Brihad Bhagavatamrita (commentary)

by Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Nārāyana Gosvāmī Mahārāja | 2005 | 440,179 words | ISBN-13: 9781935428329

The Brihad-bhagavatamrita Verse 1.2.60-62, English translation, including commentary (Dig-darshini-tika): an important Vaishnava text dealing with the importance of devotional service. The Brihad-bhagavatamrita, although an indepent Sanskrit work, covers the essential teachings of the Shrimad Bhagavatam (Bhagavata-purana). This is verse 1.2.60-62 contained in Chapter 2—Divya (the celestial plane)—of Part one (prathama-khanda).

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 1.2.60-62:

तन्-माययैव सततं जगतोऽहं गुरुः प्रभुः ।
पितामहश् च कृष्णस्य नाभि-पद्म-समुद्भवः ॥ ६० ॥
तपस्व्य्-आराधकस् तस्येत्य्-आद्यैर् गुरु-मदैर् हतः ।
ब्रह्माण्डावश्यकापार-व्यापारामर्श-विह्वलः ॥ ६१ ॥
भूत-प्रायात्म-लोकीय-नाश-चिन्ता-नियन्त्रितः ।
सर्व-ग्रासि-महा-कालाद् भीतो मुक्तिं परं वृणे ॥ ६२ ॥

tan-māyayaiva satataṃ jagato'haṃ guruḥ prabhuḥ |
pitāmahaś ca kṛṣṇasya nābhi-padma-samudbhavaḥ || 60 ||
tapasvy-ārādhakas tasyety-ādyair guru-madair hataḥ |
brahmāṇḍāvaśyakāpāra-vyāpārāmarśa-vihvalaḥ || 61 ||
bhūta-prāyātma-lokīya-nāśa-cintā-niyantritaḥ |
sarva-grāsi-mahā-kālād bhīto muktiṃ paraṃ vṛṇe || 62 ||

I am holding fast to various distinctions, always bewildered by the agent of māyā, thinking I am guru, lord and grandsire of the world, and that I first appeared from Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s lotus navel.

Thinking I am a born ascetic, a true worshipper and so forth defiles my guru-abhimāna. I am especially hankering only for freedom from the fear of mahā-kāla, the great time factor that is overwhelming me with anxiety of the impending destruction of my own planet. Otherwise, the uncertain duties and management of this cosmos always afflict me.

Commentary: Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā with Bhāvānuvāda

(By Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī himself including a deep purport of that commentary)

“We are bewildered by the agent of illusory energy, māyā.” Saying this, Śrī Brahmā tells the symptoms of his being subordinated by māyā and Śrī Bhagavān’s dearth of mercy, beginning with tan-māyayaiva and so on.

“I am deluded by His māyā, always proud to consider I am the regulator of universal principles, the maintainer and grandfather of this cosmos, the creator and destroyer.

“Due to being the inaugurator of the Vedas, I am vain, thinking I am guru and advisor and the one who bestows administrative posts on everyone. As the activity of destruction is inauspicious in itself, it indicates the symptoms of a dearth of mercy of Bhagavān. These types of grandiose and egoistic conceptions of myself are spoiling me. Therefore, with all the prescribed duties relating to the cosmic affairs that are countless and endless, I become agitated due to the constant fear of the all-devouring time factor, mahā-kāla, and simply desire liberation. In other words, it is coming, it is coming—with its omnipresent imminent form (agata-praya)—I am fearing and worrying about the destruction of my own planet, or of being subjugated to the ever-fearful destruction of everything by the mahā-pralaya-kāla.

“Thus at present I only desire to be free from the miseries of the cycle of birth and death. In fact, this type of rulership of the entire world (prajāpatitva) is the cause of the defect of my great, inflated ego (guru-abhimāna), not an clear indication of Kṛṣṇa’s mercy.

“Being born from the lotus of Śrī Viṣṇu’s navel” (kṛṣṇasya nābhipadma-samudbhava)—these words nullify my svayam-bhūtva or self-born status. Being the embodiment of all the śrutis (mahātantras) and Purāṇas that exist in my assembly—these also are not an indication of Bhagavān’s mercy. Rather, the mahā-tantric śrutis tightly bind me, and I remain afflicted by the anxiety of duties I must perform and follow. Moreover, ‘always immersed in the anxiety of the imminent devastation of my own planet’—these words nullify the exalted status of Brahmaloka. At the time of the great cosmic flood (mahā-pralaya), my own post of Brahmā (brahmatva) becomes vanquished, so in comparison to such demigods like Indra, fear of the omnipresent time factor is extremely conspicuous.”

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