Devanagari
अहं त्वामृषिभि: सार्धं सहनावमुदन्वति ।
विकर्षन् विचरिष्यामि यावद् ब्राह्मी निशा प्रभो ॥ ३७ ॥
Verse text
ahaṁ tvām ṛṣibhiḥ sārdhaṁ
saha-nāvam udanvati
vikarṣan vicariṣyāmi
yāvad brāhmī niśā prabho
Synonyms
aham
—
I
;
tvām
—
unto you
;
ṛṣibhiḥ
—
with all the saintly persons
;
sārdham
—
all together
;
saha
—
with
;
nāvam
—
the boat
;
udanvati
—
in the water of devastation
;
vikarṣan
—
contacting
;
vicariṣyāmi
—
I shall travel
;
yāvat
—
as long as
;
brāhmī
—
pertaining to Lord Brahmā
;
niśā
—
night
;
prabho
—
O King .
Translation
Pulling the boat, with you and all the ṛṣis in it, O King, I shall travel in the water of devastation until the night of Lord Brahmā’s slumber is over.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Pulling the boat, with you and all the sages in it, O King, I shall travel in the water of devastation until the night of Brahmā is over.
Here it mentions the night of Brahmā. Though it was Cākṣuṣa Manvantara within the day of Brahmā, by the Lord’s will an untimely devastation occurred. Since the flood covered the three worlds and appeared like the nightly devastation, Brahmā went to sleep without worry for some time, following the desire of the Lord to have pastimes. Thus the words “Brahmā’s night” are taken in a secondary sense. This is the explanation of the Sandarbha, following Laghu-bhāgavatāmṛta. Moreover it is said:
madhye manvantarasyaiva muneḥ śāpān manuṁ prati |
pralayo’sau babhūveti purāṇe kvacid īryate ||18||
ayam ākasmiko jātaś cākṣuṣasyāntare manoḥ |
pralayaḥ padmanābhasya līlayeti ca kutracit ||19||
It is mentioned in the Matsya Purāṇa that there was a pralaya during his period because of curse of a sage upon Svāyambhuva. It is mentioned in the Viṣṇu-dharmottara that by the will of the Lord there was a sudden deluge during the reign of Cakṣusa Manu. Laghu-bhāgavatāmṛta
One should accept that a devastation did take place, otherwise there would have been no creation of population by Dakṣa after that time.
cākṣuṣe tv antare prāpte prāk-sarge kāla-vidrute
yaḥ sasarja prajā iṣṭāḥ sa dakṣo daiva-coditaḥ
His previous body had been destroyed, but he, the same Dakṣa, inspired by the supreme will, created all the desired living entities in the Cākṣuṣa Manvantara. SB 4.30.49
This is not contrary to the four types of devastation [Note: The four types of destruction are nitya (constant change), naimittika (destruction at end of Brahmā’s day), prākṛtika (destruction at end of Brahmā’s life) and ātyantika (destruction of ahaṅkāra). These are described in SB 12.4.] since this is a secondary devastation within the day of Brahmā. The lifting of the earth and killing of Hiraṇyākṣa by Varāha took place after the devastation during Cākṣuṣa Manvantara, since it was impossible for Hiraṇyākṣa to be born at the beginning of Svāyambhuva Manvantara when the earth was first lifted by Varāha.
uttānapāda-vaṁśyānāṁ tanayasya pracetasām |
dakṣasyaiva ditiḥ putrī hiraṇākṣo diteḥ sutaḥ ||15||
Dakṣa was the son of the Pracetas in the lineage of Uttānapāda. Dakṣa’s daughter was Diti. Hiraṇyakṣa was the son of Diti.
kalpārambhe tadā nāsti sutotpattir manor api |
kvāsau prācetaso dakṣaḥ kva ditiḥ kva diteḥ ||16||
At the beginning of the first kalpa of Brahmā Svāyambhuva had produced no sons. Thus the Pracetas, Dakṣa, Diti and Hiraṇyakṣa could not have existed then.
ataḥ kāla-dvayodbhūtaṁ śrī-varāhasya ceṣṭitam |
ekatraivāha maitreyaḥ kṣattuḥ praśnānurodhataḥ ||17||
The truth has been discerned in this way. Thus Maitreya, on being asked by Vidura, narrated the activities of both appearances of Varāha in one story. Laghu-bhāgavatāmṛta
Thus Śukadeva has merged the two stories of Matsya into one without distinguishing the two different appearances. However, the first appearance was to save the Vedas and his other appearance within the hand of Satyavrata was during Cākṣuṣa Manvantara. Suta also lists the Cākṣuṣa Matsya in his narration of the avatāras.
rūpaṁ sa jagṛhe mātsyaṁ cākṣuṣodadhi-samplave
nāvy āropya mahī-mayyām apād vaivasvataṁ manum
When there was a complete inundation during the period of the Cākṣuṣa Manu and the whole world was deep within water, the Lord accepted the form of a fish and protected Vaivasvata Manu, keeping him on a boat. [Note: The commentary on this verse mentions that after every Manvantara there is a devastation. Matsya appears after every devastation.] SB 1.3.15
Śrīdhara Svāmī however says that the Lord showed a devastation to Satyavrata to give instructions of knowledge, in the manner that a devastation was shown to Mārkanḍeya through illusion to give detachment, since the devastation cannot be a mahākalpa devastation because the earth does not remain at that time, and it cannot be a daily devastation because the devastation appeared suddenly without the Sāṁvartika rain. Matsya said it would happen in seven days time.
Purport
This particular devastation actually took place not during the night of Lord Brahmā but during his day, for it was during the time of Cākṣuṣa Manu. Brahmā’s night takes place when Brahmā goes to sleep, but in the daytime there are fourteen Manus, one of whom is Cākṣuṣa Manu. Therefore, Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura comments that although it was daytime for Lord Brahmā, Brahmā felt sleepy for a short time by the supreme will of the Lord. This short period is regarded as Lord Brahmā’s night. This has been elaborately discussed by Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī in his
Laghu-bhāgavatāmṛta.
The following is a summary of his analysis. Because Agastya Muni cursed Svāyambhuva Manu, during the time of Svāyambhuva Manu a devastation took place. This devastation is mentioned in the
Matsya Purāṇa.
During the time of Cākṣuṣa Manu, by the supreme will of the Lord, there was suddenly another
pralaya,
or devastation. This is mentioned by Mārkaṇḍeya Ṛṣi in the
Viṣṇu-dharmottara.
At the end of Manu’s time there is not necessarily a devastation, but at the end of the Cākṣuṣa-
manvantara,
the Supreme Personality of Godhead, by His illusory energy, wanted to show Satyavrata the effects of devastation. Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī also agrees with this opinion. The
Laghu-bhāgavatāmṛta
says:
madhye manvantarasyaiva
muneḥ śāpān manuṁ prati
pralayo ’sau babhūveti
purāṇe kvacid īryate
ayam ākasmiko jātaś
cākṣuṣasyāntare manoḥ
pralayaḥ padmanābhasya
līlayeti ca kutracit
sarva-manvantarasyānte
pralayo niścitaṁ bhavet
viṣṇu-dharmottare tv etat
mārkaṇḍeyeṇa bhāṣitam
manor ante layo nāsti
manave ’darśi māyayā
viṣṇuneti bruvāṇais tu
svāmibhir naiṣa manyate