FolioCorpusŚrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 4.16.19

अयं तु साक्षाद्भगवांस्त्र्यधीश:कूटस्थ आत्मा कलयावतीर्ण: यस्मिन्नविद्यारचितं निरर्थकंपश्यन्ति नानात्वमपि प्रतीतम् ॥ १९ ॥
ayaṁ tu sākṣād bhagavāṁs try-adhīśaḥ
[ayam tu saakshaad bhagavaams try-adheeshah]
kūṭa-stha ātmā kalayāvatīrṇaḥ
[koota-stha aatmaa kalayaavateernah]
yasminn avidyā-racitaṁ nirarthakaṁ
[yasminn avidyaa-rachitam nirarthakam]
paśyanti nānātvam api pratītam
[pashyanti naanaatvam api prateetam]
ayam — this King tu — then sākṣāt — directly bhagavān — the Supreme Personality of Godhead tri-adhīśaḥ — the master of the three planetary systems kūṭa-sthaḥ — without any change ātmā — the Supersoul kalayā — by a partial plenary expansion avatīrṇaḥ — descended yasmin — in whom avidyā-racitam — created by nescience nirarthakam — without meaning paśyanti — they see nānātvam — material variegatedness api — certainly pratītam — understood.
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
ayaṁ tu sākṣād bhagavāṁs try-adhīśaḥ
ayam
this King
tu
then
sākṣāt
directly
bhagavān
the Supreme Personality of Godhead
tri-adhīśaḥ
the master of the three planetary systems
kūṭa-stha ātmā kalayāvatīrṇaḥ
kūṭa-sthaḥ
without any change
ātmā
the Supersoul
kalayā
by a partial plenary expansion
avatīrṇaḥ
descended
yasminn avidyā-racitaṁ nirarthakaṁ
yasmin
in whom
avidyā-racitam
created by nescience
nirarthakam
without meaning
paśyanti nānātvam api pratītam
paśyanti
they see
nānātvam
material variegatedness
api
certainly
pratītam
understood.
This King is the master of the three worlds, and he is directly empowered by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He is without change, and he is an incarnation of the Supreme known as a śaktyāveśa-avatāra. Being a liberated soul and completely learned, he sees all material varieties as meaningless because their basic principle is nescience.

The reciters of these prayers are describing the transcendental qualities of Pṛthu Mahārāja. These qualities are summarized in the words sākṣād bhagavān. This indicates that Mahārāja Pṛthu is directly the Supreme Personality of Godhead and therefore possesses unlimited good qualities. Being an incarnation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Mahārāja Pṛthu could not be equaled in his excellent qualities. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is fully equipped with six kinds of opulences, and King Pṛthu was also empowered in such a way that he could display these six opulences of the Supreme Personality of Godhead in full.

The word kūṭa-stha, meaning “without change,” is also very significant. There are two kinds of living entities — nitya-mukta and nitya-baddha. A nitya-mukta never forgets his position as the eternal servant of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. One who does not forget this position and knows that he is part and parcel of the Supreme Lord is nitya-mukta. Such a nitya-mukta living entity represents the Supersoul as His expansion. As stated in the Vedas, nityo nityānām. Thus the nitya-mukta living entity knows that he is an expansion of the supreme nitya, or the eternal Supreme Personality of Godhead. Being in such a position, he sees the material world with a different vision. The living entity who is nitya-baddha, or eternally conditioned, sees the material varieties as being actually different from one another. In this connection we should remember that the embodiment of the conditioned soul is considered to be like a dress. One may dress in different ways, but a really learned man does not take dresses into consideration. As stated in Bhagavad-gītā (5.18) :

vidyā-vinaya-sampanne brāhmaṇe gavi hastini śuni caiva śvapāke ca paṇḍitāḥ sama-darśinaḥ

“The humble sage, by virtue of true knowledge, sees with equal vision a learned and gentle brāhmaṇa, a cow, an elephant, a dog and a dog-eater [outcaste].” Thus a learned man does not look upon the dresses that externally cover the living entity, but sees the pure soul within the varieties of dress and knows very well that the varieties of dress are the creation of nescience ( avidyā-racitam ). Being a śaktyāveśa-avatāra, empowered by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Pṛthu Mahārāja did not change his spiritual position, and consequently there was no possibility of his viewing the material world as reality.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
The King, directly the Lord, master of the three worlds, unchanging, antaryāmī, has appeared as portion of the Lord. In him the sages see that the appearance of variety created by ignorance is meaningless. In the Lord, sages present see variety, made of ignorance, to be meaningless or insubstantial, like variety in a dream, perceived by the imposition of gross and subtle bodies on the jīva.
He is directly empowered by the Supreme as a śaktyāveśa-avatāra; sees material variety as meaningless because rooted in nescience. The empowered leader's vision penetrates surface variation to underlying ignorance.
Reflection Questions
  • Where am I impressed by surface variety I should be reading as projected nescience?
  • What 'śakti-āveśa' am I being trusted with that I haven't yet stepped into?
📝 My note

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