Brihad Bhagavatamrita (commentary)
by Śī Śīmad Bhaktivedānta Nārāyana Gosvāmī Mahārāja | 2005 | 440,179 words | ISBN-13: 9781935428329
The Brihad-bhagavatamrita Verse 2.3.88-89, English translation, including commentary (Dig-darshini-tika): an important Vaishnava text dealing with the importance of devotional service. The Brihad-bhagavatamrita, although an indepent Sanskrit work, covers the essential teachings of the Shrimad Bhagavatam (Bhagavata-purana). This is verse 2.3.88-89 contained in Chapter 3—Bhajana (loving service)—of Part two (prathama-khanda).
Verse 2.3.88-89
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 2.3.88-89:
इत्य� एव� कोटि-कोटीना� ब्रह्मणा� महता� क्रमात� �
कोटि-कोटि-मुखाब्जाना� तादृग्-ब्रह्माण्ड-कोटिषु � ८८ �
गच्छतो लीलाया तत�-तद�-अनुरूप-परिच्छदान् �
गणेशोऽदर्शयत� तान् मा� बहुश� दृङ्-मन�-हरान� � ८९ �ity eva� ṭi-koṭīnā� brahmaṇāṃ mahatā� |
ṭi-ṭi-mukhābjānā� tādṛg-ṇḍ-ṭiṣu || 88 ||
gacchato līlāyā tat-tad-anurūpa-貹 |
gaṇeśo'darśayat mā� bahuśo dṛṅ-mano- || 89 ||iti–tܲ; evam–in this way; ṭi-ṭīn峾–of billions upon billions; ṇām–of ; 峾–g; –in sequence; ṭiṭi–billions of billions; ܰ-峾–having lotus faces; ṛk–aDZٱ; ṇḍ–of universes; ṭiṣu–in millions; ٲ�–gǾԲ; ī–by pastimes; ٲ-ٲ-Գܰū貹–appropriate for each one; 貹Բ; ṇeś�–Gṇeś; 岹śⲹ–sǷɱ; –t; 峾–to me; ś�–mԲ; ṛk–e; Բ�–and minds; –cԲ.
In this way, there are who possess heads ranging from sixteen all the way up to billions upon billions, each dwelling in his proportionately larger universe. Śī Ҳṇeś pointed out to me, “O highly fortunate one, just see these ղṇṭ associates. Their beauty enchants the eyes. They are entering those universes, manifesting garments, ornaments, and opulences suitable to the vastness of each universe.�
Commentary: Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā with Bhāvānuvāda
(By Śīla Sanātana Gosvāmī himself including a deep purport of that commentary)
Śī Gopa-ܳ heard Śī Ҳṇeś’s description of the ղṇṭ associates and witnessed them personally. In two verses, beginning here with iti, he presents this in Ҳṇeś’s own words. He says, “Ś� Ҳṇeś told me, ‘O most fortunate one, just see these who have so many heads. Starting from sixteen, they increase to thirty-two heads, then sixty-four, one hundred and twenty-eight, and so on up to the billions upon billions. Each one is situated in his own ṇḍ.�
Just as the he saw were uncountable, the universes ruled by them were also billions in number. The term ṭi-ṭi, meaning ‘billions and billions,� implies that just as the are countless, the universes ruled by them are also infinite and unlimited.
This is described in ’s prayers to Śī ṛṣṇa in the Tenth Canto of Śīmad-岵ٲ (10.14.11):
क्वाहं तम�-महद्-अह�-�-चराग्न�-वार्-भू संवेष्टिताण्�-घट-सप्त-वितस्त�-कायः
क्वेदृग्-विधाविगणिताण्ड-पराण�-चर्य� वाताध्�-रो�-विवरस्� � ते महित्वम्kvāha� tamo-mahad-aha�-kha-carāgni-vār-bhū saṃveṣṭitāṇḍa-ghaṭa-sapta-vitasti-kāya�
kvedṛg-vidhāvigaṇitāṇḍa-parāṇu-caryā vātādhva-roma-vivarasya ca te mahitvamO , this universe, surrounded by the coverings made of material energy (ṛt), mahat-tattva, false ego, ether, air, fire, water, and earth is my very body. But You are so vast that innumerable universes such as this come in and out of every pore of Your body, just like particles of dust seen floating in the sunrays coming through a latticed window. What am I? An insignificant person whose body measures three-and-a-half cubits. And what is Your unlimited glory?
In Śīmad-岵ٲ (10.87.41), in the prayers of the personified Vedas (Śܳپ) it is stated:
द्यु-पत� एव ते � ययुर� अन्तम् अनन्ततया त्वम� अप� यद�-अन्तराण्�-निचय� नन� सावरणा�
� इव रजांसि वान्ति वयसा सह यच� छ्रुतयस् त्वय� हि फलन्त्य् अतन्-निरसने� भवन्-निधनाःdyu-pataya eva te na yayur antam anantatayā tvam api yad-antarāṇḍa-nicayā nanu sāvaraṇāḥ
kha iva rajāṃsi vānti vayasā saha yac chrutayas tvayi hi phalanty atan-nirasanena bhavan-nidhanā�O , the rulers of the heavenly abodes, like Indra and , cannot fathom Your limit. But the astonishing thing is that You also do not know it. How can anyone know Your limit if it is endless? O Lord, just as small particles of dust are kept aloft by the wind, so by the speed of time, innumerable universes, each with a shell of seven layers, each layer ten times larger than the previous one, simultaneously revolve within You. And finally these universes enter into You alone. Even we Śܳپs cannot describe Your nature fully. All we can do is to give some idea of Your glories while rejecting everything other than You.
In the Sixth Canto (Śīmad-岵ٲ 6.16.37), Citraketu prays to Śī ṅkṣaṇa:
क्षित्य्-आदिभिर� एष किलावृतः सप्तभिर् दश-गुणोत्तरैर� अण्ड-कोशः
यत्र पतत्य् अण�-कल्प� सहाण्ड-कोटि-कोटिभिस् तद� अनन्तःkṣity-ādibhir eṣa kilāvṛta� saptabhir daśa-guṇottarair aṇḍa-kośa�
yatra pataty aṇu-kalpa� sahāṇḍa-ṭi-ṭibhis tad ananta�O , every universe is covered by seven elements (earth, etc.), and each element is ten times larger than the previous one. Billions of universes of this nature revolve in the pores of Your skin like subatomic particles. Therefore, just as You are unlimited, so is Your opulence.
Gopa-ܳ says, “In this way, Śī Ҳṇeś showed me how the Lord’s associates from the innumerable ղṇṭ planets were performing the pastime of visiting countless universes. I could see all these things without obstruction because the abode of liberation has no material coverings.
“What were those ղṇṭ associates like? They were appropriate to the universe to which they were going. Those associates, who were enchantingly beautiful to the eyes, were adorned with garments, ornaments, and opulences proportionately suitable to the enormity of the respective universes. If they did not manifest vast opulences appropriate to all those gigantic universes, then the residents of those universes, seeing them with external vision, might become guilty of disrespecting the eternal associates of ղṇṭ.�