Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam: Canto 3: “The Status Quo”
by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda

Chapter Two

SB3.2.12

TEXT 12

yan martya-līlaupayikaṁ sva-yoga-

māyā-balaṁ darśayatā gṛhītam

vismāpanaṁ svasya ca saubhagarddheḥ

paraṁ padaṁ bhūṣaṇa-bhūṣaṇāṅgam

SYNONYMS

yat—His eternal form which; martya—mortal world; līlā-upayikam—just suitable for the pastimes; sva-yoga-māyā-balam—potency of the internal energy; darśayatā—for manifestation; gṛhītam—discovered; vismāpanam—wonderful; svasya—of His own; ca—and; saubhaga-ṛddheḥ—of the opulent; param—supreme; padam—ultimate stand; bhūṣaṇa—ornament; bhūṣaṇa-aṅgam—of the ornaments.

TRANSLATION

The Lord appeared in the mortal world by His internal potency, yoga-māyā. He came in His eternal form, which is just suitable for His pastimes. These pastimes were wonderful for everyone, even for those proud of their own opulence, including the Lord Himself in His form as the Lord of Vaikuṇṭha. Thus His [Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s] transcendental body is the ornament of all ornaments.

PURPORT

In conformity with the Vedic hymns (nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām), the Personality of Godhead is more excellent than all other living beings within all the universes in the material world. He is the chief of all living entities; no one can surpass Him or be equal to Him in wealth, strength, fame, beauty, knowledge or renunciation. When Lord Kṛṣṇa was within this universe, He seemed to be a human being because He appeared in a manner just suitable for His pastimes in the mortal world. He did not appear in human society in His Vaikuṇṭha feature with four hands because that would not have been suitable for His pastimes. But in spite of His appearing as a human being, no one was or is equal to Him in any respect in any of the six different opulences. Everyone is more or less proud of his opulence in this world, but when Lord Kṛṣṇa was in human society, He excelled all His contemporaries within the universe.

When the Lord’s pastimes are visible to the human eye, they are called prakaṭa, and when they are not visible they are called aprakaṭa. In fact, the Lord’s pastimes never stop, just as the sun never leaves the sky. The sun is always in its right orbit in the sky, but it is sometimes visible and sometimes invisible to our limited vision. Similarly, the pastimes of the Lord are always current in one universe or another, and when Lord Kṛṣṇa disappeared from the transcendental abode of Dvārakā, it was simply a disappearance from the eyes of the people there. It should not be misunderstood that His transcendental body, which is just suitable for the pastimes in the mortal world, is in any way inferior to His different expansions in the Vaikuṇṭhalokas. His body manifested in the material world is transcendental par excellence in the sense that His pastimes in the mortal world excel His mercy displayed in the Vaikuṇṭhalokas. In the Vaikuṇṭhalokas the Lord is merciful toward the liberated or nitya-mukta living entities, but in His pastimes in the mortal world He is merciful even to the fallen souls who are nitya-baddha, or conditioned forever. The six excellent opulences which He displayed in the mortal world by the agency of His internal potency, yoga-māyā, are rare even in the Vaikuṇṭhalokas. All His pastimes were manifested not by the material energy but by His spiritual energy. The excellence of His rāsa-līlā at Vṛndāvana and His householder life with sixteen thousand wives is wonderful even for Nārāyaṇa in Vaikuṇṭha and is certainly so for other living entities within this mortal world. His pastimes are wonderful even for other incarnations of the Lord, such as Śrī Rāma, Nṛsiṁha and Varāha. His opulence was so superexcellent that His pastimes were adored even by the Lord of Vaikuṇṭha, who is not different from Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself.

SB3.2.13

TEXT 13

yad dharma-sūnor bata rājasūye

nirīkṣya dṛk-svastyayanaṁ tri-lokaḥ

kārtsnyena cādyeha gataṁ vidhātur

arvāk-sṛtau kauśalam ity amanyata

SYNONYMS

yat—the form which; dharma-sūnoḥ—of Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira; bata—certainly; rājasūye—in the arena of the rājasūya sacrifice; nirīkṣya—by observing; dṛk—sight; svastyayanam—pleasing; tri-lokaḥ—the three worlds; kārtsnyena—in sum total; ca—thus; adya—today; iha—within the universe; gatam—surpassed; vidhātuḥ—of the creator (Brahmā); arvāk—recent mankind; sṛtau—in the material world; kauśalam—dexterity; iti—thus; amanyata—contemplated.

TRANSLATION

All the demigods from the upper, lower and middle universal planetary systems assembled at the altar of the rājasūya sacrifice performed by Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira. After seeing the beautiful bodily features of Lord Kṛṣṇa, they all contemplated that He was the ultimate dexterous creation of Brahmā, the creator of human beings.

PURPORT

There was nothing comparable to the bodily features of Lord Kṛṣṇa when He was present in this world. The most beautiful object in the material world may be compared to the blue lotus flower or the full moon in the sky, but even the lotus flower and the moon were defeated by the beauty of the bodily features of Lord Kṛṣṇa, and this was certified by the demigods, the most beautiful living creatures in the universe. The demigods thought that Lord Kṛṣṇa, like themselves, was also created by Lord Brahmā, but in fact Brahmā was created by Lord Kṛṣṇa. It was not within the power of Brahmā to create the transcendental beauty of the Supreme Lord. No one is the creator of Kṛṣṇa; rather, He is the creator of everyone. As He says in Bhagavad-gītā (10.8), ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavo mattaḥ sarvaṁ pravartate.

SB3.2.14

TEXT 14

yasyānurāga-pluta-hāsa-rāsa-

līlāvaloka-pratilabdha-mānāḥ

vraja-striyo dṛgbhir anupravṛtta-

dhiyo ’vatasthuḥ kila kṛtya-śeṣāḥ

SYNONYMS

yasya—whose; anurāga—attachment; pluta—enhanced by; hāsa—laughter; rāsa—humors; līlā—pastimes; avaloka—glancing; pratilabdha—obtained thereof; mānāḥ—anguished; vraja-striyaḥ—damsels of Vraja; dṛgbhiḥ—with the eyes; anupravṛtta—following; dhiyaḥ—by intelligence; avatasthuḥ—sat silently; kila—indeed; kṛtya-śeṣāḥ—without finishing household duties.

TRANSLATION

The damsels of Vraja, after pastimes of laughter, humor and exchanges of glances, were anguished when Kṛṣṇa left them. They used to follow Him with their eyes, and thus they sat down with stunned intelligence and could not finish their household duties.

PURPORT

In His boyhood at Vṛndāvana, Lord Kṛṣṇa was notorious as a teasing friend in transcendental love to all the girls His age. His love for them was so intense that there is no comparison to that ecstasy, and the damsels of Vraja were so much attached to Him that their affection excelled that of the great demigods like Brahmā and Śiva. Lord Kṛṣṇa finally admitted His defeat before the transcendental affection of the gopīs and declared that He was unable to repay them for their unalloyed affection. Although the gopīs were seemingly anguished by the Lord’s teasing behavior, when Kṛṣṇa would leave them they could not tolerate the separation and used to follow Him with their eyes and minds. They were so stunned by the situation that they could not finish their household duties. No one could excel Him even in the dealing of love exchanged between boys and girls. It is said in the revealed scriptures that Lord Kṛṣṇa personally never goes beyond the boundary of Vṛndāvana. He remains there eternally because of the transcendental love of the inhabitants. Thus even though He is not visible at present, He is not away from Vṛndāvana for a moment.

SB3.2.15

TEXT 15

sva-śānta-rūpeṣv itaraiḥ sva-rūpair

abhyardyamāneṣv anukampitātmā

parāvareśo mahad-aṁśa-yukto

hy ajo ’pi jāto bhagavān yathāgniḥ

SYNONYMS

sva-śānta-rūpeṣu—unto the peaceful devotees of the Lord; itaraiḥ—others, nondevotees; sva-rūpaiḥ—according to their own modes of nature; abhyardyamāneṣu—being harassed by; anukampita-ātmā—the all-compassionate Lord; para-avara—spiritual and material; īśaḥ—controller; mahat-aṁśa-yuktaḥ—accompanied by the plenary portion of mahat-tattva; hi—certainly; ajaḥ—the unborn; api—although; jātaḥ—is born; bhagavān—the Personality of Godhead; yathā—as if; agniḥ—the fire.

TRANSLATION

The Personality of Godhead, the all-compassionate controller of both the spiritual and material creations, is unborn, but when there is friction between His peaceful devotees and persons who are in the material modes of nature, He takes birth just like fire, accompanied by the mahat-tattva.

PURPORT

The devotees of the Lord are by nature peaceful because they have no material hankering. A liberated soul has no hankering, and therefore he has no lamentation. One who wants to possess also laments when he loses his possession. Devotees have no hankerings for material possessions and no hankerings for spiritual salvation. They are situated in the transcendental loving service of the Lord as a matter of duty, and they do not mind where they are or how they have to act. Karmīs, jñānīs and yogīs all hanker to possess some material or spiritual assets. Karmīs want material possessions, jñānīs and yogīs want spiritual possessions, but devotees do not want any material or spiritual assets. They want only to serve the Lord anywhere in the material or spiritual worlds that the Lord desires, and the Lord is always specifically compassionate towards such devotees.

The karmīs, jñānīs and yogīs have their particular mentalities in the modes of nature, and therefore they are called itara or nondevotees. These itaras, including even the yogīs, sometimes harass the devotees of the Lord. Durvāsā Muni, a great yogī, harassed Mahārāja Ambarīṣa because the latter was a great devotee of the Lord. And the great karmī and jñānī Hiraṇyakaśipu even harassed his own Vaiṣṇava son, Prahlāda Mahārāja. There are many instances of such harassment of the peaceful devotees of the Lord by the itaras. When such friction takes place, the Lord, out of His great compassion towards His pure devotees, appears in person, accompanied by His plenary portions controlling the mahat-tattva.

The Lord is everywhere, in both the material and spiritual domains, and He appears for the sake of His devotees when there is friction between His devotee and the nondevotee. As electricity is generated by friction of matter anywhere and everywhere, the Lord, being all-pervading, appears because of the friction of devotees and nondevotees. When Lord Kṛṣṇa appears on a mission, all His plenary portions accompany Him. When He appeared as the son of Vasudeva, there were differences of opinion about His incarnation. Some said, “He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead.” Some said, “He is an incarnation of Nārāyaṇa,” and others said, “He is the incarnation of Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu.” But actually He is the original Supreme Personality of Godhead—kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam—and Nārāyaṇa, the puruṣas and all other incarnations accompany Him to function as different parts of His pastimes. Mahad-aṁśa-yuktaḥ indicates that He is accompanied by the puruṣas, who create the mahat-tanva. It is confirmed in the Vedic hymns, mahāntaṁ vibhum ātmānam.

Lord Kṛṣṇa appeared, just like electricity, when there was friction between Kaṁsa and Vasudeva and Ugrasena. Vasudeva and Ugrasena were the Lord’s devotees, and Kaṁsa, a representative of the karmīs and jñānīs, was a nondevotee. Kṛṣṇa, as He is, is compared to the sun. He first appeared from the ocean of the womb of Devakī, and gradually He satisfied the inhabitants of the places surrounding Mathurā, just as the sun enlivens the lotus flower in the morning. After gradually rising to the meridian of Dvārakā, the Lord set like the sun, placing everything in darkness, as described by Uddhava.

SB3.2.16

TEXT 16

māṁ khedayaty etad ajasya janma-

viḍambanaṁ yad vasudeva-gehe

vraje ca vāso ’ri-bhayād iva svayaṁ

purād vyavātsīd yad-ananta-vīryaḥ

SYNONYMS

mām—to me; khedayati—gives me distress; etat—this; ajasya—of the unborn; janma—birth; viḍambanam—bewildering; yat—that; vasudeva-gehe—in the home of Vasudeva; vraje—in Vṛndāvana; ca—also; vāsaḥ—inhabitation; ari—enemy; bhayāt—because of fear; iva—as if; svayam—Himself; purāt—from Mathurā Purī; vyavātsīt—fled; yat—one who is; ananta-vīryaḥ—unlimitedly powerful.

TRANSLATION

When I think of Lord Kṛṣṇa—how He was born in the prison house of Vasudeva although He is unborn, how He went away from His father’s protection to Vraja and lived there incognito out of fear of the enemy, and how, although unlimitedly powerful, He fled from Mathurā in fear—all these bewildering incidents give me distress.

PURPORT

Because Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the original person from whom everything and everyone has emanated—ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavaḥ (Bg. 10.8), janmādy asya yataḥ [Bhāg. 1.1.1] (Vedānta-sūtra 1.1.2)—nothing can be equal to or greater than Him. The Lord is supremely perfect, and whenever He enacts His transcendental pastimes as a son, a rival or an object of enmity, He plays the part so perfectly that even pure devotees like Uddhava are bewildered. For example, Uddhava knew perfectly well that Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa is eternally existent and can neither die nor disappear for good, yet he lamented for Lord Kṛṣṇa. All these events are perfect arrangements to give perfection to His supreme glories. It is for enjoyment’s sake. When a father plays with his little son and the father lies down on the floor as if defeated by the son, it is just to give the little son pleasure, and nothing more. Because the Lord is all-powerful, it is possible for Him to adjust opposites such as birth and no birth, power and defeat, fear and fearlessness. A pure devotee knows very well how it is possible for the Lord to adjust opposite things, but he laments for the nondevotees who, not knowing the supreme glories of the Lord, think of Him as imaginary simply because there are so many apparently contradictory statements in the scriptures. Factually there is nothing contradictory; everything is possible when we understand the Lord as the Lord and not as one of us, with all our imperfection.

SB3.2.17

TEXT 17

dunoti cetaḥ smarato mamaitad

yad āha pādāv abhivandya pitroḥ

tātāmba kaṁsād uru-śaṅkitānāṁ

prasīdataṁ no ’kṛta-niṣkṛtīnām

SYNONYMS

dunoti—it gives me pain; cetaḥ—heart; smarataḥ—while thinking of; mama—my; etat—this; yat—as much as; āha—said; pādau—feet; abhivandya—worshiping; pitroḥ—of the parents; tāta—My dear father; amba—My dear mother; kaṁsāt—out of Kaṁsa’s; uru—great; śaṅkitānām—of those who are afraid; prasīdatam—be pleased with; naḥ—Our; akṛta—not executed; niṣkṛtīnām—duties to serve you.

TRANSLATION

Lord Kṛṣṇa begged pardon from His parents for Their [Kṛṣṇa’s and Balarāma’s] inability to serve their feet, due to being away from home because of great fear of Kaṁsa. He said, “O mother, O father, please excuse Us for this inability.” All this behavior of the Lord gives me pain at heart.

PURPORT

It appears that Lord Kṛṣṇa and Baladeva were both very greatly afraid of Kaṁsa, and therefore They had to hide Themselves. But if Lord Kṛṣṇa and Baladeva are the Supreme Personality of Godhead, how was it possible that They were afraid of Kaṁsa? Is there any contradiction in such statements? Vasudeva, due to his great appreciation for Kṛṣṇa, wanted to give Him protection. He never thought that Kṛṣṇa was the Supreme Lord and could protect Himself; he thought of Kṛṣṇa as his son. Because Vasudeva was a great devotee of the Lord, he did not like to think that Kṛṣṇa might be killed like his other children. Morally, Vasudeva was bound to deliver Kṛṣṇa to the hands of Kaṁsa because he had promised to turn over all his children. But out of his great love for Kṛṣṇa he broke his promise, and the Lord was very pleased with Vasudeva for his transcendental mentality. He did not want to disturb the intense affection of Vasudeva, and thus He agreed to be carried by His father to the house of Nanda and Yaśodā. And just to test the intense love of Vasudeva, Lord Kṛṣṇa fell down in the waters of the Yamunā while His father was crossing the river. Vasudeva became mad after his child as he tried to recover Him in the midst of the rising river.

These are all glorified pastimes of the Lord, and there is no contradiction in such manifestations. Since Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Lord, He was never afraid of Kaṁsa, but to please His father He agreed to be so. And the most brilliant part of His supreme character was that He begged pardon from His parents for being unable to serve their feet while absent from home because of fear of Kaṁsa. The Lord, whose lotus feet are worshiped by demigods like Brahmā and Śiva, wanted to worship the feet of Vasudeva. Such instruction by the Lord to the world is quite appropriate. Even if one is the Supreme Lord, one must serve his parents. A son is indebted to his parents in so many ways, and it is the duty of the son to serve his parents, however great the son may be. Indirectly, Kṛṣṇa wanted to teach the atheists who do not accept the supreme fatherhood of God, and they may learn from this action how much the Supreme Father has to be respected. Uddhava was simply struck with wonder by such glorious behavior of the Lord, and he was very sorry that he was unable to go with Him.

SB3.2.18

TEXT 18

ko vā amuṣyāṅghri-saroja-reṇuṁ

vismartum īśīta pumān vijighran

yo visphurad-bhrū-viṭapena bhūmer

bhāraṁ kṛtāntena tiraścakāra

SYNONYMS

kaḥ—who else; —either; amuṣya—the Lord’s; aṅghri—feet; saroja-reṇum—dust of the lotus; vismartum—to forget; īśīta—may be able; pumān—person; vijighran—smelling; yaḥ—one who; visphurat—expanding; bhrū-viṭapena—by the leaves of the eyebrows; bhūmeḥ—of the earth; bhāram—burden; kṛta-antena—by death-blows; tiraścakāra—executed.

TRANSLATION

Who, after smelling the dust of His lotus feet even once, could ever forget it? Simply by expanding the leaves of His eyebrows, Kṛṣṇa has given the deathblow to those who were burdening the earth.

PURPORT

Lord Kṛṣṇa cannot be accepted as one of the human beings, even though He played the role of an obedient son. His actions were so extraordinary that by the simple raising of His eyebrows He could deliver death-blows to those who were burdening the earth.

SB3.2.19

TEXT 19

dṛṣṭā bhavadbhir nanu rājasūye

caidyasya kṛṣṇaṁ dviṣato ’pi siddhiḥ

yāṁ yoginaḥ saṁspṛhayanti samyag

yogena kas tad-virahaṁ saheta

SYNONYMS

dṛṣṭā—it has been seen; bhavadbhiḥ—by your good self; nanu—of course; rājasūye—in the assembly of the rājasūya sacrifice performed by Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira; caidyasya—of the King of Cedi (Śiśupāla); kṛṣṇam—unto Kṛṣṇa; dviṣataḥ—envying; api—in spite of; siddhiḥ—success; yām—which; yoginaḥ—the yogīs; saṁspṛhayanti—verily desire; samyak—fully; yogena—by performance of yoga; kaḥ—who; tat—His; viraham—separation; saheta—can tolerate.

TRANSLATION

You have personally seen how the King of Cedi [Śiśupāla] achieved success in yoga practice, although he hated Lord Kṛṣṇa. Even the actual yogīs aspire after such success with great interest by performance of their various practices. Who can tolerate separation from Him?

PURPORT

Lord Kṛṣṇa’s causeless mercy was exhibited in the great assembly of Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira. He was merciful even to His enemy the King of Cedi, who always tried to be an envious rival of the Lord. Because it is not possible to be a bona fide rival of the Lord, the King of Cedi was extremely malicious toward Lord Kṛṣṇa. In this he was like many other asuras, such as Kaṁsa and Jarāsandha. In the open assembly of the rājasūya sacrifice performed by Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira, Śiśupāla insulted Lord Kṛṣṇa, and he was finally killed by the Lord. But it was seen by everyone in the assembly that a light flashed out of the body of the King of Cedi and merged into the body of Lord Kṛṣṇa. This means that Cedirāja achieved the salvation of attaining oneness with the Supreme, which is a perfection most desired by the jñānīs and yogīs and for which they execute their different types of transcendental activities.

It is a fact that persons who are trying to understand the Supreme Truth by their personal endeavors of mental speculation or mystic powers of yoga achieve the same goal as others who are personally killed by the Lord. Both achieve the salvation of merging in the brahmajyoti rays of the transcendental body of the Lord. The Lord was merciful even to His enemy, and the success of the King of Cedi was observed by everyone who was present in the assembly. Vidura was also present there, and therefore Uddhava referred the incident to his memory.

SB3.2.20

TEXT 20

tathaiva cānye nara-loka-vīrā

ya āhave kṛṣṇa-mukhāravindam

netraiḥ pibanto nayanābhirāmaṁ

pārthāstra-pūtaḥ padam āpur asya

SYNONYMS

tathā—as also; eva ca—and certainly; anye—others; nara-loka—human society; vīrāḥ—fighters; ye—those; āhave—on the battlefield (of Kurukṣetra); kṛṣṇa—Lord Kṛṣṇa’s; mukha-aravindam—face like a lotus flower; netraiḥ—with the eyes; pibantaḥ—while seeing; nayana-abhirāmam—very pleasing to the eyes; pārtha—Arjuna; astra-pūtaḥ—purified by arrows; padam—abode; āpuḥ—achieved; asya—of Him.

TRANSLATION

Certainly others who were fighters on the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra were purified by the onslaught of Arjuna’s arrows, and while seeing the lotuslike face of Kṛṣṇa, so pleasing to the eyes, they achieved the abode of the Lord.

PURPORT

The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, appears in this world for two missionary purposes: to deliver the faithful and to annihilate the miscreants. But because the Lord is absolute, His two different kinds of actions, although apparently different, are ultimately one and the same. His annihilation of a person like Śiśupāla is as auspicious as His actions for the protection of the faithful. All the warriors who fought against Arjuna but who were able to see the lotuslike face of the Lord on the battlefront achieved the abode of the Lord, exactly as the devotees of the Lord do. The words “pleasing to the eyes of the seer” are very significant. When the warriors from the other side of the battlefield saw Lord Kṛṣṇa at the front, they appreciated His beauty, and their dormant instinct of love of God was awakened. Śiśupāla saw the Lord also, but he saw Him as his enemy, and his love was not awakened. Therefore Śiśupāla achieved oneness with the Lord by merging in the impersonal glare of His body, called the brahmajyoti. Others, who were in the marginal position, being neither friends nor enemies but slightly in love of Godhead by appreciating the beauty of His face, were at once promoted to the spiritual planets, the Vaikuṇṭhas. The Lord’s personal abode is called Goloka Vṛndāvana, and the abodes where His plenary expansions reside are called the Vaikuṇṭhas, where the Lord is present as Nārāyaṇa. Love of Godhead is dormant in every living entity, and the entire process of devotional service unto the Lord is meant for awakening this dormant, eternal love of Godhead. But there are degrees of such transcendental awakening. Those whose love of God is awakened to the fullest extent go back to the Goloka Vṛndāvana planet in the spiritual sky, whereas persons who have just awakened to love of Godhead by accident or association are transferred to the Vaikuṇṭha planets. Essentially there is no material difference between Goloka and Vaikuṇṭha, but in the Vaikuṇṭhas the Lord is served in unlimited opulence, whereas in Goloka the Lord is served in natural affection.

This love of God is awakened by the association of pure devotees of the Lord. Here the word pārthāstra-pūtaḥ is significant. Those who saw the beautiful face of the Lord on the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra were purified first by Arjuna when he made his onslaught with arrows. The Lord appeared for the mission of diminishing the burden of the world, and Arjuna was assisting the Lord by fighting on His behalf. Arjuna personally declined to fight, and the whole instruction of the Bhagavad-gītā was given to Arjuna to engage him in the fight. As a pure devotee of the Lord, Arjuna agreed to fight in preference to his own decision, and thus Arjuna fought to assist the Lord in His mission of diminishing the burden of the world. All the activities of a pure devotee are executed on behalf of the Lord because a pure devotee of the Lord has nothing to do for his personal interest. Arjuna’s killing was as good as killing by the Lord Himself. As soon as Arjuna shot an arrow at an enemy, that enemy became purified of all material contaminations and became eligible to be transferred to the spiritual sky. Those warriors who appreciated the lotus feet of the Lord and saw His face at the front had their dormant love of God awakened, and thus they were transferred at once to Vaikuṇṭhaloka not to the impersonal state of brahmajyoti as was Śiśupāla. Śiśupāla died without appreciating the Lord, while others died with appreciation of the Lord. Both were transferred to the spiritual sky, but those who awakened to love of God were transferred to the planets of the transcendental sky.

Uddhava seemingly lamented that his own position was less than that of the warriors on the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra because they had attained to Vaikuṇṭha whereas he remained to lament the disappearance of the Lord.

SB3.2.21

TEXT 21

svayaṁ tv asāmyātiśayas tryadhīśaḥ

svārājya-lakṣmy-āpta-samasta-kāmaḥ

baliṁ haradbhiś cira-loka-pālaiḥ

kirīṭa-koṭy-eḍita-pāda-pīṭhaḥ

SYNONYMS

svayam—Himself; tu—but; asāmya—unique; atiśayaḥ—greater; tri-adhīśaḥ—Lord of the three; svārājya—independent supremacy; lakṣmī—fortune; āpta—achieved; samasta-kāmaḥ—all desires; balim—worshiping paraphernalia; haradbhiḥ—offered by; cira-loka-pālaiḥ—by the eternal maintainers of the order of creation; kirīṭa-koṭi—millions of helmets; eḍita-pāda-pīṭhaḥ—feet honored by prayers.

TRANSLATION

Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the Lord of all kinds of threes and is independently supreme by achievement of all kinds of fortune. He is worshiped by the eternal maintainers of the creation, who offer Him the paraphernalia of worship by touching their millions of helmets to His feet.

PURPORT

Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa is so mild and merciful, as described in the above verses, and yet He is the Lord of all kinds of threes. He is the Supreme Lord of the three worlds, the three qualities of material nature and the three puruṣas (Kāraṇodakaśāyī, Garbhodakaśāyī and Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu). There are innumerable universes, and in each and every universe there are different manifestations of Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Rudra. Besides that, there is the Śeṣa-mūrti who bears all the universes on His hoods. And Lord Kṛṣṇa is the Lord of all of them. As the incarnation of Manu, He is the original source of all Manus in innumerable universes. Each universe has manifestations of 504,000 Manus. He is the Lord of the three principal potencies, namely cit-śakti, māyā-śakti and taṭastha-śakti, and He is the complete master of six kinds of fortune—wealth, strength, fame, beauty, knowledge and renunciation. There is none who can excel Him in any matter of enjoyment, and certainly there is no one greater than Him. No one is equal to or greater than Him. It is the duty of everyone, whoever and wherever one may be, to surrender completely unto Him. It is not wonderful, therefore, that all the transcendental controllers surrender to Him and make all offerings of worship.

Next verse (SB3.2.22)

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