Devanagari
स वा एष तदा द्रष्टा नापश्यद् दृश्यमेकराट् ।
मेनेऽसन्तमिवात्मानं सुप्तशक्तिरसुप्तदृक् ॥ २४ ॥
Verse text
sa vā eṣa tadā draṣṭā
nāpaśyad dṛśyam ekarāṭ
mene ’santam ivātmānaṁ
supta-śaktir asupta-dṛk
Synonyms
saḥ
—
the Personality of Godhead
;
vā
—
either
;
eṣaḥ
—
all these
;
tadā
—
at that time
;
draṣṭā
—
the seer
;
na
—
did not
;
apaśyat
—
see
;
dṛśyam
—
the cosmic creation
;
eka
—
rāṭ — undisputed proprietor
;
mene
—
thought like this
;
asantam
—
nonexistent
;
iva
—
like that
;
ātmānam
—
plenary manifestations
;
supta
—
unmanifested
;
śaktiḥ
—
material energy
;
asupta
—
manifested
;
dṛk
—
internal potency .
Translation
The Lord, the undisputed proprietor of everything, was the only seer. The cosmic manifestation was not present at that time, and thus He felt imperfect without His plenary and separated parts and parcels. The material energy was dormant, whereas the internal potency was manifested.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
The one puruṣa, who glances over prakṛti, at the beginning of creation, could not see her. He, the possessor of māyā, who was sleeping, and the possessor of spiritual consorts, who were awake, considered himself non-existent without her.
The puruṣa is certainly (vai) the glancer over prakṛti (draṣṭā). At the beginning of creation (tadā), he did not see what should be glanced on for creation, the pradhāna (dṛśyam). He considered himself (ātmānam) as if not existing (asantam). This is a poetic convention, like the householder feels non-existent without a wife. This can also refer to the collective jīvas who existed only in subtle form (ātmānam) within himself and would later become visible. Though they existed, he considered them non-existent at that time. With glancing over prakṛti, it was impossible for the Lord to manifest the worlds (but prakṛti was invisible). In what state was his dear māyā who was to receive his glance? Māyā (śakti) was sleeping. A sleeping lover cannot be enjoyed. But there were many lovers willing to give the Lord bliss who were awake. He had many consorts such as Lakṣmī, functions of his cit-śakti (asupta-dṛk). However, for creating the universe, the Lord at that time needed the external energy, māyā-śakti, though she is inferior.
Purport
The Lord is the supreme seer because only by His glance did the material energy become active for cosmic manifestation. At that time the seer was there, but the external energy, over which the glance of the Lord is cast, was not present. He felt somewhat insufficient, like a husband feeling lonely in the absence of his wife. This is a poetic simile. The Lord wanted to create the cosmic manifestation to give another chance to the conditioned souls who were dormant in forgetfulness. The cosmic manifestation gives the conditioned souls a chance to go back home, back to Godhead, and that is its main purpose. The Lord is so kind that in the absence of such a manifestation He feels something wanting, and thus the creation takes place. Although the creation of the internal potency was manifested, the other potency appeared to be sleeping, and the Lord wanted to awaken her to activity, just as a husband wants to awaken his wife from the sleeping state for enjoyment. It is the compassion of the Lord for the sleeping energy that He wants to see her awaken for enjoyment like the other wives who are awake. The whole process is to enliven the sleeping conditioned souls to the real life of spiritual consciousness so that they may thus become as perfect as the ever-liberated souls in the Vaikuṇṭhalokas. Since the Lord is
sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha,
He likes every part and parcel of His different potencies to take part in the blissful
rasa
because participation with the Lord in His eternal
rāsa-līlā
is the highest living condition, perfect in spiritual bliss and eternal knowledge.