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 9: Liberation | Chapter 11: Lord Ramacandra Rules the World |
Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Srimad Bhagavatam 9.11.22
sa yaih sprishto 'bhidrishto va
samvishto 'nugato 'pi va
SYNONYMS
sah -- He, Lord Ramacandra; yaih -- by which persons; sprishtah -- touched; abhidrishtah -- seen; va -- either; samvishtah -- eating together, lying together; anugatah -- followed as servants; api va -- even; kosalah -- all those inhabitants of Kosala; te -- they; yayuh -- departed; sthanam -- to the place; yatra -- wherein; gacchanti -- they go; yoginah -- all the bhakti-yogis.
TRANSLATION
Lord Ramacandra returned to His abode, to which bhakti-yogis are promoted. This is the place to which all the inhabitants of Ayodhya went after they served the Lord in His manifest pastimes by offering Him obeisances, touching His lotus feet, fully observing Him as a fatherlike King, sitting or lying down with Him like equals, or even just accompanying Him.
PURPORT
The Lord says in Bhagavad-gita (4.9):
"One who knows the transcendental nature of My appearance and activities does not, upon leaving the body, take his birth again in this material world, but attains My eternal abode, O Arjuna." Here this is confirmed. All the inhabitants of Ayodhya who saw Lord Ramacandra as citizens, served Him as servants, sat and talked with Him as friends or were somehow or other present during His reign went back home, back to Godhead. After giving up the body, the devotee who becomes perfect in devotional service enters that particular universe where Lord Ramacandra or Lord Krishna is engaged in His pastimes. Then, after being trained to serve the Lord in various capacities in that prakata-lila, the devotee is finally promoted to sanatana-dhama, the supreme abode in the spiritual world. This sanatana-dhama is also mentioned in Bhagavad-gita (paras tasmat tu bhavo 'nyo'vyakto'vyaktat sanatanah [Bg. 8.20]). One who enters the transcendental pastimes of the Lord is called nitya-lila-pravishta. To understand clearly why Lord Ramacandra returned, it is mentioned herewith that the Lord went to that particular place where the bhakti-yogis go. The impersonalists misunderstand the statements of Srimad-Bhagavatam to mean that the Lord entered His own effulgence and therefore become impersonal. But the Lord is a person, and His devotees are persons. Indeed, the living entities, like the Lord, were persons in the past, they are persons in the present, and they will continue to be persons even after giving up the body. This is also confirmed in Bhagavad-gita.
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