Copyright © r The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International, Inc.His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness
| Canto 7: The Science of God | Chapter 9: Prahlāda Pacifies Lord Nrisimhadeva with Prayers |
Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.9.2
adrishtāśruta-pūrvatvāt
SYNONYMS
sākshāt — directly; śrīh — the goddess of fortune; preshitā — being requested to go forward before the Lord; devaih — by all the demigods (headed by Lord Brahmā and Lord Śiva); drishtvā — after seeing; tam — Him (Lord Nrisimhadeva); mahat — very big; adbhutam — wonderful; adrishta — never seen; aśruta — never heard of; pūrvatvāt — due to being previously; sā — the goddess of fortune, Lakshmī; na — not; upeyāya — went before the Lord; śańkitā — being very much afraid.
TRANSLATION
The goddess of fortune, Lakshmījī, 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 anādim ananta-rūpam [Bs 5.33]). These are all situated in Vaikuntha, yet Lakshmīdevī, the goddess of fortune, being inspired by līlā-śakti, could not appreciate this unprecedented form of the Lord. In this regard, Śrīla Madhvācārya recites the following verses from the Brahmānda Purāna:
adrishtāśruta-pūrvatvād
nrisimham śańkiteva śrīr
prahrāde caiva vātsalya-
ekatraikasya vātsalyam
viśeshād darśayed dharih
avarasyāpi mohāya
kramenaivāpi vatsalah
In other words, for the common men the form of the Lord as Nrisimhadeva is certainly unseen and wonderful, but for a devotee like Prahlāda Mahārāja 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 Prahlāda Mahārāja, he remained silent and unafraid, even though all the demigods, including even Lakshmīdevī, were afraid of Lord Nrisimhadeva. Nārāyana-parāh sarve na kutaścana bibhyati (Bhāg. 6.17.28). Not only is a pure devotee of Nārāyana like Prahlāda Mahārāja 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 © r The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International, Inc.
His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness