Srimad Bhagavatam 08.03.17 - Book Distribution Nectar (download mp3)
by Vaisesika Prabhu at ISKCON Chowpatty
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SB 8.3.17
madrk prapanna-pasu-pasa-vimoksanaya
muktaya bhuri-karunaya namo ’layaya
svamsena sarva-tanu-bhrn-manasi pratita-
pratyag-drse bhagavate brhate namas te
Translation:
Since an animal such as me has surrendered unto You, who are supremely liberated, certainly You will release me from this dangerous position. Indeed, being extremely merciful, You incessantly try to deliver me. By your partial feature as Paramatma, You are situated in the hearts of all embodied beings. You are celebrated as direct transcendental knowledge, and You are unlimited. I offer my respectful obeisances unto You, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Purport:
The words brhate namas te have been explained by Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura: brhate sri-krsnaya. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is Krsna. There are many tattvas, such as visnu-tattva, jiva-tattva and sakti-tattva, but above everything is the visnu-tattva, which is all-pervading. This all-pervading feature of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is explained in Bhagavad-gita (10.42), wherein the Lord says:
athava bahunaitena
kim jñatena tavarjuna
vistabhyaham idam krtsnam
ekamsena sthito jagat
“But what need is there, Arjuna, for all this detailed knowledge? With a single fragment of Myself I pervade and support this entire universe.” Thus Krsna says that the entire material world is maintained by His partial representation as Paramatma. The Lord enters every universe as Garbhodakasayi Visnu and then expands Himself as Ksirodakasayi Visnu to enter the hearts of all living entities and even enter the atoms. Andantara-stha-paramanu-cayantara-stham. Every universe is full of atoms, and the Lord is not only within the universe but also within the atoms. Thus within every atom the Supreme Lord exists in His Visnu feature as Paramatma, but all the visnu-tattvas emanate from Krsna. As confirmed in Bhagavad-gita (10.2), aham adir hi devanam: Krsna is the adi, or beginning, of the devas of this material world — Brahma, Visnu and Mahesvara. Therefore He is described here as bhagavate brhate. Everyone is bhagavan — everyone possesses opulence — but Krsna is brhan bhagavan, the possessor of unlimited opulence. Isvarah paramah krsnah. Krsna is the origin of everyone. Aham sarvasya prabhavah. Even Brahma, Visnu and Mahesvara come from Krsna. Mattah parataram nanyat kiñcid asti dhanañjaya: there is no personality superior to Krsna. Therefore Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura says that bhagavate brhate means “unto Sri Krsna.”
In this material world, everyone is a pasu, an animal, because of the bodily conception of life.
yasyatma-buddhih kunape tri-dhatuke
sva-dhih kalatradisu bhauma ijya-dhih
yat tirtha-buddhih salile na karhicij
janesv abhijñesu sa eva go-kharah
“A human being who identifies the body made of three elements as the self, who considers the by-products of the body to be his kinsmen, who considers the land of his birth to be worshipable, and who goes to a place of pilgrimage simply to bathe rather than to meet men of transcendental knowledge there is to be considered like a cow or an ass.” (Bhag. 10.84.13) Practically everyone, therefore, is a pasu, an animal, and everyone is attacked by the crocodile of material existence. Not only the King of the elephants but every one of us is being attacked by the crocodile and is suffering the consequences.
Only Krsna can deliver us from this material existence. Indeed, He is always trying to deliver us. Isvarah sarva-bhutanam hrd-dese ’rjuna tisthati. He is within our hearts and is not at all inattentive. His only aim is to deliver us from material life. It is not that He becomes attentive to us only when we offer prayers to Him. Even before we offer our prayers, He incessantly tries to deliver us. He is never lazy in regard to our deliverance. Therefore this verse says, bhuri-karunaya namo ’layaya. It is the causeless mercy of the Supreme Lord that He always tries to bring us back home, back to Godhead. God is liberated, and He tries to make us liberated, but although He is constantly trying, we refuse to accept His instructions (sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam vraja). Nonetheless, He has not become angry. Therefore He is described here as bhuri-karunaya, unlimitedly merciful in delivering us from this miserable material condition of life and taking us back home, back to Godhead.