - रूपं यत् तत् प्राहुर᳙ अव्यक्तम् आद्याम् इति [भ्प् १०.३.२४] । अथ प्रकृतम् अनुसरामः । तथा गुणस्य वैलक्षण्यम् आत्मारामाणाम् अप्य् आकर्षण-लिङ्ग-गम्याद् भूतरूपत्वम् । तद् यथा श्री-सूतोक्तौ - आत्मारामाश् च मुनय [भ्प् १.७.१०] इत्य् आदौ । हरेर् गुणाक्षिप्त-मतिर् [भ्प् १.७.११] इत्य् आदि च । अतएवोक्तं विष्णुधर्मोत्तरे - गुणाः सर्वेऽपि युज्यन्ते ह्य् ऐश्वर्यात् पुरुषोत्तमे । दोषाः कथञ्चिन् नैवात्र युज्यन्ते परमो हि सः ॥ गुण-दोषौ माययैव केचिद् आहुर् अपण्डिताः । न तत्र माया मायी वा तदीयौ तौ कुतो ह्य् अतः ॥ तस्मान् न मायया सर्वं सर्वम् ऐश्वर्य-सम्भवम् । अमायो हीश्वरो यस्मात् तस्मात् तं परमं विदुः ॥ इति ॥ अथ न विद्यते इत्य् अस्य प्रकृत-श्लोकस्य व्याख्यातावशेषः । तद् एवं स्वरूप-शक्ति-विलास-रूपत्वेन तेषां प्राकृताद् वैलक्षण्यं साधितम् । तत्र आशङ्कते । ननु भवन्तु स्वस्वरूप-भूतान्य् एव तानि तथापि स्वरुपस्यैव पूर्णत्वात् तत्-तत्-प्राप्तौ किं प्रयोजनं तत्राह लोकाप्यय-सम्भवाय । लोको भक्त- जनः तस्याप्ययः संसार-ध्वंसस् तत्-पूर्वकः सम्भवो भक्ति-सुख- प्राप्तिः । भू प्राप्तौ तद् अर्थम् एतद् अप्य् उपलक्षणं नित्य-पार्षदानाम् अपि भक्ति-सुखोत्कर्षार्थम् । तद् उक्तं श्रीमद्-अर्जुनेन प्रथमे - तथायं चावतारस् ते भुवो भार-जिहीर्षया । स्वानां चानन्य-भावानाम् अनुध्यानाय चासकृत् ॥ इति [भ्प् १.७.२५] । अस्यार्थः -- यथान्ये पुरुषादयोऽवतारास् तथायं चावतारः साक्षाद्- भगवतः श्री-कृष्णाख्यस्य तवैव प्राकट्यं, परम-भक्ताया भुवो भार-जिहीर्षया जातोऽपि । अन्येषां स्वानां भक्तानाम् असकृच् च मुहुर् अप्य् अनुध्यानाय निज-भजन-सौख्याय भवति । ननु तर्हि भक्त-सौख्यम् एव प्रयोजनं जातम् इति पूर्णानन्दस्य तस्येह प्रयोजन-मतिः कुत इत्य् एतत् कथम् उपपद्येत । तत्राह - अनन्यभावानाम् इति । अन्यथा सर्व-ज्ञ-शिरोमणेर् निर्दोषस्य तस्य तन्-मात्रापेक्षकानां तेषाम् उपेक्षायाम् अकारुण्य-दोषः प्रयुज्येत इति भावः । आत्मारामेऽपि कारुण्य-गुणावकाशो गुणा विरुद्धा अपि तु समाखार्याश् च सर्वत इति स्मरणात् विचित्र-गुण-निधाने श्री-भगवत्य् एव सम्भवति । ततोऽन्यत्र तु सञ्चरित-तद्-गुणांशे तदीय एव यः प्रतिपदम् एव साश्चर्यं श्रुत्य्-आदिभिर् उच्चैर् गीयते । यश् चाविरिञ्चिम् आपामर-जनम् आकर्षन्न् एव वर्तते । तद् उक्तं स्वयम् एव - भजतोऽपि न वै केचिद् भजन्त्य् अभजतः कुतः । आत्मारामा ह्य् आप्त-कामा अकृत-ज्ञा गुरुद्रुहः ॥ नाहं तु सख्यो भजतोऽपि जन्तून् भजाम्य् अमीषाम् अनुवृत्ति-वृत्तये ॥ इत्य् आदि [भ्प् १०.३२.१९-२०] । तस्मात् परम-समर्थस्य तस्य कृपा-लक्षणं भक्त-जन-सुख- प्रयोजनकत्वं नाम कोऽपि स्वरूपानन्द-विलास-भूत-परमाश्चर्य- स्वभाव-विशेष इति मूल-पद्येऽप्य् अनुकालम् ऋच्छतीत्य् अनेनैव [भ्प् ८.३.८] दर्शितम् । अतः प्रयोजनान्तर-मतित्वं तु तस्मिन् नास्त्य् एव । तत्- प्रयोजनत्वं च तस्य परम-समर्थस्यानन्द-विलास एवेति दिक् । यथोक्तम् - कृपालोर् असमर्थस्य दुःखायैव कृपालुता । समर्थस्य तु तस्यैव सुखायैव कृपालुता ॥ इति ॥ गजेन्द्रः श्री-हरिम् ॥ ४९ ॥
[48] atha pratyag-rūpatatvam apy āha - sa tvaṃ kathaṃ mama vibho'kṣa-pathaḥ parātmā yogeśvaraiḥ śruti-dṛśāmala-hṛdi-bhāvyaḥ | sākṣād adhokṣaja uru-vyavasanāndha-buddheḥ syān me'nudṛśya iha yasya bhavāpavargaḥ || [BhP 10.64.18] ṭīkā ca - he vibho sa tvaṃ mamākṣa-pathaḥ locana-gocaraḥ etac citram ity arthaḥ | kim atrāścaryaṃ tad āha para ātmā ataeva yogeśvarair api śruti-dṛśā amala-hṛdi vibhāvyaś cintyaḥ | yato'dhokṣajaḥ akṣajam aindriyakaṃ jñānaṃ tad adhaḥ arvāg eva yasya saḥ | yasya hi bhavāpavargo bhavet tasya bhavān anudṛśyaḥ syāt uru-vyasanena kṛkalāsa-bhava-duḥkhena andha-buddhes tu mama etac citram ity arthaḥ | ity eṣā | darśana-kāraṇaṃ tūktaṃ nārāyaṇādhyātme - nityāvyakto'pi bhagavān īkṣyate nija-śaktitaḥ | tām ṛte paramātmānaṃ kaḥ paśyetāmṛtaṃ prabhum || iti | tādṛśa-śakter apy ullāse tat-kṛpaiva kāraṇam | tad uktaṃ śrutau -- na cakṣuṣā paśyati rūpam asya yam evaiṣa vṛṇute tena labhyas tasyaiṣa ātmā vivṛṇute tanuṃ svām || [KaṭhaU 1.2.23] na sandṛśe tiṣṭhati rūpam asya | ity ādikaṃ ca kutracit | evam eva mokṣa- dharme nārāyaṇīye nāradaṃ prati śrī-śvetadvīpa-patinoktam - etat tvayā na vijñeyaṃ rūpavān iti dṛśyate | icchan muhūrtān naśyeyam īśo'haṃ jagato guruḥ || māyā hy eṣā mayā sṛṣṭā yan māṃ paśyasi nārada | sarvabhūtaguṇair yuktaṃ naivaṃ tvaṃ jñātum arhasi || [MBh 12.306.42-43] yathā'nyo rūpavān iti hetor dṛśyate tathāyam apīty etat tvayā na jñeyam | tataś ca svaya rūpitve'py adṛśyatvam uktvā nija-rūpasyāprākṛtatvam eva darśitam | tad-darśane ca parama-kṛpā-mayy akuṇḍhā mamecchaiva kāraṇam ity āha | i icchann iti | naśyeyam adṛśyatām āpadyeyam | tatra svātantryaṃ jagad- vilakṣaṇatvaṃ ca hetum āha - īśa ity ādi | tathāpi māṃ sarva-bhūta-gaṇair yuktaṃ yat paśyasi tad yuktatvena yat pratyeṣi eṣā māyā mayaiva sṛṣṭā mama māyayaiva tathā bhānam ity arthaḥ | tasmin naivam ity ādi | mayātra pratāraṇa-śaktiḥ | tathā hi tatraiva śrī-bhāṣya-vacanam | prītas tato'sya bhagavān deva-devaḥ sanātanaḥ | sākṣāt taṃ darśayāmāsa dṛśyo nānyena kenacid || iti | [MBh 12.323.11] tam uparicaraṃ vasuṃ prati svātmānam iti śeṣaḥ | tad-agre ca vasv-ādi- vākyam | na śakyaḥ sa tvayā draṣṭum asmābhir vā bṛhaspate | yasya prasādaṃ kurute sa vai taṃ draṣṭum arhati || iti | [MBh 12.323.18] tad evaṃ śrutāv apy adṛśyatvādayo dharmāḥ śrī-vigrahasyaivoktāḥ | śrutyantaraṃ ca na cakṣuṣā paśyati rūpam asya | iti || nṛpaḥ śrī-bhagavantam ||48|| [49] ataeva prākṛtāni rūpādīni niṣidhya anyāni sampratipādyante | na vidyate yasya ca janma karma vā na nāma-rūpe guṇa-doṣa eva vā tathāpi lokāpyaya-sambhavāya yaḥ sva-māyayā tāny anukālam ṛcchati || [BhP 8.3.8] ayam arthaḥ | avasthāntara-prāptir vikāraḥ | tatra prathama-vikāro janmeti | apūrṇasya nija-pūrty-arthā ceṣṭā karmeti | manogrāhyasya vastuno vyavahārārthaṃ kenāpi saṅketitaḥ śabdo nāmeti | cakṣuṣā grāhyo guṇo rūpam iti | sattvādi-prākṛta-guṇa-nidāno dravyasyotkarṣa-hetur-dharma- viśeṣo guṇa iti prakṛtije loke dṛśyate | yasya ca sarvadā svarūpasthatvāt pūrṇatvāt manaso'py agocaratvāt svaprakāśatvāt prakṛty-atītvāt tāni na vidyante | tathāpi yas tāni ṛcchati prāpnoti tasmai nama ity [BhP 8.3.9] uttara- ślokenānvayaḥ | ataeva śrutyāpi - niṣkalaṃ niṣkriyaṃ śāntam ity ādau [ŚvetU 6.19], aśabdam asparśam arūpam avyayam ity ādau [KaṭhaU 1.3.15] ca tan niṣidhyāpi sarva-karmā sarva-kāmaḥ sarva-gandhaḥ sarva-rasa ity [ChāU 3.14.4] ādau vidhīyate | guṇa-doṣa iti aparamārthatvād guṇa eva doṣa ity arthaḥ | tato rūḍha-doṣas tu sarvathā na sambhavaty eveti vakṣyate | tathā ca kaurme - aiśvarya-yogād bhagavān viruddhārtho'bhidhīyate | tathāpi doṣāḥ parame naivāhāryaḥ kathañcana | guṇā viruddhā api tu samāhāryāś ca sarvataḥ || iti | ayam ātmāpahata-pāpmā | ity ādyāḥ [ChāU 8.7.1] śrutayaś ca | etaṃ saṃyad vāma ity āvakṣate etaṃ sarvāṇi vāmāni nayati eṣa u eva bhāmaṇīḥ eṣa sarveṣu vedeṣu bhātīty [Chā 4.15.2] ādyā ca | ataeva sarva- gandha ity ādau gandhādi-śabdena saugandhyādikam evocyate | yadā tu ṛcchatinānvayas tu guṇasya doṣatvena rūpakam avivakṣitaṃ śruti-viruddhatvāt paramārthatvena pratipādayiṣyamāṇatvāc ca | nanv ekatra teṣāṃ janmādīnāṃ bhāvābhāvayor virodha ity āśaṅkya tad- virodhe hetum āha sva-māyayā iti | anyathānupapatti-pramitā dustarkyā svarūpa-śaktir eva tatra hetuḥ | ataeva svarūpa-bhūtatvena tebhyaḥ prākṛtebhyo vilakṣaṇatvāt tāny api na vidyanta iti ca vaktuṃ śakyata iti bhāvaḥ | yathā śāṅkara-śārīrarake samākarṣād ity [Vs. 1.4.15] atra nāma- rūpa-vyākṛta-vastu-viṣayaḥ svacchandaḥ prāyeṇa prasiddha iti tad- vyakaraṇābhāvāpekṣayā prāg-utpatteḥ sad eva brahma-śrutāv asad ity ucyate ity uktam tathaiva jñeyam | ataeva śrī-viṣṇu-purāṇe - guṇāṃś ca doṣāṃś ca mune vyatīta ity [ViP 6.5.83] uktvā punar āha samasta-kalyāṇa-guṇātmako hīti [ViP 6.5.84] | tathā jñāna-śakti-balaiśvarya-vīrya-tejāṃsy aśeṣataḥ | bhagavac-chabda-vācyāni vinā heyair guṇādibhiḥ || iti [ViP 6.5.79] pādmottara-khaṇḍe ca - yo'sau nirguṇa ity uktaḥ śāstreṣu jagad-īśvaraḥ | prākṛtair heya-saṃyuktair guṇair hīnatvam ucyate || iti | na ca sva-māyayety anyathārthaṃ mantavyam | viśuddha-vijñāna-ghanaṃ sva-saṃsthayā samāpta-sarvārtha-mayī vāñchitam | sva-tejasā nitya-nivṛtta-māyā- guṇa-pravāhaṃ bhagavantam īmahi || iti [?][*ENDNOTE #8] śrī-nārada- vākyāt | sva-sukha-nibhṛtedyādi[*ENDNOTE #9] | vaktṛ-hṛdaya-virodhāc ca | tataḥ sarvathā cic-chaktyā ity arthaḥ | ataḥ svāmibhir api yoga-māyā-śabdena cic- chaktir vyākhyātā | nanu prāpnoti kadācitkatvam apy avagamyate, tatrāha - anukālaṃ nityam eva prāpnoti, kadācid api na tyajatīty arthaḥ | svarūpa-śakti-prakāśitvasya ca mitho hetumattā jñeyā | nanu kathaṃ janma-karmaṇor nityatvam ? te hi kriye | kriyātvaṃ ca prati- nijāṃśam apy ārambha-parisamāptibhyām eva sidhyatīti te vinā sva-svarūpa- hāny-āpattiḥ | naiṣa doṣaḥ | śrī-bhagavati sadivākārānantyāt prakāśānantyāt janma-karma-lakṣaṇa-līlānantyād ananta-prapañcānanta- vaikuṇṭha-gata-tat-tal-līlā-sthāna-tat-tal-līlā-parikarāṇāṃ vyakti-prakāśayor ānantyāc ca | yata evaṃ satyor api tat-tad-ākāra-prakāśa-gatayos tad-ārambha- samāptyor ekatrikatra te janma-karmaṇor aṃśā yāvat samāpyante na samāpyante vā tāvad evānyatrāpy ārabdhā bhavatīty evaṃ śrī-bhagavati vicchedābhāvān nitye eva tatra te janma-karmaṇī vartete | tatra te kvacit kiñcid vilakṣaṇatvenārabhyete te kvacid aikarūpyeṇa ceti jñeyam | viśeṣaṇa- bhedād viśeṣaṇaikyāc ca | eka evākāraḥ prakāśa-bhedena pṛthak kriyāspadaṃ bhavatīti | citraṃ bataitad ekena vapuṣā ity ādau pratipāditam | tataḥ kriyā-bhedāt tat-tat-kriyātmakeṣu prakāśa-bhedeṣv abhimāna-bhedaś ca gamyate | tathā sati ekatraikatra līlā-krama-janita-rasodbodhaś ca jāyate | nanu kathaṃ te eva janma-karmaṇī vartete ity uktaṃ pṛthag-ārabdhatvād anye eva te | ucyate | kāla-bhedenoditānām api samāna-rūpāṇāṃ kriyāṇām ekatvam | yathā śaṅkara-śārīrake | dvir-go-śabdobhayam uccarito na tu dvau go-śabdāv iti | tathaiva dviḥ pākaḥ kṛto'nena na tu dvidhā pākaḥ kṛto'neneti pratītyā bhaviṣyati | tato janma-karmaṇor api nityatā yuktaiva | ataevāgamādāv api bhūta-pūrva-līlopāsana-vidhānaṃ yuktam | tathā coktam madhva-bhāṣye - paramātma-sambandhitvena nityatvāt trivikramatvādiṣv apy upasaṃhāryatvaṃ yujyate iti | anumataṃ caitat śrutyā yad gataṃ bhavac ca bhaviṣyac cety anayaiva | upasaṃhāryatvam upāsanāyām upādeyatvam ity arthaḥ | tatra tasya janmanaḥ prākṛtāt tasmād vilakṣaṇatvaṃ prākṛta- janmānukaraṇenāvirbhāva-mātratvaṃ kvacit tad-ananukaraṇena vā | ajāyamānā bahudhā vijāyata iti śruteḥ | tad yathā -- devakyāṃ deva-rūpiṇyāṃ viṣṇuḥ sarva-guhāśayaḥ | āvirāsīd yathā prācyāṃ diśīndur iva puṣkalaḥ || iti [BhP 10.3.8] tathā ca - satyaṃ vidhātuṃ nija-bhṛtya-bhāṣitaṃ vyāptitvaṃ ca bhūteṣv akhileṣu cātmanaḥ | adṛśyatāty-adbhūta-rūpam udvahan stambhe sabhāyāṃ na mṛgaṃ na mānuṣam || iti [BhP 7.8.17] kārdamaṃ vīryam āpanna ity atra [BhP 3.24.6] śrī-kapila-devāvatāra- prasaṅge kardamasya bhakti-sāmarthya-vaśībhūta ity eva vyākhyeyam | vīrya-śabda-nyāsas tu prasiddhaṃ putratvam api śliṣṭaṃ bhavatīty evam arthaḥ | tathā karmaṇo vailakṣaṇyaṃ svarūpānanda-vilāsa-mātratvam | tad yathā lokavat tu līlā-kaivalyam iti [Vs 2.1.33] | vyākhyātaṃ ca tattva-vādibhiḥ | yathā loke mattasya sukhodrekād eva nṛtyādi-līlā na tu prayojanāpekṣayā evam eveśvarasya | nārāyaṇa-saṃhitāyāṃ ca - sṛṣṭyādikaṃ harir naiva prayojanam apekṣya tu | kurute kevalānandād yathā mattasya nartanam || pūrṇānandasya tasyeha prayojana-matiḥ kutaḥ | muktā avyāpta-kāmāḥ syuḥ kim utāsy akhilātmanaḥ || iti | na conmatta-dṛṣṭāntenāsarvajñatva prasañjayitavyam | svarūpānandodrekeṇa sva-prayojanam ananusandhāyaiva līlāyate ity etad aṃśenaiva svīkārāt | ucchvāsa-praśvāsa-dṛṣṭānte'pi suṣpty-ādau tad-doṣāpātāt | tasmāt svarūpānanda-svābhāvikyena tal-līlā | śrutiś ca - devasyaiva svabhāvo'yam āpta-kāmasya kā spṛhā | iti | atra prākṛta-sṛṣṭy-ādi-gatasya sākṣād-bhagavac-ceṣṭātmakasya vīkṣaṇādi- karmaṇo vastutas tu tathā-vidhatve vaikuṇṭhādi-gatasya kaimutyam evāpatitam | yathoktaṃ nāga-patnībhiḥ avyākṛta-vihārāya iti [BhP 10.16.47] | ataeva śrī-śukādīnām api tal-līlā-śravaṇe rāgataḥ pravṛttir yujyate | ataś ca -- evaṃ ca janmāni karmāṇi hy akartur ajanasya ca | varṇayanti sma kavayo veda-guhyāni hṛt-pateḥ || iti [BhP 1.3.35] atra janma-guhyādhyāya-padye'py evam eva vyākhyeyam | yatreme sad-asad- rūpe [BhP 1.3.33-4] ity ādibhyām avyavahita-padyābhyāṃ yathā svarūpa- samyag-jñānenaiva kṛtasyāvidyākṛtātmādhyāsa-sad-asad-rūpa-niṣedhasya hetor brahma-darśanaṃ bhavati | yathā ca - māyoparatāv eva svarūpa- sampattir bhavati ity uktam | evam eva kavaya ātmārāmā hṛt-pateḥ paramātmano janmāni karmāṇi ca varṇayanti | tat-tat-pratiṣedhe tad-uparatau caiva satyāṃ taj-janma-karmānubhava-sampattī bhavata ity arthaḥ | sampattir atra sākṣād darśanam | tasmāt svarūpānandātiśayita-bhagavad-ānanda- vilāsa-rūpāṇy eva tānīti bhāvaḥ | ataeva prākṛta-vailakṣaṇyād akartur ajanasya ity uktam | ataeva veda-guhyāny api tānīti | yathā akrūra-stutau tvayoditaḥ [BhP 10.48.23-24] ity ādi dvayaṃ ṭīkāyām evettham utthāpitam | nanu tarhi mamāvatārās tac-caritāni ca śukti-rajata-vad avidyā-kalpitāny eva kim ? nahi nahi iyaṃ tu tava līlety āha dvayena tvayodita itīti | tathaiva ca bhagavat-svarūpa-sāmyenoktaṃ vaiṣṇave - nāma-karma-svarūpāṇi na pariccheda-gocare | yasyākhila-pramāṇānaṃ sa viṣṇur garbhagas tava || iti | [ViP 5.2.19] rūpa-karmeti vā pāṭhāntaram[*ENDNOTE #10] | ittham evābhipretaṃ śrī- gītopaniṣadbhiḥ - janma-karma ca me divyam evaṃ yo vetti tattvataḥ | iti | [Gītā 4.9] tathā nāmno vailakṣaṇyaṃ vāṅ-manasāgocara-guṇāvalambitvena svataḥ- siddhatvam | tad yathā vāsudevādhyātme - aprasiddhes tad-guṇānām anāmāsau prakīrtitaḥ iti | brāhme - anāmā so'prasiddhatvād arūpo bhūta- varjanāt iti | na yatra nātha vidyante nāma-jātyādi-kalpanāḥ | tad brahma paramaṃ nityam avikāri bhavān aja || na kalpanāmṛte'rthasya sarvasyādhigamo yathaḥ | tataḥ kṛṣṇācyutānanta-viṣṇu-nāmabhir īḍyase || iti || [ViP 5.18.53-54] etad-vaiṣṇava-vacanānantaram api na viruddham | tathā hi | atrāpātataḥ pratītārthatāyāṃ kalpanā-śabdo vyarthaḥ syāt | nāma-jāty-ādayo na vidyante | ity anenaiva vivakṣitārtha-siddheḥ | svayam eva brahmājādi-śabdānāṃ paramārtha-pratipādaka-nāmatayā svīkṛtaś ca | ajām ekāṃ lohita-śukla- kṛṣṇām [ŚvetU 4.5] ity ādiṣv ajāyamānatva-lakṣaṇa-jātiś ca dṛśyata eva | tathā nāmādi-kalpanā na vidyante ity uktā svayaṃ kṛṣṇādi-nāma-kalpanoktir viruddhā syāt kalpanayā vā katham īḍayatā syāt kalpanāyā aniyatatvāc ca kathaṃ kṛṣṇādinām aniyatyam ucyate | tasmān nāma-karma-svarūpāṇīty anusārāc cāyam arthaḥ | yathā yatra nāma-jāty-ādīnāṃ nāmani kṛṣṇādīni jātayo devatva-manuṣyatva-kṣatriyatvādi-līlāḥ tadādīnāṃ kalpanā na vidyante | kintu sva-saṃsthayā samāpta-sarvārtham ity ukta-diśā svarūpa-siddha-nitya- śakti-vilāsa-rūpāṇy eva tānīty arthaḥ | tataś ca yato yasmāt sarvasyāpi dṛṣṭasya vastunaḥ kalpanāṃ nāmādi-racanāmṛte adhigamo vyavahārika- bodho na bhavati | tatas tasmād eva hetoḥ kalpanā-mayaṃ nāma tan-nāminaṃ cārtha sarvam avajñāya nikhila-pramāṇa-paricchedāgocaratvena vedātmatayā svataḥ-siddhaiḥ kṛṣṇādi-nāmopalakṣaṇaiḥ prasiddhair eva nāmabhiḥ svataḥ- siddhas tvam eveḍyase munibhir vedaiś ca ślāghyase | na tu kalpanāmayair anyais tvam api ślāghyase tādṛśa-mahimabhis tair eva tava mahimā vyaktībhavatīti | yad vā | tair eveḍyase vyakta-māhātmīkriyasa iti | atra yaiḥ śāstre'tiprasiddhaiḥ śrī-bhagavān eva jhaṭiti pratīto bhavati | yeṣāṃ ca sāṅketyādāv api tādṛśa-prabhāvaḥ śrūyate | teṣāṃ svataḥ siddhatvam anyeṣāṃ kalpanāmayatvaṃ jñeyam | athavā he nātha| yatra nāma-jātyādīnāṃ kalpanā na vidyante tat kavala-viśeṣa-rūpaṃ paramaṃ brahma bhavān | tat-tat-kalpanāyā aviṣayatve hetuḥ | viśeṣeṇa karoti līlāyata iti vikāri tathā na bhavatīty avikāri iti | tad-rūpeṇa na jāyate na prakaṭībhavatīti he ajeti | tataḥ kim avalambya tatra nāma-jāty-ādi-kalpanāḥ kriyantām iti bhāvaḥ | tat- tat-kalpanāṃ vinā ca sarvasyāpy arthasya vastu-mātrasyādhigama-mātraṃ na bhavet | kim uta tādṛśa-brahma-svarūpasya bhavataḥ | kalpanāmaya-nāma- jāty-ādayas tu na kasyāpi svarūpa-dharmā bhavanti yata evaṃ tataḥ sāṅketyādinā bhāvitair api bhavadvat-sarva-puruṣārtha-pradais tat-tad- viśeṣa-pratipādakaiḥ kṛṣṇādi-nāmabhir eva tvam īḍyase nitya-siddha-śruti- purāṇādibhiḥ ślāghyase na tu nirviśeṣatā-pratipādakair nitarāṃ kalpanāmayair ity arthaḥ | kintu kṛṣṇādīnāṃ caturṇāṃ nāmnāṃ upalaksaṇatvam eva jñeyam | nārāyaṇādi-nāmnām api sāṅketyādau tathā prabhāva-śravaṇāt | varṇa eva tu śabda iti bhagavān upavarṣa ity anena tasya ca nityatvād ity anena ca nyāyena varṇatayaiva nityatvam asya veda-sāra-varṇātmaka-nāmnaḥ sidhyati | tathaiva gopāla-tāpanī-śrutau nāma-mayāṣṭadaśākṣara-prasaṅge brahma- vākyam - teṣv akṣareṣu bhaviṣyaj-jagad-rūpaṃ prakāśayann [GTU 1.26] iti | atrāvatāra-kāla-jāta-śabdādimaya-jagat-kāraṇatvena tad-vailakṣaṇyāt svataḥ-siddhatvaṃ tathā bhagavat-svarūpābhinnatvaṃ ca tad-vailakṣaṇyaṃ nāmnaḥ | tad yathā śrutau - oṃ āsya jānanto nāma cid viviktan mahas te viṣṇo sumatiṃ bhajāmahe | oṃ tat sad ity ādi | ayam arthaḥ | he viṣṇo! te tava nāma cit cit-svarūpam ataeva mahaḥ sva- prakāśa-rūpam | tasmād asya nāmnaḥ ā īṣad api jānantaḥ na tu samyag uccāra-māhātmyādi-puraskāreṇa | tathāpi vivaktan bruvāṇāḥ kevalaṃ tad- akṣarābhyāsa-mātraṃ kurvāṇāḥ sumatiṃ tad-viṣayāṃ vidyāṃ bhajāmahe prāpnumaḥ | yatas tad eva praṇava-vyañjitaṃ vastu sat svataḥ-siddham iti | ataeva bhaya-dveṣādau śrī-mūrteḥ sphūrter iva sāṅketyādāv apy asya muktidatvaṃ śrūyate | tathā coktaṃ pādme - apy anya-cittaḥ kruddho vā yaḥ sadā kīrtayed dharim | so'pi bandha-ksayān muktiṃ labhec cedi-patir yathā || iti | tathā śrī-bhagavata iva tasya nāmnaḥ sakṛd api sākṣātkāraḥ saṃsāra- dhvaṃsako bhavati | yathā skānde - sakṛd uccāritaṃ yena harir ity akṣara-dvayam | baddhaḥ parikaras tena mokṣāya gamanaṃ prati || iti śrutau ca praṇavam uddiśya | om ity etat brahmaṇo nediṣṭaṃ nāma yasmād uccāryamāṇa eva saṃsāra-bhayāt tārayati tasmād ucyate tāra ity ādi bahutaram | na cāsyārtha-vādatvaṃ cintyam | tathārthavādo harināmni kalpanam iti padma-purāṇānusāreṇāparādhāpātāt | yasya tu gṛhīta-nāmno'pi punaḥ saṃsāras tasya nānuvrajati yo mohād vrajantaṃ parameśvaram | jñānāgni-dagdha-karmāpi sa bhaved brahma- rākṣasa iti śrī-viṣṇu-bhakti-candrodayādi-pramāṇita-purāṇa-vacanavan mahad aparādha-tad-artha-vāda-kalpanādikaṃ pratibandhakaṃ jñeyam | ataevānanda-rūpatvam asya mahad-dhṛdaya-sākṣikaṃ pratibandhakaṃ jñeyam | ataevānanda-rūpatvam asya mhad-dhṛdaya-sākṣikaṃ yathā śrī-vigrahasya | tad uktaṃ śrī-śaunakena - tad aśma-sāraṃ hṛdayaṃ batedaṃ yad gṛhyamāṇair hari-nāma-dheyaiḥ | na vikriyetātha yadā vikāro netre jalaṃ gātra-ruheṣu harṣaḥ || [BhP 2.3.24] ataeva prabhāsa-purāṇe kaṇṭhoktyā kathitair hetubhiḥ sakala-veda-phalatvena ca bhagavat-svarūpatvam eva pratipāditam | madhura-madhuram etan maṅgalaṃ maṅgalānāṃ sakala-nigama-vallī-sat-phalaṃ cit-svarūpam | sakṛd api parigītaṃ śraddhayā helayā vā bhṛgu-vara nara-mātraṃ tārayet kṛṣṇa-nāma || iti || tasmād bhagavat-svarūpam eva nāma | spaṣṭaṃ coktaṃ śrī-nārada- pañcarātre'ṣṭādaśākṣaram uddiśya - vyaktaṃ hi bhagavān eva sākṣān-nārāyaṇaḥ svayam | aṣṭākṣara-svarūpena mukheṣu parivartate || iti | māṇḍukyopaniṣatsu ca praṇavam uddiśya - oṃ ity etad akṣaram idaṃ sarvaṃ [MāṇḍU 1] | oṃkāra evedaṃ sarvam [ChāU 2.23.3] | praṇavo hy aparaṃ brahma praṇavaś ca paraṃ smṛtam | apūrvo'nantaro'bāhyo'naparaḥ praṇavo'vyayaḥ || sarvasya praṇavo hy ādir madhyam antas tathaiva ca | evaṃ hi praṇavaṃ jñātvā vyaśnute tad-anantaram || praṇavaṃ hīśvaraṃ vidyāt sarvasya hṛdaye sthitam | sarva-vyāpinam oṅkāraṃ matvā dhīro na śocati || amātro'nanta-mātraś ca dvaitasyopaśamaḥ śivaḥ | oṅkāro vidito yena sa munir netaro janaḥ || iti [Māṇḍūkya-kārikā 26-29] na tu parameśvarasyaiva tat-tad-yogyatāsmabhavād varṇa-mātrasya tathoktiḥ stuti-rūpaiveti mantavyam | avatārāntaravat parameśvarasyaiva varṇa- rūpeṇāvatāro'yam iti asminn arthe tenaiva śruti-balenāṅgīkṛte tad-abhedena tat-sambhavāt | tasmān nāma-nāminor abheda eva | tad uktaṃ pādme - nāma cintāmaṇiḥ kṛṣṇaś caitanya-rasa-vigrahaḥ | pūrṇaḥ śuddho nitya-mukto 'bhinnatvān nāma-nāminoḥ || iti || asyārthaḥ - nāmaiva cintāmaṇiḥ sarvārtha-dātṛtvāt | na kevalaṃ tādṛśam eva api tu caitanyādi-lakṣaṇo yaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ sa eva sākṣāt | tatra hetur abhinnatvād itīti | nanu, tathāvidhaṃ nāmādikaṃ kathaṃ puruṣendriya-janyaṃ bhavati | na, veda-mātrasya bhagavativa puruṣendriyādiṣv āvirbhāvanāt | yathoktam ekādaśe svayaṃ śrī-bhagavatā - śabda-brahma sudurbodham ity [BhP 11.21.36] ārabhya, mayopabṛṃhitaṃ bhūmnā brahmaṇānanta-śaktinā | bhūteṣu ghoṣa-rūpeṇa viśeṣa-pūrṇeva lakṣyate || [BhP 11.21.37] iti || dvādaśasya ṣaṣṭhe vedavyasana-prasaṅge kṣīṇāyuṣaḥ ity ādau [BhP 12.6.47] | ṭīkā ca - tarhi puruṣa-buddhi-prabhavatvān nādaraṇīyaṃ syād ity āśaṅkyāha hṛdi-sthācyuta-coditā iti | kasmai yena vibhāsito'yam ity ādau [BhP 12.13.19] tad-rūpeṇety ādivat | etat sarvam abhipretya garbha-stutāv uktam - na nāma-rūpe guṇa-janma-karmabhir nirūpitavye tava tasya sākṣiṇaḥ | mano-vacobhyām anumeya-vartmano deva kriyāyāṃ pratiyanty athāpi hi || [BhP 10.2.36] iti || tathā-rūpasyāpi vailakṣaṇyaṃ sva-prakāśatā-lakṣaṇa-svarūpa- śaktyaivāvirbhāvitvam | tac ca pūrva-darśitam | ataeva dvitīye, ātma-tattva-viśuddhy-arthaṃ yad āha bhagavān ṛtam | brahmaṇe darśayan rūpam avyalīka-vratād ṛtaḥ || ity [BhP 2.9.4] atra | ṭīkā ca - yac coktam aṣṭamādhyaye parameśvarasyāpi deha- sambandhāviśeṣāt kathaṃ tad-bhaktyā mokṣaḥ syād iti | āsīd yad udarāt padmam ity ādinā [BhP 2.8.8] tatrāha ātma-tattva-viśuddhy-artham iti | ātmano jīvasya tattva-viśuddhy-arthaṃ tattva-jñānārthaṃ tad bhaved eva | kiṃ tad yat tap-ādinā sva-bhajanaṃ bhagavān brahmaṇa āha | kiṃ kurvan, ṛtaṃ satyaṃ cid-ghanaṃ rūpaṃ darśayan | darśane hetur avyalīkena tapasādṛtaḥ sevitaḥ san | ayaṃ bhāvaḥ | jīvasyāvidyayā mithābhūta-deha-sambandhaḥ | īśvarasya tu yogamāyayā cid-ghana-vigrahāvirbhāva iti mahān viśeṣaḥ | atas tad bhajane mksopapattir iti | ity eṣā || ataeva, sa tvaṃ triloka-sthitaye [BhP 10.3.17-18][*ENDNOTE #11] ity ādi-dvaye śrīmad-ānaka-dundubhināpi samāhitam | atra hy ayam arthaḥ - sa prapañcasya sṛṣṭi-sthiti-pralaya-kartā tvaṃ triloka-sthitaye yadā tasya sthitam icchasi | tadā sva-māyayā svāśritayā māyā-śaktyā kṛtvā ātmanaḥ śuklaṃ varṇaṃ svena sṛṣṭāṃ dharma-parāṃ viprādi-jātiṃ bibharṣi pālayasi | atra sattvamayy eva svamāyā jñeyā niṣkṛṣṭatvād upayuktatvāc ca | atha yadā sargam icchasi tadā rajasā rajomayyā svamāyayā kṛtvā upabṛṃhitaṃ raktam kāminaṃ viprādi-varṇaṃ bibharṣi | yadā ca janātyayam icchasi tadā tamo-mayyā kṛtvā kṛṣṇaṃ malinaṃ pāpa-rataṃ taṃ bibharṣi | athavā yadā sthitim icchasi tadātmanaḥ śrī-viṣṇu-rūpasya śuklaṃ śuddhaṃ guṇa-saṅkara-rahitam ity arthaḥ | śiva-brahma-vat tasya tat-saṅgābhāvāt | tathaiva siddhāntitaṃ śrī-śukadevena - śivaḥ śakti-yutaḥ śaśvat triliṅgo guṇa-saṃvṛtaḥ [BhP 10.88.3] ity ādau, harir hi nirguṇaḥ sākṣāt puruṣaḥ prakṛteḥ paraḥ [BhP 10.88.5] ity ādi | ataeva -- candrikā-viśada-smeraiḥ sāruṇāpāṅga-vīkṣitaiḥ | svakārthānām iva rajaḥ- sattvābhyāṃ sraṣṃṛ-pālakāḥ || [BhP 10.13.50] iti | atra sāttvikatva-rāja-sattve utprekṣite eva, na tu vastutayā nirūpite | varṇaṃ rūpaṃ, na tu kānti-mātram | guṇa-mayatva-svīkāre'pi tat tad guṇa- vyañjakākārasyāpy apekṣyatvāt na tu śvetaṃ varṇam iti vyākhyeyaṃ | śrī- viṣṇu-rūpasya pālanārthaṃ guṇāvatārasya paramātma-sandarbhe kṣīroda- śāyitvena sthāpayiṣyamāṇasya tatra śyāmatvenāti-prasiddheḥ | janātyaya- heto rudrasya śvetatāti-prasiddhyā tad-vaiparītya-pātāt | tathaiva hi gobhilokta-sandhyopāsanāyām - ato'tra brahmaṇo na śoṇavarṇatve tātparyam | na ca tat-tad-guṇānāṃ tat-tad-varṇa-niyamaḥ | paramatāmasānāṃ bakādīnāṃ śyāmatva-śravaṇāt | sva-māyayā bhakteṣu kṛpayā bibharṣi jagati dhārayasi prakaṭayasīty arthaḥ | raktaṃ rajomayatvena sisṛksādi-rāga- bahulam | kṛṣṇaṃ tamomayatvena svarūpa-prakāśa-rahitam ity arthaḥ | pārthivād dāruṇo dhūmas tasmād agnis trayīmayaḥ | tamasas tu rajas tasmāt sattvaṃ yad brahma-darśanam || [BhP 1.2.24] ity ukteḥ | nanu, katham anyārthena vākyena loka-bhrāmakaṃ varṇayasi, yataḥ samprati janātyayaārthaṃ kṛṣṇo'yaṃ varṇo mayā tamasā gṛhīta ity artho'py āyāti tad etad āśaṅkya pariharann āha tvam asya iti [BhP 10.3.21][*ENDNOTE #12] | nirvyūhyamānā itas tataś cālyamānāḥ | ayaṃ bhāvaḥ - āstāṃ tāvad brahma- ghanatva-śuddha-sattva-mayatva-bodhakaṃ pramāṇāntaraṃ, guṇānurūpa- rūpāṅgīkāre'pi yathā pralayasya duḥkha-mātra-hetutvāt suṣupti-rūpatvāc ca tatra tad-arthāvasaro bhavati tathāsya tu kālasya tva-kṛta-rakṣayā jagat-sukha- hetutvāt tamomayāsura-vināśa-yogyatvāt teṣām asurāṇām api hanana- vyājena sarva-guṇātīta-mokṣātmaka-prasāda-lābhāt tad-arthāvasaro na bhavati, saindhava-mānavetivat | tathaivoktam - jaya-kāle tu sattvasya devarṣīn rajaso'surān | tamaso yakṣa-rakṣāṃsi tat-kālānuguṇo'bhajat || iti [BhP 7.1.8] tasmān na tamaḥ-kṛto'yaṃ varṇa iti rajaḥ-sattvābhyāṃ rakta-śuklāv eva bhavata iti pūrva-pakṣi-matam | tataś ca pāriśeṣya-pramāṇena svarūpa-śakti- vyañjitatvam evātrāpi paryavasyati iti bhāvaḥ | tathaiva tam evārthaṃ śrī- devakī-devy api sambhrameṇa prāg eva vivṛtavatī - rūpaṃ yat tat prāhurà avyaktam ādyām iti [BhP 10.3.24] | atha prakṛtam anusarāmaḥ | tathā guṇasya vailakṣaṇyam ātmārāmāṇām apy ākarṣaṇa-liṅga-gamyād bhūtarūpatvam | tad yathā śrī-sūtoktau - ātmārāmāś ca munaya [BhP 1.7.10] ity ādau | harer guṇākṣipta-matir [BhP 1.7.11] ity ādi ca | ataevoktaṃ viṣṇudharmottare - guṇāḥ sarve'pi yujyante hy aiśvaryāt puruṣottame | doṣāḥ kathañcin naivātra yujyante paramo hi saḥ || guṇa-doṣau māyayaiva kecid āhur apaṇḍitāḥ | na tatra māyā māyī vā tadīyau tau kuto hy ataḥ || tasmān na māyayā sarvaṃ sarvam aiśvarya-sambhavam | amāyo hīśvaro yasmāt tasmāt taṃ paramaṃ viduḥ || iti || atha na vidyate ity asya prakṛta-ślokasya vyākhyātāvaśeṣaḥ | tad evaṃ svarūpa-śakti-vilāsa-rūpatvena teṣāṃ prākṛtād vailakṣaṇyaṃ sādhitam | tatra āśaṅkate | nanu bhavantu svasvarūpa-bhūtāny eva tāni tathāpi svarupasyaiva pūrṇatvāt tat-tat-prāptau kiṃ prayojanaṃ tatrāha lokāpyaya-sambhavāya | loko bhakta- janaḥ tasyāpyayaḥ saṃsāra-dhvaṃsas tat-pūrvakaḥ sambhavo bhakti-sukha- prāptiḥ | bhū prāptau tad artham etad apy upalakṣaṇaṃ nitya-pārṣadānām api bhakti-sukhotkarṣārtham | tad uktaṃ śrīmad-arjunena prathame - tathāyaṃ cāvatāras te bhuvo bhāra-jihīrṣayā | svānāṃ cānanya-bhāvānām anudhyānāya cāsakṛt || iti [BhP 1.7.25] | asyārthaḥ -- yathānye puruṣādayo'vatārās tathāyaṃ cāvatāraḥ sākṣād- bhagavataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇākhyasya tavaiva prākaṭyaṃ, parama-bhaktāyā bhuvo bhāra-jihīrṣayā jāto'pi | anyeṣāṃ svānāṃ bhaktānām asakṛc ca muhur apy anudhyānāya nija-bhajana-saukhyāya bhavati | nanu tarhi bhakta-saukhyam eva prayojanaṃ jātam iti pūrṇānandasya tasyeha prayojana-matiḥ kuta ity etat katham upapadyeta | tatrāha - ananyabhāvānām iti | anyathā sarva-jña-śiromaṇer nirdoṣasya tasya tan-mātrāpekṣakānāṃ teṣām upekṣāyām akāruṇya-doṣaḥ prayujyeta iti bhāvaḥ | ātmārāme'pi kāruṇya-guṇāvakāśo guṇā viruddhā api tu samākhāryāś ca sarvata iti smaraṇāt vicitra-guṇa-nidhāne śrī-bhagavaty eva sambhavati | tato'nyatra tu sañcarita-tad-guṇāṃśe tadīya eva yaḥ pratipadam eva sāścaryaṃ śruty-ādibhir uccair gīyate | yaś cāviriñcim āpāmara-janam ākarṣann eva vartate | tad uktaṃ svayam eva - bhajato'pi na vai kecid bhajanty abhajataḥ kutaḥ | ātmārāmā hy āpta-kāmā akṛta-jñā gurudruhaḥ || nāhaṃ tu sakhyo bhajato'pi jantūn bhajāmy amīṣām anuvṛtti-vṛttaye || ity ādi [BhP 10.32.19-20] | tasmāt parama-samarthasya tasya kṛpā-lakṣaṇaṃ bhakta-jana-sukha- prayojanakatvaṃ nāma ko'pi svarūpānanda-vilāsa-bhūta-paramāścarya- svabhāva-viśeṣa iti mūla-padye'py anukālam ṛcchatīty anenaiva [BhP 8.3.8] darśitam | ataḥ prayojanāntara-matitvaṃ tu tasmin nāsty eva | tat- prayojanatvaṃ ca tasya parama-samarthasyānanda-vilāsa eveti dik | yathoktam - kṛpālor asamarthasya duḥkhāyaiva kṛpālutā | samarthasya tu tasyaiva sukhāyaiva kṛpālutā || iti || gajendraḥ śrī-harim || 49 ||
English translation
English witness · section(s) 43
Anuccheda 43
1 Lord Krsna’s expansion into many forms simultaneously is also described in the following statement of Srimad Bhagavatam (10.69.41): “Thus Narada saw one single Krsna living in sixteen thousand palaces by His plenary expansions. Due to His inconceivable energy, He was visible in each and every individual queen’s palace. In this way He demonstrated the path of sanctifying ordinary household life.”* 2 These expansions of the Lord were not expansions of portions of His personality, as the incarnations of Godhead generally are, but each form was Sri Krsna in full (sarva-gehesu tam eva, ekam eva santam). This multiple appearance of the original form of the Lord is described in the Sruti-sastra in the following words: “Although the Supreme Personality of Godhead is one, He appears to have become many.” That the Lord is all-pervading is also confirmed in Srimad-Bhagavatam (10.9.13): “The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri Krsna, is all-pervading. He has neither inside nor outside, for He is everywhere.” By the arrangement of Sri Krsna’s internal potency, Narada Muni was able to directly see Lord Krsna’s presence in the many palaces of Dvaraka. Narada did not speculate or guess about the Lord’s omnipresence. He directly saw it. 3 After seeing the many expansions of the original form of Sri Krsna, Narada Muni became astonished, as the Srimad Bhagavatam (10.69.42) explains: “Lord Krsna has unlimited power, and Narada Muni’s astonishment was boundless upon observing again and again the demonstration of Lord Krsna’s internal energy.”* 4 The word ‘yogamaya’ used in this verse refers to the Lord’s spiritual potency by which He can perform any impossible action. In Srimad Bhagavatam 3.15.26 in the story of the Four Kumaras’ visit to Vaikunthaloka, this word is used to describe the Supreme Lord’s potency. In his commentary on that verse, Srila Sridhara Svami also confirms this explanation of the word ‘yogamaya’. 5 When Narada Muni saw these expansions of the personal form of Sri Krsna He became astonished because he understood that these expansions were not like the limited expansions manifested by an ordinary mystic yogi, but each of these expansions was the original Lord Krsna, and not a mere yogic reflection. 6 The Supreme Personality of Godhead’s personal presence everywhere is described by the following quotation from Vedic literature: “The Supersoul is all-pervading. His hands and feet are everywhere. Bhagavad-gita 13.14 and Svetasvara Upanisad 3.16 “Although the Supreme Personality of Godhead remains in His own place in the transcendental world, still He is present everywhere. Vedanta Sutra 3.2.11 (interpreted according to the commentary of Sripada Madhvacarya) “The Personality of Godhead appears as the omnipresent Supersoul. This form of the Supersoul is not different from the form of the Supreme Lord. They are the same person.” Sruti-sastra “Spiritual authorities explain that the Personality of Godhead is present in the hearts of all living entities.” Sruti-sastra 7 The Supreme Lord’s all-pervasiveness is also described in the Matsya Purana: “The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Visnu, is all-pervading. Of this there is no doubt. By His transcendental opulence He remains in His original transcendental form, and yet He appears everywhere, just as the sun which, although it remains in one place, appears to be present everywhere.” 8 That the expansion of the Supersoul is not different from the Personality of Godhead Himself is confirmed in the Vedanta-sutra (3.2.12-13): “If one says that the expansion of the Supersoul is different from the Original Personality of Godhead, he should know that statement is false. The Supersoul is the same as the Original Personality of Godhead. This is confirmed in the Sruti-sastra and all other Vedic literatures.” That the Lord is not different from His expansion as the all-pervading Supersoul is also described in the following statement of Srimad-Bhagavatam (1.9.42), where Bhisma says:
Bhagavat · Sanskrit §50 · English §44
Source[५०] तस्माद् अपाणि-पाद-श्रुतेर् अपि यद् अनन्त-स्वप्रकाशानन्द-विग्रह एव भगवति तात्पर्यं नान्यत्रेति प्रतिपादयन्ति । त्वम् अकरणः स्वराड् अखिल-कारक-शक्ति-धरस् तव बलिम् उद्वहन्ति समदन्त्यजयानिमिषाः । वर्ष-भुजोऽखिल-क्सितिपतेर् इव विश्व-सृजो विदधति यत्र ये त्व् अधिकृता भवतश् चकिताः ॥ [भ्प् १०.८७.२८] अयम् अर्थः । अत्र करणं नाम वास्यादिवत् कर्तृ-शक्ति-प्रेरिततया कार्यकरं कर्तुर् भिन्नतमं केवल-करणत्वापन्नम् एव वस्त्व् अङ्गीकृतं, न तु स्वरूपत्वापन्नम् अपि यत् तद् अपि । यथा दहनादौ तच्-छक्त्यादिकम् । गौणार्थत्वात् स्वराट्-पद-निरुक्तौ स्वेनेति तृतीयान्त-पदस्य स्वरूप- शक्ताव् एव पर्यवसानाच् च । ततो जीवस्य चिद्-रूपत्वात् पाण्यादीनां स्वतो जडत्वात् तद्-अधीन-शक्तीनां तेषां भिन्नतमानां करणत्वं मुख्यार्थम् एव । ततोऽसौ तद्-आसक्तत्वात् सकरणः त्वं तु तद्-अन्तर्यामी तद्-अनासक्तत्वात् तद्-अनपेक्षो यतः स्वराट् स्वरूप-शक्त्यैव राजसे इति । तथा प्रलय-कालावसाने । स्त्रिय उरुगेन्द्र-भोग-भुज-दण्ड-विषक्त-धियो वयम् अपि ते समाः समदृशोऽङ्घ्रि-सरोज-सुधाः ॥ [भ्प् १०.८७.२३] इति विद्वद्-गण-गुरुभिर् अस्माभिर् अपि निजालम्बनत्वेन वर्ण्यमान-परम- दिव्य-करण-गण-विचित्रोऽप्य् असौ अकरण एव । कुतः स्वराट् स्वेन स्वरूप- शक्ति-विशेष-सिद्ध-प्रादुर्भाव-विशेषेषेण स्वरूपेणैव तत्-तत्-करणतया राजसे । तेषां स्वरूप-भूतत्वेन मुख्य-करणत्वायोगाद् इति भावः । अन्यथौपाधिक-वस्तु-द्वारा तवापि प्रकाशे कथं नाम स्वराट्त्वं सिध्येद् इति च । आनन्द-मात्रम् अजरं पुराणम् एकं सन्तं बहुधा दृश्यमानं नेह नानास्ति किञ्चन इत्य् आदि श्रुतेः [बौ ४.४.१९] । आनन्द-मात्र-कर-पाद- मुखोदरादिर् इत्य् आदि स्मृतेश् [नार्पञ्च्] च । ननु, मयि तथाभूत-स्वरूप-शक्तीनाम् अस्तितायां किं प्रमाणम् । तत्राहुर् अखिल-कारक-शक्ति-धर इति । अखिलेभ्यः प्राणिभ्यः कारकाणि करणानि चकुषुर्-आदि-गोलकानि तेषु शक्तीश् चेन्द्रियाणि धरसि ददासीति तथा । सर्वेषु तेषु तत्-तद्-धारणात् । तास् तु त्वयि स्वतः-सिद्धा अव्ययाः पूर्णा एव सन्तीति भावः । तथा च श्रुतिः - प्राणस्य प्राणम् उत चक्षुषश् चक्षुर् इति आद्या [केनउ १.२] । स्वाभाविकी ज्ञान-बल-क्रिया च इत्य् आद्या च [श्वेतु ६.८] । तद् उक्तम् एकादशे - यस्येन्द्रियस् तनु-भृताम् उभयेन्द्रियाणि ज्ञानं स्वतः श्वसनतो बलभोज ईहा ॥ इति [भ्प् ११.४.४] अतएव विकरणत्वान् नेति चेत् तद् उक्तम् इत्य् [व्स् २.१.३२] अत्र सूत्रकारोऽपि तद् उक्तम् इत्य् अनेन श्रुतेस् तु शब्द-मूलत्वाद् इत्य् [व्स्. २.१.२७] उक्त-रीत्यैव श्रुत्य्- एक-गम्यं तर्कातीतं तस्य विकरणत्वं सकरणत्वं च साधितवान् । श्रुतिश् च - न तस्य कार्यं करणं च विद्यते इत्य् [श्वेतु ६.८] आद्या । अथवा, अखिल-कारक-शक्ति-धरोऽपि त्वम् असाव् अकरण एवेत्य् अन्वयः । कुतः ? स्वराड् इत्य् आदि । अतः सर्वतो विलक्षण-महिमत्वाद् अनिमिषा देवा इन्द्रादयस् तत्-पूज्या विश्व-सृजो ब्रह्मादयोऽपि तव तुभ्यं बलिम् उपहारं तद् उच्चैः शिरोभिर् वहन्ति । अजया तेषाम् अधिकारिण्या माययापि सहिताः । सापि आभास-शक्ति-रूपा स्वरूपानन्द-शक्ति-मयाय तुभ्यम् आत्म-सम्पद्- उद्भावार्थं बलिम् हरतीत्य् अर्थः । समदन्ति च मौष्यैर् दत्तं हव्य- कव्य्-आदि-लक्षणं बलिं भक्षयन्ति च । अत्र दृष्टान्तः वर्ष-भुज इति । वर्षं खण्ड-मण्डलम् । कथं बलिम् उद्वहन्ति ? तद् आहुः विदधतीति । त्व-आज्ञा-पालनम् एव बलि- हरणम् इत्य् अर्थः । भीषास्माद् वातः पवते भीसोदेति सूर्यः भीषास्माद् अग्निश् चेन्द्रश् च मृत्युर् धावति पञ्चमः इति [कठ २.३.३] श्रुतेः । अथवा, ननु मम पाण्य्-आदि-करणानां स्वरूप-भूतत्वे युक्ति कथयत्य् अत आहुः अनिमिषाः करणाधिष्ठातृ-देवास् तव बलिम् उद्वनतीति । आज्ञान- देवत्वाद् विश्व-सृजः विश्वेषां सृष्टि-हेतवः । अन्ये तत्-तद्-अधिष्ठातृ- देवताश्रयाद् एव करणैर् विषयं प्रकाशयितुं शक्नुवन्ति । त्वं पुनस् तेषाम् अप्य् आश्रय इति त्वत्-करणानां स्वप्रकाशतापत्तेः स्वरूप-भूतत्वम् एवेति । अथाप्य् आस्तां महा-शक्तिर् मायैवाश्रय इत्य् अत आहुः अजयेति । ननु जीवा अपि निजेन्द्रियाधिष्ठातातॄणाम् आश्रया भवन्ति । तत्राहुः विदधतीति । विषय- भोग-द्वारेएष्व् इन्द्रियेषु भवता विश्व-पतिना दत्ताधिकाराणां देवानाम् एवाधिकार्याः कतिपय-ग्राम-भौमिका इव जीवा इति न तेषाम् आश्रयाः । किन्तु भवान् एव तेषाम् अधिकारकत्वाद् आश्रय इति भावः ॥ १०।८७॥ श्रुतयः श्री-भगवन्तम् ॥५०॥
[50] tasmād apāṇi-pāda-śruter api yad ananta-svaprakāśānanda-vigraha eva bhagavati tātparyaṃ nānyatreti pratipādayanti | tvam akaraṇaḥ svarāḍ akhila-kāraka-śakti-dharas tava balim udvahanti samadantyajayānimiṣāḥ | varṣa-bhujo'khila-ksitipater iva viśva-sṛjo vidadhati yatra ye tv adhikṛtā bhavataś cakitāḥ || [BhP 10.87.28] ayam arthaḥ | atra karaṇaṃ nāma vāsyādivat kartṛ-śakti-preritatayā kāryakaraṃ kartur bhinnatamaṃ kevala-karaṇatvāpannam eva vastv aṅgīkṛtaṃ, na tu svarūpatvāpannam api yat tad api | yathā dahanādau tac-chaktyādikam | gauṇārthatvāt svarāṭ-pada-niruktau sveneti tṛtīyānta-padasya svarūpa- śaktāv eva paryavasānāc ca | tato jīvasya cid-rūpatvāt pāṇyādīnāṃ svato jaḍatvāt tad-adhīna-śaktīnāṃ teṣāṃ bhinnatamānāṃ karaṇatvaṃ mukhyārtham eva | tato'sau tad-āsaktatvāt sakaraṇaḥ tvaṃ tu tad-antaryāmī tad-anāsaktatvāt tad-anapekṣo yataḥ svarāṭ svarūpa-śaktyaiva rājase iti | tathā pralaya-kālāvasāne | striya urugendra-bhoga-bhuja-daṇḍa-viṣakta-dhiyo vayam api te samāḥ samadṛśo'ṅghri-saroja-sudhāḥ || [BhP 10.87.23] iti vidvad-gaṇa-gurubhir asmābhir api nijālambanatvena varṇyamāna-parama- divya-karaṇa-gaṇa-vicitro'py asau akaraṇa eva | kutaḥ svarāṭ svena svarūpa- śakti-viśeṣa-siddha-prādurbhāva-viśeṣeṣeṇa svarūpeṇaiva tat-tat-karaṇatayā rājase | teṣāṃ svarūpa-bhūtatvena mukhya-karaṇatvāyogād iti bhāvaḥ | anyathaupādhika-vastu-dvārā tavāpi prakāśe kathaṃ nāma svarāṭtvaṃ sidhyed iti ca | ānanda-mātram ajaraṃ purāṇam ekaṃ santaṃ bahudhā dṛśyamānaṃ neha nānāsti kiñcana ity ādi śruteḥ [BAU 4.4.19] | ānanda-mātra-kara-pāda- mukhodarādir ity ādi smṛteś [NārPañc] ca | nanu, mayi tathābhūta-svarūpa-śaktīnām astitāyāṃ kiṃ pramāṇam | tatrāhur akhila-kāraka-śakti-dhara iti | akhilebhyaḥ prāṇibhyaḥ kārakāṇi karaṇāni cakuṣur-ādi-golakāni teṣu śaktīś cendriyāṇi dharasi dadāsīti tathā | sarveṣu teṣu tat-tad-dhāraṇāt | tās tu tvayi svataḥ-siddhā avyayāḥ pūrṇā eva santīti bhāvaḥ | tathā ca śrutiḥ - prāṇasya prāṇam uta cakṣuṣaś cakṣur iti ādyā [KenaU 1.2] | svābhāvikī jñāna-bala-kriyā ca ity ādyā ca [ŚvetU 6.8] | tad uktam ekādaśe - yasyendriyas tanu-bhṛtām ubhayendriyāṇi jñānaṃ svataḥ śvasanato balabhoja īhā || iti [BhP 11.4.4] ataeva vikaraṇatvān neti cet tad uktam ity [Vs 2.1.32] atra sūtrakāro'pi tad uktam ity anena śrutes tu śabda-mūlatvād ity [Vs. 2.1.27] ukta-rītyaiva śruty- eka-gamyaṃ tarkātītaṃ tasya vikaraṇatvaṃ sakaraṇatvaṃ ca sādhitavān | śrutiś ca - na tasya kāryaṃ karaṇaṃ ca vidyate ity [ŚvetU 6.8] ādyā | athavā, akhila-kāraka-śakti-dharo'pi tvam asāv akaraṇa evety anvayaḥ | kutaḥ ? svarāḍ ity ādi | ataḥ sarvato vilakṣaṇa-mahimatvād animiṣā devā indrādayas tat-pūjyā viśva-sṛjo brahmādayo'pi tava tubhyaṃ balim upahāraṃ tad uccaiḥ śirobhir vahanti | ajayā teṣām adhikāriṇyā māyayāpi sahitāḥ | sāpi ābhāsa-śakti-rūpā svarūpānanda-śakti-mayāya tubhyam ātma-sampad- udbhāvārthaṃ balim haratīty arthaḥ | samadanti ca mauṣyair dattaṃ havya- kavy-ādi-lakṣaṇaṃ baliṃ bhakṣayanti ca | atra dṛṣṭāntaḥ varṣa-bhuja iti | varṣaṃ khaṇḍa-maṇḍalam | kathaṃ balim udvahanti ? tad āhuḥ vidadhatīti | tva-ājñā-pālanam eva bali- haraṇam ity arthaḥ | bhīṣāsmād vātaḥ pavate bhīsodeti sūryaḥ bhīṣāsmād agniś cendraś ca mṛtyur dhāvati pañcamaḥ iti [Kaṭha 2.3.3] śruteḥ | athavā, nanu mama pāṇy-ādi-karaṇānāṃ svarūpa-bhūtatve yukti kathayaty ata āhuḥ animiṣāḥ karaṇādhiṣṭhātṛ-devās tava balim udvanatīti | ājñāna- devatvād viśva-sṛjaḥ viśveṣāṃ sṛṣṭi-hetavaḥ | anye tat-tad-adhiṣṭhātṛ- devatāśrayād eva karaṇair viṣayaṃ prakāśayituṃ śaknuvanti | tvaṃ punas teṣām apy āśraya iti tvat-karaṇānāṃ svaprakāśatāpatteḥ svarūpa-bhūtatvam eveti | athāpy āstāṃ mahā-śaktir māyaivāśraya ity ata āhuḥ ajayeti | nanu jīvā api nijendriyādhiṣṭhātātṝṇām āśrayā bhavanti | tatrāhuḥ vidadhatīti | viṣaya- bhoga-dvāreeṣv indriyeṣu bhavatā viśva-patinā dattādhikārāṇāṃ devānām evādhikāryāḥ katipaya-grāma-bhaumikā iva jīvā iti na teṣām āśrayāḥ | kintu bhavān eva teṣām adhikārakatvād āśraya iti bhāvaḥ || 10|87|| śrutayaḥ śrī-bhagavantam ||50||
English translation
English witness · section(s) 44
Anuccheda 44
1 “Now I can meditate with full concentration upon that one Lord, Sri Krsna, now present before me because now I have transcended the misconceptions of duality in regard to His presence in everyone’s heart, even in the hearts of the mental speculators. He is in everyone’s heart. The sun may be perceived differently, but the sun is one.”* 2 In this verse Bhismadeva says: “The Personality of Godhead, Sri Krsna, is now present before me (tam imam). He is present in the hearts of all conditioned souls in the form of His expansion as the all-pervading Supersoul (sarira-bhajam hrdi hrdi dhisthitam)”. The form of the Lord as the all-pervading Supersoul is also described in Srimad Bhagavatam (2.2.8): “Others conceive of the Personality of Godhead residing within the body in the region of the heart and measuring only eight inches, with four hands carrying a lotus, wheel of a chariot, a conch shell and a club respectively.”* Bhisma continues: “Although these forms of the Supersoul appear to be different from the form of the original Personality of Godhead, in truth They are not at all different from Him (ekam). Now I can meditate with full concentration on that one Lord, Sri Krsna (samadhi-gato smi). I am now aware of the all-pervading blissful form of the Supreme Lord as the Supersoul.” 3 Bhismadeva continue: “I have now transcended the misconceptions of duality in regard to His presence everywhere. Formerly I thought the forms of the Supersoul were different from each other and from other forms of the Supreme Lord, for I thought it impossible for the Lord to be all pervading. Now I am free of that illusion (vidhuta-bheda-mohah). The Supreme Lord is certainly present everywhere in His form as the Supersoul. 4 The Lord’s all-pervasiveness is described in the following words: “Sri Krsna is present in everyone’s heart, even in the hearts of the speculative philosophers (atma-kalpitanam pratidrsam). He remains within the sight of all living entities, even though they are situated in many different places.” Bhismadeva gives the example of the sun: In many different places all over the world the sun appears to be just overhead, over this tree or that wall. In reality the sun is in a single place in outer space, but still in so many places the sun seems to be just over this tree or that wall. In the same way the Supreme Personality of Godhead appears everywhere, in the hearts of all living entities, in His form of the Supersoul. The difference between the Supersoul and the sun is that the sun truly is situated in a single place far away and its omnipresence is the misunderstanding of the observers, but the Supersoul expansion of the form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is, by His inconceivable potency, the Lord Himself, and thus the Lord Himself is truly present everywhere. Bhismadeva continues: “Now I can meditate with full concentration (samadhi-gato smi) upon that one Lord, Sri Krsna, now present before me (tam imam), whom I have described in the previous prayers. The Supreme Lord is present in the hearts of all conditioned souls (sarira-bhajam hrdi hrdi). Although the Lord is generally all-pervading in his four-armed Supersoul form, I now see Him everywhere in His two-armed form of Sri Krsna, which is supremely powerful and is now present before me. No other form is equal to the form of Sri Krsna.” 5 In this verse the word ‘bheda’ refers to the Supreme Lord’s presence in many places. It does not refer to the Lord’s perfection or imperfection. In Srimad Bhagavatam 1.9.30-43 Bhismadeva glorified the transcendental form of the Lord. These prayers clearly do not glorify the impersonal Brahman aspect of the Supreme. In this way we have now described how the Supreme Personality of Godhead is manifested within a limited area of space, and yet is also all-pervading, present within the hearts of all moving and non-moving creatures.
Bhagavat · Sanskrit §51 · English §45
Source[५१] तस्माद् विलक्षण-पाणि-पादादित्वेनैवापाणि-पादादित्वम् । यथाह - त्वक्-श्मश्रु-रोम-नख-केश-पिनद्धम् अन्तर् मांसास्थि-रक्त-कृमि-विट्-कफ-पित्त-वातम् । जीवच्-छवं भजति कान्तम् अति-विमूढा या ते पदाब्ज-मकरन्दम् अजिघ्रती स्त्री ॥ [भ्प् १०.६०.४५] अथ श्री-भगवति केशादीनां श्रूयमाणानाम् आनन्द-स्वरूपत्वम् अन्येषां त्व् अभाव एवेति वैलक्षण्यं स्पष्टम् एव । अतएव हि हिरण्यकशिपुं प्रति तन्-मारक-जन-निषेध-लक्षण-ब्रह्म-वर-दानम् अपि सङ्गच्छते । व्यसुभिर् वासुमद्भिर् वा सुरासुर-महोरगैर् इति [भ्प् ७.३.३७] । न चैतत् करणस्य निषेध-परं, किन्तु कर्तुर् एव । कर्तृ-प्रकरणात् अप्राणिभिः प्राणिभिर् वेत्य् उक्तेस् तस्यैव प्राप्तत्वात् । हन्तुर् जीवद्[*एन्द्नोते #१३]- देह-साम्येऽपि सप्राण-भागान् निष्क्रान्तस्य कर्तनीय[*एन्द्नोते #१४]- नखाग्र-भागस्य त्यक्त-प्राणत्वाच् च । तस्माद् अस्माकम् अप्राणो ह्य् अमनाः शुभ्र इति । अस्य महतो भूतस्य निःश्वसितम् एतद् इति [बौ २.४.१०] च श्रुतिर् नासङ्गतेति । अतएव वाराहे - न यस्य प्राकृता मूर्तिर् मेदोमज्जास्थि-सम्भवा । न योगित्वादीश्वरत्वात् सत्य-रूपोऽच्युतो विभुर् ॥ इति ॥ तच् चाप्राकृत-मूर्तित्वं तस्य महायोगित्वाद् इच्छा-कृतम् इति न, किन्त्व् ईश्वरत्वान् नित्यम् एवेत्य् अर्थः । तथा च प्रयोगः । ईश्वरः स-विग्रहः ज्ञानेच्छा-प्रयत्नवत् कर्तृत्वात् कुलालादिवत् । स च विग्रहो नित्यः ईश्वर- करर्णत्वात् तज्-ज्ञानादिवद् इति । अतएव विलक्षणत्वम् अपि । जीवच्छवम् इति चैतन्ययोगेन जीवन्तम् स्वतस् तु शवम् । ततः श्री-भगवद्-विग्रहस् तु चिद् एक-रसत्वात् सदा जीवन्न् एवेति वैलक्षण्यं युक्तं नित्यानन्द-चिद्-रूपत्वाद् भजनीयत्वं च युक्तम् इति भावः ॥ ॥ १०.६० ॥ श्री-रुक्मिणी श्री-भगवन्तम् ॥५१॥
[51] tasmād vilakṣaṇa-pāṇi-pādāditvenaivāpāṇi-pādāditvam | yathāha - tvak-śmaśru-roma-nakha-keśa-pinaddham antar māṃsāsthi-rakta-kṛmi-viṭ-kapha-pitta-vātam | jīvac-chavaṃ bhajati kāntam ati-vimūḍhā yā te padābja-makarandam ajighratī strī || [BhP 10.60.45] atha śrī-bhagavati keśādīnāṃ śrūyamāṇānām ānanda-svarūpatvam anyeṣāṃ tv abhāva eveti vailakṣaṇyaṃ spaṣṭam eva | ataeva hi hiraṇyakaśipuṃ prati tan-māraka-jana-niṣedha-lakṣaṇa-brahma-vara-dānam api saṅgacchate | vyasubhir vāsumadbhir vā surāsura-mahoragair iti [BhP 7.3.37] | na caitat karaṇasya niṣedha-paraṃ, kintu kartur eva | kartṛ-prakaraṇāt aprāṇibhiḥ prāṇibhir vety uktes tasyaiva prāptatvāt | hantur jīvad[*ENDNOTE #13]- deha-sāmye'pi saprāṇa-bhāgān niṣkrāntasya kartanīya[*ENDNOTE #14]- nakhāgra-bhāgasya tyakta-prāṇatvāc ca | tasmād asmākam aprāṇo hy amanāḥ śubhra iti | asya mahato bhūtasya niḥśvasitam etad iti [BAU 2.4.10] ca śrutir nāsaṅgateti | ataeva vārāhe - na yasya prākṛtā mūrtir medomajjāsthi-sambhavā | na yogitvādīśvaratvāt satya-rūpo'cyuto vibhur || iti || tac cāprākṛta-mūrtitvaṃ tasya mahāyogitvād icchā-kṛtam iti na, kintv īśvaratvān nityam evety arthaḥ | tathā ca prayogaḥ | īśvaraḥ sa-vigrahaḥ jñānecchā-prayatnavat kartṛtvāt kulālādivat | sa ca vigraho nityaḥ īśvara- kararṇatvāt taj-jñānādivad iti | ataeva vilakṣaṇatvam api | jīvacchavam iti caitanyayogena jīvantam svatas tu śavam | tataḥ śrī-bhagavad-vigrahas tu cid eka-rasatvāt sadā jīvann eveti vailakṣaṇyaṃ yuktaṃ nityānanda-cid-rūpatvād bhajanīyatvaṃ ca yuktam iti bhāvaḥ || || 10.60 || śrī-rukmiṇī śrī-bhagavantam ||51||
English translation
English witness · section(s) 45
Anuccheda 45
1 Thus we have proved that the form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is eternal and all-pervading. This is also explained in the following verse from Sridhara Svami’s commentary (8.6.8.): “In this verse, by saying that although the Personality of Godhead is unborn, he repeatedly appears in the forms of His incarnations, Brahma clearly establishes the eternality and omnipresence of the Supreme Lord’s transcendental form.” 2 The eternality and all-pervasiveness of the form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is described in Srimad Bhagavatam (8.6.8-9) where Lord Brahma says: “Although You are never born, Your appearance and disappearance as an incarnation never cease. You are always free from the material qualities, and You are the shelter of transcendental bliss resembling an ocean. Eternally existing in Your transcendental form, You are the supreme subtle of the most extremely subtle. We therefore offer our respectful obeisances unto You, the Supreme, whose existence is inconceivable.* 3 “O best of persons, O supreme director, those who actually aspire for supreme good fortune worship this form of Your Lordship according to the Vedic Tantras. My Lord, we can see all the three worlds in You.”* 4 Sridhara Svami comments: “In this verse Brahma says: ‘O Lord, Your appearance in this material world and Your pastimes are not like our birth and activities.’ How are the Lord’s appearance and activities different from those of the conditioned soul? Brahma gives the answer in the word ‘agunaya’ (O Lord, You are always free from the material qualities) and ‘nirvana-sukharnavaya’ (O Lord, You are the shelter of transcendental bliss resembling an ocean). 5 In this verse Brahma says although the Personality of Godhead is smaller than the atom (anor animne), He is also so large that no one can measure Him (paraiganya-dhama). This should not be considered impossible because, as Brahma explains, the powers and opulences of the Personality of Godhead are inconceivable (mahanubhavaya). In these words Brahma proves that the form of the Personality of Godhead is eternal and inconceivable. 6 “Brahma continues: ‘O best of persons (purusarsabha), those who actually aspire for good fortune (sreyo-rthibhih) worship (ijyam) this form (rupam etat) of Your Lordship (tava) according to the Vedic Tantras (vaidika-tantrikena)’. In this way Brahma described the exalted transcendental nature of the form of the Personality of Godhead. From this we may understand that the Lord’s appearance in this material world is not like the material birth of the conditioned souls. 7 “At this point someone may object: ‘The demigods are also worshipable. Why is it not thought that the birth of the demigods is also transcendental and non-material like that of the Personality of Godhead?’ To this I reply: True, the demigods are worshipable. Still, they are not equal to the Personality of Godhead, for they are all situated within the universal form of the Personality of Godhead, as Brahma says: ‘My Lord, we can see (pasyami) that all the three worlds (tri-lokam) and we demigods and living entities as well (nah) are all situated within Your universal form (visva-murtau). Your transcendental form, therefore, is limitless, and we are clearly Your inferiors.’” 8 In Srimad Bhagavatam 8.6.8. Brahma metaphorically described the Personality of Godhead as ‘an ocean of transcendental bliss’ (nirvana-sukharnavaya). In this way Brahma explained that the bliss of realising the personal form of God is superior to the happiness of realising His impersonal aspect (nirvana). This is also described by Dhruva Maharaja in the following words (Srimad Bhagavatam 4.9.10): 9 “My Lord, the transcendental bliss derived from meditating upon Your lotus feet or hearing about Your glories from pure devotees is so unlimited that it is far beyond the stage of brahmananda wherein one thinks himself merged in the impersonal Brahman as one with the Supreme. Since brahmananda is also defeated by the transcendental bliss derived from devotional service, then what to speak of the temporary blissfulness of elevating oneself to the heavenly planets, which is ended by the separating sword of time? Although one may be elevated to the heavenly planets, he falls down in due course of time.”* 10 In Srimad Bhagavatam 8.6.8 Brahma said that the Personality of Godhead is smaller than the atom, and at the same time He is so large that no one can measure Him. This is possible because the Lord is the master of all inconceivable potencies. Brahma then said to the Lord: “O Lord, everything is resting within You.” 11 “The Supreme Personality of Godhead is neither demigod nor demon, neither human nor bird or beast. He is not woman, man, or neuter, nor is He an animal. He is not a material quality, a fruitive activity, a manifestation or non manifestation. He is the last word in the discrimination of ‘not this, not this’, and He is unlimited. All glories to the Supreme Personality of Godhead!”* 12 “When the King of the elephants was describing the supreme authority, without mentioning any particular person, he did not invoke the demigods, headed by Lord Brahma, Lord Siva, Indra and Candra. Thus none of them approached him. However, because Lord Hari is the Supersoul, Purusottama, the Personality of Godhead, He appeared before Gajendra.”* 13 Because the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the original cause of all causes, no demigod or other living entity can be His equal. This is confirmed by Gajendra in these words (Srimad Bhagavatam 8.3.22-23): “The Supreme Personality of Godhead creates His minor part and parcels, the jiva-tattva, beginning with Lord Brahma, the demigods and the expansions of Vedic knowledge (Sama, Rg, Yajur and Atharva) and including all other living entities, moving and non moving, with their different names and characteristics. As the sparks of a fire or the shining rays of the sun emanate from their source and merge into it again and again, the mind, the intelligence, the senses, the gross and subtle material bodies, and the continuous transformations of the different modes of nature all emanate from the Lord and again merge into Him.”* Gajendra continues by explaining that the Supreme Personality of Godhead has no material qualities. “He is not woman, man, or neuter, nor is He an animal. He is not a material quality, a mode of material nature, a pious or impious fruitive activity.” He is not any of these things because He is the creator of them and therefore He is not different from them. We may also note that the phrase ‘na san na casat’ may be interpreted to mean “He is neither small nor large.” This means that He can appear in any form, large or small, as he wishes. Sridhara Svami comments on this verse: “The word ‘nisedha-sesah’ means ‘negating the different material forms fashioned by the illusory energy, maya, one may understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is not a product of maya.’ In this verse Gajendra says: ‘All glories to the Supreme Personality of Godhead! I pray He may appear before me so I may become free from this distressing situation and attain liberation.’” 14 In Srimad Bhagavatam 8.3.30 (quoted in text 13) Sukadeva Gosvami says: “When the king of the elephants was describing (upavarnita) the supreme authority, without mentioning any particular person (nirvisesam), he did not invoke the demigods, headed by Lord Brahma, Lord Siva, Indra and Candra (vividha-linga-bhidabhimanah). Thus none of them approached him (naite yadopasasrpuh). However, because Lord Hari is the Supersoul (nikhilatmakatvat), Purusottama, the Personality of Godhead (akhilamara-mayo harih), He appeared (avirasit) before Gajendra.”* In these prayers Gajendra said: ‘O Lord, Your transcendental form is neither large nor small, for it is never limited by material designations.’ In the same way in other places of Vedic literature it is said that the Personality of Godhead has neither hands nor feet. In this way the transcendentalists meditate on the Lord in their heart. This, of course, means that the Personality of Godhead has no material hands and feet, for all the limbs of the Lord’s body are spiritual. This is confirmed by the following statement of Srimad Bhagavatam (10.14.2), where Lord Brahma says: “My dear Lord, Your form is transcendental to all material elements. I can understand that You have mercy upon me because You are revealing that form, standing before me like a small child. But although I am Lord Brahma, the so-called creator of this universe, I am unable to ascertain the transcendental potencies of Your body. And if I am unable to understand the spiritual potency of Your childlike body, then what can I understand about Your transcendental pastimes?”* Many other verses from Vedic literature confirm this point, but to avoid undue repetition we will not quote them.
Bhagavat · Sanskrit §52 · English §46
Source[५२] नाम-रूपित्व-विधिनिषेध-श्रुतिभिर् विवदमानानां विवादावसरे तद् एव ह्य् अपपादयति । अस्तीति नास्तीति च वस्तु-निष्ठयोर् एक-स्थयोर् भिन्न-विरुद्ध-धर्मणोः अवेक्षितं किञ्चन योग-साङ्ख्ययोः समं परं ह्य् अनुकूलं बृहत् तत् ॥ [भ्प् ६.४.३२] अस्तीति योगः स्थूलोपासना-शास्त्रं, तत्र हि यद्-भगवतो नाम-रूपित्वं श्रूयते तद्-दृष्ट-कल्पना-लाघवात् घट-पटादि-लक्षणाखिल-नाम- धेयत्वं पाताल-पादादिकत्वं चेति विधीयते । नास्तीति साङ्ख्यं ज्ञान- शास्त्रं तत्र हि निषेध-श्रुतिभिस् तस्य नाम-रूपित्वं यन् निषिध्यते तत् प्रापञ्चिक-नाम-रूपित्वस्य कल्पितत्वात् सर्वथैव नास्तीति निश्चीयते । तद् उक्तम् उभय-मतस्यैव प्राक् । स सर्व-नामा स च विश्व-रूपः इत्य् आदिना यद् यन् निरुक्तं वचसा निरूपितम् इत्य् आदिना च [भ्प् ६.४.२८-२९] । अस्तीति नास्तीति च वस्तुनि निष्ठा ययोः । तम् एव विवादं स्फुटयति, भिन्नौ अस्तीति नास्तीत्य् एवम्भूतौ विरुद्धौ धर्मौ ययोस् तयोः । नन्व् आस्ताम् अनयोर् भिन्न-विषयत्वं नेत्याह एकस्थयोः समान-विषयोः । तद् एवं विवादे सति यत् किञ्चित् समं समञ्जसत्वेनैव अवेक्षितं प्रतीतं वस्तु तद् द्वयोर् अपि बृहन् महद् अनुकूलं भवति । किं तत् समञ्जसं ? यत् परं नाम-रूपाद् अत्यन्त-तद्-अभावाच् च विलक्षणं किम् अपि नाम-रूप- लक्षणम् एव वस्त्व् इत्य् अर्थः । एतद् उक्तं भवति । एकस्मिन्न् एव वस्तुनि नाम-रूपित्व-विधि-निषेधाभ्यां परस्परं श्रुतयः पराहतार्थाः स्युः । अत्र तु परत्वेनोभयत्रापि प्राक्तन-युक्त्या समञ्जसम् अप्राकृत-नाम-रूपित्वम् एव विधि-निषेध- श्रुति-तात्पर्येनोपस्थाप्यत इति तत्-तन्-मतं विवाद-मात्रम् । इत्थम् एवात्र श्री-ध्रुवेण निर्विवादत्वम् उक्तम् -- तिर्यङ्-नग-द्विज-सरीसृप-देव-दैत्य- मर्त्यादिभिः परिचितं सद्-असद्-विशेषम् रूपं स्थविष्ठम् अज ते महद्-आद्य्-अनेकं नातः परं परम वेद्मि न यत्र वादः ॥ इति [भ्प् ४.९.१३] । अत्र रूप-शब्दस्यैवोभयत्र विशेष्यत्वेन । भूप रूपम् अरूपं च परं चापरम् एव च इति [विप् ६.७.४७] वैष्णव-वाक्यानुसारेण च । अतः परं चतुर्भुजादित्व-लक्षणं रूपं वपुर् इत्य् अर्थः । तच् चाग्रे दर्शयिष्यते । [५२] तन् न वेद्मि एतत् पर्यन्तं कालं नाज्ञासिषम् इत्य् अर्थः । तद् एव व्यनक्ति । यो ऽनुग्रहार्थं भजतां पाद-मूलम् अनाम-रूपो भगवान् अनन्तः । नामानि रूपाणि च जन्म-कर्मभिर् भेजे स मह्यं परमः प्रसीदतु ॥ [भ्प् ६.४.३३] यो नाम-रूप-रहित एव नामानि रूपाणि च भेजे प्रकटितवान् । जन्म- कर्मभिः सह तानि च प्रकटितवान् इत्य् अर्थः । व्यतिरेके दोषम् आह अनन्त इति । यदि तस्मिन् नाम-रूपित्वादिकं नास्ति तर्हि तच्-छक्तिमत्त्वं प्रति सान्तत्वम् एव प्रसज्येतेति । तद् उक्तं प्रचेतोभिः -- न ह्य् अन्तस् त्वद्- विभूतीनां सो ऽनन्त इति गीयसे इति [भ्प् ४.३०.३१] । तत्-तत्-प्रकाशने हेतुः । भगवान् भगात्मक-शक्तिमान् । तस्याः शक्तेर् मायात्वम् निषेधति परमः । पराख्य-शक्ति-रूपा मा लक्ष्मीर् यस्मिन् । अन्यथा परमत्व- व्याघातः स्याद् इति भावः । तस्मान् न मायया सर्वं सर्वम् ऐश्वर्य-सम्भवम् । अमायो हीश्वरो यस्मात् तस्मात् तं परमं विदुः ॥ इत्य् उक्तेः । ननु, सर्व-नाम-विश्व-रूपत्वे तद्-राहित्ये च सन्त्य् एव तत्-तद्-उपासकाः प्रमाणम् । अत्र तु के स्युर् इत्य् आशङ्क्याह - पाद-मूलं भजताम् अनुग्रहार्थम् इति । योग-साङ्ख्ययोस् तत् तत्त्वं न सम्यक् प्रकाशते, किन्तु भक्ताव् एव । भक्तिर् एवैनं दर्शयति इत्य् आदि श्रुतेः । तस्माद् युक्तं तयोर् विवाद-मात्रत्वम् इति भावः । अतएव वक्ष्यतेऽनन्तरम् एव -- इति संस्तुवतस् तस्य स तस्मिन्न् अघ-मर्षणे । प्रादुरासीत् कुरु-श्रेष्ठ भगवान् भक्त-वत्सलः ॥ कृत-पादः सुपर्णांस इत्य् आदेः [भ्प् ६.४.३५-६] पाद-मूलं भजताम् इत्य् अनेन तान् प्रति रूप-प्राकट्यात् पूर्वम् अपि रूपम् अस्त्य् एवेति व्यञ्जितम् । चरणं पवित्रं विततं पुराणम् इत्य् आदि श्रुतेः । भेज इत्य् अतीत-निर्देशः प्रामाण्य-दार्ढ्यायानादित्वं बोधयति । अनन्त-पदस्य च नामानि रूपाणि चानन्तान्य् एवेति भावः । अत्र प्राकृत-नाम-रूप-रहितोऽपि इति टीका च ॥ ॥ ६.४ ॥ दक्षः श्री-पुरुषोत्तमम् ॥५२॥
[52] nāma-rūpitva-vidhiniṣedha-śrutibhir vivadamānānāṃ vivādāvasare tad eva hy apapādayati | astīti nāstīti ca vastu-niṣṭhayor eka-sthayor bhinna-viruddha-dharmaṇoḥ avekṣitaṃ kiñcana yoga-sāṅkhyayoḥ samaṃ paraṃ hy anukūlaṃ bṛhat tat || [BhP 6.4.32] astīti yogaḥ sthūlopāsanā-śāstraṃ, tatra hi yad-bhagavato nāma-rūpitvaṃ śrūyate tad-dṛṣṭa-kalpanā-lāghavāt ghaṭa-paṭādi-lakṣaṇākhila-nāma- dheyatvaṃ pātāla-pādādikatvaṃ ceti vidhīyate | nāstīti sāṅkhyaṃ jñāna- śāstraṃ tatra hi niṣedha-śrutibhis tasya nāma-rūpitvaṃ yan niṣidhyate tat prāpañcika-nāma-rūpitvasya kalpitatvāt sarvathaiva nāstīti niścīyate | tad uktam ubhaya-matasyaiva prāk | sa sarva-nāmā sa ca viśva-rūpaḥ ity ādinā yad yan niruktaṃ vacasā nirūpitam ity ādinā ca [BhP 6.4.28-29] | astīti nāstīti ca vastuni niṣṭhā yayoḥ | tam eva vivādaṃ sphuṭayati, bhinnau astīti nāstīty evambhūtau viruddhau dharmau yayos tayoḥ | nanv āstām anayor bhinna-viṣayatvaṃ netyāha ekasthayoḥ samāna-viṣayoḥ | tad evaṃ vivāde sati yat kiñcit samaṃ samañjasatvenaiva avekṣitaṃ pratītaṃ vastu tad dvayor api bṛhan mahad anukūlaṃ bhavati | kiṃ tat samañjasaṃ ? yat paraṃ nāma-rūpād atyanta-tad-abhāvāc ca vilakṣaṇaṃ kim api nāma-rūpa- lakṣaṇam eva vastv ity arthaḥ | etad uktaṃ bhavati | ekasminn eva vastuni nāma-rūpitva-vidhi-niṣedhābhyāṃ parasparaṃ śrutayaḥ parāhatārthāḥ syuḥ | atra tu paratvenobhayatrāpi prāktana-yuktyā samañjasam aprākṛta-nāma-rūpitvam eva vidhi-niṣedha- śruti-tātparyenopasthāpyata iti tat-tan-mataṃ vivāda-mātram | ittham evātra śrī-dhruveṇa nirvivādatvam uktam -- tiryaṅ-naga-dvija-sarīsṛpa-deva-daitya- martyādibhiḥ paricitaṃ sad-asad-viśeṣam rūpaṃ sthaviṣṭham aja te mahad-ādy-anekaṃ nātaḥ paraṃ parama vedmi na yatra vādaḥ || iti [BhP 4.9.13] | atra rūpa-śabdasyaivobhayatra viśeṣyatvena | bhūpa rūpam arūpaṃ ca paraṃ cāparam eva ca iti [ViP 6.7.47] vaiṣṇava-vākyānusāreṇa ca | ataḥ paraṃ caturbhujāditva-lakṣaṇaṃ rūpaṃ vapur ity arthaḥ | tac cāgre darśayiṣyate | [52] tan na vedmi etat paryantaṃ kālaṃ nājñāsiṣam ity arthaḥ | tad eva vyanakti | yo 'nugrahārthaṃ bhajatāṃ pāda-mūlam anāma-rūpo bhagavān anantaḥ | nāmāni rūpāṇi ca janma-karmabhir bheje sa mahyaṃ paramaḥ prasīdatu || [BhP 6.4.33] yo nāma-rūpa-rahita eva nāmāni rūpāṇi ca bheje prakaṭitavān | janma- karmabhiḥ saha tāni ca prakaṭitavān ity arthaḥ | vyatireke doṣam āha ananta iti | yadi tasmin nāma-rūpitvādikaṃ nāsti tarhi tac-chaktimattvaṃ prati sāntatvam eva prasajyeteti | tad uktaṃ pracetobhiḥ -- na hy antas tvad- vibhūtīnāṃ so 'nanta iti gīyase iti [BhP 4.30.31] | tat-tat-prakāśane hetuḥ | bhagavān bhagātmaka-śaktimān | tasyāḥ śakter māyātvam niṣedhati paramaḥ | parākhya-śakti-rūpā mā lakṣmīr yasmin | anyathā paramatva- vyāghātaḥ syād iti bhāvaḥ | tasmān na māyayā sarvaṃ sarvam aiśvarya-sambhavam | amāyo hīśvaro yasmāt tasmāt taṃ paramaṃ viduḥ || ity ukteḥ | nanu, sarva-nāma-viśva-rūpatve tad-rāhitye ca santy eva tat-tad-upāsakāḥ pramāṇam | atra tu ke syur ity āśaṅkyāha - pāda-mūlaṃ bhajatām anugrahārtham iti | yoga-sāṅkhyayos tat tattvaṃ na samyak prakāśate, kintu bhaktāv eva | bhaktir evainaṃ darśayati ity ādi śruteḥ | tasmād yuktaṃ tayor vivāda-mātratvam iti bhāvaḥ | ataeva vakṣyate'nantaram eva -- iti saṃstuvatas tasya sa tasminn agha-marṣaṇe | prādurāsīt kuru-śreṣṭha bhagavān bhakta-vatsalaḥ || kṛta-pādaḥ suparṇāṃsa ity ādeḥ [BhP 6.4.35-6] pāda-mūlaṃ bhajatām ity anena tān prati rūpa-prākaṭyāt pūrvam api rūpam asty eveti vyañjitam | caraṇaṃ pavitraṃ vitataṃ purāṇam ity ādi śruteḥ | bheja ity atīta-nirdeśaḥ prāmāṇya-dārḍhyāyānāditvaṃ bodhayati | ananta-padasya ca nāmāni rūpāṇi cānantāny eveti bhāvaḥ | atra prākṛta-nāma-rūpa-rahito'pi iti ṭīkā ca || || 6.4 || dakṣaḥ śrī-puruṣottamam ||52||
English translation
English witness · section(s) 46
Anuccheda 46
1 The Supreme Personality of Godhead’s presence as the Supersoul in the hearts of all conditioned souls is described by Maharaja Nrga (Srimad Bhagavatam 10.64.26): “My dear Lord, You are the Supersoul seated in everyone’s heart. There are many great mystic yogis who have eyes to see You through the Vedas and Upanisads. In order to achieve the elevated position of being equal in quality with You, they always meditate on You within their hearts. Although such exalted saintly persons may see You constantly within their hearts, they still cannot see You eye to eye: therefore I am very much surprised that I am able to see You personally. I know that I was engaged in so many activities, especially as a king. Although I was in the midst of luxury and opulence and was subjected to so much of the happiness and misery of material existence, I am so fortunate to be seeing You personally. As far as I know, when one become liberated from material existence, he can see You in this way.”* 2 Sridhara Svami comments: “In this verse Maharaja Nrga says to the Supreme Personality of Godhead: ‘O Lord, I am very much surprised that I am able to see You personally’ (sa tvam katham mama vibho ksi-pathah). Someone may ask: Why is this so surprising? In answer to this Maharaja Nrga says: ‘O Lord, You are the Supersoul (paramatma) seated in everyone’s heart. There are many great mystic yogis (yogesvaraih) who have eyes to see You though the Vedas and Upanisads (sruti-drsa) and they always meditate on You within their pure hearts (amala-hrd-vibhavyah). Although such exalted saintly persons may see You constantly within their hearts, they still cannot see You eye to eye, for You remain beyond the perception of the material senses (adhoksajah). When one becomes liberated from material existence (bhavapavargah), he can see You as I am seeing You now (anudrsya). Although my intelligence has become blinded by the great suffering I have experienced in this lifetime as a lizard, I have become so fortunate as to see You personally. This is certainly very surprising.’” 3 The reason Maharaja Nrga was able to directly see the Supreme Personality of Godhead is described in the Narayanadhyatma: “Although the Supreme Personality of Godhead remains always invisible to the conditioned souls, He may be seen by the intervention of the Lord’s transcendental potency. Without the mercy of the Lord’s potency, who is able to see the eternal Supreme Lord?” 4 The Supreme Personality of Godhead can be seen only with the grace of His own potency, which He manifests by His own mercy. Therefore, the Lord’s mercy is the actual cause of being able to see Him. This is confirmed in the following statements of the Upanisad: “With material eyes no one can see the form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.” Katha Upanisad 2.3.9 “The Supreme Personality of Godhead reveals Himself of His own accord to those He chooses.” Mundaka Upanisad 3.2.3 “The conditioned living entity is not able to see the Supreme Personality of Godhead.” Katha Upanisad 2.3.9 and Svetasvatara Upanisad 4.20 5 This is also explained in the Narayaniya chapter of the Moksa-dharma (Mahabharata, Santi-parva 339.45-46), where Lord Narayana, the master of Svetadvipa says to Narada: “O Narada, I am the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the master of the universe. You are not able to completely understand My transcendental form. Because I desired to reveal Myself to you I have momentarily appeared before you and then disappeared. You are no longer able to see Me, but can only see this material nature of the three modes and various elements I have created. At the present moment you can see only this. You cannot see Me.” 6 In this verse Lord Narayana says “You have seen My form (drsyate), but you have not understood it (tvaya na jneyam)’. By saying that His form cannot be understood within the reference of matter, the Lord affirms that His form is spiritual and not material. Nevertheless, because the Lord desires to show mercy to His devotees, He sometimes wishes (icchan) to reveal His form to them, and then He also disappears from heir sight (nasyeyam). Because the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the supreme controller (isah) of everything, He is supremely independent, and He is also different from the material universe. For this reason He can appear and then disappear whenever He likes. The phrases ‘maya hy esa maya srsta yan mam pasyasi’ and ‘sarva-bhuta-guanir yuktam’ means ‘Now you do not see Me. Now you see only My illusory energy.” 7 That the Supreme Personality of Godhead may be seen only by His mercy is confirmed by Bhismadeva (Mahabharata, Santi-parva 339.12): “The eternal Supreme Personality of Godhead, the master of the demigods, then became pleased and personally revealed Himself to Upacari Vasu. This is the only way He may be seen. If He does not wish to show Himself, He will remain invisible.” In this verse the word ‘tam’ refers to Upacari Vasu. 8 Before this passage a group of devotees headed by Upacari Vasu says (Mahabharata, Santi-parva 336.19): “O Brhaspati, neither you nor we are able to see the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Only they who obtain His mercy can see Him.” 9 The various attributes of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, such as His remaining invisible to the eyes of the conditioned souls, are described in the Upanisads. For example, the Katha Upanisad (2.3.9) says: “With material eyes no one can see the form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.” The verse quoted in the beginning of this Anuccheda was spoken by King Nrga to the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Bhagavat · Sanskrit §53 · English §47
Source[५३] तद् एवं नित्यत्वाद् विभुत्वात् सर्वाश्रयत्वात् स्थूल-स्”क्ष्माप्राकृत-वस्त्व्- अतिरिक्तत्वात् प्रत्य-रूपत्वात् स्व-प्रकाशत्वात् सर्व-श्रुति-समन्वय-सिद्धत्वात् तद्-रूपं परम-तत्त्व-रूपम् एवेति सिद्धम् । तथैव हि परम्- वैदुष्येणानुभूतं स्पष्टम् एवाह त्रिभिः - रूपं यद् एतद् अवबोध-रसोदयेन शश्वन्-निवृत्त-तमसः सद्-अनुग्रहाय । आदौ गृहीतम् अवतार-शतैक-बीजं यन्-नाभि-पद्म-भवनाद् अहम् आविरासम् ॥ नातः परं परम यद् भवतः स्वरूपम् आनन्द-मात्रम् अविकल्पम् अविद्ध-वर्चः । पश्यामि विश्व-सृजम् एकम् अविश्वम् आत्मन् भूतेन्द्रियात्मक-मदस् त उपाश्रितो ऽस्मि ॥ तद् वा इदं भुवन-मङ्गल मङ्गलाय ध्याने स्म नो दर्शितं त उपासकानाम् । तस्मै नमो भगवते ऽनुविधेम तुभ्यं यो ऽनादृतो नरक-भाग्भिर् असत्-प्रसङ्गैः ॥[भ्प् ३.९.२-४] टीका च - ननु त्वम् अपि सम्यक् न जानासि यत् त्वया दृष्टं रूपम् एतद् अपि गुणात्मकम् एव निर्गुणं ब्रह्मैव तु सत्यं तत्राह रूपम् इति द्वाभ्याम् । अवबोध-रसोदयेन शश्वन् निभृतम् तमो यस्मात् तस्य तव यद् एतद् रूपं त्वयैव स्वातन्त्र्येण सताम् उपासकानाम् अनुग्रहाय गृहीतम् आविष्कृतम् । अवतार-शतस्य शुद्ध-सत्त्वात्मकस्य यद् एकं बीजं मूलम्, तत्-प्रकाशनार्थं गुणावतार-बीजत्वं दर्शयति यन् माभातीति । हे परम अबिद्ध-वर्चः अनावृत-प्रकाशम् अविकल्पं निर्भेदम् अतएवानन्द-मात्रम् । एवम्भूतं यद् भवतः स्वरूपं तत् अतो रूपात् परं भिन्नं न पश्यामि किन्तु इदम् एव तत् । अतः कारणात् ते तव अद इदं रूपम् आश्रितोऽस्मि । योग्यत्वाद् अपीत्य् आह एकम् उपास्येषु मुख्यं यद् विश्व-सृजम् । अतएव अविश्वं विश्वस्माद् अन्यत् । किं च, भ्”तेन्द्रियात्मकं भूतानाम् इन्द्रियाणां चात्मानं कारणम् इत्य् अर्थः । नन्व् एवम् अपि सोपाधिकम् एतद् अर्वाचीनम् एवेत्य् आशङ्क्याह तद् एवेदं हे भुवन-मङ्गल यतस् ते त्वया अस्माकम् उपासकानां मङ्गलाय ध्याने दर्शितम् । न ह्य् अव्यक्त-वर्त्माभिनिवेशित-चित्तानाम् अस्माकं सोपाधिकं दर्शनं युक्तम् इति भावः । अतस् तुभ्यं नमोऽनुविधेम अनुवृत्त्या करवाम । तर्हि किम् इति केचिन् मां नाद्रियन्ते, तत्राह योऽनादृत इति । असत्- प्रसङ्गैर् निरीश्वर-कुतर्क-निष्ठैः । इत्य् एषा ॥ अत्र कल्पितम् अप्य् अर्थान्तरं यस्य विद्वद्-गुण-गुरुत्वान् न सम्भवत्य् एवेति व्यञ्जितम् । न ह्य् अव्यक्त-वर्त्मेति । उक्तं चैतत् स्तुतितः प्राक् अव्यक्त- वर्त्माभिनिवेशितात्मा [भ्प् ३.८.३३] इति । मां नाद्रियन्ते इति विग्रहरूपं माम् इत्य् एवार्थः । विग्रह्यैव पर-ब्रह्मत्वेन स्थापितत्वात् । अतएव ये विग्रहम् एतादृशतया न मन्यन्ते ते विद्वद् अनुभव-विरुद्ध-मतयो नेश्वरम् अपि मन्यन्त इत्य् अत आह निरीश्वर इति । यत एव -- ये तु त्वदीय-चरणाम्बुज-कोष-गन्धं जिघ्रन्ति कर्ण-विवरैः श्रुति-वात-नीतम् । भक्त्या गृहीत-चरणः परया च तेषां नापैषि नाथ हृदयाम्बु-रुहात् स्व-पुंसाम् ॥ [भ्प् ३.९.५] इत्य् अनन्तर-पद्ये तु-शब्देन योऽनादृत इत्य्-आद्य्-उक्तेभ्यो बहिर्मुख- जनेभ्यो विलक्षणत्वेन निर्दिष्टानां तादृश-श्री-भगवद्-रूप-निष्ठानाम् एव श्रुति-वात-नीतम् इति शब्देन प्रमाणेन भक्त्या गृहीत-चरण इत्य् अनुभवेन च प्राशस्त्यम् उक्तम् ॥ ३.९ ॥ ब्रह्मा श्री-नारायणम् ॥५३॥
[53] tad evaṃ nityatvād vibhutvāt sarvāśrayatvāt sthūla-s”kṣmāprākṛta-vastv- atiriktatvāt pratya-rūpatvāt sva-prakāśatvāt sarva-śruti-samanvaya-siddhatvāt tad-rūpaṃ parama-tattva-rūpam eveti siddham | tathaiva hi param- vaiduṣyeṇānubhūtaṃ spaṣṭam evāha tribhiḥ - rūpaṃ yad etad avabodha-rasodayena śaśvan-nivṛtta-tamasaḥ sad-anugrahāya | ādau gṛhītam avatāra-śataika-bījaṃ yan-nābhi-padma-bhavanād aham āvirāsam || nātaḥ paraṃ parama yad bhavataḥ svarūpam ānanda-mātram avikalpam aviddha-varcaḥ | paśyāmi viśva-sṛjam ekam aviśvam ātman bhūtendriyātmaka-madas ta upāśrito 'smi || tad vā idaṃ bhuvana-maṅgala maṅgalāya dhyāne sma no darśitaṃ ta upāsakānām | tasmai namo bhagavate 'nuvidhema tubhyaṃ yo 'nādṛto naraka-bhāgbhir asat-prasaṅgaiḥ ||[BhP 3.9.2-4] ṭīkā ca - nanu tvam api samyak na jānāsi yat tvayā dṛṣṭaṃ rūpam etad api guṇātmakam eva nirguṇaṃ brahmaiva tu satyaṃ tatrāha rūpam iti dvābhyām | avabodha-rasodayena śaśvan nibhṛtam tamo yasmāt tasya tava yad etad rūpaṃ tvayaiva svātantryeṇa satām upāsakānām anugrahāya gṛhītam āviṣkṛtam | avatāra-śatasya śuddha-sattvātmakasya yad ekaṃ bījaṃ mūlam, tat-prakāśanārthaṃ guṇāvatāra-bījatvaṃ darśayati yan mābhātīti | he parama abiddha-varcaḥ anāvṛta-prakāśam avikalpaṃ nirbhedam ataevānanda-mātram | evambhūtaṃ yad bhavataḥ svarūpaṃ tat ato rūpāt paraṃ bhinnaṃ na paśyāmi kintu idam eva tat | ataḥ kāraṇāt te tava ada idaṃ rūpam āśrito'smi | yogyatvād apīty āha ekam upāsyeṣu mukhyaṃ yad viśva-sṛjam | ataeva aviśvaṃ viśvasmād anyat | kiṃ ca, bh”tendriyātmakaṃ bhūtānām indriyāṇāṃ cātmānaṃ kāraṇam ity arthaḥ | nanv evam api sopādhikam etad arvācīnam evety āśaṅkyāha tad evedaṃ he bhuvana-maṅgala yatas te tvayā asmākam upāsakānāṃ maṅgalāya dhyāne darśitam | na hy avyakta-vartmābhiniveśita-cittānām asmākaṃ sopādhikaṃ darśanaṃ yuktam iti bhāvaḥ | atas tubhyaṃ namo'nuvidhema anuvṛttyā karavāma | tarhi kim iti kecin māṃ nādriyante, tatrāha yo'nādṛta iti | asat- prasaṅgair nirīśvara-kutarka-niṣṭhaiḥ | ity eṣā || atra kalpitam apy arthāntaraṃ yasya vidvad-guṇa-gurutvān na sambhavaty eveti vyañjitam | na hy avyakta-vartmeti | uktaṃ caitat stutitaḥ prāk avyakta- vartmābhiniveśitātmā [BhP 3.8.33] iti | māṃ nādriyante iti vigraharūpaṃ mām ity evārthaḥ | vigrahyaiva para-brahmatvena sthāpitatvāt | ataeva ye vigraham etādṛśatayā na manyante te vidvad anubhava-viruddha-matayo neśvaram api manyanta ity ata āha nirīśvara iti | yata eva -- ye tu tvadīya-caraṇāmbuja-koṣa-gandhaṃ jighranti karṇa-vivaraiḥ śruti-vāta-nītam | bhaktyā gṛhīta-caraṇaḥ parayā ca teṣāṃ nāpaiṣi nātha hṛdayāmbu-ruhāt sva-puṃsām || [BhP 3.9.5] ity anantara-padye tu-śabdena yo'nādṛta ity-ādy-uktebhyo bahirmukha- janebhyo vilakṣaṇatvena nirdiṣṭānāṃ tādṛśa-śrī-bhagavad-rūpa-niṣṭhānām eva śruti-vāta-nītam iti śabdena pramāṇena bhaktyā gṛhīta-caraṇa ity anubhavena ca prāśastyam uktam || 3.9 || brahmā śrī-nārāyaṇam ||53||
English translation
English witness · section(s) 47
Anuccheda 47
1 In the following statement of Srimad Bhagavatam (8.3.8) the conception that the forms, qualities, and pastimes of the Supreme Personality of Godhead are material is refuted. Here the Lord’s forms are described as spiritual and not material: “The Supreme Personality of Godhead has no material birth, activities, name, form, qualities or faults. To fulfil the purpose for which this material world is created and destroyed, He comes in the form of a human being like Lord Rama or Lord Krsna by His original internal potency.”* 2 This verse describes the various transformations present in the material bodies of the conditioned souls. The first transformation is birth (janma), the next transformation is work (karma), by which the imperfect and unfulfilled soul tries to become perfect and fulfilled. The next transformation is name (nama), or the system of sounds by which various objects within the mind’s reach are indicated for the purpose of facilitating everyday activities. The next transformation is form (rupa), the quality perceived by the visual sense. The last transformation is quality (guna), or the conditioned souls’ different natures, born from their contact with the three modes: goodness, passion and ignorance. The material transformations are present in the conditioned souls, but they are not present in the Supreme Personality of Godhead because He is always situated in His own original transcendental form, which is perfect and complete, beyond the understanding of the limited material mind, beyond the touch of the material energy, and visible only by the Lord’s consent and not otherwise. Although the Lord remains untouched by the material transformations, He nevertheless comes to the material world in a human like form like the forms of Lord Rama or Lord Krsna (yas tani rcchanti). The sentence begun in this verse is completed in the next which says: “He has immense potency, and in various forms, all free from material contamination, He acts wonderfully. He is therefore the Supreme Brahman. I offer my respects to Him.”* That the Supreme Personality of Godhead has no material form is also described in the following statements from the Upanisads: “The Supreme Personality of Godhead is perfect and complete. He is supremely peaceful. His activities are never material.” Svetasvatara Upanisad 6.19 “The Supreme Personality of Godhead has no material name or form. He is eternal and changeless. He is not understood by the material senses.” Katha Upanisad 1.3.15 Although He has no material attributes, the Supreme Personality of Godhead has a spiritual form and senses. This is confirmed in the following words: “The Supreme Personality of Godhead is omnipotent. He can do whatever He likes. All His desires are automatically fulfilled. He tastes and smells all that exists. His senses perceive everything.” Chandogya Upanisad 3.14.2 4 In this verse the word ‘guna-dosah’ means that although they who are not Supreme may have faults, the Supreme Personality of Godhead has no faults. This is described in Kurma Purana: “Because the Supreme Personality of Godhead is full of all opulences, some of His opulences may seem to contradict some of His other opulences. Because the Supreme Personality of Godhead is supreme in all respects, these contradictions should not be taken as faults.” 5 That the Supreme Personality of Godhead is perfect and free from any defect is also confirmed in the following statements of the Upanisads: “The Supreme Personality of Godhead remains always untouched by material impurity or sin.” Chandogya Upanisad 8.1.5. “The Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is described in the Vedas, is supremely auspicious because not only does He possess all inauspiciousness within Himself, but He also leads others to an auspicious condition.” Chandogya Upanisad 4.15.2-4 6 In the previously quoted passage from Chandogya Upanisad (3.14.2) the word ‘sarva-gandhah’ may also be interpreted to mean “He who is most pleasantly fragrant’, or, in other words, He whose attributes are superior to those of all others. In the verse from Srimad Bhagavatam (8.3.8) quoted previously, the word ‘rcchati’ (He accepts) should not be interpreted to mean that He accepts a position like the faulty status of the conditioned souls. Such an interpretation would clearly contradict the statements of the Upanisads. 7 At this point someone may object: “First you say the Supreme Personality of Godhead has no birth, activities, name, form, or qualities, and then again you say he has all these. This is certainly a contradictory statement.” Fearing that someone would say this, the Srimad Bhagavatam (8.3.8) says: “By the power of His original internal potency (sva-maya) the Supreme Personality of Godhead takes birth, even though He is unborn.” Without accepting the Lord’s all-powerful internal potency, it is indeed illogical to say the Lord simultaneously takes birth and does not take birth. In fact the birth of the Supreme Lord is different from the birth of the conditioned souls. The Lord’s birth is a spiritual pastime and cannot be understood from the material frame of reference or described according to material concepts. 8 That the Supreme Personality of Godhead does have birth, name, form, activities, and qualities is confirmed by Sankaracarya in the following words (sariraka-bhasya 1.4.16): “The word ‘sat’ (reality) is generally applied to that which has names and forms. Considering that some philosophers might think the Supreme godhead ultimately has neither name nor form, the Sruti-sastra specifically says: ‘Before the creation, the Supreme existed as sat (reality). Other things were then non existent (asat). This means that by using the word ‘sat’ to describe the Supreme before the creation, the Sruti-sastra affirms that before the creation of the material universes the Supreme Godhead was manifested with both name and form, for the very word ‘sat’ means to have name and form.” 9 That the Supreme Personality of Godhead has spiritual qualities but no material qualities is confirmed by the following seemingly contradictory statements of Visnu Purana (6.5.83-84): “O sage, the Supreme Godhead is above all virtues and faults. These things are not present in Him.” “The Supreme Godhead is the possessor of all auspicious qualities.” 10 That the Supreme Personality of Godhead has spiritual, not material, qualities is also described in the following words (Visnu Purana 6.5.79): “The person that has all knowledge, power, strength, opulence, heroism and splendour, and does not have any inferior material qualities, or faults is known as Bhagavan, or the Supreme Personality of Godhead.” 11 That the Supreme Personality of Godhead has spiritual, not material, qualities is again confirmed by the following statement of Padma Purana, Uttara-khanda: “When the Vedic literatures describe the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the controller of all the universes, as being without qualities (nirguna), this should be understood to mean that He has no inferior material qualities.” 12 In Srimad Bhagavatam 8.3.8 the word ‘sva-mayaya’ should be interpreted to mean ‘The Supreme Personality of Godhead who appears in this material world through the agency of His own transcendental potency.’ This phrase should not be interpreted in any other way. That this interpretation is correct is confirmed by the following statement of Narada Muni in Srimad Bhagavatam (10.37.22), which clearly defines the word ‘maya’ as ‘the Lord’s potency”: “My Lord, let me offer my respectful obeisances to Your lotus feet. You are situated completely in the transcendental position of perfect knowledge and bliss. You are complete in Yourself, and are beyond all desires. By exhibiting Your internal potency You have set up the influence of maya. Your unlimited potency cannot be measured by anyone. My dear Lord, You are the Supreme Controller. It is simply vain to think that You are dependent on any of Your creations.”* 13 Any other interpretation of the word ‘sva-mayaya’ should be understood to contradict the intention of Srila Sukadeva Gosvami in speaking Srimad Bhagavatam 12.12.69. In this verse and also in Sridhara Svami’s commentary on it, the word ‘sva-mayaya’ is clearly defined to mean ‘the Lord’s transcendental potency.” 14 Someone may object: In this verse the word ‘rcchati’ means ‘accepts’. This means that the Supreme Personality of Godhead sometimes accepts a form, and at other times He does not accept a form. To this objection Srimad Bhagavatam replies by using the word ‘anukalam’ (eternally). In other words, Srimad Bhagavatam states that the Supreme Lord eternally accepts a form. He never abandons the position of having His own transcendental form. In other words, He is never formless. Therefore, it may be understood that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the origin of His transcendental potencies, and at the same time He manifests His eternal form within the material world by the agency of His transcendental potency. 15 At this point someone may object: “How is it possible that the birth and activities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead are eternal. He is not eternally being born, neither is He eternally carrying out any specific action. His expansions appear at a certain point in time, and then after that They are no longer manifest. How is it, then, that you say that the Lord’s birth and activities are eternal?” To this objection I reply: There is no defect in the statement that the birth and pastimes of the Supreme Personality of Godhead are eternal. He has innumerable forms and each form is manifest in an unlimited number of places. The Lord’s birth and activities are therefore unlimited in number. The original forms and secondary manifestations of the Lord’s various places of pastimes and various pastime-associates in both the spiritual world of Vaikuntha and the material universes are also unlimited in number. Therefore, whenever the birth or pastimes of any original form of the Lord or secondary manifestation of the Lord’s form is completed in a certain place, it is immediately manifested again in another place. In this way the birth and pastimes of the Supreme Personality of Godhead are never interrupted. They are eternally manifest. The original manifestations of the Supreme Personality of Godhead’s births and pastimes are always the same. They never change. The secondary appearances of these original forms, however, sometimes introduce varieties into these pastimes. 16 That the original forms of the Lord can expand into innumerable secondary forms is confirmed by the following statement of Srimad Bhagavatam (10.69.2): “It is astounding that Lord Krsna, who is one without a second, expanded Himself in sixteen thousand similar forms to marry sixteen thousand queens in their respective homes.”* 17 The Supreme Personality of Godhead, therefore, manifests various forms in various circumstances according to His different activities. In this way the varieties of the mellows of His pastimes are manifested. 18 At this point someone may object: “How can you say that simply because He is born and acts in different forms at different times, the birth and activities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead are eternal? These births and activities are different, and therefore none of them are eternal. For this reason the form of the Personality of Godhead is also not eternal.” To this I reply: The forms of the Supreme Personality of Godhead are one. They appear at different times and under different circumstances, but they are still the same eternal forms. That they appear at different times does not mean that they must be different forms. If something is repeated that does not mean that the repetition is different from the first appearance. This is explained by Sankaracarya in Sariraka-bhasya: “If the word ‘cow’ is repeated twice that does not mean that there are two cows. There is only one cow, but for emphasis the word has been repeated. In the same way, if the word ‘cooked’ is repeated twice, that does not mean that the food was twice cooked. Simply for emphasis the word was repeated.” From these explanations we may understand that the birth and activities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead are eternal. For this reason the Agama-sastras and other Vedic literatures worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead’s pastimes, which were all performed innumerable times in the past. 19 This is also confirmed in Madhvacaraya’s commentary: “Because the forms of Lord Trivikrama and the other incarnations are all manifested from the form of the Supersoul (paramatma), therefore these forms are all eternal, just as the Supersoul is eternal.” This is also corroborated by the Sruti-sastra: “The Supreme Personality of Godhead always existed in the past. He exists at present, and He will continue to exist in the future eternally.” From this it should be known that because the forms of the Supreme Personality of Godhead are all eternal, they are also the supreme objects of our worship. 20 The ‘birth’ of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is very different from the birth of the conditioned souls. Any similarities of these two births are very superficial. Sometimes the Lord’s ‘birth’ is completely different from the conditioned souls birth and there is not even a superficial resemblance. That the Supreme Lord is unborn although He seems to take birth is described in the Sruti-sastra: “Although He is unborn, the Supreme Personality of Godhead takes birth again and again.” 21 That the Supreme Personality of Godhead’s appearance in this material world only superficially resembles the birth of the conditioned souls is confirmed by the following statement of Srimad Bhagavatam (10.3.8): “Then the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Visnu, who is situated in the core of everyone’s heart, appeared from the heart of Devaki in the dense darkness of night, like the full moon rising on the eastern horizon, because Devaki was of the same category as Sri Krsna.”* 22 The difference between the Lord’s ‘birth’ and that of the conditioned souls is also seen in the following statement of Srimad Bhagavatam (7.8.17), where the Lord’s appearance as Lord Nrsimadeva is described: “To prove that the statement of His servant Prahlada Maharaja was substantial - in other words, to prove that the Supreme Lord is present everywhere, even within the pillar of an assembly hall - the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Hari, exhibited a wonderful form never before seen. The form was neither that of a man nor that of a lion. Thus the Lord appeared in His wonderful form in the assembly hall.”* 23 The ‘birth’ of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is again described in Srimad Bhagavatam (3.24.6): “After many, many years, the Supreme Personality of Godhead Madhusudana, the killer of the demon Madhu, having entered the semen of Kardama, appeared in Devahuti just as fire comes from wood in a sacrifice.”* In this description of the Lord’s ‘birth’ we may note that, influenced by the pure devotion of Kardama Muni, the Supreme Lord agreed to become his son. We may also note that the word ‘viryam’ here may be understood to mean ‘sonship’. In this way the phrase ‘viryam apannah’ may mean ‘The Supreme Lord accepted the status of Kardama Muni’s son.’ 24 The activities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead are His blissful transcendental pastimes. They are not like the material activities of the conditioned souls. This is described in Vedanta-sutra (2.1.33): “Although they may superficially resemble the activities of conditioned souls, the actions of the Supreme Personality of Godhead are all His transcendental pastimes.” Sripada Madhvacarya comments on this sutra: “The transcendental pastimes of the Supreme Personality of Godhead are different from the happy dancing and other activities of the intoxicated and mad conditioned souls, who inhabit this material world.” 25 That the Supreme Personality of Godhead is never forced to act is described in the Narayana-samhita: “Lord Hari is not obliged to create the material universes or do any other thing. He is completely free to do whatever He likes. As a madman or an intoxicated person freely dances without thinking of attaining any specific result to fulfilling any duty, so the Supreme Personality of Godhead, impelled by His own transcendental bliss, acts in any way He pleases. “How has the idea come that the perfectly blissful Supreme Personality of Godhead is obliged to act in certain ways and is not free to act as He pleases? This idea is a great mistake, for if even the liberated jivas are free to act and have all their desires automatically fulfilled, then certainly the Supreme Lord is completely free. All His desires are automatically fulfilled without His having to endeavour in any way.” 26 One should not conclude from this example comparing the Supreme Personality of Godhead to an intoxicated person or a madman that the Supreme Lord is not omniscient or that His knowledge is faulty in any way, as the knowledge of a madman or an intoxicated person is. The example should be understood to mean that there are some similarities between the actions of the Supreme Lord and an intoxicated person, but they are not the same in all respects. As a madman or an intoxicated person does not consider what is necessary for his personal benefit, but acts irresponsibly, so the Supreme Lord does not consider His own self-interest, for He is already flooded with transcendental bliss. The Supreme Lord’s transcendental bliss is automatically established. He need not work to attain it. Someone may say this is a lack of awareness on the Lord’s part: that He does not know how His bliss is established. However, for the Lord this is not a fault. As even the most learned scholar is not considered ignorant because he is not aware how he is inhaling and exhaling in deep sleep or some other unconscious state, so there is no fault on the Lord’s part if He is not aware how His transcendental bliss is established. From this we may conclude that the pastimes of the Supreme Personality of Godhead are by nature full of transcendental bliss. This is confirmed by the Sruti-sastra: “By nature the Supreme Personality of Godhead’s desires are automatically fulfilled without His endeavour. If this is so, and He never lacks anything, then how is it possible for Him to desire anything? His desires do not remain for they are all immediately and effortlessly fulfilled.” 27 Even when He creates the material world, the Supreme Personality of Godhead performs everything without any effort, all His desires being automatically fulfilled. This is described in Aitareya Upanisad (1.1.1): “The Supreme Personality of Godhead glanced and thought: ‘Let there be creation’. In this way the material world was created.” If the Lord’s desires in relation to this material world are automatically fulfilled, then what to speak of His desires in relation to the spiritual world of Vaikuntha? In either spiritual or material worlds, then, the Supreme Lord can perform any action simply by willing it. This is described by the Kaliya serpent’s wives (Srimad Bhagavatam 10.16.47): “Our dear Lord, in the matter of creating the cosmic manifestation, personally You have nothing to exert; by expanding Your different kinds of energy - namely the mode of goodness, the mode of passion, and the mode of ignorance - You can create, maintain and annihilate this cosmic manifestation. As the controller of the entire time force, You can simply glance over the material energy, create this universe, and energise the different forces of material nature, which are acting differently in different creatures. No one can estimate, therefore, how Your activities are going on within this world.”* 28 The transcendental nature of the Supreme Lord’s appearance and activities is also described in the following statement of Srimad Bhagavatam (1.3.35): “Thus learned men describe the births and activities of the unborn and inactive, which is undiscoverable even in the Vedic literatures. He is the Lord of the heart.”* 29 This verse may be understood by studying the two preceding verses, which describe the process by which one becomes able to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead. These two verses (Srimad Bhagavatam 1.3.33-34) say: “Whenever a person experiences, b self-realisation, that both the gross and subtle bodies have nothing to do with the pure self, at that time he sees himself as well as the Lord.* “If the illusory energy subsides and the living entity becomes full enriched with knowledge by the grace of the Lord, then he becomes at once enlightened with self-realisation and thus becomes situated in his own glory.”* The first verse means that becoming free, by full spiritual knowledge, from the ignorance of thinking that the gross and subtle material bodies are the self, is the cause of being able to see the Lord. The second verse means that when the illusory energy subsides the great treasure of one’s own spiritual form becomes manifest. The third verse (1.3.35) means that the learned men, who take pleasure in the Supreme Self, describe the births and activities of the Supersoul, who is the Lord of the heart. When material misconceptions subside, then the transcendental treasure of direct perception of the Lord’s birth and activities becomes manifest. This is the meaning. From this it may be understood that the Lord’s forms and pastimes are filled with transcendental bliss. That is the meaning. 30 In this verse (1.3.35) the phrase ‘akartur ajanasya’ (the Lord has neither birth nor activities) should be understood to mean ‘the Lord has no material birth or activities.’ His birth and activities are completely spiritual and different from their material counterparts. The phrase ‘veda-guhyani’ (undiscoverable even in the Vedic literatures) is explained in Akrura’s prayers (Srimad Bhagavatam 10.48.23-24): “To consider Your Lordship to be one of us, conditioned by the material nature, is a mistake due to our imperfect knowledge. When people deviate from the original knowledge of the Vedas, they try to identify the ordinary living entities with Your Lordship. Your Lordship has appeared on this earth in Your original form in order to re-establish the real knowledge that the living entities are neither one with nor equal to the Supreme God. My dear Lord, You are always situated in uncontaminated goodness (suddha-sattva). Your appearance is necessary to re-establish actual Vedic knowledge, as opposed to the atheistic philosophy that tries to establish that God and the living entities are one and the same. My dear Lord Krsna, this time You have appeared in the home of Vasudeva as his son, along with Your plenary expansion, Sri Balarama. Your mission is to kill all the atheistic royal families along with their huge military strength. You have advented Yourself to minimise the overburden of the world, and in order to fulfil this mission. You have glorified the dynasty of Yadu, appearing in the family as one of its members.”* Sridhara Svami discusses these verses in his commentary: “Someone may say that the pastimes of the Lord are actually manifestations of material illusion and they only appear to be spiritual under the influence of devotion to the Lord as a glittering oyster-shell may sometimes be mistaken for silver. This is not a fact. The Supreme Lord’s pastimes are spiritual. They are not the ordinary activities of conditioned souls, but the Supreme Godhead’s sport. This is confirmed by the description given in these two verses of Srimad Bhagavatam. 31 As the Supreme Lord’s form is transcendental, so His names and activities are also transcendental. This is described in Visnu Purana (5.2.18) where the demigods say to Devaki-devi: “O Devaki, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Visnu, whose names, forms, and activities are beyond the limited understanding of the conditioned souls, is now present within your womb.” We may note that some manuscripts contain the reading ‘rupa-karma’ (forms and activities) in the beginning of this verse. (In this alternate version the translation would read: ‘whose forms and activities’, omitting the word ‘names’). 32 The transcendental nature of the Supreme Personality of Godhead’s pastimes is also described in Bhagavad-gita (4.9) where the Lord says: “One who knows the transcendental nature of My appearance and activities does not, upon leaving the body, take birth again in this world, but attains My eternal abode, O Arjuna.”* 33 The name of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is perfect and transcendental. It is different from the material nature and it cannot be described in material words or understood by the thinking process of the material mind. This is described in the following statement of the Vasudevadhyatma: “Because the Supreme Personality of Godhead has limitless qualities, He is known as ‘anama’, or ‘He who has no name’. The Lord is said to have no name because He does not have a single name. In other words, His names are unlimited in number.” 34 This is also described in the Brahma Purana: “The Supreme Personality of Godhead is sometimes said to be nameless. This is said because the names of the Lord are unlimited in number. There is no single name of the Lord. In the same way, the Supreme Lord is sometimes said to be formless. This should be understood to mean that the form of the Supreme Lord is spiritual. It is not composed of the five material elements. Therefore the Lord has no material form.” 35 That the Supreme Personality of Godhead’s names and pastimes are spiritual and not material is also confirmed in the Visnu Purana (5.18.53-54): “O unborn Supreme Personality of Godhead, Your names, birth, forms and so forth, are not the product of the vivid imagination of the conditioned souls, but they are all supremely real. You are eternal, the unchanging, supreme spiritual reality. You are the supreme knowledge beyond the feeble speculative powers of the conditioned souls, and therefore You are glorified by a host of holy names, such as Krsna (the all-attractive), Acyuta (the infallible), Ananta (the unlimited), and Visnu (the all-pervading).” 36 This description of the Lord’s holy names does not at all contradict the verse from the Visnu Purana quoted in text 31. Both passages describe the spiritual nature of the Lord’s holy name. The speculative powers of the conditioned souls cannot give certain knowledge, and therefore this verse explains that the Supreme Personality of Godhead’s name, birth and pastimes cannot be understood by the speculative process. In this verse the word ‘brahma’ clearly establishes the spiritual nature of the Lord’s holy name. 37 That the Supreme Personality of Godhead is unborn is confirmed in the Svetasvatara Upanisad (4.5): “The Supreme Personality of Godhead is unborn. He appears in the red, white and black forms of His different incarnations.” Because the names, forms and pastimes of the Supreme Personality of Godhead are all eternal, unborn and supremely worshipable, they cannot be the product of philosophers’ imaginations. They are not imaginary. They are real. This is also confirmed in the statement of Visnu Purana (5.2.18) quoted in text 31. The Lord’s holy names, such as Krsna and other names and His incarnations, where He appears in the forms of demigods, human beings, ksatriyas and others, and His pastimes in these different incarnations are not imaginary. They are all real. All the pastime-incarnations of the Lord are the masters of His eternal spiritual potencies, and they are all perfect in all respects. This is confirmed in Srimad Bhagavatam (10.37.32): “The Supreme Personality of Godhead is, by nature, perfect in all respects.” 38 In the Visnu Purana passage quoted in Text 35 the word ‘yatah’ means ‘because’ and ‘tatah’ means ‘therefore’. ‘Sarvasya arthasya’ means ‘of all visible substance’, ‘kalpanam rte’ means ‘beyond conception or imagination’, ‘adhigamah’ means ‘material conception’, and ‘na’ means ‘is not’. This verse explains that neither the Supreme Personality of Godhead nor His holy name are imaginary, but they are beyond the information gathering abilities of the conditioned souls in the material world. The great sages and the Vedic literatures both glorify the Supreme Personality of Godhead by chanting His supremely perfect transcendental names. These glories of the Lord are not imaginary. They are real. That is the meaning of this verse. 39 In this way the Supreme Personality of Godhead is described in the Vedic literatures. It has already been established that the potencies of the Lord are all self-perfect. Other things may be products of philosophers’ imagination, but not the Lord’s perfect potencies. In this verse the Visnu Purana clearly says: “The names, birth, and everything else in relation to the Supreme Personality of Godhead are not imaginary (na vidyante nama-jaty-adi-kalpanah) for they are in relation to You, O Lord (bhavan), the Supreme form of the supreme spirit (paramam brahma)’. The use of the word ‘avikari’ (unchanging) does not mean that the Lord remains static and does not move or act, for He always enjoys various transcendental pastimes. The word ‘aja’ (O unborn) means that He does not take birth or appear in the world as a conditioned souls does. Why do some commentators claim that the names, births, etc., of the Supreme Lord are imaginary? Their conclusion cannot be accepted, Material knowledge is attained by the process of mental speculation (kalpanam rte rthasya sarvasyadhigamah). Mental speculation, however, does not help us understand the names, birth, etc. of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The verse concludes by saying: ‘O Lord, You are glorified (idyase) by Your holy names (namabhih), such as Krsna and other names’, which are all chanted by the eternally perfect Vedic literatures, such as the Sruti-sastras and the Puranas. The conclusion is that the Supreme Godhead is not impersonal, and His names, birth, form, etc. are not imaginary. They are all real. 40 The names Krsna, Acyuta, Ananta, and Visnu in this verse are selected to give some indication of the Lord’s innumerable names. In the Vedic literatures the name of Narayana and many other names are also given. 41 The Lord’s holy name is described in the Vedic literature: “The Supreme Personality of Godhead is manifest as the syllables of His name.” The Vedanta-sutra (2.4.16) also says: “The holy name of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is eternal.” In this way the eternality of the Lord’s holy name, which is described in all Vedic literatures, is established. 42 The holy names of the Supreme Personality of Godhead are also described in the Gopala-tapani Upanisad (1.29) where, in the course of describing the 18 syllable Krsna-mantra, the demigod Brahma says: “When I desired to create the universe the Lord again appeared before me, showing me in these syllables the universe that was to be.” In this way the holy names of the Supreme Personality of Godhead are described as the original cause of the material universe then about to be created. The Lord’s holy name is not different from His form. Because the Lord and His name are the same, the Lord’s name is different from the universe, although it is also the universe’s original cause. Because it is different from the universe, the Lord’s name is spiritual and all-perfect. It is without flaw. 43 The Lord’s holy name is also described in the Rg Veda (1.156.3): “O Visnu, by chanting Your holy name with a little understanding, we attain profound transcendental knowledge.” 44 In this verse word ‘visno’ means ‘O Visnu’, ‘te’ means “Your’, ‘cit’ means ‘spiritual by nature’, ‘mahah’ means ‘self-manifest’, ‘asya’ means ‘of that holy name’, and ‘a’ means ‘even slightly’. When it is said, ‘with even a small understanding of Your holy name’, it is understood that complete understanding of the glories of the Lord’s name is the best position. The word ‘viviktan’ means ‘even by simply repeating the syllables’, ‘sumatim’ means ‘proper knowledge of the holy name’, ‘bhajamahe’ means ‘we obtain’, ‘tat’ means ‘therefore’, ‘om’ means ‘the sacred syllable om’, and ‘sat’ means ‘self-perfect’. From this we may understand that the chanting of te holy name of the Supreme Personality of Godhead frees the chanter from fear, hatred and other material imperfections. This description is also confirmed by various other statements of the Vedic literatures. 45 That one becomes liberated by the chanting of the holy name of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is also described in the Brahma Purana: “Even if one’s mind is distracted and one does not think of the Lord, and even if one becomes angry, if one continually glorifies Lord Hari, he will become free from the bonds of repeated birth and death and attain liberation as Sisupala, the King of Cedi, did.” 46 One becomes liberated by even only once chanting the holy name of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is described in Padma Purana: “A person who chants the two syllables Ha-ri, even if he chants only a single time, causes his friends and relatives to become liberated from the cycle of repeated birth and death by such chanting.”* 47 The sacred syllable om is described in the Sruti-sastra: “Om is the name of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Because speaking it rescues one from the cycle of repeated birth and death, om is known as ‘tara’ (the deliverer).” 48 One should not invent a concocted interpretation of the meaning of the holy name. “To concoct a fanciful meaning of the holy name of Lord Hari” is counted among the offenses to the holy name mentioned in the Padma Purana. Even if one regularly chants the holy name of the Lord, if he commits this or other offenses to the holy name, he will not become liberated as a result of his chanting, but will remain enmeshed in the cycle of repeated birth and death. This is true of one who commits offenses to the Lord’s holy name and it is also true of one who commits offenses to the Lord’s devotional service. An example of an offense to devotional service is found in the Sri Visnu-bhakti-candrodaya: “If one sees the Supreme Personality of Godhead travelling in His Rathayatra festival or some similar festival and does not follow the Lord in His procession, then such a person will find that the results of all his pious activities will become burned by the fire of transcendental knowledge, and he will take his next birth in a family of Brahma-raksasas.” These offenses to the Lord’s holy name or devotional service as described in these statements of the Visnu-bhakti-candrodaya and Padma Purana should be understood to be great obstacles for they who aspire to make progress in spiritual life. 49 As when one see the Supreme Personality of Godhead present as the witness within the heart, one feels transcendental bliss, in the same way, when one properly chants the holy name of the Lord, one feels transcendental bliss. This is described by Sri Saunaka Rsi in the following words Srimad Bhagavatam (2.3.24): “Certainly that heart is steel-framed which, in spite of one’s chanting the holy name of the Lord with concentration, does not change when ecstasy takes place, tears fill the eyes and the hairs stand on end.”* 50 The holy name of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the mature fruit of all the Vedas and it is the transcendental form of the Supreme Lord. This is described in the following statement of the Prabhasa-khanda: “The holy name of Lord Krsna is the most auspicious of all auspicious things, and the sweetest of all sweet things. It is completely spiritual, without any touch of matter, and it is the transcendental fruit of the vine of all Vedic literatures. If one chants the holy name of Lord Krsna, even once, either with faith, or even in the spirit of mocking Him, the holy name will deliver the chanter from the bondage of material existence.” 51 From this we may understand that the holy name and form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead are identical. This is clearly explained in Narada-pancaratra in the description of the eight-syllable mantra Om namo vasudevaya: “The supremely blissful personality of Godhead, Narayana is personally present in the sound vibration of the eight syllable mantra Om namo vasudevaya.” 52 The Supreme Lord’s name Om is described in the following statements of the Upanisads: “This entire cosmic manifestation is actually the syllable Om.” Chandogya Upanisad 2.24.4 “This entire universe is identical with the sacred syllable Om.” Mandukya Upanisad 1.1 53 The sacred syllable Om is further described in the Agama-sastra: “The sacred syllable om is identical with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Om is the Supreme. Om has no front, no inside, and no outside. Nothing is superior to the changeless om. Om is the beginning, middle and end of everything. One who is able to understand the true nature of om eventually attains direct association of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. One should understand that the syllable om is identical with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is situated in the hearts of all living beings. A thoughtful person who understands that the syllable om is actually the all-pervading Personality of Godhead, never laments for anything. Om is immeasurable and unlimited. Om is supremely auspicious for it eradicates the misconception of thinking that the material cosmos is independent of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. One who understands this true nature of the sacred syllable om is actually a learned philosopher. One who does not understand om is not a philosopher, but only an ignorant fool.” 54 Someone may claim that the syllable om and the other names of the Supreme Personality of Godhead are not actually the Lord Himself, but are merely words, although occasionally in prayers we find some exaggerated statements glorifying them. This is not the truth. In truth the names of the Supreme Lord are considered His incarnations in the form of words, and they are not different from the Original Personality of Godhead Himself. This is confirmed by the Sruti-sastra. The name of the Personality of Godhead is therefore not different from the Personality of Godhead Himself. This is described in the Padma Purana: 55 “The holy name of Krsna is transcendentally blissful. It bestows all spiritual bendictions; for it is Krsna Himself, the reservoir of all pleasure. Krsna’s name is complete, and it is the form of all transcendental mellows. It is not a material name under any condition, and it is no less powerful than Krsna Himself. Since Krsna’s name is not contaminated by the material qualities, there is no question of its being involved with maya. Krsna’s name is always liberated and spiritual; it is never conditioned by the laws of material nature. This is because the name of Krsna and Krsna Himself are identical.” 56 In this verse the holy name of Krsna is described as ‘cintamani’ (a transcendental gem) because the holy name grants all benedictions. Not only that, but the holy name is the ‘form of all transcendental mellows’, and it is liberated and spiritual. The holy name of Krsna manifests these qualities because it is non different from Krsna Himself (abhinnatvat). 57 At this point someone may object: “If the holy name of Krsna is liberated and spiritual, as you say, then how is it possible for the liberated name of the Lord to appear before the material senses of the conditioned souls?” To this objection I reply: In truth, the holy name of Supreme Lord can be perceived by the senses of the conditioned souls. The Personality of Godhead has Himself explained this in Srimad Bhagavatam (11.21.36-37): 58 “The transcendental sound of the Vedas is very difficult to comprehend and manifests on different levels within the prana, senses and mind. This Vedic sound is unlimited, very deep and unfathomable, just like the ocean.*** “As the unlimited, unchanging and omnipotent Personality of Godhead dwelling within all living beings. I personally establish the Vedic sound vibration in the form of omkara within all living entities. It is thus perceived subtly, just like a single strand of fibre on a lotus stalk.”*** 59 That the Supreme Personality of Godhead may appear before the residents of the material universe is also described in the following statement of Srimad Bhagavatam (12.6.47), where the division of the Vedas into its various parts is described in the following words: “Seeing that by the influence of time the living entities were becoming short-lived, weak, and unintelligent, the sages divided the Veda into its various parts, so it would be more easily understood. The sages did this because of the order of the infallible Supreme Personality of Godhead who was situated within their hearts.”*** Sridhara Svami comments: “Fearing that the intelligence of the human beings was becoming weak, the Personality of Godhead, situated within the hearts of the sages, ordered them to divide the Veda into its constituent parts.” In other words, the Supreme Lord appeared to the sages, from within their hearts. In this way He was directly perceived by them. 60 That the Supreme Personality of Godhead sometimes appears before the residents of the material world is also described in the following verse of Srimad Bhagavatam (12.13.50): “Let us meditate on the Supreme Truth, who is eternal, full of nectar, free from all lamentation, spotless and pure. Out of His own causeless mercy this Supreme truth, the Personality of Godhead formerly enlightened Brahma, Narada, Vyasa, Sukadeva Gosvami and Maharaja Pariksit, by presenting before them the light of transcendental knowledge.” 61 The Supreme Personality of godhead’s appearance before the residents of the material world is also described in the following statement of Srimad Bhagavatam (10.2.36), where the demigods pray to Lord Krsna, who is situated within the womb of Devaki: “O Lord, Your transcendental name and form are not ascertained by those who merely speculate on the path of imagination. Your name, form and attributes can be ascertained only through devotional service.”* 62 The special feature of the Supreme Personality of Godhead’s appearance in the material world is that He appears here by the agency of His own internal potency, and He is not forced to appear in the material world, but does so only by His own wish. These points have been clearly demonstrated in the previous portions of this book, and they are further corroborated by the following statement of Srimad-Bhagavatam (2.9.4): 63 “O King, the Personality of Godhead, being very much pleased with Lord brahma because of his non deceptive penance in bhakti yoga, presented His eternal and transcendental form before Brahma. And that is the objective goal for purifying the conditioned soul.”* 64 Sridhara Svami comments on this verse in the following words: “In the eight chapter of this Canto, Maharaja Pariksit asked: ‘If the Supreme Lord has a material body, then how is it that the devotees become liberated by simply serving and worshipping the material body of the Supreme Lord?’ Maharaja Pariksit also asked if there was any difference between the Lord’s body and the bodies of the conditioned souls. He said (2.8.8): “If the Supreme Personality of Godhead, from whose abdomen the lotus stem sprouted, is possessed of a gigantic body according to His own calibre and measurement, then what is the specific difference between the body of the Lord and those of common living entities?’ “This question is answered in this (2.9.4) verse. In this verse the phrase ‘atma-tattva-visuddhy-artham’ means: ‘The form of the Lord purifies the conditioned souls and bestows transcendental knowledge on them.’ One may ask: ‘What transcendental knowledge did the Lord teach Brahma?’ The answer is: ‘The Lord spoke to Brahma (bhagavan brahmane aha) the science of devotional service, which consists of austerities and other spiritual practices.’ One may ask: ‘What did the Lord then do?’ The answer is found in the phrase ‘rtam rupam darsayan’ (The Personality of Godhead presented His eternal and transcendental form before Brahma). One may ask: ‘Why did the Lord reveal His transcendental form?’ The answer is found in the phrase ‘avyalika-vratadrtah’ (the Personality of Godhead was very much pleased with Lord Brahma because of his non deceptive penance in bhakti-yoga). “From all this we may conclude that the external form of the conditioned living entity is a manifestation of the Supreme Lord’s material illusory potency. The form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, however, is different, for it is spiritual. It is not manifested by the material potency but by the Lord’s own spiritual potency known as yogamaya. In this way, because the form of the Personality of Godhead is spiritual in nature, by worshipping that spiritual form, the devotees attain liberation.” 65 Maharaja Vasudeva also describes the spiritual nature of the Supreme Personality of Godhead’s form in the following words Srimad Bhagavatam (10.3.20-21): “My Lord, Your form is transcendental to the three material modes, yet for the maintenance of the three worlds, You assume the white colour of Visnu in goodness, for creation, which is surrounded by the quality of passion, You appear reddish, and at the end, when there is a need for annihilation, which is surrounded by ignorance, You appear blackish.”* O my Lord, proprietor of all creation, You have now appeared in my house, desiring to protect this world. I am sure that You will kill all the armies that are moving all over the world under the leadership of politicians who are dressed as ksatriya rulers but who are factually demons. They must be killed by You for the protection of the innocent public.”* 66 This verse may be interpreted in the following way: “My Lord, You are the creator, maintainer and destroyer of the material worlds. When You desire to maintain the worlds, by manifesting Your own potency (sva-mayaya) You manifest the mode of goodness (atmanah suklam varnam). By doing this You protect the brahmanas and the other members of society also. When You desire to create you manifest the mode of passion (rajasopabrmhitam raktam). In this way You fulfil the passionate desires of the various classes of society, beginning with the brahmanas. When You desire to annihilate the universe You arrange for those things that are sinful and impure (krsnam).” This verse may also be interpreted: “O Lord, You appear in the pure (suklam) form of Visnu, which is free from all contact of the material modes of nature, and You also appear in a reddish (Brahma) and blackish (Siva) form for material creation and annihilation.” We many note here that as Lord Visnu remains untouched by the three modes of material nature, so Brahma and Siva also remain untouched by the three modes of material nature. 67 That Visnu, Brahma and Siva are above the three modes of material nature is the conclusion of Srila Sukadeva Gosvami, who said: “Siva appears to display the qualities of all three modes of nature, although He is actually free from their influence. He is full of all potencies, and His real transcendental nature remains hidden from the perception of ordinary men.” Srimad Bhagavatam (10.88.3) “Lord Hari is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He is beyond the material nature and He remains always untouched by the three modes of nature.” Srimad Bhagavatam (10.88.5) 68 The Supreme Lord remains always free from the modes of nature, even though He may sometimes appear to be under their influence. This is described in Srimad Bhagavatam (10.3.50): “Those Visnu forms, by Their pure smiling, which resembled the increasing light of the moon, and by the sidelong glances of Their reddish eyes, created and protected the desires of Their own devotees, as if by the modes of passion and goodness.”* 69 This verse clearly explains that although the Lord may sometimes appear to be acting under the influence of the modes of passion and goodness, this is appearance only, and the Lord remains always free from the influence of the modes of nature. The previously quoted verse (Bhagavatam 10.3.20) explained that Visnu appears in the colour white, Brahma in red, and Siva in black. These colours are intended here as symbolic names for the three modes of nature. It should not be taken literally that these three deities manifest forms in these colours. For example, the guna-avatara of Lord Visnu who appears in the material world as Ksirodakasayi Visnu in order to protect the universe (as we will describe later in the Paramatma-sandarbha), is famous for manifesting a black form. In the same way Lord Siva, who destroys the universe, is famous for often appearing in a white form. These points are explained in the description of devotional service spoken by Gobhila Muni. In the same way, Lord Brahma does not manifest a red form. From this we may conclude that the colours of various personalities does not necessarily connect them to a specific mode of nature. Further examples are ducks and other animals, who although manifesting a white colour, are certainly not in the mode of goodness, and Srila Vyasadeva, Sukadeva Gosvami and others, who are worshipable for those in the mode of goodness, but who nevertheless manifest black forms according to the description of them found in the Puranas. This verse (Bhagavatam 10.3.20) continues: “O Lord, you show Your mercy to Your devotees by maintaining them and by appearing among them.” Here the word ‘raktam’ means the modes of passion which inspires the desire to create, and a host of other desires as well. The word ‘krsnam’ in this verse means the mode of ignorance, which conceals the real spiritual identities of the individual souls. 70 The qualities of the three modes of nature are described in Srimad Bhagavatam (1.2.24): “Firewood is a transformation of earth, but smoke is better than the raw wood. And fire is still better, for by fire we can derive the benefits of superior knowledge (through Vedic sacrifices). Similarly, passion (rajas) is better than ignorance (tamas), but goodness (sattva) is best because by goodness one can come to realise the Absolute Truth.”* 71 At this point someone may object: “By explaining that the black form of the Lord does not necessarily engage in the activities of universal destruction, the red form of the Lord does not necessarily engage in universal creation, and the white form of the Lord does not necessarily engage in maintaining the universe, you have certainly misled the people who read your book. Why do you speak in this way?” Fearing that someone would speak this objection, and fearing that someone would think that Lord Krsna might have said “I have now assumed this black form of the mode of ignorance in order to destroy the universe”, Maharaja Vasudeva spoke the following verse (Srimad Bhagavatam 10.3.21) in order to affirm that Lord Krsna’s mission in the world is for its protection, and not its annihilation: “O my Lord, proprietor of all creation, You have now appeared in my house, desiring to protect this world. I am sure that you will kill all the armies that are moving all over the world under the leadership of politicians who are dressed as ksatriya rulers but who are factually demons. They must be killed by You for the protection of the innocent public.”* 72 This verse should be understood in the following way: Although the Personality of Godhead may assume forms that seem to correspond to certain modes of material nature, these forms are all spiritual and situated in pure goodness, beyond the modes of nature. At the time of cosmic annihilation, because the Lord gives only suffering to the living entities, He remains in a position of deep sleep. This description of the Lord does not apply to this case of Lord Krsna. Lord Krsna does not remain permanently asleep, and neither is He a source of constant suffering for the living entities, but rather He gives transcendental bliss to the entire world. It is true, of course, that He does kill the demons, however, is only the pretext that the Lord uses to grant them His mercy and grant them liberation, elevating them beyond the modes of material nature. From this we may conclude that the black form of Krsna does not exclusively engage in destruction, and therefore it is not appropriate to consider Lord Krsna the incarnation that engages in the activities of the mode of ignorance. It is true that one meaning of the word ‘Krsna” is ‘darkness’, but that meaning is not appropriate in this context. A word should be understood according to the context in which it is used, just as if I say ‘Please bring the saindhava’, because the word ‘saindhava’ means ‘both ‘salt’ and ‘horse’, the proper meaning of the word ‘saindhava’ must be determined according to the context. In this same way the word ‘krsna’ in this verse should be understood according to the context. Here the word ‘krsna’ clearly does not mean ‘darkness’. 73 Because Lord Sri Krsna does not perform the activities of the mode of darkness, He should not be understood as the incarnation representing darkness. The actions of the different modes of nature are described in Srimad Bhagavatam (7.1.8): “When the quality of goodness is prominent, the sages and demigods flourish with the help of that quality, with which they are infused and surcharged by the Supreme Lord. Similarly, when the mode of passion is prominent the demons flourish, and when ignorance is prominent the Yaksas and Raksasas flourish. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is present in everyone’s heart, fostering the reactions of sattva-guna, rajo-guna and tamo-guna.”* 74 The black form of Lord Krsna is therefore not a manifestation of the mode of darkness. In the same way the red and white forms of the Lord are not manifestations of the modes of passion and ignorance, as some would have it. The evidence offered by the Vedic literatures is, therefore, that all the forms of the Lord are transcendental and beyond the modes, and the colour a specific form of the Lord does not indicate the influence of a particular mode of material nature. 75 The transcendental nature of the form of the Personality of Godhead was also described by Devaki-devi, who respectfully said (Srimad Bhagavatam 10.3.24): “My dear Lord, there are different Vedas, some of which describe You as unperceivable through words and the mind. Yet You are the origin of the entire cosmic manifestation. You are Brahman, the greatest of everything, full of effulgence like the sun. You have no material cause, You are free from change and deviation, and You have no material desires. Thus the Vedas say that You are the substance. Therefore, my Lord, You are directly the origin of all Vedic statements, and by understanding You, one gradually understands everything. You are different from the light of Brahman and Paramatma, yet You are not different from them. Everything emanates from You. Indeed, You are the cause of all causes, Lord Visnu, the light of all transcendental knowledge.”* 76 The form of the Personality of Godhead is not material, nor is it a product of the material modes of nature, nor does it have any material attributes. Because the wonderful form of the Supreme Lord attracts the self-realised liberated souls, it should be understood that the Lord’s form is completely spiritual. The liberated soul’s attraction to the Lord’s form is described by Srila Suta Gosvami (Srimad Bhagavatam 1.7.10-11): “All different varieties of atmaramas (those who take pleasure in atma, or spirit self), especially those established on the path of self-realisation, though freed from all kinds of material bondage, desire to render unalloyed devotional service unto the Personality of Godhead. This means that the Lord possesses transcendental qualities and therefore can attract everyone, including liberated souls.* “Srila Sukadeva Gosvami, son of Srila Vyasadeva, was not only transcendentally powerful. He was also very dear to the devotees of the Lord. Thus he underwent the study of this great narration (Srimad Bhagavatam).”* 77-78 The spiritual nature of the Personality of Godhead is also described in the following statement of the Visnu-dharma Purana, Uttara-khanda: “Because the Supreme Personality of Godhead is full of all opulences, it should be understood that within Him are all transcendental qualities, and He is completely free of any faults or defects although, under the influence of the illusory energy (maya), some foolish persons falsely claim that the Supreme Lord has both good qualities and faults. It should be understood that neither the illusory material energy, nor it’s illusory by-products exist within the Supreme Lord. How, indeed, could they enter within Him? It should, therefore, be understood that all the qualities of the Supreme Lord are the manifestations of His transcendental opulence. They are not produced by the illusory material energy (maya). Because the Lord is completely free from the influence of the material energy, He is known as Paramatma, or the Supreme.” 79 We shall now present the final part of the explanation of the Srimad Bhagavatam verse (8.3.8) first discussed at the beginning of this anuccheda. Now that it has been clearly established that the forms and qualities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead are spiritual and completely different from the material energy, someone may object: ‘If the pastimes and forms of the Supreme Lord are spiritual, perfect and complete, then why does the Lord descend to this material world at all?” Fearing that someone might say this, the Srimad-Bhagavatam explains: ‘lokapyaya-sambhavaya’ (The Supreme Lord descends to the material world in order to rescue the devotees from the cycle of repeated birth and death) and ‘bhu-praptau’ (The Lord appears in order to give transcendental happiness to His eternal associates).” 80 These transcendental purposes of the Lord’s advent are also described in the following verse (Srimad Bhagavatam 1.7.25) where Arjuna says: “Thus You have descended as an incarnation to remove the burden of the world and to benefit Your friends, especially those who are Your exclusive devotees and are rapt in meditation upon You.”* 81 This verse means: “O Lord, just as You have formerly appeared as the purusa-avataras and other incarnations, You have now appeared (tathayam avatarah) in Your original form as Sri Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. You have appeared in order to remove the burden of the earth planet (bhuvo bhara-jihirsaya) who is Your great devotee, and enable Your devotees to constantly relish the happiness of worshipping You and meditating on You (anudhyanaya).” 82 At this point someone may say: “Krsna must take birth in this material world in order to give happiness to His devotees. He cannot avoid coming here.” To this statement I reply: This is not a fact. Krsna is not forced to do anything. He is free and independent. His independence is described in the Narayana-samhita: “The independent Personality of Godhead is full of all transcendental bliss. How is it possible to say that He needs anything or is forced to do anything? It is not possible.” As far as His appearing in this world to give happiness to the pure devotees (ananya-bhavanam) is concerned, that does not detract from His independence. He comes because He is merciful to His devotees. He is free from all faults, and because lack of mercy is a fault, He is free from all mercilessness also. Free from that fault, He is very merciful to His pure devotees and He voluntarily appears before them to give them transcendental happiness. One may say that His supreme independence and His mercy contradict each other and His mercy detracts somewhat from His independence. Actually He is both independent and merciful. Both qualities exist in the Lord even though they may sometimes contradict each other. The Kurma Purana explains the mutually contradictory qualities of the Lord in the following words: “The Supreme Personality of Godhead possesses mutually contradictory qualities.” That the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the reservoir of all wonderful qualities is also emphatically declared by the Sruti-sastra and other Vedic literatures and because He is full of these wonderful qualities He attracts all living entities from the demigod Brahma down to the most insignificant creature. 83 Lord Krsna personally confirmed His own supreme independence in these words to the gopis (Srimad Bhagavatam 10.32.19-20): “My dear friends, persons who simply reciprocate the loving dealings of the other part are just like merchants. They give in loving affairs as much as they get from the other party. Practically there is no question of love. It is simply business dealing, and it is self-interested or self-centred. Better the second class of men, who love in spite of the opposite party’s contrariness; even those without a tinge of loving affairs are better than the mechants. Sincere love can be seen when the father and mother love their children in spite of their children’s neglect. The third class neither reciprocates nor neglects. They can be further divided into two classes. One is the self-satisfied, who do not require anyone’s love. They are called atmarama, which means they are absorbed in the thought of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and so do not care whether one loves them or not. But another class are ungrateful men. They are called callous. The men in this group revolt against superior persons. For instance, a son, in spite of receiving all kinds of things from loving parents, may be callous and not reciprocate. Those in this class are generally known as gurudruha, which means they receive favours from the parents or the spiritual master and yet neglect them.* “My dear friends, you might be aggrieved by My words and acts, but you must know that sometimes I do not reciprocate my devotees’ dealings with Me. It appears that my devotees are very much attached to Me, but sometimes I do not reciprocate their feelings properly in order to increase their love for Me more and more. If I can very easily be approached by them, they might think, ‘Krsna is so easily available’. So sometimes I do not respond. If a person has no money but after some time accumulates some wealth and then loses it, he will think of the lost property twenty-four hours a day. Similarly, in order to increase the love of My devotees, sometimes I appear to be lost to them, and instead of forgetting Me, they feel their loving sentiments for Me increase.”* 84 Therefore we may conclude that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is omnipotent, and although He is never forced to do anything, He voluntary performs wonderful, blissful transcendental pastimes and in this way delights His devotees. This is also described in Srimad Bhagavatam 8.3.8 the verse quoted at the beginning of this anuccheda. 85 Because the Supreme Personality of Godhead is all-powerful, His mercy brings happiness in its wake. This is described in the following saying: “The mercy of an incompetent fool brings suffering to those who receive it, whereas the mercy of a powerful and intelligent person brings happiness.”
Srila Jiva Gosvami’s Sri Bhagavat-sandarbha An Essay on Bhagavan Volume Three
Table of Contents
Bhagavan’s Limbs and Senses, Anucchedas 48-49 Page 2
The Idea that the Supreme Has No Name or Form is Refuted. The Lord’s Form is Spiritual, Anucchedas 50-57 Page 6
Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Anucchedas 58-59 Page 16
Bhagavan’s Ornaments and Paraphernalia, Anuccheda 60 Page 22
The Spiritual World, Anucchedas 61-77 Page 23
Bhagavat · Sanskrit §54 · English §48
Source[५४] आवेशावतारतया प्रतीतस्य श्री-ऋषभदेवस्यापि विग्रह एवं योज्यते, यथा - इदं शरीरं मम दुर्विभाव्यं सत्त्वं हि मे हृदयं यत्र धर्मः । पृष्ठे कृतो मे यद् अधर्म आराद् अतो हि माम् ऋषभं प्राहुर् आर्याः ॥ [भ्प् ५.५.१९] इदं मनुष्याकार-शरीरं हि निश्चितं दुर्विभाव्यं दुर्वितर्क्यं यत् तत्त्वं तद् एव । यत्रैव धर्मो भागवत-लक्षणस् तत्रैव मे हृदयं मनः । यद् यस्मात् तद्-विपरीतादि-लक्षणोऽधर्मो मया पृष्ठे कृतः । ततः पराङ्- मुखोऽहम् इत्य् अर्थः । अतएव वक्तुर् अस्य ऋषभदेवस्य च सर्वान्तिम-लीलापि व्याजेनान्तर्धानम् एव प्राकृत-लोक-प्रतीत्य्-अनुसारेणैव तु तथा वर्णितम् । आत्मारामता-रीति-दर्शनार्थम् । तद् उक्तम् -- योगिनां साम्पराय-विधिम् अनुशिक्षयन् इति [भ्प् ५.६.६] । अतः स्वकलेवरं जिहासुर् इत्य् अत्र कएवर- शब्दस्य प्रपञ्च एवार्थः । उपासना-शास्त्रे तस्य तथा प्रसिद्धेः । तथा -- अथ समीर-वेग-विधूत-वेणु-विकर्षण-जातोग्र-दावानलस् तद् वनम् आलेलिहानः सह तेन ददाह इत्य् [भ्प् ५.६.८] अस्य वास्तवार्थे तु तेन सहेति कर्तृ-साहाय्ये तृतीया । गौण-मुख्य-न्यायेन कर्तर्य् एव प्राथमिक- प्रवृत्तेः । ततश् च दावानलस् तद्-वन-वर्तितर्वादि-जीवानां स्थूलं देहं ददाह, ऋषभदेवस् तु सूक्ष्मं देहम् इति तस्य सर्व्=मोक्सदत्वम् अनुसन्धेयम् । स यैः स्पृष्टो ऽभिदृष्टो वा संविष्टो ऽनुगतो ऽपि वा । कोसलास् ते ययुः स्थानं यत्र गच्छन्ति योगिनः ॥ [भ्प् ९.११.२२] इतिवत् । ततोऽनल-साधर्म्यं वर्णयित्वा तद्वद् अन्तर्धानम् एव तस्येति च व्यञ्जितम् । अतएव ऋषभ-देवाविर्भावस् तृतीयोऽध्याय इत्य् एवोक्तं न तु तज्-जन्मेति ॥ ५।५॥ श्री-ऋषभदेवः स्व-पुत्रान् ॥५४॥
[54] āveśāvatāratayā pratītasya śrī-ṛṣabhadevasyāpi vigraha evaṃ yojyate, yathā - idaṃ śarīraṃ mama durvibhāvyaṃ sattvaṃ hi me hṛdayaṃ yatra dharmaḥ | pṛṣṭhe kṛto me yad adharma ārād ato hi mām ṛṣabhaṃ prāhur āryāḥ || [BhP 5.5.19] idaṃ manuṣyākāra-śarīraṃ hi niścitaṃ durvibhāvyaṃ durvitarkyaṃ yat tattvaṃ tad eva | yatraiva dharmo bhāgavata-lakṣaṇas tatraiva me hṛdayaṃ manaḥ | yad yasmāt tad-viparītādi-lakṣaṇo'dharmo mayā pṛṣṭhe kṛtaḥ | tataḥ parāṅ- mukho'ham ity arthaḥ | ataeva vaktur asya ṛṣabhadevasya ca sarvāntima-līlāpi vyājenāntardhānam eva prākṛta-loka-pratīty-anusāreṇaiva tu tathā varṇitam | ātmārāmatā-rīti-darśanārtham | tad uktam -- yogināṃ sāmparāya-vidhim anuśikṣayan iti [BhP 5.6.6] | ataḥ svakalevaraṃ jihāsur ity atra kaevara- śabdasya prapañca evārthaḥ | upāsanā-śāstre tasya tathā prasiddheḥ | tathā -- atha samīra-vega-vidhūta-veṇu-vikarṣaṇa-jātogra-dāvānalas tad vanam ālelihānaḥ saha tena dadāha ity [BhP 5.6.8] asya vāstavārthe tu tena saheti kartṛ-sāhāyye tṛtīyā | gauṇa-mukhya-nyāyena kartary eva prāthamika- pravṛtteḥ | tataś ca dāvānalas tad-vana-vartitarvādi-jīvānāṃ sthūlaṃ dehaṃ dadāha, ṛṣabhadevas tu sūkṣmaṃ deham iti tasya sarv=moksadatvam anusandheyam | sa yaiḥ spṛṣṭo 'bhidṛṣṭo vā saṃviṣṭo 'nugato 'pi vā | kosalās te yayuḥ sthānaṃ yatra gacchanti yoginaḥ || [BhP 9.11.22] itivat | tato'nala-sādharmyaṃ varṇayitvā tadvad antardhānam eva tasyeti ca vyañjitam | ataeva ṛṣabha-devāvirbhāvas tṛtīyo'dhyāya ity evoktaṃ na tu taj-janmeti || 5|5|| śrī-ṛṣabhadevaḥ sva-putrān ||54||
English translation
English witness · section(s) 48
Anuccheda 48
1 The statement of the Sruti-sastra that the Supreme has neither hands nor feet means that the eternal, spiritual, limitless, blissful form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, has spiritual and not material limbs. This statement of the Vedas does not mean anything else. That this is so is confirmed by the following statement of the Personified Vedas (Srimad Bhagavatam 10.87.28): “O Lord, You are independent. Although You have no material senses, Your potency maintains the senses of everyone. The demigods and the goddess Maya worship You with offerings. As small kings carry others’ offerings to the great emperor, so the awe-struck demigods carry the living entities’ offerings to You, the creator of the worlds.’ 2 This verse should be understood in the following way: The material external senses of the conditioned souls are different from the conditioned souls themselves just as the doer is different from the activities he performs, or, in one sense, a fire is different from its activity of burning. The external senses of the conditioned soul are material in nature and different from the spiritual form of the soul itself. In this way it is said that the conditioned soul ‘has senses’, which is equivalent to saying ‘has external material senses different from himself”. The Supreme Personality of Godhead never has external material senses attached to His original spiritual form. His spiritual senses are an integral part of his spiritual form, and are, therefore, not different from His self. In this verse the word ‘svarat’ is used to mean ‘self-manifest.” This word is used to describe the Supreme Lord’s senses which are a ‘self-manifest’ part of His spiritual form, and not an external imposition as they are for the conditioned souls. In this way it should be understood that the Personality of Godhead does not ‘have’ senses in the same way the conditioned soul does. The conditioned soul is encased in a material body and attached to a set of material senses. The Lord, however, although present within the conditioned soul’s heart as the Supersoul, is free from the encumbrance of a set of external material senses. In this way the Lord does not ‘have’ senses. 3 The Supreme Lord’s lotus feet, which imply the existence of His spiritual limbs and senses, are described in the following prayer, where the Personified Vedas say at the time of universal annihilation (Srimad Bhagavatam 10.87.23): “Women such as the gopis were attached to Krsna and wanted to be embraced by the arms of Krsna, which resemble the beautiful round shape of a snake. Similarly there are the Vedic hymns, and we also concentrate upon Your lotus feet to go back home, back to Godhead.”* 4 This verse should be understood in the following way: “O Supreme Lord, We, who are the spiritual masters of the greatest learned scholars, are engaged in glorifying Your wonderful transcendental senses. Why, then, is it sometimes said in the Vedic literatures that You are without senses? You are said to be without senses because You have no material senses. All Your senses are an integral part (svarat) of Your spiritual form, and they are not material.” 5 At this point someone may object: “The Personality of Godhead is manifested in the many forms of His various incarnations. How is it possible that these different forms have senses that are an integral part of the Supreme Lord’s original spiritual form. Clearly, the bodies of the Lord’s various incarnations as well as the sets of senses attached to those bodies must be impositions on the original identity of the Lord. Such senses cannot be self-manifested non imposed senses as you have described.” To this objection I reply: The spiritual form of the Personality of Godhead is actually one, although He may appear in many different features in many places. In this way His senses are not different from His self regardless of the feature He is inclined to manifest at any particular moment. That the spiritual form of the Supreme Lord is none, although manifested variously, is confirmed by the following statements of Vedic literature: “The Supreme Personality of Godhead is blissful and eternal. Although He is the oldest is completely free from the infirmities of old-age. Although He manifests Himself in many different forms, all these actually form a single transcendental form.” Brhad-aranyaka Upanisad 4.4.19 “Although the Supreme Personality of Godhead may appear to be different forms, the forms are actually one single transcendental form. These forms are not at all different from each other.” Katha Upanisad 2.1.11 “The hands, feet, face, abdomen, and other parts of the form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead are completely spiritual in nature. These limbs of the Lord are all full of transcendental bliss.” Smrti-sastra 6 At this point Lord Krsna, taking the part of the devil’s advocate, might raise the following objection: “My friend, what evidence do you have that the potency of such transcendental senses is present within Me?”: To this objection I reply: O Lord, the Personified Vedas address You saying (Srimad Bhagavatam 10.87.28): ‘akhila-karaka-sakti-dharah’ (O Lord, it is You who enable the eyes and other senses of the living entities to act)’. Therefore, because the powers of the conditioned souls’ senses comes from You, we must conclude that all powers of all senses are originally present within You in perfection and completeness. 7 That the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the original source of all the powers of the senses is also confirmed by the following statements of the Upanisads: “The power of the living force present in the individual living entities is manifested from the living force of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and the powers of the eyes and other senses are similarly manifested from the eyes and senses of the Supreme Personality.” Brhad-aranyaka Upanisad 4.4.18 “The Supreme Personality of Godhead naturally has all powers to acquire knowledge (jnana-sakti) and do whatever He wishes (sandhini-sakti and kriya-sakti).” Svetasvatara Upanisad 6.8 8 This is also explained in the following statement of Srimad Bhagavatam (11.4.4): “From the senses of the Supreme Personality of Godhead the working and knowledge acquiring senses of the embodied conditioned souls gain their power. From the Lord’s breath the conditioned souls attain knowledge, bodily power, sensory power, and the power to act.” 9 The Vedic literatures say the Supreme Lord has senses, and at other times the Vedas say the Supreme Lord has no senses. Some examples follow: “Because the Supreme Godhead has no senses, therefore He cannot be described.” Vedanta-sutra 2.1.31 “Because the Supreme Godhead is the origin of the sense of hearing and all other senses, it should be understood that He has His own sense of hearing and His own set of all other senses as well.” Vedanta-sutra 2.1.27 “The Supreme Lord has no senses and no duty He is obliged to perform.” Svetasvatara Upanisad 6.8 “From You, O Supreme Lord, the powers of the conditioned souls’ senses are manifested. For this reason the powers of the senses are originally present in You.” Srimad Bhagavatam 10.87.28 These statements may appear contradictory and illogical, but the fact is they all explain the same truth: that the Supreme Lord does not have material senses, for His senses are spiritual. 10 The explanation of Srimad Bhagavatam 10.87.28 continues: This verse explains that Indra and the other demigods (animisah), whose glory is inferior to that of the Supreme Lord, along with the Brahmas and other universal creators (visva-srjah), who are worshipable for the Indras and other demigods, make offerings (balim vahanti) to You (tava) O Lord, with respectfully raised heads (ut). These demigods are accompanied by the illusory potency Maya-devi, who is their supervisor and controller. In order to obtain auspiciousness for herself, whose power is simply a pale reflection of that of the Lord, who is full of all transcendental power and bliss, Maya-devi also brings offerings to the Supreme Lord. Human beings also make offerings to the Lord (Samadanti) in the forms of various Vedic sacrifices, and after the offerings are complete, they eat the sacred remnants. 11 Here the example is given of the earthly kings. As small kings being tribute to the emperor, so the demigods and other living entities make offerings to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Why do they make these offerings? Because the Supreme Lord has commanded them. 12 That the various demigods are obedient to the commands of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is confirmed by the following statement of Taittiriya Upanisad (2.8.1): “Out of fear of the Supreme Personality of Godhead the wind blows. Out of fear of the Supreme Personality of Godhead the sun rises. Out of fear of the Supreme Personality of Godhead fire burns, the moon shines, and death moves about, taking its toll.” 13 At this point the Supreme Personality of Godhead might object: “Please speak whatever evidence you have, if indeed you have some evidence, to prove that My hands and other limbs and senses are an integral part of My transcendental personality and not an external imposition as is the case with the conditioned souls.” To the Lord’s objection I reply: In Srimad Bhagavatam 10.87.28 the Personified Vedas declare that the various demigods (animisah) who are predominating deities of the various senses and creators of the various universal ingredients (visva-srjah), as Brahma and the prajapatis are, all bring presentations (balim udvahanti) as offerings to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. From this we may understand that the presiding deities of the various senses consider themselves subordinate to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and because they take shelter of Him they are able to discharge their duties as controllers of the senses. Because the Personality of Godhead, therefore, is the supreme among all presiding deities of the senses, and there is no one superior to Him in this respect, it may be concluded that His senses are not a gift from someone else, but they are an integral part of His original transcendental form. Someone may object to this, saying that the illusory potency Maya-devi is the supreme among the presiding deities of the senses and not the Personality of Godhead. This objection is refuted by the use of the word ‘mayaya’ in this verse. The word ‘mayaya’ here indicates that Maya-devi also brings presentations to the Personality of Godhead and considers herself His servant. 14 At this point the Supreme Personality of Godhead may raise the following objection: “All right, if the demigods are not the ultimate predominating deities of the senses, then certainly the individual living entities themselves are:” To this objection I reply: This verse from Srimad Bhagavatam (10.87.28) explains that the individual living entities also present offerings to the Supreme Personality of Godhead and thus accept a position subordinate to Him. O Lord, it is You who grant the demigods jurisdiction over the sense-organs by which the living entities are able to perceive the various interactions of material nature. By comparison the individual living entities have only a small jurisdiction over the sense-instruments. They are certainly not the ultimate presiding deities over all the senses. That Supreme predominating deity over the actions of the senses is none other than Yourself.
Bhagavat · Sanskrit §55 · English §49
Source[५५] तद् एवं ऋषभस्यापि विग्रहे तादृशता चेत् किम् उत स्वयं भगवत इत्य् आह - मुनि-गण-नृप-वर्य-सङ्कुले ऽन्तः- सदसि युधिष्ठिर-राजसूय एषाम् । अर्हणम् उपपेद ईक्षणीयो मम दृशि-गोचर एष आविर् आत्मा ॥ [भ्प् १.९.४१] टीका च - एष जगताम् आत्मा मम दृशि-गोचरो दृष्टि-पथः सन्न् आविः प्रकटो वर्तते । अहो भाग्यम् इति भावः इत्य् एषा ॥ १।९॥ श्री-भीष्मः श्री- भगवन्तम् ॥५५॥
[55] tad evaṃ ṛṣabhasyāpi vigrahe tādṛśatā cet kim uta svayaṃ bhagavata ity āha - muni-gaṇa-nṛpa-varya-saṅkule 'ntaḥ- sadasi yudhiṣṭhira-rājasūya eṣām | arhaṇam upapeda īkṣaṇīyo mama dṛśi-gocara eṣa āvir ātmā || [BhP 1.9.41] ṭīkā ca - eṣa jagatām ātmā mama dṛśi-gocaro dṛṣṭi-pathaḥ sann āviḥ prakaṭo vartate | aho bhāgyam iti bhāvaḥ ity eṣā || 1|9|| śrī-bhīṣmaḥ śrī- bhagavantam ||55||
English translation
English witness · section(s) 49
Anuccheda 49
1 The limbs and senses of the Supreme Personality of Godhead are spiritual and therefore different from the material senses which cover the conditioned living entities, for this reason the Vedas declare ‘apani-padam’ (the Supreme has no hands or feet). That the form and senses of the Personality of Godhead are not material is also confirmed in the following words spoken by Srimati Rukmini-devi to Lord Krsna (Srimad Bhagavatam 10.60.45): “A man within this material world is just a dead body. In fact, superficially, the living entity is covered by this body, which is nothing but a bag of skin decorated with beards and moustaches, hairs on the body, nails on the fingers, and hairs on the head. Within this decorated bag there are bunches of muscles, bundles of bones, amid pools of blood, always mixed up with stool, urine, mucus, bile and polluted air, and enjoyed by different kinds of insects and germs. A foolish woman accepts such a dead body as her husband, and in sheer misunderstanding loves him as her dear companion. This is only possible because such a woman has never tasted the ever-blissful flavour of Your lotus feet.”* 2 This statement of Srimati Rukmini-devi describes the spiritual, blissful nature of the Supreme Personality of Godhead’s hair and other limbs and senses, which are different from the material limbs and senses of the embodied souls. When the demigod Brahma blessed Hiranyakasipu that he would not be killed by different varieties of living entities (Srimad Bhagavatam 7.3.37), Brahma said that no one alive or dead would kill Hiranyakasipu. This means both that Hiranyakasipu could be killed by the claws of Lord Nrsimhadeva (claws being neither alive nor dead), and also that Hiranyakasipu could be killed by the spiritual form of Lord Nrsimhadeva, which is neither alive in the same way material bodies are alive, nor dead. That the spiritual form of the Lord is not materially alive or dead is confirmed in the following statements of the Upanisads, which negate firstly material life, and secondly inert lifelessness: “The Supreme Personality of Godhead does not have a material mind as the conditioned souls do. He does not have a body that is alive in the material sense, and at the same time, in the spiritual sense He is eternally alive and can never be killed. In other words His form is completely spiritual and not at all material.” Mundaka Upanisad 2.1.2 “The Vedic literatures are manifested from the breathing of the living Supreme Personality of Godhead.” Brhad-aranyaka Upanisad 4.5.11 3 The spiritual nature of the Supreme Lord’s form is also described in the following statement of Varaha Purana: “The form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is not a material production of fat, marrow, bones and similar substances and neither is His form a magical production of mystic illusion produced by yogic power. Because the Lord is the Supreme Controller of everything His form is eternal, spiritual, infallible, unvanquishable and all-powerful.” 4 This verse confirms that the Lord’s form is neither material nor a production of yoga magic. Because the Personality of Godhead is the supreme master of everything that exists, His form is eternal. This verse also confirmed that the Lord’s eternal spiritual form is omniscient and omnipotent, able to perform anything the Lord desires. The Lord’s form is different from the forms of the conditioned souls in the sense that the conditioned souls have an external material body made of inert and lifeless material elements. The material body of the conditioned soul is like a corpse covering the living spirit souls (jiva cchavam). The Supreme Personality of Godhead, however, does not have such a covering of inert matter. His form is spiritual and alive. It is not different from Himself. This is the difference between the form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the external material bodies of the conditioned souls. The Supreme Personality of Godhead’s form is unchanging and lives forever. It is spiritual, eternal, full of bliss, and supremely worshipable. This is the difference between the spiritual form of the Personality of Godhead and the external material bodies of the conditioned souls.
Bhagavat · Sanskrit §56–57 · English §50
Source[५६] तथैव च -- रूपं यत् तद् इत्य् आदौ स त्वं साक्षाद् विष्णुर् अध्यात्म-दीपः [भ्प् १०.३.२४] इति ।[*एन्द्नोते #१५] यत् तत् किम् अपि रूपं वस्तु प्राहुर् वेदाः । किं तद् वस्तु, तद् आह अव्यक्तम् इत्य् आदि । एवम्भूतं किम् अपि कार्य-कल्पं वस्तु यत् स एव साक्षाद् ऐषि- गोचरस् त्वं विष्णुर् इति । तथा च पाद्मे निर्माण-खण्डे श्री-भगवन्तं प्रति श्री-वेद-व्यास-वाक्यम् --- त्वाम् अहं द्रष्टुम् इच्छामि चक्षुर्भ्यां मधुसूदन । यत् तत् सत्यं परं ब्रह्म जगद्-योनिं जगत्-पतिम् । वदन्ति वेद-शिरसश् चाक्षुषं नाथ मेऽस्तु तद् ॥ इति । तत्र हेतुः अध्यात्म-दीपः देहि तत्-कारण-कार्य-सङ्घ- प्रकाशकत्वेनावभासन इत्य् अर्थः । एवम्भूतस्य न तव भय-शङ्केति भावः । इत्य् एष प्रकरणानुरूपः श्री-स्वामि-दर्शित-भावार्थोऽपि श्री- विग्रह-पर एव । अन्यत्र भय-सम्भावनानुत्पत्तेः ॥ १०.३ श्री-देवकी श्रीभगवन्तम् ॥५६॥ [५७] अतस् तद्-अंशानाम् अपि तादृशत्वम् आह - सत्य-ज्ञानानन्तानन्द- मात्रैक-रस-मूर्तयः । अस्पृष्ट-भूरि-माहात्म्या अपि ह्य् उपनिषद्-दृशाम् ॥ [भ्प् १०.१३.५४] टीका च - सर्वेषां मूर्तिमत्त्वेऽप्य् अविशेषम् आह सत्य-ज्ञानेति । सत्याश् च ज्ञान-रूपाश् च अनन्ताश् च आनन्द-रूपाश् च । तत्रापि तद्-एक-मात्रा विजातीय- सम्भेद-रहिताः । तत्रापि च एक-रसाः सदैकरूपा मूर्तयो येषां ते । यद् वा सत्य-ज्ञानादि-मात्रैक-रसं यद् ब्रह्म तद् एव मूर्तिर् येषाम् इति । अतएव उपनिषत् आत्म-ज्ञानं सैव दृक् चक्षुर् येषां तेषाम् अपि हि निश्चितम् । अस्पृष्ट-भूर्-माहात्म्याः न स्पृष्टं स्पर्श-योग्यं भूरि-माहात्म्यं येषां ते तथा-भूताः सर्वे व्यदृश्यन्तेति । इत्य् एषा । अत्र मात्र-पदं तद्-वर्णादीनां स्वरूपान्तरङ्ग-धर्मत्वं बोधयति । न ह्य् अत्रापरस्मिन्न् अर्थे मूर्ति-शब्दः केवलात्म-पर इति स्वामिनः श्री- शुक-देवस्य वा मतम्, लक्षणायाः कष्ट-कल्पनामयत्वात् । अस्पृष्टेत्य् अत्र अस्पृष्टेति भूरि-माहात्म्येति अपीति उपनिषद्-दृग् इति पद-चतुष्टयस्यैव व्यस्तस्य समस्तस्य च स्वारस्य-भङ्ग-प्रसङ्गात् उक्त-प्रकारानुरोधात् तेऽचक्षताक्ष-विषयं स्व-समाधि-भाग्यम् इत्य् अद्य्-उदाहरिष्यमाणानुसारात् [भ्प् ३.१५.३८] स्व-सुखेत्य् आदि [भ्प् १२.१२.६८] श्री-शुक-हृदय-विरोधाच् च । अतएव विशुद्ध-विज्ञान-घनं [भ्प् १०.३७.२०] विशुद्ध-ज्ञान-मूर्तये [भ्प् १०.२७.२१] त्वय्य् एव नित्य-सुख-बोध-तनाव् [भ्प् १०.१४.२२] इत्य् आदि वाक्यानि च न लाक्षणिकतया कदर्थनीयानि । तथैव आनन्द-मूर्तिम् उपगुह्य दृशात्म-लब्धम् इत्य् आदौ [भ्प् १०.४१.२५] दोर्भ्यां स्तनान्तरगतं परिरभ्य कान्तम् आनन्द-मूर्तिम् अजहाद् अतिदीर्घतापम् । इत्य् आदौ [भ्प् १०.४८.६] च दर्शनालिङ्गनाब्याम् अन्यार्थत्वं व्यवच्छिद्यते । उक्तं च महावाराहे -- सर्वे नित्याः शाश्वताश् च देहास् तस्य परात्मनः । हेयोपादेय-रहिता नैव प्रकृतिजाः क्वचित् ॥ परमानन्द-सन्दोहा ज्ञान-मात्राश् च सर्वतः । देह-देहि-भिदा चात्र नेश्वरे विद्यते क्वचित् ॥ इति ॥ १०.१३ ॥ श्री-शुकः ॥५७॥
[56] tathaiva ca -- rūpaṃ yat tad ity ādau sa tvaṃ sākṣād viṣṇur adhyātma-dīpaḥ [BhP 10.3.24] iti |[*ENDNOTE #15] yat tat kim api rūpaṃ vastu prāhur vedāḥ | kiṃ tad vastu, tad āha avyaktam ity ādi | evambhūtaṃ kim api kārya-kalpaṃ vastu yat sa eva sākṣād aiṣi- gocaras tvaṃ viṣṇur iti | tathā ca pādme nirmāṇa-khaṇḍe śrī-bhagavantaṃ prati śrī-veda-vyāsa-vākyam --- tvām ahaṃ draṣṭum icchāmi cakṣurbhyāṃ madhusūdana | yat tat satyaṃ paraṃ brahma jagad-yoniṃ jagat-patim | vadanti veda-śirasaś cākṣuṣaṃ nātha me'stu tad || iti | tatra hetuḥ adhyātma-dīpaḥ dehi tat-kāraṇa-kārya-saṅgha- prakāśakatvenāvabhāsana ity arthaḥ | evambhūtasya na tava bhaya-śaṅketi bhāvaḥ | ity eṣa prakaraṇānurūpaḥ śrī-svāmi-darśita-bhāvārtho'pi śrī- vigraha-para eva | anyatra bhaya-sambhāvanānutpatteḥ || 10.3 śrī-devakī śrībhagavantam ||56|| [57] atas tad-aṃśānām api tādṛśatvam āha - satya-jñānānantānanda- mātraika-rasa-mūrtayaḥ | aspṛṣṭa-bhūri-māhātmyā api hy upaniṣad-dṛśām || [BhP 10.13.54] ṭīkā ca - sarveṣāṃ mūrtimattve'py aviśeṣam āha satya-jñāneti | satyāś ca jñāna-rūpāś ca anantāś ca ānanda-rūpāś ca | tatrāpi tad-eka-mātrā vijātīya- sambheda-rahitāḥ | tatrāpi ca eka-rasāḥ sadaikarūpā mūrtayo yeṣāṃ te | yad vā satya-jñānādi-mātraika-rasaṃ yad brahma tad eva mūrtir yeṣām iti | ataeva upaniṣat ātma-jñānaṃ saiva dṛk cakṣur yeṣāṃ teṣām api hi niścitam | aspṛṣṭa-bhūr-māhātmyāḥ na spṛṣṭaṃ sparśa-yogyaṃ bhūri-māhātmyaṃ yeṣāṃ te tathā-bhūtāḥ sarve vyadṛśyanteti | ity eṣā | atra mātra-padaṃ tad-varṇādīnāṃ svarūpāntaraṅga-dharmatvaṃ bodhayati | na hy atrāparasminn arthe mūrti-śabdaḥ kevalātma-para iti svāminaḥ śrī- śuka-devasya vā matam, lakṣaṇāyāḥ kaṣṭa-kalpanāmayatvāt | aspṛṣṭety atra aspṛṣṭeti bhūri-māhātmyeti apīti upaniṣad-dṛg iti pada-catuṣṭayasyaiva vyastasya samastasya ca svārasya-bhaṅga-prasaṅgāt ukta-prakārānurodhāt te'cakṣatākṣa-viṣayaṃ sva-samādhi-bhāgyam ity ady-udāhariṣyamāṇānusārāt [BhP 3.15.38] sva-sukhety ādi [BhP 12.12.68] śrī-śuka-hṛdaya-virodhāc ca | ataeva viśuddha-vijñāna-ghanaṃ [BhP 10.37.20] viśuddha-jñāna-mūrtaye [BhP 10.27.21] tvayy eva nitya-sukha-bodha-tanāv [BhP 10.14.22] ity ādi vākyāni ca na lākṣaṇikatayā kadarthanīyāni | tathaiva ānanda-mūrtim upaguhya dṛśātma-labdham ity ādau [BhP 10.41.25] dorbhyāṃ stanāntaragataṃ parirabhya kāntam ānanda-mūrtim ajahād atidīrghatāpam | ity ādau [BhP 10.48.6] ca darśanāliṅganābyām anyārthatvaṃ vyavacchidyate | uktaṃ ca mahāvārāhe -- sarve nityāḥ śāśvatāś ca dehās tasya parātmanaḥ | heyopādeya-rahitā naiva prakṛtijāḥ kvacit || paramānanda-sandohā jñāna-mātrāś ca sarvataḥ | deha-dehi-bhidā cātra neśvare vidyate kvacit || iti || 10.13 || śrī-śukaḥ ||57||
English translation
English witness · section(s) 50
Anuccheda 50
1 The Vedas sometimes say the Supreme Personality of Godhead has neither name nor form, and other times say He does have a name and form. In this dispute the following conclusion is given (Srimad Bhagavatam 6.4.31): “The two parties - namely the theists and the atheists. The theist, who accepts the Supersoul, finds the spiritual cause through mystic yoga. The Sankhyite, however, who merely analyses the material elements, comes to a conclusion of impersonalism and does not accept a supreme cause - whether Bhagavan, Paramatma or even Brahma. Instead, he is preoccupied with the superfluous , external activities of material nature. Ultimately, however, both parties demonstrate the Absolute Truth because although they offer opposing statements, their object is the same ultimate cause. They are both approaching the same Supreme Brahman, to whom I offer my respectful obeisances.”* 2 This verse says there are two parties of philosophers. Some Vedic literatures recommend worship of the gigantic Universal Form of the Personality of Godhead. In this view the entire universe is the form of the Lord. The lower planetary system is His lotus feet, and various other parts of the universe correspond to various parts of the gigantic body of the Lord. In this conception the names of various objects, such as a pitcher, a piece of cloth, etc. may be considered names of the Supreme Lord because the entire universe is nothing but the Lord’s gigantic body. This view, which accepts that the Lord has a form and name, is referred to in this verse as the party that says ‘asti’ (there is a form and name of the Lord). The second party follows the speculative scriptures of sankhya philosophy, which asserts that the Lord has neither name nor form. According to these sankhyites, the Universal Form is an imagination, for the Supreme Personality of Godhead does not have a material form or name. This second party is identified by the phrase ‘nasti’ (there is no form or name of the Lord.) 3 Although these views seem to contradict each other, both are supported by the preceding statements of Srimad Bhagavatam. Examples of quotations supporting each view follow: “The Personality of Godhead manifests the entire universe as His form. He may be addressed by various spiritual names, which are inconceivable to the material senses. When will that Supreme Personality of Godhead be pleased with me?”* Srimad Bhagavatam 6.4.28 “Anything expressed by material vibrations, anything ascertained by material intelligence and anything experienced by the material senses or concocted within the material mind is but an effect of the modes of nature and therefore has nothing to do with the real nature of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Supreme Lord is beyond the creation of this material world, for He is the source of the material qualities and creation. As the cause of all causes, He exists before the creation. I wish to offer my respectful obeisances unto Him.”* Srimad Bhagavatam 6.4.29 4 Someone may object: “In this verse (Srimad Bhagavatam 6.4.31) the different views of the theists and atheistic sankhyites are described. Do these two parties not perceive two different objects? I think that is the proper way to understand their disagreement.” To this objection I reply: This verse clearly explains that these two parties perceive the same object (eka-sthayoh). The Supreme has no material form, and therefore one party proclaims that the Supreme has no form or name. At the same time the Supreme does have a spiritual form and name, and therefore another party proclaims that the Supreme has a form and name. In this way there is no real difference of opinion among the transcendentalists in this matter, and there is no real contradiction in what at first may appear contradictory statements of the Vedas. 5 This seeming difference of opinion about the nature of the Supreme is also resolved by the following statement of Maharaja Dhruva, who describes the non-material nature of the form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead in the following words (Srimad Bhagavatam 4.9.13): “My dear Lord, O Supreme Unborn, I know that the different varieties of living entities, such as animals, trees, birds, reptiles, demigods and human beings, are spread throughout the universe, which is caused by the total material energy, and I know that they are sometimes manifest and sometimes unmanifest; but I have never experienced the supreme form I behold as I see You now. Now all kinds of methods of theorising have come to an end.”* 6 The word ‘rupam’ (form) and its relation to the two views of the nature of the Lord (as with and without name and form), is described in Visnu Purana: “O King, the Supreme Godhead has a form , and at the same time He has no form. He is simultaneously immanent and transcendent.” In the previously quoted statement of Dhruva Maharaja the words ‘atah param’ refer to the four-armed forms of Lord Narayana and other forms of the Supreme Lord. The words ‘na vedmi’ mean ‘I have never experienced the supreme form I behold as I see You now.” 7 That the Personality of Godhead has no material names and forms because all His names and forms are spiritual is also described in the following statement of Srimad Bhagavatam (6.4.33): “The Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is inconceivably opulent, who is devoid of all material names, forms and pastimes, and who is all-pervading, is especially merciful to the devotees who worship His lotus feet. Thus He exhibits transcendental forms and names with His different pastimes. May that Supreme Personality of Godhead, whose form is eternal and full of knowledge and bliss, be merciful to me.”* 8 This verse explains that the Supreme Personality of Godhead, although He is devoid of all material names, forms, and pastimes, nevertheless exhibits transcendental forms and names (namani rupani ca bheje) with His transcendental birth (janma) and different pastimes (karmabhih). The faulty reasoning of they who insist that the Supreme has no names or forms at all is refuted in this verse by the use of the word ‘ananta’ (unlimited), for if the Supreme Godhead has no form, names, qualities, or pastimes then His power to act is certainly sharply curtailed. Because His power is unlimited (ananta), He is the full possessor of innumerable transcendental forms, names, qualities and pastimes. 9 The unlimited forms, names and opulences of the Supreme Personality of Godhead are described by the Pracetas in the following words (Srimad Bhagavatam 4.30.31): “Dear Lord, we shall therefore pray for Your benediction because You are the Supreme beyond all transcendence and because there is no end to Your opulences. Consequently You are celebrated by the name Ananta.”* 10 Because the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the origin of innumerable transcendental forms, names, qualities and pastimes, He is known as ‘Bhagavan’, the possessor (van) of the opulences (bhaga) that are His potencies. His potencies are not an illusion (maya). They are described by the word ‘parama’, which means ‘the supreme (para) opulence (ma)’. Any other interpretation of these words would contradict the truth that the Lord is transcendental and supreme. 11 That the form and attributes of the Supreme Personality of Godhead are not a product of the illusory material energy maya is confirmed by the Vedic literatures: “The Supreme Personality of Godhead is full of all powers and opulences. Because He is beyond the influence of the material energy maya, the saintly devotees know that He is the Supreme.” 12 At this point someone may object: “The devotees argue that the Supreme has spiritual but not material forms and names. Why should we take these devotees as authorities? Why should the opinion of the devotees be taken with such seriousness?” Considering that someone might raise such an objection, the Srimad Bhagavatam glorifies the devotees in the following words (6.4.33, quoted previously): “Supreme Personality of Godhead is especially merciful to the devotees who worship His lotus feet.”* The conclusion should be that the Supreme Personality of Godhead does not reveal Himself as fully to the yogis and sankhya philosophers as He does to the devotees. This is also confirmed by the following statement of the Mathara-sruti (as quoted in Sripada Madhvacarya’s commentary on Vedanta-sutra 3.3.54): “Devotional service enables one to see the Supreme Personality of Godhead.” In this way we may understand that the debate over whether the Supreme has a form, name and senses does not have any real meaning. That the Supreme Personality of Godhead is very affectionate to His devotees is also confirmed by the following statement of Srimad Bhagavatam (6.4.35-36): 13 “The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Hari, who is extremely affectionate to His devotees, was very pleased by the prayers offered by Daksa, and thus He appeared at that holy place known as Aghamarsana. O Maharaja Pariksit, best of the Kuru dynasty, the Lord’s lotus feet rested on the shoulders of His carrier Garuda, and He appeared with eight long mighty, very beautiful arms.”* 14 By saying “The Supreme Personality of Godhead exhibits (bheje) transcendental names and forms with His different pastimes”, this verse (6.4.33) confirms the fact that the Supreme Godhead has innumerable forms, names, and qualities. That the Lord’s form is eternal is confirmed by the following statement of Maha-Narayana Upanisad (5.10): “The supremely pure lotus feet of the Lord are eternal and have existed since time immemorial.” Because the Supreme Lord is identified as ‘ananta’ (unlimited) in this verse (6.4.33), it should be understood that His names and forms are also unlimited. That the Lord has spiritual but not material senses is also confirmed by Sridhara Svami who comments: “The statement in this verse that the Supreme Godhead has neither names nor forms should be taken to mean that He does not have material names or forms.”