SB 3.9.4
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
TEXT 4
- tad vā idaṁ bhuvana-maṅgala maṅgalāya
- dhyāne sma no darśitaṁ ta upāsakānām
- tasmai namo bhagavate 'nuvidhema tubhyaṁ
- yo 'nādṛto naraka-bhāgbhir asat-prasaṅgaiḥ
SYNONYMS
tat — the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa; vā — or; idam — this present form; bhuvana-maṅgala — O You who are all-auspicious for all the universes; maṅgalāya — for the sake of all prosperity; dhyāne — in meditation; sma — as it were; naḥ — unto us; darśitam — manifested; te — Your; upāsakānām — of the devotees; tasmai — unto Him; namaḥ — my respectful obeisances; bhagavate — unto the Personality of Godhead; anuvidhema — I perform; tubhyam — unto You; yaḥ — which; anādṛtaḥ — is neglected; naraka-bhāgbhiḥ — by persons destined for hell; asat-prasaṅgaiḥ — by material topics.
TRANSLATION
This present form, or any transcendental form expanded by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, is equally auspicious for all the universes. Since You have manifested this eternal personal form upon whom Your devotees meditate, I therefore offer my respectful obeisances unto You. Those who are destined to be dispatched to the path of hell neglect Your personal form because of speculating on material topics.
PURPORT
Regarding the personal and impersonal features of the Supreme Absolute Truth, the personal forms exhibited by the Lord in His different plenary expansions are all for the benediction of all the universes. The personal form of the Lord is also worshiped in meditation as Supersoul, Paramātmā, but the impersonal brahmajyoti is not worshiped. Persons who are addicted to the impersonal feature of the Lord, whether in meditation or otherwise, are all pilgrims to hell because, as stated in Bhagavad-gītā (BG 12.5), impersonalists simply waste their time in mundane mental speculation because they are addicted more to false arguments than to reality. Therefore, the association of the impersonalists is condemned herewith by Brahmā.
All the plenary expansions of the Personality of Godhead are equally potent, as confirmed in the Brahma-saṁhitā (BS 5.38):
- dīpārcir eva hi daśāntaram abhyupetya
- dīpāyate vivṛta-hetu-samāna-dharmā
- yas tādṛg eva hi ca viṣṇutayā vibhāti
- govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi
The Lord expands Himself as the flames of a fire expand one after another. Although the original flame, or Śrī Kṛṣṇa, is accepted as Govinda, the Supreme Person, all other expansions, such as Rāma, Nṛsiṁha and Varāha, are as potent as the original Lord. All such expanded forms are transcendental. In the beginning of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is made clear that the Supreme Truth is eternally uncontaminated by material touch. There is no jugglery of words and activities in the transcendental kingdom of the Lord. All the Lord's forms are transcendental, and such manifestations are ever identical. The particular form of the Lord exhibited to a devotee is not mundane, even though the devotee may retain material desire, nor is it manifest under the influence of material energy, as is foolishly considered by the impersonalists. Impersonalists who consider the transcendental forms of the Lord to be products of the material world are surely destined for hell.