Bhagavatam tenth canto study 16 – 10.3.20-25 The divine’s complexion is sometimes a description and sometimes a signification

1.10.3.20 onwards. This is a chapter entitled the birth of Krishna. Until this point, Krishna has appeared and he is astounded.
His appearance has dissipated the darkness in the prison cell and it has dissipated the darkness of fear in the heart of Vasudev who is offering prayers to Krishna. So let’s look at text 20 wherein he is offering prayers. Till now he has said, he has very strongly and repeatedly stated that although you appear as my son, you are actually not my son.
You are indeed that supreme being who has descended to this world who just appears to have come through my, just as the supreme being remains transcendental even when appearing in this world. Similarly, O Lord, you remain transcendental while appearing to have been born in this world, to have appeared in as my child. And then he speaks further about how this Lord appears for the well-being of everyone.
So whenever he appears for the well-being of everyone, his purpose always remains the same. 2. That although he is transcendental, he comes into this world to benefit those who are not transcendental. Those who are in this material world, he comes to benefit them.
So let’s look at text 20. 3. Therefore that Supreme Lord, Trilokasthitaye, you come to maintain the three worlds. Maintain the three worlds means that Krishna comes because he protects all living beings.
But when he comes to protect the world, he is not like ordinary protector. No matter how powerful he may be, he may be. He comes by his own personal energy.
He doesn’t come covered with material nature. Sometimes you take on the white colour of Vishnu. It’s interesting here.
Sometimes you take the red colour, which is filled with the mode of, which signifies the mode of passion. And then sometimes you take the form of Krishnam chavarnam tamasajanatyaye. You take the form of, you take the form of red, which signifies the passion for Sargaya, for creation.
And then Krishnam is a dark complexion, the dark colour, the dark form varnam tamasajanatyaye, for the ultimate destruction of the entire living beings. So here Prabhupada explains in the purport that in this world, although later, the appearance of the Lord in different ages in terms of the complexion that he assumes, that will be talked about later, but here Shukla, Rakta and Krishna are not to be written literally. They are said to signify particular modes and the actions that are associated with the modes, that’s what is being stressed over here.
So the Lord has many different avatars. Like the Laghubhagavata Amrit can be called as the handbook of avatar science, which are the different kinds of avatars, when they appear, how they appear, what levels of powers they have, what functions they perform, all that is talked about. So here the mention is being made of the guna avatars.
The guna avatars, that means the Lord is, He is transcendental. Kunti Maharani says right in the beginning of her prayers, that my dear Lord, you are transcendental to the three modes. That you, similarly in this prayer itself, at the very beginning, he has said that, Vasudeva has said, this prakriti, which you created in the beginning, you appear to enter into it, but you don’t enter into it.
So the Lord is transcendental to the three modes, but at the same time, the three modes depend on Him. In 7.12, Krishna says that all the three modes of natural nature are sustained by me. They exist in me, but I do not exist in them.
So here, the point of guna avatar, that whatever happens in this world, whatever creation, whatever maintenance, whatever destruction happens, it happens by His arrangement. Without Him, none of this could happen. So here the point is that it is the Lord who takes care of goodness, passion and ignorance.
And so Prabhupada continues and explains that Sanatana Goswami says in his Vaishnava Toshanitika that sometimes the different manifestations of the Lord are associated with different colours. So he gives examples that the physical colours do not necessarily associate with actual consciousness, which is reflected in the modes. So you appear as Vishnu, who is white in colour, who maintains the world, and you appear as Brahma, signified by the red colour, which nourishes the world.
And you appear as Shiva, signified by the tamas of anger, darkness, to destroy the world. Now he says over here, the colour black does not indicate the form, because after all the form does not necessarily indicate the consciousness of a person. He says that the demons like Bakka, although they were completely demoniac and they were full of ignorance, they were having a white complexion.
Whereas Vyasadeva and Shukadeva Goswami, although they were full of sattva, their complexion was dark. So the point here is that now, of course, Vishnu’s complexion cannot also be referred to as white, because Vishnu is ultimately transcendental and white is a material colour that is being described. So this description has to be taken as a signification.
This verse has to be taken as a signification, not as a description. Description means it describes the reality as it is. Signification means it signifies what is being talked about over there.
So the point what is being stressed over here is, you O Lord, you are the doer of all the three functions of material existence, maintenance, creation and destruction. In that sense, you are the ultimate shelter for everyone. Without you nothing can happen in this world.
Then he goes further and says, tamasya lokasya vibhor rakshashur ruhey avatirnosimama khileshvara rajanyasangyasura kot yuthapi nirvyuvyamanan nihanyasyasi chamu So that Lord who does creation, maintenance and destruction, now in this world when he has descended, he has also come for a similar purpose. So he has come, like we say, paritranaya sadhunam vinashaya yadushkrtam. So he has come to protect and maintain someone, he has come to destroy someone.
So in a sense, the Lord’s avatar, we have the guna avatar, they have a particular purpose of relationship with the world and a similar kind of purpose, but in a more specific context, is for his other avatars, nila avatars or yuga avatars. So, tamasya lokasya vibhor, O Supreme Being, for this world, rakshashur, that you desire to protect this world from the upheavals of the asuras. gruheyavtirnosimama khileshvara, although you have appeared in my house, but you are still akhileshvara.
You are the Lord of all of creation. So even we will see that there are no incidences like this of Nanda Maharaj offering prayers to Krishna extensively. So, this awareness in Vasudeva’s mind that Krishna is God, this is, of course, essential for us who are hearers of the pastime to remember that Krishna is not an ordinary person.
At the same time, this awareness, Vaishnavacharyas will explain, indicates that his devotion is Aishwaryasithi. His devotion is made a little bit mild by his awareness of the greatness of Krishna or the position of Krishna. So, he knows that you are Lord Akhileshvara.
I mean, Nanda Maharaj, there are occasions when he also realises Krishna is God, but that realisation is not the prominent, is not prominent in his consciousness. But for Vasudeva, it is prominent. Rajanya Sanyasura, Koti Uthap, Uthapair.
So, Rajanya Sanyasura. So, those who have taken on the dress of rajas, of kings, they are appearing as kings or they are in the roles of kings, but they are not asuras, they are demons. Koti Uthapair, they have their followers who run into millions.
Nirvyuhamana. So, they are, they are breaking havoc on the world, spreading everywhere their demonic influence. And, Nihannishasi.
That you, O Lord, have come to destroy them. Vinashayachitushkrtam chamuhu. All their organisation that is there, to destroy them.
So, here Vasudeva is seeing beyond his immediate need and his immediate context. His immediate need is that his son be protected and if at all anybody is to be killed, first of all, the person who is a threat to his son, the person who is a murderer of his previous sons, that person should be killed. But, that is not his stress.
He says that, you have come to destroy all the demons who are terrorising the world. And, you have appeared in my house, that is simply your mercy. You have come for a great purpose and you could have descended anywhere, O Lord.
That, grhe avatirno mam akhileshvaraha. Akhileshvara means, you are the Lord of everyone. You are the Lord of everything.
You could have manifested anywhere, but you have chosen to manifest in my house. That is my fortune and that is your mercy on me. This is the mood of a devotee that even when something wonderful happens through us, we don’t see that necessarily as our glory.
Now, Vasudeva and Devaki could have said, we have performed so many austerities. In fact, Krishna will tell the amount of austerities they have performed even in the previous life. Or to speak of this life, when they lived in prison and lived through the death of their first six children and the disappearance of the seventh child.
So, they had definitely performed great, they had gone through great, great pain even in this life. But, they don’t focus on that and the focus is more on that it is your fortune, it is your mercy that you have appeared in our house. Similarly, even when we are able to do some wonderful service, we don’t see ourselves as the cause, we see ourselves as the instrument.
And it is not that we have any special qualification for being chosen as instruments. It is simply the Lord’s mercy that he has chosen us as the instrument. And according to his plan, he will use us as his instrument for some bigger or smaller purpose.
For whatever magnitude of purpose he chooses to use us, that is his mercy on us. So, Vasudeva is demonstrating to us how we can avoid the pitfall of pride while taking shelter, while appreciating any special mercy that the Lord gives us. Or any special purpose for which he uses us.
There are so many demons, and among them there is this uncivilised person, Kamsa. So now, a devotee is not unconcerned about the immediate situation. A devotee sees the bigger picture and in the context of the bigger picture, the devotee sees the immediate situation also.
So Vasudeva first of all recognises the bigger purpose of the Lord. And then, there is an immediate purpose also which needs to be taken care of. His concern is not so much that you are my son and you will be killed by Kamsa, but that Kamsa has killed your earlier brothers and he will come for the similar purpose over here also.
असब्यस्तत्जजतवजन्मनौग्रहे That as soon as Shrutva, if he hears that you are born over here, that असब्य, that uncivilised person, for a person to, for anyone to kill a baby, it’s ghastly, it’s uncivilised. And for someone to kill, not just a baby, but a baby who is one’s own relative, one’s own nephew, that’s ghastly, even more ghastly. So that’s why the word is used, he is not just an asura, but he is असब्य, because he was in a close relationship and still he did this.
So अग्रजाम, as soon as he hears this, just as you are अग्रज, those who were born before you, just as he had killed them, तेञ्यवधीत, just as he has killed them, similarly he may kill you also. So therefore, सुरेश्वर, O you who are the king of the gods, O you who are the lord of all the gods, the god of the gods, सवते अवतारं पुरुशेई समर्पितं, Therefore, he will come with his lieutenants to do the same thing now, coming to know that you have appeared. शुत्व, because he will be informed by his assistant अधुना, will come now, शुत्व अभिशरिती, he will come immediately and how will he come? उदा आयूधा, आयूधा is weapons, उदा means to raise them up, so he will come up with upraised weapons to kill you.
Although, there is a great and immediate danger to Krishna’s life and वसुदेव will have that foremost in his mind, वसुदेव does not simply jump to that, he talks about Krishna’s supreme position, he remembers Krishna’s transcendence and then he comes to the immediate situation. He knows at one level, a devotee knows that Krishna knows everything and in that sense, a devotee doesn’t care, a devotee knows Krishna’s supreme position, a devotee’s mood is, not that Krishna is omniscient and Krishna will do everything, a devotee’s mood is, a devotee wants to serve Krishna. And serving Krishna means that a devotee takes the role of a servant in the way that is appropriate for that particular service.
So, here, Shri Radhan Goswami explains in the Vaishnav Toshani that actually, I am taking the mood of that creature. So, he is now speaking in the mood of his tyrant that there is a danger to you and it is my duty to inform you about this danger. So, just as he has killed your elder brothers, he will now come to kill you also.
So, he stops over here. He does not speak anything further that, you know, you should not do this or you should do this. He just leaves it, he knows that Krishna is omnipotent and Krishna will figure out what is to be done.
In service to Krishna, he just explains that this is the situation. In text 23, So, Vasudev has offered his prayers in the previous set of verses and now Devaki will offer her prayers. I describe that she is going through two emotions.
One emotion is Kamsa-dhita. She is fearful of Kamsa, thinking that just as he has killed my earlier sons, he will kill this son also. But so is Smita.
Now, this son is clearly different. This son, he has exhibited such effulgence, he has come with decorations and dress and he is ornamented and dressed and he is so transcendental. So, she is astounded also.
So, the word Adbhuta was used earlier and similarly the word Vismita is used over here. So, same mood. So, at this point, while they were looking at their son, beholding him and when they saw that he was exhibiting He was exhibiting the characteristics of a great person.
At that time, Devaki offered the prayers to this person. To that extraordinary child. So, because he had appeared from her womb, so it’s interesting, she had a feeling of parental, maternal possessiveness towards him.
And although in one sense it was only an appearance, he is the source of material nature itself. And what to speak of one particular womb with material nature. So, now, but still at the same time, she is Vismita.
So, her Vismaya was that how is this wonderful Lord, Mahapurush, appeared from my womb. But then she is also fearful. Bheeta, Kamsa Bheeta.
So, here they said that because of Yoga Maya, because of Yoga Maya, her senses, her perception was covered and she saw Krishna more as her son than as the Lord. Although she offers him prayers, but still we will see towards the end of the prayers, again she will express her fear of Kamsa. So, text 24.
satir nirgunaṁ nirvikāraṁ sattā mātraṁ nirviśeṣaṁ nirīhaṁ sattaṁ sākṣād viṣṇur ādhyātma-dīpahāṁ So, she begins by appreciating that this form which has appeared before her is no ordinary form. rūpaṁ yat tat prāhu That form which I have seen before you, sometimes it is called as prāhu, means it is referred to as the same reality that I am seeing, absolute truth I am seeing avyakta-mādhyam It is unmanifested, it is primaeval, it is original. brahma-jyotir nirgunaṁ nirvikāraṁ You are non-different from the Brahman.
Now, normally, in today’s context, we consider the Brahman to be, brahma-jyoti to be lower and Bhagwan to be much higher. Which, of course, is one way of understanding things. vadanti tat tattva-vidha-sattvaṁ yad jñānaṁ advayaṁ brahmeti parmātmeti bhagavān yad Å›abdyate So, it is said in the Bhagavatam 1 to 11 that that same absolute truth is known by these three different names Brahman, Parmātmā and Bhagavān.
So, in that sense, it is not that one is lower and the other is higher. They are advaya tattva, they are all non-different from each other. Of course, the personal manifestation, the qualities, the attractive attributes are manifested in Bhagavān, not in Brahman.
So, in that sense, we could say that Bhagavān manifestation is a more personable manifestation and in that sense it can be considered higher. But, the bhed aspect should not blind us to the abhed aspect. That the absolute truth is, actually, Brahman and Bhagavān are the same.
It is because the devotees cannot reciprocate personal love with the Brahman, that’s why they are not so interested in Brahman. But, it is not that Brahman is something else which is to be considered lower and looked down upon. Brahman is also that same param tattva.
And, especially for people who may think that all-pervading effulgence is much bigger than this one person or this one form that is manifested over here. And, it’s said over, actually, you are non-different from that Brahma Jyoti. That Brahman effulgence, that absolute truth which is beyond all material qualities, which is beyond all material deterioration or transformation, that is the original existence from which all existence emerges.
So, that is the original substance. Sattva can mean existence. Sattva can also mean the mode of goodness.
Sattva mātra means the primal existence. Nirviśeṣaṁ nirīhaṁ. So, he is saying that you, in the personal manifestation you are there, you are actually non-different from that Brahman.
And, you are non-different from the super-soul. Nirviśeṣaṁ nirīhaṁ. He is saying that you have no material desires, you have no material qualities, but sattvaṁ sākṣād viṣṇur, and that same absolute truth, you are that same absolute truth manifested here, sākṣād, sa-akṣād.
In front of the eyes you have become manifested. Viṣṇur ādhyātma-dÄ«pahā, ādhyātma-dÄ«pahā. It’s a beautiful word.
The light for all transcendental knowledge. So, Prabhupāda gives a commentary, even a word for word translation, that he is the one who gives us all knowledge. And he quotes, yasmin vijñāte sarvam eva vijñātaṁ bhavati that actually whatever we know, we know through him.
The word ādhyātma-dīpahā is used even in the Bhagavatam, in the first canto to refer to the Bhagavatam itself. That Śukadeva Swami gives this transcendental torchlight to illumine people in the darkness of Kali. And then, of course, it is also said that the Bhagavatam is Krishna Himself who has descended.
kṛṣṇa dhāma upagate, when Krishna has departed, then Bhagavatam has descended. So, in that sense, it is Krishna who is the original light. Krishna is the original ādhyātma-dīpahā.
So, that same transcendental torchlight has now manifested in this world to give us the opportunity to raise our consciousness upwards and to attain Him. So, He has given us that light, He has given us that knowledge. That is text 25, so let’s go to text 26 now.
nashte loke viparādhāvasāne mahābhūteṣv adhibhūtaṁ gateṣu vyakte avyaktaṁ kāla-vege mayāte bhavāne kāśiṣyate śeṣa-saṅghyaḥ nashte loke She can continue to talk from the cosmic perspective. She will talk from a broad cosmic perspective, and then she will come to her specific context gradually. So, nashte loke, when all of this world is destroyed, dviparādhāvasāne So, dviparādhā, that means millions and millions of years, the life of Brahmā, avasāne, when that gets over, mahābhūteṣv adhibhūtaṁ gateṣu So, adhibhūta is the primal existence.
Gateṣu means to go into. Mahābhūteṣu means that all the cosmic elements, giant elements like earth, water, fire, air, ether, these are considered as mahābhūtaṁ yahūkāro buddhir avyaktaṁ eva ca These are the elements which comprise the gross material existence. And when they withdraw, they go into adhibhūteṣu.
They go into the original existence. At that time, what happens? vyakte avyaktaṁ kāla-vegena vyāte By the kāla-vegena, by the power of time, everything that is manifest becomes unmanifest. yāte Everything enters bhavāne ka śiṣyate śeṣya saṅgya At that time, you alone, bhavān, O Lord, you alone remain.
śeṣya te śeṣya saṅgya You who have many different names. And so the point here is that you are beyond all destruction. When everything in this world is destroyed, you remain as it is.
You are not destroyed. You remain transcendental and eternal. So, śeṣya saṅgya śeṣya saṅgya can refer to many different things.
Sometimes it is said that Å›eá¹£ya saá¹…gya refers to that Vaishnava Tosha mentions that the Lord remains alone doesn’t mean that He is ever alone. He is always with His devotees. So Å›eá¹£ya saá¹…gya means unlimited devotees.
Basically, that means that tamastadāsīd gahanam gabhīram yastas rājate that Gajendra also says that when there is immense darkness in this world, at that time abhirājate prabhavihau that you, O Lord, exist beyond all the darkness of this world in your transcendental abode. And so there you remain with your devotees. So here, Devaki is expressing her confidence that Krishna is not someone who is going to be destroyed with death.
He is going to, he is not, what to speak of at the bodily death, even at the time of cosmic destruction he is not going to be destroyed. So in that sense, she is expressing her confidence in Krishna. But while expressing that confidence,