Canto 7: The Science of GodChapter 3: Hiraṇyakaśipu's Plan to Become Immortal

Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.3.37-38

vyasubhir vāsumadbhir vā

surāsura-mahoragaiḥ

apratidvandvatāḿ yuddhe

aika-patyaḿ ca dehinām

sarveṣāḿ loka-pālānāḿ

mahimānaḿ yathātmanaḥ

tapo-yoga-prabhāvāṇāḿ

yan na riṣyati karhicit

SYNONYMS

vyasubhiḥ — by things that have no life; — or; asumadbhiḥ — by entities that have life; — or; sura — by the demigods; asura — the demons; mahā-uragaiḥ — by the great serpents who live on the lower planets; apratidvandvatām — without a rival; yuddhein battle; aika-patyam — supremacy; ca — and; dehinām — over those who have material bodies; sarveṣām — of all; loka-pālānām — the predominating deities of all planets; mahimānam — the glory; yathā — just as; ātmanaḥ — of yourself; tapaḥ-yoga-prabhāvāṇām — of those whose power is obtained by austerities and the practice of mystic yoga; yat — which; na — never; riṣyati — is destroyed; karhicit — at any time.

TRANSLATION

Grant me that I not meet death from any entity, living or nonliving. Grant me, further, that I not be killed by any demigod or demon or by any great snake from the lower planets. Since no one can kill you in the battlefield, you have no competitor. Therefore, grant me the benediction that I too may have no rival. Give me sole lordship over all the living entities and presiding deities, and give me all the glories obtained by that position. Furthermore, give me all the mystic powers attained by long austerities and the practice of yoga, for these cannot be lost at any time.

PURPORT

Lord Brahmā obtained his supreme position due to long austerities and penances, mystic yoga, meditation and so on. Hiraṇyakaśipu wanted a similar position. The ordinary powers achieved by mystic yoga, austerities and other processes are sometimes vanquished, but the powers obtained by the mercy of the Lord are never vanquished. Hiraṇyakaśipu, therefore, wanted a benediction that would never be vanquished.

Thus end the Bhaktivedanta purports of the Seventh Canto, Third Chapter, of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, entitled "Hiraṇyakaśipu's Plan to Become Immortal."

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