Sri Caitanya Caritamrta Adi-lila Chapter 5 Verses 27-28

SYNONYMS

svarupa-vigraha -- personal form; krishnera -- of Lord Krishna; kevala -- only; dvi-bhuja -- two hands; narayana-rupe -- in the form of Lord Narayana; sei -- that; tanu -- body; catuh-bhuja -- four-handed; sankha-cakra -- conchshell and disc; gada -- club; padma -- lotus flower; maha -- very great; aisvarya-maya -- full of opulence; sri -- named sri; bhu -- named bhu; nila -- named nila; sakti -- energies; yanra -- whose; carana sevaya -- serve the lotus feet.

TRANSLATION

Krishna's own form has only two hands, but in the form of Lord Narayana He has four hands. Lord Narayana holds a conchshell, disc, club and lotus flower, and He is full of great opulence. The sri, bhu and nila energies serve at His lotus feet.

PURPORT

In the Ramanuja and Madhva sects of Vaishnavism there are extensive descriptions of the sri, bhu and nila energies. In Bengal the nila energy is sometimes called the lila energy. These three energies are employed in the service of four-handed Narayana in Vaikuntha. Relating how three of the Alvars, namely Bhuta-yogi, Sara-yogi and Bhranta-yogi, saw Narayana in person when they took shelter at the house of a brahmana in the village of Gehali, the Prapannamrita of the Sri-sampradaya describes Narayana as follows:

tarkshyadhirudham tadid-ambudabham

lakshmi-dharam vakshasi pankajaksham

hasta-dvaye sobhita-sankha-cakram

vishnum dadrisur bhagavantam adyam

a-janu-bahum kamaniya-gatram

parsva-dvaye sobhita-bhumi-nilam

pitambaram bhushana-bhushitangam

catur-bhujam candana-rushitangam

"They saw the lotus-eyed Lord Vishnu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, mounted on Garuda and holding Lakshmi, the goddess of fortune, to His chest. He resembled a bluish rain cloud with flashing lightning, and in two of His four hands He held a conchshell and disc. His arms stretched down to His knees, and all His beautiful limbs were smeared with sandalwood and decorated with glittering ornaments. He wore yellow clothes, and by either side stood His energies Bhumi and Nila."

There is the following reference to the sri, bhu and nila energies in the Sitopanishad: maha-lakshmir devesasya bhinnabhinna-rupa cetanacetanatmika. sa devi tri-vidha bhavati, sakty-atmana iccha-saktih kriya-saktih sakshac-chaktir iti. iccha-saktis tri-vidha bhavati, sri-bhumi-nilatmika. "Maha-Lakshmi, the supreme energy of the Lord, is experienced in different ways. She is divided into material and spiritual potencies, and in both features she acts as the willing energy, creative energy and the internal energy. The willing energy is again divided into three, namely sri, bhu and nila."

Quoting from the revealed scriptures in his commentary on the Bhagavad-gita (4.6), Madhvacarya has stated that mother material nature, which is conceived of as the illusory energy, Durga, has three divisions, namely sri, bhu and nila. She is the illusory energy for those who are weak in spiritual strength because such energies are created energies of Lord Vishnu. Although each energy has no direct relationship with the unlimited, they are subordinate to the Lord because the Lord is the master of all energies.

In his Bhagavat-sandarbha (Text 23), Srila Jiva Gosvami Prabhu states, "The Padma Purana refers to the eternally auspicious abode of Godhead, which is full in all opulences, including the energies sri, bhu and nila. The Maha-samhita, which discusses the transcendental name and form of Godhead, also mentions Durga as the potency of the Supersoul in relationship with the living entities. The internal potency acts in relation with His personal affairs, and the material potency manifests the three modes." Quoting elsewhere from the revealed scriptures, he states that sri is the energy of Godhead that maintains the cosmic manifestation, bhu is the energy that creates the cosmic manifestation, and nila, Durga, is the energy that destroys the creation. All these energies act in relation with the living beings, and thus they are together called jiva-maya.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Founder Acarya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness