SB 8.3.23 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

यस्य ब्रह्मादयो देवा वेदा लोकाश्चराचरा: । नामरूपविभेदेन फल्ग्व्या च कलया कृता: ॥ २२ ॥ यथार्चिषोऽग्ने: सवितुर्गभस्तयो निर्यान्ति संयान्त्यसकृत् स्वरोचिष: । तथा यतोऽयं गुणसम्प्रवाहो बुद्धिर्मन: खानि शरीरसर्गा: ॥ २३ ॥ स वै न देवासुरमर्त्यतिर्यङ् न स्त्री न षण्ढो न पुमान् न जन्तु: । नायं गुण: कर्म न सन्न चासन् निषेधशेषो जयतादशेष: ॥ २४ ॥

Verse text

yasya brahmādayo devā vedā lokāś carācarāḥ nāma-rūpa-vibhedena phalgvyā ca kalayā kṛtāḥ yathārciṣo ’gneḥ savitur gabhastayo niryānti saṁyānty asakṛt sva-rociṣaḥ tathā yato ’yaṁ guṇa-sampravāho buddhir manaḥ khāni śarīra-sargāḥ sa vai na devāsura-martya-tiryaṅ na strī na ṣaṇḍho na pumān na jantuḥ nāyaṁ guṇaḥ karma na san na cāsan niṣedha-śeṣo jayatād aśeṣaḥ

Synonyms

yasya — of the Supreme Personality of Godhead who ; brahma — ādayaḥ — the great demigods, headed by Lord Brahmā ; devāḥ — and other demigods ; vedāḥ — the Vedic knowledge ; lokāḥ — different personalities ; cara — acarāḥ — the moving and the nonmoving (like trees and plants) ; nāma — rūpa — of different names and different forms ; vibhedena — by such divisions ; phalgvyā — who are less important ; ca — also ; kalayā — by the parts ; kṛtāḥ — created ; yathā — as ; arciṣaḥ — the sparks ; agneḥ — of fire ; savituḥ — from the sun ; gabhastayaḥ — the shining particles ; niryānti — emanate from ; saṁyānti — and enter into ; asakṛt — again and again ; sva — rociṣaḥ — as parts and parcels ; tathā — similarly ; yataḥ — the Personality of Godhead from whom ; ayam — this ; guṇa — sampravāhaḥ — continuous manifestation of the different modes of nature ; buddhiḥ manaḥ — the intelligence and mind ; khāni — the senses ; śarīra — of the body (gross and subtle) ; sargāḥ — the divisions ; saḥ — that Supreme Personality of Godhead ; vai — indeed ; na — is not ; deva — demigod ; asura — demon ; martya — human being ; tiryak — bird or beast ; na — neither ; strī — woman ; na — nor ; ṣaṇḍhaḥ — neuter ; na — neither ; pumān — man ; na — nor ; jantuḥ — living being or animal ; na ayam — nor is He ; guṇaḥ — material quality ; karma — fruitive activity ; na — is not ; sat — manifestation ; na — nor ; ca — also ; asat — nonmanifestation ; niṣedha — of the discrimination of neti neti (“not this, not this”) ; śeṣaḥ — He is the end ; jayatāt — all glories unto Him ; aśeṣaḥ — who is unlimited .

Translation

The Supreme Personality of Godhead creates His minor parts and parcels, the jīva-tattva, beginning with Lord Brahmā, the demigods and the expansions of Vedic knowledge [Sāma, Ṛg, Yajur and Atharva] and including all other living entities, moving and nonmoving, with their different names and characteristics. As the sparks of a fire or the shining rays of the sun emanate from their source and merge into it again and again, the mind, the intelligence, the senses, the gross and subtle material bodies, and the continuous transformations of the different modes of nature all emanate from the Lord and again merge into Him. He is neither demigod nor demon, neither human nor bird or beast. He is not woman, man, or neuter, nor is He an animal. He is not a material quality, a fruitive activity, a manifestation or nonmanifestation. He is the last word in the discrimination of “not this, not this,” and He is unlimited. All glories to the Supreme Personality of Godhead!

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Brahmā and other devatās, the actions mentioned in Vedas, the planets, the moving beings and non-moving beings, as lesser expansions of the Lord, are created with different forms and names by the Lord. Just as the sparks emanate repeatedly from fire or brilliant rays emanate from the sun, and then merge into the fire or sun again, so intelligence, mind, senses and body are created by the Lord as transformations of the guṇas and then merge into him. The Lord is not a devatā, demon, human, animal, female, neuter, male or any other living being. He is not the guṇas or karma. He remains after everything is negated. May the unlimited Lord remain glorious! Three verses describe the perfect nature of the Lord. There are two types of expansions of the Lord: minor and major. Minor forms are jīvas like Brahmā, Śiva and others (when they are not the Supreme Lord personally). Major expansions are Matsya, Kūrma and others who are always the Supreme Lord. All of these are the Lord. The actions mentioned in the Vedas are created by the Lord. Veda here means actions, since the Vedas themselves are not minor expansions of the Lord. But rather the Vedas arise directly from his breathing. The meaning of the first verse is made clear by an example in the second verse. Śruti says yathāgneḥ kṣudrā visphuliṅgā vyuccaranti: the jīvas are like sparks wandering from a fire. (Bṛhad-āraṇyaka Upaniṣad 2.1.20) In that manner, the coverings on the jīvas are created as separate minor expansions-- from the Lord arises the transformation of the guṇas in the form of intelligence, mind, senses and body. Since the Lord is the cause of everything, he is not one among the devatās. Jantuḥ refers to a living entity which is not male, female or neuter. When all things are negated, he alone remains (niṣesha-śeṣaḥ). He is unlimited because of the unlimited effects of his śakti.

Purport

This is a summary description of the Supreme Personality of Godhead’s unlimited potency. That supreme one is acting in different phases by manifesting His parts and parcels, which are all simultaneously differently situated by His different potencies ( parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate ). Each and every potency is acting quite naturally ( svābhāvikī jṣāna-bala-kriyā ca ). Therefore the Lord is unlimited. Na tat-samaś cābhyadhikaś ca dṛśyate: nothing is equal to Him, nor is anything greater than Him. Although He manifests Himself in so many ways, personally He has nothing to do ( na tasya kāryaṁ karaṇaṁ ca vidyate ), for everything is done by expansions of His unlimited energies.