Srimad-Bhagavatam: Canto 2: “The Cosmic Manifestation”
by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Chapter Four
SB2.4.18
TEXT 18
kirata-hunandhra-pulinda-pulkasa
abhira-sumbha yavanah khasadayah
ye ’nye ca papa yad-apasrayasrayah
sudhyanti tasmai prabhavisnave namah
SYNONYMS
kirata—a province of old Bharata; huna—part of Germany and Russia; andhra—a province of southern India; pulinda—the Greeks; pulkasah—another province; abhira—part of old Sind; sumbhah—another province; yavanah—the Turks; khasa-adayah—the Mongolian province; ye—even those; anye—others; ca—also; papah—addicted to sinful acts; yat—whose; apasraya-asrayah—having taken shelter of the devotees of the Lord; sudhyanti—at once purified; tasmai—unto Him; prabhavisnave—unto the powerful Visnu; namah—my respectful obeisances.
TRANSLATION
Kirata, Huna, Andhra, Pulinda, Pulkasa, Abhira, Sumbha, Yavana, members of the Khasa races and even others addicted to sinful acts can be purified by taking shelter of the devotees of the Lord, due to His being the supreme power. I beg to offer my respectful obeisances unto Him.
PURPORT
Kirata: A province of old Bharata-varsa mentioned in the Bhisma-parva of Mahabharata. Generally the Kiratas are known as the aboriginal tribes of India, and in modern days the Santal Parganas in Bihar and Chota Nagpur might comprise the old province named Kirata.
Huna: The area of East Germany and part of Russia is known as the province of the Hunas. Accordingly, sometimes a kind of hill tribe is known as the Hunas.
Andhra: A province in southern India mentioned in the Bhisma-parva of Mahabharata. It is still extant under the same name.
Pulinda: It is mentioned in the Mahabharata (Adi-parva 174.38), viz., the inhabitants of the province of the name Pulinda. This country was conquered by Bhimasena and Sahadeva. The Greeks are known as Pulindas, and it is mentioned in the Vana-parva of Mahabharata that the non-Vedic race of this part of the world would rule over the world. This Pulinda province was also one of the provinces of Bharata, and the inhabitants were classified amongst the ksatriya kings. But later on, due to their giving up the brahminical culture, they were mentioned as mlecchas (just as those who are not followers of the Islamic culture are called kafirs and those who are not followers of the Christian culture are called heathens).
Abhira: This name also appears in the Mahabharata, both in the Sabha-parva and Bhisma-parva. It is mentioned that this province was situated on the River Sarasvati in Sind. The modern Sind province formerly extended on the other side of the Arabian Sea, and all the inhabitants of that province were known as the Abhiras. They were under the domination of Maharaja Yudhisthira, and according to the statements of Markandeya the mlecchas of this part of the world would also rule over Bharata. Later on this proved to be true, as in the case of the Pulindas. On behalf of the Pulindas, Alexander the Great conquered India, and on behalf of the Abhiras, Muhammad Ghori conquered India. These Abhiras were also formerly ksatriyas within the brahminical culture, but they gave up the connection. The ksatriyas who were afraid of Parasurama and had hidden themselves in the Caucasian hilly regions later on became known as the Abhiras, and the place they inhabited was known as Abhiradesa.
Sumbhas or Kankas: The inhabitants of the Kanka province of old Bharata, mentioned in the Mahabharata.
Yavanas: Yavana was the name of one of the sons of Maharaja Yayati who was given the part of the world known as Turkey to rule. Therefore the Turks are Yavanas due to being descendants of Maharaja Yavana. The Yavanas were therefore ksatriyas, and later on, by giving up the brahminical culture, they became mleccha-yavanas. Descriptions of the Yavanas are in the Mahabharata (Adi-parva 85.34). Another prince called Turvasu was also known as Yavana, and his country was conquered by Sahadeva, one of the Pandavas. The western Yavana joined with Duryodhana in the Battle of Kuruksetra under the pressure of Karna. It is also foretold that these Yavanas also would conquer India, and it proved to be true.
Khasa: The inhabitants of the Khasadesa are mentioned in the Mahabharata (Drona-parva). Those who have a stunted growth of hair on the upper lip are generally called Khasas. As such, the Khasa are the Mongolians, the Chinese and others who are so designated.
The above-mentioned historical names are different nations of the world. Even those who are constantly engaged in sinful acts are all corrigible to the standard of perfect human beings if they take shelter of the devotees of the Lord. Jesus Christ and Muhammad, two powerful devotees of the Lord, have done tremendous service on behalf of the Lord on the surface of the globe. And from the version of Srila Sukadeva Gosvami it appears that instead of running a godless civilization in the present context of the world situation, if the leadership of world affairs is entrusted to the devotees of the Lord, for which a worldwide organization under the name and style of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness has already been started, then by the grace of the Almighty Lord there can be a thorough change of heart in human beings all over the world because the devotees of the Lord are able authorities to effect such a change by purifying the dust-worn minds of the people in general. The politicians of the world may remain in their respective positions because the pure devotees of the Lord are not interested in political leadership or diplomatic implications. The devotees are interested only in seeing that the people in general are not misguided by political propaganda and in seeing that the valuable life of a human being is not spoiled in following a type of civilization which is ultimately doomed. If the politicians, therefore, would be guided by the good counsel of the devotees, then certainly there would be a great change in the world situation by the purifying propaganda of the devotees, as shown by Lord Caitanya. As Sukadeva Gosvami began his prayer by discussing the word yat-kirtanam, so also Lord Caitanya recommended that simply by glorifying the Lord’s holy name, a tremendous change of heart can take place by which the complete misunderstanding between the human nations created by politicians can at once be extinguished. And after the extinction of the fire of misunderstanding, other profits will follow. The destination is to go back home, back to Godhead, as we have several times discussed in these pages.
According to the cult of devotion, generally known as the Vaisnava cult, there is no bar against anyone’s advancing in the matter of God realization. A Vaisnava is powerful enough to turn into a Vaisnava even the Kirata, etc., as above mentioned. In the Bhagavad-gita (9.32) it is said by the Lord that there is no bar to becoming a devotee of the Lord (even for those who are lowborn, or women, sudras or vaisyas), and by becoming a devotee everyone is eligible to return home, back to Godhead. The only qualification is that one take shelter of a pure devotee of the Lord who has thorough knowledge in the transcendental science of Krsna (Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam). Anyone from any part of the world who becomes well conversant in the science of Krsna becomes a pure devotee and a spiritual master for the general mass of people and may reclaim them by purification of heart. Though a person be even the most sinful man, he can at once be purified by systematic contact with a pure Vaisnava. A Vaisnava, therefore, can accept a bona fide disciple from any part of the world without any consideration of caste and creed and promote him by regulative principles to the status of a pure Vaisnava who is transcendental to brahminical culture. The system of caste, or varnasrama-dharma, is no longer regular even amongst the so-called followers of the system. Nor is it now possible to reestablish the institutional function in the present context of social, political and economic revolution. Without any reference to the particular custom of a country, one can be accepted to the Vaisnava cult spiritually, and there is no hindrance in the transcendental process. So by the order of Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, the cult of Srimad-Bhagavatam or the Bhagavad-gita can be preached all over the world, reclaiming all persons willing to accept the transcendental cult. Such cultural propaganda by the devotees will certainly be accepted by all persons who are reasonable and inquisitive, without any particular bias for the custom of the country. The Vaisnava never accepts another Vaisnava on the basis of birthright, just as he never thinks of the Deity of the Lord in a temple as an idol. And to remove all doubts in this connection, Srila Sukadeva Gosvami has invoked the blessings of the Lord, who is all-powerful (prabhavisnave namah). As the all-powerful Lord accepts the humble service of His devotee in devotional activities of the arcana His form as the worshipable Deity in the temple, similarly the body of a pure Vaisnava changes transcendentally at once when he gives himself up to the service of the Lord and is trained by a qualified Vaisnava. The injunction of Vaisnava regulation in this connection runs as follows: arcye visnau sila-dhir gurusu nara-matir vaisnave jati-buddhih sri-visnor namni sabda-samanya-buddhih, etc. “One should not consider the Deity of the Lord as worshiped in the temple to be an idol, nor should one consider the authorized spiritual master an ordinary man. Nor should one consider a pure Vaisnava to belong to a particular caste, etc.” (Padma Purana)
The conclusion is that the Lord, being all-powerful, can, under any and every circumstance, accept anyone from any part of the world, either personally or through His bona fide manifestation as the spiritual master. Lord Caitanya accepted many devotees from communities other than the varnasramites, and He Himself declared, to teach us, that He does not belong to any caste or social order of life, but that He is the eternal servant of the servant of the Lord who maintains the damsels of Vrndavana (Lord Krsna). That is the way of self-realization. SB2.4.19 TEXT 19 sa esa atmatmavatam adhisvaras trayimayo dharmamayas tapomayah gata-vyalikair aja-sankaradibhir vitarkya-lingo bhagavan prasidatam SYNONYMS sah—He; esah—it is; atma—the Supersoul; atmavatam—of the self-realized souls; adhisvarah—the Supreme Lord; trayi-mayah—personified Vedas; dharma-mayah—personified religious scripture; tapah-mayah—personified austerity; gata-vyalikaih—by those who are above all pretensions; aja—Brahmaji; sankara-adibhih—by Lord Siva and others; vitarkya-lingah—one who is observed with awe and veneration; bhagavan—the personality of Godhead; prasidatam—be kind toward me. TRANSLATION He is the Supersoul and the Supreme Lord of all self-realized souls. He is the personification of the Vedas, religious scriptures and austerities. He is worshiped by Lord Brahma and Siva and all those who are transcendental to all pretensions. Being so revered with awe and veneration, may that Supreme Absolute be pleased with me. PURPORT The Supreme Lord, the Personality of Godhead, although the Lord of all followers of different paths of self-realization, is knowable only by those who are above all pretensions. Everyone is searching for eternal peace or eternal life, and with an aim to this destination everyone is either studying the Vedic scriptures or other religious scriptures or undergoing severe austerity as empiric philosophers, as mystics yogis or as unalloyed devotees, etc. But the Supreme Lord is perfectly realized only by the devotees because they are above all pretensions. Those who are on the path of self-realization are generally classified as karmis, jnanis, yogis, or devotees of the Lord. The karmis, who are much attracted by the fruitive activities of the Vedic rituals, are called bhukti-kami, or those who desire material enjoyment. The jnanis, who try to become one with the Supreme by mental speculation, are called mukti-kami, or those who desire liberation from material existence. The mystic yogis, who practice different types of austerities for attainment of eight kinds of material perfection and who ultimately meet the Supersoul (Paramatma) in trance, are called siddhi-kami, or those who desire the perfection of becoming finer than the finest, becoming heavier than the heaviest, getting everything desired, having control over everyone, creating everything liked, etc. All these are abilities of a powerful yogi. But the devotees of the Lord do not want anything like that for self-satisfaction. They want only to serve the Lord because the Lord is great and as living entities they are eternally subordinate parts and parcels of the Lord. This perfect realization of the self by the devotee helps him to become desireless, to desire nothing for his personal self, and thus the devotees are called niskami, without any desire. A living entity, by his constitutional position, cannot be void of all desires (the bhukti-kami, mukti-kami and siddhi-kami all desire something for personal satisfaction), but the niskami devotees of the Lord desire everything for the satisfaction of the Lord. They are completely dependent on the orders of the Lord and are always ready to discharge their duty for the satisfaction of the Lord. In the beginning Arjuna placed himself as one of those who desire self-satisfaction, for he desired not to fight in the Battle of Kuruksetra, but to make him desireless the Lord preached the Bhagavad-gita, in which the ways of karma-yoga, jnana-yoga, hatha-yoga and also bhakti-yoga were explained. Because Arjuna was without any pretension, he changed his decision and satisfied the Lord by agreeing to fight (karisye vacanam tava) [Bg. 18.73], and thus he became desireless. The examples of Brahma and Lord Siva are specifically cited here because Brahmaji, Lord Siva, Srimati Laksmiji and the four Kumaras (Sanaka, Sanatana, etc.) are leaders of the four desireless Vaisnava sampradayas. They are all freed from all pretensions. Srila Jiva Gosvami interprets the word gata-vyalikaih as projjhita-kaitavaih, or those who are freed from all pretensions (the unalloyed devotees only). In the Caitanya-caritamrta (Madhya 19.149) it is said: krsna-bhakta——niskama, ata eva ’santa’ Those who are after fruitive results for their pious activities, those who desire salvation and identity with the Supreme, and those who desire material perfections of mystic power are all restless because they want something for themselves, but the devotee is completely peaceful because he has no demand for himself and is always ready to serve the desire of the Lord. The conclusion is, therefore, that the Lord is for everyone because no one can achieve the result of his respective desires without His sanction, but as stated by the Lord in Bhagavad-gita (8.9), all such results are awarded by Him only, for the Lord is adhisvara (the original controller) of everyone, namely the Vedantists, the great karma-kandiyas, the great religious leaders, the great performers of austerity and all who are striving for spiritual advancement. But ultimately He is realized by the pretensionless devotees only. Therefore special stress is given to the devotional service of the Lord by Srila Sukadeva Gosvami. SB2.4.20 TEXT 20 sriyah patir yajna-patih praja-patir dhiyam patir loka-patir dhara-patih patir gatis candhaka-vrsni-satvatam prasidatam me bhagavan satam patih SYNONYMS sriyah—all opulence; patih—the owner; yajna—of sacrifice; patih—the director; praja-patih—the leader of all living entities; dhiyam—of intelligence; patih—the master; loka-patih—the proprietor of all planets; dhara—earth; patih—the supreme; patih—head; gatih—destination; ca—also; andhaka—one of the kings of the Yadu dynasty; vrsni—the first king of the Yadu dynasty; satvatam—the Yadus; prasidatam—be merciful; me—upon me; bhagavan—Lord Sri Krsna; satam—of all devotees; patih—the Lord. TRANSLATION May Lord Sri Krsna, who is the worshipable Lord of all devotees, the protector and glory of all the kings like Andhaka and Vrsni of the Yadu dynasty, the husband of all goddesses of fortune, the director of all sacrifices and therefore the leader of all living entities, the controller of all intelligence, the proprietor of all planets, spiritual and material, and the supreme incarnation on the earth (the supreme all in all), be merciful upon me. PURPORT Since Sukadeva Gosvami is one of the prominent gata-vyalikas, who are freed from all misconceptions, he therefore expresses his own realized perception of Lord Sri Krsna as being the sum total of all perfection, the personality of Godhead. Everyone is seeking the favor of the goddess of fortune, but people do not know that Lord Sri Krsna is the beloved husband of all goddesses of fortune. In the Brahma-samhita it is said that the Lord, in His transcendental abode Goloka Vrndavana, is accustomed to herding the surabhi cows and is served there by hundreds of thousands of goddesses of fortune. All these goddesses of fortune are manifestations of His transcendental pleasure potency (hladini-sakti) in His internal energy, and when the Lord manifested Himself on this earth He partially displayed the activities of His pleasure potency in His rasa-lila just to attract the conditioned souls, who are all after the phantasmagoria pleasure potency in degraded sex enjoyment. The pure devotees of the Lord like Sukadeva Gosvami, who was completely detached from the abominable sex life of the material world, discussed this act of the Lord’s pleasure potency certainly not in relation to sex, but to relish a transcendental taste inconceivable to the mundaners who are after sex life. Sex life in the mundane world is the root-cause of being conditioned by the shackles of illusion, and certainly Sukadeva Gosvami was never interested in the sex life of the mundane world. Nor does the manifestation of the Lord’s pleasure potency have any connection with such degraded things. Lord Caitanya was a strict sannyasi, so much so that He did not allow any woman to come near Him, not even to bow down and offer respects. He never even heard the prayers of the deva-dasis offered in the temple of Jagannatha because a sannyasi is forbidden to hear songs sung by the fair sex. Yet even in the rigid position of a sannyasi He recommended the mode of worship preferred by the gopis of Vrndavana as the topmost loving service possible to be rendered to the Lord. And Srimati Radharani is the principal head of all such goddesses of fortune, and therefore She is the pleasure counterpart of the Lord and is nondifferent from Krsna. In the Vedic rituals there are recommendations for performing different types of sacrifice in order to achieve the greatest benefit in life. Such benedictions as the results of performing great sacrifices are, after all, favors given by the goddess of fortune, and the Lord, being the husband or lover of the goddess of fortune, is factually the Lord of all sacrifices also. He is the final enjoyer of all kinds of yajna; therefore Yajna-pati is another name of Lord Visnu. It is recommended in the Bhagavad-gita that everything be done for the Yajna-pati (yajnartat karmanah), for otherwise one’s acts will be the cause of conditioning by the law of material nature. Those who are not freed from all misconceptions (vyalikam) perform sacrifices to please the minor demigods, but the devotees of the Lord know very well that Lord Sri Krsna is the supreme enjoyer of all performances of sacrifice; therefore they perform the sankirtana-yajna (sravanam kirtanam visnoh [SB 7.5.23]), which is especially recommended in this age of Kali. In Kali-yuga, performance of other types of sacrifice is not feasible due to insufficient arrangements and inexpert priesthood. We have information from the Bhagavad-gita (3.10–11) that Lord Brahma, after giving rebirth to the conditioned souls within the universe, instructed them to perform sacrifices and to lead a prosperous life. With such sacrificial performances the conditioned souls will never be in difficulty in keeping body and soul together. Ultimately they can purify their existence. They will find natural promotion into spiritual existence, the real identity of the living being. A conditioned soul should never give up the practice of sacrifice, charity and austerity, in any circumstances. The aim of all such sacrifices is to please the Yajna-pati, the Personality of Godhead; therefore the Lord is also Praja-pati. According to the Katha Upanisad, the one Lord is the leader of the innumerable living entities. The living entities are maintained by the Lord (eko bahunam yo vidadhati kaman). The Lord is therefore called the supreme Bhuta-bhrt, or maintainer of all living beings. Living beings are proportionately endowed with intelligence in terms of their previous activities. All living beings are not equally endowed with the same quality of intelligence because behind such development of intelligence is the control of the Lord, as declared in the Bhagavad-gita (15.15). As Paramatma, Supersoul, the Lord is living in everyone’s heart, and from Him only does one’s power of remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness follow (mattah smrtir jnanam apohanam ca). One person can sharply remember past activities by the grace of the Lord while others cannot. One is highly intelligent by the grace of the Lord, and one is a fool by the same control. Therefore the Lord is Dhiyam-pati, or the Lord of intelligence. The conditioned souls strive to become lords of the material world. Everyone is trying to lord it over the material nature by applying his highest degree of intelligence. This misuse of intelligence by the conditioned soul is called madness. One’s full intelligence should be applied to get free from the material clutches. But the conditioned soul, due to madness only, engages his full energy and intelligence in sense gratification, and to achieve this end of life he willfully commits all sorts of misdeeds. The result is that instead of attaining an unconditional life of full freedom, the mad conditioned soul is entangled again and again in different types of bondage in material bodies. Everything we see in the material manifestation is but the creation of the Lord. Therefore He is the real proprietor of everything in the universes. The conditioned soul can enjoy a fragment of this material creation under the control of the Lord, but not self-sufficiently. That is the instruction in the Isopanisad. One should be satisfied with things awarded by the Lord of the universe. It is out of madness only that one tries to encroach upon another’s share of material possessions. The Lord of the universe, out of His causeless mercy upon the conditioned souls, descends by His own energy (atma-maya) to reestablish the eternal relation of the conditioned souls with Him. He instructs all to surrender unto Him instead of falsely claiming to be enjoyers for a certain limit under His control. When He so descends He proves how much greater is His ability to enjoy, and He exhibits His power of enjoyment by (for instance) marrying sixteen thousand wives at once. The conditioned soul is very proud of becoming the husband of even one wife, but the Lord laughs at this; the intelligent man can know who is the real husband. Factually, the Lord is the husband of all the women in His creation, but a conditioned soul under the control of the Lord feels proud to be the husband of one or two wives. All these qualifications as the different types of pati mentioned in this verse are meant for Lord Sri Krsna, and Sukadeva Gosvami has therefore especially mentioned the pati and gati of the Yadu dynasty. The members of the Yadu dynasty knew that Lord Sri Krsna is everything, and all of them intended to return to Lord Krsna after He had finished His transcendental pastimes on the earth. The Yadu dynasty was annihilated by the will of the Lord because its members had to return home with the Lord. The annihilation of the Yadu dynasty was a material show created by the Supreme Lord; otherwise the Lord and the members of the Yadu dynasty are all eternal associates. The Lord is therefore the guide of all devotees, and as such, Sukadeva Gosvami offered Him due respects with love-laden feelings. SB2.4.21 TEXT 21 yad-anghry-abhidhyana-samadhi-dhautaya dhiyanupasyanti hi tattvam atmanah vadanti caitat kavayo yatha-rucam sa me mukundo bhagavan prasidatam SYNONYMS yat-anghri—whose lotus feet; abhidhyana—thinking of, at every second; samadhi—trance; dhautaya—being washed off; dhiya—by such clean intelligence; anupasyanti—does see by following authorities; hi—certainly; tattvam—the Absolute Truth; atmanah—of the Supreme Lord and of oneself; vadanti—they say; ca—also; etat—this; kavayah—philosophers or learned scholars; yatha-rucam—as he thinks; sah—He; me—mine; mukundah—Lord Krsna (who gives liberation); bhagavan—the Personality of Godhead; prasidatam—be pleased with me. TRANSLATION It is the Personality of Godhead Sri Krsna who gives liberation. By thinking of His lotus feet at every second, following in the footsteps of authorities, the devotee in trance can see the Absolute Truth. The learned mental speculators, however, think of Him according to their whims. May the Lord be pleased with me. PURPORT The mystic yogis, after a strenuous effort to control the senses, may be situated in a trance of yoga just to have a vision of the Supersoul within everyone, but the pure devotee, simply by remembering the Lord’s lotus feet at every second, at once becomes established in real trance because by such realization his mind and intelligence are completely cleansed of the diseases of material enjoyment. The pure devotee thinks himself fallen into the ocean of birth and death and incessantly prays to the Lord to lift him up. He only aspires to become a speck of transcendental dust at the lotus feet of the Lord. The pure devotee, by the grace of the Lord, absolutely loses all attraction for material enjoyment, and to keep free from contamination he always thinks of the lotus feet of the Lord. King Kulasekhara, a great devotee of the Lord, prayed: krsna tvadiya-pada-pankaja-panjarantam “My Lord Krsna, I pray that the swan of my mind may immediately sink down to the stems of the lotus feet of Your Lordship and be locked in their network; otherwise at the time of my final breath, when my throat is choked up with cough, how will it be possible to think of You?” There is an intimate relationship between the swan and the lotus stem. So the comparison is very appropriate: without becoming a swan, or paramahamsa, one cannot enter into the network of the lotus feet of the Lord. As stated in the Brahma-samhita, the mental speculators, even by dint of learned scholarship, cannot even dream of the Absolute Truth by speculating over it for eternity. The Lord reserves the right of not being exposed to such mental speculators. And because they cannot enter into network stem of the lotus stem of the Lord, all material speculators differ in conclusions, and at the end they make a useless compromise by saying, “as many conclusions, as many ways,” according to one’s own inclination. (yatha-rucam). But the Lord is not like a shopkeeper trying to please all sorts of customers in the mental speculator exchange. The Lord is what He is, the Absolute Personality of Godhead, and He demands absolute surrender unto Him only. The pure devotee, however, by following the ways of previous acaryas, or authorities, can see the Supreme Lord through the transparent medium of a bona fide spiritual master (anupasyanti). The pure devotee never tries to see the Lord by mental speculation, but by following in the footsteps of the acaryas (mahajano yena gatah sa panthah). Therefore there is no difference of conclusions amongst the Vaisnava acaryas regarding the Lord and the devotees. Lord Caitanya asserts that the living entity (jiva) is eternally the servitor of the Lord and that he is simultaneously one with and different from the Lord. This tattva of Lord Caitanya’s is shared by all four sampradayas of the Vaisnava school (all accepting eternal servitude to the Lord even after salvation), and there is no authorized Vaisnava acarya who may think of the Lord and himself as one. This humbleness of the pure devotee, who is one hundred percent engaged in His service, puts the devotee of the Lord in a trance by which to realize everything, because to the sincere devotee of the Lord, the Lord reveals Himself, as stated in the Bhagavad-gita (10.10). The Lord, being the Lord of intelligence in everyone (even in the nondevotee), favors His devotee with proper intelligence so that automatically the pure devotee is enlightened with the factual truth about the Lord and His different energies. the Lord is revealed not by one’s speculative power or by one’s verbal jugglery over the Absolute Truth. Rather, He reveals Himself to a devotee when He is fully satisfied by the devotee’s service attitude. Sukadeva Gosvami is not a mental speculator or compromiser of the theory of “as many ways, as many conclusions.” Rather, he prays to the Lord only, invoking His transcendental pleasure. That is the way of knowing the Lord. SB2.4.22 TEXT 22 pracodita yena pura sarasvati vitanvatajasya satim smrtim hrdi sva-laksana pradurabhut kilasyatah sa me rsinam rsabhah prasidatam SYNONYMS pracodita—inspired; yena—by whom; pura—in the beginning of creation; sarasvati—the goddess of learning; vitanvata—amplified; ajasya—of Brahma, the first created living being; satim smrtim—potent memory; hrdi—in the heart; sva—in his own; laksana—aiming at; pradurabhut—was generated; kila—as if; asyatah—from the mouth; sah—he; me—unto me; rsinam—of the teachers; rsabhah—the chief; prasidatam—be pleased. TRANSLATION May the Lord, who in the beginning of the creation amplified the potent knowledge of Brahma from within his heart and inspired him with full knowledge of creation and of His own Self, and who appeared to be generated from the mouth of Brahma, be pleased with me. PURPORT As we have already discussed hereinbefore, the Lord, as the Supersoul of all living beings from Brahma to the insignificant ant, endows all with the required knowledge potent in every living being. A living being is sufficiently potent to possess knowledge from the Lord in the proportion of fifty sixty-fourths, or seventy-eight percent of the full knowledge acquirable. Since the living being is constitutionally part and parcel of the Lord, he is unable to assimilate all the knowledge that the Lord possesses Himself. In the conditioned state, the living being is subject to forget everything after a change of body known as death. This potent knowledge is again inspired by the Lord from within the heart of every living being, and it is known as the awakening of knowledge, for it is comparable to awakening from sleep or unconsciousness. This awakening of knowledge is under the full control of the Lord, and therefore we find in the practical world different grades of knowledge in different persons. This awakening of knowledge is neither an automatic nor a material interaction. The supply source is the Lord Himself (dhiyam patih), for even Brahma is also subject to this regulation of the supreme creator. In the beginning of the creation, Brahma is born first without any father and mother because before Brahma there were no other living beings. Brahma is born from the lotus which grows from the abdomen of the Garbhodakasayi Visnu, and therefore he is known as Aja. This Brahma, or Aja, is also a living being, part and parcel of the Lord, but being the most pious devotee of the Lord, Brahma is inspired by the Lord to create, subsequent to the main creation by the Lord, through the agency of material nature. Therefore neither the material nature nor Brahma is independent of the Lord. The material scientists can merely observe the reactions of the material nature without understanding the direction behind such activities, as a child can see the action of electricity without any knowledge of the powerhouse engineer. This imperfect knowledge of the material scientist is due to a poor fund of knowledge. The Vedic knowledge was therefore first impregnated within Brahma, and it appears that Brahma distributed the Vedic knowledge. Brahma is undoubtedly the speaker of the Vedic knowledge, but actually he was inspired by the Lord to receive such transcendental knowledge, as it directly descends from the Lord. The Vedas are therefore called apauruseya, or not imparted by any created being. Before the creation the Lord was there (narayanah paro ’vyaktat), and therefore the words spoken by the Lord are vibrations of transcendental sound. There is a gulf of difference between the two qualities of sound, namely prakrta and aprakrta. The physicist can deal only with the prakrta sound, or sound vibrated in the material sky, and therefore we must know that the Vedic sounds recorded in symbolic expressions cannot be understood by anyone within the universe unless and until one is inspired by the vibration of supernatural (aprakrta) sound, which descends in the chain of disciplic succession from the Lord to Brahma, from Brahma to Narada, from Narada to Vyasa and so on. No mundane scholar can translate or reveal the true import of the Vedic mantras (hymns). They cannot be understood unless one is inspired or initiated by the authorized spiritual master. The original spiritual master is the Lord Himself, and the succession comes down through the sources of parampara, as clearly stated in the Fourth Chapter of the Bhagavad-gita. So unless one receives the transcendental knowledge from the authorized parampara, one should be considered useless (viphala matah), even though one may be greatly qualified in the mundane advancements of arts or science. Sukadeva Gosvami is praying from the Lord by dint of being inspired from within by the Lord so that he could rightly explain the facts and figures of creation as inquired by Maharaja Pariksit. A spiritual master is not a theoretical speculator, like the mundane scholar, but is srotriyam brahma-nistham [MU 1.2.12]. SB2.4.23 TEXT 23 bhutair mahadbhir ya imah puro vibhur nirmaya sete yad amusu purusah bhunkte gunan sodasa sodasatmakah so ’lankrsista bhagavan vacamsi me SYNONYMS bhutaih—by the elements; mahadbhih—of material creation; yah—He who; imah—all these; purah—bodies; vibhuh—of the Lord; nirmaya—for being set up; sete—lie down; yat amusu—one who incarnated; purusah—Lord Visnu; bhunkte—causes to be subjected; gunan—the three modes of nature; sodasa—in sixteen divisions; sodasa-atmakah—being the generator of these sixteen; sah—He; alankrsista—may decorate; bhagavan—the Personality of Godhead; vacamsi—statements; me—mine. TRANSLATION May the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who enlivens the materially created bodies of the elements by lying down within the universe, and who in His purusa incarnation causes the living being to be subjected to the sixteen divisions of material modes which are his generator, be pleased to decorate my statements. PURPORT As a fully dependent devotee, Sukadeva Gosvami (unlike a mundane man who is proud of his own capability) invokes the pleasure of the Personality of Godhead so that his statements may be successful and be appreciated by the hearers. The devotee always thinks of himself as instrumental for anything successfully carried out, and he declines to take credit for anything done by himself. The godless atheist wants to take all credit for activities, not knowing that even a blade of grass cannot move without the sanction of the Supreme Spirit, the Personality of Godhead. Sukadeva Gosvami therefore wants to move by the direction of the Supreme Lord, who inspired Brahma to speak the Vedic wisdom. The truths described in the Vedic literatures are not theories of mundane imagination, nor are they fictitious, as the less intelligent class of men sometimes think. The Vedic truths are all perfect descriptions of the factual truth without any mistake or illusion, and Sukadeva Gosvami wants to present the truths of creation not as a metaphysical theory of philosophical speculation, but as the actual facts and figures of the subject, since he would be dictated to by the Lord exactly in the same manner as Brahmaji was inspired. As stated in the Bhagavad-gita (15.15), the Lord is Himself the father of the Vedanta knowledge, and it is He only who knows the factual purport of the Vedanta philosophy. So there is no greater truth than the principles of religion mentioned in the Vedas. Such Vedic knowledge or religion is disseminated by authorities like Sukadeva Gosvami because he is a humble devotional servitor of the Lord who has no desire to become a self-appointed interpreter without authority. That is the way of explaining the Vedic knowledge, technically known as the parampara system, or descending process. The intelligent man can see without mistake that any material creation (whether one’s own body or a fruit or flower) cannot beautifully grow up without the spiritual touch. The greatest intelligent man of the world or the greatest man of science can present everything very beautifully only insofar as the spirit life is there or insomuch as the spiritual touch is there. Therefore the source of all truths is the Supreme Spirit, and not gross matter as wrongly conceived by the gross materialist. We get information from the Vedic literature that the Lord Himself first entered the vacuum of the material universe, and thus all things gradually developed one after another. Similarly, the Lord is situated as localized Paramatma in every individual being; hence everything is done by Him very beautifully. The sixteen principal creative elements, namely earth, water, fire, air, sky, and the eleven sense organs, first developed from the Lord Himself and were thereby shared by the living entities. Thus the material elements were created for the enjoyment of the living entities. The beautiful arrangement behind all material manifestations is therefore made possible by the energy of the Lord, and the individual living entity can only pray to the Lord to understand it properly. Since the Lord is the supreme entity, different from Sukadeva Gosvami, the prayer can be offered to Him. The Lord helps the living entity to enjoy material creation, but He is aloof from such false enjoyment. Sukadeva prays for the mercy of the Lord, not only for being helped personally in presenting the truth, but also for helping others to whom he would like to speak. SB2.4.24 TEXT 24 namas tasmai bhagavate vasudevaya vedhase papur jnanam ayam saumya yan-mukhamburuhasavam SYNONYMS namah—my obeisances; tasmai—unto Him; bhagavate—unto the Personality of Godhead; vasudevaya—unto Vasudeva or His incarnations; vedhase—the compiler of the Vedic literatures; papuh—drunk; jnanam—knowledge; ayam—this Vedic knowledge; saumyah—the devotees, especially the consorts of Lord Krsna; yat—from whose; mukha-amburuha—the lotuslike mouth; asavam—nectar from His mouth. TRANSLATION I offer my respectful obeisances unto Srila Vyasadeva, the incarnation of Vasudeva who compiled the Vedic scriptures. The pure devotees drink up the nectarean transcendental knowledge dropping from the lotuslike mouth of the Lord. PURPORT In pursuance of the specific utterance vedhase, or “the compiler of the system of transcendental knowledge,” Srila Sridhara Svami has commented that the respectful obeisances are offered to Srila Vyasadeva, who is the incarnation of Vasudeva. Srila Jiva Gosvami has agreed to this, but Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura has made a further advance, namely that the nectar from the mouth of Lord Krsna is transferred to His different consorts, and thus they learn the finer arts of music, dance, dressing, decorations and all such things which are relished by the Lord. Such music, dance and decorations enjoyed by the Lord are certainly not anything mundane, because the Lord is addressed in the very beginning as para, or transcendental. This transcendental knowledge is unknown to the forgotten conditioned souls. Srila Vyasadeva, who is the incarnation of the Lord, thus compiled the Vedic literatures to revive the lost memory of the conditioned souls about their eternal relation with the Lord. One should therefore try to understand the Vedic scriptures, or the nectar transferred by the Lord to His consorts in the conjugal humor, from the lotuslike mouth of Vyasadeva or Sukadeva. By gradual development of transcendental knowledge, one can rise to the stage of the transcendental arts of music and dance displayed by the Lord in His rasa-lila. But without having the Vedic knowledge one can hardly understand the transcendental nature of the Lord’s rasa dance and music. The pure devotees of the Lord, however, can equally relish the nectar in the form of the profound philosophical discourses and in the form of kissing by the Lord in the rasa dance, as there is no mundane distinction between the two. SB2.4.25 TEXT 25 etad evatma-bhu rajan naradaya viprcchate veda-garbho ’bhyadhat saksad yad aha harir atmanah SYNONYMS etat—on this matter; eva—exactly; atma-bhuh—the firstborn (Brahmaji); rajan—my dear King; naradaya—unto Narada Muni; viprcchate—having inquired about it from; veda-garbhah—one who is impregnated with Vedic knowledge from birth; abhyadhat—apprised; saksat—directly; yat aha—what he spoke; harih—the Lord; atmanah—unto His own (Brahma). TRANSLATION My dear King, Brahma, the firstborn, on being questioned by Narada, exactly apprised him on this subject, as it was directly spoken by the Lord to His own son, who was impregnated with Vedic knowledge from his very birth. PURPORT As soon as Brahma was born of the abdominal lotus petals of Visnu, he was impregnated with Vedic knowledge, and therefore he is known as veda-garbha, or a Vedantist from the embryo. Without Vedic knowledge, or perfect, infallible knowledge, no one can create anything. All scientific knowledge and perfect knowledge are Vedic. One can get all types of information from the Vedas, and as such, Brahma was impregnated with all-perfect knowledge so that it was possible for him to create. Thus Brahma knew the perfect description of creation, as it was exactly apprised to him by the Supreme Lord Hari. Brahma, on being questioned by Narada, told Narada exactly what he had heard directly from the Lord. Narada again told exactly the same thing to Vyasa, and Vyasa also told Sukadeva exactly what he heard from Narada. And Sukadeva was going to repeat the same statements as he had heard them from Vyasa. That is the way of Vedic understanding. The language of the Vedas can be revealed only by the above-mentioned disciplic succession, and not otherwise. There is no use in theories. Knowledge must be factual. There are many things that are complicated, and one cannot understand them unless they are explained by one who knows. The Vedic knowledge is also very difficult to know and must be learned by the above-mentioned system; otherwise it is not at all understood. Sukadeva Gosvami, therefore, prayed for the mercy of the Lord so that he might be able to repeat the very same message that was spoken directly by the Lord to Brahma, or what was directly spoken by Brahma to Narada. Therefore the statements of creation explained by Sukadeva Gosvami are not at all, as the mundaners suggest, theoretical, but are perfectly correct. One who hears these messages and tries to assimilate them gets perfect information of the material creation. Thus end the Bhaktivedanta purports of the Second Canto, Fourth Chapter, of the Srimad-Bhagavatam, entitled “The process of Creation.”
bhukti-mukti-siddhi-kami, sakali ’asanta’
adyaiva me visatu manasa-raja-hamsah
prana-prayana-samaye kapha-vata-pittaih
kanthavarodhana-vidhau smaranam kutas te