SB 5.18.30

Srimad-Bhagavatam - Fifth Canto - Chapter 18: The Prayers Offered to the Lord by the Residents of Jambūdvīpa

SB 5.18.29 - SB 5.18.31

His Divine Grace
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

TEXT 30

oṁ namo bhagavate akūpārāya

sarva-sattva-guṇa-viśeṣaṇāyānupalakṣita-sthānāya namo varṣmaṇe

namo bhūmne namo namo 'vasthānāya namas te

SYNONYMS

om — O my Lord; namaḥ — respectful obeisances; bhagavate — unto You, the Supreme Personality of Godhead; akūpārāya — in the form of a tortoise; sarva-sattva-guṇa-viśeṣaṇāya — whose form consists of śuddha-sattva, transcendental goodness; anupalakṣita-sthānāya — unto You, whose position is not discernible; namaḥ — my respectful obeisances; varṣmaṇe — unto You who, although the oldest, are unaffected by time; namaḥ — my respectful obeisances; bhūmne — to the great one who can go everywhere; namaḥ namaḥ — repeated obeisances; avasthānāya — the shelter of everything; namaḥ — respectful obeisances; te — unto You.

TRANSLATION

O my Lord, I offer my respectful obeisances unto You, who have assumed the form of a tortoise. You are the reservoir of all transcendental qualities, and being entirely untinged by matter, You are perfectly situated in pure goodness. You move here and there in the water, but no one can discern Your position. Therefore I offer my respectful obeisances unto You. Because of Your transcendental position, You are not limited by past, present and future. You are present everywhere as the shelter of all things, and therefore I offer my respectful obeisances unto You again and again.

PURPORT

In the Brahma-saṁhitā it is said, goloka eva nivasaty akhilātma-bhūtaḥ: (BS 5.37) the Lord always remains in Goloka, the topmost planet in the spiritual world. At the same time, He is all-pervading. This paradox is only possible for the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is full of all opulences. The Lord's all-pervasiveness is confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā (BG 18.61) where Kṛṣṇa states, īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-deśe 'rjuna tiṣṭhati: "The Supreme Lord is seated in everyone's heart, O Arjuna." Elsewhere in Bhagavad-gītā (BG 15.15) the Lord says, sarvasya cāhaṁ hṛdi sanniviṣṭo mattaḥ smṛtir jñānam apohanaṁ ca: "I am seated in everyone's heart, and from Me come remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness." Therefore, although the Lord is present everywhere, He cannot be seen with ordinary eyes. As Aryamā says, the Lord is anupalakṣita-sthāna: no one can locate Him. This is the greatness of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

SB 5.18.29 - SB 5.18.31