SB 10.84.32 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

यस्यानुभूति: कालेन लयोत्पत्त्यादिनास्य वै । स्वतोऽन्यस्माच्च गुणतो न कुतश्चन रिष्यति ॥ ३२ ॥ तं क्लेशकर्मपरिपाकगुणप्रवाहै- रव्याहतानुभवमीश्वरमद्वितीयम् । प्राणादिभि: स्वविभवैरुपगूढमन्यो मन्येत सूर्यमिव मेघहिमोपरागै: ॥ ३३ ॥

Verse text

yasyānubhūtiḥ kālena layotpatty-ādināsya vai svato ’nyasmāc ca guṇato na kutaścana riṣyati taṁ kleśa-karma-paripāka-guṇa-pravāhair avyāhatānubhavam īśvaram advitīyam prāṇādibhiḥ sva-vibhavair upagūḍham anyo manyeta sūryam iva megha-himoparāgaiḥ

Synonyms

yasya — whose ; anubhūtiḥ — awareness ; kālena — caused by time ; laya — by the destruction ; utpatti — creation ; ādinā — and so on ; asya — of this (universe) ; vai — indeed ; svataḥ — on its own ; anyasmāt — due to some other agency ; ca — or ; guṇataḥ — in terms of its qualities ; na — not ; kutaścana — for any reason ; riṣyati — becomes disrupted ; tam — Him ; kleśa — by material distresses ; karma — material activities ; paripāka — their consequences ; guṇa — of the modes of nature ; pravāhaiḥ — and by the constant flow ; avyāhata — unaffected ; anubhavam — whose consciousness ; īśvaram — the supreme controller ; advitīyam — who has no second ; prāṇa — by the vital air ; ādibhiḥ — and other (elements of the material body) ; sva — His own ; vibhavaiḥ — expansions ; upagūḍham — disguised ; anyaḥ — someone else ; manyeta — considers ; sūryam iva — like the sun ; megha — by clouds ; hima — snow ; uparāgaiḥ — and eclipses .

Translation

The Supreme Lord’s awareness is never disturbed by time, by the creation and destruction of the universe, by changes in its own qualities, or by anything else, whether self-caused or external. But although the consciousness of the Personality of Godhead, who is the supreme one without a second, is never affected by material distress, by the reactions of material work or by the constant flow of nature’s modes, ordinary persons nonetheless think that the Lord is covered by His own creations of prāṇa and other material elements, just as one may think that the sun is covered by clouds, snow or an eclipse.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

The Supreme Lord's awareness is never disturbed by time, by the creation and destruction of the universe, by changes in its own qualities, or by anything else, whether self-caused or external. But although the consciousness of the Personality of Godhead, who is the supreme one without a second, is never affected by material distress, by the reactions of material work or by the constant flow of nature's modes, ordinary persons nonetheless think that the Lord is covered by His own creations of prāṇa and other material elements, just as one may think that the sun is covered by clouds, snow or an eclipse. KB 10.84.32-33 “There is no need for Vasudeva to ask us for instruction when Lord Kṛṣṇa is personally present, because His knowledge is never second in any circumstance. His knowledge is not affected by the process of creation, maintenance and annihilation, nor is it ever influenced by any agency beyond Himself, nor is it agitated by the interactions of the material qualities or changed in the course of time. His transcendental form is full of knowledge which never becomes agitated by ignorance, pride, attachment, envy or sense enjoyment. His knowledge is never subject to the laws of karma regarding pious or impious activities, nor is it influenced by the three modes of material energy. No one is greater than or equal to Him, because He is the supreme authority, the Personality of Godhead. “The ordinary conditioned human being may think that the conditioned soul, who is covered by his materialistic senses, mind and intelligence, is equal to Kṛṣṇa, but Lord Kṛṣṇa is just like the sun, which, although it sometimes may appear to be so, is never covered by the cloud, snow or fog, or by other planets during an eclipse. When the eyes of less intelligent men are covered by such influences, they think the sun to be invisible. Similarly, persons who are influenced by senses addicted to material enjoyment cannot have a clear vision of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.”

Purport

Things of this world are inevitably destroyed by one means or another. Time itself causes the eventual decay of every created being — a fruit, for instance, which may grow ripe but then must either rot or be eaten. Some things, like lightning, destroy themselves as soon as they are manifested, while others are destroyed suddenly by external agents, as a clay pot is by a hammer. Even in living bodies and other things whose existence continues for some time, there is a constant flux of various qualities that are destroyed and replaced by others. In contrast to all of this, the Supreme Personality of Godhead’s awareness is never disrupted by anything. Only out of ignorance could one imagine Him to be an ordinary human being subject to material conditions. Mortal beings are covered by their entanglement in fruitive activities and their consequent happiness and distress, but the Supreme Lord cannot be covered by what are in fact His own expansions. Analogously, the immense sun is the source of the relatively insignificant phenomena of clouds, snow and eclipses, and so it cannot be covered by them, though the ordinary observer may think that it is.

Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

"O most worshippable persons, knowers of brahman, not only Vasudeva is subject to this criticism. Almost all of the people here do not know that Krsna is the supreme lord." This is explained in two verses. The materialistic people (anya) think of Krsna, whose knowledge cannot be destroyed, who is covered by the pranas etc, as one like themselves. (the verb is found in the second verse.) His knowledge cannot be destroyed by time which causes destruction or creation of the universe as with the growth and decay of karkatika fruit,; by his own nature, like lightening which disappears on its own; by means other than himself like a hammer which destroys a clay pot; or by the mode of ignorance, which destroys the universe. He repeats the same idea to strengthen his statement in this verse. His knowledge is not destroyed by suffering such as attachment (klesa), karmas (the cause of suffering), the immediate results of karma in the form of happiness and distress (paripaka), or by the flow of the three modes (guna). But ignorant men think that the Lord, who appeared to be covered (but never controlled) by his own products (sva vibhavaih) of the subtle body made of prana, mind, intelligence, to be a person like themselves, as the sun is covered by its own products in the form of clouds, fog (hima), or by rahu (uparaga) during an eclipse, The sun is the cause of the cloud, because the cloud is made of water and light is the cause of water. Water is the cause of fog. The sun is the cause of rahu because rahu is composed of a portion of darkness in the form of bad habits of evil jivas, and perception of darkness depends on the eye (caused by the sun). According to the Puranas, the sun is the cause of the clouds because fire element is the cause of clouds, and water.

Purport (Jiva Goswami)

Awareness and manifesting power (anubhūtiḥ) of the Lord as the doer and object of action are not destroyed by creation and destruction of the universe (asya), by time (which causes destruction of the universe), by itself (like lightning which appears and disappears on its own), by something else like the blow of a hammer to a pot, or by qualities being destroyed and changing to other qualities, as in a body. The awareness and powers are eternally existent. The next verse states the opposite condition of the Lord. Kṛṣṇa is without a second (advitīyam) since he alone is Svayam Bhagavān. The descriptive terms are in order of increasing excellence in human terms. Yet ordinary people think he is covered by prāṇas and suffering because of suffering and prāṇas in their associates. Because they suffer, they think Kṛṣṇa is similar to themselves, since everyone thinks in terms of themselves. The sun is king of the planets but seems to be covered by Rāhu. The Lord’s powers are never affected since he does not suffer like the persons present at that place. He is the completely independent (īśvaram) because his knowledge is dependent on himself. He is Kṛṣṇa, without compare (advitīyam) because he alone manifests everything else. Another person thinks the Lord has limited knowledge because of his vibhava (his various forms) and his senses (prāṇa) and his limbs (ādibhiḥ), just as the sun is covered by clouds, snow or an eclipse. The meaning is this. The sun appears to be limited in form by clouds or the eclipse. That is suitable since the cloud is a transformation of vapors of water pulled up by rays of the sun. Snow is also a conglomeration of particles of water pulled up by the sun. Rāhu, the cause of the eclipse, is the form of darkness which dependent on the sun. The Lord’s eyes and other senses are not like that, but are part of his svarūpa or vibhava. Therefore these senses and limbs cannot cover the Lord’s knowledge. Similarly the sun cannot be covered by warmth etc. produced from his svarūpa. Rather the sun is revealed by them. His svarūpa is not covered by time or place, and his knowledge is not covered since his eyes and limbs are also similar to his svarūpa. However, low people will think the opposite. It is said na cāntar na bahir yasya: he has no interior or exterior. SB 10.9.13 nātaḥ paraṁ parama yad bhavataḥ svarūpam ānanda-mātram avikalpam aviddha-varcaḥ Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Lord, is the cause of all causes. He is past, present and future, and he is the movable and immovable. (SB 3.9.3) yo ’nādṛto naraka-bhāgbhir asat-prasaṅgaiḥ: those who are destined to be dispatched to the path of hell neglect your personal form because of speculating on material topics. SB 3.9.4 ye tu tvadīya-caraṇāmbuja-kośa-gandhaṁ jighranti karṇa-vivaraiḥ śruti-vāta-nītam bhaktyā gṛhīta-caraṇaḥ parayā ca teṣāṁ nāpaiṣi nātha hṛdayāmburuhāt sva-puṁsām O master! You do not give up the lotus hearts of your devotees who smell through their ears the fragrance of your lotus bud feet brought by the wind of the Vedas, and take your lotus feet as the greatest treasure through prema-bhakti. SB 3.9.5

Purport (Sanatana Goswami)

One should not think that Vasudeva does not know the glory of the Lord. A material person does not know about the Lord. The Lord is not disturbed even (vai) by creation, maintenance (ādinā) and destruction though they are huge endeavors (for other people). The Lord has unrestricted knowledge, and has no equal (advitīyam). The series of descriptive terms indicate successively greater reasons for not condering him human. However persons other than Vasudeva, material persons, think the Lord is covered by karmas and suffering, by prāṇas and senses (ādibhiḥ) because of their ripened suffering (sva-vibhavaiḥ). Because they experience pain they think the Lord also experiences pain. Or a person endowed with sufferings and karma (kleśa-karma-paripāka-guṇa-pravāhair), thinks the Lord is covered. But Vasudeva knows the highest manifestation of the Lord but of affection, he forgets. This is the Lord’s mercy. pitarāv upalabdhārthau viditvā puruṣottamaḥ mā bhūd iti nijāṁ māyāṁ tatāna jana-mohinīm Understanding that his parents were becoming aware of his powers, the Supreme Lord thought that this should not be allowed to happen. Thus he expanded his Yogamāyā, which bewilders his devotees. SB 10.45.1 This will be clear later.