सप्तैवाभिज्ञाताः ॥३॥ मणिकूटो वज्रकूट इन्द्रसेनो ज्योतिष्मान् सुपर्णो
हिरण्यष्ठीवो मेघमाल इति सेतुशैलाः । अरुणा नृम्णाङ्गिरसी सावित्री सुप्तभाता
ऋतम्भरा सत्यम्भरा इति महानद्यः । यासां जलोपस्पर्शनविधूतरजस्तमसो
हंसपतङ्गोर्ध्वायनसत्याङ्गसंज्ञाश्चत्वारो वर्णाः सहस्रायुषो विबुधोपमसन्दर्शन
प्रजननाः स्वर्गद्वारं त्रय्या विद्यया भगवन्तं त्रयीमयं सूर्यमात्मानं यजन्ते॥४॥
Å›ivaá¹ yavasaá¹ subhadraá¹ Å›Äntaá¹ ká¹£emam amá¹›tam abhayam iti vará¹£Äṇi teá¹£u girayo nadyaÅ› ca saptaivÄbhijñÄtÄḥ; maṇikÅ«á¹o vajrakÅ«á¹a indraseno jyotiá¹£mÄn suparṇo hiraṇyaá¹£á¹hÄ«vo meghamÄla iti setu-Å›ailÄḥ aruá¹‡Ä ná¹›mṇÄá¹…girasÄ« sÄvitrÄ« suptabhÄtÄ á¹›tambharÄ satyambharÄ iti mahÄ-nadyaḥ; yÄsÄá¹ jalopasparÅ›ana-vidhÅ«ta-rajas-tamaso haá¹sa-pataá¹…gordhvÄyana-satyÄá¹…ga-saá¹jñÄÅ› catvÄro varṇÄḥ sahasrÄyuá¹£o vibudhopama-sandarÅ›ana-prajananÄḥ svarga-dvÄraá¹ trayyÄ vidyayÄ bhagavantaá¹ trayÄ«mayaá¹ sÅ«ryam ÄtmÄnaá¹ yajante
Å›ivam - Åšiva; yavasam - Yavasa; subhadram - Subhadra; Å›Äntam - ÅšÄnta; ká¹£emam - Ká¹£ema; amá¹›tam - Amá¹›ta; abhayam - Abhaya; iti - thus; vará¹£Äṇi - the tracts of land according to the names of the seven sons; teá¹£u - in them; girayaḥ - mountains; nadyaḥ ca - and rivers; sapta - seven; eva - indeed; abhijñÄtÄḥ - are known; maṇi-kÅ«á¹aḥ - MaṇikÅ«á¹a; vajra-kÅ«á¹aḥ - VajrakÅ«á¹a; indra-senaḥ - Indrasena; jyotiá¹£mÄn - Jyotiá¹£mÄn; suparṇaḥ - Suparṇa; hiraṇya-á¹£á¹hÄ«vaḥ - Hiraṇyaá¹£á¹hÄ«va; megha-mÄlaḥ - MeghamÄla; iti - thus; setu-Å›ailÄḥ - the ranges of mountains marking the borders of the vará¹£as; aruá¹‡Ä - AruṇÄ; ná¹›má¹‡Ä - Ná¹›mṇÄ; Äá¹…girasÄ« - ĀṅgirasÄ«; sÄvitrÄ« - SÄvitrÄ«; supta-bhÄtÄ - SuptabhÄtÄ; á¹›tambharÄ - ṚtambharÄ; satyambharÄ - SatyambharÄ; iti - thus; mahÄ-nadyaḥ - very large rivers; yÄsÄm - of which; jala-upasparÅ›ana - simply by touching the water; vidhÅ«ta - washed off; rajaḥ-tamasaḥ - whose modes of passion and ignorance; haá¹sa - Haá¹sa; pataá¹…ga - Pataá¹…ga; Å«rdhvÄyana - ŪrdhvÄyana; satyÄá¹…ga - SatyÄá¹…ga; saá¹jñÄḥ - named; catvÄraḥ - four; varṇÄḥ - castes or divisions of men; sahasra-Äyuá¹£aḥ - living for one thousand years; vibudha-upama - similar to the demigods; sandarÅ›ana - in having very beautiful forms; prajananÄḥ - and in producing children; svarga-dvÄram - the gateway to the heavenly planets; trayyÄ vidyayÄ - by performing ritualistic ceremonies according to Vedic principles; bhagavantam - the Supreme Personality of Godhead; trayÄ«-mayam - established in the Vedas; sÅ«ryam ÄtmÄnam - the Supersoul, represented by the sun-god; yajante - they worship.
The seven islands [vará¹£as] are named according to the names of those seven sons — Åšiva, Yavasa, Subhadra, ÅšÄnta, Ká¹£ema, Amá¹›ta and Abhaya. In those seven tracts of land, there are seven mountains and seven rivers. The mountains are named MaṇikÅ«á¹a, VajrakÅ«á¹a, Indrasena, Jyotiá¹£mÄn, Suparṇa, Hiraṇyaá¹£á¹hÄ«va and MeghamÄla, and the rivers are named AruṇÄ, Ná¹›mṇÄ, ĀṅgirasÄ«, SÄvitrÄ«, SuptabhÄtÄ, ṚtambharÄ and SatyambharÄ. One can immediately be free from material contamination by touching or bathing in those rivers, and the four castes of people who live in Plaká¹£advÄ«pa — the Haá¹sas, Pataá¹…gas, ŪrdhvÄyanas and SatyÄá¹…gas — purify themselves in that way. The inhabitants of Plaká¹£advÄ«pa live for one thousand years. They are beautiful like the demigods, and they also beget children like the demigods. By completely performing the ritualistic ceremonies mentioned in the Vedas and by worshiping the Supreme Personality of Godhead as represented by the sun-god, they attain the sun, which is a heavenly planet.
According to general understanding, there are originally three deities — Lord BrahmÄ, Lord Viṣṇu and Lord Åšiva — and people with a poor fund of knowledge consider Lord Viṣṇu no better than Lord BrahmÄ or Lord Åšiva. This conclusion, however, is invalid. As stated in the Vedas, iá¹£á¹ÄpÅ«rtaá¹ bahudhÄ jÄyamÄnaá¹ viÅ›vaá¹ bibharti bhuvanasya nÄbhiḥ tad evÄgnis tad vÄyus tat sÅ«ryas tad u candramÄḥ agniḥ sarvadaivataḥ. This means that the Supreme Lord, who accepts and enjoys the results of Vedic ritualistic ceremonies (technically called iá¹£á¹ÄpÅ«rta), who maintains the entire creation, who supplies the necessities of all living entities (eko bahÅ«nÄá¹ yo vidadhÄti kÄmÄn) and who is the central point of all creation, is Lord Viṣṇu. Lord Viṣṇu expands as the demigods known as Agni, VÄyu, SÅ«rya and Candra, who are simply parts and parcels of His body. Lord Kṛṣṇa says in ÅšrÄ«mad Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (9.23):
ye ’py anya-devatÄ-bhaktÄ
yajante Å›raddhayÄnvitÄḥ
te ’pi mÄm eva kaunteya
yajanty avidhi-pūrvakam
“Devotees who worship the demigods with firm faith worship Me also, but not according to regulative principles.†In other words, if one worships the demigods but does not understand the relationship between the demigods and the Supreme Personality of Godhead, his worship is irregular. Kṛṣṇa also says in Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (9.24), ahaá¹ hi sarva-yajñÄnÄá¹ bhoktÄ ca prabhur eva ca: “I am the only enjoyer of ritualistic ceremonies.â€
It may be argued that the demigods are as important as Lord Viṣṇu because the names of the demigods are different names of Viṣṇu. This, however, is not a sound conclusion, for it is contradicted in the Vedic literatures. The Vedas declare:
candramÄ manaso jÄtaÅ› caká¹£oḥ sÅ«ryo ajÄyata; Å›rotrÄdayaÅ› ca prÄṇaÅ› ca mukhÄd agnir ajÄyata; nÄrÄyaṇÄd brahmÄ, nÄrÄyaṇÄd rudro jÄyate, nÄrÄyaṇÄt prajÄpatiḥ jÄyate, nÄrÄyaṇÄd indro jÄyate, nÄrÄyaṇÄd aá¹£á¹au vasavo jÄyante, nÄrÄyaṇÄd ekÄdaÅ›a rudrÄ jÄyante.
“The demigod of the moon, Candra, came from the mind of NÄrÄyaṇa, and the sun-god came from His eyes. The controlling deities of hearing and the life air came from NÄrÄyaṇa, and the controlling deity of fire was generated from His mouth. PrajÄpati, Lord BrahmÄ, came from NÄrÄyaṇa, Indra came from NÄrÄyaṇa, and the eight Vasus, the eleven expansions of Lord Åšiva and the twelve Ä€dityas also came from NÄrÄyaṇa.†In the smá¹›ti Vedic literature it is also said:
brahmÄ Å›ambhus tathaivÄrkaÅ›
candramÄÅ› ca Å›atakratuḥ
evam ÄdyÄs tathaivÄnye
yuktÄ vaiṣṇava-tejasÄ
jagat-kÄryÄvasÄne tu
viyujyante ca tejasÄ
vitejaÅ› ca te sarve
pañcatvam upayÄnti te
“BrahmÄ, Åšambhu, SÅ«rya and Indra are all merely products of the power of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is also true of the many other demigods whose names are not mentioned here. When the cosmic manifestation is annihilated, these different expansions of NÄrÄyaṇa’s potencies will merge into NÄrÄyaṇa. In other words, all these demigods will die. Their living force will be withdrawn, and they will merge into NÄrÄyaṇa.â€
Therefore it should be concluded that Lord Viṣṇu, not Lord BrahmÄ or Lord Åšiva, is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. As a government officer is sometimes accepted as the entire government although he is actually but a departmental manager, so the demigods, having achieved power of attorney from Viṣṇu, act on His behalf, although they are not as powerful as He. All the demigods must work under the orders of Viṣṇu. Therefore it is said, ekale Ä«Å›vara kṛṣṇa, Ära saba bhá¹›tya. The only master is Lord Kṛṣṇa, or Lord Viṣṇu, and all others are His obedient servants, who act exactly according to His orders. The distinction between Lord Viṣṇu and the demigods is also expressed in Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (9.25).
yÄnti deva-vratÄ devÄn
pitá¹n yÄnti pitá¹›-vratÄḥ
bhÅ«tÄni yÄnti bhÅ«tejyÄ
yÄnti mad-yÄjino ’pi mÄm
Those who worship the demigods go to the planets of the demigods, whereas the worshipers of Lord Kṛṣṇa and Lord Viṣṇu go to the planets in Vaikuṇá¹ha. These are the statements of the smá¹›ti. Therefore the idea that Lord Viṣṇu is on the same level as the demigods is in contradiction to the Å›Ästras. The demigods are not supreme. The supremacy of the demigods is dependent on the mercy of Lord NÄrÄyaṇa (Viṣṇu, or Kṛṣṇa).
