Devanagari
ततो विकारा अभवन् षोडशामीषु कञ्चन ।
उपधावन् विभूतीनां सर्वासामश्नुते गतिम् ॥ ४ ॥
Verse text
tato vikārā abhavan
ṣoḍaśāmīṣu kaṣcana
upadhāvan vibhūtīnāṁ
sarvāsām aśnute gatim
Synonyms
tataḥ
—
from that (false ego)
;
vikārāḥ
—
transformations
;
abhavan
—
have manifested
;
ṣoḍaśa
—
sixteen
;
amīṣu
—
among these
;
kaṣcana
—
any
;
upadhāvan
—
pursuing
;
vibhūtīnām
—
of material assets
;
sarvāsām
—
all
;
aśnute
—
enjoys
;
gatim
—
the acquisition .
Translation
The sixteen elements have evolved as transformations of that false ego. When a devotee of Lord Śiva worships his manifestation in any one of these elements, the devotee obtains all sorts of corresponding enjoyable opulences.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
The sixteen elements have evolved as transformations of that false ego. When a devotee of Lord Śiva worships his manifestation in any one of these elements, the devotee obtains all sorts of corresponding enjoyable opulences.
KB 10.88.4
Since this material world is a product of the three qualities of material nature, all varieties of manifestations come from those three qualities. With the aid of materialistic science, modern civilization has created many machines and comforts, yet they are only varieties of the interactions of the three material qualities. Although the devotees of Lord Śiva are able to obtain many material acquisitions, we should know that such devotees are simply collecting products manufactured by the three qualities. The three qualities are again subdivided into sixteen, namely the ten senses (five working senses and five knowledge-acquiring senses), the mind, and the five elements (earth, water, air, fire and sky). These sixteen items are extensions of the three qualities. Material happiness or opulence means gratification of the senses, especially the genitals, the tongue and the mind. By exercising our minds we create many pleasurable things just for enjoyment by the genitals and the tongue. The opulence of a person within this material world is estimated in terms of his exercise of the genitals and the tongue, or, in other words, how well he is able to utilize his sexual capacities and how well he is able to satisfy his fastidious taste by eating palatable dishes. Material advancement of civilization necessitates creating objects of enjoyment by mental concoction just to become happy on the basis of these two principles: pleasures for the genitals and pleasures for the tongue. Herein lies the answer to King Parīkṣit’s question to Śukadeva Gosvāmī as to why the worshipers of Lord Śiva are so opulent.
The devotees of Lord Śiva are opulent only in terms of the material qualities. Factually, such so-called advancement of civilization is the cause of entanglement in material existence. It is actually not advancement but degradation. The conclusion is that because Lord Śiva is the master of the three qualities, his devotees are given things manufactured by the interactions of these qualities for the satisfaction of the senses. In the Bhagavad-gītā, however, we get instruction from Lord Kṛṣṇa that one has to transcend this qualitative existence. Nistrai-guṇyo bhavārjuna: the mission of human life is to become transcendental to the three qualities. Unless one is nistrai-guṇya, he cannot get free from material entanglement. In other words, favors received from Lord Śiva are not actually beneficial to the conditioned souls, although materially such facilities seem opulent.
Purport
False ego transforms into the mind, ten senses (the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, skin, hands, feet, voice, genitals and anus), and five physical elements (earth, water, fire, air and ether). Lord Śiva appears in a special
liṅga
form in each of these sixteen substances, which are worshiped individually as deities in various sacred locations of the universe. A devotee of Śiva may worship one of his particular
liṅgas
to obtain the mystic opulences pertaining to it. Thus Lord Śiva’s
ākāśa-liṅga
bestows the opulences of ether, his
jyotir-liṅga
bestows the opulences of fire, and so on.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
There are sixteen transformations: the ten senses including their respective deities, the mind and the five gross elements. Among these, people, pursuing enjoyment for the some of these, namely the genital, tongue or mind, worship Siva, and obtain the essence (gatim) of all types of enjoyment (vibhutinam). This means that because of the interdependence of all these elements, by attaining one, they obtain all material enjoyment. That happiness, and the attainment of all enjoyment is in proportion to the amount of worship they do. Since these enjoyments are all composed of the three modes and those modes come from Siva, by worshipping him one attains them. Therefore what you say is not wrong.
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
“Let that be. When he is covered by upādhis, what happens?” Then, as a representative of the Lord, sixteen transformations from ahaṅkāra which he controls arise. Worshipping him in the upādhi, as one of the many powers among the transformations (amīṣu) a person attains the result.
Purport (Sanatana Goswami)
From ahaṅkāra (tataḥ) arise transformations. Among the transformations when a person worships Śiva, the personification of the transformations, since he is their controller, he enjoys attainment of all wealth. According to the upādhi one gets a result. One attains everything as one desires. Because of worshipping Śiva conditionally, according to one’s material desires, one generally attains material wealth only and not the supreme abode.