SB 2.10.8

Srimad-Bhagavatam - Second Canto - Chapter 10: Bhagavatam Is the Answer to All Questions

SB 2.10.7 - SB 2.10.9

His Divine Grace
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

TEXT 8

yo 'dhyātmiko 'yaṁ puruṣaḥ

so 'sāv evādhidaivikaḥ

yas tatrobhaya-vicchedaḥ

puruṣo hy ādhibhautikaḥ

SYNONYMS

yaḥ—one who; adhyātmikaḥ—is possessed of the sense organs; ayam—this; puruṣaḥ—personality; saḥ—he; asau—that; eva—also; adhidaivikaḥ—controlling deity; yaḥ—that which; tatra—there; ubhaya—of both; vicchedaḥ—separation; puruṣaḥ—person; hi—for; ādhibhautikaḥ—the visible body or the embodied living entity.

TRANSLATION

The individual person possessing different instruments of senses is called the adhyātmic person, and the individual controlling deity of the senses is called adhidaivic. The embodiment seen on the eyeballs is called the adhibhautic person.

PURPORT

The supreme controlling summum bonum is the Personality of Godhead in His plenary portion of Paramātmā, or the Supersoul manifestation. In the Bhagavad-gītā (BG 10.42) it is said:

athavā bahunaitena

kiṁ jñātena tavārjuna

viṣṭabhyāham idaṁ kṛtsnam

ekāṁśena sthito jagat

All the controlling deities like Viṣṇu, Brahmā and Śiva are different manifestations of the Paramātmā feature of the Supreme Personality of Godhead Śrī Kṛṣṇa, who exhibits himself in such manners by entering into each and every universe generated from Him. But still apparently there are divisions of the controller and controlled. For example, in the food-controlling department the controller of food is a person made of the same ingredients as the person who is controlled. Similarly, each and every individual in the material world is controlled by the higher demigods. For example, we have our senses, but the senses are controlled by superior controlling deities. We cannot see without light, and the supreme controller of light is the sun. The sun-god is in the sun planet, and we, the individual human beings or any other being on this earth, are all controlled by the sun-god as far as our eyes are concerned. Similarly, all the senses we have are controlled by the superior demigods, who are also as much living entities as we are, but one is empowered while the other is controlled. The controlled living entity is called the adhyātmic person, and the controller is called the adhidaivic person. All these positions in the material world are due to different fruitive activities. Any individual living being can become the sun-god or even Brahmā or any other god in the upper planetary system by a higher grade of pious work, and similarly one becomes controlled by the higher demigods by lower grades of fruitive activities. So every individual living entity is subject to the supreme control of the Paramātmā, who puts everyone in different positions of the controller and the controlled.

That which distinguishes the controller and controlled, i.e. the material body, is called the adhibhautic puruṣa. The body is sometimes called puruṣa, as confirmed in the Vedas in the following hymn: sa vā eṣa puruṣo 'nna-rasamayaḥ. This body is called the anna-rasa embodiment. This body depends on food. The living entity which is embodied does not eat anything, however, because the owner is spirit in essence. The material body requires replacement of matter for the wearing and tearing of the mechanical body. Therefore the distinction between the individual living entity and controlling planetary deities is in the anna-rasamaya body. The sun may have a gigantic body, and the man may have a smaller body, but all these visible bodies are made of matter; nonetheless, the sun-god and the individual person, who are related as the controller and the controlled, are the same spiritual parts and parcels of the Supreme Being, and it is the Supreme Being who places different parts and parcels in different positions. And thus the conclusion is that the Supreme Person is the shelter of all.

SB 2.10.7 - SB 2.10.9