FolioCorpusBhagavad-gītā

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 11.4.23

ఏవంవిధాని కర్మాణి జన్మాని చ జగత్పతే: । భూరీణి భూరియశసో వర్ణితాని మహాభుజ ॥ ౨౩ ॥
evaṁ-vidhāni janmāni
[evam-vidhaani janmaani]
karmāṇi ca jagat-pateḥ
[karmaani cha jagat-pateh]
bhūrīṇi bhūri-yaśaso
[bhooreeni bhoori-yashaso]
varṇitāni mahā-bhuja
[varnitaani mahaa-bhuja]
evam-vidhāni — just like these janmāni — appearances karmāṇi — activities ca — and jagat-pateḥ — of the Lord of the universe bhūrīṇi — innumerable bhūri-yaśasaḥ — very glorious varṇitāni — described mahā-bhuja — O mighty-armed King Nimi.
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
evaṁ-vidhāni janmāni
evam-vidhāni
just like these
janmāni
appearances
karmāṇi ca jagat-pateḥ
karmāṇi
activities
ca
and
jagat-pateḥ
of the Lord of the universe
bhūrīṇi bhūri-yaśaso
bhūrīṇi
innumerable
bhūri-yaśasaḥ
very glorious
varṇitāni mahā-bhuja
varṇitāni
described
mahā-bhuja
O mighty-armed King Nimi.
O mighty-armed King, there are innumerable appearances and activities of the Supreme Lord of the universe similar to those I have already mentioned. In fact, the glories of the Supreme Lord are unlimited.

Thus end the purports of the humble servants of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda to the Eleventh Canto, Fourth Chapter, of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, entitled “Drumila Explains the Incarnations of Godhead to King Nimi.”

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
O mighty-armed King! There are innumerable appearances and activities of the Lord of the universe similar to those I have already mentioned. The glories of the Supreme Lord are unlimited. Thus ends the commentary on Fourth Chapter of the Eleventh Canto of the Bhāgavatam for the pleasure of the devotees, in accordance with the previous ācāryas. Chapter Five The Yuga-avatāras 11.5: Nārada Concludes His Teachings to Vasudeva 5. Nārada Concludes His Teachings to Vasudeva 11.5 Summary In this chapter the destination of persons who are inimical to the worship of Lord Hari, who are unable to control their own senses and who are not peaceful is examined, along with the different names, forms and modes of worship of the Personality of Godhead in each yuga. From the face, arms, thighs and feet of the primeval person Lord Viṣṇu are born (correspondingly and in order of the modes of goodness, passion and ignorance) the four varṇas-brāhmaṇa and so on-and also the four different āśramas. If the members of the four varṇas and four āśramas do not worship Lord Śrī Hari, who is Himself directly the origin of their own creation, they will simply fall down. Among these classes, women and śūdras, who generally have no contact with the hearing and chanting of hari-kathā, are on account of their very ignorance special candidates for the mercy of great souls. The members of the other three varṇas, becoming fit for achieving the lotus feet of Hari by second birth through Vedic initiation (śrauta-janma), nevertheless become confused by concocted interpretations of the Vedas. Presuming themselves to be great scholars, although not understanding the essential meaning of karma, they become flatterers of other deities in their greed for fruitive results and ridicule the devotees of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. They are fixed in family life, attached to mundane gossip and indifferent to the devotional service of Viṣṇu and the Vaiṣṇavas. They are maddened by material opulences and pleasures, devoid of real discrimination and intelligence and always function on the mental platform. But such attachment to family life and so on is most natural for the mass of people, even though it is against the best advice of śāstra. To become disentangled from such life in all respects is the principal teaching of the Vedas. Real wealth is that conducive to the faithful execution of the duty of the soul, not that which exists simply for selfish sense gratification. As a consequence of the desire to indulge the senses, men and women couple together to produce children. Engaging in animal slaughter apart from that necessary for performance of sacrifice, these human animals themselves suffer violence in the next life. If because of excessive greed for one's own pleasure one commits violence against living beings. He is also attacking Lord Śrī Hari, who is present in the bodies of all living entities as the Supersoul. Opposed to Lord Vāsudeva, ignorant self-cheaters completely carry out their own ruination and enter into hell. The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śrī Hari, accepts in each of the different yugas various colors, names and forms and is worshiped by various prescribed processes. In Satya-yuga the Supreme Lord is white in complexion, has four arms, dresses as a brahmacārī, is known by such names as Haṁsa and is served by the practice of meditational yoga. In Tretā-yuga He is red in color and four-armed, is the personification of sacrifice, is characterized by the symbols of the sacrificial spoon, ladle, etc., is called by such names as Yajṣa and is worshiped by Vedic sacrifices. In Dvāpara-yuga He is of dark blue complexion, wears a yellow garment, is marked by Śrīvatsa and other signs, has such names as Vāsudeva and is worshiped in His Deity form by the regulations of the Vedas and tantras. In Kali-yuga He is golden in color, is accompanied by associates who are His primary and secondary limbs and His weapons, is absorbed in kṛṣṇa-kīrtana and is worshiped by the performance of saṅkīrtana-yajṣa. Since in Kali-yuga all the goals of human life can be achieved simply by the glorification of the holy name of Lord Śrī Hari, those who can appreciate the real essence of things praise Kali-yuga. In Kali-yuga many people in South India (Draviḍa-deśa), in places where the Tāmraparṇī, Kṛtamālā, Kāverī and Mahānadī rivers flow, will be dedicated to the devotional service of the Supreme Lord. Persons who give up all false ego and take full shelter of Lord Hari are no longer debtors to the demigods or anyone else. The Personality of Godhead, Śrī Hari, appears in the hearts of devotees who know no other shelter than Him and causelessly drives away all evil desires from the devotees' hearts. Videharāja Nimi, having heard elaborate descriptions of bhāgavata-dharma from the mouths of the nava-yogendras, offered worship to them with a satisfied mind. They then disappeared. Devarṣi Nārada thereupon instructed Vasudeva about the ultimate shelter of devotional service. He told Vasudeva that although Lord Kṛṣṇa had become his son, having appeared in this world to free the earth of its burden, he still should not think of Lord Kṛṣṇa as his child, but rather as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Even by meditating upon Kṛṣṇa in a spirit of enmity, such kings as Śiśupāla attained an equal status to Him. So to attempt to say anything more about the perfect achievement of great souls such as Vasudeva, who enjoy intimate loving relations with Kṛṣṇa, would be a useless endeavor.
Kṛṣṇa's appearances and activities are unlimited; what we have heard is only a doorway into His ever-expanding glories.
Practical Applications
  • Today, when you sit for reading, remind yourself you are entering an unlimited ocean, not finishing a book.
  • Refuse the urge to 'sum up' Kṛṣṇa in a tidy concept — keep one question about His līlā open as you go through the day.
  • Speak one specific glory of the Lord you have already heard to someone in your life, instead of waiting until you 'know more.'
Reflection Questions
  • Where in my hearing of Kṛṣṇa have I quietly decided 'I've got the gist' — and what does that closure cost me?
  • If His glories are truly unlimited, what would change in how I structure my study, my speech, and my expectations today?
For Each Age Group
youth
  • When friends ask 'so what is your religion about?', resist the one-line summary — name one specific pastime of Kṛṣṇa that actually moved you.
  • On your phone today, replace one scroll session with hearing or reading a single new līlā of the Lord, however short.
  • Notice the exam-mind that wants to 'finish' Kṛṣṇa like a syllabus, and choose instead to stay a beginner who keeps hearing.
householder
  • At the dinner table this week, share one of Kṛṣṇa's appearances or activities with your children or spouse, instead of only logistics and news.
  • When work pressure tempts you to drop hearing 'until things calm down,' commit to even ten minutes of Bhāgavatam — His glories are unlimited, your time is not.
  • Refuse to let your maturity in family life harden into the assumption that you have 'already heard enough' — choose one new section of the Bhāgavatam to enter this month.
senior
  • Use the loosening of worldly duties to go deeper, not just wider — re-hear pastimes you once skimmed, knowing His glories are unlimited and you are not done.
  • When mentoring younger devotees, speak from specific pastimes of the Lord rather than generalities, so they inherit Kṛṣṇa personally and not as an idea.
  • As mortality draws closer, anchor each day in hearing one more glory of jagat-pati Kṛṣṇa, so the final hearing is a continuation, not a sudden beginning.
Common Pitfalls
  • Treating 'unlimited glories' as a vague slogan rather than a concrete invitation to keep hearing.
  • Using the verse to excuse laziness — 'it's all infinite anyway, so why bother memorizing this one pastime.'
  • Collapsing Kṛṣṇa's specific personal līlā into an abstract notion of an unlimited Absolute.
Discussion Prompts
  • Share one pastime of Kṛṣṇa that has shaped you, and one you have quietly skipped over — what does the contrast reveal?
  • When someone says 'I've already heard the Bhāgavatam,' what is actually being claimed, and where does this verse push back?
  • How do you tell the difference between mature faith in the unlimited glories of the Lord and a lazy shrug at the infinite?
Role Play

A long-time devotee tells a newer student, 'You don't need to keep hearing the same pastimes — once you get the philosophy, the stories are optional.' Drawing on this verse, role-play the response, without being preachy, that honors both the student's seriousness and the unlimited character of the Lord's activities.

Objections & Responses
  • If the Lord's glories are unlimited, then any tradition's stories about God are equally valid — why privilege the Bhāgavatam?
    Unlimited does not mean undifferentiated. Drumila is glorifying the specific Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, whose innumerable appearances are described in this very text by realized authorities. The acknowledgment of unlimitedness here strengthens, not dissolves, the personal line through which He is heard.
  • This sounds like a closing flourish, not a teaching — what am I supposed to actually do with 'His glories are unlimited'?
    That is precisely the instruction: do not close the book in your heart. The verse hands you a lifelong sādhana of continued hearing, ongoing humility, and refusal to reduce Kṛṣṇa to what you have already grasped.
📝 My note

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