Devanagari
ज्वर उवाच
नमामि त्वानन्तशक्तिं परेशं
सर्वात्मानं केवलं ज्ञप्तिमात्रम् ।
विश्वोत्पत्तिस्थानसंरोधहेतुं
यत्तद् ब्रह्म ब्रह्मलिङ्गं प्रशान्तम् ॥ २५ ॥
Verse text
jvara uvāca
namāmi tvānanta-śaktiṁ pareśam
sarvātmānaṁ kevalaṁ jṣapti-mātram
viśvotpatti-sthāna-saṁrodha-hetuṁ
yat tad brahma brahma-liṅgam praśāntam
Synonyms
jvaraḥ uvāca
—
the fever weapon (of Lord Śiva) said
;
namāmi
—
I bow down
;
tvā
—
to You
;
ananta
—
unlimited
;
śaktim
—
whose potencies
;
para
—
Supreme
;
īśam
—
the Lord
;
sarva
—
of all
;
ātmānam
—
the Soul
;
kevalam
—
pure
;
jṣapti
—
of consciousness
;
mātram
—
the totality
;
viśva
—
of the universe
;
utpatti
—
of the creation
;
sthāna
—
maintenance
;
saṁrodha
—
and dissolution
;
hetum
—
the cause
;
yat
—
which
;
tat
—
that
;
brahma
—
Absolute Truth
;
brahma
—
by the Vedas
;
lingam
—
indirect reference to whom
;
praśāntam
—
perfectly peaceful .
Translation
The Śiva-jvara said: I bow down to You of unlimited potencies, the Supreme Lord, the Supersoul of all beings. You possess pure and complete consciousness and are the cause of cosmic creation, maintenance and dissolution. Perfectly peaceful, You are the Absolute Truth to whom the Vedas indirectly refer.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
The Śiva-jvara said: I bow down to You of unlimited potencies, the Supreme Lord, the Supersoul of all beings. You possess pure and complete consciousness and are the cause of cosmic creation, maintenance and dissolution. Perfectly peaceful, You are the Absolute Truth to whom the Vedas indirectly refer.
KB 10.63.25
“My dear Lord, I offer my respectful obeisances unto You because You have unlimited potencies. No one can surpass Your potencies, and thus You are the Lord of everyone. Generally people consider Lord Śiva the most powerful personality in the material world, but Lord Śiva is not all-powerful; You are all-powerful. This is factual. You are the original consciousness, or knowledge. Without knowledge, or consciousness, nothing can be powerful. A material thing may be very powerful, but without the touch of consciousness it cannot act. A material machine may be gigantic and wonderful, but without the touch of someone conscious and in knowledge, the material machine is useless for all purposes. My Lord, You are complete knowledge, and there is not a pinch of material contamination in Your personality. Lord Śiva may be a powerful demigod because of his specific power to annihilate the whole creation, and, similarly, Lord Brahmā may be very powerful because he can create the entire universe, but actually neither Brahmā nor Lord Śiva is the original cause of this cosmic manifestation. You are the Absolute Truth, the Supreme Brahman, and You are the original cause. The original cause of the cosmic manifestation is not the impersonal Brahman effulgence. That impersonal Brahman effulgence rests on Your personality.” As confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā, the cause of the impersonal Brahman is Lord Kṛṣṇa. This Brahman effulgence is likened to the sunshine, which emanates from the sun globe. Therefore, impersonal Brahman is not the ultimate cause. The ultimate cause of everything is the supreme eternal form of Kṛṣṇa. All material actions and reactions take place in the impersonal Brahman, but in the personal Brahman, the eternal form of Kṛṣṇa, there is no action and reaction.
The Śiva-jvara continued: “Therefore, my Lord, Your body is completely peaceful, completely blissful and devoid of material contamination.
Purport
Previously the Śiva-jvara felt himself to be unlimitedly powerful and thus attempted to burn Śrī Kṛṣṇa. But now he himself has been burned, and understanding that Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Lord, he humbly approaches to bow down and offer praise to the Absolute Truth.
According to the
ācāryas,
the word
sarvātmānam
indicates that Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the Supersoul, the giver of consciousness to all living beings. Kṛṣṇa confirms this in the
Bhagavad-gītā
(15.15)
:
mattaḥ smṛtir jṣānam apohanaṁ ca.
“From Me come remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness.”
In his commentary Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī emphasizes that the Śiva-jvara has realized in many ways Lord Kṛṣṇa’s supremacy over his own master, Lord Śiva. Thus the Śiva-jvara addresses Kṛṣṇa as
ananta-śakti,
“possessor of unlimited potency”;
pareśa,
“the supreme controller”; and
sarvātmā,
“the Supersoul of all beings” — even of Lord Śiva.
The words
kevalaṁ jṣapti-mātram
indicate that Lord Kṛṣṇa possesses pure omniscience. According to our limited understanding, we act in this world, but Lord Kṛṣṇa, with His unlimited understanding, performs infinite works of creation, maintenance and annihilation. As Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī points out, even the functions of the gross elements, such as air, depend on Him. The
Taittirīya Upaniṣad
(2.8.1) confirms this:
bhīṣāsmād vātaḥ-pavate.
“Out of fear of Him, the wind blows.” Thus Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the ultimate object of worship for all living beings.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
You have unlimited powers. I have understood that your powers are greater than even those of Siva, my master. The reason is stated: he is the lord but you are the supreme lord (paresa). You are the paramatma of all beings (sarvatma) , even of lord Siva. You are pure spirit (kevalam jnati matram) without any mixture of material maya at any time. My master Siva has a mixture of maya. You are the creator, maintainer and destroyer, whereas my master Siva is only the destroyer. You are indicated by the Vedas (brahma lingam), whereas Siva is represented merely the sounds such as dentals and gutturals. (this statement about Siva actually is placed after the explanation of sarvatma but does not seem to make sense there.) You are the peaceful brahman whereas Siva is the ferocious brahman.
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
Even Śiva had begun to yawn because of Kṛṣṇa’s weapon. Understanding that Kṛṣṇa was the Supreme Lord, Śiva jvara then turned and approached him. He began praising Kṛṣṇa, indicating that he was worthy of surrender and worthy of praise and offered respects. Śrīdhara Svāmī explains that the Lord has unlimited śakti because he is the master of Brahmā and others. This is because he is the giver of consciousness of all beings (sarvātman). This is because he is pure consciousness alone (kevalaṁ jñapti-mātram). He is the Supreme Lord because he gives consciousness to all others, and because he is also the creator of the universe.
The meaning is this. Ātmā is pure consciousness and the giver of consciousness. From that consciousness arises inert prakṛti. That consciousness gives it power and that consciousness controls prakṛti. As the jīva in the material world, that consciousness takes up individual locations and as the Paramātmā it pervades everywhere. Therefore the five gross elements do not arise without you. Śruti says nāre bhīṣāsmād vātaḥ pavate: the wind out of fear of the Lord blows. (Taittirīya Upaniṣad 2.8) Eko devaḥ sarva-bhūteṣu gūḍhaḥ: the one lord resides deep within all beings. (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad)
The Lord has unlimited śaktis and is the controller of Brahmā and others. The Lord was defined in relation to the individual components of the universe. Then he is described in relation to the whole. He is the creator, maintainer and destroyer of the universe. (The Lord is Brahman as indicated by the Vedas.) He is without change or peaceful (praśāntam). Śrīdhara Svāmī says that because he is without change he cannot be directly described. The meaning is this. The products of change are perceived by everyone, since they arise from our realization. Scripture also can be understood directly. That which does not transform however, cannot be directly understood since it is different from what we normally experience. It can be somewhat suggested by scripture. “Brahman is without qualities. I however have qualities since I have a form.” Brahman is your form (liṅgam) which is revealed by that pure Brahman, which reveals your qualities, manifesting them through your svarūpa-śakti. Or you are described (liṅgam) by the Vedas (brahma). Or you have the characteristics of Brahman, realized by the wise since you are completely without change (pra--śāntam) or since you have a form of peaceful happiness.
Purport (Sanatana Goswami)
I bow to the one ātmā (kevalam) of all ātmās, present as Paramātmā in all hearts. You are the jīva-tattva (brahma) since they are your aṁśas and you are the aṁśī (non-difference of aṁśa and aṁśī). Moreover you are form of concentrated brahman (brahma-liṅgam) since you are parabrahman. Thus you’re the source of happiness (praśantam) or the very form of happiness.