Devanagari
अथ त्वमसि नो ब्रह्मन् परमात्मन् विपश्चिताम् ।
विश्वं रुद्रभयध्वस्तमकुतश्चिद्भया गति: ॥ ६८ ॥
Verse text
atha tvam asi no brahman
paramātman vipaścitām
viśvaṁ rudra-bhaya-dhvastam
akutaścid-bhayā gatiḥ
Synonyms
atha
—
therefore
;
tvam
—
You, my Lord
;
asi
—
are
;
naḥ
—
our
;
brahman
—
O Supreme Brahman
;
parama
—
ātman — O Supersoul
;
vipaścitām
—
for the learned, wise men
;
viśvam
—
the whole universe
;
rudra
—
bhaya — being afraid of Rudra
;
dhvastam
—
annihilated
;
akutaścit
—
bhayā — undoubtedly fearless
;
gatiḥ
—
destination .
Translation
My dear Lord, all actually learned persons know You as the Supreme Brahman and the Supersoul. Although the entire universe is afraid of Lord Rudra, who ultimately annihilates everything, for the learned devotees You are the fearless destination of all.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
O Brahman! Paramātmā! You are the goal of the wise; you are our goal in which there is no fear. The whole universe of ignorant jīvas is destroyed by fear of time.
This verse is a summary. You are the goal of the wise, not the fools, because everything in universe is destroyed by fear of Śiva. This means the ignorant jīvas in this world are destroyed by fear of time.
Purport
For the purpose of creation, maintenance and annihilation of this cosmic manifestation, there are three lords — Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Śiva (Maheśvara). The material body is finished at the time of annihilation. Both the universal body and the small unit, the individual living entity’s body, are susceptible to annihilation at the ultimate end. However, the devotees do not fear the annihilation of the body, for they are confident that after the annihilation they will go back home, back to Godhead (
tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti so ’rjuna
).
If one strictly follows the process of devotional service, he has no fear of death, for he is predestined to go back home, back to Godhead. The nondevotees are fearful of death because they have no guarantee of where they are going or of the type of body they are going to get in their next life. The word
rudra-bhaya
is significant in this verse because Rudra himself, Lord Śiva, is speaking of “fear of Rudra.” This indicates that there are many Rudras — eleven Rudras — and the Rudra (Lord Śiva) who was offering this prayer to the Supreme Personality of Godhead is different from the other Rudras, although he is as powerful as they are. The conclusion is that one Rudra is afraid of another Rudra because each and every one of them is engaged in the destruction of this cosmic manifestation. But for the devotee, everyone is afraid of Rudra, even Rudra himself. A devotee is never afraid of Rudra because he is always secure, being protected by the lotus feet of the Lord. As Śrī Kṛṣṇa says in
Bhagavad-gītā
(9.31)
,
kaunteya pratijānīhi na me bhaktaḥ praṇaśyati:
“My dear Arjuna, you may declare publicly that My pure devotee will not be vanquished under any circumstances.”