पातालदिङ्नरकभागणलोकसंस्था ।
गीता मया तव नृपाद्भुतमीश्वरस्य
स्थूलं वपुः सकलजीवनिकायधाम ॥४०॥
bhū-dvīpa-varṣa-sarid-adri-nabhaḥ-samudra-
pÄtÄla-diá¹…-naraka-bhÄgaṇa-loka-saá¹sthÄ
gÄ«tÄ mayÄ tava ná¹›pÄdbhutam Ä«Å›varasya
sthÅ«laá¹ vapuḥ sakala-jÄ«va-nikÄya-dhÄma
bhÅ« - of this planet earth; dvÄ«pa - and other different planetary systems; vará¹£a - of tracts of land; sarit - rivers; adri - mountains; nabhaḥ - the sky; samudra - oceans; pÄtÄla - lower planets; dik - directions; naraka - the hellish planets; bhÄgaṇa-loka - the luminaries and higher planets; saá¹sthÄ - the situation; gÄ«tÄ - described; mayÄ - by me; tava - for you; ná¹›pa - O King; adbhutam - wonderful; Ä«Å›varasya - of the Supreme Personality of Godhead; sthÅ«lam - gross; vapuḥ - body; sakala-jÄ«va-nikÄya - of all the masses of living entities; dhÄma - which is the place of repose.
My dear King, I have now described for you this planet earth, other planetary systems, and their lands [vará¹£as], rivers and mountains. I have also described the sky, the oceans, the lower planetary systems, the directions, the hellish planetary systems and the stars. These constitute the virÄá¹-rÅ«pa, the gigantic material form of the Lord, on which all living entities repose. Thus I have explained the wonderful expanse of the external body of the Lord.
Thus end the Bhaktivedanta purports of the Fifth Canto, Twenty-sixth Chapter, of ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam, entitled “A Description of the Hellish Planets.â€
— Completed in the Honolulu temple of the Pañca-tattva, June 5, 1975.
There is a supplementary note written by His Divine Grace BhaktisiddhÄnta SarasvatÄ« GosvÄmÄ« MahÄrÄja PrabhupÄda in his Gauá¸Ä«ya-bhÄá¹£ya. Its translation is as follows. Learned scholars who have full knowledge of all the Vedic scriptures agree that the incarnations of the Supreme Personality of Godhead are innumerable. These incarnations are classified into two divisions, called prÄbhava and vaibhava. According to the scriptures, prÄbhava incarnations are also classified in two divisions — those which are called eternal and those which are not vividly described. In this Fifth Canto of ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam, in Chapters Three through Six, there is a description of Ṛṣabhadeva, but there is not an expanded description of His spiritual activities. Therefore He is considered to belong to the second group of prÄbhava incarnations. In ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam, First Canto, Chapter Three, verse 13, it is said:
aá¹£á¹ame merudevyÄá¹ tu
nÄbher jÄta urukramaḥ
darÅ›ayan vartma dhÄ«rÄṇÄá¹
sarvÄÅ›rama-namaská¹›tam
“Lord Viṣṇu appeared in the eighth incarnation as the son of MahÄrÄja NÄbhi [the son of Ä€gnÄ«dhra] and his wife MerudevÄ«. He showed the path of perfection, the paramahaá¹sa stage of life, which is worshiped by all the followers of varṇÄÅ›rama-dharma.†Ṛṣabhadeva is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and His body is spiritual (sac-cid-Änanda-vigraha). Therefore one might ask how it might be possible that he passed stool and urine. The Gauá¸Ä«ya vedÄnta ÄcÄrya Baladeva VidyÄbhÅ«á¹£aṇa has replied to this question in his book known as SiddhÄnta-ratna (First Portion, texts 65-68). Imperfect men call attention to Ṛṣabhadeva’s passing stool and urine as a subject matter for the study of nondevotees, who do not understand the spiritual position of a transcendental body. In this Fifth Canto of ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam (5.6.11) the illusioned and bewildered state of the materialists of this age is fully described. Elsewhere in Fifth Canto (5.5.19) Ṛṣabhadeva stated, idaá¹ Å›arÄ«ram mama durvibhÄvyam: “This body of Mine is inconceivable for materialists.†This is also confirmed by Lord Kṛṣṇa in Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (9.11):
avajÄnanti mÄá¹ mÅ«á¸hÄ
mÄnuṣīṠtanum ÄÅ›ritam
paraá¹ bhÄvam ajÄnanto
mama bhūta-maheśvaram
“Fools deride Me when I descend in the human form. They do not know My transcendental nature and My supreme dominion over all that be.†The human form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is extremely difficult to understand, and, in fact, for a common man it is inconceivable. Therefore Ṛṣabhadeva has directly explained that His own body belongs to the spiritual platform. This being so, Ṛṣabhadeva did not actually pass stool and urine. Even though He superficially seemed to pass stool and urine, that was also transcendental and cannot be imitated by any common man. It is also stated in ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam that the stool and urine of Ṛṣabhadeva were full of transcendental fragrance. One may imitate Ṛṣabhadeva, but he cannot imitate Him by passing stool that is fragrant.
The activities of Ṛṣabhadeva, therefore, do not support the claims of a certain class of men known as arhat, who sometimes advertise that they are followers of Ṛṣabhadeva. How can they be followers of Ṛṣabhadeva while they act against the Vedic principles? Åšukadeva GosvÄmÄ« has related that after hearing about the characteristics of Lord Ṛṣabhadeva, the King of Koá¹…ka, Veá¹…ka and Kuá¹aka initiated a system of religious principles known as arhat. These principles were not in accord with Vedic principles, and therefore they are called pÄá¹£aṇá¸a-dharma. The members of the arhat community considered Ṛṣabhadeva’s activities material. However, Ṛṣabhadeva is an incarnation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore He is on the transcendental platform, and no one can compare to Him.
Ṛṣabhadeva personally exhibited the activities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. As stated in ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam (5.6.8), dÄvÄnalas tad vanam ÄlelihÄnaḥ saha tena dadÄha: at the conclusion of Ṛṣabhadeva’s pastimes, an entire forest and the Lord’s body were burned to ashes in a great forest fire. In the same way, Ṛṣabhadeva burned people’s ignorance to ashes. He exhibited the characteristics of a paramahaá¹sa in His instructions to His sons. The principles of the arhat community, however, do not correspond to the teachings of Ṛṣabhadeva.
ÅšrÄ«la Baladeva VidyÄbhÅ«á¹£aṇa remarks that in the Eighth Canto of ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam there is another description of Ṛṣabhadeva, but that Ṛṣabhadeva is different from the one described in this canto.
END OF THE FIFTH CANTO
