Devanagari
नृणां नि:श्रेयसार्थाय व्यक्तिर्भगवतो नृप
अव्ययस्याप्रमेयस्य निर्गुणस्य गुणात्मन: ॥ १४ ॥
Verse text
nṛṇāṁ niḥśreyasārthāya
vyaktir bhagavato nṛpa
avyayasyāprameyasya
nirguṇasya guṇātmanaḥ
Synonyms
nṛṇām
—
for humanity
;
niḥśreyasa
—
of the highest benefit
;
arthāya
—
for the purpose
;
vyaktiḥ
—
the personal appearance
;
bhagavataḥ
—
of the Supreme Lord
;
nṛpa
—
O King
;
avyayasya
—
of Him who is inexhaustible
;
aprameyasya
—
immeasurable
;
nirguṇasya
—
untouched by material qualities
;
guṇa
—
ātmanaḥ — the controller of the material modes .
Translation
O King, the Supreme Lord is inexhaustible and immeasurable, and He is untouched by the material modes because He is their controller. His personal appearance in this world is meant for bestowing the highest benefit on humanity.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
O King, the Supreme Lord is inexhaustible and immeasurable, and He is untouched by the material modes because He is their controller. His personal appearance in this world is meant for bestowing the highest benefit on humanity.
KB 10.29.14
Śukadeva Gosvāmī continued to inform Mahārāja Parīkṣit that Kṛṣṇa is not an ordinary person but rather the Supreme Personality of Godhead—imperishable, immeasurable and without any material qualities but full of all spiritual qualities. He appears in this material world out of His causeless mercy, and whenever He appears, He appears as He is, without change. This is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā, where the Lord says that He appears by His spiritual potency. He does not appear under the control of the material potency. The material potency is under His control. In the Bhagavad-gītā it is stated that the material potency is working under His superintendence. It is also confirmed in the Brahma-saṁhitā that the material potency, known as Durgā, is acting just like a shadow of the substance.
Purport
Since Lord Kṛṣṇa descends to benefit mankind in general, why would He neglect innocent young girls who loved Him more than anyone else did? Although the Lord awards Himself to His pure devotees, He is
avyaya,
inexhaustible, because He is
aprameya,
immeasurable. He is also
nirguṇa,
free of material qualities, and thus those who intimately associate with Him are on the same spiritual platform. He is
guṇātmā,
the controller or original personality behind the modes of nature, and it is specifically for this reason that He is free of them. In other words, because the modes of nature are His energy, they cannot act upon Him.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
The Lord appears in this world in order to deliver those who have even a little relationship with the Lord, because the people lack proper sadhana. He comes to bestow sayujya to some, salokya to others, and prema bhakti to others (nihsraysarthaya), for he does not have to appear to kill such person as Kamsa, since by the movement of his eyebrow he can destroy millions of universes. The Lord is called avyaya because though he gives himself to each devotee, he is never exhausted. How can this be? Because he is aprameya, beyond measure. Who can know him? And because he is without material qualities (nirguna) and filled with spiritual qualities (gunatmanah) no one can measure him.
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
The power of meditating on the Lord was explained. When the Lord appears in this world, he is capable of making such arrangements for Śiśupāla, an associate of the Lord who temporarily assumed a demonic attitude, and for the gopīs who had strong prema for the Lord. The cause of this is explained through kaimutya in this verse. For supplying all results to sādhana, for bestowing the bliss of his pastimes according to qualification (niḥśreyasārthāya) for any being, the Lord makes his appearance in this world since he is Bhagavān. If he were not capable of creating and destroying the universe by the movement of his brow, how could he descend to relieve the burden of the earth? O king, you also wander about your kingdom in order to protect the people. The nature of Bhagavān is described using four terms. The Lord never decreases when he gives himself to his devotees by manifesting various forms constantly (avyayasya). Why is this so? He is continuous and unlimited (aprameyasya). How is that possible? He is beyond māyā (nirguṇasya). How is this possible? He is the initiator of the movement of the guṇas of māyā.
Or, the Lord is born in this world for the benefit of humanity. Otherwise nothing can happen. He is without birth (avyayasya), he is unlimited, and is the abode of qualities like compassion by which he appears in order to bring to life the jīvas who are sleeping.
According to Śrīdhara Svāmī, the aim is to destroy the doubts of materially minded persons.
“If qualities like desire are useful to Brahman, since the jīvas are one with Brahman by similarity of consciousness, then they are also Brahman. This would also be true of their husbands.” Since the jīva’s Brahman nature is covered, their knowledge is dependent on the senses. The jīvas are covered because they are inclined to material enjoyment and accepting objects in terms of upādhi or superficial designations alone. The Lord however is not dependent on the senses. He is the master of the senses. Being self-revealing, the Lord is uncovered Brahman. How then can Brahman have qualities like material desire?
Verse 14 can be a response to the question “How could Brahman in the form of the husbands be considered uncovered?” The Lord who is different from the jīvas or husbands, possessing remarkable qualities like indestructibility and infinity, makes his appearance in this world. The Lord who is uncovered Brahman, is not the similar to the jīvas, what to speak of being identical to them. The Lord’s form is the perfection of the svarūpa-śakti, the supreme variegated object, proved by scriptures which are accepted by the wise. Previously it was explained:
nātaḥ paraṁ parama yad bhavataḥ svarūpam
ānanda-mātram avikalpam aviddha-varcaḥ
paśyāmi viśva-sṛjam ekam aviśvam ātman
bhūtendriyātmaka-madas ta upāśrito ’smi
O Supreme Lord! I do not see that you are different from your form as the Brahman which is without qualities and only bliss. O form of unrestricted light! I, full of pride in thinking I can get pleasure by body, sense and mind, take shelter of your one form which is spiritual, but which creates this universe. SB 3.7.3
Purport (Sanatana Goswami)
By any relationship with the Lord all people attain the Lord, or a special bhāva, practiced with desire, by the power of the Lord. This is expressed in two verses. The Lord appears (vyakatiḥ) in the world to give bhakti (niḥśreyasa) or to give the goal of liberation (niḥśreyasa), bhakti, or to give the goal of bhakti, prema
The Lord appears in order to give the highest benefit, because he is bhagavān. He does not appear to kill Kaṁsa, since by moving his brow he can destroy millions of universes.
O king! Kings like you go here and there to benefit mankind. Bhagavān is described by four words. He does not decrease even by giving himself (avyayasya). Why? He is all pervading (apremeyasya). Why? He is beyond the guṇas (nirguṇasya). Why? He is the cause of the guṇas of māyā (guṇātmanaḥ).
Or the Lord is born (vyaktiḥ) in order to give benefit. Nothing would happen without him. He is devoid of changes like birth (avyayasya). He is unlimited (aprameyasya). The cause of being born inspite of being unlimited is that he manifests unlimited qualities such as compassion (guṇātmanaḥ).
“What is the Lord’s goal?” He performs pastimes which cannot be understood (aprameyasya). Why? Though he is without guṇas, he is the shelter of guṇas. He is not contaminated by the guṇas, being beyond the guṇas. Because he has guṇas or qualities he has love pastimes with the gopīs. “You should say that he appears to please us.” He is the origin of qualities of people beyond the guṇas. By the rāsa dance the universe, attaining the highest prema, became endowed with all good qualities. This will be revealed later in the conversion between Parīkṣit and Śukadeva.