Verse 1.1.46

Bengali text, Devanagari and Unicode transliteration of verse 1.1.46:

নিবাস-শয্যাসন-পাদুকাংশুকো- পধান-বর্ষাতপ-বারণাদিভিঃ শরীর-ভেদৈস্ তব শেষতাং গতৈর্ যথোচিতং শেষ ইতীরিতে জনৈঃ ॥ ৪৬ ॥

निवास-शय्यासन-पादुकांशुको- पधान-वर्षातप-वारणादिभिः शरीर-भेदैस् तव शेषतां गतैर् यथोचितं शेष इतीरिते जनैः ॥ ४६ ॥

nivāsa-śayyāsana-pādukāṃśuko- padhāna-varṣātapa-vāraṇādibhiḥ śarīra-bhedais tava śeṣatāṃ gatair yathocitaṃ śeṣa itīrite janaiḥ || 46 ||

nivasa-sayyasana-padukamsuko- padhana-varsatapa-varanadibhih sarira-bhedais tava sesatam gatair yathocitam sesa itirite janaih (46)

English translation:

(46) O my Lord, when will I satisfy You and Lakṣmī, who are both seated on the bed of Ananta? Although He is Your transcendental personal expansion, He has accepted Your service in the form of Your residence, bed, sitting place, slippers, garments, pillow, and umbrella. Therefore He is appropriately known by people as Śeṣa. (Stotra-ratna 37)

Commentary: Gauḍīya-bhāṣya by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura:

In the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (10.3.25) Devakī prays to the Supreme Lord in the following words: bhavān ekaḥ śiṣyate ‘śeṣa-saṃjñaḥ—“At that time, You alone remain, and You are known as Ananta Śeṣa-nāga.” In his Laghu-toṣaṇī commentary on this verse, Jīva Gosvāmī has stated: “You alone remain and are therefore called Aśeṣa, the complete. Eka can refer to the spiritual realm as well, which is nondifferent from the Lord (and does not meet destruction). Aśeṣa, meaning ‘complete,’ can also refer to the Vaikuṇṭha planets. The word saṃjña, or ‘definition,’ refers to the true nature of an object, indicated by its particular form. According to the Śrī Vaiṣṇavas, śeṣa means ‘He who remains (śiṣyate) after the dissolution.’ This is also an acceptable definition. The word can also be taken as śeṣa—’He who remains,’ instead of aśeṣa. This can include the Lord’s associates as well, but it does not include the material world or the jīvas therein (who disappear during the mahā-pralaya).”

In the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (10.2.8) the Supreme Lord speaks the following words to Yogamāyā: “Within the womb of Devakī is My partial plenary expansion known as Saṅkarṣaṇa or Śeṣa. Without difficulty, transfer Him into the womb of Rohiṇī.” In his Laghu-toṣaṇī commentary on this verse, Jīva Gosvāmī says: “Śeṣa means ‘that which remains’ or ‘part.’ Akhya means ‘known.’ He is known as Śeṣa because of being an expansion of Me. Saṅkarṣaṇa is My own form and the shelter of the spiritual abode, My transcendental forms, and various energies.” When the angry Lord Baladeva was pulling the city of Hastināpura into the Yamunā with His plow, the Kauravas prayed to Him in the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (10.68.46) as follows: “O unlimited one of a thousand heads, as Your pastime You carry this earthly globe upon one of Your heads. At the time of annihilation You withdraw the entire universe within Your body and, remaining all alone, lie down to rest.”

In his commentary on this Bhāgavatam verse, Sanātana Gosvāmī writes: “I am Śeṣa, the upholder of the earth, and though different from the Supreme Lord, why am I glorified as being nondifferent from Him? In

answer to this, the next line says: even at the time of annihilation, Śeṣa does not fail to perform His duty of protection, because He withdraws the universe within Himself. He remains there (paritaḥ śiṣyamāṇaḥ) as the only evidence of the Lord, and therefore is called Śeṣa, the remainder.” In his commentary on the descriptions of the characteristics of Rudra in the Nineteenth Chapter of the Laghu-bhāgavatāmṛta, Śrīla Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa writes: “The Śeṣa who holds a buffalo horn and bow, who is the bed of Lord Viṣṇu, and who is replete with the all-accommodating potency is the Supreme Lord. The Śeṣa who supports the earth is among the living entities who are empowered by the Supreme Lord.” In the description of Balarāma from the Laghu-bhāgavatāmṛta (87) it is stated: “The Saṅkarṣaṇa from the second catur-vyūha merges with the Śeṣa who supports the earth and appears as Lord Balarāma. The two forms of Śeṣa are He who supports the earth and He who is the bed of Lord Viṣṇu. The Śeṣa who holds the earth is also known as Saṅkarṣaṇa, because He is an empowered incarnation of Saṅkarṣaṇa. The Śeṣa who is the bed of Lord Nārāyaṇa considers Himself the friend and servant of Nārāyaṇa.”