Devanagari
ततोऽर्वाक्प्रतिलब्धाक्ष: क: परेतवदुत्थित: ।
कृच्छ्रादुन्मील्य वै दृष्टीराचष्टेदं सहात्मना ॥ ५८ ॥
Verse text
tato ’rvāk pratilabdhākṣaḥ
kaḥ paretavad utthitaḥ
kṛcchrād unmīlya vai dṛṣṭīr
ācaṣṭedaṁ sahātmanā
Synonyms
tataḥ
—
then
;
arvāk
—
externally
;
pratilabdha
—
akṣaḥ — having revived his consciousness
;
kaḥ
—
Lord Brahmā
;
pareta
—
vat — just like a dead man
;
utthitaḥ
—
stood up
;
kṛcchrāt
—
with great difficulty
;
unmīlya
—
opening up
;
vai
—
indeed
;
dṛṣṭīḥ
—
his eyes
;
ācaṣṭa
—
he saw
;
idam
—
this universe
;
saha
—
ātmanā — along with himself .
Translation
Lord Brahmā’s external consciousness then revived, and he stood up, just like a dead man coming back to life. Opening his eyes with great difficulty, he saw the universe, along with himself.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Lord Brahmā's external consciousness then revived, and he stood up, just like a dead man coming back to life. Opening his eyes with great difficulty, he saw the universe, along with himself.
KB 10.13.58
When Brahmā was relieved from his perplexity, he appeared to awaken from an almost dead state, and he began to open his eyes with great difficulty. Thus he could see the external cosmic manifestation with common eyes.
Purport
We actually do not die. At death, we are merely kept inert for some time, just as during sleep. At night we sleep, and all our activities stop, but as soon as we arise, our memory immediately returns, and we think, “Oh, where am I? What do I have to do?” This is called
suptotthita-nyāya.
Suppose we die. “Die” means that we become inert for some time and then again begin our activities. This takes place life after life, according to our
karma,
or activities, and
svabhāva,
or nature by association. Now, in the human life, if we prepare ourselves by beginning the activity of our spiritual life, we return to our real life and attain perfection. Otherwise, according to
karma, svabhāva, prakṛti
and so on, our varieties of life and activity continue, and so also do our birth and death. As explained by Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura,
māyāra vaśe, yāccha bhese’, khāccha hābuḍubu bhāi:
“My dear brothers, why are you being washed away by the waves of
māyā
?” One should come to the spiritual platform, and then one’s activities will be permanent.
Kṛta-puṇya-puṣjāḥ:
this stage is attained after one accumulates the results of pious activities for many, many lives.
Janma-koṭi-sukṛtair na labhyate
(Cc.
Madhya
8.70). The Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement wants to stop
koṭi-janma,
repeated birth and death. In one birth, one should rectify everything and come to permanent life. This is Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Getting back his external vision (arbak aksah), and opening his eyes, Brahma (kah) , as if returning from death, saw this universe (idam), the object of his possessiveness along with himself, the object of false identity as creator of the universe.
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
He rose up, because he had fallen off his swan. He saw this world (idam), object of his possessiveness along with his body, which he identified as “I.” He saw in this way because of forgetfulness.
Purport (Sanatana Goswami)
After the Lord covered the māyā (tataḥ arvāk) Brahmā regained his consciousness, like a dead man, since his bewilderment was so complete. Or only a long time after regaining consciousness could he move about. He rose up. By becoming unconscious, he had fallen from his swan. When unconscious, he forgot about himself. Now he saw the universe and himself. Or he saw Vṛndāvana at once (saha) by himself (ātmanā).