SB 5.22.17
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
TEXT 17
tata uttarasmād ṛṣaya ekādaśa-lakṣa-yojanāntara upalabhyante ya eva lokānāṁ śam anubhāvayanto bhagavato viṣṇor yat paramaṁ padaṁ pradakṣiṇaṁ prakramanti.
SYNONYMS
tataḥ—the planet Saturn; uttarasmāt—above; ṛṣayaḥ—great saintly sages; ekādaśa-lakṣa-yojana-antare—at a distance of 1,100,000 yojanas; upalabhyante—are situated; ye—all of them; eva—indeed; lokānām—for all the inhabitants of the universe; śam—the good fortune; anubhāvayantaḥ—always thinking of; bhagavataḥ—of the Supreme Personality of Godhead; viṣṇoḥ—Lord Viṣṇu; yat—which; paramam padam—the supreme abode; pradakṣiṇam—placing on the right; prakramanti—circumambulate.
TRANSLATION
Situated 8,800,000 miles above Saturn, or 20,800,000 miles above earth, are the seven saintly sages, who are always thinking of the well-being of the inhabitants of the universe. They circumambulate the supreme abode of Lord Viṣṇu, known as Dhruvaloka, the polestar.
PURPORT
Śrīla Madhvācārya quotes the following verse from the Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa:
- jñānānandātmano viṣṇuḥ
- śiśumāra-vapuṣy atha
- ūrdhva-lokeṣu sa vyāpta
- ādityādyās tad-āśritā
Lord Viṣṇu, who is the source of knowledge and transcendental bliss, has assumed the form of Śiśumāra in the seventh heaven, which is situated in the topmost level of the universe. All the other planets, beginning with the sun, exist under the shelter of this Śiśumāra planetary system.
- Thus end the Bhaktivedanta purports of the Fifth Canto, Twenty-second Chapter of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, entitled "The Orbits of the Planets."