Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.87.29
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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udīkṣayā
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by Your brief glance
Instrumental of udīkṣā (glance). The cosmos is born by a glance, not by labor. Gauḍīyas: prakṛti is activated by Bhagavān's overlordly look, not by mating with Him (a key correction to certain Tantric readings). BG 9.10: mayādhyakṣeṇa prakṛtiḥ sūyate.
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vimukta
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O eternally liberated one
Past participle of vi + √muc. Bhagavān is nitya-mukta — never bound to begin with. Gauḍīyas: this distinguishes Him radically from any avatāra-doctrine that treats God as undergoing real bondage and release.
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śūnya-tulām-dadhataḥ
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who take on a resemblance to a void
Phrase: śūnya (void) + tulā (resemblance) + dhāra (taking on). Striking acknowledgment: from the impersonalist's perspective, the Lord LOOKS like void. Gauḍīyas: tulām, not śūnyam — He resembles void but is not void; this verse refutes Buddhist śūnya-vāda by name.
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aparaḥ
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not foreign
From a + para — not other. Bhagavān has no intimate (since all are His expansions) and no stranger (since none can be outside Him). Gauḍīyas: this is His ontological aspect; in līlā, He chooses to have intimates — Vraja-priyajana — through His own free play.
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ajayā
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with the material energy
Instrumental of ajā (the unborn — feminine; Māyā). The species emerge from the Lord's energy when activated by His glance. Gauḍīyas: māyā is His śakti, never independent; the verse reinforces śaktimat-svarūpa over śakti.
Not only are living beings totally dependent on the all-powerful, independent Lord for their maintenance and welfare, but even the very fact of their embodied existence is due only to His exceptional mercy. The Personality of Godhead has no interest in material affairs, since He has nothing to gain from the petty pleasures of this world and is altogether free from any contamination of envy or lust. He is exclusively involved in confidential, loving pastimes with His pure devotees in the internal realm of His spiritual energies. Therefore the only reason He ever turns to the business of material creation is to help draw lost souls back into this inner circle of eternal enjoyment. To attempt a life separate from the Lord, rebellious souls must be provided with suitable bodies and an illusory environment in which to act out their fantasies of independence. The merciful Lord agrees to let them learn in their own way, and so He glances at Mahā-māyā, His energy of material creation. Simply by this glance, she is awakened and makes all required arrangements on His behalf. She and her helpers manufacture countless varieties of gross and subtle bodies of demigods, humans, animals and so on, along with countless situations in heavenly and hellish worlds — all just to give the conditioned souls the exact facilities they desire and deserve. While the uninformed may blame God for the suffering of His creatures, a sincere student of the Vedic literature will come to appreciate the Supreme Lord’s equal concern for each soul. Since He has nothing to lose or gain, there is no reason for Him to distinguish between friends and opponents. We may choose to oppose Him and make all endeavors to forget Him, but He never forgets us, nor does He ever stop providing us with all our necessities, along with His unseen guidance. Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī prays: tvad-īkṣaṇa-vaśa-kśobha- māyā-bodhita-karmabhiḥ jatān saṁsarataḥ khinnān nṛ-hare pāhi naḥ pitaḥ “O Father, O Lord appearing as half man, half lion, please save those who have been born into the endless cycle of birth and death. These souls are distressed by their karmic entanglement, which Māyā awakened when Your glance excited her to activity.”
Having spoken of the independence and power of the Lord as reasons for his being worthy of worship, now the srutis speak of the reasons for the jiva being the worshipper: his lack of power and lack of independence. "O ever-liberated Lord! When you, situated far from maya, without associating (tatah parasya), play with your maya by sending a glance, the jivas develop bodies endowed with movement or inertia." "If all the jivas are merged in me, how do they appear again?" "The subtle bodies of the jivas, or the activities of the jiva, become manifest by your glance (uttha nimitta yuja). There is merging of the jivas because of merging of their upadhis or illusions of identity at pralaya. The jivas again appear by the appearance of the upadhis through your glance. In this way, the jiva’s lack of power is indicated by his being controlled by karma." "Then this stimulation to activity takes place simply by my whim?" "No, because in you there is no injustice, because you are separate from the creation which is full of injustice. In the Supreme Lord (parasya) there cannot be any sense of "mine" and "others" (parah aparah), just as the ether (viyata), which cannot be contaminated, is free of all fault. But that does not mean that you are just equivalent to ether; rather ether has some similarity to you. You accept a comparison to ether (sunyas tulam dadhatah)." The srutis say: Yathagneh ksudra visphulinga vyuccaranti evam evasmad atmanah sarve pranah sarve lokah sarve devah sarvani bhutani sarve eta atmano vyuccaranti Just as sparks come out of the fire, all the pranas, all the planets, all the devatas, all the living entities, all the souls, come out from the Lord. Brhad Aranyaka Upanisad 2.1.20
Bhagavān, endowed with all attractive qualities, the mover of the senses, should be worshipped by all the jīvas who possess meager qualities and dependent senses. This was confirmed previous statements. His superior śakti was shown. Now other śrutis come forward. You are not only the cause, but are also responsible for the manifestation of the bodies of the living entities. O Lord beyond prakṛti (vimukta)! Though you are seen playing (viharaḥ) in the world in order to give happiness to your devotees here, after (tataḥ) glancing attractively at your perfect devotees in this world, all the jīvas, endowed the subtle bodies that produce higher and lower bodies and engaged by karma agitated by the prakṛti, make their appearance. That glance is purely spiritual, since it is previous to the agitation of prakrṭi and is eternal (ajayā). Īkṣater nāśabdam: Brahman (who glances) is not inexpressible by words. (Brahma-sūtra) What is your nature? You are endowed with your extraordinary svarūpa-śakti (parasya). “Why do I not glance so that the jīvas awaken, just as he does for those with whom he desires pastimes?” Since you are without infatuation for persons with material qualities (paramasya), you have no attraction for inferior or superior persons in the world. You are not obstructed since you do not have attraction and repulsion. samo ’haṁ sarva-bhūteṣu na me dveṣyo ’sti na priyaḥ | ye bhajanti tu māṁ bhaktyā mayi te teṣu cāpy aham ||| I am equal to all living beings. I do not hate anyone nor do I favor anyone. But those who worship me with devotion are in me, and I am in them. BG 9.29 Mad bhaktānāṁ vinodārthaṁ karomi vividhāḥ kriyāḥ: I perform various pastimes for the pleasure of my devotees. (Padma Puraṇa) Why are they not attracted to you, since you are the cause of pastimes? You appear to be void. You are invisible like the sky. The meaning is this. Though the sky is real, no one can grasp it since it is impossible to grasp. You are not visible to all because they lack bhakti. Therefore they should receive bhakti from the devotees. Śrutis sa sa aikṣata The Lord glanced (Taittirīya Upanisād) yathāgneḥ kṣudrāḥ The jīvas are like sparks of a fire. Bṛhad-āraṇyaka Upaniṣad 2.1.20 akṣarāt parataḥ paraḥ The Lord is superior to the akṣara. Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad asad vā idam agre āsīt: The Lord existed before the universe. Ṛg Veda 10.1.29 sandṛṣe tiṣṭhati rūpam asya The Supreme Lord's form is not like that. Kaṭha Upaniṣad Sad rūpam advayaṁ brahma madhyādy anta-vivarjitam Suprabhaṁ sac cidānandaṁ bhaktyā jānāti cāvyayam By bhakti one knows the Lord with an eternal, non-dual form devoid of beginning, middle and end, full of consciousness and bliss, indestructible. Vāsudeva Upaniṣad
O liberated Lord (vimukta)! You are devoid of association with the effects of māyā. The syllable vi indicates difference from the liberated jīvas since the Lord is eternally emdowed with all powers and truth. Thus you are supreme (parasya). If your (parasya) play (viharaḥ) with māyā (ajayā) happens by your glance then certainly births of plants and animals (sthira-cara-jātayaḥ) joined with action (nimitta-yujaḥ) will arises. Because of the Supreme Lord, all the jīvas manifest and the primary creation takes place with the appearance of mahat-tattva and other elements. Brahmā makes bodies of plants and animals. This is called visarga or secondary creation. What is the purpose of your play (viharaḥ)? You are independent (vimukta), because you are the supreme Lord (parasya). Who can understand your intention? Or if various jīvas as plants or animals manifest by your will (īkṣayā), that is your play with māyā. This is visarga, for various pastimes. “If I am eternally liberated how do I show friendship or hatred to devatās and asuras?” You do not show compassion or aversion. These are produced by men because of dual vision of defeat and victory etc. Or “The plants suffer. Among moving beings the animals suffer. Why are such beings created by māyā?” The activities of plants and animals (uttha-nimitta-yujaḥ) arise by your glance alone (ikṣayā). “Can they not become happy by removing beginningless karmas?” The just Lord does not help some and give pain to others. You have no connection (apadasya) with them since they have not surrendered. You are neutral like ether to them. You do not hear of them. The meaning is this. You give ordinary jīvas who are not devotees results according to karma. In this way you are equal. Destroying the prārabdha-karmas of the devotees, you show favoritism. But this is glorious, since it surpasses being neutral.
- What diversity in my world have I been dismissing as mess rather than as divine creativity?
- Where could appreciation of variety become a form of worship?
Like the sky touched by smoke but not stained, like a master glancing at the mirror and animating it without entering it, You merely glance at māyā and species awaken. You have no near and no far, no intimate and no stranger — and from outside, this looks like void. But voidness is only what avoidance sees.
My note
Source: vedabase.io