SB 9.23.20-21
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
TEXTS 20-21
- yatrāvatīrṇo bhagavān
- paramātmā narākṛtiḥ
- yadoḥ sahasrajit kroṣṭā
- nalo ripur iti śrutāḥ
- catvāraḥ sūnavas tatra
- śatajit prathamātmajaḥ
- mahāhayo reṇuhayo
- haihayaś ceti tat-sutāḥ
SYNONYMS
yatra—wherein, in which dynasty; avatīrṇaḥ—descended; bhagavān—the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa; paramātmā—who is the Supersoul of all living entities; nara-ākṛtiḥ—a person, exactly resembling a human being; yadoḥ—of Yadu; sahasrajit—Sahasrajit; kroṣṭā—Kroṣṭā; nalaḥ—Nala; ripuḥ—Ripu; iti śrutāḥ—thus they are celebrated; catvāraḥ—four; sūnavaḥ—sons; tatra—therein; śatajit—Śatajit; prathama-ātmajaḥ—of the first sons; mahāhayaḥ—Mahāhaya; reṇuhayaḥ—Reṇuhaya; haihayaḥ—Haihaya; ca—and; iti—thus; tat-sutāḥ—his sons (the sons of Śatajit).
TRANSLATION
The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, the Supersoul in the hearts of all living entities, descended in His original form as a human being in the dynasty or family of Yadu. Yadu had four sons, named Sahasrajit, Kroṣṭā, Nala and Ripu. Of these four, the eldest, Sahasrajit, had a son named Śatajit, who had three sons, named Mahāhaya, Reṇuhaya and Haihaya.
PURPORT
As confirmed in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (SB 1.2.11):
- vadanti tat tattva-vidas
- tattvaṁ yaj jñānam advayam
- brahmeti paramātmeti
- bhagavān iti śabdyate
"Learned transcendentalists who know the Absolute Truth call this nondual substance Brahman, Paramātmā or Bhagavān." The majority of transcendentalists understand only the impersonal Brahman or localized Paramātmā, for the Personality of Godhead is very difficult to understand. As the Lord says in Bhagavad-gītā (BG 7.3):
- manuṣyāṇāṁ sahasreṣu
- kaścid yatati siddhaye
- yatatām api siddhānāṁ
- kaścin māṁ vetti tattvataḥ
"Out of many thousands among men, one may endeavor for perfection, and of those who have achieved perfection, hardly one knows Me in truth." The yogīs and jñānīs—that is, the mystic yogīs and the impersonalists—can understand the Absolute Truth as impersonal or localized, but although such realized souls are above ordinary human beings, they cannot understand how the Supreme Absolute Truth can be a person. Therefore it is said that out of many siddhas, the souls who have already realized the Absolute Truth, one may understand Kṛṣṇa, who exactly resembles a human being (narākṛti). This human form was explained by Kṛṣṇa Himself after He manifested the virāṭ-rūpa. The virāṭ-rūpa is not the original form of the Lord; the Lord's original form is Dvibhuja-śyāmasundara, Muralīdhara, the Lord with two hands, playing a flute (yaṁ śyāmasundaram acintya-guṇa-svarūpam). The Lord's forms are proof of His inconceivable qualities. Although the Lord maintains innumerable universes within the period of His breath, He is dressed with a form exactly like that of a human being. That does not mean, however, that He is a human being. This is His original form, but because He looks like a human being, those with a poor fund of knowledge consider Him an ordinary man. The Lord says:
- avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā
- mānuṣīṁ tanum āśritam
- paraṁ bhāvam ajānanto
- mama bhūta-maheśvaram
"Fools deride Me when I descend in the human form. They do not know My transcendental nature and My supreme dominion over all that be." (BG 9.11) By the Lord's paraṁ bhāvam, or transcendental nature, He is the all-pervading Paramātmā living in the core of the hearts of all living entities, yet He looks like a human being. Māyāvāda philosophy says that the Lord is originally impersonal but assumes a human form and many other forms when He descends. Actually, however, He is originally like a human being, and the impersonal Brahman consists of the rays of His body (yasya prabhā prabhavato jagad-aṇḍa-koṭi (BS 5.40)).