Causelessmercy - Ebook - Srimad-Bhagavatam - Canto 2 - 7.3

Srimad-Bhagavatam: Canto 2: “The Cosmic Manifestation”
by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

Chapter Seven

SB2.7.29

TEXT 29

tat karma divyam iva yan nisi nihsayanam

davagnina suci-vane paridahyamane

unnesyati vrajam ato ’vasitanta-kalam

netre pidhapya sabalo ’nadhigamya-viryah

SYNONYMS

tat—that; karma—activity; divyam—superhuman; iva—like; yat—which; nisi—at night; nihsayanam—sleeping carefreely; dava-agnina—by the glare of the forest fire; suci-vane—in the dry forest; paridahyamane—being set ablaze; unnesyati—would deliver; vrajam—all the inhabitants of Vraja; atah—hence; avasita—surely; anta-kalam—last moments of life; netre—on the eyes; pidhapya—simply by closing; sa-balah—along with Baladeva; anadhigamya—unfathomable; viryah—prowess.

TRANSLATION

On the very night of the day of the chastisement of the Kaliya snake, when the inhabitants of Vrajabhumi were sleeping carefreely, there was a forest fire ablaze due to dry leaves, and it appeared that all the inhabitants were sure to meet their death. But the Lord, along with Balarama, saved them simply by closing His eyes. Such are the superhuman activities of the Lord.

PURPORT

Although in this verse the Lord’s activity has been described as superhuman, it should be noted that the Lord’s activities are always superhuman, and that distinguishes Him from the ordinary living being. Uprooting a gigantic banyan or arjuna tree and extinguishing a blazing forest fire simply by closing one’s eyes are certainly impossible by any kind of human endeavor. But not only are these activities amazing to hear, but in fact all other activities of the Lord, whatever He may do, are all superhuman, as confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita (4.9). Whoever knows the superhuman activities of the Lord, due to their very transcendental nature, becomes eligible to enter the kingdom of Krsna, and as such, after quitting this present material body, the knower of the transcendental activities of the Lord goes back home, back to Godhead.

grhnita yad yad upabandham amusya mata

sulbam sutasya na tu tat tad amusya mati

yaj jrmbhato ’sya vadane bhuvanani gopi

samviksya sankita-manah pratibodhitasit

grhnita—by taking up; yat yat—whatsoever; upabandham—ropes for tying; amusya—His; mata—mother; sulbam—ropes; sutasya—of her son; na—not; tu—however; tat tat—by and by; amusya—His; mati—was sufficient; yat—that which; jrmbhatah—opening the mouth; asya—of Him; vadane—in the mouth; bhuvanani—the worlds; gopi—the cowherd woman; samviksya—so seeing it; sankita-manah—doubtful in mind; pratibodhita—convinced in a different way; asit—was so done.

When the cowherd woman [Krsna’s foster mother, Yasoda] was trying to tie the hands of her son with ropes, she found the rope to be always insufficient in length, and when she finally gave up, Lord Krsna, by and by, opened His mouth, wherein the mother found all the universes situated. Seeing this, she was doubtful in her mind, but she was convinced in a different manner of the mystic nature of her son.

One day Lord Krsna as the naughty child disturbed His mother Yasoda, and she began to tie up the child with ropes just to punish Him. But no matter how much rope she used, she found it always insufficient. Thus she became fatigued, but in the meantime the Lord opened His mouth, and the affectionate mother saw within the mouth of her son all the universes situated together. The mother was astonished, but out of her deep affection for Krsna she thought that the Almighty Godhead Narayana had kindly looked after her son just to protect Him from all the continuous calamities happening to Him. Because of her deep affection for Krsna, she could never think that her very son was Narayana, the Personality of Godhead Himself. That is the action of yogamaya, the internal potency of the Supreme Lord, which acts to perfect all the pastimes of the Lord with His different types of devotees. Who could play such wonders without being God?

nandam ca moksyati bhayad varunasya pasad

gopan bilesu pihitan maya-sununa ca

ahny aprtam nisi sayanam atisramena

lokam vikuntham upanesyati gokulam sma

nandam—unto Nanda (the father of Krsna); ca—also; moksyati—saves; bhayat—from the fear of; varunasya—of Varuna, the demigod of water; pasat—from the clutches of; gopan—the cowherd men; bilesu—in the caves of the mountain; pihitan—placed; maya-sununa—by the son of Maya; ca—also; ahni aprtam—being very engaged during the daytime; nisi—at night; sayanam—lying down; atisramena—because of hard labor; lokam—planet; vikuntham—the spiritual sky; upanesyati—He awarded; gokulam—the highest planet; sma—certainly.

Lord Krsna saved His foster father, Nanda Maharaja, from the fear of the demigod Varuna and released the cowherd boys from the caves of the mountain, for they were placed there by the son of Maya. Also, to the inhabitants of Vrndavana, who were busy working during daytime and sleeping soundly at night because of their hard labor in the day, Lord Krsna awarded promotion to the highest planet in the spiritual sky. All these acts are transcendental and certainly prove without any doubt His Godhood.

Nanda Maharaja, the foster father of Lord Krsna, went to take his bath in the River Yamuna in the dead of night, mistakenly thinking that the night was already over; thus the demigod Varuna took him to the Varuna planet just to have a look at the Personality of Godhead Lord Krsna, who appeared there to release His father. Actually there was no arrest of Nanda Maharaja by Varuna because the inhabitants of Vrndavana were always engaged in thinking of Krsna, in constant meditation on the Personality of Godhead in a particular form of samadhi, or trance of bhakti-yoga. They had no fear of the miseries of material existence. In the Bhagavad-gita it is confirmed that to be in association with the Supreme Personality of Godhead by full surrender in transcendental love frees one from the miseries inflicted by the laws of material nature. Here it is clearly mentioned that the inhabitants of Vrndavana were extensively busy in the hard labor of their day’s work, and due to the day’s hard labor they were engaged in sound sleep at night. So practically they had very little time to devote to meditation or to the other paraphernalia of spiritual activities. But factually they were engaged in the highest spiritual activities only. Everything done by them was spiritualized because everything was dovetailed in their relationship with Lord Sri Krsna. The central point of activities was Krsna, and as such the so-called activities in the material world were saturated with spiritual potency. That is the advantage of the way of bhakti-yoga. One should discharge one’s duty on Lord Krsna’s behalf, and all one’s actions will be saturated with Krsna thought, the highest pattern of trance in spiritual realization.

gopair makhe pratihate vraja-viplavaya

deve ’bhivarsati pasun krpaya riraksuh

dhartocchilindhram iva sapta-dinani sapta-

varso mahidhram anaghaika-kare salilam

gopaih—by the cowherd men; makhe—in offering a sacrifice to the King of heaven; pratihate—being hampered; vraja-viplavaya—for devastating the whole existence of Vrajabhumi, the land of Krsna’s pastimes; deve—by the King of heaven; abhivarsati—having poured down heavy rain; pasun—the animals; krpaya—by causeless mercy upon them; riraksuh—desired to protect them; dharta—held up; ucchilindhram—uprooted as an umbrella; iva—exactly like that; sapta-dinani—continuously for seven days; sapta-varsah—although He was only seven years old; mahidhram—the Govardhana Hill; anagha—without being tired; eka-kare—in one hand only; salilam—playfully.

When the cowherd men of Vrndavana, under instruction of Krsna, stopped offering sacrifice to the heavenly King, Indra, the whole tract of land known as Vraja was threatened with being washed away by constant heavy rains for seven days. Lord Krsna, out of His causeless mercy upon the inhabitants of Vraja, held up the hill known as Govardhana with one hand only, although He was only seven years old. He did this to protect the animals from the onslaught of water.

Children play with an umbrella generally known as a frog’s umbrella, and Lord Krsna, when He was only seven years old, could snatch the great hill known as the Govardhana Parvata at Vrndavana and hold it for seven days continuously with one hand, just to protect the animals and the inhabitants of Vrndavana from the wrath of Indra, the heavenly King, who had been denied sacrificial offerings by the inhabitants of Vrajabhumi.

Factually there is no need of offering sacrifices to the demigods for their services if one is engaged in the service of the Supreme Lord. Sacrifices recommended in the Vedic literature for satisfaction of the demigods are a sort of inducement to the sacrificers to realize the existence of higher authorities. The demigods are engaged by the Lord as controlling deities of material affairs, and according to the Bhagavad-gita, when a demigod is worshiped the process is accepted as the indirect method for worshiping the Supreme Lord. But when the Supreme Lord is worshiped directly there is no need of worshiping the demigods or offering them sacrifices as recommended in particular circumstances. Lord Krsna therefore advised the inhabitants of Vrajabhumi not to offer any sacrifices to the heavenly King Indra. But Indra, not knowing Lord Krsna in Vrajabhumi, was angry at the inhabitants of Vrajabhumi and tried to avenge the offense. But, competent as the Lord was, He saved the inhabitants and animals of Vrajabhumi by His personal energy and proved definitely that anyone directly engaged as a devotee of the Supreme Lord need not satisfy any other demigods, however great, even to the level of Brahma, or Siva. Thus this incident definitely proved without a doubt that Lord Krsna is the Personality of Godhead and that He was so in all circumstances, as a child on the lap of His mother, as a boy 7 years old, and as an old man of 125 years of age. In either case He was never on the level of the ordinary man, and even in His advanced age He appeared a young boy 16 years old. These are the particular features of the transcendental body of the Lord.

kridan vane nisi nisakara-rasmi-gauryam

rasonmukhah kala-padayata-murcchitena

uddipita-smara-rujam vraja-bhrd-vadhunam

hartur harisyati siro dhanadanugasya

kridan—while engaged in His pastimes; vane—in the forest of Vrndavana; nisi—nocturnal; nisakara—the moon; rasmi-gauryam—white moonshine; rasa-unmukhah—desiring to dance with; kala-padayata—accompanied by sweet songs; murcchitena—and melodious music; uddipita—awakened; smara-rujam—sexual desires; vraja-bhrt—the inhabitants of Vrajabhumi; vadhunam—of the wives; hartuh—of the kidnappers; harisyati—will vanquish; sirah—the head; dhanada-anugasya—of the follower of the rich Kuvera.

When the Lord was engaged in His pastimes of the rasa dance in the forest of Vrndavana, enlivening the sexual desires of the wives of the inhabitants of Vrndavana by sweet and melodious songs, a demon of the name Sankhacuda, a rich follower of the treasurer of heaven [Kuvera], kidnapped the damsels, and the Lord severed his head from his trunk.

We should carefully note that the statements described herein are the statements of Brahmaji to Narada, and he was speaking to Narada of events that would happen in the future, during the advent of Lord Krsna. The pastimes of the Lord are known to the experts who are able to see past, present and future, and Brahmaji, being one of them, foretold what would happen in the future. The killing of Sankhacuda by the Lord is a more recent incident, after the rasa-lila, and not exactly a simultaneous affair. In the previous verses we have seen also that the Lord’s engagement in the affairs of the forest fire was described along with His pastimes of punishing the Kaliya snake, and similarly the pastimes of the rasa dance and the killing of Sankhacuda are also described herein. The adjustment is that all these incidents would take place in the future, after the time when it was being foretold by Brahmaji to Narada. The demon Sankhacuda was killed by the Lord during His pastimes at Horika in the month of Phalguna, and the same ceremony is still observed in India by the burning of the effigy of Sankhacuda one day prior to the Lord’s pastimes at Horika, generally known as Holi.

Generally the future appearance and the activities of the Lord or His incarnations are foretold in the scriptures, and thus the pseudoincarnations are unable to cheat persons who are in knowledge of the events as they are described in the authoritative scriptures.

ye ca pralamba-khara-dardura-kesy-arista-

mallebha-kamsa-yavanah kapi-paundrakadyah

anye ca salva-kuja-balvala-dantavakra-

saptoksa-sambara-viduratha-rukmi-mukhyah

ye va mrdhe samiti-salina atta-capah

kamboja-matsya-kuru-srnjaya-kaikayadyah

yasyanty adarsanam alam bala-partha-bhima-

vyajahvayena harina nilayam tadiyam

ye—all those; ca—totally; pralamba—the demon named Pralamba; khara—Dhenukasura; dardura—Bakasura; kesi—the Kesi demon; arista—the demon Aristasura; malla—a wrestler in the court of Kamsa; ibha—Kuvalayapida; kamsa—the King of Mathura and maternal uncle of Krsna; yavanah—the kings of Persia and other adjoining places; kapi—Dvivida; paundraka-adyah—Paundraka and others; anye—others; ca—as much as; salva—King Salva; kuja—Narakasura; balvala—King Balvala; dantavakra—the brother of Sisupala, a dead rival of Krsna’s; saptoksa—King Saptoksa; sambara—King Sambara; viduratha—King Viduratha; rukmi-mukhyah—the brother of Rukmini, the first queen of Krsna at Dvaraka; ye—all those; va—either; mrdhe—in the battlefield; samiti-salinah—all very powerful; atta-capah—well equipped with bows and arrows; kamboja—the King of Kamboja; matsya—the King of Dvarbhanga; kuru—the sons of Dhrtarastra; srnjaya—King Srnjaya; kaikaya-adyah—the King of Kekaya and others; yasyanti—would attain; adarsanam—impersonal merging within the brahmajyoti; alam—what to speak of; bala—Baladeva, the elder brother of Krsna; partha—Arjuna; bhima—the second Pandava; vyaja-ahvayena—by the false names; harina—by Lord Hari; nilayam—the abode; tadiyam—of Him.

All demonic personalities like Pralamba, Dhenuka, Baka, Kesi, Arista, Canura, Mustika, Kuvalayapida elephant, Kamsa, Yavana, Narakasura and Paundraka, great marshals like Salva, Dvivida monkey and Balvala, Dantavakra, the seven bulls, Sambara, Viduratha and Rukmi, as also great warriors like Kamboja, Matsya, Kuru, Srnjaya and Kekaya, would all fight vigorously, either with the Lord Hari directly or with Him under His names of Baladeva, Arjuna, Bhima, etc. And the demons, thus being killed, would attain either the impersonal brahmajyoti or His personal abode in the Vaikuntha planets.

All manifestations, in both the material and spiritual worlds, are demonstrations of the different potencies of Lord Krsna. The Personality of Godhead Baladeva is His immediate personal expansion, and Bhima, Arjuna, etc., are His personal associates. The Lord would appear (and He does so whenever He appears) with all His associates and potencies. Therefore the rebellious souls, like the demons and demoniac men, mentioned by names like Pralamba, would be killed either by the Lord Himself or by His associates. All these affairs will be clearly explained in the Tenth Canto. But we should know well that all the above-mentioned living entities killed would attain salvation either by being merged in the brahmajyoti of the Lord or being allowed to enter into the abodes of the Lord called Vaikunthas. This has already been explained by Bhismadeva (First Canto). All persons who participated in the Battlefield of Kuruksetra or otherwise with the Lord or with Baladeva, etc., would benefit by attaining spiritual existence according to the situation of their minds at the time of death. Those who recognized the Lord would enter Vaikuntha, and those who estimated the Lord as only a powerful being would attain salvation by merging into the spiritual existence of the impersonal brahmajyoti of the Lord. But every one of them would get release from material existence. Since such is the benefit of those who played with the Lord inimically, one can imagine what would be the position of those who devoutly served the Lord in transcendental relationship with Him.

kalena milita-dhiyam avamrsya nrnam

stokayusam sva-nigamo bata dura-parah

avirhitas tv anuyugam sa hi satyavatyam

veda-drumam vita-paso vibhajisyati sma

kalena—in course of time; milita-dhiyam—of the less intelligent persons; avamrsya—considering the difficulties; nrnam—of humanity at large; stoka-ayusam—of the short-living persons; sva-nigamah—the Vedic literatures compiled by Him; bata—exactly; dura-parah—greatly difficult; avirhitah—having appeared as; tu—but; anuyugam—in terms of the age; sah—He (the Lord); hi—certainly; satyavatyam—in the womb of Satyavati; veda-drumam—the desire tree of the Vedas; vita-pasah—by division of branches; vibhajisyati—will divide; sma—as it were.

The Lord Himself in His incarnation as the son of Satyavati [Vyasadeva] will consider his compilation of the Vedic literature to be very difficult for the less intelligent persons with short life, and thus He will divide the tree of Vedic knowledge into different branches, according to the circumstances of the particular age.

Herein Brahma mentions the future compilation of Srimad-Bhagavatam for the short-lived persons of the Kali age. As explained in the First Canto, the less intelligent persons of the age of Kali would be not only short-lived, but also perplexed with so many problems of life due to the awkward situation of the godless human society. Advancement of material comforts of the body is activity in the mode of ignorance according to the laws of material nature. Real advancement of knowledge means progress of knowledge in self-realization. But in the age of Kali the less intelligent men mistakenly consider the short lifetime of one hundred years (now factually reduced to about forty or sixty years) to be all in all. They are less intelligent because they have no information of the eternity of life; they identify with the temporary material body existing for forty years and consider it the only basic principle of life. Such persons are described as equal to the asses and bulls. But the Lord, as the compassionate father of all living beings, imparts unto them the vast Vedic knowledge in short treatises like the Bhagavad-gita and, for the graduates, the Srimad-Bhagavatam. The Puranas and the Mahabharata are also similarly made by Vyasadeva for the different types of men in the modes of material nature. But none of them are independent of the Vedic principles.

deva-dvisam nigama-vartmani nisthitanam

purbhir mayena vihitabhir adrsya-turbhih

lokan ghnatam mati-vimoham atipralobham

vesam vidhaya bahu bhasyata aupadharmyam

deva-dvisam—of those who were envious of the devotees of the Lord; nigama—the Vedas; vartmani—on the path of; nisthitanam—of the well situated; purbhih—by rockets; mayena—made by the great scientist Maya; vihitabhih—made by; adrsya-turbhih—unseen in the sky; lokan—the different planets; ghnatam—of the killers; mati-vimoham—bewilderment of the mind; atipralobham—very attractive; vesam—dress; vidhaya—having done so; bahu bhasyate—will talk very much; aupadharmyam—subreligious principles.

When the atheists, after being well versed in the Vedic scientific knowledge, annihilate inhabitants of different planets, flying unseen in the sky on well-built rockets prepared by the great scientist Maya, the Lord will bewilder their minds by dressing Himself attractively as Buddha and will preach on subreligious principles.

This incarnation of Lord Buddha is not the same Buddha incarnation we have in the present history of mankind. According to Srila Jiva Gosvami, the Buddha incarnation mentioned in this verse appeared in a different Kali age. In the duration of life of one Manu there are more than seventy-two Kali-yugas, and in one of them the particular type of Buddha mentioned here would appear. Lord Buddha incarnates at a time when the people are most materialistic and preaches common-sense religious principles. Such ahimsa is not a religious principle itself, but it is an important quality for persons who are actually religious. It is a common-sense religion because one is advised to do no harm to any other animal or living being because such harmful actions are equally harmful to he who does the harm. But before learning these principles of nonviolence one has to learn two other principles, namely to be humble and to be prideless. Unless one is humble and prideless, one cannot be harmless and nonviolent. And after being nonviolent one has to learn tolerance and simplicity of living. One must offer respects to the great religious preachers and spiritual leaders and also train the senses for controlled action, learning to be unattached to family and home, and enacting devotional service to the Lord, etc. At the ultimate stage one has to accept the Lord and become His devotee; otherwise there is no religion. In religious principles there must be God in the center; otherwise simple moral instructions are merely subreligious principles, generally known as upadharma, or nearness to religious principles.

yarhy alayesv api satam na hareh kathah syuh

pasandino dvija-jana vrsala nrdevah

svaha svadha vasad iti sma giro na yatra

sasta bhavisyati kaler bhagavan yugante

yarhi—when it happens; alayesu—in the residence of; api—even; satam—civilized gentlemen; na—no; hareh—of the Personality of Godhead; kathah—topics; syuh—will take place; pasandinah—atheists; dvija-janah—persons declaring themselves to be the higher three classes (brahmanas, ksatriyas and vaisyas); vrsalah—the lower class sudras; nr-devah—ministers of the government; svaha—hymns to perform sacrifices; svadha—the ingredients to perform sacrifices; vasat—the altar of sacrifice; iti—all these; sma—shall; girah—words; na—never; yatra—anywhere; sasta—the chastiser; bhavisyati—will appear; kaleh—of the Kali age; bhagavan—the Personality of Godhead; yuga-ante—at the end of.

Thereafter, at the end of Kali-yuga, when there exist no topics on the subject of God, even at the residences of so-called saints and respectable gentlemen of the three higher castes, and when the power of government is transferred to the hands of ministers elected from the lowborn sudra class or those less than them, and when nothing is known of the techniques of sacrifice, even by word, at that time the Lord will appear as the supreme chastiser.

The symptoms of the worst conditions of the material world, at the last stage of this age, called Kali-yuga, are stated herein. The sum and substance of such conditions is godlessness. Even the so-called saints and higher castes of the social orders, generally known as the dvija janas or the twice-born, will become atheists. As such, all of them will practically forget even the holy name of the Lord, and what to speak of His activities. The higher castes of society, namely the intelligent class of men guiding the destinies of the social orders, the administrative class of men guiding the law and order of the society, and the productive class of men guiding the economic development of the society, must all be properly well versed in knowledge of the Supreme Lord, knowing factually His name, quality, pastimes, entourage, paraphernalia and personalities. The saints and the higher castes or orders of the society are judged by their proportion of knowledge in the science of God, or tattva jnana, and not by any kind of birthright or bodily designations. Such designations, without any knowledge of the science of God and practical knowledge of devotional service, are considered to be all decorations of dead bodies. And when there is too much inflation of these decorated dead bodies in society, there develop so many anomalies in the progressive, peaceful life of the human being. Because of the lack of training or culture in the upper section of the social orders, they are no more to be designated as the dvija janas, or the twice-born. The significance of being twice-born has been explained in many places in these great literatures, and again one is reminded herewith that birth, executed by the sex life of the father and the mother, is called animal birth. But such animal birth and progress of life on the animal principles of eating, sleeping, fearing and mating (without any scientific culture of spiritual life) is called the sudra life, or, to be more explicit, the uncultured life of the lower class of men. It is stated herein that the governmental power of society in the Kali-yuga will be passed over to the uncultured, godless laborer classes of men, and thus the nrdevas (or the ministers of the government) will be the vrsalas, or the uncultured lower-class men of society. No one can expect any peace and prosperity in a human society full of uncultured lower classes of men. The symptoms of such uncultured social animals are already in vogue, and it is the duty of the leaders of men to take note of it and try to reform the social order by introducing the principles of twice-born men trained in the science of God consciousness. This can be done by expanding the culture of Srimad-Bhagavatam all over the world. In the degraded condition of human society, the Lord incarnates as the Kalki avatara and kills all the demonic without mercy.

sarge tapo ’ham rsayo nava ye prajesah

sthane ’tha dharma-makha-manv-amaravanisah

ante tv adharma-hara-manyu-vasasuradya

maya-vibhutaya imah puru-sakti-bhajah

sarge—in the beginning of the creation; tapah—penance; aham—myself; rsayah—sages; nava—nine; ye prajesah—those who would generate; sthane—in the middle while maintaining the creation; atha—certainly; dharma—religion; makha—Lord Visnu; manu—the father of mankind; amara—the demigods deputed to control the affairs of maintenance; avanisah—and the kings of different planets; ante—at the end; tu—but; adharma—irreligion; hara—Lord Siva; manyu-vasa—subjected to anger; asura-adyah—atheists, the enemies of the devotees; maya—energy; vibhutayah—powerful representatives; imah—all of them; puru-sakti-bhajah—of the supreme powerful Lord.

At the beginning of creation there are penance, myself [Brahma], and the Prajapatis, the great sages who generate; then, during the maintenance of the creation, there are Lord Visnu, the demigods with controlling powers, and the kings of different planets. But at the end there is irreligion, and then Lord Siva and the atheists full of anger, etc. All of them are different representative manifestations of the energy of the supreme power, the Lord.

The material world is created by the energy of the Lord, which is manifested in the beginning of the creation by the penance of Brahmaji, the first living being in the creation, and then there are the nine Prajapatis, known as great sages. In the stage when the creation is maintained, there are devotional service to Lord Visnu, or factual religion, the different demigods, and the kings of different planets who maintain the world. At last, when the creation is preparing to wind up, there is first the principle of irreligion, then Lord Siva along with the atheists, full of anger. But all of them are but different manifestations of the Supreme Lord. Therefore Brahma, Visnu and Mahadeva (Siva) are different incarnations of the different modes of material nature. Visnu is the Lord of the mode of goodness. Brahma is the lord of the mode of passion, and Siva is the lord of the mode of ignorance. Ultimately, the material creation is but a temporary manifestation meant to give the chance of liberation to the conditioned souls, who are entrapped in the material world, and one who develops the mode of goodness under the protection of Lord Visnu has the greatest chance of being liberated by following the Vaisnava principles and thus being promoted to the kingdom of God, no more to return to this miserable material world.

visnor nu virya-gananam katamo ’rhatiha

yah parthivany api kavir vimame rajamsi

caskambha yah sva-rahasaskhalata tri-prstham

yasmat tri-samya-sadanad uru-kampayanam

visnoh—of Lord Visnu; nu—but; virya—prowess; gananam—in the matter of accounting; katamah—who else; arhati—is able to do it; iha—in this world; yah—one who; parthivani—the atoms; api—also; kavih—great scientist; vimame—might have counted; rajamsi—particles; caskambha—could catch; yah—one who; sva-rahasa—by His own leg; askhalata—without being hampered; tri-prstham—the topmost planetary space; yasmat—by which; tri-samya—the neutral state of the three modes; sadanat—up to that place; uru-kampayanam—moving very greatly.

Who can describe completely the prowess of Visnu? Even the scientist, who might have counted the particles of the atoms of the universe, cannot do so. Because it is He only who in His form of Trivikrama moved His leg effortlessly beyond the topmost planet, Satyaloka, up to the neutral state of the three modes of material nature. And all were moved.

The highest scientific advancement of the material scientists is atomic energy. But the material scientist is not able to have an estimation of the particles of atoms contained in the whole universe. But even if one is able to count such atomic particles or is able to roll up the sky like one’s bedding, even then one is unable to estimate the extent of the prowess and energy of the Supreme Lord. He is known as Trivikrama because once, in His incarnation of Vamana, He expanded His leg beyond the highest planetary system, Satyaloka, and reached the neutral state of the modes of nature called the covering of the material world. There are seven layers of material coverings over the material sky, and the Lord could penetrate even those coverings. With His toe He made a hole through which the water of the Causal Ocean filters into the material sky, and the current is known as the sacred Ganges, which purifies the planets of the three worlds. In other words, no one is equal to the transcendentally powerful Visnu. He is omnipotent, and no one is equal to or greater than Him.

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