Devanagari
आदावभूच्छतधृती रजसास्य सर्गे
विष्णु: स्थितौ क्रतुपतिर्द्विजधर्मसेतु: ।
रुद्रोऽप्ययाय तमसा पुरुष: स आद्य
इत्युद्भवस्थितिलया: सततं प्रजासु ॥ ५ ॥
Verse text
ādāv abhūc chata-dhṛtī rajasāsya sarge
viṣṇuḥ sthitau kratu-patir dvija-dharma-setuḥ
rudro ’pyayāya tamasā puruṣaḥ sa ādya
ity udbhava-sthiti-layāḥ satataṁ prajāsu
Synonyms
ādau
—
in the beginning
;
abhūt
—
He became
;
śata
—
dhṛtiḥ — Lord Brahmā
;
rajasā
—
by the material mode of passion
;
asya
—
of this universe
;
sarge
—
in the creation
;
viṣṇuḥ
—
Lord Viṣṇu
;
sthitau
—
in maintenance
;
kratu
—
patiḥ — the Lord of sacrifice
;
dvija
—
of the twice-born brāhmaṇas
;
dharma
—
of the religious duties
;
setuḥ
—
the protector
;
rudraḥ
—
Lord Śiva
;
apyayāya
—
for annihilation
;
tamasā
—
by the mode of ignorance
;
puruṣaḥ
—
the Supreme Person
;
saḥ
—
He
;
ādyaḥ
—
original
;
iti
—
thus
;
udbhava
—
sthiti — layāḥ — creation, maintenance and destruction
;
satatam
—
always
;
prajāsu
—
among created beings .
Translation
In the beginning, the original Supreme Personality manifested the form of Brahmā through the material mode of passion in order to create this universe. The Lord manifested His form as Viṣṇu, the Lord of sacrifice and protector of the twice-born brāhmaṇas and their religious duties, to maintain the universe. And when the universe is to be annihilated the same Supreme Lord employs the material mode of ignorance and manifests the form of Rudra. The created living beings are thus always subject to the forces of creation, maintenance and destruction.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
In the beginning, the puruṣa appeared as Brahmā through rajoguṇa for creation, as Viṣṇu, the lord of sacrifice, and protector of dharma of the brāhmaṇas, for maintenance, and as Śiva through tamo-guṇa for destruction. In this way creation, maintenance and destruction of the living entities takes place at all times.
The guṇāvatāras are described. The puruṣa appeared as Brahmā (śata-dhṛtiḥ) for activities of creation by rajoguṇa, as Viṣṇu, the protector of the dharma of the brāhmaṇas, for maintenance and as Śiva for destruction. Iti means “in this way.”
Purport
In the previous verse the Supreme Personality of Godhead was described as
ādi-kartā,
the original person responsible for the creation, maintenance and annihilation of the material world. According to Śrīdhara Svāmī,
ādi-kartā,
or “the original doer,” implies subsequent creators, maintainers and annihilators. Otherwise there would be no meaning to the word
ādi,
or “original.” Therefore this verse describes that the Absolute Truth expands Himself into the
guṇāvatāras,
or incarnations who carry out the creation, maintenance and annihilation of the universe through the modes of passion, goodness and ignorance respectively.
It is significant here that although this verse mentions creation through the material mode of passion and annihilation through the material mode of ignorance, it does not mention maintenance by Viṣṇu through the material mode of goodness. That is because Viṣṇu is
viśuddha-sattva,
or existing on the platform of unlimited transcendental goodness. Although Lord Śiva and Lord Brahmā are somewhat affected by their prescribed duties as superintendents of the modes of nature, Lord Viṣṇu is
viśuddha-sattva,
completely beyond contamination even by the material mode of goodness. As described in the
Vedas,
na tasya kāryaṁ karaṇaṁ ca vidyate:
the Lord has no occupational duty. Whereas Lord Śiva and Lord Brahmā are understood to be servants of the Lord, Viṣṇu is completely transcendental.
According to Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī, Viṣṇu, described in this verse as
kratu-patiḥ,
the Lord of sacrifice, is understood to have appeared in a previous age as the incarnation Suyajṣa, the son of Prajāpati Ruci. Whereas Brahmā and Śiva faithfully engage in service to the Supreme Lord, Viṣṇu is the Supreme Lord Himself, and therefore His activities of maintaining the
brāhmaṇas
and religious principles, as mentioned in this verse (
dvija-dharma-setuḥ
), are not occupational duties but
līlā.
So in addition to being a
guṇāvatāra,
Viṣṇu is also a
līlāvatāra,
according to Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī. The
Mahābhārata
(
Śānti-parva
) describes the birth of Lord Brahmā from the lotus flower emanating from Viṣṇu and the subsequent birth of Lord Śiva from the angry eyes of Lord Brahmā. Viṣṇu, however, is the self-manifested Personality of Godhead who enters the material universe by His own internal potency, as stated in
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
(3.8.15)
:
tal loka-padmaṁ sa u eva viṣṇuḥ
prāvīviśat sarva-guṇāvabhāsam
In conclusion, Lord Viṣṇu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is the supreme controller whose personal form is full of eternal existence, knowledge and bliss, who is beginningless but is the beginning of everything, who is known as Govinda, and who is the original cause of all causes, as stated in
Brahma-saṁhitā.
Still, that same eternal Lord manifests Himself as Brahmā and Śiva in the sense that the primeval controllers Brahmā and Śiva manifest the potency and supreme will of the Lord, although they themselves are not supreme.