Srimad Bhagavatam 08.17.17-23 - Responsibility Brings In Opportunity (download mp3)
by Krishna Chaitanya Prabhu at ISKCON Chowpatty
www.iskcondesiretree.net
SB 8.17.17
athapy upayo mama devi cintyah
santositasya vrata-caryaya te
mamarcanam narhati gantum anyatha
sraddhanurupam phala-hetukatvat
Translation:
Yet because I have been satisfied by the activities of your vow, O goddess Aditi, I must find some means to favor you, for worship of Me never goes in vain but certainly gives the desired result according to what one deserves.
SB 8.17.18
tvayarcitas caham apatya-guptaye
payo-vratenanugunam samiditah
svamsena putratvam upetya te sutan
goptasmi marica-tapasy adhisthitah
Translation:
You have prayed to Me and properly worshiped Me by performing the great payo-vrata ceremony for the sake of protecting your sons. Because of Kasyapa Muni's austerities, I shall agree to become your son and thus protect your other sons.
SB 8.17.19
upadhava patim bhadre
prajapatim akalmasam
mam ca bhavayati patyav
evam rupam avasthitam
Translation:
Always thinking of Me as being situated within the body of your husband, Kasyapa, go worship your husband, who has been purified by his austerity.
SB 8.17.20
naitat parasma akhyeyam
prstayapi kathañcana
sarvam sampadyate devi
deva-guhyam susamvrtam
Translation:
O lady, even if someone inquires, you should not disclose this fact to anyone. That which is very confidential is successful if kept secret.
SB 8.17.21
sri-suka uvaca
etavad uktva bhagavams
tatraivantaradhiyata
aditir durlabham labdhva
harer janmatmani prabhoh
upadhavat patim bhaktya
paraya krta-krtyavat
Translation:
Sukadeva Gosvami said: After speaking in this way, the Supreme Personality of Godhead disappeared from that very spot. Aditi, having received the extremely valuable benediction that the Lord would appear as her son, considered herself very successful, and with great devotion she approached her husband.
SB 8.17.22
sa vai samadhi-yogena
kasyapas tad abudhyata
pravistam atmani harer
amsam hy avitatheksanah
Translation:
Being situated in a meditational trance, Kasyapa Muni, whose vision is never mistaken, could see that a plenary portion of the Supreme Personality of Godhead had entered within him.
SB 8.17.23
so 'dityam viryam adhatta
tapasa cira-sambhrtam
samahita-mana rajan
daruny agnim yathanilah
Translation:
O King, as the wind promotes friction between two pieces of wood and thus gives rise to fire, Kasyapa Muni, whose transcendental position was fully absorbed in the Supreme Personality of Godhead, transferred his potency into the womb of Aditi.
Purport:
A forest fire begins when two pieces of wood rub against one another, being agitated by the wind. Actually, however, fire belongs neither to the wood nor to the wind; it is always different from both. Similarly, here it is to be understood that the union of Kasyapa Muni and Aditi was not like the sexual intercourse of ordinary human beings. The Supreme Personality of Godhead has nothing to do with the human secretions of sexual intercourse. He is always completely aloof from such material combinations.
The Lord says in Bhagavad-gita (9.29), samo 'ham sarva-bhutesu: "I am equal toward all living entities." Nonetheless, to protect the devotees and kill the demons, who were a disturbing element, the Lord entered the womb of Aditi. Therefore this is a transcendental pastime of the Lord. This should not be misunderstood. One should not think that the Lord became the son of Aditi the way an ordinary child is born because of sexual intercourse between man and woman.
Here it may also be appropriate to explain, in these days of controversy, the origin of life. The life force of the living entity the soul is different from the ovum and semen of the human being. Although the conditioned soul has nothing to do with the reproductive cells of man and woman, he is placed into the proper situation because of his work (karmana daiva-netrena [SB 3.31.1]). Life is not, however, a product of two secretions, but is independent of all material elements. As fully described in Bhagavad-gita, the living entity is not subject to any material reactions. He can neither be burnt by fire, cut by sharp weapons, moistened by water, nor dried by the air. He is completely different from the physical elements, but by a superior arrangement he is put into these material elements. He is always aloof from material contact (asango hy ayam purusah) but because he is placed in a material condition, he suffers the reactions of the material modes of nature.
purusah prakrti-stho hi
bhunkte prakrtijan gunan
karanam guna-sango 'sya
sad-asad-yoni-janmasu
"The living entity in material nature thus follows the ways of life, enjoying the three modes of nature. This is due to his association with that material nature. Thus he meets with good and evil amongst various species." (Bg. 13.22) Although the living entity is aloof from the material elements, he is put into material conditions, and thus he must suffer the reactions of material activities.
