Devanagari
निशाम्य वैष्णवं धाम पार्थ: परमविस्मित: ।
यत्किञ्चित् पौरुषं पुंसां मेने कृष्णानुकम्पितम् ॥ ६२ ॥
Verse text
niśāmya vaiṣṇavaṁ dhāma
pārthaḥ parama-vismitaḥ
yat kiṣcit pauruṣaṁ puṁsāṁ
mene kṛṣṇānukampitam
Synonyms
niśāmya
—
havīng seen
;
vaiṣṇavam
—
of Lord Viṣṇu
;
dhāma
—
the abode
;
pārthaḥ
—
Arjuna
;
parama
—
supremely
;
vismitaḥ
—
astonished
;
yat kiṣcit
—
whatever
;
pauruṣam
—
special power
;
puṁsām
—
belonging to living beings
;
mene
—
He concluded
;
kṛṣṇa
—
of Kṛṣṇa
;
anukampitam
—
the mercy shown .
Translation
Having seen the domain of Lord Viṣṇu, Arjuna was totally amazed. He concluded that whatever extraordinary power a person exhibits can only be a manifestation of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s mercy.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Having seen the domain of Lord Viṣṇu, Arjuna was totally amazed. He concluded that whatever extraordinary power a person exhibits can only be a manifestation of Śrī Kṛṣṇa's mercy.
KB 10.89.62
Arjuna, however, was struck with great wonder after visiting the transcendental world by the grace of Lord Kṛṣṇa. And by the grace of Kṛṣṇa he could understand that whatever opulence there may be within this material world is an emanation from Him. Any opulent position a person may have within this material world is due to Kṛṣṇa’s mercy. One should therefore always be in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, in complete gratefulness to Lord Kṛṣṇa, because whatever one may possess is all bestowed by Him.
Purport
Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī describes Arjuna’s amazement: He thought, “Just see! Even though I am a mere mortal, by Kṛṣṇa’s mercy I have seen the Supreme Godhead, the root cause of everything.” Then, after a moment, he thought again, “But why did Lord Viṣṇu say that he took away the
brāhmaṇa’s
children out of a desire to see Kṛṣṇa? Why would the Supreme Personality of Godhead hanker to see His own expansion? This might be the effect of some peculiar temporary circumstance, but since He said
didṛkṣuṇā
instead of
didṛkṣatā
— where the specific suffix
ṣuṇā
carries the sense of a permanent characteristic, not a temporary one — it has to be concluded that He has always been wanting to see Kṛṣṇa and myself. Even granted that this is so, why couldn’t He simply see Kṛṣṇa at Dvārakā? After all, Lord Mahā-Viṣṇu is the all-pervading creator of the universe, which He holds like an
āmalaka
fruit in His hand. Is it that He could not see Kṛṣṇa in Dvārakā because Kṛṣṇa does not allow anyone to see Him without His special sanction?
“And why, also, would Lord Mahā-Viṣṇu, the compassionate master of all
brāhmaṇas,
have repeatedly tormented an elevated
brāhmaṇa,
year after year? He must have acted in this unusual way only because He could not give up His extreme eagerness to see Kṛṣṇa. All right, He may have acted improperly for that reason, but why couldn’t He have sent a servant to kidnap the
brāhmaṇa’s
sons? Why did He Himself have to come to Dvārakā? Was stealing them out of Lord Kṛṣṇa’s capital so difficult that no one but Viṣṇu Himself could hope to accomplish it? I can understand that He intended to cause so much distress to a
brāhmaṇa
of Lord Kṛṣṇa’s city that Kṛṣṇa would be unable to tolerate it; then He would grant Lord Viṣṇu His audience. Lord Viṣṇu inspired the distressed
brāhmaṇa
to pour out his complaints to Kṛṣṇa in person. Thus it is clear that Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s status of Godhood is superior to Lord Mahā-Viṣṇu’s.”
Having thought in this way, Arjuna was totally amazed. He asked Lord Kṛṣṇa whether these were actually the facts of the matter, and the Lord replied, as related in the
Hari-vaṁśa:
mad-darśanārthaṁ te bālā
hṛtās tena mahātmanā
viprārtham eṣyate kṛṣṇo
mat-samīpaṁ na cānyathā
“It was to see Me that He, the Supreme Soul, stole the children. He believed, ‘Only on a
brāhmaṇa’s
behalf will Kṛṣṇa come to see Me, not otherwise.’”
Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī states that Lord Kṛṣṇa further told Arjuna, “I did not go there, however, for the
brāhmaṇa’s
sake; I went there, My friend, just to save your life. If it had been for the
brāhmaṇa’s
sake that I traveled to Vaikuṇṭha, I would have done so after his first child was abducted.”
According to Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī, although this pastime occurred before the Battle of Kurukṣetra, it is recounted here at the end of the Tenth Canto under the general heading of the supremacy of Lord Kṛṣṇa’s glories.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Arjuna was extremely astonished. First, seeing the extraordinary grandeur of Mahavisnu he said, "O, though I am a mortal son of Pandu, by the mercy of Krsna, I have seen this Supreme Lord, the cause of everything." By that he was simply astonished.
Then considering a moment, he thought, "Why did he say ‘I have wanted to see you two’? How is it possible that the Supreme Lord of everything would want to see his own expansion Krsna? Perhaps, it is some temporary whim of his. But by his expression, one can understand that this desire to see Krsna is continual. Let that be, he may be continually wanting to see Krsna! But why does he not see Krsna in Dvaraka from where he is situated here, since he has great power and this universe he has created is just like an amalaki fruit in his hand? Well, maybe he doesn’t have that power, but still, he comes to Dvaraka every year to steal the children of the brahmana. Why does he not at that time see Krsna, who is visible even to the oil man and betel nut peddler living there? It is said that without the desire of Krsna no one can see him. If that is so, then of course he cannot see Krsna. But, how can one who is affectionate to the brhamanas give suffering to a brahmana every year? I think you must have done such a vile act because you cannot give up your strong desire to see Krsna. For that purpose, let the vile act be done. But could you not send some servant to steal the sons of the brahmana? Why do you go yourself? It must be that it is difficult for anyone else to steal them from Dvaraka. His intention was to give such suffering to the brahmana in Dvaraka that Krsna could not bear it, and would then become visible to Visnu. The loud mouthed brahmana, inspired by your form as supersoul within, came to Krsna and sang his song after losing each child."
Thus inferring the superior glories of Krsna to Visnu, he became most astonished (parama vismitah).
Arjuna then thought, "I will ask Krsna and understand the truth about this."
Asked by Arjuna, Krsna then spoke. This is recorded in the Hari vamsa. "In order to see me, Visnu stole the the brahmana’s sons. He thought, ‘Krsna will not come to me except on behalf of the brahmana.’
"But I did not go to Visnu for the sake of the brahmana. I went in order just to save the life you, my friend. If I were to go for the sake of the brahmana, I would have gone just after the first child was stolen. The reason I went after the ninth child was stolen, was not from obligation to Visnu, but out of obligation to you."
Hearing this truth from Krsna’s mouth, Arjuna considered that whatever powers are (paurusam) within man, and within everyone up to even the lord of the spiritual world, the powers of everyone, were generated from the mercy Krsna. One should know that from the prayers of the personified Vedas till this point in the Tenth Canto, the supreme position of Krsna, asraya tattva, the tenth subject of the puranas, has been described. According to Sridhara Swami this incident took place before the Kuruksetra, but it is stated here on the occasion of discussing the topmost truth.
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
In the First Canto, Third Chapter, it is said kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam. This acts as a paribhāṣa-sūtra for the whole of the Bhāgavatam. Sūtra means that by which the meaning to be explained is shown in brief. Paribhāṣā means a rule or theme which can be applied where not explicitly stated. The statement appears once at the beginning of the work and spreads through the whole work. Therefore all explanations depend on it. Since Bhāgavatam is the essence of all the Vedas and itihāsas, it is seen to refute all other scriptures with its initial statement. Statements about ākāśa being eternal are thus refuted with the statement ātmani vijñāte sarvam idaṁ vijñātaṁl bhavati: knowing the Lord all else is known. (Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad 1.3) It is said śruti-liṅga-vākya-prakaraṇa-sthāna-samākhyānāṁ samavāye pāradaurbalyam artha-viprakarṣāt: scriptural instructions are more authoritative than the logical arguments known as liṅga, vākya, prakaraṇa, and sthāna, and these logical arguments are more authoritative than conclusions drawn from historical accounts (Jaiminī-sūtra 3.3.14) Because of the superior authority of scripture, a conclusion cannot be refuted. Uttara-mīmāṁsa agrees that śruti teaches directly by words. Thus the scriptural statement is ete cāṁśa-kalāḥ pūsaḥ kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam. The other methods are discussed in Kṛṣṇa Sandarbha. Among them each is successively weaker. Historical account is distant authority.
Thus the term Svayam Bhagavān must be used to determine the meaning of everything Sūta or the Lord says in the Bhāgavatam. This statement is proved everywhere by Śrīdhara Svāmī. Since the Lord performs pastimes with various intentions, to consider them lightly will prove nothing. (Though Kṛṣṇa proposal to make the offerings to Govardhana was taken lightly by those around him everything was explained nicely.) The excellence of Viṣṇu thus culminates in Svayam Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa. Thus the explanations given by Śrīdhara Svāmī are correct. Thus Bhagavān as described is Kṛṣṇa.
Purport (Sanatana Goswami)
Seeing the power (dhāma) of he who spreadings over the universe, manifesting unlimited powers (vaiṣṇavam) Arjuna was amazed. Or hearing what Viṣṇu said the powers related to Kṛṣṇa, such as being full in his desires, he was amazed. He concluded that whatever ability one has to achieve one’s goals was accomplished by the mercy of svayam bhagavān Kṛṣṇa.