FolioCorpusŚrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 2.4.12

श्री शुक उवाच नम: परस्मै पुरुषाय भूयसे सदुद्भवस्थाननिरोधलीलया । गृहीतशक्तित्रितयाय देहिना- मन्तर्भवायानुपलक्ष्यवर्त्मने ॥ १२ ॥
śrī-śuka uvāca
[shree-shuka uvaacha]
namaḥ parasmai puruṣāya bhūyase
[namah parasmai purushaaya bhooyase]
sad-udbhava-sthāna-nirodha-līlayā
[sad-udbhava-sthaana-nirodha-leelayaa]
gṛhīta-śakti-tritayāya dehinām
[griheeta-shakti-tritayaaya dehinaam]
antarbhavāyānupalakṣya-vartmane
[antarbhavaayaanupalakshya-vartmane]
Word-for-word
śrī-śukaḥ uvāca — Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī said namaḥ — offering obeisances parasmai — the Supreme puruṣāya — Personality of Godhead bhūyase — unto the complete whole sad-udbhava — the creation of the material world sthāna — its maintenance nirodha — and its winding up līlayā — by the pastime of gṛhīta — having accepted śakti — power tritayāya — three modes dehinām — of all who possess material bodies antaḥ-bhavāya — unto He who resides within anupalakṣya — inconceivable vartmane — one who has such ways.
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
śrī-śuka uvāca
śrī-śukaḥ uvāca
Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī said
namaḥ parasmai puruṣāya bhūyase
namaḥ
offering obeisances
parasmai
the Supreme
puruṣāya
Personality of Godhead
bhūyase
unto the complete whole
sad-udbhava-sthāna-nirodha-līlayā
sad-udbhava
the creation of the material world
sthāna
its maintenance
nirodha
and its winding up
līlayā
by the pastime of
gṛhīta-śakti-tritayāya dehinām
gṛhīta
having accepted
śakti
power
tritayāya
three modes
dehinām
of all who possess material bodies
antarbhavāyānupalakṣya-vartmane
antaḥ-bhavāya
unto He who resides within
anupalakṣya
inconceivable
vartmane
one who has such ways.
Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: Let me offer my respectful obeisances unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who, for the creation of the material world, accepts the three modes of nature. He is the complete whole residing within the body of everyone, and His ways are inconceivable.
Purport

This material world is a manifestation of the three modes goodness, passion and ignorance, and the Supreme Lord, for the creation, maintenance and destruction of the material world, accepts three predominating forms as Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Śaṅkara (Śiva). As Viṣṇu He enters into every body materially created. As Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu He enters into every universe, and as Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu He enters the body of every living being. Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, being the origin of all viṣṇu-tattvas, is addressed here as paraḥ pumān, or Puruṣottama, as described in the Bhagavad-gītā (15.18) . He is the complete whole. The puruṣāvatāras are therefore His plenary expansions. Bhakti-yoga is the only process by which one can become competent to know Him. Because the empiric philosophers and mystic yogīs cannot conceive of the Personality of Godhead, He is called anupalakṣya-vartmane, the Lord of the inconceivable way, or bhakti-yoga.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Gauḍīya Ācāryas
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
Śukadeva said: I offer my respects to the supreme person Kṛṣṇa, whose powerful expansion is Mahā-viṣṇu, performing pastimes of creation, maintenance and destruction of the universe through accepting the three guṇas, whose second and third expansions act as the inner soul of the universe and the jīvas, and who can be realized by the path of bhakti, but cannot be realized by other paths.
Commentary

He offers respects in thirteen verses. I offer my respects to the supreme person, Kṛṣṇa. First he speaks of the power of Kṛṣṇa. I offer respects to the unlimited power of the puruṣāvatāras (bhūyase). He then describes a pastime of the first puruṣāvatāra: creation, maintenance and destruction of the universe using the three guṇas or sattva, rajas and tamas (gṛhīta-śakti-tritayāya). He then describes the second and third puruṣas. He is the antaryāmī of the whole universe and all the living beings within (antarbhavāya). He can be realized by bhakti, but is unknown to the yogīs (anupalakṣya-vartmane).

Related lectures
Personal Guidance
The Supreme Personality of Godhead accepts the three modes to create, maintain, and destroy. He is the complete whole inside every body, and His ways are inconceivable. Surrender is appropriate before what cannot be fully grasped.
Reflection Questions
  • Where am I demanding to understand fully before I bow?
  • What might it look like to offer obeisance without first having every question answered?
📝 My note

Source: vedabase.io

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