Devanagari
प्रलयपयसि धातु: सुप्तशक्तेर्मुखेभ्य:
श्रुतिगणमपनीतं प्रत्युपादत्त हत्वा ।
दितिजमकथयद् यो ब्रह्म सत्यव्रतानां
तमहमखिलहेतुं जिह्ममीनं नतोऽस्मि ॥ ६१ ॥
स वै मन: कृष्णपदारविन्दयो-
र्वचांसि वैकुण्ठगुणानुवर्णने ।
करौ हरेर्मन्दिरमार्जनादिषु
श्रुतिं चकाराच्युतसत्कथोदये ॥
Verse text
pralaya-payasi dhātuḥ supta-śakter mukhebhyaḥ
śruti-gaṇam apanītaṁ pratyupādatta hatvā
ditijam akathayad yo brahma satyavratānāṁ
tam aham akhila-hetuṁ jihma-mīnaṁ nato ’smi
Synonyms
pralaya
—
payasi — in the water of inundation
;
dhātuḥ
—
from Lord Brahmā
;
supta
—
śakteḥ — who was inert because of sleeping
;
mukhebhyaḥ
—
from the mouths
;
śruti
—
gaṇam — Vedic records
;
apanītam
—
stolen
;
pratyupādatta
—
gave back to him
;
hatvā
—
by killing
;
ditijam
—
the great demon
;
akathayat
—
explained
;
yaḥ
—
one who
;
brahma
—
Vedic knowledge
;
satyavratānām
—
for the enlightenment of Satyavrata and the great saintly persons
;
tam
—
unto Him
;
aham
—
I
;
akhila
—
hetum — unto the cause of all causes
;
jihma
—
mīnam — appearing as and pretending to be a great fish
;
nataḥ asmi
—
I offer my respectful obeisances .
Translation
I offer my respectful obeisances unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who pretended to be a gigantic fish, who restored the Vedic literature to Lord Brahmā when Lord Brahmā awakened from sleep, and who explained the essence of Vedic literature to King Satyavrata and the great saintly persons.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
I offer my respectful obeisances unto Matsya, the cause of all causes, who, after killing the demon, restored to Lord Brahmā the Vedic literature stolen from his mouths while Brahmā had no powers, during sleep at the time of the devastation, and who explained the essence of Vedic literature to King Satyavrata.
The purposes of the two avatāras are summarized for clarity. Diti-jam (born from Diti) means a demon. Here the conventional meaning is take over the literal meaning (he was not really Diti’s son.) Satyavratānām is in the plural out of respect. Jihma-mīnam means “having a corrupted fish form.” It was a distorted form because the fish had a horn which was tied to the boat. Another form of distorted fish is known commonly as āḍi.
The commentary Śārātha-darśinī on twenty-fourth chapter of the Eighth Canto has been completed to give pleasure to the hearts of the devotees in accordance with the views of the ācāryas.
I do not have detachment or a trace of bhakti. I do not have a trace of knowledge nor good conduct. I do not write a commentary but make a net to catch my intelligence which is quivering in the waves of saṁsāra. The commentary of the Eighth Canto has been completed on the sixth lunar day in the waxing phase of Phalguna month on the banks of Rādhā-kuṇḍa. I offer respects to Rādhā-kuṇḍa, Śyāma-kunḍa, Govardhana and my guru.
Chapter One
The Story of Sudyumna
Purport
Here is a summary of Satyavrata’s meeting with the fish incarnation of Lord Viṣṇu. Lord Viṣṇu’s purpose was to take back all the Vedic literatures from the demon Hayagrīva and restore them to Lord Brahmā. Incidentally, by His causeless mercy, the Lord spoke with Satyavrata. The word
satyavratānām
is significant because it indicates that those on the level of Satyavrata can take knowledge from the
Vedas
delivered by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Whatever is spoken by the Supreme Lord is accepted as
Veda.
As stated in
Bhagavad-gītā,
vedānta-kṛd veda-vit:
the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the compiler of all Vedic knowledge, and He knows the purport of the
Vedas.
Therefore, anyone who takes knowledge from the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, or from
Bhagavad-gītā
as it is, knows the purpose of the
Vedas
(
vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ
). One cannot understand Vedic knowledge from the
veda-vāda-ratās,
who read the
Vedas
and misconstrue their subject matter. One has to know the
Vedas
from the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Thus end the Bhaktivedanta purports of the Eighth Canto, Twenty-fourth Chapter, of the
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
entitled “Matsya, the Lord’s Fish Incarnation.”
— This commentation has been finished in our New Delhi center today, the first of September, 1976, the day of Rādhāṣṭamī, by the grace of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the
ācāryas.
Śrīla Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura says,
tāṅdera caraṇa sevi bhakta-sane vāsa janame janame haya, ei abhilāṣa.
I am attempting to present
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
in the English language by the order of my spiritual master, Śrīmad Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, and by his grace the work of translation is gradually progressing, and the European and American devotees who have joined the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement are helping me considerably. Thus we have expectations of finishing the great task before my passing away. All glories to Śrī Guru and Gaurāṅga.
END OF THE EIGHTH CANTO