SB 4.24.25

SB 4.24.25

Devanagari

तर्ह्येव सरसस्तस्मान्निष्क्रामन्तं सहानुगम् । उपगीयमानममरप्रवरं विबुधानुगै: ॥ २४ ॥ तप्तहेमनिकायाभं शितिकण्ठं त्रिलोचनम् । प्रसादसुमुखं वीक्ष्य प्रणेमुर्जातकौतुका: ॥ २५ ॥

Verse text

tarhy eva sarasas tasmān niṣkrāmantaṁ sahānugam upagīyamānam amara- pravaraṁ vibudhānugaiḥ tapta-hema-nikāyābhaṁ śiti-kaṇṭhaṁ tri-locanam prasāda-sumukhaṁ vīkṣya praṇemur jāta-kautukāḥ

Synonyms

tarhi in that very moment ; eva certainly ; sarasaḥ from the water ; tasmāt therefrom ; niṣkrāmantam coming out ; saha anugam — accompanied by great souls ; upagīyamānam glorified by the followers ; amara pravaram — the chief of the demigods ; vibudha anugaiḥ — followed by his associates ; tapta hema — molten gold ; nikāya ābham — bodily features ; śiti kaṇṭham — blue throat ; tri locanam — with three eyes ; prasāda merciful ; su mukham — beautiful face ; vīkṣya seeing ; praṇemuḥ offered obeisances ; jāta aroused ; kautukāḥ being amazed by the situation .

Translation

The Pracetās were fortunate to see Lord Śiva, the chief of the demigods, emerging from the water with his associates. His bodily luster was just like molten gold, his throat was bluish, and he had three eyes, which looked very mercifully upon his devotees. He was accompanied by many musicians, who were glorifying him. As soon as the Pracetās saw Lord Śiva, they immediately offered their obeisances in great amazement and fell down at the lotus feet of the lord.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

At that moment, they saw emerging from the lake the chief of the devatās, beautiful Śiva, effulgent like a pile of melted golden, with blue throat, three eyes, and brilliant face, accompanied by his followers, while being glorified by the followers of the devatās. With curiosity aroused, they offered respects.

Purport

The word vibudhānugaiḥ indicates that Lord Śiva is always accompanied by the denizens of the higher planets known as Gandharvas and Kinnaras. They are very expert in musical science, and Lord Śiva is worshiped by them constantly. In pictures, Lord Śiva is generally painted white, but here we find that the color of his skin is not exactly white but like molten gold, or a glowing yellowish color. Because Lord Śiva is always very, very merciful, his name is Āśutoṣa. Amongst all the demigods, Lord Śiva can be pacified even by the lowest class of men, who need only offer him obeisances and leaves of a bael tree. Thus his name is Āśutoṣa, which means that he is pleased very quickly. Generally those who are very fond of material prosperity approach Lord Śiva for such benediction. The lord, being very merciful, quickly awards all the blessings the devotee asks of him. The demons take advantage of this leniency and sometimes take benedictions from Lord Śiva which can be very dangerous to others. For instance, Vṛkāsura took a benediction from Lord Śiva by which he could kill everyone he touched on the head. Although Lord Śiva sometimes very liberally gives such benedictions to his devotees, the difficulty is that the demons, being very cunning, sometimes want to experiment improperly with such benedictions. For instance, after receiving his benediction, Vṛkāsura tried to touch the head of Lord Śiva. Devotees of Lord Viṣṇu, however, have no desire for such benedictions, and Lord Viṣṇu does not give His devotees benedictions which would cause disturbance to the whole world.