SB 10.12.39 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

सकृद् यदङ्गप्रतिमान्तराहिता मनोमयी भागवतीं ददौ गतिम् । स एव नित्यात्मसुखानुभूत्यभि- व्युदस्तमायोऽन्तर्गतो हि किं पुन: ॥ ३९ ॥

Verse text

sakṛd yad-aṅga-pratimāntar-āhitā manomayī bhāgavatīṁ dadau gatim sa eva nityātma-sukhānubhūty-abhi- vyudasta-māyo ’ntar-gato hi kiṁ punaḥ

Synonyms

sakṛt — once only ; yat — whose ; aṅga — pratimā — the form of the Supreme Lord (there are many forms, but Kṛṣṇa is the original form) ; antaḥ — āhitā — placing within the core of the heart, somehow or other ; manaḥ — mayī — thinking of Him even by force ; bhāgavatīm — which is competent to offer devotional service to the Lord ; dadau — Kṛṣṇa gave ; gatim — the best destination ; saḥ — He (the Supreme Personality of Godhead) ; eva — indeed ; nitya — always ; ātma — of all living entities ; sukha — anubhūti — anyone thinking of Him immediately enjoys transcendental pleasure ; abhivyudasta — māyaḥ — because all illusion is completely removed by Him ; antaḥ — gataḥ — He is always present within the core of the heart ; hi — indeed ; kim punaḥ — what to speak .

Translation

If even only once or even by force one brings the form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead into one’s mind, one can attain the supreme salvation by the mercy of Kṛṣṇa, as did Aghāsura. What then is to be said of those whose hearts the Supreme Personality of Godhead enters when He appears as an incarnation, or those who always think of the lotus feet of the Lord, who is the source of transcendental bliss for all living entities and by whom all illusion is completely removed?

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

If even only once or even by force one brings the form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead into one's mind, one can attain the supreme salvation by the mercy of Kṛṣṇa, as did Aghāsura. What then is to be said of those whose hearts the Supreme Personality of Godhead enters when He appears as an incarnation, or those who always think of the lotus feet of the Lord, who is the source of transcendental bliss for all living entities and by whom all illusion is completely removed? KB 10.12.39 Persons constantly thinking of the eternal form of the Lord in the shape of the Deity or in the shape of a mental form are awarded the transcendental benediction of entering into the kingdom of God and associating with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. So we can just imagine the elevated position of someone like Aghāsura, into whose body the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, personally entered. Great sages, meditators and devotees constantly keep the form of the Lord within their hearts, or they see the Deity form of the Lord in the temples; in that way they become liberated from all material contamination and at the end of the body enter into the kingdom of God. This perfection is possible simply by keeping the form of the Lord within the mind. But in the case of Aghāsura, the Supreme Personality of Godhead personally entered. Aghāsura’s position was therefore greater than the ordinary devotee’s or the greatest yogī’s.

Purport

The process for receiving the favor of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is described here. Yat-pāda-paṅkaja-palāśa-vilāsa-bhaktyā ( Bhāg. 4.22.39 ). Simply by thinking of Kṛṣṇa, one can attain Him very easily. Kṛṣṇa is also described as having His lotus feet always within the hearts of His devotees ( bhagavān bhakta-hṛdi sthitaḥ ). In the case of Aghāsura, one may argue that he was not a devotee. The answer to this is that he thought of Kṛṣṇa for a moment with devotion. Bhaktyāham ekayā grāhyaḥ. Without devotion, one cannot think of Kṛṣṇa; and, conversely, whenever one thinks of Kṛṣṇa, one undoubtedly has devotion. Although Aghāsura’s purpose was to kill Kṛṣṇa, for a moment Aghāsura thought of Kṛṣṇa with devotion, and Kṛṣṇa and His associates wanted to sport within Aghāsura’s mouth. Similarly, Pūtanā wanted to kill Kṛṣṇa by poisoning Him, but Kṛṣṇa took her as His mother because He had accepted the milk of her breast. Svalpam apy asya dharmasya trāyate mahato bhayāt ( Bg. 2.40 ). Especially when Kṛṣṇa appears as an avatāra, anyone who thinks of Kṛṣṇa in His different incarnations ( rāmādi-mūrtiṣu kalā-niyamena tiṣṭhan ), and especially in His original form as Kṛṣṇa, attains salvation. There are many instances of this, and among them is Aghāsura, who attained the salvation of sārūpya-mukti. Therefore the process is satataṁ kīrtayanto māṁ yatantaś ca dṛḍha-vratāḥ ( Bg. 9.14 ). Those who are devotees always engage in glorifying Kṛṣṇa. Advaitam acyutam anādim ananta-rūpam: when we speak of Kṛṣṇa, we refer to all His avatāras, such as Kṛṣṇa, Govinda, Nārāyaṇa, Viṣṇu, Lord Caitanya, Kṛṣṇa-Balarāma and Śyāmasundara. One who always thinks of Kṛṣṇa must attain vimukti, special salvation as the Lord’s personal associate, not necessarily in Vṛndāvana, but at least in Vaikuṇṭha. This is called sārūpya-mukti.

Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

This verse speaks of the cause of Aghasura gaining sarupya mukti. For Krsna whose form (anga pratima) meditated on (antarhita) by the mind (manomayi) awarded the supreme destination (bhagavati gati) to Khatvanga and others, who has directly (eva) an eternal body (nityatma), is direct perception of happiness, and destroyer of maya, who is the avatari Krsna (paramah) , who entered into the demon’s stomach (antargatah), is it so astonishing? However, in the case of Khatvanga and others, the cause of their attaining the Lord was devotion. In Aghasura however, the absence of devotion acts as a deterrent in attaining the Lord, for the Lord says, "Only by devotion can I be attained." (bhaktyaham ekaya grahya). True, that rule is there, but it is for other times. When Krsna comes as avatara, a person can attain his abode simply by contact, because of the extra surge of his perfect krpa sakti at that time. That is why it is said: "Those who approach me in just one of the moods -lust, anger, fear, affection, oneness, friendship and devotion- certainly attain love of that nature." B. 10.29.15. "Do not think that this is astonishing for Krsna the master of yoga. He gives liberation not only to humans but also to non moving entities." (10.29.16) That Krsna gives liberation to his enemies is a remarkable quality in his completeness. He does however reward according to the mood of the person approaching him. From the statement that Aghasura’s body became the playground for the boys for many days, it should be understood, that the demon’s unfavorable attitude had been transformed into favorable attitude, and he had attained sarupya in Vaikuntha, but he did not attain a form in Vrndavana, because of his lack of that particular type of bhakti .

Purport (Jiva Goswami)

The verse shows that using the fickle the mind alone is inferior to using the deity forms made of stone or metal to produce constant vision of the Lord’s beauty. Śrīdhara Svāmī mentions Prahlāda as an example of thinking of a deity form and then placing the form forcibly in the heart. However Prahlāda had a natural tendency to make the Lord appear within, not using force. The Lord dwelling within destroys māyā by eternally being in the position to give the ātmā bliss. Or the Lord constantly gives all jīvas the experience of happiness (nityātmā-sukhānubhūti) because he completely (abhi) destroys māyā. Brahmā says atraiva māyā-dhamanāvatāre: my dear Lord, in this incarnation you have proved that you are the supreme controller of māyā. (SB 10.14.16) Yat means yaysa (whose). Another version has paramo ‘ṅga instead of antargato. He is superior (paramaḥ) to all others because he manifests his nature of unlimited qualities as Bhagavān. Aṅga is an address to Parīkṣit out of suitable joy.