Srimad Bhagavatam – day 12
Vāsudeva-parā vedā Vāsudeva-parā makhāḥ
Vāsudeva-parā yogā Vāsudeva-parāḥ kriyāḥ
Vāsudeva-paraṁ jñānaṁ Vāsudeva-paraṁ tapaḥ
Vāsudeva-paro dharmo Vāsudeva-parā gatiḥ
Vedas preach Vāsudeva as the ultimate supreme goal to be attained. Vāsudeva is the essence of the entire knowledge of Vedas and He is the ultimate object of Vedas. All Yagnas (sacrificial rituals) performed are solely for Vāsudeva. All actions are ultimately offered/ surrendered into Him. He is the ultimate goal of all Yoga. All actions ultimately end in Him. Vāsudeva alone will be obtained through attaining knowledge (jnāna). All austerities (tapas) and adherence to righteousness (dharma) are undertaken for Vāsudeva alone. The fruits of all actions including attaining heaven ultimately merge into Vāsudeva.
Vāsudeva here refers to the Supreme Godhead, Paramatma.
Everything attains fulfillment only when it merges into Paramatma. This is the implied meaning of this verse.
Let us discuss about the subtle aspects pertaining to the creation of this world.
At the beginning of creation, the all-pervading Paramatma who is distinctly over and above the triguṇās, took the help of his power of illusion (māya shakti), which is composed of the three traits (triguṇās) and which consists of the cause and effectual energies, to create this entire universe.
Thereafter He entered into this material universe that had been created out of the triguṇās (the three qualities or modes of nature) which are the sportive forms (vilāsa swaroopa) of the ‘power of illusion’ (māya shakti). With His power of consciousness (chaitanya shakti), the Lord, while illumining all the objects and appearing as if He is enveloped by the trigunas, is inherently shining everywhere.
The truth is that the Lord inherently is devoid of any trait or property (He is nirguṇa)!
The fire that has enveloped the logs of wood appears to be of many varied forms; it appears as if many fires are burning, when in reality only one fire is burning. In the similar manner, even though the single absolute Paramatma pervades all beings, it appears as if there are many different beings.
In the fire, the same illumination appears to have taken on different forms. Likewise the Supreme Lord takes on different forms.
It is He who exists within everything. He is in this form as well as in that form too. There is one single Lord who exists within all the objects and shines through them all. But to us it appears as if there are many Paramatmas; as if He is many. The illumination that is present within every object of the creation is itself Paramatma!
Earth, water, fire, air and space are the subtle basic elements. Paramatma, with the help of the trigunas in the form of subtle basic elements, senses (indriyas) and mind, created the universe replete with all living beings, and having entered into them appears as if He is experiencing these objects of sense perception through sound, taste, form, smell and touch (sabda, rasa, roopa, gandha and sparsha). He is experiencing in the form of sound. He experiences in the form of touch. He experiences in the form of taste. He experiences in the form of smell.
Paramatma, the creator of this world, takes great delight in playfully incarnating as celestials, animals, birds, humans and so on and through traits of purity and goodness (sattva guṇa) maintains / protects all these various planes thus created.
He loves to incarnate in various forms! He incarnates in each and every one of them. The Lord appears to be manifested differently, but in reality He is the one who is the cause behind all these different manifestations. He is the absolute one but appears to be manifested differently. This is the decisive truth!
With this the second chapter of the first canto comes to an end. Now we will go to the third chapter of this canto. In this chapter the 24 incarnations of the Lord have been briefly described. In response to the question asked by Shounaka and other saints, Maharishi Suta says-
“Previously with the desire to create this universe, Paramatma took on the form of Puruśa that had in it the principles of Mahat tattva, ahamkara, pancha tanmātra. This form consisted of the 16 basic principles/ aspects viz., 5 organs of perception (jnanendriya), 5 organs of action (karmendriya), the inner mind (antah karana) and 5 basic elements (earth, water etc.).
The term ahamkara here does not refer to arrogance. Omniscience is the characteristic of Paramatma. This is being referred to as ahamkara in this context.
From the lake called the navel of Sri Mahavishnu, who was in lying down in yoga nidra Samadhi in the waters, the four faced Brahma who is the leader of all Prajapatis was born.
This entire universe is nothing but the extensive body of Sri Mahavishnu. In other words, the universal form of the divine Lord, known as vishwaroopa or virādroopa, is nothing but this entire vast extended universe! Every visible portion of this universe is just one of the parts of the body of that Supreme Lord!
Innumerable galaxies and planets exist. Each of them is one of His body parts.
On Namo Narayana!