SB 3.20.19

SB 3.20.19

Devanagari

विससर्जात्मन: कायं नाभिनन्दंस्तमोमयम् । जगृहुर्यक्षरक्षांसि रात्रिं क्षुत्तृट्‌समुद्भवाम् ॥ १९ ॥

Verse text

visasarjātmanaḥ kāyaṁ nābhinandaṁs tamomayam jagṛhur yakṣa-rakṣāṁsi rātriṁ kṣut-tṛṭ-samudbhavām

Synonyms

visasarja threw off ; ātmanaḥ his own ; kāyam body ; na not ; abhinandan being pleased ; tamaḥ mayam — made of ignorance ; jagṛhuḥ took possession ; yakṣa rakṣāṁsi — the Yakṣas and Rākṣasas ; rātrim night ; kṣut hunger ; tṛṭ thirst ; samudbhavām the source .

Translation

Out of disgust, Brahmā threw off the body of ignorance, and taking this opportunity, Yakṣas and Rākṣasas sprang for possession of the body, which continued to exist in the form of night. Night is the source of hunger and thirst.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Not satisfied with his body which became full of ignorance, Brahmā gave up that body. This body transformed into night, which gives rise to hunger and thirst. Yakṣas and Rākṣasas respected the night. He was not pleased with the shadow body. “Ah! I have been covered with ignorance at the beginning of creation!” Criticizing himself, he gave up that body. That rejected body became night. The demons, who had arisen from Brahmā at that time, accepted the night. This means that avidyā and adharma, āvaraṇa and vikṣepa, are superior to the Yakṣas and Rākṣasas. Then Brahmā gave up that body which produced hunger and thirst. Śruti says sā tamisrābhavat: that became tamisra. When it says that Brahmā gave up his body, it means that he gave up the mentality of that body, since Brahmā lives for a hundred years. The sequence is as follows. (First tamas arose). Anger and the rest, the mentality arising from tamas, appeared in the mind of Brahmā. From that, the Yakṣas and Rākṣasas appeared. That mentality of tamas (when Brahmā rejected it) then became the night. The Yakṣas and Rākṣasas accepted it. Though Brahmā accepted and rejects different bodies by his power of yoga to carry out creation, this does not disrupt his life of a hundred years. Some also say that even the devatās like Indra accept and reject bodies for material enjoyment.