Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 9.10.16

baddhvodadhau raghu-patir vividhādri-kūṭaiḥ

setuḿ kapīndra-kara-kampita-bhūruhāńgaiḥ

sugrīva-nīla-hanumat-pramukhair anīkair

lańkāḿ vibhīṣaṇa-dṛśāviśad agra-dagdhām

SYNONYMS

baddhvā — after constructing; udadhau — in the water of the ocean; raghu-patiḥ — Lord Rāmacandra; vividha — varieties of; adri-kūṭaiḥ — with peaks of great mountains; setum — a bridge; kapi-indra — of powerful monkeys; kara-kampita — moved by the great hands; bhūruha-ańgaiḥ — with the trees and plants; sugrīva — Sugrīva; nīla — Nīla; hanumat — Hanumān; pramukhaiḥ — led by; anīkaiḥ — with such soldiers; lańkām — Lańkā, the kingdom of Rāvaṇa; vibhīṣaṇa-dṛśā — by the direction of Vibhīṣaṇa, the brother of Rāvaṇa; āviśat — entered; agra-dagdhām — which was previously burnt (by the monkey soldier Hanumān).

TRANSLATION

Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: After constructing a bridge over the ocean by throwing into the water the peaks of mountains whose trees and other vegetation had been shaken by the hands of great monkeys, Lord Rāmacandra went to Lańkā to release Sītādevī from the clutches of Rāvaṇa. With the direction and help of Vibhīṣaṇa, Rāvaṇa's brother, the Lord, along with the monkey soldiers, headed by Sugrīva, Nīla and Hanumān, entered Rāvaṇa's kingdom, Lańkā, which had previously been burnt by Hanumān.

PURPORT

Great mountain peaks covered with trees and plants were thrown into the sea by the monkey soldiers and began to float by the supreme will of the Lord. By the supreme will of the Lord, many great planets float weightlessly in space like swabs of cotton. If this is possible, why should great mountain peaks not be able to float on water? This is the omnipotence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He can do anything and everything He likes, because He is not under the control of the material nature; indeed, material nature is controlled by Him. Mayādhyakṣeṇa prakṛtiḥ sūyate sacarācaram: [Bg. 9.10] only under His direction does prakṛti, or material nature, work. Similar information is given in the Brahma-saḿhitā (5.52):

yasyājñayā bhramati sambhṛta-kāla-cakro

govindam ādi-puruṣaḿ tam ahaḿ bhajāmi

Describing how material nature works, the Brahma-saḿhitā says that the sun moves as desired by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Consequently, for Lord Rāmacandra to construct a bridge over the Indian Ocean with the help of monkey soldiers who threw great mountain peaks into the water is not at all wonderful; it is wonderful only in the sense that it has kept the name and fame of Lord Rāmacandra eternally celebrated.

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