Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 8 Chapter 5 Verse 22

Canto 8: Withdrawal of the Cosmic Creations | Chapter 5: The Demigods Appeal to the Lord for Protection

Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 8.5.22

na yasya vadhyo na ca rakṣaṇīyo

nopekṣaṇīyādaraṇīya-pakṣaḥ

tathāpi sarga-sthiti-saḿyamārthaḿ

dhatte rajaḥ-sattva-tamāḿsi kāle

SYNONYMS

na — not; yasya — by whom (the Lord); vadhyaḥ — anyone is to be killed; na — nor; ca — also; rakṣaṇīyaḥ — anyone is to be protected; na — nor; upekṣaṇīya — to be neglected; ādaraṇīya — to be worshiped; pakṣaḥ — part; tathāpi — still; sarga — creation; sthiti — maintenance; saḿyama — and annihilation; artham — for the sake of; dhatte — He accepts; rajaḥ — passion; sattva — goodness; tamāḿsi — and ignorance; kāle — in due course of time.

TRANSLATION

For the Supreme Personality of Godhead there is no one to be killed, no one to be protected, no one to be neglected and no one to be worshiped. Nonetheless, for the sake of creation, maintenance and annihilation according to time, He accepts different forms as incarnations either in the mode of goodness, the mode of passion or the mode of ignorance.

PURPORT

This verse explains that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is equal to everyone. This is confirmed by the Lord Himself in Bhagavad-gītā (9.29):

samo 'haḿ sarva-bhūteṣu

na me dveṣyo 'sti na priyaḥ

ye bhajanti tu māḿ bhaktyā

mayi te teṣu cāpy aham

"I envy no one, nor am I partial to anyone. I am equal to all. But whoever renders service unto Me in devotion is a friend, is in Me, and I am also a friend to him." Although the Lord is impartial, He gives special attention to His devotees. Therefore the Lord says in Bhagavad-gītā (4.8):

paritrāṇāya sādhūnāḿ

vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām

dharma-saḿsthāpanārthāya

sambhavāmi yuge yuge

"To deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to reestablish the principles of religion, I advent Myself millennium after millennium." The Lord has nothing to do with anyone's protection or destruction, but for the creation, maintenance and annihilation of this material world He apparently has to act either in goodness, in passion or in darkness. Actually, however, He is unaffected by these modes of material nature. He is the Supreme Lord of everyone. As a king sometimes punishes or rewards someone to maintain law and order, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, although having nothing to do with the activities of this material world, sometimes appears as various incarnations according to the time, place and object.

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