nÄlaá¹ vayaá¹ te mahimÄnuvarṇane
yo deva-varyo 'vatatÄra mÄyayÄ
venÄá¹…ga-jÄtasya ca pauruá¹£Äṇi te
vÄcas-patÄ«nÄm api babhramur dhiyaḥ
na alam - not able; vayam - we; te - your; mahima - glories; anuvarṇane - in describing; yaḥ - you who; deva - the Personality of Godhead; varyaḥ - foremost; avatatÄra - descended; mÄyayÄ - by His internal potencies or causeless mercy; vena-aá¹…ga - from the body of King Vena; jÄtasya - who have appeared; ca - and; pauruá¹£Äṇi - glorious activities; te - of you; vÄcaḥ-patÄ«nÄm - of great orators; api - although; babhramuḥ - became bewildered; dhiyaḥ - the minds.
In this verse the word mÄyayÄ means “by your causeless mercy.†The MÄyÄvÄdÄ« philosophers explain the word mÄyÄ as meaning “illusion†or “falseness.†However, there is another meaning of mÄyÄ â€” that is, “causeless mercy.†There are two kinds of mÄyÄ: yoga-mÄyÄ and mahÄ-mÄyÄ. MahÄ-mÄyÄ is an expansion of yoga-mÄyÄ, and both these mÄyÄs are different expressions of the Lord’s internal potencies. As stated in Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ, the Lord appears through His internal potencies (Ätma-mÄyayÄ). We should therefore reject the MÄyÄvÄda explanation that the Lord appears in a body given by the external potency, the material energy. The Lord and His incarnation are fully independent and can appear anywhere and everywhere by virtue of the internal potency. Although born out of the so-called dead body of King Vena, King Pá¹›thu was still an incarnation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead by the Lord’s internal potency. The Lord can appear in any family. Sometimes He appears as a fish incarnation (matsya-avatÄra) or a boar incarnation (varÄha-avatÄra). Thus the Lord is completely free and independent to appear anywhere and everywhere by His internal potency. It is stated that Ananta, an incarnation of the Lord who has unlimited mouths, cannot reach the end of His glorification of the Lord, although Ananta has been describing the Lord since time immemorial. So what to speak of demigods like Lord BrahmÄ, Lord Åšiva and others? It is said that the Lord is Å›iva-viriñci-nutam — always worshiped by demigods like Lord Åšiva and Lord BrahmÄ. If the demigods cannot find adequate language to express the glories of the Lord, then what to speak of others? Consequently reciters like the sÅ«ta and mÄgadha felt inadequate to speak about King Pá¹›thu.
By glorifying the Lord with exalted verses, one becomes purified. Although we are unable to offer prayers to the Lord in an adequate fashion, our duty is to make the attempt in order to purify ourselves. It is not that we should stop our glorification because demigods like Lord BrahmÄ and Lord Åšiva cannot adequately glorify the Lord. Rather, as stated by PrahlÄda MahÄrÄja, everyone should glorify the Lord according to his own ability. If we are serious and sincere devotees, the Lord will give us the intelligence to offer prayers properly.