Verse 1.13.101-102

Bengali text, Devanagari and Unicode transliteration of verse 1.13.101-102:

আপনে অনন্ত, চতুর্মুখ, পঞ্চানন যাঙ্’সবার দৃষ্ট্যে হয অনন্ত ভুবন তাঙ্’র ও পাযেন মোহ যাঙ্’র বিদ্যমানে কোন্ চিত্র,—সে বিপ্রের মোহ প্রভু-স্থানে? ॥ ১০১-১০২ ॥

आपने अनन्त, चतुर्मुख, पञ्चानन याङ्’सबार दृष्ट्ये हय अनन्त भुवन ताङ्’र ओ पायेन मोह याङ्’र विद्यमाने कोन् चित्र,—से विप्रेर मोह प्रभु-स्थाने? ॥ १०१-१०२ ॥

āpane ananta, caturmukha, pañcānana yāṅ’sabāra dṛṣṭye haya ananta bhuvana tāṅ’ra o pāyena moha yāṅ’ra vidyamāne kon citra,—se viprera moha prabhu-sthāne? || 101-102 ||

apane ananta, caturmukha, pancanana yan’sabara drstye haya ananta bhuvana tan’ra o payena moha yan’ra vidyamane kon citra,—se viprera moha prabhu-sthane? (101-102)

English translation:

(101-102) Lord Brahmā, Lord Ananta, and Lord Śiva create, maintain, and annihilate innumerable universes. When even they are bewildered before the Lord, then what is surprising if this brāhmaṇa was bewildered?

Commentary: Gauḍīya-bhāṣya by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura:

The bewilderment of Lord Anantadeva by Lord Gaura-Nārāyaṇa is described in the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (2.7.41) in the following words

spoken by Brahmā to Nārada: “Neither I nor all the sages born before you know fully the omnipotent Personality of Godhead. So what can others, who are born after us, know about Him? Even the first incarnation of the Lord, namely Śeṣa, has not been able to reach the limit of such knowledge, although He is describing the qualities of the Lord with ten hundred faces.”

After Brahmā, the creator of the universe, stole the calves and cowherd boys of Vraja, Lord Kṛṣṇa, in order to bewilder Brahmā and destroy the lamentation of the cowherd boys’ mothers, personally accepted the forms of the cowherd boys and calves and continued enjoying His pastimes in the pasturing grounds for one year. At that time, seeing the gopīs’ and cows’ excessive love and affection for their offspring and being unable to understand the cause, Lord Balarāma thought as follows: “Who is this mystic power, and where has she come from? Is she a demigod or a demoness? She must be the illusory energy of My master, Lord Kṛṣṇa, for who else can bewilder Me?” (Bhāg. 10.13.37)

The bewilderment of Caturmukha Brahmā is described in the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (10.13.40-45) as follows: “When Lord Brahmā returned after a moment of time had passed (according to his own measurement), he saw that although by human measurement a complete year had passed, Lord Kṛṣṇa, after all that time, was engaged just as before in playing with the boys and calves, who were His expansions. Lord Brahmā thought: ‘Whatever boys and calves there were in Gokula, I have kept them sleeping on the bed of my mystic potency, and to this very day they have not yet risen again. A similar number of boys and calves have been playing with Kṛṣṇa for one whole year, yet they are different from the ones illusioned by my mystic potency. Who are they? Where did they come from?’ Thus Lord Brahmā, thinking and thinking for a long time, tried to distinguish between those two sets of boys, who were each separately existing. He tried to understand who was real and who was not real, but he couldn’t understand at all. Thus because Lord Brahmā wanted to mystify the all-pervading Lord Kṛṣṇa, who can never be mystified, but

who, on the contrary, mystifies the entire universe, he himself was put into bewilderment by his own mystic power. As the darkness of snow on a dark night and the light of a glowworm in the light of day have no value, the mystic power of an inferior person who tries to use it against a person of great power is unable to accomplish anything; instead, the power of that inferior person is diminished.” See also Caitanya- bhāgavata (CB Ādi-khaṇḍa 1.72), which quotes Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (2.7.41). [This verse is also quoted at the beginning of this purport.]

The bewilderment of Pañcānana Śiva is described as follows: When Lord Hari, in the form of Mohinī, bewildered the demons and gave the demigods nectar to drink, Lord Śiva, who rides on a bull and who is the husband of Bhavānī, along with his wife, Umā, and his followers, went before Lord Hari to see His form as Mohinī. Śiva worshiped the Lord and spoke in the following words found in the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (8.12.10): “O my Lord, I, who am considered to be the best of the demigods, and Lord Brahmā and the great ṛṣis, headed by Marīci, are born of the mode of goodness. Nonetheless, we are bewildered by Your illusory energy and cannot understand what this creation is. Aside from us, what is to be said of others, like the demons and human beings, who are in the base modes of material nature [rajo-guṇa and tamo-guṇa]? How will they know You?” Elsewhere in the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (8.12.22 and 25) Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī speaks to Mahārāja Parīkṣit as follows: “While Lord Śiva observed the beautiful woman playing with the ball, She sometimes glanced at him and slightly smiled in bashfulness. As he looked at the beautiful woman and She watched him, he forgot both himself and Umā, his most beautiful wife, as well as his associates nearbyLord Śiva, his good sense taken away by the woman because of lusty desires to enjoy with Her, became so mad for Her that even in the presence of Bhavānī he did not hesitate to approach Her.”

A description of the bewilderment of other demigods is found in the Kena, or Talavakāra, Upaniṣad as follows: “The Supreme Brahman (Viṣṇu) alone gave victory to the demigods in their battle with the

demons. By the victory of the Supreme Brahman (Viṣṇu), the demigods became glorious, but due to foolishness they thought, ‘This is our victory, this is our glory.’

“The Supreme Brahman (Viṣṇu) understood the foolishness of the demigods and appeared before them (as a Yakṣa or Gandharva). But even though the demigods saw the Supreme Brahman before them, they nevertheless asked, ‘Who is this great personality in the form of a Yakṣa?’ They could not clearly understand.

“They said to Agni, ‘O knower of the Vedas, who is this great personality? You should get to know Him fully.’ Agni said, ‘It will be done.’

“When Agni went before the Supreme Brahman, the Supreme Brahman said to Agni, ‘Who are you?’ Agni replied, ‘I am Agni, the celebrated knower of the Vedas.’

The Supreme Brahman said, ‘Being so, what power do you have?’ Agni replied, ‘I can burn to ashes everything within this material world.’ The Supreme Brahman placed a straw before him and said, ‘Burn this.’

Agni went before the straw and was unable to burn it with his entire strength. Being defeated by the Supreme Brahman, Agni returned to the demigods and said, ‘I could not fully understand who this great personality in the form of a Yakṣa is.’

Thereafter the demigods said to Vāyu, ‘O Vāyu, who is this great personality in the form of a Yakṣa? You should get to know Him fully.’ Vāyu said, ‘It will be done.’

“When Vāyu went before the Supreme Brahman, the Supreme Brahman said to Vāyu, ‘Who are you?’ Vāyu replied, ‘I am Vāyu, the celebrated wind.’

“The Supreme Brahman said, ‘Being so, what power do you have?’ Vāyu replied, ‘I can blow away anything within this material world.’

“The Supreme Brahman placed a straw before him and said, ‘Blow this.’ Vāyu went before the straw and was unable to blow it away with his entire strength. Being defeated by the Supreme Brahman, Vāyu returned

to the demigods and said, ‘I could not fully understand who this great personality in the form of a Yakṣa is.’

“Thereafter the demigods said to Indra, ‘O Indra, who is this great personality in the form of a Yakṣa? You should get to know Him fully.’ Indra said, ‘It will be done.’ When Indra went before the Supreme Brahman, the Supreme Brahman disappeared from his sight.

“When Indra saw the beautiful, golden female form of Umā-devī in the same sky, he went before her and directly asked, ‘Who is this great personality in the form of a Yakṣa?’

“She (Umā-devī) clearly told him, ‘He is the Supreme Brahman (Viṣṇu). By His (Lord Viṣṇu’s) victory you have become glorious.’ Upon hearing these words of Umā-devī, Indra became fully convinced that He was the Supreme Brahman, or Viṣṇu.”