FolioCorpusBhagavad-gītā

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.70.27

లోకే భవాఞ్జగదిన: కలయావతీర్ణ: సద్రక్షణాయ ఖలనిగ్రహణాయ చాన్య: । కశ్చిత్ త్వదీయమతియాతి నిదేశమీశ కిం వా జన: స్వకృతమృచ్ఛతి తన్న విద్మ: ॥ ౨౭ ॥
loke bhavāñ jagad-inaḥ kalayāvatīrṇaḥ
[loke bhavaan jagad-inah kalayaavateernah]
sad-rakṣaṇāya khala-nigrahaṇāya cānyaḥ
[sad-rakshanaaya khala-nigrahanaaya chaanyah]
kaścit tvadīyam atiyāti nideśam īśa
[kashchit tvadeeyam atiyaati nidesham eesha]
kiṁ vā janaḥ sva-kṛtam ṛcchati tan na vidmaḥ
[kim vaa janah sva-kritam richchati tan na vidmah]
loke — into this world bhavān — You jagat — of the universe inaḥ — the predominator kalayā — with Your expansion Baladeva, or with Your time potency avatīrṇaḥ — having descended sat — the saintly rakṣaṇāya — to protect khala — the wicked nigrahaṇāya — to subdue ca — and anyaḥ — other kaścit — someone tvadīyam — Your atiyāti — transgresses nideśam — the law īśa — O Lord kim vā — or else janaḥ — a person sva — by himself kṛtam — created ṛcchati — obtains tat — that na vidmaḥ — we do not understand .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
loke bhavāñ jagad-inaḥ kalayāvatīrṇaḥ
loke
into this world
bhavān
You
jagat
of the universe
inaḥ
the predominator
kalayā
with Your expansion Baladeva, or with Your time potency
avatīrṇaḥ
having descended
sad-rakṣaṇāya khala-nigrahaṇāya cānyaḥ
sat
the saintly
rakṣaṇāya
to protect
khala
the wicked
nigrahaṇāya
to subdue
ca
and
anyaḥ
other
kaścit tvadīyam atiyāti nideśam īśa
kaścit
someone
tvadīyam
Your
atiyāti
transgresses
nideśam
the law
īśa
O Lord
kiṁ vā janaḥ sva-kṛtam ṛcchati tan na vidmaḥ
kim vā
or else
janaḥ
a person
sva
by himself
kṛtam
created
ṛcchati
obtains
tat
that
na vidmaḥ
we do not understand .
  • avatīrṇaḥ — descended
    Avatāra — the descent. The kings invoke the doctrine of avatāra at the precise moment when they need it most. The Gauḍīya understanding: every avatāra is for sat-rakṣaṇa and khala-nigraha, the verse's exact two phrases.
  • sat-rakṣaṇāya — for the protection of the saintly
    Sat — the truthful, the real, the devoted. Bhagavān's first descent-purpose is to protect them. The kings, naming themselves implicitly as sat, claim a place under that protection.
  • khala-nigrahaṇāya — for the subduing of the wicked
    Khala — the malicious. The second descent-purpose. The kings name Jarāsandha as khala, asking Bhagavān to fulfil the second clause of His own promise.
  • kalayā — by an expansion (Baladeva, or time potency)
    Bhagavān descends with His kalā — partial manifestation. The Gauḍīya reading: even when 'descending,' Bhagavān is in fact undiminished; only His outer manifestation appears partial.
You are the predominating Lord of the universe and have descended into this world with Your personal power to protect the saintly and suppress the wicked. We cannot understand, O Lord, how anyone can transgress Your law and still continue to enjoy the fruits of his work.

Śrīdhara Svāmī explains that the kings were bewildered by the suffering that had come upon them. They state here that since the Lord has descended to this world to protect the pious and punish the wicked, how is it that Jarāsandha, who brazenly transgressed the order of the Lord, continued to perform his wicked activities, whereas the kings were put into a miserable condition? Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura similarly states that the kings could not understand how Jarāsandha, who harassed the saintly devotees and nourished the envious, could continue to prosper, whereas the kings were being tormented by the wicked Jarāsandha. Similarly Śrīla Prabhupāda quotes the kings as follows in Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead: “My dear Lord, You are the proprietor of all the worlds, and You have incarnated Yourself along with Your plenary expansion Lord Balarāma. It is said that Your appearance in this incarnation is for the purpose of protecting the faithful and destroying the miscreants. Under the circumstances, how is it possible that miscreants like Jarāsandha can put us into such deplorable conditions of life against Your authority? We are puzzled at the situation and cannot understand how it is possible. It may be that Jarāsandha has been deputed to give us such trouble because of our past misdeeds, but we have heard from revealed scriptures that anyone who surrenders unto Your lotus feet immediately becomes immune to the reactions of sinful life… [We] therefore… wholeheartedly offer ourselves unto Your shelter, and we hope that Your Lordship will now give us full protection.”

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
You are the predominating Lord of the universe and have descended into this world with Your personal power to protect the saintly and suppress the wicked. We cannot understand, O Lord, how anyone can transgress Your law and still continue to enjoy the fruits of his work.
Commentary

It is greatly astonishing to us why anyone who hates you or your devotees is not destroyed. The lord of the universe (jagad inah) has appeared at a certain time (kalaya) or with his portion Baladeva, for protecting the pious and destroying the evil. However, other wicked men, such as Jarasandha, surpass your law and persecute the devotees and protect the wicked. Though you appear to destroy the evil men, are they prospering and happy due to past pious acts? Though you appear to protect the devotees, are they suffering now due to their past sins? It is not possible for us to understand this. It should not be that dull material karma should be more powerful than you.

Jīva Gosvāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

You are directly the Lord of the universe (jagad-inaḥ) and have appeared with your expansion Baladeva in this world. By what cause can others, the wicked who have not been suppressed, disregard your laws? O Lord, even Jarāsandha is under your control. He is under the control of karma. We do not know how anyone can surpass your law.

Related values
Vairagya (Detachment / Dispassion)Discriminative WisdomShanti (Peace / Tranquility)Abhaya (Fearlessness)Seva (Service / Selfless Action)Samata (Equanimity / Even-mindedness)Ishvara Pranidhana (Surrender to God)
Related verses
Concepts
Karma

Bhagavān descends to protect the saintly and subdue the wicked — the kings cannot understand how Jarāsandha still rampages. It is as if the sun has risen and yet shadows persist; the kings rightly suspect that the shadow is not stronger than the sun but is being permitted, for some purpose, to remain.

Bhagavad-gītā 4.7-8

Kṛṣṇa's own classic statement: yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānir bhavati … paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām. The verse the kings paraphrase here is from BG 4.7-8, where Bhagavān states the law of His descent.

The kings effectively quote Him back to Himself — a beautiful bhakti move. They ask Him to act on His own self-stated promise. The Gauḍīya commentators note: this is the proper way to pray, by reminding Bhagavān of His own scripture.

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