| Canto 10: The Summum Bonum | Chapter 9: Mother Yasoda Binds Lord Lord Krishna |
Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Srimad Bhagavatam 10.9.20
nemam virinco na bhavo
SYNONYMS
na -- not; imam -- this exalted position; virincah -- Lord Brahma; na -- nor; bhavah -- Lord Siva; na -- nor; srih -- the goddess of fortune; api -- indeed; anga-samsraya -- although she is always the better half of the Supreme Personality of Godhead; prasadam -- mercy; lebhire -- obtained; gopi -- mother Yasoda; yat tat -- as that which; prapa -- obtained; vimukti-dat -- from Krishna, who gives deliverance from this material world.
TRANSLATION
Neither Lord Brahma, nor Lord Siva, nor even the goddess of fortune, who is always the better half of the Supreme Lord, can obtain from the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the deliverer from this material world, such mercy as received by mother Yasoda.
PURPORT
This is a comparative study between mother Yasoda and other devotees of the Lord. As stated in Caitanya caritamrita (Adi 5.142), ekale isvara krishna, ara saba bhritya: the only supreme master is Krishna, and all others are His servants. Krishna has the transcendental quality of bhritya-vasyata, becoming subordinate to His bhritya, or servant. Now, although everyone is bhritya and although Krishna has the quality of becoming subordinate to His bhritya, the position of mother Yasoda is the greatest. Lord Brahma is bhritya, a servant of Krishna, and he is adi-kavi, the original creator of this universe (tene brahma hrida ya adi-kavaye). Nonetheless, even he could not obtain such mercy as mother Yasoda. As for Lord Siva, he is the topmost Vaishnava (vaishnavanam yatha sambhuh). What to speak of Lord Brahma and Lord Siva, the goddess of fortune, Lakshmi, is the Lord's constant companion in service, since she always associates with His body. But even she could not get such mercy. Therefore Maharaja Parikshit was surprised, thinking, "What did mother Yasoda and Nanda Maharaja do in their previous lives by which they got such a great opportunity, the opportunity to be the affectionate father and mother of Krishna?"
In this verse there are three negative pronouncements -- na, na, na. When anything is uttered three times -- "do it, do it, do it" -- one should understand that this is meant to indicate great stress on a fact. In this verse, we find na lebhire, na lebhire, na lebhire. Yet mother Yasoda is in the supermost exalted position, and thus Krishna has become completely subordinate to her.
The word vimuktidat is also significant. There are different types of liberation, such as sayujya, salokya, sarupya, sarshti and samipya, but vimukti means "special mukti." When after liberation one is situated on the platform of prema-bhakti, one is said to have achieved vimukti, "special mukti." Therefore the word na is mentioned. That exalted platform of prema is described by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu as prema pum-artho mahan, and mother Yasoda naturally acts in such an exalted position in loving affairs. She is therefore a nitya-siddha devotee, an expansion of Krishna's hladini potency, His potency to enjoy transcendental bliss through expansions who are special devotees (ananda-cinmaya-rasa-pratibhavitabhih). Such devotees are not sadhana-siddha.
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
His Holiness Hrdayananda dasa Goswami
Gopiparanadhana dasa Adhikari
Dravida dasa Brahmacari