SB 8.1.18

SB 8.1.18

Devanagari

तांस्तथावसितान् वीक्ष्य यज्ञ: सर्वगतो हरि: । यामै: परिवृतो देवैर्हत्वाशासत् त्रिविष्टपम् ॥ १८ ॥

Verse text

tāṁs tathāvasitān vīkṣya yajṣaḥ sarva-gato hariḥ yāmaiḥ parivṛto devair hatvāśāsat tri-viṣṭapam

Synonyms

tān the demons and Rākṣasas ; tathā in that way ; avasitān who were determined to devour Svāyambhuva Manu ; vīkṣya upon observing ; yajṣaḥ Lord Viṣṇu, known as Yajṣa ; sarva gataḥ — who is seated in everyone’s heart ; hariḥ the Supreme Personality of Godhead ; yāmaiḥ with His sons named the Yāmas ; parivṛtaḥ surrounded ; devaiḥ by the demigods ; hatvā after killing (the demons) ; aśāsat ruled (taking the post of Indra) ; tri viṣṭapam — the heavenly planets .

Translation

The Supreme Lord, Viṣṇu, who sits in everyone’s heart, appearing as Yajṣapati, observed that the Rākṣasas and demons were going to devour Svāyambhuva Manu. Thus the Lord, accompanied by His sons named the Yāmas and by all the other demigods, killed the demons and Rākṣasas. He then took the post of Indra and began to rule the heavenly kingdom.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Seeing the demons about to devour him, Yajṣa, who pervades everywhere, killed the demons and then ruled in Svarga, surrounded by the Yāmas and the devatās. The Yāmas mentioned are the sons of Yajṣā.

Purport

The various names of the demigods — Lord Brahmā, Lord Śiva, Lord Indra and so on — are not personal names; they are names of different posts. In this regard, we understand that Lord Viṣṇu sometimes becomes Brahmā or Indra when there is no suitable person to occupy these posts.