न वै महाराज भगवतो मायागुणविभूतेः काष्ठां मनसा वचसा
वाधिगन्तुमलं विबुधायुषापि पुरुषस्तस्मात्प्राधान्येनैव भूगोलकविशेषं नाम
रूप मानलक्षणतो व्याख्यास्यामः ॥४॥
ṛṣir uvÄca
na vai mahÄrÄja bhagavato mÄyÄ-guṇa-vibhÅ«teḥ kÄá¹£á¹hÄá¹ manasÄ vacasÄ vÄdhigantum alaá¹ vibudhÄyuá¹£Äpi puruá¹£as tasmÄt prÄdhÄn-yenaiva bhÅ«-golaka-viÅ›eá¹£aá¹ nÄma-rÅ«pa-mÄna-laká¹£aṇato vyÄkhyÄsyÄmaḥ
ṛṣiḥ uvÄca - ÅšrÄ« Åšukadeva GosvÄmÄ« continued to speak; na - not; vai - indeed; mahÄ-rÄja - O great King; bhagavataḥ - of the Supreme Personality of Godhead; mÄyÄ-guṇa-vibhÅ«teḥ - of the transformation of the qualities of the material energy; kÄá¹£á¹hÄm - the end; manasÄ - by the mind; vacasÄ - by words; vÄ - either; adhigantum - to understand fully; alam - capable; vibudha-Äyuá¹£Ä - with a duration of life like that of BrahmÄ; api - even; puruá¹£aḥ - a person; tasmÄt - therefore; prÄdhÄnyena - by a general description of the chief places; eva - certainly; bhÅ«-golaka-viÅ›eá¹£am - the particular description of BhÅ«loka; nÄma-rÅ«pa - names and forms; mÄna - measurements; laká¹£aṇataḥ - according to symptoms; vyÄkhyÄsyÄmaḥ - I shall try to explain.
The great ṛṣi Åšukadeva GosvÄmÄ« said: My dear King, there is no limit to the expansion of the Supreme Personality of Godhead’s material energy. This material world is a transformation of the material qualities [sattva-guṇa, rajo-guṇa and tamo-guṇa], yet no one could possibly explain it perfectly, even in a lifetime as long as that of BrahmÄ. No one in the material world is perfect, and an imperfect person could not describe this material universe accurately, even after continued speculation. O King, I shall nevertheless try to explain to you the principal regions, such as BhÅ«loka, with their names, forms, measurements and various symptoms.
The material world is only one fourth of the Supreme Personality of Godhead’s creation, but it is unlimited and impossible for anyone to know or describe, even with the qualification of a life as long as that of BrahmÄ, who lives for millions and millions of years. Modern scientists and astronomers try to explain the cosmic situation and the vastness of space, and some of them believe that all the glittering stars are different suns. From Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ, however, we understand that all these stars (naká¹£atras) are like the moon, in that they reflect the sunshine. They are not independent luminaries. BhÅ«loka is explained to be that portion of outer space through which the heat and light of the sun extend. Therefore it is natural to conclude that this universe extends in space as far as we can see and encompasses the glittering stars. ÅšrÄ«la Åšukadeva GosvÄmÄ« admitted that to give full details of this expansive material universe would be impossible, but nevertheless he wanted to give the King as much knowledge as he had received through the paramparÄ system. We should conclude that if one cannot comprehend the material expansions of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one certainly cannot estimate the expansiveness of the spiritual world. The Brahma-saá¹hitÄ (5.33) confirms this:
advaitam acyutam anÄdim ananta-rÅ«pam
Ädyaá¹ purÄṇa-puruá¹£aá¹ nava-yauvanaá¹ ca
The limits of the expansions of Govinda, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, cannot be estimated by anyone, even a person as perfect as BrahmÄ, not to speak of tiny scientists whose senses and instruments are all imperfect and who cannot give us information of even this one universe. We should therefore be satisfied with the information obtainable from Vedic sources as spoken by authorities like Åšukadeva GosvÄmÄ«.
