| Canto 3: The Status Quo | Chapter 13: The Appearance of Lord Varāha |
Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.13.30
khuraih kshuraprair darayams tad āpa
dadarśa gām tatra sushupsur agre
yām jīva-dhānīm svayam abhyadhatta
SYNONYMS
khuraih — by the hooves; kshurapraih — compared to a sharp weapon; darayan — penetrating; tat — that; āpah — water; utpāra-pāram — found the limitation of the unlimited; tri-paruh — the master of all sacrifices; rasāyām — within the water; dadarśa — found; gām — the earth; tatra — there; sushupsuh — lying; agre — in the beginning; yām — whom; jīva-dhānīm — the resting place for all living entities; svayam — personally; abhyadhatta — uplifted.
TRANSLATION
Lord Boar penetrated the water with His hooves, which were like sharp arrows, and found the limits of the ocean, although it was unlimited. He saw the earth, the resting place for all living beings, lying as it was in the beginning of creation, and He personally lifted it.
PURPORT
The word rasāyām is sometimes interpreted to mean Rasātala, the lowest planetary system, but that is not applicable in this connection, according to Viśvanātha Cakravartī Thākura. The earth is seven times superior to the other planetary systems, namely Tala, Atala, Talātala, Vitala, Rasātala, Pātāla, etc. Therefore the earth cannot be situated in the Rasātala planetary system. It is described in the Vishnu-dharma:
pātāla-mūleśvara-bhoga-samhatau
vinyasya pādau prithivīm ca bibhratah
yasyopamāno na babhūva so 'cyuto
mamāstu māńgalya-vivriddhaye harih
Therefore the Lord found the earth on the bottom of the Garbhodaka Ocean, where the planets rest during the devastation at the end of Brahmā's day.
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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness