ERROR: Your browser does not support scripts.

cakram—the Sudarsana wheel of the Lord; ca—as well as; diksu—in all directions; avihatam—without being deterred; dasasu—ten sides; sva-tejah—personal strength; manvantaresu—in different incarnations of Manu; manu-vamsa-dharah—as the descendant of the Manu dynasty; bibharti—rules over; dustesu—unto the miscreants; rajasu—upon the kings of that type; damam—subjection; vyadadhat—performed; sva-kirtim—personal glories; satye—in the Satyaloka planet; tri-prsthe—the three planetary systems; usatim—glorious; prathayan—established; caritraih—characteristics.

As the incarnation of Manu, the Lord became the descendant of the Manu dynasty and ruled over the miscreant kingly order, subduing them by His powerful wheel weapon. Undeterred in all circumstances, His rule was characterized by His glorious fame, which spread over the three lokas, and above them to the planetary system of Satyaloka, the topmost in the universe.

We have already discussed the incarnations of Manu in the First Canto. In one day of Brahma there are fourteen Manus, changing one after another. In that way there are 420 Manus in a month of Brahma and 5,040 Manus in one year of Brahma. Brahma lives for one hundred years according to his calculation, and as such there are 504,000 Manus in the jurisdiction of one Brahma. There are innumerable Brahmas, and all of them live only during one breathing period of Maha-Visnu. So we can just imagine how the incarnations of the Supreme Lord work all over the material worlds, which comprehend only one-fourth of the total energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

The manvantara incarnation chastises all the miscreant rulers of different planets with as much power as that of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who punishes the miscreants with His wheel weapon. The manvantara incarnations disseminate the transcendental glories of the Lord.

SB2.7.21

TEXT 21

dhanvantaris ca bhagavan svayam eva kirtir

namna nrnam puru-rujam ruja asu hanti

yajne ca bhagam amrtayur-avavarundha

ayusya-vedam anusasty avatirya loke

dhanvantarih—the incarnation of God named Dhanvantari; ca—and; bhagavan—the Personality of Godhead; svayam eva—personally Himself; kirtih—fame personified; namna—by the name; nrnam puru-rujam—of the diseased living entities; rujah—diseases; asu—very soon; hanti—cures; yajne—in the sacrifice; ca—also; bhagam—share; amrta—nectar; ayuh—duration of life; ava—from; avarundhe—obtains; ayusya—of duration of life; vedam—knowledge; anusasti—directs; avatirya—incarnating; loke—in the universe.

The Lord in His incarnation of Dhanvantari very quickly cures the diseases of the ever-diseased living entities simply by his fame personified, and only because of him do the demigods achieve long lives. Thus the Personality of Godhead becomes ever glorified. He also exacted a share from the sacrifices, and it is he only who inaugurated the medical science or the knowledge of medicine in the universe.

As stated in the beginning of the Srimad-Bhagavatam, everything emanates from the ultimate source of the Personality of Godhead; it is therefore understood in this verse that medical science or knowledge in medicine was also inaugurated by the Personality of Godhead in His incarnation Dhanvantari, and thus the knowledge is recorded in the Vedas. The Vedas are the source of all knowledge, and thus knowledge in medical science is also there for the perfect cure of the diseases of the living entity. The embodied living entity is diseased by the very construction of his body. The body is the symbol of diseases. The disease may differ from one variety to another, but disease must be there just as there is birth and death for everyone. So, by the grace of the Personality of Godhead, not only are diseases of the body and mind cured, but also the soul is relieved of the constant repetition of birth and death. The name of the Lord is also called bhavausadhi, or the source of curing the disease of material existence.

SB2.7.22

TEXT 22

ksatram ksayaya vidhinopabhrtam mahatma

brahma-dhrug ujjhita-patham narakarti-lipsu

uddhanty asav avanikantakam ugra-viryas

trih-sapta-krtva urudhara-parasvadhena

ksatram—the royal order; ksayaya—for the sake of diminishing; vidhina—by destination; upabhrtam—increased in proportion; mahatma—the Lord in the form of the great sage Parasurama; brahma-dhruk—the ultimate truth in Brahman; ujjhita-patham—those who have given up the path of the Absolute Truth; naraka-arti-lipsu—desirous to suffer pain in hell; uddhanti—exacts; asau—all those; avanikantakam—thorns of the world; ugra-viryah—awfully powerful; trih-sapta—thrice seven times; krtvah—performed; urudhara—very sharp; parasvadhena—by the great chopper.

When the ruling administrators, who are known as the ksatriyas, turned astray from the path of the Absolute Truth, being desirous to suffer in hell, the Lord, in His incarnation as the sage Parasurama, uprooted those unwanted kings, who appeared as the thorns of the earth. Thus He thrice seven times uprooted the ksatriyas with His keenly sharpened chopper.

The ksatriyas, or the ruling administrators of any part of the universe, either on this planet or on other planets, are factually the representatives of the Almighty Personality of Godhead, and they are meant to lead the subjects towards the path of God realization. Every state and its administrators, regardless of the nature of the administration—monarchy or democracy, oligarchy or dictatorship or autocracy—have the prime responsibility to lead the citizens toward God realization. This is essential for all human beings, and it is the duty of the father, spiritual master, and ultimately the state to take up the responsibility of leading the citizens towards this end. The whole creation of material existence is made for this purpose, just to give a chance to the fallen souls who rebelled against the will of the Supreme Father and thus became conditioned by material nature. The force of material nature gradually leads one to a hellish condition of perpetual pains and miseries. Those going against the prescribed rules and regulations of conditional life are called brahmojjhita-pathas, or persons going against the path of the Absolute Truth, and they are liable to be punished. Lord Parasurama, the incarnation of the Personality of Godhead, appeared in such a state of worldly affairs and killed all the miscreant kings twenty-one times. Many ksatriya kings fled from India to other parts of the world at that time, and according to the authority of the Mahabharata, the kings of Egypt originally migrated from India because of Parasurama’s program of chastisement. The kings or administrators are similarly chastised in all circumstances whenever they become godless and plan a godless civilization. That is the order of the Almighty.

SB2.7.23

TEXT 23

asmat-prasada-sumukhah kalaya kalesa

iksvaku-vamsa avatirya guror nidese

tisthan vanam sa-dayitanuja avivesa

yasmin virudhya dasa-kandhara artim arcchat

asmat—unto us, beginning from Brahma down to the insignificant ant; prasada—causeless mercy; sumukhah—so inclined; kalaya—with His plenary extensions; kalesah—the Lord of all potencies; iksvaku—Maharaja Iksvaku, in the dynasty of the sun; vamse—family; avatirya—by descending in; guroh—of the father or spiritual master; nidese—under the order of; tisthan—being situated in; vanam—in the forest; sa-dayita-anujah—along with His wife and younger brother; avivesa—entered; yasmin—unto whom; virudhya—being rebellious; dasa-kandharah—Ravana, who had ten heads; artim—great distress; arcchat—achieved.

Due to His causeless mercy upon all living entities within the universe, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, along with His plenary extensions, appeared in the family of Maharaja Iksvaku as the Lord of His internal potency, Sita. Under the order of His father, Maharaja Dasaratha, He entered the forest and lived there for considerable years with His wife and younger brother. Ravana, who was very materially powerful, with ten heads on his shoulders, committed a great offense against Him and was thus ultimately vanquished.

Lord Rama is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and His brothers, namely Bharata, Laksmana and Satrughna, are His plenary expansions. All four brothers are visnu-tattva and were never ordinary human beings. There are many unscrupulous and ignorant commentators on Ramayana who present the younger brothers of Lord Ramacandra as ordinary living entities. But here in the Srimad-Bhagavatam, the most authentic scripture on the science of Godhead, it is clearly stated that His brothers were His plenary expansions. Originally Lord Ramacandra is the incarnation of Vasudeva, Laksmana is the incarnation of Sankarsana, Bharata is the incarnation of Pradyumna, and Satrughna is the incarnation of Aniruddha, expansions of the Personality of Godhead. Laksmiji Sita is the internal potency of the Lord and is neither an ordinary woman nor the external potency incarnation of Durga. Durga is the external potency of the Lord, and she is associated with Lord Siva.

As stated in the Bhagavad-gita (4.7), the Lord appears when there are discrepancies in the discharge of factual religion. Lord Ramacandra also appeared under the same circumstances, accompanied by His brothers, who are expansions of the Lord’s internal potency, and by Laksmiji Sitadevi.

Lord Ramacandra was ordered by His father, Maharaja Dasaratha, to leave home for the forest under awkward circumstances, and the Lord, as the ideal son of His father, carried out the order, even on the occasion of His being declared the King of Ayodhya. One of His younger brothers, Laksmanaji, desired to go with Him, and so also His eternal wife, Sitaji, desired to go with Him. The Lord agreed to both of them, and all together they entered the Dandakaranya Forest, to live there for fourteen years. During their stay in the forest, there was some quarrel between Ramacandra and Ravana, and the latter kidnapped the Lord’s wife, Sita. The quarrel ended in the vanquishing of the greatly powerful Ravana, along with all his kingdom and family.

Sita is Laksmiji, or the goddess of fortune, but she is never to be enjoyed by any living being. She is meant for being worshiped by the living being along with her husband, Sri Ramacandra. A materialistic man like Ravana does not understand this great truth, but on the contrary he wants to snatch Sitadevi from the custody of Rama and thus incurs great miseries. The materialists, who are after opulence and material prosperity, may take lessons from the Ramayana that the policy of exploiting the nature of the Lord without acknowledging the supremacy of the Supreme Lord is the policy of Ravana. Ravana was very advanced materially, so much so that he turned his kingdom, Lanka, into pure gold, or full material wealth. But because he did not recognize the supremacy of Lord Ramacandra and defied Him by stealing His wife, Sita, Ravana was killed, and all his opulence and power were destroyed.

Lord Ramacandra is a full incarnation with six opulences in full, and He is therefore mentioned in this verse as kalesah, or master of all opulence.

SB2.7.24

TEXT 24

yasma adad udadhir udha-bhayanga-vepo

margam sapady ari-puram haravad didhaksoh

dure suhrn-mathita-rosa-susona-drstya

tatapyamana-makaroraga-nakra-cakrah

yasmai—unto whom; adat—gave; udadhih—the great Indian Ocean; udha-bhaya—affected by fear; anga-vepah—bodily trembling; margam—way; sapadi—quickly; ari-puram—the city of the enemy; hara-vat—like that of Hara (Mahadeva); didhaksoh—desiring to burn to ashes; dure—at a long distance; su-hrt—intimate friend; mathita—being aggrieved by; rosa—in anger; su-sona—red-hot; drstya—by such a glance; tatapyamana—burning in heat; makara—sharks; uraga—snakes; nakra—crocodiles; cakrah—circle.

The Personality of Godhead Ramacandra, being aggrieved for His distant intimate friend [Sita], glanced over the city of the enemy Ravana with red-hot eyes like those of Hara [who wanted to burn the kingdom of heaven]. The great ocean, trembling in fear, gave Him His way because its family members, the aquatics like the sharks, snakes and crocodiles, were being burnt by the heat of the angry red-hot eyes of the Lord.

The Personality of Godhead has every sentiment of a sentient being, like all other living beings, because He is the chief and original living entity, the supreme source of all other living beings. He is the nitya, or the chief eternal amongst all other eternals. He is the chief one, and all others are the dependent many. The many eternals are supported by the one eternal, and thus both the eternals are qualitatively one. Due to such oneness, both the eternals constitutionally have a complete range of sentiments, but the difference is that the sentiments of the chief eternal are different in quantity from the sentiments of the dependent eternals. When Ramacandra was angry and showed His red-hot eyes, the whole ocean became heated with that energy, so much so that the aquatics within the great ocean felt the heat, and the personified ocean trembled in fear and offered the Lord an easy path for reaching the enemy’s city. The impersonalists will see havoc in this red-hot sentiment of the Lord because they want to see negation in perfection. Because the Lord is absolute, the impersonalists imagine that in the Absolute the sentiment of anger, which resembles mundane sentiments, must be conspicuous by absence. Due to a poor fund of knowledge, they do not realize that the sentiment of the Absolute Person is transcendental to all mundane concepts of quality and quantity. Had Lord Ramacandra’s sentiment been of mundane origin, how could it disturb the whole ocean and its inhabitants? Can any mundane red-hot eye generate heat in the great ocean? These are factors to be distinguished in terms of the personal and impersonal conceptions of the Absolute Truth. As it is said in the beginning of the Srimad-Bhagavatam, the Absolute Truth is the source of everything, so the Absolute Person cannot be devoid of the sentiments that are reflected in the temporary mundane world. Rather, the different sentiments found in the Absolute, either in anger or in mercy, have the same qualitative influence, or, in other words, there is no mundane difference of value because these sentiments are all on the absolute plane. Such sentiments are definitely not absent in the Absolute, as the impersonalists think, making their mundane estimation of the transcendental world.

SB2.7.25

TEXT 25

vaksah-sthala-sparsa-rugna-mahendra-vaha-

dantair vidambita-kakubjusa udha-hasam

sadyo ’subhih saha vinesyati dara-hartur

visphurjitair dhanusa uccarato ’dhisainye

vaksah-sthala—chest; sparsa—touched by; rugna—broken; maha-indra—the King of heaven; vaha—the conveyor; dantaih—by the trunk; vidambita—illuminated; kakup-jusah—all directions thus being served; udha-hasam—overtaken by laughter; sadyah—within no time; asubhih—by the life; saha—along with; vinesyati—was killed; dara-hartuh—of the one who kidnapped the wife; visphurjitaih—by the tingling of the bow; dhanusah—bow; uccaratah—strolling fast; adhisainye—in the midst of the fighting soldiers of both sides.

When Ravana was engaged in the battle, the trunk of the elephant which carried the King of heaven, Indra, broke in pieces, having collided with the chest of Ravana, and the scattered broken parts illuminated all directions. Ravana therefore felt proud of his prowess and began to loiter in the midst of the fighting soldiers, thinking himself the conqueror of all directions. But his laughter, overtaken by joy, along with his very air of life, suddenly ceased with the tingling sound of the bow of Ramacandra, the Personality of Godhead.

However powerful a living being may be, when he is condemned by God no one can save him, and, similarly, however weak one may be, if he is protected by the Lord no one can annihilate him.

SB2.7.26

TEXT 26

bhumeh suretara-varutha-vimarditayah

klesa-vyayaya kalaya sita-krsna-kesah

jatah karisyati jananupalaksya-margah

karmani catma-mahimopanibandhanani

bhumeh—of the entire world; sura-itara—other than godly persons; varutha—soldiers; vimarditayah—distressed by the burden; klesa—miseries; vyayaya—for the matter of diminishing; kalaya—along with His plenary expansion; sita-krsna—not only beautiful but also black; kesah—with such hairs; jatah—having appeared; karisyati—would act; jana—people in general; anupalaksya—rarely to be seen; margah—path; karmani—activities; ca—also; atma-mahima—glories of the Lord Himself; upanibandhanani—in relation to.

When the world is overburdened by the fighting strength of kings who have no faith in God, the Lord, just to diminish the distress of the world, descends with His plenary portion. The Lord comes in His original form, with beautiful black hair. And just to expand His transcendental glories, He acts extraordinarily. No one can properly estimate how great He is.

This verse is especially describing the appearance of Lord Krsna and His immediate expansion, Lord Baladeva. Both Lord Krsna and Lord Baladeva are one Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Lord is omnipotent, and He expands Himself in innumerable forms and energies, and the whole unit is known as the one Supreme Brahman. Such extensions of the Lord are divided into two divisions, namely personal and differential. The personal expansions are called the visnu-tattvas, and the differential expansions are called the jiva-tattvas. And in such expansional activity, Lord Baladeva is the first personal expansion of Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

In the Visnu Purana, as well as in the Mahabharata, both Krsna and Baladeva are mentioned as having beautiful black hair, even in Their advanced age. The Lord is called anupalaksya-margah or, in still more technical Vedic terms, avan-manasa gocarah: one who is never to be seen or realized by the limited sense perception of the people in general. In the Bhagavad-gita (7.25) it is said by the Lord, naham prakasah sarvasya yogamaya-samavrtah. In other words, He reserves the right of not being exposed to anyone and everyone. Only the bona fide devotees can know Him by His specific symptoms, and out of many, many such symptoms, one symptom is mentioned here in this verse, that the Lord is sita-krsna-kesah, or one who is observed always with beautiful black hair. Both Lord Krsna and Lord Baladeva have such hair on Their heads, and thus even in advanced age They appeared like young boys sixteen years old. That is the particular symptom of the Personality of Godhead. In the Brahma-samhita it is stated that although He is the oldest personality among all living entities, He always looks like a new, youthful boy. That is the characteristic of a spiritual body. The material body is symptomized by birth, death, old age and diseases, but the spiritual body is conspicuous by the absence of those symptoms. Living entities who reside in the Vaikunthalokas in eternal life and bliss have the same type of spiritual body, without being affected by any signs of old age. It is described in the Bhagavatam (Canto Six) that the party of Visnudutas who came to deliver Ajamila from the clutches of the party of Yamaraja appeared like youthful boys, corroborating the description in this verse. It is ascertained thus that the spiritual bodies in the Vaikunthalokas, either of the Lord or of the other inhabitants, are completely distinct from the material bodies of this world. Therefore, when the Lord descends from that world to this world, He descends in His spiritual body of atma-maya, or internal potency, without any touch of the bahiranga-maya, or external, material energy. The allegation that the impersonal Brahman appears in this material world by accepting a material body is quite absurd. Therefore the Lord, when He comes here, has not a material body, but a spiritual body. The impersonal brahmajyoti is only the glaring effulgence of the body of the Lord, and there is no difference in quality between the body of the Lord and the impersonal ray of the Lord, called brahmajyoti.

Now the question is why the Lord, who is omnipotent, comes here to diminish the burden created upon the world by the unscrupulous kingly order. Certainly the Lord does not need to come here personally for such purposes, but He actually descends to exhibit His transcendental activities in order to encourage His pure devotees, who want to enjoy life by chanting the glories of the Lord. In the Bhagavad-gita (9.13–14) it is stated that the mahatmas, great devotees of the Lord, take pleasure in chanting of the activities of the Lord. All Vedic literatures are meant for turning one’s attention towards the Lord and His transcendental activities. Thus the activities of the Lord, in His dealings with worldly people, create a subject matter for discussion by His pure devotees.

SB2.7.27

TEXT 27

tokena jiva-haranam yad uluki-kayas

trai-masikasya ca pada sakato ’pavrttah

yad ringatantara-gatena divi-sprsor va

unmulanam tv itaratharjunayor na bhavyam