Devanagari
विन्यस्तचरणाम्भोजमंसदेशे गरुत्मत: ।
दृष्ट्वा खेऽवस्थितं वक्ष:श्रियं कौस्तुभकन्धरम् ॥ ११ ॥
Verse text
vinyasta-caraṇāmbhojam
aṁsa-deśe garutmataḥ
dṛṣṭvā khe ’vasthitaṁ vakṣaḥ-
śriyaṁ kaustubha-kandharam
Synonyms
vinyasta
—
having been placed
;
caraṇa
—
ambhojam — lotus feet
;
aṁsa
—
deśe — on the shoulders
;
garutmataḥ
—
of Garuḍa
;
dṛṣṭvā
—
having seen
;
khe
—
in the air
;
avasthitam
—
standing
;
vakṣaḥ
—
on His chest
;
śriyam
—
auspicious mark
;
kaustubha
—
the Kaustubha gem
;
kandharam
—
neck .
Translation
A golden streak on His chest, the famous Kaustubha gem suspended from His neck, He stood in the air with His lotus feet placed on the shoulders of Garuḍa.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
In the sky, Kardama saw the Lord shining like the pure sun, with a white lotus garland, lotus face surrounded by black locks of hair, wearing spotless cloth, a crown and earrings, holding a conch, cakra, club and white water lily for amusement, with pleasing smile and glance, with Laksmī on his chest and the Kaustubha jewel around his neck, his feet placed on the shoulders of Garuḍa. Joyful on having his desires fulfilled, Kardama, whose had natural love for the Lord, fell down, touching his head to the ground. With folded hands, he offered prayers.
Having described the conch, cakra and club in three hands, he describes the fourth hand holding a white water lily instead of a lotus from amusement. The Lord had a smile and glance pleasing to the beholder (manaḥ sparśa). Kardama had natural love of the Lord (prīti-svabhāvātmā).
Purport
The descriptions in verses 9-11 of the Lord in His transcendental, eternal form are understood to be descriptions from the authoritative Vedic version. These descriptions are certainly not the imagination of Kardama Muni. The decorations of the Lord are beyond material conception, as admitted even by impersonalists like Śaṅkarācārya: Nārāyaṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, has nothing to do with the material creation. The varieties of the transcendental Lord — His body, His form, His dress, His instruction, His words — are not manufactured by the material energy, but are all confirmed in the Vedic literature. By performance of
yoga
Kardama Muni actually saw the Supreme Lord as He is. There was no point in seeing an imagined form of God after practicing
yoga
for ten thousand years. The perfection of
yoga,
therefore, does not terminate in voidness or impersonalism; on the contrary, the perfection of
yoga
is attained when one actually sees the Personality of Godhead in His eternal form. The process of Kṛṣṇa consciousness is to deliver the form of Kṛṣṇa directly. The form of Kṛṣṇa is described in the authoritative Vedic literature
Brahma-saṁhitā:
His abode is made of
cintāmaṇi
stone, and the Lord plays there as a cowherd boy and is served by many thousands of
gopīs.
These descriptions are authoritative, and a Kṛṣṇa conscious person takes them directly, acts on them, preaches them and practices devotional service as enjoined in the authoritative scriptures.