​Bhagavatam study 52 1.10.21-27 The Supreme appears human – and still remains Supreme

Thank you. As they behold him departing from Hastinapur to go towards Dwaraka. And in the previous text, it was said that their mutual discussions, actually it was not that they were standing in front of Krishna and offering prayers to him, rather, they are on the terraces of their houses and from there they are beholding Krishna as he is departing, they are offering, they are showering flowers on him and they are watching, beholding, they are discussing among themselves.
So, Savai, here he is, that very person, kilayam purusha puratanu, kilayam, this very purusham puratanu, purusha puratanu, that primeval person, ye eka asid avisheshatmani, that one who is existed since time immemorial, avishedhatmani, who is materially unmanifested, avisheshatmani, agre gune bhyo jagadatmanishvare, agre gune bhyo. So, agre, at the beginning, before the creation, gune bhyo, even before the modes of material nature are manifested, jagadatmanishvare, he is the Ishvara, the lord of the universe, he is the soul of the universe, that supreme lord, nimilitaatman nishisupta shaktishu. So, into him, nimilitaatman, the living entities enter at the end of creation, supta shaktishu, as if they are sleeping, their energy suspended.
So, here, it’s striking that the Kuru ladies begin by stressing Krishna’s supreme position. They stress that he should not be seen as an ordinary person. He is, after all, the supreme person and although on the road, when he is going in a chariot, sitting among others, he might seem to be just like another person, but he is the person who existed at the start of creation.
It is through him that all living beings got their bodies and it is into him that all living beings will withdraw at the end of, when creation gives way to destruction of the cosmic manifestation. At that time, when the living beings, entities go into deep sleep, the sleep of Sushupti, at that time, they go into the, they enter into him, they rest in him. They enter into the body of Mahavishnu.
It’s not the impersonal emerging because the living entities are still in the material existence and it is a resting state. So, just as in sleep, our energies are inactive. So, like that, the energies of the living entity is being inactive.
So, essentially, the point here is that this is not an ordinary person. This is the same Supreme Lord whom they have heard about from the sages. Now, they are beholding that supreme form again, that supreme Lord again.
Text 22, sa evabhuyo nijavirya choditam svajivamayam prakrtim sisrukshatayam anamarupatmani rupanamani vidhitsamano anusasar shastrakrit sa evabhuyo That same person again, nijavirya choditam, he performs by his own energy, nijavirya, svajivamayam prakrtim sisrukshatayam. So, svajivamayam, the living entity is maya, the external energy, prakrtim. The living entities are placed in a material nature, sisrukshatayam.
The next time when he creates the world, the world becomes manifested, anamarupatmani rupanamani, anamarupatmani. So, actually, the living entities also do not have material names or material forms, but they are given material names and forms at that time. vidhitsamano asusar anusasar shastrakrit vidhitsamano He wants to award them these things, anusasar, as is appropriate, as has been entrusted, shastrakrit, that person who is the compiler of scripture.
So, this can refer to Krishna as the compiler of scripture, it can also refer to as revealed in scripture. In this context, especially, anusasar shastrakrit, that same Lord, and to him, and to whom all the living beings withdraw, at the time of cosmic annihilation, they, that Lord, to those living entities, he gives them name and form, anamarupatmani rupanamani. So, here there is again a poetic inversion in the repetition.
There is anamarupatmani, so there the name is mentioned first and rupa is mentioned later, and then the second half, anamarupatmani rupanamani, rupa is mentioned first and nama is mentioned later. So, there is a, there is a symmetry there. The two, in a sense, rupa come in the middle and the two mentions nama come at the, at the ends of the sentence and anamarupatmani rupanamani.
So, the living entities, conditioned identity also comes by the grace of the Supreme Lord. So, we may think of ourselves as an engineer, as a doctor, as a professor or whatever, as an Indian, as an American, as a male, as a female, all these identities, they are imparted to us by Krishna through the material energy. Based on these identities, we may achieve many things in life and those achievements, we often think are mine.
But the foundation based on which we make those achievements, they come from Krishna. The foundation comes from Krishna. The abilities with which we make those achievements, they come from Krishna.
So, ultimately, we are not able to, we can’t do anything without Krishna’s grace. So, the key thing for us as sadhakas is to recognize that life moves on steadily in this material existence, but then there is sudden, there is, at the end of cosmic time, complete annihilation. So, everyone and everything that may be very glorious in this world, it will all be finished at that time.
But even at that time, Krishna will exist and what we have, what we have lost, Krishna will give it back to us. So, of course, we may not go back into the exact same position that we were before the creation ended. But basically, again, we will get a name, again, we will get a form.
So, what Krishna can do, no one else can do. And thus, Krishna has an extreme, has a distinctive, a unique position. He is the Supreme person, nijavir choditam, by his own energy.
Now, sometimes, he does this by his own energy. Sometimes, say, if a person becomes a witness against a very great criminal, against a criminal gang or something like that, then that person’s life comes under great threat. And then the government may do a witness protection program for that person.
And with the witness protection program, they may give that person a new identity. Even, say, plastic surgery or something like that might be done by which the, even the name of the person, look of the person may also be changed. So, nama rupa can be changed.
And now, if the nama rupa can be significantly changed, that’s a remarkable thing. So, Krishna is such a great person that nama rupa that is imparted, that can be totally changed. And that is his, that is his unique position.
Text 23. Almost all these verses are spoken with the Lord being addressed in the second person. Here it is, that same Lord, third person.
Here is, they are not talking to the Lord, the third person, but they are discussing among each other about the Lord. So, here is, Here is that same Lord who, padamatra, here is that Lord. Say, the devatas, who are also devotees, the devatas, devotees.
So, this Lord’s attractive form is relished, is experienced by those who have, those who have conquered their senses. They have conquered their life airs. And, those who have developed devotion to him, they are purified, cleansed souls.
By this, certainly, existence. So, this is certainly the way to purify the mind. They deserve to see the Lord.
This is the arhati, this is the befitting way to purification. So, two sort of symbiotic points are made over here. They are, they are beholding the form of the Lord and they are also saying that, they are acknowledging, appreciating, relishing the fact that beholding the Lord is by no means easy.
When Krishna descends to this world, at that time it may, he may be visible to everyone. And, when he is visible to everyone, it seems that, what’s so great about seeing Krishna, even the demons like Duryodhana and his cohorts also saw Krishna. But, actually, that is the special mercy that he bestows during the period of his descent.
But, when he is not ascended to this world, at that time, seeing him is extremely difficult. And, just to have his darshan, at that time, people can go through, people may often have to go through great extremes. They may even have to perform austerities for months, years, decades, even lifetimes.
And, it is through those austerities, after, then they become purified. They control their senses. They become free from material influences.
They become pure hearted. And, devotion awakens to them. After devotion to the Lord awakens in their hearts, then they are able to see him.
The same Lord is not at all easy to see. They are appreciating the fortune in beholding the form of the Lord and recognizing that only very special souls are able to see it. So, now, of course, they don’t imply over here, they don’t state explicitly or even imply that they are themselves special souls.
But, it is understood that they are appreciating the rarity of what they are getting to behold. Now, we may say that, actually, they have been with the Lord for so long. So, he has stayed with them, lived with them in the same house.
So, what’s so great? In this time when Krishna is departing, the statement of this Kuru lady is, Kuru Ganya reveals that they are not taking things for granted. They are appreciating Krishna’s speciality, the rareness of Krishna’s manifestation and Krishna’s darshan, and they are appreciating it now. Oh, friend, he is indeed Anugit, Satkatho.
He is described with the Satkatha, with the wonderful narrations. He performed wonderful pastimes and when those are narrated, they are wonderful stories. In the confidential sections of the Veda, these pastimes are described.
So, those who know the secrets, they describe it. Again, we see poetic beauty here. The word Guhya is repeated at a symmetrical position around the word Ch, and the first and the last two words, they have the similar sound of V, Vedeshu and Vadhibhim.
What this means is that although Krishna is talked about in the Vedas, it’s not all that direct, it’s not all that explicit. So, it’s the confidential sections of the Vedas and the confidential devotees can understand how the Vedas do refer to Him. This Lord is one Supreme Lord.
The complete creation, He is the super soul of that. By manifesting His pastimes, it is as a Leela that He does always in this world. What does He do? Sujati, He creates.
He maintains. But He doesn’t become attached, He doesn’t become bound, He doesn’t become entangled. So, the Lord over here is described as being transcendental.
These three phases of action, material existence, creation, maintenance and destruction He is the overseer of it all. These would not happen without Him. And yet, when the things are destroyed as per the cosmic time cycles, He is not attached, He is not entangled.
The world, it’s like a play for Him. Like a child may make a sandcastle, a child may destroy a sandcastle. So, of course, in some cases, a child may get attached to it, but in this particular case, the Lord doesn’t become attached to it at all.
So, here the important thing is, Krishna’s transcendental position is being stressed here again and again. And even when He is performing human-like pastimes, He is performing human pastimes, it has to be remembered that He is not an ordinary human being. He is the Supreme Person.
So, when being driven by unrighteousness, Nrupa is king’s Tamodiya, those whose consciousness is dominated by Tamogva. When they are living like this, that Lord whose existence is pure, He may manifest Bhagam, as opulence, power, satyam, truth. Ritam.
Ritam is, positiveness, Prabhupada translates it as, dayam, mercy, yashod, fame, wonderful activity, bhavaya, rupani, dadad, yuge, yuge, bhavaya, He manifests, appears, rupani, in different forms, dadad, yuge, yuge, yuge, yuge, yuge, where Krishna says that, So, where the Bhagavata talks in terms of principles, when dharma decreases and adharma increases, I manifest. So, here the Bhagavatam talks more in terms of agents. It says that, how does adharma come about? Adharma come about because of their adharmic kings, and those who are Tamodiyo, those who are influenced by the world of ignorance, and under that influence, they are needlessly violent, they are atrocious, they are exploitative, and at such times, when they are being dragged down, at that time, what is done? Bhavaya, rupani, dadad, yuge, yuge.
So, whenever such a thing happens, He comes again and again. So, till now, this verse marks a transition in thought, that till now the Kuru ladies were talking about how Krishna is transcendental, how He exists before creation, how He exists beyond this material manifestation. They are saying, He is indeed that same person.
Then the question may come up that, okay, if He is a transcendental person who exists beyond creation, why is He manifesting within creation? So, they are giving a general principle here that although He is transcendental, He is not indifferent. He has established this creation so that by living purely, living virtuously within this creation, the souls can become purified and can attain Him. And for that purpose, there has to be the rule of dharma in this world.
And so, whenever dharma is, the rule of dharma is lost, at that time, this Lord manifests here so that, so as to establish dharma. So, He removes the tamasik, the ignorant kings who are abusing power and abusing people and distorting people from the path of dharma. Yuge, yuge, He comes again and again.
Yuga after yuga. Sambhavami yuge yuge, as Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita, is 4.8. That same yuge yuge, two repeated words, they occur here also in the end of this verse as they have occurred over there in 4.8. Text 26. So, the first two lines are again very beautifully symmetric and poetic.
Oh, this is indeed certainly shlagyatamam yadokulam. The yadukul in which this Lord has manifested, it is supremely glorious shlagyatamam. Ahovalam punyatamam madhor vanam, madhor vanam.
The vanam usually refers to the forest. So, madhor vanam refers to the forest of Mathura. This can refer to Vrindavan.
So, they are saying that, okay, when that transcendent becomes immanent in this world, that is an extraordinary event. And that extraordinary event, wherever it has happened, wherever that infinite has manifested in this finite world, wherever that supreme being has manifested in this finite world of time and space, those places how fortunate they are. So, how glorious.
Yadokula, there is the dynasty in which the Lord has manifested. How glorious is the madhur vanam, the forest in which the Lord has ported. Krishna had an extraordinary childhood.
He was born from one set of parents. But then he was fostered and brought up by another set of parents. And he lived in the forest of Vrindavan during that time.
So, ahovalam punyatamam madhor vanam. How wonderful is the forest, how blessed is the forest of madhor vanam, of the forest in Mathura that Krishna lived over there. And the people over there, kumsaam, people, rishabhaha, he is the leader of all living beings, the leader of all people, shriyapati, the leader of the people, not only the people who are there around him now, he is the leader not only of the people among whom he appeared, the people among whom he sported, but he is the leader of all living beings.
Yadesh pumsaam rishabha shriyapati. So, he is the Lord of the Goddess of Fortune. By his appearance, he appeared over there.
Means that he crawled on the ground, while moving on the feet, using his knees and using his elbows and hands, he moved around over there. That Supreme Lord who is the master of all of existence, who is transcendental to everything in this world, isn’t it astonishing that he sported like this, that he played like this. Such are his glories.
So, they are appreciating both the place where the Lord appeared and what the Lord did in appearance over there. Krishna says that those who understand his appearance and activities, they attain him. And here, the Kuru ladies are demonstrating shriyatattvataha understanding.
They are not just seeing Krishna as a person and by that appearance, thinking of him as just another king. They are recognizing that he is a supreme being. He is manifesting over here.
Text 27. Ahobata, how wonderful it is. Swarayashasas tiraskari, that swarayashas, swar refers here to swarga over here, that is the glories of the heavenly planets, tiraskari, that they are defeated.
Tiraskar means to look down upon or to lower. So, even the glories of the heavenly planets, they pale in comparison to Kushasthali. Kushasthali refers to Dwarka.
The virtue and the fame of this earth, indeed it is the fortune of the earth that Dwarka is there. And in Dwarka, Dwarka’s glory has excelled the glory of swarga. Pashyanti nityam yat anugrahe shitam.
They are, pashyanti nityam, the people out there are always able to see anugrahe shitam, by his, and by his mercy, when he bestows his mercy on them. Smitavalokam, smitavalokam, they can see his face, they can see him glancing at them with a gentle smile on his face. Swapatim, so they are the one who is the lord of all living beings, the soul of all living beings, master of all living beings, mayad, kajah, the inhabitants of this place.
So, now when the, so they have talked about the fortune of Yadukula and of the Madhuvana. Now they talk specifically about the place where Krishna is going to depart, the place where Krishna actually resides. And how wonderful is that place? They say, oh, and how fortunate, how wonderful is that place? They say that it is actually more glorious than swarga.
Now the Bhagavatam is narrated in a culture where the influence of the Vedic Karmakand is there, but it is slowly being, slowly being superseded, transcended. That means, within the general Kshatriya culture, swarga is considered to be an extremely exalted destination. Some might even consider it to be the highest destination, attaining swarga as life’s highest success.
But even in swarga, one doesn’t get to behold the form of the lord regularly and certainly to see him, a sweet smile in his form as Krishna, that is an extremely rare thing. So, the presence of Krishna on earth, in Dwarka, has made Dwarka and earth superior to swarga. And what is the great fortune of those who are able to behold Krishna regularly? How astonishing, how wonderful, how thrilling is this that they are contemplating and appreciating? They had smitavalokam, they just beheld the smile of Krishna as he was departing and now they are thinking that this Krishna lives in Dwarka.
So, the people of Dwarka get to see Krishna’s smile regularly. How fortunate they are,