Devanagari
आभासश्च निरोधश्च यतोऽस्त्यध्यवसीयते ।
स आश्रय: परं ब्रह्म परमात्मेति शब्द्यते ॥ ७ ॥
Verse text
ābhāsaś ca nirodhaś ca
yato ’sty adhyavasīyate
sa āśrayaḥ paraṁ brahma
paramātmeti śabdyate
Synonyms
ābhāsaḥ
—
the cosmic manifestation
;
ca
—
and
;
nirodhaḥ
—
and its winding up
;
ca
—
also
;
yataḥ
—
from the source
;
asti
—
is
;
adhyavasīyate
—
become manifested
;
saḥ
—
He
;
āśrayaḥ
—
reservoir
;
param
—
the Supreme
;
brahma
—
Being
;
paramātmā
—
the Supersoul
;
iti
—
thus
;
śabdyate
—
called .
Translation
The supreme one who is celebrated as the Supreme Being or the Supreme Soul is the supreme source of the cosmic manifestation as well as its reservoir and winding up. Thus He is the Supreme Fountainhead, the Absolute Truth.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
The āśraya, Bhagavān, from whom arise creation, sub-creation, protection, mercy, karma, dharma of the kings, the appearance of avatāras, destruction and liberation is also called Paramātmā and brahman.
Purport
Synonyms for the supreme source of all energies, as explained in the very beginning of the
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
are
janmādy asya yataḥ, vadanti tat tattva-vidas tattvaṁ yaj jṣānam advayam/ brahmeti paramātmeti bhagavān iti śabdyate,
called Parambrahma, Paramātmā or Bhagavān. The word
iti
used here in this verse completes the synonyms and thus indicates Bhagavān. This will be further explained in the later verses, but this Bhagavān ultimately means Lord Kṛṣṇa because the
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
has already accepted the Supreme Personality of Godhead as Kṛṣṇa.
Kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam.
The original source of all energies, or the
summum bonum,
is the Absolute Truth, which is called Parambrahma, etc., and Bhagavān is the last word of the Absolute Truth. But even with the synonyms for Bhagavān, such as Nārāyaṇa, Viṣṇu and Puruṣa, the last word is Kṛṣṇa, as confirmed in the
Bhagavad-gītā:
ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavo mattaḥ sarvaṁ pravartate,
etc. Besides that, the
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
is the representation of Lord Kṛṣṇa as a sound incarnation of the Lord.
kṛṣṇe sva-dhāmopagate
dharma-jṣānādibhiḥ saha
kalau naṣṭa-dṛśām eṣaḥ
purāṇārko ’dhunoditaḥ
(
Bhāg.
1.3.43
)
Thus by general conclusion Lord Kṛṣṇa is the ultimate source of all energies, and the word
kṛṣṇa
means that. And to explain Kṛṣṇa or the science of Kṛṣṇa, the
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
has been prepared. In the First Canto of
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
this truth is indicated in the questions and answers by Sūta Gosvāmī and great sages like Śaunaka, and in the First and Second Chapters of the canto this is explained. In the Third Chapter this subject is more explicit, and in the Fourth Chapter even more explicit. In the Second Canto the Absolute Truth as the Personality of Godhead is further emphasized, and the indication is the Supreme Lord, Kṛṣṇa. The summary of
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
in four verses, as we have already discussed, is succinct. This Supreme Personality of Godhead in the ultimate issue is confirmed by Brahmā in his
Brahma-saṁhitā
as
īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ.
So it is concluded in the Third Canto of the
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
The complete subject matter is elaborately explained in the Tenth and Eleventh Cantos of the
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
In the matter of the changes of the Manus or
manvantaras,
such as the Svāyambhuva-
manvantara
and Cākṣuṣa-
manvantara,
as they are discussed in the Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Cantos of
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
Lord Kṛṣṇa is indicated. In the Eighth Canto the Vaivasvata-
manvantara
explains the same subject indirectly, and in the Ninth Canto the same purport is there. In the Twelfth Canto the same is further explained, specifically regarding the different incarnations of the Lord. Thus it is concluded by studying the complete
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
that Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the ultimate
summum bonum,
or the ultimate source of all energy. And according to the grades of worshipers, the indications of the nomenclature may be differently explained as Nārāyaṇa, Brahmā, Paramātmā, etc.
Commentary (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Having described the nature of the nine topics by indicating their subject, the Supreme Lord is described as the one shelter of these in this verse. That by which creation (ābhāsaḥ), visarga, sthiti, poṣaṇa, ūti, manvantara, īśa-kathā (ca), destruction (nirodhaḥ) and mukti (ca) are accomplished is called the āśraya, Bhagavān or Nārāyaṇa, since he looks upon the creation, maintenance and destruction. According to the method of worship he is described in different ways. Thus he is called param brahma by the jṣānīs and Paramātmā by the yogīs.