Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 10 Chapter 56 Verse 22

Canto 10: The Summum Bonum | Chapter 56: The Syamantaka Jewel

Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.56.22

sa vai bhagavatā tena

yuyudhe svāmīnātmanaḥ

puruṣam prākṛtaḿ matvā

kupito nānubhāva-vit

SYNONYMS

saḥ — he; vai — indeed; bhagavatā — with the Lord; tena — with Him; yuyudhe — fought; svāmīnā — master; ātmanaḥ — his own; puruṣam — a person; prākṛtam — mundane; matvā — thinking Him; kupitaḥ — angry; na — not; anubhāva — of His position; vit — aware.

TRANSLATION

Unaware of His true position and thinking Him an ordinary man, Jāmbavān angrily began fighting with the Supreme Lord, his master.

PURPORT

The words puruṣaḿ prākṛtaḿ matvā, "thinking Him a mundane person," are very significant. So-called Vedic scholars, including most Western ones, enjoy translating the word puruṣam as "man" even when the word refers to Lord Kṛṣṇa, and thus their unauthorized translations of Vedic literature are tainted by their materialistic conceptions of the Godhead. However, here it is clearly stated that it was because Jāmbavān misunderstood the Lord's position that he considered Him prākṛta-puruṣa, "a mundane person." In other words, the Lord is actually puruṣottama, "the ultimate transcendental person."

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