Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 3 Chapter 28 Verse 23

Canto 3: The Status Quo | Chapter 28: Kapila's Instructions on the Execution of Devotional Service

Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.28.23

jānu-dvayaḿ jalaja-locanayā jananyā

lakṣmyākhilasya sura-vanditayā vidhātuḥ

ūrvor nidhāya kara-pallava-rociṣā yat

saḿlālitaḿ hṛdi vibhor abhavasya kuryāt

SYNONYMS

jānu-dvayam — up to the knees; jalaja-locanayā — lotus-eyed; jananyā — mother; lakṣmyā — by Lakṣmī; akhilasya — of the entire universe; sura-vanditayā — worshiped by the demigods; vidhātuḥ — of Brahmā; ūrvoḥ — at the thighs; nidhāya — having placed; kara-pallava-rociṣā — with her lustrous fingers; yat — which; saḿlālitam — massaged; hṛdi — in the heart; vibhoḥ — of the Lord; abhavasya — transcendental to material existence; kuryāt — one should meditate.

TRANSLATION

The yogī should fix in his heart the activities of Lakṣmī, the goddess of fortune, who is worshiped by all demigods and is the mother of the supreme person, Brahmā. She can always be found massaging the legs and thighs of the transcendental Lord, very carefully serving Him in this way.

PURPORT

Brahmā is the appointed lord of the universe. Because his father is Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, Lakṣmī, the goddess of fortune, is automatically his mother. Lakṣmījī is worshiped by all demigods and by the inhabitants of other planets as well. Human beings are also eager to receive favor from the goddess of fortune. Lakṣmī is always engaged in massaging the legs and thighs of the Supreme Personality of Godhead Nārāyaṇa, who is lying on the ocean of Garbha within the universe. Brahmā is described here as the son of the goddess of fortune, but actually he was not born of her womb. Brahmā takes his birth from the abdomen of the Lord Himself. A lotus flower grows from the abdomen of Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, and Brahmā is born there. Therefore Lakṣmījī's massaging of the thighs of the Lord should not be taken as the behavior of an ordinary wife. The Lord is transcendental to the behavior of the ordinary male and female. The word abhavasya is very significant, for it indicates that He could produce Brahmā without the assistance of the goddess of fortune.

Since transcendental behavior is different from mundane behavior, it should not be taken that the Lord receives service from His wife just as a demigod or human being might receive service from his wife. It is advised here that the yogī always keep this picture in his heart. The devotee always thinks of this relationship between Lakṣmī and Nārāyaṇa; therefore he does not meditate on the mental plane as impersonalists and voidists do.

Bhava means "one who accepts a material body," and abhava means "one who does not accept a material body but descends in the original, spiritual body." Lord Nārāyaṇa is not born of anything material. Matter is generated from matter, but He is not born of matter. Brahmā is born after the creation, but since the Lord existed before the creation, the Lord has no material body.

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