FolioCorpusBhagavad-gītā

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 9.23.20-21

యత్రావతీర్ణో భగవాన్ పరమాత్మా నరాకృతి: । యదో: సహస్రజిత్క్రోష్టా నలో రిపురితి శ్రుతా: ॥ ౨౦ ॥ చత్వార: సూనవస్తత్ర శతజిత్ ప్రథమాత్మజ: । మహాహయో రేణుహయో హైహయశ్చేతి తత్సుతా: ॥ ౨౧ ॥
yatrāvatīrṇo bhagavān
[yatraavateerno bhagavaan]
paramātmā narākṛtiḥ
[paramaatmaa naraakritih]
yadoḥ sahasrajit kroṣṭā
[yadoh sahasrajit kroshtaa]
nalo ripur iti śrutāḥ
[nalo ripur iti shrutaah]
catvāraḥ sūnavas tatra
[chatvaarah soonavas tatra]
śatajit prathamātmajaḥ
[shatajit prathamaatmajah]
mahāhayo reṇuhayo
[mahaahayo renuhayo]
haihayaś ceti tat-sutāḥ
[haihayash cheti tat-sutaah]
yatra — wherein, in which dynasty avatīrṇaḥ — descended bhagavān — the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa paramātmā — who is the Supersoul of all living entities nara-ākṛtiḥ — a person, exactly resembling a human being yadoḥ — of Yadu sahasrajit — Sahasrajit kroṣṭā — Kroṣṭā nalaḥ — Nala ripuḥ — Ripu iti śrutāḥ — thus they are celebrated catvāraḥ — four sūnavaḥ — sons tatra — therein śatajit — Śatajit prathama-ātmajaḥ — of the first sons mahāhayaḥ — Mahāhaya reṇuhayaḥ — Reṇuhaya haihayaḥ — Haihaya ca — and iti — thus tat-sutāḥ — his sons (the sons of Śatajit).
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
yatrāvatīrṇo bhagavān
yatra
wherein, in which dynasty
avatīrṇaḥ
descended
bhagavān
the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa
paramātmā narākṛtiḥ
paramātmā
who is the Supersoul of all living entities
nara-ākṛtiḥ
a person, exactly resembling a human being
yadoḥ sahasrajit kroṣṭā
yadoḥ
of Yadu
sahasrajit
Sahasrajit
kroṣṭā
Kroṣṭā
nalo ripur iti śrutāḥ
nalaḥ
Nala
ripuḥ
Ripu
iti śrutāḥ
thus they are celebrated
catvāraḥ sūnavas tatra
catvāraḥ
four
sūnavaḥ
sons
tatra
therein
śatajit prathamātmajaḥ
śatajit
Śatajit
prathama-ātmajaḥ
of the first sons
mahāhayaḥ
Mahāhaya
mahāhayo reṇuhayo
reṇuhayaḥ
Reṇuhaya
haihayaś ceti tat-sutāḥ
haihayaḥ
Haihaya
ca
and
iti
thus
tat-sutāḥ
his sons (the sons of Śatajit).
The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, the Supersoul in the hearts of all living entities, descended in His original form as a human being in the dynasty or family of Yadu. Yadu had four sons, named Sahasrajit, Kroṣṭā, Nala and Ripu. Of these four, the eldest, Sahasrajit, had a son named Śatajit, who had three sons, named Mahāhaya, Reṇuhaya and Haihaya.

As confirmed in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.2.11) :

vadanti tat tattva-vidas tattvaṁ yaj jṣānam advayam brahmeti paramātmeti bhagavān iti śabdyate

“Learned transcendentalists who know the Absolute Truth call this nondual substance Brahman, Paramātmā or Bhagavān.” The majority of transcendentalists understand only the impersonal Brahman or localized Paramātmā, for the Personality of Godhead is very difficult to understand. As the Lord says in Bhagavad-gītā (7.3) :

manuṣyāṇāṁ sahasreṣu kaścid yatati siddhaye yatatām api siddhānāṁ kaścin māṁ vetti tattvataḥ

“Out of many thousands among men, one may endeavor for perfection, and of those who have achieved perfection, hardly one knows Me in truth.” The yogīs and jṣānīs — that is, the mystic yogīs and the impersonalists — can understand the Absolute Truth as impersonal or localized, but although such realized souls are above ordinary human beings, they cannot understand how the Supreme Absolute Truth can be a person. Therefore it is said that out of many siddhas, the souls who have already realized the Absolute Truth, one may understand Kṛṣṇa, who exactly resembles a human being ( narākṛti ). This human form was explained by Kṛṣṇa Himself after He manifested the virāṭ-rūpa. The virāṭ-rūpa is not the original form of the Lord; the Lord’s original form is Dvibhuja-śyāmasundara, Muralīdhara, the Lord with two hands, playing a flute ( yaṁ śyāmasundaram acintya-guṇa-svarūpam ). The Lord’s forms are proof of His inconceivable qualities. Although the Lord maintains innumerable universes within the period of His breath, He is dressed with a form exactly like that of a human being. That does not mean, however, that He is a human being. This is His original form, but because He looks like a human being, those with a poor fund of knowledge consider Him an ordinary man. The Lord says:

avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā mānuṣīṁ tanum āśritam paraṁ bhāvam ajānanto mama bhūta-maheśvaram

“Fools deride Me when I descend in the human form. They do not know My transcendental nature and My supreme dominion over all that be.” ( Bg. 9.11 ) By the Lord’s paraṁ bhāvam, or transcendental nature, He is the all-pervading Paramātmā living in the core of the hearts of all living entities, yet He looks like a human being. Māyāvāda philosophy says that the Lord is originally impersonal but assumes a human form and many other forms when He descends. Actually, however, He is originally like a human being, and the impersonal Brahman consists of the rays of His body ( yasya prabhā prabhavato jagad-aṇḍa-koṭi ).

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
In that dynasty the Supreme Lord, Paramātmā, descended in his human form. Yadu had four sons, named Sahasrajit, Kroṣṭā, Nala and Ripu. Of these four, the eldest, Sahasrajit, had a son named Śatajit, who had three sons, named Mahāhaya, Reṇuhaya and Haihaya. Narākṛti means his svarūpa is that of a human or he is of human species, since the word ākṛti can mean svarūpa or species. The human form is not a secondary feature of Paramātmā, but his svarūpa. This was shown by the following statement: yūyaṁ nṛ-loke bata bhūri-bhāgā lokaṁ punānā munayo 'bhiyanti yeṣāṁ gṛhān āvasatīti sākṣād gūḍhaṁ paraṁ brahma manuṣya-liṅgam You Pāṇḍavas are most fortunate in this world. Sages who purify the planets come and visit your houses because the Supreme Brahman personally resides your houses in a human form. SB 7.10.48
Related verses
📝 My note

← Read full Chapter 23