Devanagari
भूमिर्दृप्तनृपव्याजदैत्यानीकशतायुतै:
आक्रान्ता भूरिभारेण ब्रह्माणं शरणं ययौ ॥ १७ ॥
Verse text
bhūmir dṛpta-nṛpa-vyāja-
daityānīka-śatāyutaiḥ
ākrāntā bhūri-bhāreṇa
brahmāṇaṁ śaraṇaṁ yayau
Synonyms
bhūmiḥ
—
mother earth
;
dṛpta
—
puffed up
;
nṛpa
—
vyāja — posing as kings, or the supreme power personified in the state
;
daitya
—
of demons
;
anīka
—
of military phalanxes of soldiers
;
śata
—
ayutaiḥ — unlimitedly, by many hundreds of thousands
;
ākrāntā
—
being overburdened
;
bhūri
—
bhāreṇa — by a burden of unnecessary fighting power
;
brahmāṇam
—
unto Lord Brahmā
;
śaraṇam
—
to take shelter
;
yayau
—
went .
Translation
Once when mother earth was overburdened by hundreds of thousands of military phalanxes of various conceited demons dressed like kings, she approached Lord Brahmā for relief.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Once when mother earth was overburdened by hundreds of thousands of military phalanxes of various conceited demons dressed like kings, she approached Lord Brahmā for relief.
KB 10.1.17
Once the world was overburdened by the unnecessary defense force of different kings who were actually demons but were posing themselves as the royal order. At that time, the whole world became perturbed, and the predominating deity of this earth, known as Bhūmi, went to see Lord Brahmā to tell of her calamities due to the demoniac kings.
Purport
When the world is overburdened by unnecessary military arrangements and when various demoniac kings are the executive heads of state, this burden causes the appearance of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. As the Lord says in
Bhagavad-gītā
(4.7)
:
yadā yadā hi dharmasya
glānir bhavati bhārata
abhyutthānam adharmasya
tadātmānaṁ sṛjāmy aham
“Whenever and wherever there is a decline in religious practice, O descendant of Bharata, and a predominant rise of irreligion — at that time I appear Myself.” When the residents of this earth become atheistic and godless, they descend to the status of animals like dogs and hogs, and thus their only business is to bark among themselves. This is
dharmasya glāni,
deviation from the goal of life. Human life is meant for attaining the highest perfection of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, but when people are godless and the presidents or kings are unnecessarily puffed up with military power, their business is to fight and increase the military strength of their different states. Nowadays, therefore, it appears that every state is busy manufacturing atomic weapons to prepare for a third world war. Such preparations are certainly unnecessary; they reflect the false pride of the heads of state. The real business of a chief executive is to see to the happiness of the mass of people by training them in Kṛṣṇa consciousness in different divisions of life.
Cātur-varṇyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭaṁ guṇa-karma-vibhāgaśaḥ
(
Bg. 4.13
). A leader should train the people as
brāhmaṇas, kṣatriyas, vaiśyas
and
śūdras
and engage them in various occupational duties, thus helping them progress toward Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Instead, however, rogues and thieves in the guise of protectors arrange for a voting system, and in the name of democracy they come to power by hook or crook and exploit the citizens. Even long, long ago,
asuras,
persons devoid of God consciousness, became the heads of state, and now this is happening again. The various states of the world are preoccupied with arranging for military strength. Sometimes they spend sixty-five percent of the government’s revenue for this purpose. But why should people’s hard-earned money be spent in this way? Because of the present world situation, Kṛṣṇa has descended in the form of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. This is quite natural, for without the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement the world cannot be peaceful and happy.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
"Now hear the famous reason for the Lord’s appearance." With this suggestion, the verse is spoken. Afflicted by the burden of sin of countless soldiers of the daityas, who, though not born of Diti’s lineage, attained their demonic status by their actions, the earth personified approached Brahma situated on the peak of Mount Meru. (This was not the Brahma on Satyaloka.). In the Satya yuga before the appearance of Krsna, King Raivata went to Brahma on Satyaloka along with his daughter Revati, to ask about his daughter’s marriage. In Brahma’s assembly the gandharvas Haha and Huhu were singing. During the length of one song on Brahma loka, Satya and Treta yuga on earth finished, and Dvapara yuga also passed. Krsna and Balarama were about to appear. Brahma said, "Please give your daughter in marriage to Balarama, who has now appeared on the earth planet. He is a suitable groom." Thus, situated on Satya loka, Hiranyagarbha Brahma was listening to the song while satya, treat and dvapara yuga on earth planet passed until Krsna and Balarama’s appearance. The deity of the earth could not have approached that Brahma to make her request. Earth personified instead went to Vairaja Brahma living on Mount Meru. Parasara confirms this : jagama dharini meroh samaje tridivaukasam: The Earth went along with the devas to Mount Meru."
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
The well-known reason for the appearance of the Lord is described in this verse. By mentioning the demons’ pride (dṛpta), Śukadeva indicates their nature of disrespecting the saintly because of their lack of proper discrimination. The demons had unlimited (śatāyutaiḥ) armies. The earth took shelter of Brahmā.