Canto 9: LiberationChapter 24: Krishna the Supreme Personality of Godhead

Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 9.24.66

jāto gatah pitri-grihād vrajam edhitārtho

hatvā ripūn suta-śatāni kritorudārah

utpādya teshu purushah kratubhih samīje

ātmānam ātma-nigamam prathayań janeshu

SYNONYMS

jātah — after taking birth as the son of Vasudeva; gatah — went away; pitri-grihāt — from the houses of His father; vrajamto Vrindāvana; edhita-arthahto exalt the position (of Vrindāvana); hatvā — killing there; ripūn — many demons; suta-śatāni — hundreds of sons; krita-urudārah — accepting many thousands of wives, the best of women; utpādya — begot; teshuin them; purushah — the Supreme Person, who exactly resembles a human being; kratubhih — by many sacrifices; samīje — worshiped; ātmānam — Himself (because He is the person worshiped by all sacrifices); ātma-nigamam — exactly according to the ritualistic ceremonies of the Vedas; prathayan — expanding the Vedic principles; janeshu — among the people in general.

TRANSLATION

The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śrī Krishna, known as līlā-purushottama, appeared as the son of Vasudeva but immediately left His father's home and went to Vrindāvana to expand His loving relationship with His confidential devotees. In Vrindāvana the Lord killed many demons, and afterwards He returned to Dvārakā, where according to Vedic principles He married many wives who were the best of women, begot through them hundreds of sons, and performed sacrifices for His own worship to establish the principles of householder life.

PURPORT

As stated in Bhagavad-gītā (15.15), vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyah: by all the Vedas, it is Krishna who is to be known. Lord Śrī Krishna, setting an example by His own behavior, performed many ritualistic ceremonies described in the Vedas and established the principles of grihastha life by marrying many wives and begetting many children just to show people in general how to be happy by living according to Vedic principles. The center of Vedic sacrifice is Krishna (vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyah [Bg. 15.15]). To advance in human life, human society must follow the Vedic principles personally demonstrated by Lord Krishna in His householder life. The real purpose of Krishna's appearance, however, was to manifest how one can take part in loving affairs with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Reciprocations of loving affairs in ecstasy are possible only in Vrindāvana. Therefore just after His appearance as the son of Vasudeva, the Lord immediately left for Vrindāvana. In Vrindāvana, the Lord not only took part in loving affairs with His father and mother, the gopīs and the cowherd boys, but also gave liberation to many demons by killing them. As stated in Bhagavad-gītā (4.8), paritrānāya sādhūnām vināśāya ca dushkritām: the Lord appears in order to protect the devotees and kill the demons. This was fully exhibited by His personal behavior. In Bhagavad-gītā the Lord is understood by Arjuna to be purusham śāśvatam divyam — the eternal, transcendental Supreme Person. Here also we find the words utpādya teshu purushah. Therefore it is to be concluded that the Absolute Truth is purusha, a person. The impersonal feature is but one of the features of His personality. Ultimately, He is a person; He is not impersonal. And not only is He purusha, a person, but He is the līlā-purushottama, the best of all persons.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness