SB 3.20.8 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

सूत उवाच हरेर्धृतक्रोडतनो: स्वमायया निशम्य गोरुद्धरणं रसातलात् । लीलां हिरण्याक्षमवज्ञया हतं सञ्जातहर्षो मुनिमाह भारत: ॥ ८ ॥

Verse text

sūta uvāca harer dhṛta-kroḍa-tanoḥ sva-māyayā niśamya gor uddharaṇaṁ rasātalāt līlāṁ hiraṇyākṣam avajṣayā hataṁ saṣjāta-harṣo munim āha bhārataḥ

Synonyms

sūtaḥ uvāca — Sūta said ; hareḥ — of the Lord ; dhṛta — who had assumed ; kroḍa — of a boar ; tanoḥ — body ; sva — māyayā — by His divine potency ; niśamya — having heard ; goḥ — of the earth ; uddharaṇam — uplifting ; rasātalāt — from the bottom of the ocean ; līlām — sport ; hiraṇyākṣam — the demon Hiraṇyākṣa ; avajṣayā — neglectfully ; hatam — killed ; saṣjāta — harṣaḥ — being overjoyed ; munim — to the sage (Maitreya) ; āha — said ; bhārataḥ — Vidura .

Translation

Sūta Gosvāmī continued: Vidura, the descendant of Bharata, was delighted to hear the story of the Lord, who, having assumed by His own divine potency the form of a boar, had enacted the sport of lifting the earth from the bottom of the ocean and indifferently killing the demon Hiraṇyākṣa. Vidura then spoke to the sage as follows.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Sūta said: O sages! Hearing how Varāha lifted the earth from the Garbhodaka Ocean with complete sincerity and casually killed Hiraṇyākṣa, Vidura, with hairs standing on end, inquired from Maitreya. Sv-amāyayā means “with no deceit at all.” The Lord eternally is situated (dhṛta) in the form of the boar. Dhṛta belongs to the tud-ādi class of verbs and means “situated.” Go means “of the earth.” Bhārataḥ means Vidura.

Purport

It is stated here that the Lord assumed the form of a boar by His own potency. His form is not actually the form of a conditioned soul. A conditioned soul is forced to accept a particular type of body by the higher authority of material laws, but here it is clearly said that the Lord was not forced to accept the form of a boar by the external power. In Bhagavad-gītā the same fact is confirmed: when the Lord descends to this earth, He assumes a form by His own internal potency. The form of the Lord, therefore, can never consist of material energy. The Māyāvāda version that when Brahman assumes a form the form is accepted from māyā is not acceptable, because although māyā is superior to the conditioned soul, she is not superior to the Supreme Personality of Godhead; she is under the control of the Supreme Godhead, as confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā. Māyā is under His superintendence; māyā cannot overcome the Lord. The Māyāvāda idea that the living entity is the Supreme Absolute Truth but has become covered by māyā is invalid, because māyā cannot be so great that it can cover the Supreme. The covering capacity can be employed on the part and parcel of Brahman, not on the Supreme Brahman.