Devanagari
एतत् केचिदविद्वांसो मायासंसृतिरात्मन: ।
अनाद्यावर्तितं नृणां कादाचित्कं प्रचक्षते ॥ ४१ ॥
Verse text
etat kecid avidvāṁso
māyā-saṁsṛtir ātmanaḥ
anādy-āvartitaṁ nṝṇāṁ
kādācitkaṁ pracakṣate
Synonyms
etat
—
this
;
kecit
—
some persons
;
avidvāṁsaḥ
—
who are not learned
;
māyā
—
saṁsṛtiḥ — the illusory creation
;
ātmanaḥ
—
of the Supreme Soul
;
anādi
—
from time immemorial
;
āvartitam
—
repeating
;
nṝṇām
—
of conditioned living beings
;
kādācitkam
—
unprecedented
;
pracakṣate
—
they say .
Translation
Although this event was unique and unprecedented, some unintelligent persons compare it to the cycle of illusory material existence the Supreme Lord has created for the conditioned souls — an endless cycle that has been continuing since time immemorial.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Some unintelligent persons explain Mārkaṇḍeya’s unique experience as symbolic of human beings in beginningless ignorance undergoing repeated cycles.
What Mārkaṇḍeya saw was the power of the Lord’s māyā. Seven times entering and coming out of the baby form of the Lord who had inconceivable powers when the Lord inhaled and exhaled was a unique pastime. Some foolish persons explain seven kalpas to mean that humans under ignorance for a long time rotate repeatedly in bodies for thousands of celestial yugas (anuvartitam).
Purport
Mārkaṇḍeya’s being drawn into the Lord’s body by His inhalation and expelled again by His exhalation should not be considered a symbolic description of the perennial cycles of material creation and annihilation. This portion of the
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
describes a real, historical event experienced by a great devotee of the Lord, and those trying to relegate this story to mere symbolic allegory are here declared to be unintelligent fools.