Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.16.2

nālaḿ vayaḿ te mahimānuvarṇane

yo deva-varyo 'vatatāra māyayā

venāńga-jātasya ca pauruṣāṇi te

vācas-patīnām api babhramur dhiyaḥ

SYNONYMS

na alam — not able; vayam — we; te — your; mahima — glories; anuvarṇane — in describing; yaḥ — you who; deva — the Personality of Godhead; varyaḥ — foremost; avatatāra — descended; māyayā — by His internal potencies or causeless mercy; vena-ańga — from the body of King Vena; jātasya — who have appeared; ca — and; pauruṣāṇi — glorious activities; te — of you; vācaḥ-patīnām — of great orators; api — although; babhramuḥ — became bewildered; dhiyaḥ — the minds.

TRANSLATION

The reciters continued: Dear King, you are a direct incarnation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Viṣṇu, and by His causeless mercy you have descended on this earth. Therefore it is not possible for us to actually glorify your exalted activities. Although you have appeared through the body of King Vena, even great orators and speakers like Lord Brahmā and other demigods cannot exactly describe the glorious activities of Your Lordship.

PURPORT

In this verse the word māyayā means "by your causeless mercy." The Māyāvādī philosophers explain the word māyā as meaning "illusion" or "falseness." However, there is another meaning of māyā — that is, "causeless mercy." There are two kinds of māyā — yogamāyā and mahāmāyā. Mahāmāyā is an expansion of yogamāyā, and both these māyās are different expressions of the Lord's internal potencies. As stated in Bhagavad-gītā, the Lord appears through His internal potencies (ātma-māyayā). We should therefore reject the Māyāvāda explanation that the Lord appears in a body given by the external potency, the material energy. The Lord and His incarnation are fully independent and can appear anywhere and everywhere by virtue of the internal potency. Although born out of the so-called dead body of King Vena, King Pṛthu was still an incarnation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead by the Lord's internal potency. The Lord can appear in any family. Sometimes He appears as a fish incarnation (matsya-avatāra) or a boar incarnation (varāha-avatāra). Thus the Lord is completely free and independent to appear anywhere and everywhere by His internal potency. It is stated that Ananta, an incarnation of the Lord who has unlimited mouths, cannot reach the end of His glorification of the Lord, although Ananta has been describing the Lord since time immemorial. So what to speak of demigods like Lord Brahmā, Lord Śiva and others? It is said that the Lord is śiva-viriñci-nutam — always worshiped by demigods like Lord Śiva and Lord Brahmā. If the demigods cannot find adequate language to express the glories of the Lord, then what to speak of others? Consequently reciters like the sūta and māgadha felt inadequate to speak about King Pṛthu.

By glorifying the Lord with exalted verses, one becomes purified. Although we are unable to offer prayers to the Lord in an adequate fashion, our duty is to make the attempt in order to purify ourselves. It is not that we should stop our glorification because demigods like Lord Brahmā and Lord Śiva cannot adequately glorify the Lord. Rather, as stated by Prahlāda Mahārāja, everyone should glorify the Lord according to his own ability. If we are serious and sincere devotees, the Lord will give us the intelligence to offer prayers properly.

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