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sthitih—the right situation; vaikuntha-vijayah—the victory of the Lord of Vaikuntha; posanam—maintenance; tat-anugrahah—His causeless mercy; manvantarani—the reign of the Manus; sat-dharmah—perfect occupational duty; utayah—impetus to work; karma-vasanah—desire for fruitive work.

The right situation for the living entities is to obey the laws of the Lord and thus be in perfect peace of mind under the protection of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Manus and their laws are meant to give right direction in life. The impetus for activity is the desire for fruitive work.

This material world is created, maintained for some time, and again annihilated by the will of the Lord. The ingredients for creation and the subordinate creator, Brahma, are first created by Lord Visnu in His first and second incarnations. The first purusa incarnation is Maha-Visnu, and the second purusa incarnation is the Garbhodakasayi Visnu, from whom Brahma is created. The third purusa avatara is the Ksirodakasayi Visnu, who lives as the Supersoul of everything in the universe and maintains the creation generated by Brahma. Siva is one of the many sons of Brahma, and he annihilates the creation. Therefore the original creator of the universe is Visnu, and He is also the maintainer of the created beings by His causeless mercy. As such, it is the duty of all conditioned souls to acknowledge the victory of the Lord and thus become pure devotees and live peacefully in this world, where miseries and dangers are always in existence. The conditioned souls, who take this material creation as the place for satisfaction of the senses and thus are illusioned by the external energy of Visnu, remain again to be subjected to the laws of material nature, creation and destruction.

In the Bhagavad-gita it is said that beginning from the topmost planet of this universe down to the lowest planet, Patalaloka, all are destructible, and the conditioned souls may travel in space either by good or bad work or by modern spacecraft, but they are sure to die everywhere, although the duration of life in different planets is different. The only means to attain eternal life is to go back home, back to Godhead, where there is no more rebirth as in the material planets. The conditioned souls, being unaware of this very simple fact because of forgetting their relationship with the Lord of Vaikuntha, try to plan out a permanent life in this material world. Being illusioned by the external energy, they thus become engaged in various types of economic and religious development, forgetting that they are meant for going back home, back to Godhead. This forgetfulness is so strong due to the influence of maya that the conditioned souls do not at all want to go back to Godhead. By sense enjoyment they become victims of birth and death repeatedly and thus spoil human lives which are chances for going back to Visnu. The directive scriptures made by the Manus in different ages and millenniums are called sad-dharma, good guidance for the human beings, who should take advantage of all the revealed scriptures for their own interest, to make life’s successful termination. The creation is not false, but it is a temporary manifestation just to give a chance for the conditioned souls to go back to Godhead. The desire to go back to Godhead and functions performed in that direction form the right path of work. When such a regulative path is accepted, the Lord gives all protection to His devotees by His causeless mercy, while the nondevotees risk their own activities to bind themselves in a chain of fruitive reactions. The word sad-dharma is significant in this connection. Sad-dharma, or duty performed for going back to Godhead and thus becoming His unalloyed devotee, is the only pious activity; all others may pretend to be pious, but actually they are not. It is for this reason only that the Lord advises in the Bhagavad-gita that one give up all so-called religious activities and completely engage in the devotional service of the Lord to become free from all anxieties due to the dangerous life of material existence. To work situated in sad-dharma is the right direction of life. One’s aim of life should be to go back home, back to Godhead, and not be subjected to repeated births and deaths in the material world by getting good or bad bodies for temporary existence. Herein lies the intelligence of human life, and one should desire the activities of life in that way.

SB2.10.5

TEXT 5

avataranucaritam

hares casyanuvartinam

pumsam isa-kathah prokta

nanakhyanopabrmhitah

avatara—incarnation of Godhead; anucaritam—activities; hareh—of the Personality of Godhead; ca—also; asya—of His; anuvartinam—followers; pumsam—of the persons; isa-kathah—the science of God; proktah—is said; nana—various; akhyana—narrations; upabrmhitah—described.

The science of God describes the incarnations of the Personality of Godhead and His different activities together with the activities of His great devotees.

During the course of the existence of the cosmic manifestation, the chronology of history is created, recording the activities of the living entities. People in general have a tendency to learn the history and narrations of different men and times, but due to a lack of knowledge in the science of Godhead, they are not apt to study the history of the incarnations of the Personality of Godhead. It should always be remembered that the material creation is created for the salvation of the conditioned souls. The merciful Lord, out of His causeless mercy, descends to various planets in the material world and acts for the salvation of the conditioned souls. That makes the history and narrations worth reading. Srimad-Bhagavatam offers such transcendental topics of the Lord in relationship with great devotees. Therefore the topics of the devotees and the Lord are to be given respectful aural reception.

SB2.10.6

TEXT 6

nirodho ’syanusayanam

atmanah saha saktibhih

muktir hitvanyatha rupam

sva-rupena vyavasthitih

nirodhah—the winding up of the cosmic manifestation; asya—of His; anusayanam—the lying down of the purusa incarnation Maha-Visnu in mystic slumber; atmanah—of the living entities; saha—along with; saktibhih—with the energies; muktih—liberation; hitva—giving up; anyatha—otherwise; rupam—form; sva-rupena—in constitutional form; vyavasthitih—permanent situation.

The merging of the living entity, along with his conditional living tendency, with the mystic lying down of the Maha-Visnu is called the winding up of the cosmic manifestation. Liberation is the permanent situation of the form of the living entity after he gives up the changeable gross and subtle material bodies.

As we have discussed several times, there are two types of living entities. Most of them are ever liberated, or nitya-muktas, while some of them are ever conditioned. The ever-conditioned souls are apt to develop a mentality of lording over the material nature, and therefore the material cosmic creation is manifested to give the ever-conditioned souls two kinds of facilities. One facility is that the conditioned soul can act according to his tendency to lord it over the cosmic manifestation, and the other facility gives the conditioned soul a chance to come back to Godhead. So after the winding up of the cosmic manifestation, most of the conditioned souls merge into the existence of the Maha-Visnu Personality of Godhead, lying in His mystic slumber, to be created again in the next creation. But some of the conditioned souls, who follow the transcendental sound in the form of Vedic literatures and are thus able to go back to Godhead, attain spiritual and original bodies after quitting the conditional gross and subtle material bodies. The material conditional bodies develop out of the living entities’ forgetfulness of their relationship with Godhead, and during the course of the cosmic manifestation, the conditioned souls are given a chance to revive their original status of life with the help of revealed scriptures, so mercifully compiled by the Lord in His different incarnations. Reading or hearing of such transcendental literatures helps one become liberated even in the conditional state of material existence. All the Vedic literatures aim at devotional service to the Personality of Godhead, and as soon as one is fixed upon this point, he at once becomes liberated from conditional life. The material gross and subtle forms are simply due to the conditioned soul’s ignorance and as soon as he is fixed in the devotional service of the Lord, he becomes eligible to be freed from the conditioned state. This devotional service is transcendental attraction for the Supreme on account of His being the source of all pleasing humors. Everyone is after some pleasure of humor for enjoyment, but does not know the supreme source of all attraction (raso vai sah rasam hy evayam labdhvanandi bhavati). The Vedic hymns inform everyone about the supreme source of all pleasure; the unlimited fountainhead of all pleasure is the Personality of Godhead, and one who is fortunate enough to get this information through transcendental literatures like Srimad-Bhagavatam becomes permanently liberated to occupy his proper place in the kingdom of God.

SB2.10.7

TEXT 7

abhasas ca nirodhas ca

yato ’sty adhyavasiyate

sa asrayah param brahma

paramatmeti sabdyate

abhasah—the cosmic manifestation; ca—and; nirodhah—and its winding up; ca—also; yatah—from the source; asti—is; adhyavasiyate—become manifested; sah—He; asrayah—reservoir; param—the Supreme; brahma—Being; paramatma—the Supersoul; iti—thus; sabdyate—called.

The supreme one who is celebrated as the Supreme Being or the Supreme Soul is the supreme source of the cosmic manifestation as well as its reservoir and winding up. Thus He is the Supreme Fountainhead, the Absolute Truth.

yo ’dhyatmiko ’yam purusah

Synonyms for the supreme source of all energies, as explained in the very beginning of the Srimad-Bhagavatam, are janmady asya yatah [Bhag. 1.1.1], vadanti tat tattva-vidas tattvam yaj jnanam advayam/ brahmeti paramatmeti bhagavan iti sabdyate, called Parambrahma, Paramatma or Bhagavan. The word iti used here in this verse completes the synonyms and thus indicates Bhagavan. This will be further explained in the later verses, but this Bhagavan ultimately means Lord Krsna because the Srimad-Bhagavatam has already accepted the Supreme Personality of Godhead as Krsna. Krsnas tu bhagavan svayam. The original source of all energies, or the summum bonum, is the Absolute Truth, which is called Parambrahma, etc., and Bhagavan is the last word of the Absolute Truth. But even with the synonyms for Bhagavan, such as Narayana, Visnu and Purusa, the last word is Krsna, as confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita: aham sarvasya prabhavo mattah samam pravartate [Bg. 10.8], etc. Besides that, the Srimad-Bhagavatam is the representation of Lord Krsna as a sound incarnation of the Lord.

krsne sva-dhamopagate
dharma-jnanadibhih saha
kalau nasta-drsam esah
puranarko ’dhunoditah

(Bhag. 1.3.43)

Thus by general conclusion Lord Krsna is the ultimate source of all energies, and the word Krsna means that. And to explain Krsna or the science of Krsna, the Srimad-Bhagavatam has been prepared. In the First Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam this truth is indicated in the questions and answers by Suta Gosvami and great sages like Saunaka, and in the First and Second Chapters of the canto this is explained. In the Third Chapter this subject is more explicit, and in the Fourth Chapter even more explicit. In the Second Canto the Absolute Truth as the personality of Godhead is further emphasized, and the indication is the Supreme Lord Krsna. The summary of Srimad-Bhagavatam in four verses, as we have already discussed, is succinct. This Supreme Personality of Godhead in the ultimate issue is confirmed by Brahma in his Brahma-samhita as isvarah paramah krsnah sac-cid-ananda-vigrahah [Bs. 5.1]. So it is concluded in the Third Canto of the Srimad-Bhagavatam. The complete subject matter is elaborately explained in the Tenth and Eleventh Cantos of the Srimad-Bhagavatam. In the matter of the changes of the Manus or manvantaras, such as the Svayambhuva-manvantara and Caksusa-manvantara, as they are discussed in the Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Cantos of Srimad-Bhagavatam, Lord Krsna is indicated. In the Eighth Canto the Vaivasvata-manvantara explains the same subject indirectly, and in the Ninth Canto the same purport is there. In the Twelfth Canto the same is further explained, specifically regarding the different incarnations of the Lord. Thus it is concluded by studying the complete Srimad-Bhagavatam that Lord Sri Krsna is the ultimate summum bonum, or the ultimate source of all energy. And according to the grades of worshipers, the indications of the nomenclature may be differently explained as Narayana, Brahma, Paramatma, etc.

SB2.10.8

TEXT 8

so ’sav evadhidaivikah

yas tatrobhaya-vicchedah

puruso hy adhibhautikah

yah—one who; adhyatmikah—is possessed of the sense organs; ayam—this; purusah—personality; sah—he; asau—that; eva—also; adhidaivikah—controlling deity; yah—that which; tatra—there; ubhaya—of both; vicchedah—separation; purusah—person; hi—for; adhibhautikah—the visible body or the embodied living entity.

The individual person possessing different instruments of senses is called the adhyatmic person, and the individual controlling deity of the senses is called adhidaivic. The embodiment seen on the eyeballs is called the adhibhautic person.

The supreme controlling summum bonum is the personality of Godhead in His plenary portion of Paramatma, or the Supersoul manifestation. In the Bhagavad-gita (10.42) it is said:

athava bahunaitena
kim jnatena tavarjuna
vistabhyaham idam krtsnam
ekamsena sthito jagat

All the controlling deities like Visnu, Brahma and Siva are different manifestations of the Paramatma feature of the Supreme Personality of Godhead Sri Krsna, who exhibits himself in such manners by entering into each and every universe generated from Him. But still apparently there are divisions of the controller and controlled. For example, in the food-controlling department the controller of food is a person made of the same ingredients as the person who is controlled. Similarly, each and every individual in the material world is controlled by the higher demigods. For example, we have our senses, but the senses are controlled by superior controlling deities. We cannot see without light, and the supreme controller of light is the sun. The sun-god is in the sun planet, and we, the individual human beings or any other being on this earth, are all controlled by the sun-god as far as our eyes are concerned. Similarly, all the senses we have are controlled by the superior demigods, who are also as much living entities as we are, but one is empowered while the other is controlled. The controlled living entity is called the adhyatmic person, and the controller is called the adhidaivic person. All these positions in the material world are due to different fruitive activities. Any individual living being can become the sun-god or even Brahma or any other god in the upper planetary system by a higher grade of pious work, and similarly one becomes controlled by the higher demigods by lower grades of fruitive activities. So every individual living entity is subject to the supreme control of the Paramatma, who puts everyone in different positions of the controller and the controlled.

That which distinguishes the controller and controlled, i.e. the material body, is called the adhibhautic purusa. The body is sometimes called purusa, as confirmed in the Vedas in the following hymn: sa va esa puruso ’nna-rasamayah. This body is called the anna-rasa embodiment. This body depends on food. The living entity which is embodied does not eat anything, however, because the owner is spirit in essence. The material body requires replacement of matter for the wearing and tearing of the mechanical body. Therefore the distinction between the individual living entity and controlling planetary deities is in the anna-rasamaya body. The sun may have a gigantic body, and the man may have a smaller body, but all these visible bodies are made of matter; nonetheless, the sun-god and the individual person, who are related as the controller and the controlled, are the same spiritual parts and parcels of the Supreme Being, and it is the Supreme Being who places different parts and parcels in different positions. And thus the conclusion is that the Supreme Person is the shelter of all.

tritayam tatra yo veda

sa atma svasrayasrayah

ekam—one; ekatara—another; abhave—in the absence of; yada—because; na—does not; upalabhamahe—perceptible; tritayam—in three stages; tatra—there; yah—the one; veda—who knows; sah—he; atma—the Supersoul; sva—own; asraya—shelter; asrayah—of the shelter.

All three of the above-mentioned stages of different living entities are interdependent. In the absence of one, another is not understood. But the Supreme Being who sees every one of them as the shelter of the shelter is independent of all, and therefore He is the supreme shelter.

apo ’sraksic chucih sucih

There are innumerable living entities, one dependent on the other in the relationship of the controlled and the controller. But without the medium of perception, no one can know or understand who is the controlled and who is the controller. For example, the sun controls the power of our vision, we can see the sun because the sun has its body, and the sunlight is useful only because we have eyes. Without our having eyes, the sunlight is useless, and without sunlight the eyes are useless. Thus they are interdependent, and none of them is independent. Therefore the natural question arises concerning who made them interdependent. The one who has made such a relationship of interdependence must be ultimately completely independent. As stated in the beginning of the Srimad-Bhagavatam, the ultimate source of all interdependent objectives is the complete independent subject. This ultimate source of all interdependence is the Supreme Truth or Paramatma, the Supersoul, who is not dependent on anything else. He is svasrayasrayah. He is only dependent on His self, and thus He is the supreme shelter of everything. Although Paramatma and Brahman are subordinate to Bhagavan, because Bhagavan is Purusottama or the Superperson, He is the source of the Supersoul also. In the Bhagavad-gita (15.18) Lord Krsna says that He is the Purusottama and the source of everything, and thus it is concluded that Sri Krsna is the ultimate source and shelter of all entities, including the Supersoul and Supreme Brahman. Even accepting that there is no difference between the Supersoul and the individual soul, the individual soul is dependent on the Supersoul for being liberated from the illusion of material energy. The individual is under the clutches of illusory energy, and therefore although qualitatively one with the Supersoul, he is under the illusion of identifying himself with matter. And to get out of this illusory conception of factual life, the individual soul has to depend on the Supersoul to be recognized as one with Him. In that sense also the Supersoul is the supreme shelter. And there is no doubt about it.

The individual living entity, the jiva, is always dependent on the Supersoul, Paramatma, because the individual soul forgets his spiritual identity whereas the Supersoul, Paramatma, does not forget His transcendental position. In the Bhagavad-gita these separate positions of the jiva-atma and the Paramatma are specifically mentioned. In the Fourth Chapter, Arjuna, the jiva soul, is represented as forgetful of his many, many previous births, but the Lord, the Supersoul, is not forgetful. The Lord even remembers when He taught the Bhagavad-gita to the sun-god some billions of years before. The Lord can remember such millions and billions of years, as stated in the Bhagavad-gita (7.26) as follows:

vedaham samatitani
vartamanani carjuna
bhavisyani ca bhutani
mam tu veda na kascana

The Lord in His eternal blissful body of knowledge is fully aware of all that happened in the past, that which is going on at the present and also what will happen in the future. But in spite of His being the shelter of both the Paramatma and Brahman, persons with a poor fund of knowledge are unable to understand Him as He is.

The propaganda of the identity of cosmic consciousness with the consciousness of the individual living entities is completely misleading because even such a person or individual soul as Arjuna could not remember his past deeds, although he is always with the Lord. And what can the tiny ordinary man, falsely claiming to be one with the cosmic consciousness, know about his past, present and future?

SB2.10.10

TEXT 10

puruso ’ndam vinirbhidya

yadasau sa vinirgatah

atmano ’yanam anvicchann

purusah—the Supreme Person, Paramatma; andam—the universes; vinirbhidya—making them each separately situated; yada—when; asau—the same; sah—He (the Lord); vinirgatah—came out; atmanah—of Himself; ayanam—lying in place; anvicchan—desiring; apah—water; asraksit—created; sucih—the most pure; sucih—transcendental.

After separating the different universes, the gigantic universal form of the Lord [Maha-Visnu], which came out of the causal ocean, the place of appearance for the first purusa-avatara, entered into each of the separate universes, desiring to lie on the created transcendental water [Garbhodaka].