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
| Canto 7: The Science of God | Chapter 9: Prahlada Pacifies Lord Nrsimhadeva with Prayers |
Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Srimad Bhagavatam 7.9.2
adrstasruta-purvatvat
SYNONYMS
saksat -- directly; srih -- the goddess of fortune; presita -- being requested to go forward before the Lord; devaih -- by all the demigods (headed by Lord Brahma and Lord Siva); drstva -- after seeing; tam -- Him (Lord Nrsimhadeva); mahat -- very big; adbhutam -- wonderful; adrsta -- never seen; asruta -- never heard of; purvatvat -- due to being previously; sa -- the goddess of fortune, Laksmi; na -- not; upeyaya -- went before the Lord; sankita -- being very much afraid.
TRANSLATION
The goddess of fortune, Laksmiji, was requested to go before the Lord by all the demigods present, who because of fear could not do so. But even she had never seen such a wonderful and extraordinary form of the Lord, and thus she could not approach Him.
PURPORT
The Lord has unlimited forms and bodily features (advaitam acyutam anadim ananta-rupam [Bs 5.33]). These are all situated in Vaikuntha, yet Laksmidevi, the goddess of fortune, being inspired by lila-sakti, could not appreciate this unprecedented form of the Lord. In this regard, Srila Madhvacarya recites the following verses from the Brahmanda Purana:
adrstasruta-purvatvad
nrsimham sankiteva srir
prahrade caiva vatsalya-
ekatraikasya vatsalyam
visesad darsayed dharih
avarasyapi mohaya
kramenaivapi vatsalah
In other words, for the common men the form of the Lord as Nrsimhadeva is certainly unseen and wonderful, but for a devotee like Prahlada Maharaja such a fearsome form of the Lord is not at all extraordinary. By the grace of the Lord, a devotee can very easily understand how the Lord can appear in any form He likes. Therefore the devotee is never afraid of such a form. Because of special favor bestowed upon Prahlada Maharaja, he remained silent and unafraid, even though all the demigods, including even Laksmidevi, were afraid of Lord Nrsimhadeva. Narayana-parah sarve na kutascana bibhyati (Bhag. 6.17.28). Not only is a pure devotee of Narayana like Prahlada Maharaja unafraid of any dangerous condition of material life, but also if the Lord appears to mitigate the fear of a devotee, the devotee maintains his status of fearlessness in all circumstances.
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