Verse 2.4.176

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 2.4.176:

तथैव लक्ष्म्या भक्तानां भक्तेर् लोकस्य कर्मणाम् ।
सा सा विशेष-वैचित्री सदा सम्पद्यते यतः ॥ १७६ ॥

tathaiva lakṣmyā bhaktānāṃ bhakter lokasya karmaṇām |
sā sā viśeṣa-vaicitrī sadā sampadyate yataḥ || 176 ||

tathā–so; eva–indeed; lakṣmyā–through Lakṣmī; bhaktānām–of the devotees; bhakteḥ–of devotion; lokasya–of the Vaikuṇṭha world; karmaṇām–of His pastimes; sā sā–whatever; viśeṣa–distinct; vaicitrī–varieties; sadā–forever; sampadyate–is manifested; yataḥ–whence.

Through the agency of that śakti, Lakṣmī, the distinct varieties of Bhagavān’s devotees, His devotional service, His abodes, and all His pastimes are forever manifest.

Commentary: Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā with Bhāvānuvāda

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

Śrī Nārada says, “The agency of Bhagavān’s powerful śakti alone manifests the indescribable wonder of difference in the form of the Lord’s devotees such as Śrī Śeṣa and Śrī Garuḍa; His bhakti in the form of śravaṇa, kīrtana, and so on; His abodes such as Śrī Vaikuṇṭha; and the variegated activities He performs. In other words, this śakti manifests wonderful diversity. If it were not for this śakti, such variegatedness of numerous forms would not be produced from the single form that is concentrated sac-cid-ānanda.

“This means that even though bhakta (the devotee), bhakti (devotional service), loka (the transcendental abode), and līlā (the pastimes of the Lord) are all of the same spiritual nature, and are thus one, at the same time, great variety manifests in each one of them by the influence of this śakti.” The word sadā used in this verse indicates an unending manifestation of ever-new varieties.

Śrī Viṣṇu-saṃhitā states:

इच्छा-शक्तिर् ज्ञान-शक्तिः क्रिया-शक्तिर् इति त्रिधा
शक्ति-शक्तिमतोश् चापि न भेदः कश्चिद् इष्यते

icchā-śaktir jñāna-śaktiḥ kriyā-śaktir iti tridhā
śakti-śaktimatoś cāpi na bhedaḥ kaścid iṣyate

This śakti has three different aspects: the energy of desire (icchā-śakti), the energy of knowledge (jñāna-śakti), and the energy of action (kriyā-śakti). However, as there is no difference between śakti, the energy, and śaktimāna, the energetic, this potency by nature is one.

At the end of the Second Chapter, the different varieties were described: different devotees such as Śeṣa, the son of Kadru, and Garuḍa, the son of Vinatā; different limbs of devotional service such as śravaṇa and kīrtana; different abodes such as Ramāpriya, Śvetadvīpa, and Vaikuṇṭha; and different activities such as Bhagavān’s appearing in this world out of affection for His devotees, drinking breast milk, crawling on the ground, and His performance of other such pleasurable pastimes. One should understand that all these differences are eternally present in these different forms.