व्याप्तिं च भूतेष्वखिलेषु चात्मनः ।
अदृश्यतात्यद्भुतरूपमुद्वहन्
स्तम्भे सभायां न मृगं न मानुषम् ॥१७॥
satyaá¹ vidhÄtuá¹ nija-bhá¹›tya-bhÄá¹£itaá¹
vyÄptiá¹ ca bhÅ«teá¹£v akhileá¹£u cÄtmanaḥ
adṛśyatÄtyadbhuta-rÅ«pam udvahan
stambhe sabhÄyÄá¹ na má¹›gaá¹ na mÄnuá¹£am
satyam - true; vidhÄtum - to prove; nija-bhá¹›tya-bhÄá¹£itam - the words of His own servant (PrahlÄda MahÄrÄja, who had said that his Lord is present everywhere); vyÄptim - the pervasion; ca - and; bhÅ«teá¹£u - among the living entities and elements; akhileá¹£u - all; ca - also; Ätmanaḥ - of Himself; adṛśyata - was seen; ati - very; adbhuta - wonderful; rÅ«pam - form; udvahan - taking; stambhe - in the pillar; sabhÄyÄm - within the assembly; na - not; má¹›gam - an animal; na - nor; mÄnuá¹£am - a human being.
To prove that the statement of His servant PrahlÄda MahÄrÄja was substantial — in other words, to prove that the Supreme Lord is present everywhere, even within the pillar of an assembly hall — the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Hari, exhibited a wonderful form never before seen. The form was neither that of a man nor that of a lion. Thus the Lord appeared in His wonderful form in the assembly hall.
When HiraṇyakaÅ›ipu asked PrahlÄda MahÄrÄja, “Where is your Lord? Is He present in this pillar?†PrahlÄda MahÄrÄja fearlessly replied, “Yes, my Lord is present everywhere.†Therefore, to convince HiraṇyakaÅ›ipu that the statement of PrahlÄda MahÄrÄja was unmistakably true, the Lord appeared from the pillar. The Lord appeared as half lion and half man so that HiraṇyakaÅ›ipu could not understand whether the great giant was a lion or a human being. To substantiate PrahlÄda’s statement, the Lord proved that His devotee, as declared in Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ, is never vanquished (kaunteya pratijÄnÄ«hi na me bhaktaḥ praṇaÅ›yati). PrahlÄda MahÄrÄja’s demoniac father had repeatedly threatened to kill PrahlÄda, but PrahlÄda was confident that he could not be killed, since he was protected by the Supreme Lord. By appearing from the pillar, the Lord encouraged His devotee, saying in effect, “Don’t worry. I am present here.†By manifesting His form as Ná¹›siá¹hadeva, the Lord also preserved the truth of Lord BrahmÄ’s promise that HiraṇyakaÅ›ipu was not to be killed by any animal or any man. The Lord appeared in a form that could not be said to be fully a man or a lion.
