FolioCorpusBhagavad-gītā

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 3.7.37

తత్త్వానాం భగవంస్తేషాం కతిధా ప్రతిసంక్రమ: । తత్రేమం క ఉపాసీరన్ క ఉ స్విదనుశేరతే ॥ ౩౭ ॥
tattvānāṁ bhagavaṁs teṣāṁ
[tattvaanaam bhagavams teshaam]
katidhā pratisaṅkramaḥ
[katidhaa pratisankramah]
tatremaṁ ka upāsīran
[tatremam ka upaaseeran]
ka u svid anuśerate
[ka u svid anusherate]
tattvānām — of the elements of nature bhagavan — O great sage teṣām — of them katidhā — how many pratisaṅkramaḥ — dissolutions tatra — thereupon imam — unto the Supreme Lord ke — who are they upāsīran — being saved ke — who are they u — who svit — may anuśerate — serve the Lord while He sleeps.
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
tattvānāṁ bhagavaṁs teṣāṁ
tattvānām
of the elements of nature
bhagavan
O great sage
teṣām
of them
katidhā pratisaṅkramaḥ
katidhā
how many
pratisaṅkramaḥ
dissolutions
tatremaṁ ka upāsīran
tatra
thereupon
imam
unto the Supreme Lord
ke
who are they
upāsīran
being saved
ke
who are they
u
who
ka u svid anuśerate
svit
may
anuśerate
serve the Lord while He sleeps.
Please describe how many dissolutions there are for the elements of material nature and who survives after the dissolutions to serve the Lord while He is asleep.

In the Brahma-saṁhitā (5.47-48) it is said that all the material manifestations with innumerable universes appear and disappear with the breathing of Mahā-Viṣṇu lying in yoga-nidrā, or mystic sleep.

yaḥ kāraṇārṇava-jale bhajati sma yoga- nidrām ananta-jagad-aṇḍa-saroma-kūpaḥ ādhāra-śaktim avalambya parāṁ sva-mūrtiṁ govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi

yasyaika-niśvasita-kālam athāvalambya jīvanti loma-vilajā jagad-aṇḍa-nāthāḥ viṣṇur mahān sa iha yasya kalā-viśeṣo govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi

“Govinda, the ultimate and Supreme Personality of Godhead [Lord Kṛṣṇa], lies sleeping unlimitedly on the Causal Ocean in order to create unlimited numbers of universes during that sleep. He lies on the water by His own internal potency, and I worship that original Supreme Godhead.

“Due to His breathing, innumerable universes come into existence, and when He withdraws His breath there occurs the dissolution of all the lords of the universes. That plenary portion of the Supreme Lord is called Mahā-Viṣṇu, and He is a part of the part of Lord Kṛṣṇa. I worship Govinda, the original Lord.”

After the dissolution of the material manifestations, the Lord and His kingdom beyond the Causal Ocean do not disappear, nor do the inhabitants, the Lord’s associates. The associates of the Lord are far more numerous than the living entities who have forgotten the Lord due to material association. The impersonalist’s explanation of the word aham in the four verses of the original Bhāgavatam — aham evāsam evāgre, etc. — is refuted here. The Lord and His eternal associates remain after the dissolution. Vidura’s inquiry about such persons is a clear indication of the existence of all the paraphernalia of the Lord. This is also confirmed in the Kāśī-khaṇḍa, as quoted by both Jīva Gosvāmī and Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī, who follow in the footsteps of Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī.

na cyavante hi yad-bhaktā mahatyāṁ pralayāpadi ato ’cyuto ’khile loke sa ekaḥ sarva-go ’vyayaḥ

“The devotees of the Lord never annihilate their individual existences, not even after the dissolution of the entire cosmic manifestation. The Lord and the devotees who associate with Him are always eternal, in both the material and spiritual worlds.”

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
How many types of destruction are there for the various elements? Who remains serving the Lord during destruction, and who goes to sleep? Having asked about sādhana-bhakti, since sādhya-bhakti is eternal, to dispose of any erroneous conceptions about this fact, Vidura now asks about destruction of the material world. Pratisaṅkramaḥ refers to destruction. At the time of this destruction, who serves the Supreme Lord while he is sleeping, just as one serves the king by waving a cāmara? Who sleeps? This is the meaning Śrīdhara Svāmī gives to this verse. This implies that the bhakti of the associates of the Lord and the Lord’s planet are eternal. It is said in the Kāśi-khaṇḍa: na cyavante hi mad-bhaktā mahatyāṁ pralayāpadi: my devotees are not destroyed at the time of the final destruction of the universe.
📝 My note

← Read full Chapter 7