Devanagari
श्रीब्रह्मोवाच
नतोऽस्म्यनन्ताय दुरन्तशक्तये
विचित्रवीर्याय पवित्रकर्मणे ।
विश्वस्य सर्गस्थितिसंयमान् गुणै:
स्वलीलया सन्दधतेऽव्ययात्मने ॥ ४० ॥
Verse text
śrī-brahmovāca
nato ’smy anantāya duranta-śaktaye
vicitra-vīryāya pavitra-karmaṇe
viśvasya sarga-sthiti-saṁyamān guṇaiḥ
sva-līlayā sandadhate ’vyayātmane
Synonyms
śrī
—
brahmā uvāca — Lord Brahmā said
;
nataḥ
—
bowed down
;
asmi
—
I am
;
anantāya
—
unto the unlimited Lord
;
duranta
—
very difficult to find an end to
;
śaktaye
—
who possesses different potencies
;
vicitra
—
vīryāya — having varieties of prowess
;
pavitra
—
karmaṇe — whose actions have no reaction (even though doing contrary things, He remains without contamination by the material modes)
;
viśvasya
—
of the universe
;
sarga
—
creation
;
sthiti
—
maintenance
;
saṁyamān
—
and annihilation
;
guṇaiḥ
—
by the material qualities
;
sva
—
līlayā — very easily
;
sandadhate
—
performs
;
avyaya
—
ātmane — whose personality never deteriorates .
Translation
Lord Brahmā prayed: My Lord, You are unlimited, and You possess unending potencies. No one can estimate or calculate Your prowess and wonderful influence, for Your actions are never polluted by the material energy. Through the material qualities, You very easily create the universe, maintain it and again annihilate it, yet You remain the same, without deterioration. I therefore offer my respectful obeisances unto You.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Brahmā said: I offer respects to the unlimited master of unlimited potencies, of astonishing prowess and pure actions, who carries out creation, maintenance and dissolution of the universe by māyā with ease and remains undiminished.
You made the Kumāras get angry and made your two gate keepers fall. You made me, Brahmā, give blessings to the demon, and you made your devotee appear in the family of demons. Inspiring the demon, you cause harm to the devotee. Then you personally manifest yourself to protect your devotee. No one can understand your plan. Therefore I offer respects to you. I cannot know your limits (anantāya). To please you, I offer respects to your energies but the limits of those powers cannot be understood. You have remarkable prowess, since you killed the unconquerable demon in a moment. You are śuddha-sattva and therefore even if you are angry, your actions are pure. I offer respects to you who perform (sandadhate) creation, maintenance and destruction.
Purport
The activities of the Lord are always wonderful. His personal servants Jaya and Vijaya were confidential friends, yet they were cursed, and they accepted bodies of demons. Again, in the family of one such demon, Prahlāda Mahārāja was caused to take birth to exhibit the behavior of an exalted devotee, and then the Lord accepted the body of Nṛsiṁhadeva to kill that same demon, who by the Lord’s own will had taken birth in a demoniac family. Therefore, who can understand the Lord’s transcendental activities? Not to speak of understanding the transcendental activities of the Lord, no one can understand even the activities of His servants. In
Caitanya-caritāmṛta
(
Madhya
23.39)
it is said,
tāṅra vākya, kriyā, mudrā vijṣeha nā bhujhaya:
no one can understand the activities of the Lord’s servants. Therefore, what to speak of the activities of the Lord? Who can understand how Kṛṣṇa is benefiting the entire world? The Lord is addressed as
duranta-śakti
because no one can understand His potencies and how He acts.