FolioCorpusŚrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.16.39

नमस्तुभ्यं भगवते पुरुषाय महात्मने । भूतावासाय भूताय पराय परमात्मने ॥ ३९ ॥
namas tubhyaṁ bhagavate
[namas tubhyam bhagavate]
puruṣāya mahātmane
[purushaaya mahaatmane]
bhūtāvāsāya bhūtāya
[bhootaavaasaaya bhootaaya]
parāya paramātmane
[paraaya paramaatmane]
namaḥ — obeisances tubhyam — to You bhagavate — the Supreme Personality of Godhead puruṣāya — who are present within as the Supersoul mahā - ātmane — who are all-pervasive bhūta - āvāsāya — who are the shelter of the material elements (beginning with the ethereal sky) bhūtāya — who exist even prior to the creation parāya — to the supreme cause parama - ātmane — who are beyond all material cause .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
namas tubhyaṁ bhagavate
namaḥ
obeisances
tubhyam
to You
bhagavate
the Supreme Personality of Godhead
puruṣāya mahātmane
puruṣāya
who are present within as the Supersoul
mahā - ātmane
who are all-pervasive
bhūtāvāsāya bhūtāya
bhūta - āvāsāya
who are the shelter of the material elements (beginning with the ethereal sky)
bhūtāya
who exist even prior to the creation
parāya paramātmane
parāya
to the supreme cause
parama - ātmane
who are beyond all material cause .
  • bhagavate — to the Supreme Personality of Godhead
    Dative of Bhagavān. The fullest term — possessor of all six opulences (Viṣṇu Purāṇa 6.5.47). Gauḍīya signature: Brahman-Paramātmā-Bhagavān is one truth realized in three depths; Bhagavān is the deepest.
  • puruṣāya — to the Person
    Personalism foregrounded. The Absolute is puruṣa — Person — not impersonal substance. The Nāga-patnīs' theology is unmistakably saguṇa, sākāra.
  • mahā - ātmane — to the all-pervading One
    Compound: mahā (great) + ātman (self). The same epithet Arjuna gives Kṛṣṇa at Gītā 11.20. Mahā-ātmā is not impersonal soul-substance but the great Person who pervades all.
  • bhūta - āvāsāya — to the dwelling-place of all beings
    Compound: bhūta (beings) + āvāsa (dwelling). Bhagavān as the residence of all jīvas. Acintya-bhedābheda: the beings rest in Him; He is not exhausted by them.
  • parama - ātmane — to the Supersoul
    Compound: parama (supreme) + ātman. Paramātmā — the Lord's localized aspect in every heart. Gauḍīya: Paramātmā is Bhagavān's Viṣṇu-tattva expansion, not the jīva itself.
We offer our obeisances unto You, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Although present in the hearts of all living beings as the Supersoul, You are all-pervasive. Although the original shelter of all created material elements, You exist prior to their creation. And although the cause of everything, You are transcendental to all material cause and effect, being the Supreme Soul.

The beautiful Sanskrit poetry of this verse should be chanted out loud for the transcendental pleasure of the reciter and the hearer.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
We offer our obeisances unto You, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Although present in the hearts of all living beings as the Supersoul, You are all-pervasive. Although the original shelter of all created material elements, You exist prior to their creation. And although the cause of everything, You are transcendental to all material cause and effect, being the Supreme Soul.
Commentary

Having praised the Lord’s mercy in six verses, again in ten verses, they bow down eleven times (saying namah eleven times) with devotion. "We offer obeisances (as object of worship for the devotee) unto the person with six spiritual qualities (bhagavan), unto the person with a humanlike form (purusa), who pervades everywhere, though in human form (mahatma); (as object of worship of yogis) who dwells in all living entities; and who, though dwelling in all entities, is also bhuta, non- different from the jiva."

Jīva Gosvāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

Accepting Kāliya’s punishment and considering that it was astonishing that he had gained the mercy of Kṛṣṇa’s feet though he was an offender, they show that Kṛṣṇa is the shelter of various contradictory qualities in order to remove the offense and offer respects with humility in order that he forgive their husband by a manifestation of his inconceivable powers. This is expressed in ten verses. As Bhagavān you are the ocean of inconceivable powers and thus all contradictions dissolve in you. They then praise him. ‘Śrīdhara Svāmī shows a cause and effect relationship between the different names mentioned. Or, the names indicate progressively more difficult feats to accomplish, and thus represent contradictions to each other. Sometimes one sees astonishment because of unique qualities in the universe. Though he is the Lord (puruṣāya), he spreads everywhere (mahātmane). Though he is the controller of all jīvas (bhūtāvāsāya), he is the form of the jīva (bhūtāya), since the jīvas are non-different because of being his aṁśas, and in that way, he controls them. Or he lives among the people (bhūtāvāsāya), and takes birth (bhūtāya). Jayati jana-nivāso devakī-janma-vādo: Kṛṣṇa lives eternally among the cowherd men and the Yādavas, and is conclusively both the son of Devakī and Yaśodā. (SB 10.90.48) He is situated as non-different from all things (parāya) and is situated in the hearts of all jīvas (parātmane).

Śrīdhara Svāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

I offer respects to the Lord who controls all (parāya), who inspires everything (paramātmane). By the order of the Lord all are engaged in action but not being touched by the faults of persons engaged, he dispenses punishment etc. in an astonishing way. Or parāya can mean “the person who is situated separately from all others and who is in the hearts of all beings.” Accepting Kāliya’s punishment and considering that it was astonishing that he had gained the mercy of Kṛṣṇa’s feet though he was an offender, they show that Kṛṣṇa is the shelter of various contradictory qualities in order to remove the offense and offer respects with humility in order that he forgive their husband by a manifestation of his inconceivable powers. This is expressed in ten verses. As Bhagavān you are the ocean of inconceivable powers and thus all contradictions dissolve in you. They then praise him. ‘Śrīdhara Svāmī shows a cause and effect relationship between the different names mentioned. Or, the names indicate progressively more difficult feats to accomplish, and thus represent contradictions to each other. Sometimes one sees astonishment because of unique qualities in the universe. Though he is the Lord (puruṣāya), he spreads everywhere (mahātmane). Though he is the controller of all jīvas (bhūtāvāsāya), he is the form of the jīva (bhūtāya), since the jīvas are non-different because of being his aṁśas, and in that way, he controls them. Or he lives among the people (bhūtāvāsāya), and takes birth (bhūtāya). Jayati jana-nivāso devakī-janma-vādo: Kṛṣṇa lives eternally among the cowherd men and the Yādavas, and is conclusively both the son of Devakī and Yaśodā. (SB 10.90.48) He is situated as non-different from all things (parāya) and is situated in the hearts of all jīvas (parātmane).

Related values
Karuna (Kindness / Compassion)Maitri (Friendship / Goodwill)Guru Bhakti (Reverence for Teacher)Kritajnata (Gratitude)Kartavya (Duty / Responsibility)Hrih (Modesty / Sense of Shame)Satya (Truthfulness)Samata (Equanimity / Even-mindedness)Dana (Charity / Generosity)Aparigraha (Non-possessiveness)
Related verses
Obeisances to the Lord who is Supersoul in every heart, all-pervasive, shelter of created elements, prior to all creation, cause of everything yet transcendent to all material cause. Theology condensed into bowing.
Reflection Questions
  • Which of these aspects of the Lord do I rarely contemplate in daily prayer?
  • How would my address to Him deepen if I named Him by more of His true attributes?

The wives shift now from explanation to praise. Obeisances to You, Bhagavān, Person, Mahā-ātmā — dweller in all beings, source of all elements, prior to all of them, and the substance of which they are all forms. They are no longer pleading; they are reciting the names by which Bhagavān is to be known.

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