FolioCorpusŚrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 9.4.56

श्रीशङ्कर उवाच वयं न तात प्रभवाम भूम्नि यस्मिन् परेऽन्येऽप्यजजीवकोशा: । भवन्ति काले न भवन्ति हीद‍ृशा: सहस्रशो यत्र वयं भ्रमाम: ॥ ५६ ॥
śrī-śaṅkara uvāca
[shree-shankara uvaacha]
vayaṁ na tāta prabhavāma bhūmni
[vayam na taata prabhavaama bhoomni]
yasmin pare ’nye ’py aja-jīva-kośāḥ
[yasmin pare ’nye ’py aja-jeeva-koshaah]
bhavanti kāle na bhavanti hīdṛśāḥ
[bhavanti kaale na bhavanti heedrishaah]
sahasraśo yatra vayaṁ bhramāmaḥ
[sahasrasho yatra vayam bhramaamah]
Word-for-word
śrī-śaṅkaraḥ uvāca — Lord Śiva said vayam — we na — not tāta — O my dear son prabhavāmaḥ — sufficiently able bhūmni — unto the great Supreme Personality of Godhead yasmin — in whom pare — in the Transcendence anye — others api — even aja — Lord Brahmā jīva — living entities kośāḥ — the universes bhavanti — can become kāle — in due course of time na — not bhavanti — can become hi — indeed īdṛśāḥ — like this sahasraśaḥ — many thousands and millions yatra — wherein vayam — all of us bhramāmaḥ — are rotating.
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
śrī-śaṅkara uvāca
śrī-śaṅkaraḥ uvāca
Lord Śiva said
vayam
we
vayaṁ na tāta prabhavāma bhūmni
na
not
tāta
O my dear son
prabhavāmaḥ
sufficiently able
bhūmni
unto the great Supreme Personality of Godhead
yasmin pare ’nye ’py aja-jīva-kośāḥ
yasmin
in whom
pare
in the Transcendence
bhavanti kāle na bhavanti hīdṛśāḥ
anye
others
api
even
aja
Lord Brahmā
jīva
living entities
kośāḥ
the universes
bhavanti
can become
kāle
in due course of time
na
not
sahasraśo yatra vayaṁ bhramāmaḥ
bhavanti
can become
hi
indeed
īdṛśāḥ
like this
sahasraśaḥ
many thousands and millions
yatra
wherein
vayam
all of us
bhramāmaḥ
are rotating.
Lord Śiva said: My dear son, I, Lord Brahmā and the other demigods, who rotate within this universe under the misconception of our greatness, cannot exhibit any power to compete with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, for innumerable universes and their inhabitants come into existence and are annihilated by the simple direction of the Lord.
Purport

There are innumerable universes in the material world, and there are innumerable Lord Brahmās, Lord Śivas and other demigods. All of them rotate within this material world under the supreme direction of the Personality of Godhead. Therefore no one is able to compete with the strength of the Lord. Lord Śiva also refused to protect Durvāsā, for Lord Śiva also was under the rays of the Sudarśana cakra sent by the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Gauḍīya Ācāryas
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
Śiva said: My dear son! We cannot compete with the Supreme Lord within whom the thousands of universes in which we wander in bewilderment arise and are destroyed with time. The universes (kośāḥ), which are coverings on the jīva and even Brahmā, are created and destroyed within the Supreme Lord. In those universes we who think we are controllers of the planets wander around bewildered.
Related lectures
Personal Guidance
Śiva, too, says he and Brahmā cannot compete with the Lord's strength — innumerable universes rise and fall at His direction. Even Śiva refuses to oppose the cakra he himself reveres.
Reflection Questions
  • Where am I asking a high authority to overrule an even higher one?
  • What humbles me about even Śiva's deference in this story?
📝 My note

Source: vedabase.io

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