Devanagari
नमस्तुभ्यमनन्ताय दुर्वितर्क्यात्मकर्मणे ।
निर्गुणाय गुणेशाय सत्त्वस्थाय च साम्प्रतम् ॥ ५० ॥
Verse text
namas tubhyam anantāya
durvitarkyātma-karmaṇe
nirguṇāya guṇeśāya
sattva-sthāya ca sāmpratam
Synonyms
namaḥ
—
all obeisances
;
tubhyam
—
unto You, my Lord
;
anantāya
—
who are everlasting, transcending the three phases of time (past, present and future)
;
durvitarkya
—
ātma — karmaṇe — unto You, who perform inconceivable activities
;
nirguṇāya
—
which are all transcendental, free from the contamination of material qualities
;
guṇa
—
īśāya — unto You, who control the three modes of material nature
;
sattva
—
sthāya — who are in favor of the material quality of goodness
;
ca
—
also
;
sāmpratam
—
at present .
Translation
My Lord, all obeisances unto You, who are eternal, beyond time’s limits of past, present and future. You are inconceivable in Your activities, You are the master of the three modes of material nature, and, being transcendental to all material qualities, You are free from material contamination. You are the controller of all three of the modes of nature, but at the present You are in favor of the quality of goodness. Let us offer our respectful obeisances unto You.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
We offer respects to you who are unlimited, whose actions are inconceivable, who may or may not offer us material benedictions, but who now maintain sattva-guṇa in the universe.
Whether you will fulfill our desire or not, we do not know. You are unlimited. Though we are omniscient, we do not have your omniscience. We cannot surmise what you will do now. Your actions are inconceivable. “But because I am merciful, you can infer that I will fulfill the desires of Indra and other devotees.” By your mercy you do not give material benefits arising from the guṇas (nirguṇāya), which are obstacles to bhakti. But by your mercy, you also give wealth arising from the guṇas. Therefore both results can be inferred. “Why do you praise me, if you have such doubts?” Since now is the time for sattva-guṇa, and you are in charge of sattva-guṇa, you should increase the power of the devatās who are in sattva-guṇa. They also believe that the Lord should not stop their material enjoyment, since they are not pure devotees.
Thus ends the commentary on the Fifth Chapter of the Eighth Canto of the Bhāgavatam for the pleasure of the devotees, in accordance with the previous ācāryas.
Chapter Six
Carrying Mandara Mountain
Purport
The Supreme Personality of Godhead controls the material activities manifested by the three modes of material nature. As stated in
Bhagavad-gītā,
nirguṇaṁ guṇa-bhoktṛ ca:
the Supreme Personality of Godhead is always transcendental to the material qualities (
sattva-guṇa, rajo-guṇa
and
tamo-guṇa
), but nonetheless He is their controller. The Lord manifests Himself in three features — as Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Maheśvara — to control these three qualities. He personally takes charge of
sattva-guṇa
as Lord Viṣṇu, and He entrusts the charge of
rajo-guṇa
and
tamo-guṇa
to Lord Brahmā and Lord Śiva. Ultimately, however, He is the controller of all three
guṇas.
Lord Brahmā, expressing his appreciation, said that because Lord Viṣṇu had now taken charge of the activities of goodness, there was every hope that the demigods would be successful in fulfilling their desires. The demigods were harassed by the demons, who were infested with
tamo-guṇa.
However, as Lord Brahmā has previously described, since the time of
sattva-guṇa
had now arrived, the demigods could naturally expect to fulfill their desires. The demigods are supposedly well advanced in knowledge, yet they could not understand the knowledge of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore the Lord is addressed here as
anantāya.
Although Lord Brahmā knows past, present and future, he is unable to understand the unlimited knowledge of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Thus end the Bhaktivedanta purports of the Eighth Canto, Fifth Chapter, of the
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
entitled “The Demigods Appeal to the Lord for Protection.”