Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Sri Caitanya Caritamrita Adi 5.119

pancasat-koti-yojana prithivi-vistara

yanra eka-phane rahe sarshapa-akara

SYNONYMS

pancasat -- fifty; koti -- ten millions; yojana -- eight miles; prithivi -- of the universe; vistara -- breadth; yanra -- whose; eka-phane -- on one of the hoods; rahe -- stays; sarshapa-akara -- like a mustard seed.

TRANSLATION

The universe, which measures five hundred million yojanas in diameter, rests on one of His hoods like a mustard seed.

PURPORT

The Lord of Svetadvipa expands Himself as Sesha Naga, who sustains all the planets upon His innumerable hoods. These huge global spheres are compared to grains of mustard resting on the spiritual hoods of Sesha Naga. The scientists' law of gravity is a partial explanation of Lord Sankarshana's energy. The name "Sankarshana" has an etymological relationship to the idea of gravity. There is a reference to Sesha Naga in Srimad-Bhagavatam (5.17.21), where it is said:

yam ahur asya sthiti janma-samyamam

tribhir vihinam yam anantam rishayah

na veda siddartham iva kvacit sthitam

bhu-mandalam murdha-sahasra-dhamasu

"O my Lord, the hymns of the Vedas proclaim that You are the effective cause for the creation, maintenance and destruction. But in fact You are transcendental to all limitations and are therefore known as unlimited. On Your thousands of hoods rest the innumerable global spheres, like grains of mustard so insignificant that You have no perception of their weight." The Bhagavatam further says (5.25.2):

yasyedam kshiti-mandalam bhagavato 'nanta-murteh sahasra-sirasa ekasminn eva sirshani dhriyamanam siddhartha iva lakshyate.

"Lord Anantadeva has thousands of hoods. Each sustains a global sphere that appears like a grain of mustard."

<<< >>>

Copyright (c) The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International, Inc.
His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Founder Acarya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness