| Canto 4: Creation of the Fourth Order | Chapter 17: Mahārāja Prithu Becomes Angry at the Earth |
Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.17.35
apām upasthe mayi nāvy avasthitāh
prajā bhavān adya rirakshishuh kila
sa vīra-mūrtih samabhūd dharā-dharo
yo mām payasy ugra-śaro jighāmsasi
SYNONYMS
apām — of the water; upasthe — situated on the surface; mayi — in me; nāvi — in a boat; avasthitāh — standing; prajāh — living entities; bhavān — Yourself; adya — now; rirakshishuh — desiring to protect; kila — indeed; sah — He; vīra-mūrtih — in the form of a great hero; samabhūt — became; dharā-dharah — the protector of the planet earth; yah — one who; mām — me; payasi — for the sake of milk; ugra-śarah — with sharpened arrows; jighāmsasi — you desire to kill.
TRANSLATION
My dear Lord, in this way You once protected me by rescuing me from the water, and consequently Your name has been famous as Dharādhara — He who holds the planet earth. Yet at the present moment, in the form of a great hero, You are about to kill me with sharpened arrows. I am, however, just like a boat on the water, keeping everything afloat.
PURPORT
The Lord is known as Dharādhara, meaning, "He who keeps the planet earth on His tusks as the boar incarnation." Thus the planet earth in the shape of a cow is accounting the contradictory acts of the Lord. Although He once saved the earth, He now wants to upset the earth, which is like a boat on water. No one can understand the activities of the Lord. Due to a poor fund of knowledge, human beings sometimes think the Lord's activities contradictory.
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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness