SB 4.17.28

SB 4.17.28

Devanagari

एवं मन्युमयीं मूर्तिं कृतान्तमिव बिभ्रतम् । प्रणता प्राञ्जलि: प्राह मही सञ्जातवेपथु: ॥ २८ ॥

Verse text

evaṁ manyumayīṁ mūrtiṁ kṛtāntam iva bibhratam praṇatā prāṣjaliḥ prāha mahī saṣjāta-vepathuḥ

Synonyms

evam thus ; manyu mayīm — very much angry ; mūrtim form ; kṛta antam — death personified, Yamarāja ; iva like ; bibhratam possessing ; praṇatā surrendered ; prāṣjaliḥ with folded hands ; prāha said ; mahī the planet earth ; saṣjāta arisen ; vepathuḥ trembling in her body .

Translation

At this time Pṛthu Mahārāja became exactly like Yamarāja, and his whole body appeared very angry. In other words, he was anger personified. After hearing him, the planet earth began to tremble. She surrendered, and with folded hands began to speak as follows.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

With folded hands, the trembling earth, bowing down, spoke to angry Pṛthu, who was like death personified.

Purport

The Supreme Personality of Godhead is death personified to miscreants and the supreme beloved Lord to the devotees. In Bhagavad-gītā (10.34) the Lord says, mṛtyuḥ sarva-haraś cāham: “I am all-devouring death.” Faithless unbelievers, who challenge the appearance of God, will be delivered by the Supreme Personality of Godhead when He appears before them as death. Hiraṇyakaśipu, for example, challenged the authority of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and the Lord met him in the form of Nṛsiṁhadeva and killed him. Similarly, the planet earth saw Mahārāja Pṛthu as death personified, and she also saw him in the mood of anger personified. Therefore she began to tremble. One cannot challenge the authority of the Supreme Personality of Godhead in any circumstance. It is better to surrender unto Him and take His protection at all times.