SB 10.3.20 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

स त्वं त्रिलोकस्थितये स्वमायया बिभर्षि शुक्लं खलु वर्णमात्मन: । सर्गाय रक्तं रजसोपबृंहितं कृष्णं च वणन तमसा जनात्यये ॥ २० ॥

Verse text

sa tvaṁ tri-loka-sthitaye sva-māyayā bibharṣi śuklaṁ khalu varṇam ātmanaḥ sargāya raktaṁ rajasopabṛṁhitaṁ kṛṣṇaṁ ca varṇaṁ tamasā janātyaye

Synonyms

saḥ tvam — Your Lordship, who are the same person, the Transcendence ; tri — loka — sthitaye — to maintain the three worlds, the upper, middle and lower planetary systems ; sva — māyayā — by Your personal energy ( ātma-māyayā ) ; bibharṣi — assume ; śuklam — the white form of Viṣṇu in goodness ; khalu — as well as ; varṇam — color ; ātmanaḥ — of the same category as You ( viṣṇu-tattva ) ; sargāya — for the creation of the entire world ; raktam — the reddish color of rajo-guṇa ; rajasā — with the quality of passion ; upabṛṁhitam — being charged ; kṛṣṇam ca — and the quality of darkness ; varṇam — the color ; tamasā — which is surrounded by ignorance ; jana — atyaye — for the ultimate destruction of the entire creation .

Translation

My Lord, Your form is transcendental to the three material modes, yet for the maintenance of the three worlds, You assume the white color of Viṣṇu in goodness; for creation, which is surrounded by the quality of passion, You appear reddish; and at the end, when there is a need for annihilation, which is surrounded by ignorance, You appear blackish.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

My Lord, Your form is transcendental to the three material modes, yet for the maintenance of the three worlds, You assume the white color of Viṣṇu in goodness; for creation, which is surrounded by the quality of passion, You appear reddish; and at the end, when there is a need for annihilation, which is surrounded by ignorance, You appear blackish. KB 10.3.20 “You are called śuklam. Śuklam, or “whiteness,” is the symbolic representation of the Absolute Truth because it is unaffected by the material qualities. Lord Brahmā is called rakta, or red, because Brahmā represents the quality of passion for creation. Darkness is entrusted to Lord Śiva because he annihilates the cosmos. The creation, annihilation and maintenance of this cosmic manifestation are conducted by Your potencies, yet You are always unaffected by those qualities. As confirmed in the Vedas, harir hi nirguṇaḥ sākṣāt: “The Supreme Personality of Godhead is always free from all material qualities.” It is also said that the qualities of passion and ignorance are nonexistent in the person of the Supreme Lord.

Purport

Vasudeva prayed to the Lord, “You are called śuklam. Śuklam, or ‘whiteness,’ is the symbolic representation of the Absolute Truth because it is unaffected by the material qualities. Lord Brahmā is called rakta, or red, because Brahmā represents the qualities of passion for creation. Darkness is entrusted to Lord Śiva because he annihilates the cosmos. The creation, annihilation and maintenance of this cosmic manifestation are conducted by Your potencies, yet You are always unaffected by those qualities.” As confirmed in the Vedas, harir hi nirguṇaḥ sākṣāt: the Supreme Personality of Godhead is always free from all material qualities. It is also said that the qualities of passion and ignorance are nonexistent in the person of the Supreme Lord. In this verse, the three colors mentioned — śukla, rakta and kṛṣṇa — are not to be understood literally, in terms of what we experience with our senses, but rather as representatives of sattva-guṇa, rajo-guṇa and tamo-guṇa. After all, sometimes we see that a duck is white, although it is in tamo-guṇa, the mode of ignorance. Illustrating the logic called bakāndha-nyāya, the duck is such a fool that it runs after the testicles of a bull, thinking them to be a hanging fish that can be taken when it drops. Thus the duck is always in darkness. Vyāsadeva, however, the compiler of the Vedic literature, is blackish, but this does not mean that he is in tamo-guṇa; rather, he is in the highest position of sattva-guṇa, beyond the material modes of nature. Sometimes these colors ( śukla-raktas tathā pītaḥ ) are used to designate the brāhmaṇas, kṣatriyas, vaiśyas and śūdras. Lord Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu is celebrated as possessing a blackish color, Lord Śiva is whitish, and Lord Brahmā is reddish, but according to Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī in the Vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī-ṭīkā, this exhibition of colors is not what is referred to here. The real understanding of śukla, rakta and kṛṣṇa is as follows. The Lord is always transcendental, but for the sake of creation He assumes the color rakta as Lord Brahmā. Again, sometimes the Lord becomes angry. As He says in Bhagavad-gītā (16.19) : tān ahaṁ dviṣataḥ krūrān saṁsāreṣu narādhamān kṣipāmy ajasram aśubhān āsurīṣv eva yoniṣu “Those who are envious and mischievous, who are the lowest among men, are cast by Me into the ocean of material existence, into various demoniac species of life.” To destroy the demons, the Lord becomes angry, and therefore He assumes the form of Lord Śiva. In summary, the Supreme Personality of Godhead is always beyond the material qualities, and we should not be misled into thinking otherwise simply because of sense perception. One must understand the position of the Lord through the authorities, or mahājanas. As stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.3.28) , ete cāṁśa-kalāḥ puṁsaḥ kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam.

Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Concerning this there is a question. It is well known that the creation takes place through Brahma. Then, how are you also the creator? Brahma and others are your forms alone. That is the intention of this verse. You, by your svarupa (svamayaya), manifest yourself as pure (sukla) Visnu. Here sukla cannot mean white, because Visnu is black. At the time of destruction of all people you are black in color and for creation in the mode of passion you are red. But we cannot say that Visnu is nourished or influenced by sattva guna and therefore described as white. Visnu does not have connection with sattva guna as Brahma and Siva have with the other gunas. Visnu is close to sattva but does not touch it. In 10.88.55 it is said: Harir hi nirgunah saksat, sattvadayo na santise and sruti says. saksi cetah kevalo nirgunas ca

Purport (Jiva Goswami)

“Why do you say I am the cause and destruction? These actions are done by Brahmā and Śiva.” The verse indicates that he does not speak contrary. Viṣṇu is white. This means he is pure, since he is beyond the guṇas, and merely assists sattva by closeness. With your form (varṇam) as Viṣṇu you appear in the world for maintaining it by your mercy (sva-māyayā). You appear as Brahmā full of rajas for creating, with the color red, indicating passion to nourish the world. You appear as Śiva full of tamas with anger indicated by the color black. Black does not indicate his form. Colors seen by the eye cannot determine the guṇas. Baka and other demons, full of tamas, were white. Vyāsa, Śukadeva and others, full of sattva, were blackish in complexion. The colors are also used to denote the varṇas like brāhmaṇa. Kṣīrodakaśāyi Viṣṇu the guṇa avatāra of sattva is blackish. Śiva is white. Their expansions are of various colors. Thus, though Brahmā is described as red bodied, that is not the meaning here. Viṣṇu is beyond the guṇas. He is not in the guṇas like others. harir hi nirguṇaḥ sākṣāt puruṣaḥ prakṛteḥ paraḥ Viṣṇu is beyond the guṇas, he is completely beyond matter. SB 10.88.3 śivaḥ śakti-yutaḥ śaśvat tri-liṅgo guṇa-saṁvṛtaḥ vaikārikas taijasaś ca tāmasaś cety ahaṁ tridhā Śiva is always united with his personal energy, the material nature. Manifesting himself in three features in response to the entreaties of nature’s three modes, he thus embodies the threefold principle of material ego in goodness, passion and ignorance. SB 10.88.5 Thus Viṣṇu cannot be said to be covered by sattva-guṇa as the other two are covered by rajas and tamas. Viṣṇu appears with the desire to protect. Even though it said that they all are not affected by transformation of the guṇas, since it is explained that the goal is to destroy the tamas in people (if Śiva is in tamas, how could he destroy it?) Viṣṇu has a form of sac-cid-ānanda at all times. Otherwise there would be contradiction to thousands of other of statements concerning Viṣṇu and his devotees.

Purport (Sanatana Goswami)

“Why do you say I am the cause of creation and destruction? These actions are done by Brahmā and Śiva.” You accept sattva. This means that you accept to be the presiding deity of sattva, because the deity and the guṇa are considered non-diffferent. Or since you are without contradiction, or are the cause of creation etc. (saḥ), you are generally have a white form (varṇam) as the manvantara avatāras like Yajṇa. By your mercy (māyayā) though you are by nature the protector, you accept these forms. Since protection is your nature, maintenance is mentioned first. The Lord is distinguished from these forms as the source or avatārī by the word saḥ. You accept a dark blue and reddish form (kṛṣṇam) for destruction of the universe (janātyaye). Creation, maintenance and destruction arise from you.