Devanagari
प्रपञ्चं निष्प्रपञ्चोऽपि विडम्बयसि भूतले ।
प्रपन्नजनतानन्दसन्दोहं प्रथितुं प्रभो ॥ ३७ ॥
Verse text
prapaṣcaṁ niṣprapaṣco ’pi
viḍambayasi bhū-tale
prapanna-janatānanda-
sandohaṁ prathituṁ prabho
Synonyms
prapaṣcam
—
that which is material
;
niṣprapaṣcaḥ
—
completely transcendental to material existence
;
api
—
although
;
viḍambayasi
—
You imitate
;
bhū
—
tale — on the surface of the earth
;
prapanna
—
who are surrendered
;
janatā
—
of people
;
ānanda
—
sandoham — the great variety of different kinds of ecstasies
;
prathitum
—
in order to spread
;
prabho
—
O master .
Translation
My dear master, although You have nothing to do with material existence, You come to this earth and imitate material life just to expand the varieties of ecstatic enjoyment for Your surrendered devotees.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
My dear master, although You have nothing to do with material existence, You come to this earth and imitate material life just to expand the varieties of ecstatic enjoyment for Your surrendered devotees.
KB 10.14.37
“I can also understand that Your appearance as a small cowherd boy, a child of the cowherd men, is not at all a material activity. You are so much obliged by their affection that You are here to inspire them with more loving service by Your transcendental presence. In Vṛndāvana there is no distinction between material and spiritual because everything is dedicated to Your loving service. My dear Lord, Your Vṛndāvana pastimes are simply to inspire Your devotees. If someone takes Your Vṛndāvana pastimes to be material, he will be misled.
“My dear Lord Kṛṣṇa, those who deride You, claiming that You have a material body like an ordinary man, are described in the Bhagavad-gītā as demoniac and less intelligent. You are always transcendental. The nondevotees are cheated because they consider You to be a material creation. Actually, You have assumed this body, which exactly resembles that of an ordinary cowherd boy, simply to increase the devotion and transcendental bliss of Your devotees.
Purport
Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura points out that just as a lamp does not seem to shine as brightly in sunlight as it does in the shade, or as a diamond does not seem as brilliant on a silver platter as it does on a plate of blue glass, the Lord’s pastimes as Govinda do not seem as amazing in the transcendental abode of Vaikuṇṭha as they do within the material realm of Māyā. Lord Kṛṣṇa comes to the earth and acts toward His pure devotees exactly like a devoted son, boyfriend, husband, father, friend and so on, and within the darkness of material existence these brilliant, liberated pastimes give unlimited ecstasy to the surrendered devotees of the Lord.
In his
Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead,
Śrīla Prabhupāda quotes Lord Brahmā as follows: “I can also understand that Your appearance as a small cowherd boy, a child of the cowherd men, is not at all a material activity. You are so much obliged by their affection that You are here to enthuse them with more loving service by Your transcendental presence.”
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Some think that the purna brahma becoming a son in Vraja is not real, not absolute and that those devotees are in illusion. In reply to this Brahma recites this verse.
"Though you are always beyond the material influence, you always are situated within the material world, and take up forms and relationships similar to material forms and relationships of sons, but your form and relationships are not false like those of material fathers and sons. Those forms and relationships, being transcendental, are real and eternal. Though your pastimes are eternal and beyond material influence, they appear similar to material activities. Why do you need to imitate material activities? --In order to increase even further the bliss that the devotees have tasted from some of your pastimes.
As a lamp appears bright in the darkness, but is insignificant in the sunlight, or a diamond does not glitter on a white background but appears brilliant against a dark background, the pastimes do not appear so astonishing in Vaikuntha as they do when performed in the material world. Though Vraja is spiritual, just as Krsna appears like a mortal person, so Vraja also appears like part of the material world. In this place the pastimes appear most wonderful."
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
What is the purpose of your pastimes? They are to spread intense bliss to the surrendered people—those in Vraja and myself, by sweet pastimes rather than pastimes displaying power.
nandaḥ kim akarod brahman śreya evaṁ mahodayam
yaśodā ca mahā-bhāgā papau yasyāḥ stanaṁ hariḥ
What pious acts did Nanda perform to cause such affection and what pious acts did most fortunate Yaśodā perform so that the Lord drank from her breast? SB 10.8.46
pitarau nānvavindetāṁ kṛṣṇodārārbhakehitam
gāyanty adyāpi kavayo yal loka-śamalāpaham
Great devotees sing of the activities of Kṛṣṇa in his childhood which Vasudeva and Devakī could not experience and which even today destroy the sins of all people. SB 10.8.47
yena yenāvatāreṇa bhagavān harir īśvaraḥ
karoti karṇa-ramyāṇi mano-jñāni ca naḥ prabho
yac-chṛṇvato ’paity aratir vitṛṣṇā
sattvaṁ ca śuddhyaty acireṇa puṁsaḥ
bhaktir harau tat-puruṣe ca sakhyaṁ
tad eva hāraṁ vada manyase cet
O Lord! Hearing about the Lord, full of all qualities, destroyer, of suffering, attractor of the senses, who through his appearance causes pleasure to the ears and great attraction to the mind, destroys all disinterest in the topics and all thirst for material enjoyment, and produces prema for the attractive Lord and friendship with the devotees. Please speak of the Lord’s pastimes if you think I am qualified. SB 10.7.1-2
The pastimes of Kṛṣṇa with the people of Vraja are eternal. This is indicated in the verse 32 where the friendship of the Lord is unspecified in time and followed by the words “greatest bliss,” “complete” and “eternal.” Verse 33 again indicates that the pastimes are eternal. In giving up Vaikuṇṭha and praying for a birth to attain the foot dust of the people of Vraja and describing the Lord who is the life of the people of Vraja, sought by the Vedas, again the eternal nature of the pastimes is seen. Not able to repay his debts, the Lord then appears in the world as a son over unlimited kalpas of time. Though there are many people filled with attachment and illusion, this is no obstacle to the pastimes. Brahmā takes as his personal goal in life attainment of the form of Kṛṣṇa a cowherd described in verse 1, related to the people of Vraja and to the devotees outside. Brahmā fears that some people with material vision think that the pastimes are material. What can be said? This verse answers. Though you are untouched by matter in your pastimes and constantly engage in pastimes with your devotees, and appear in the material world with your devotees, you imitate the material world by being born like a human but show the great glory by that act. “What is the purpose of doing that?” It gives joy to the devotees. Both the people of this world who are not eternal and the surrendered devotees who are eternal derive bliss by seeing and hearing about the eternal pastimes which manifest on earth. An ocean of bliss spreads because of the pastimes which appear on earth.
Purport (Sanatana Goswami)
Though you are beyond the material world, you imitate the world—by being a son etc. Why? You do this in order to give bliss to your devotees by hearing about your pastimes related to Vraja. Or do you really perform pastimes as a son with the devotees? You who cause others to exit the material world (nisprapañcaḥ) become fixed (vilambayasi) in spreading bliss by pastimes with the peopḷe of Vraja (praptanna-janatā).