Bhagavatam tenth canto study 58 – 10.10.28-35 Though God has a body, he is not limited by or to his body

Thank you Vandhanjale Virajasav Idam Uchatusva Tatra this is at that very spot where the Yama Raju trees fell Shriya Paramaya extremely beautiful Kakubhahaspurantav some beings which illuminated all the directions Siddhav two beings with Siddhis, two perfect beings Upetya they came out Kujayorivajatvedha they appeared, came out from the trees as if they were fire personified that’s how they were brilliant and illuminating all directions Krishnam Pranamya Shirasakhilalokanatham they offered their obeisances to Krishna with their head seeing him to be Akhilokanatham the master of all the three words Vandhanjale Virajasav Idam Uchatusva Vandhanjale with folded hands Virajasav they were fully cleansed of the lower modes Idam Uchatusva and then they spoke the following words so this is a dramatic incident in terms of the sudden transformation of the trees that the trees became not just humans but better than humans trees became transcendental beings who were in their own ways not at all therefore nobody expected something like that to happen it is that miraculous a thing so here it is an astonishing sight to behold and naturally that makes us wonder what is going to happen next and that we will see in the subsequent verses here text 29 krishna krishna maha yogin sthamadhya purusha para yatta vyakta idam vishwam roopam te brahmana vidu so here the lakua the yamalarjun trees which have fallen and from there these two celestial beings have emerged so those celestial beings are now speaking they are offering their prayers and they say krishna krishna calling out to krishna the bhagavatam many prayers begin with this dual address to krishna krishna krishna maha yogins you are a phenomenal possessor of phenomenal mystic powers krishna is not just a yogi but yogeshwar is the lord of all yogis and all yogic powers so that is pointed to here maha yogi so just as yogis can do things which most common people can’t understand and are left astounded by so here a tree falling and some beings emerging from there is something which is mind boggling not at all easy to understand but krishna being the lord of mystic powers can do such a thing and he has done such a thing krishna krishna maha yogis tamadhya purushapara so they don’t just hyperventilate over the extraordinary activity that krishna has done for them that extraordinary activity so usually whenever we can’t understand something we are befuddled by that but understanding comes by placing something incomprehensible within a comprehensible context so for example we might say something like if we put two chemicals together and suddenly a different colored element or different colored object comes up I’d wonder how did this happen but then we understand that oh these two chemicals react in this way and they produce that particular element that color, that fragrance, that effect that kind of transformation happens so the change itself was incomprehensible to us as long as it was not placed in a comprehensible context so as soon as we understand the comprehensible context that oh these two chemicals react in this way then the change no longer remains incomprehensible similarly krishna’s bringing down two giant trees and bringing forth two celestial beings is extraordinary it is incomprehensible as long as we don’t put that actually in the comprehensible context of understanding that krishna is god so tamadhyapurushapara he is the transcendental person original transcendental person that means that he is not bound by laws in the same way that we are bound the laws of physics do not bind him the laws of nature do not bind him he is he is the mayadheesh and we are mayadheen he is the lord of material nature whereas we are lorded over by material nature and paradoxically the more we try to lord it over material nature the more material nature lords over us and the more we give up the desire to lord it over material nature the more material nature loses its power to lord over us vyakta vyaktam idam vishvam so now he is he is continuing to describe the celestial beings nalakura and manikara continue to describe the glory of the lord which makes sense of the glorious action that they have seen the extraordinary grace that they have experienced the long awaited transformation that they have experienced by that grace so he is saying that the lord is transcendental and transcendental beyond what vyakta vyakta idam vishvam that this world is comprised of manifest and unmanifest things forms in the world are constantly changing and our distress is caused because not so much because of attachment to matter but because of attachment to material forms because when matter itself is eternal the forms material forms are temporary so beyond this manifest or unmanifested forms Krishna talks about this also in the Bhagavad Gita in 820 when he says that parastasmat tu bhavonyo vyakto vyaktat sanatana sarveshu bhuteshu nashyatsu navinashyati there also he talks about the manifest world and unmanifest world and he says that the lord exists beyond both as supreme transcendental being so rupam te brahmana vidu beyond the manifest and unmanifest objects of this world he exists, his form exists and that’s how the learned brahmanas know him now vyakta vyakta can also refer to subtle and gross forms or cause and effect as long as we don’t realize that each one of us has to deal with not just the things that are manifest but also the things that are unmanifest, say for example certain cravings may have arisen within us and we are trying to resist them but certain cravings may also resist and exist in an unmanifest form and we will have to deal with them also maybe not immediately but certainly we have to deal with them and that’s what we are considering here the focus that Krishna is Krishna’s glory that is being revealed over here is that he is his form is transcendental to all causes and effects in the world and he exists in that transcendental position it’s interesting that so many of the prayers which are offered to Krishna begin in the Bhagavatam especially they begin with a declaration of his transcendence namaste purusham so so that he is beyond material nature so this way this mood is repeatedly there in the Bhagavatam and that’s what is being described here also now so text 13 so the twin Kubera’s sons are continuing to offer their prayers to Krishna and they are telling over here that that you alone oh lord you alone are the for all living beings you are their lord so you are the everything that exists the life, the ego and the senses of every living entity ultimately it is you, you are the empowerer of that you are the being who makes all existence and all action possible and you are time oh lord and you are that all pervading lord Vishnu one who is present in the Vishwa in its every Anu is Vishnu you are imperishable and you are the controller so even when you appear to be controlled as you do in your present form being tied to a grinding mortar still you remain the controller so the prakriti, the material nature it has its cross and subtle manifestations the cross manifestations are considered to be huge the bhagavad gita says that that these are huge huge manifestations that they are all made of these three modes and whether they are gross or subtle they are all ultimately under the lord jurisdiction and you oh lord are the you are the proprietor, you are the controller so for all regard for all living beings in all their particular positions so you know whatever transformations are going on within them so if our mind wanders here and there Krishna knows about it what kind of desires are arising within us and Krishna also knows how strong those desires are if some desire is forcefully overwhelming us and we struggle against it Krishna knows how strong it is and he appreciates our struggle to resist against it to fight against it so Krishna is not just aware of the wrongs that we do but he also is aware of how strong are the forces that make us do wrong and if we resist them he appreciates our resistance and he also appreciates how long we try to resist them even if we eventually don’t succeed so this is where the lord is the knower of everything so they are indicating here that oh lord you knew about how we got intoxicated and what consequences we had but you also know that we are repentant now because you know our minds and you will help us text 32 गृहियमान इस तम अग्रहयो अग्रहयो so you accept गृहियमान you accept a material body or a body that appears material in this world you descend to this world but at the same time तम अग्रहयो you remain transcendental.
You have not accepted a body. So, they are contrasting the Lord’s position with their position. And although they were celestial beings and they accepted a body, they were trapped in that body.
But the Lord, ग्रह्यमानेस्तमअग्रह्यो, unlike them, though he has accepted a body, he is not bound by that body. And thus, when they were in tree form, they couldn’t manifest any of their former celestial power. Whereas the Lord, when he was in baby form, at his independent free will, whenever he desired, he could manifest his omnipotence, as he had just done, by bringing down those giant trees.
विकारैप्रक्राक्रतेर्गुणै, विकारै. So, now, what transformation is undergone, so that you, who are transcendental, manifest in a particular body, which is still transcendental, even if it doesn’t appear to be so, which appears to be material, but you retain your transcendence. कोनिहारथिविज्ञातम् How can we understand this? Who can understand this? इहारथि, who is this being in this world, with finite fallible intelligence, प्राक्सिद्धम् गुणसंबृतः When we are bound, covered over by the mounds, how can we understand, O Lord? That is the question, which they are having.
प्राक्सिद्धम् What is the possibility of succeeding in understanding something like this? That you are transcendental. How can we, who are in a material body, understand how your transcendence is preserved, while you manifest in this world. तस्मैतुभ्यम् भगवते वासुदेवायवेधसे आत्मद्योद् गुणईश्छन्न महिम्ने ब्रह्मणे नमहान् तस्मैतुभ्यम् भगवते Therefore, unto you, O Lord, you who are Bhagwan, वासुदेवायवेधसे, you are that all-pervading absolute, who is known in this way, who is the, from whom everything comes, who is the origin of creation, आत्मद्योद् गुणईश्छन्न.
So, you, who is आत्मद्योद्, whose glory is छन्नमहिम्ने, your glory is covered by your impersonal energy, नाहं प्रकाश सर्वस्य, योगमाया समावृतः. So, Krishna hides His glories from those who do not relish those glories. And thus, they are subjected to confusion.
His glory, एथामां प्रपद्यन्ति तामस थईबभजाम्य। So, His glories are revealed to those who are devotionally minded. Unto that Lord, ब्रह्मने, who is the transcendental reality, who is also known as ब्रह्मन्नमहा, I offer my obeisances to Him. Here, the prayer being offered is to stress that that Lord is no ordinary person.
Although the Gopas are seeing Krishna right in front of them, they understand that this Krishna is an extraordinary person, that He is a supreme being. महिमने, ब्रह्मने, नमहा. Unto that Lord, now they continue to offer their prayers.
And, let’s look at texts 34 and 35 together. यस्यावताराज्ञायन्ते शारिरेश्व शरीरिणः। तैस्ततेर् अतुल्यातिः शयेर् वीर्येर्देहिष्व असंखते। सभवान् सर्वलोकस्य भवाय विभवायच अवतीर्णों शभागेन। साम्प्रतं पतिराशिषाम् यस्यावताराज्ञायन्ते यस्यावताराज्ञायन्ते So, His various manifestations, His various descends into this world. ज्ञायन्ते So, it’s thought that when He manifests in this world, the activities that He does, how do we understand them? शरीरेश्व शरीरेश्व शरीरेश्व शरीरेश्व शरीरेश्व शरीरेश्व He, man appears in various bodies and yet He is not limited to those bodies, He is not limited by those bodies.
God appears in bodies but He is not limited to or limited by those bodies. Limited to means He still remains all-pervading despite appearing and limited by means His sphere of influence is not limited by His body. शरीरेश्व शरीरेश्व शरीरेश्व शरीरेश्व शरीरेश्व शरीरेश्व शरीरेश्व So, the activities that cannot be normally performed with the body, He performs while being in that body.
Thus, He might be in the form of a fish But he does things which no fish can do. Viryayi, his strength and power are Atulya. They are incomparable.
Ateeshayi, they are unlimited. So generally we associate the idea of a body with limitation. But in the case of Krishna, we need to abandon this default assumption because it just doesn’t apply to him.
He remains transcendental to whatever we strive to do. To whatever pigeonhole we put him in. sa bhavān sarva-lokasya bhavāya vibhavāya ca So, sa bhavān sarva-lokasya.
And to that Lord who is for all living beings. Bhavān is a respectful second person address to Krishna by the Kubera Kumaras. sarva-lokasya bhavāya abhavāya So for their well-being, for their elevation and vibhavāya.
So for their liberation. avatīrāṁ śibhāgīnā So you descend O Lord to elevate them and to liberate them. śibhāgīnā sāṃpratāṃ patirāśiṣāṃ sāṃpratam So you have appeared in this Lord.
patirāśiṣāṃ It’s a beautiful word over here. You are the Lord of all auspicious desires. So patirāśiṣāṃ, sāṃpratam You have manifested here as the personification of all, of the fulfillment of all auspicious desires.
So here they are hinting that the Lord in this form is going to fulfill their aspiration to be liberated from the tree body. In fact, not only is He going to fulfill, He has already fulfilled it because He has freed them from that body. And they understand that the Lord’s blessing is much, the blessing the Lord can offer is much bigger than simply liberating them from a tree body.
We will see in future verses how they will ask for this full freedom, for this complete liberation. And we will discuss that in our future sessions. Thank you.