VedaVyasa
Praneetha
The Mad Bhagavatam
Chapter 16
The Lord's Opulence
In this chapter the Personality of Godhead, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, describes His manifest opulences in terms of His specific potencies of knowledge, strength, influence, and so on.
Śrī Uddhava offered glorification to Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead and ultimate shelter of all holy places, saying, "The Supreme Lord has no beginning and no end. He is the cause of the birth, maintenance and destruction of all living entities. He is the soul of all beings, and by secretly taking up residence within all living bodies He sees everything. The conditioned souls, on the other hand, are bewildered by His external energy and thus are unable to see Him." After offering such prayers at the lotus feet of Lord Kṛṣṇa, Śrī Uddhava revealed his desire to know about the Lord's various opulences in heaven, on earth, in hell and in all directions. Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa then described all these opulences, after which He commented that all power, beauty, fame, opulence, humility, charity, charm, good fortune, valor, tolerance and wisdom — wherever they are manifest — are simply expansions from Himself. It therefore cannot be truthfully said that a material object actually possesses these opulences. Such conceptions are the results of mentally combining two ideas to produce an object that exists only in the imagination, such as a sky flower. Material opulences are not substantially true, and therefore one should not become too involved in meditating upon them. The pure devotees of the Supreme Lord utilize their intelligence to properly regulate the activities of their speech, mind and vital force and thus perfect their existence in Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
11.16.1
trāṇa-sthity-apyayodbhavaḥ
(1) S'rî Uddhava said: 'You are the greatest, the Supreme Himself. Unrestrained You are without a beginning and an end. You are the true protector and the maintenance, destruction and creation of all in existence.
Brahma means the greatest of all and the cause of everything. Uddhava here addresses the Lord as the paramam, or supreme brahma, because in His feature as Bhagavān the Lord is the highest feature of the Absolute Truth and the shelter of unlimited spiritual opulences. Unlike those of ordinary living entities, the Lord's opulences cannot be restricted by time, and thus the Lord is anādy-antam, without beginning or end, and apāvṛtam, unhindered by any superior or equal potency. The opulence of the material world is also resting within the Lord, who alone can protect, maintain, create and destroy the material world. In this chapter, Śrī Uddhava inquires from the Lord about His spiritual and material opulences in order to refine his appreciation of the Lord's position as the Absolute Truth. Even Lord Viṣṇu, the ultimate creator of the material world, is an expansion of Lord Kṛṣṇa, and thus Śrī Uddhava wishes to fully appreciate the unique status of his personal friend.
11.16.2
uccāvaceṣu bhūteṣu
durjñeyam akṛtātmabhiḥ
(2) O, Supreme Lord, while You for the impious are hard to understand, worship the brahmins You in Your reality of abiding in the superior as well as the inferior entities of creation.
11.16.3
(3) Please speak to me about the variety of [Your] forms [see catur vyûha] by means of which the great sages, who with devotion worship You, achieve that perfection [which is the supreme].
Śrī Uddhava here inquires about the spiritual opulences of the Lord, which consist primarily of His viṣṇu-tattva expansions such as Vāsudeva, Sańkarṣaṇa, Pradyumna and Aniruddha. By worshiping different plenary expansions of the Lord one achieves particular perfections, and Śrī Uddhava wants to know about this.
11.16.4
gūḍhaś carasi bhūtātmā
(4) O Maintainer of All Beings, not being visible You are engaged as the Very Soul of the living beings. You see them while they, bewildered by You[r external reality], cannot see You.
The Lord exists as the Supersoul within everything. He also appears in various incarnations or sometimes empowers a devotee to act as an incarnation. All such forms of the Lord are unknown to the nondevotees. The bewildered conditioned souls think that the supreme enjoyer, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, is actually meant to be enjoyed by them for their sense gratification. Praying to God for specific material benedictions and assuming God's creation to be their personal property, the nondevotees cannot understand the actual form of the Lord. They therefore remain foolish and bewildered. Within the universe everything is subject to creation, maintenance and destruction, and thus the Supersoul is the only actual controller in the material world. Unfortunately, when the Supersoul appears in various incarnations to clarify His position, ignorant persons think that the Supersoul is merely another creation of the modes of material nature. As stated in this verse, they cannot see that person who is actually seeing them, and simply remain bewildered.
11.16.5
(5) And, please, explain to me o greatest Might, what all the potencies are that You manifest in all directions on earth, in heaven and in hell. I offer my obeisances at Your lotus feet, the abode of all holy places.'
Uddhava here inquires about the Lord's material and spiritual potencies, as manifested within our universe. Just as ordinary animals or insects living in human cities cannot appreciate the scientific, cultural or military achievements of man, similarly, foolish materialists cannot appreciate the mighty opulences of the Personality of Godhead, even those manifested within our universe. For the appreciation of ordinary human beings Uddhava requests the Lord to reveal exactly how and in what forms He expands His potencies. As already explained, the Lord is the essential ingredient of all that exists, and thus any mighty or opulent manifestation must ultimately rest on the Lord Himself.
11.16.6
evam etad ahaḿ pṛṣṭaḥ
(6) The Supreme Lord said: 'This question, o best of all questioners, was at the time of the destruction posed by Arjuna in his desire to fight his rivals [at Kurukshetra, see B.G. 2: 54, 13: 1-2, 14: 21, 18: 1].
Lord Kṛṣṇa was pleased that His two friends, Arjuna and Uddhava, had posed the same question regarding the opulences of the Personality of Godhead. Lord Kṛṣṇa considered it wonderful that His two dear friends had asked exactly the same question.
11.16.7
tato nivṛtto hantāhaḿ
(7) Aware of the fact that the killing of his relatives was an irreligious, abominable act with sovereignty as a motive, he refrained saying in a worldly mind: 'Then I am the slayer and they the ones slain' [B.G. 1: 37-45, compare 2: 19].
Lord Kṛṣṇa here explains to Uddhava the circumstances in which Śrī Arjuna posed his questions.
11.16.8
(8) He, who just like you is a tiger among men, asked Me before the battle took place questions and was that very moment by Me with logical arguments enlightened on the matter.
11.16.9
aham ātmoddhavāmīṣāḿ
teṣāḿ sthity-udbhavāpyayaḥ
(9) I am of these living entities their Soul, o Uddhava, their Well-wisher and Controller, I am the maintenance, creation and annihilation of all the living beings.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī points out that the Personality of Godhead maintains an ablative and genitive relationship with His opulences. In other words, the Lord is not different from all living entities, because they are coming from Him and they belong to Him. The Lord gave a similar explanation to Arjuna in the Tenth Chapter of Bhagavad-gītā (10.20), beginning with the same words, aham ātmā. Although the Lord describes His external, or material, opulences, the Lord's position is always transcendental and nonmaterial. Just as the living soul within the body gives life to the body, similarly, the Lord, by His supreme potency, gives life to all universal opulences.
11.16.10
ahaḿ gatir gatimatāḿ
guṇiny autpattiko guṇaḥ
(10) I am the goal of the ones seeking progress, the Time of those who exert control, of the modes of nature I am the equilibrium and the natural virtue of the pious I am as well.
11.16.11
sūkṣmāṇām apy ahaḿ jīvo
(11) Of everything that has quality I am the guideline, of all great things I am the totality, of the subtle I am the spirit soul and among things that are difficult to conquer I am the mind.
11.16.12
hiraṇyagarbho vedānāḿ
mantrāṇāḿ praṇavas tri-vṛt
akṣarāṇām a-kāro 'smi
(12) I am Hiranyagarbha [Brahmâ the original teacher] of the Vedas, of the mantras I am the three-lettered Omkâra, of the letters I am the first [the 'a'], and of the sacred metres I am the three-footed one [the Gâyatrî mantra].
11.16.13
(13) Among all the gods I am Indra, among the Vasus I am Agni, among the sons of Aditi I am Vishnu [Vâmana] and among the Rudras I am the One Red-Blue [S'iva, see also 3.12: 7].
11.16.14
brahmarṣīṇāḿ bhṛgur ahaḿ
devarṣīṇāḿ nārado 'haḿ
(14) Bhrigu I am among the brahmin sages, among the brahmin kings I am Manu, among the brahmin demigods I am Nârada and among the cows I am Kâmadhenu [the cow of plenty].
11.16.15
siddheśvarāṇāḿ kapilaḥ
suparṇo 'haḿ patatriṇām
prajāpatīnāḿ dakṣo 'haḿ
(15) Of the perfected in control I am Kapila, Garuda I am among the birds, Daksha among the founding fathers, and Aryamâ among the forefathers.
11.16.16
māḿ viddhy uddhava daityānāḿ
prahlādam asureśvaram
somaḿ nakṣatrauṣadhīnāḿ
(16) O Uddhava know Me among the sons of Diti as Prahlâda, the controller of the unenlightened, know Me as the [order of the] moon to the stars and the herbs, and as Kuvera, the lord of wealth among the Yakshas and Râkshasas.
11.16.17
airāvataḿ gajendrāṇāḿ
(17) Airâvata I am among the lordly elephants, Varuna, the master I am among the aquatics, of things that heat and illumine I am the sun, and among the human beings I am the master of the realm.
11.16.18
uccaiḥśravās turańgāṇāḿ
yamaḥ saḿyamatāḿ cāham
(18) Uccaihs'ravâ I am among the horses, I am gold among the metals, Yamarâja I am among the regulators and I am also Vâsuki among the serpents.
11.16.19
nāgendrāṇām ananto 'haḿ
āśramāṇām ahaḿ turyo
varṇānāḿ prathamo 'nagha
(19) Anantadeva I am among the hooded snakes, the lion I am among all beasts with teeth and horns, among the spiritual orders [the status-groups, the âs'ramas] I am the fourth [the sannyâsîs] and among the vocations [varnas] I am the first [the brahmins], o sinless one.
11.16.20
tripura-ghno dhanuṣmatām
(20) Among the holy places and what flows I am the Ganges, the ocean I am among the expanses of water, the bow I am among the weapons and I am the destroyer of Tripura [S'iva] among the wielders of the bow.
Lord Śiva used his bow to completely cover with arrows the three demoniac cities built by Maya Dānava.
11.16.21
dhiṣṇyānām asmy ahaḿ merur
(21) Meru I am among the mountains, among the places that are impervious I am the Himalayas, among the trees I am the as'vattha, and among the plants I am the ones bearing grains [barley].
Oṣadhīnām here indicates those plants that fructify once and then die. Among them, those that give grains, which sustain human life, represent Kṛṣṇa. Without grains it is not possible to produce milk products, nor can one properly perform Vedic fire sacrifices without offerings of grains.
11.16.22
purodhasāḿ vasiṣṭho 'haḿ
(22) Among the priests I am Vasishthha, among those vowed to the Veda I am Brihaspati, Kârttikeya [Skanda] I am among the military leaders and among the ones of spiritual progress I am the unborn, highest lord [Brahmâ, the Creator].
11.16.23
vāyv-agny-arkāmbu-vāg-ātmā
(23) Of the sacrifices I am the study of the Veda, of the vows I am the vow of nonviolence [vegetarianism], and of all purifiers I am the pure fire, wind, sun, water and speech in person.
11.16.24
mantro 'smi vijigīṣatām
(24) Of the process of yoga I am the final stage of samâdhi, prudent counsel I am among those desiring victory, of all discrimination I am the metaphysical logic [or the spiritual science of distinguishing spirit from matter], and among the speculative philosophers I am the choice.
Any science is based on the faculty of expert discrimination. By skillful definition of isolated and interactive components one becomes expert in any field. Ultimately the most intelligent person can isolate the spirit soul from matter and describe the properties of matter and spirit as both isolated and interactive components of reality. The proliferation of innumerable philosophical speculations is due to differing modes of perception within the material world. As stated in Bhagavad-gītā (15.15), sarvasya cāhaḿ hṛdi sanniviṣṭo mattaḥ smṛtir jñānam apohanaḿ ca: the Supreme Personality of Godhead is situated in everyone's heart and awards a particular degree of knowledge or ignorance according to one's desire and merit. Thus the Lord Himself is the basis of the mundane process of philosophical speculation, for He creates differing and alternating modes of perception within the conditioned souls. It is to be understood that one can acquire perfect knowledge only by hearing directly from Lord Kṛṣṇa and not by hearing from conditioned philosophers who imperfectly perceive the creation of the Lord through the screen of their personal desires.
11.16.25
kumāro brahmacāriṇām
(25) Among the ladies I am S'atarûpâ [wife of Manu, see 3.12: 54] and among the men am I Svâyambhuva Manu, sage Nârâyana [see 10.87: 4] I am among the sages as also Sanat-kumâra among the celibates.
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