Devanagari
गन्धर्वा ऊचु:
अंशांशास्ते देव मरीच्यादय एते
ब्रह्मेन्द्राद्या देवगणा रुद्रपुरोगा: ।
क्रीडाभाण्डं विश्वमिदं यस्य विभूमन्
तस्मै नित्यं नाथ नमस्ते करवाम ॥ ४३ ॥
Verse text
gandharvā ūcuḥ
aṁśāṁśās te deva marīcy-ādaya ete
brahmendrādyā deva-gaṇā rudra-purogāḥ
krīḍā-bhāṇḍaṁ viśvam idaṁ yasya vibhūman
tasmai nityaṁ nātha namas te karavāma
Synonyms
gandharvāḥ
—
the Gandharvas
;
ūcuḥ
—
said
;
aṁśa
—
aṁśāḥ — parts and parcels of Your body
;
te
—
Your
;
deva
—
dear Lord
;
marīci
—
ādayaḥ — Marīci and the other great sages
;
ete
—
these
;
brahma
—
indra — ādyāḥ — headed by Brahmā and Indra
;
deva
—
gaṇāḥ — the demigods
;
rudra
—
purogāḥ — having Lord Śiva as the chief
;
krīḍā
—
bhāṇḍam — a plaything
;
viśvam
—
the whole creation
;
idam
—
this
;
yasya
—
of whom
;
vibhūman
—
the Supreme Almighty Great
;
tasmai
—
unto Him
;
nityam
—
always
;
nātha
—
O Lord
;
namaḥ
—
respectful obeisances
;
te
—
unto You
;
karavāma
—
we offer .
Translation
The Gandharvas said: Dear Lord, all the demigods, including Lord Śiva, Lord Brahmā and Indra, along with Marīci and the other great sages, are all only differentiated parts and parcels of Your body. You are the Supreme Almighty Great; the whole creation is just like a plaything for You. We always accept You as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and we offer our respectful obeisances unto You.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
The Gandharvas said: O Lord! Most powerful person! Marīci, Brahmā, the devatās, having Śiva as their head, are portions of portions of you, for whom this universe is a pot used in playing. Therefore we offer respects to you.
Let us offer respects to you. We, entering the assembly, praised Dakṣa as the Supreme Lord but actually we praise you alone, since all others are portions of your portions. They think they are the Lord but they are not. This is directed to Brahmā and others.
Purport
In the
Brahma-saṁhitā
it is said that Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. There may be many gods, from Brahmā, Lord Śiva, Indra and Candra down to the rulers of the lower planetary systems, and the presidents, ministers, chairmen and kings. In fact, anyone can think that he is God. That is the false, puffed-up conviction of material life. Actually Viṣṇu is the Supreme Lord, but there is even one above Viṣṇu, for Viṣṇu is also the plenary portion of a part of Kṛṣṇa. In this verse this is referred to by the word
aṁśāṁśāḥ,
which refers to part and parcel of a part and parcel. There are similar verses in the
Caitanya-caritāmṛta
which indicate that the Supreme Lord’s parts and parcels again expand into other parts and parcels. As described in
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
there are many manifestations of Viṣṇu and many manifestations of living entities. Viṣṇu manifestations are called
svāṁśa,
partial manifestations, and the living entities are called
vibhinnāṁśa.
The demigods like Brahmā and Indra have been promoted to such exalted positions by pious activities and austerities, but actually Viṣṇu, or Kṛṣṇa, is the master of everyone. In the
Caitanya-caritāmṛta
it is said,
ekale īśvara kṛṣṇa, āra saba bhṛtya.
This means that Kṛṣṇa alone is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and all others, even the
viṣṇu-tattva
and certainly the living entities, are His servitors. Baladeva is the immediate expansion of Kṛṣṇa. He also engages in the service of Kṛṣṇa, and certainly the ordinary living entities are serving. Everyone is created, constitutionally, for serving Kṛṣṇa. Here the Gandharvas acknowledge that although the demigods may represent themselves as the Supreme, actually they are not supreme. Real supremacy belongs to Kṛṣṇa.
Kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam
is the statement of
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam:
“Kṛṣṇa is the only Supreme Lord.” Worship of Kṛṣṇa alone, therefore, includes worship of all the parts and parcels, just as watering the root of a tree also waters all the branches, twigs, leaves and flowers.