bhagavÄn api viÅ›vÄtmÄ
viditvÄ kaá¹sajaá¹ bhayam
yadÅ«nÄá¹ nija-nÄthÄnÄá¹
yogamÄyÄá¹ samÄdiÅ›at
bhagavÄn - ÅšrÄ« Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead; api - also; viÅ›vÄtmÄ - who is the Supersoul of everyone; viditvÄ - understanding the position of the Yadus and His other devotees; kaá¹sa-jam - because of Kaá¹sa; bhayam - fear; yadÅ«nÄm - of the Yadus; nija-nÄthÄnÄm - who had accepted Him, the Supreme Lord, as their supreme shelter; yogamÄyÄm - unto YogamÄyÄ, the spiritual potency of Kṛṣṇa; samÄdiÅ›at - ordered as follows.
The words bhagavÄn api viÅ›vÄtmÄ viditvÄ kaá¹sajaá¹ bhayam are commented upon by ÅšrÄ«la SanÄtana GosvÄmÄ«. BhagavÄn svayam is Kṛṣṇa (kṛṣṇas tu bhagavÄn svayam). He is ViÅ›vÄtmÄ, the original Supersoul of everyone, because His plenary portion expands as the Supersoul. This is confirmed in Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (13.3): ká¹£etra-jñaá¹ cÄpi mÄá¹ viddhi sarva-ká¹£etreá¹£u bhÄrata. Lord Kṛṣṇa is the ká¹£etra jña, or Supersoul, of all living entities. He is the original source of all expansions of the Personality of Godhead. There are hundreds and thousands of plenary expansions of Viṣṇu, such as Saá¹…kará¹£aṇa, Pradyumna, Aniruddha and VÄsudeva, but here in this material world, the ViÅ›vÄtmÄ, the Supersoul for all living entities, is KṣīrodakaÅ›ÄyÄ« Viṣṇu. As stated in Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (18.61), īśvaraḥ sarva-bhÅ«tÄnÄá¹ há¹›d-deÅ›e ’rjuna tiá¹£á¹hati: “The Supreme Lord is situated in the heart of all living entities, O Arjuna.†Kṛṣṇa is actually ViÅ›vÄtmÄ by His plenary expansion as viṣṇu-tattva, yet because of His affection for His devotees, He acts as Supersoul to give them directions (sarvasya cÄhaá¹ há¹›di sanniviá¹£á¹o mattaḥ smá¹›tir jñÄnam apohanaá¹ ca).
The affairs of the Supersoul pertain to KṣīrodakaÅ›ÄyÄ« Viṣṇu, but Kṛṣṇa took compassion on DevakÄ«, His devotee, because He understood her fear of Kaá¹sa’s persecution. A pure devotee is always fearful of material existence. No one knows what will happen next, for one may have to change his body at any moment (tathÄ dehÄntara-prÄptiḥ). Knowing this fact, a pure devotee acts in such a way that he will not have his life spoiled by being obliged to accept another body and undergo the tribulations of material existence. This is bhayam, or fear. Bhayaá¹ dvitÄ«yÄbhiniveÅ›ataḥ syÄt (BhÄg. 11.2.37). This fear is due to material existence. Properly speaking, everyone should always be alert and fearful of material existence, but although everyone is prone to be affected by the ignorance of material existence, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, is always alert to the protection of His devotees. Kṛṣṇa is so kind and affectionate toward His devotees that He helps them by giving them the intelligence by which to exist in this material world without forgetting Him even for a moment. The Lord says:
teá¹£Äm evÄnukampÄrtham
aham ajñÄna-jaá¹ tamaḥ
nÄÅ›ayÄmy Ätma-bhÄvastho
jñÄna-dÄ«pena bhÄsvatÄ
“Out of compassion for them, I, dwelling in their hearts, destroy with the shining lamp of knowledge the darkness born of ignorance.†(Bg. 10.11)
The word yoga means “link.†Any system of yoga is an attempt to reconnect our broken relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. There are different types of yoga, of which bhakti-yoga is the best. In other yoga systems, one must undergo various processes before attaining perfection, but bhakti-yoga is direct. The Lord says in Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (6.47):
yoginÄm api sarveá¹£Äá¹
mad-gatenÄntarÄtmanÄ
Å›raddhÄvÄn bhajate yo mÄá¹
sa me yuktatamo mataḥ
“Of all yogÄ«s, he who always abides in Me with great faith, worshiping Me in transcendental loving service, is most intimately united with Me in yoga and is the highest of all.†For the bhakti-yogÄ«, a human body is guaranteed in his next existence, as stated by Lord Kṛṣṇa (Å›ucÄ«nÄá¹ Å›rÄ«matÄá¹ gehe yoga-bhraá¹£á¹o ’bhijÄyate). Yoga-mÄyÄ is the spiritual potency of the Lord. Out of affection for His devotees, the Lord always stays in spiritual touch with them, although otherwise His MÄyÄ potency is so strong that she bewilders even exalted demigods like BrahmÄ. Therefore the Lord’s potency is called Yoga-mÄyÄ. Since the Lord is ViÅ›vÄtmÄ, He immediately ordered Yoga-mÄyÄ to give protection to DevakÄ«.