BY: SUN STAFF
Mar 16, CANADA (SUN) —
Bhagavat Sandarbha
by Srila Jiva Goswami
SECTION FORTY-TWO
In this way, the Lord's body has been established as all pervading by showing that although it is medium sized it is the support of everything. It is also proven by showing that It exists everywhere (SB.10.69.2):
Narada Muni thought, "It is quite amazing that in a single body Lord Krishna simultaneously married sixteen thousand women, each in a separate palace."
(Narada is saying), "O how astonishing is that!" What is that? That one Krishna married 16,000 women. But what is so astonishing about that? Narada answers grheshu, "in houses". "In all 16,000" is to be added to the verse. Let it be so, still what? It Narada answers, prithak "separately"--He underwent the marriage ceremony being situated differently in each house".
Another doubt is raised, "But is it not possible to undergo many marriage ceremonies consecutively?" Narada says--yugapat "simultaneously".
A further doubt is raised, "But the master of mystic perfection, Yogesvara, can also do that by simultaneously manifesting various forms. What is so astonishing if Lord Krishna, whose Lotus feet are worshipped by Yogesvaras, did it? Narada anwers by ekana vapusha, "He did it in one form". A further doubt is raised, "Did he perform this in one form having many hands and legs, by expanding it over to all 16,000 houses?" No, no, not so. Uddhava said (S.B.3.3.8):
All those princesses were lodged in different apartments, and the Lord simultaneously assumed different bodily expansions exactly matching each and every princess. He accepted their hands in perfect ritual by His internal potency.
From statements such as that of Uddhava it is well known that He accepted a particular suitable form for each of them. With this purpose in mind, Narada answers by one word put in the first half of the verse--prithak or different. He underwent the marriage ceremony in only one humanlike form which was seen differently at different places. Thus because one humanlike form simultaneously exists in all places and in all activities, that is the greatest astonishment. This is the meaning of the verse.
Also in the same way in the fifth canto while commenting on the prose beginning with tesham (5.10.40) describing the form of the Lord, the presiding deity of all planets, Svamipada writes similarly ."Because He is the master of all Supreme opulence, He pervades everything by just one form." Also, the Srimad Bhagavatam (10.59.42) states:
Then the imperishable Supreme Personality, assuming a separate form for each bride, simultaneously married all the princesses, each in her own palace.
Therefore Tavad-rupa-dhara,"a seperate form for each bride" means that simultaneously in different places He manifested His one form, prakasa. It does not mean that He expanded Himself into different forms such as Narayana and others.
This is defined in Sri Sankshepa-Bhagavatamritam (1.21), "When one form simultaneously appears in many places and it is always the same in all respects it is called prakasa." This is the difference between the prakasa form and other forms.
COMMENTARY
In the previous eleven Texts Srila Jiva Gosvami established that the Lord's body, although medium-sized, is the support of everything and thus all-pervading. In the next three Texts he will establish the same characteristic by showing the that the Lord's medium-sized body exists everywhere, and yet remains one. To illustrate this he refers to Lord Krishna's pastime of marrying 16,000 wives. The demon Bhaumasura lived in Pragjyotishapura. He was so powerful that he even troubled the demigods. Once Indra approached Lord Krishna in Dwaraka and pleaded with Him to please kill that demon. The Lord mounted Garuda and went to Pragjyotishapura. After a fierce battle, Sri Krishna slayed Bhaumasura. The demon had kidnapped 16,000 princesses from various kings and held them captive in his palace. Upon being rescued by the Lord they all desired to marry Lord Krishna and thus the Lord took them all to Dwaraka.
In accordance with Vedic customs, the Lord consulted astrologers to find a suitable moment (muhurtta) for His 16,000 marriage ceremonies. Since a muhurtta lasts only forty-eight minutes, it is understood that the Lord married all the princesses simultaneously. Even without considering the astrological factor, if He had married a wife a day, that would have taken forty-three years ten months and five days to marry all of them. He therefore married all of them simultaneously by His mystic power. This astonished even great mystics like Narada Muni, who went to Dwarka to observe the Lord's daily activities and learned that He had married 16,000 princesses. In great wonder Narada spoke verse S.B. 10.69.2, which is best explained by presenting the underlying doubts and responding to them with portions of the verse.
Doubt: Why was Narada astonished?
Answer: Because Krishna alone married 16,000 wives.
Doubt: What's so wonderful about that? Many kings had hundreds and thousands of wives.
Answer: The queens were in 16,000 different houses.
Doubt: What's so great about that? He was a king. He could have a palace for each of His queens.
Answer: He married them with individual marriage ceremonies in 16,000 palaces.
Doubt: That can be done by going from one house to another, so what is the big wonder?
Answer: He did it at the same time, in one muhurtta.
Doubt: He is called Yogesvara, the Master of Mystics. Mystic yogis can expand into many bodies, called kaya-vyuha. He could have expanded into 16,000 kaya-vyuhas to undergo the marriage ceremony.
Answer: No, He did not expand into many bodies. He married them all simultaneously in one body. This is what surprised Narada.
Doubt: He could have produced 32,000 hands like in the virat form, and accepted 16,000 wives in 16,000 houses simultaneously.
Answer: No. He had a suitable form for each girl and yet all these forms were one. (S.B. 3.3.8) This is confirmed by the statement of Sukadeva Gosvami (S.B. 10.59.42) and Sri Uddhava (S.B.3.3.38) cited in the Text.
All these forms of the Lord are His original forms, called prakasa expansions. These forms are not different from His original form. They are not like His expansions of Narayana or Vasudeva. Sukadeva Gosvami accepts them as one (S.B. 10.69.41,42):
"Sukadeva Gosvami said: Thus in every palace Narada saw the Lord in His same personal form, executing the transcendental principles of religion that purify those engaged in household affairs."
This was the cause behind Sri Narada's surprise. Narada Muni is a great mystic mand and he can perform many mystical feats. He has the power to expand into kaya-vyuha forms. If Lord Krishna's expansions were also kayavyuha then Sri Narada Muni would not have felt amazed. One feels surprised when one sees a novelty, some extraordinary act or object, which he has not experienced before. Saubhari Muni expanded himself into 50 kaya-vyuha forms to marry the fifty daughters of king Mandhata. Lord Krishna's 16,000 forms were not such kaya-vyuha expansions. His prakasa forms could be seen acting differently in different places, but the kaya-vyuha forms of Saubhari Muni and other powerful mystics could not act differently. In Sri-Sankshepa-bhagavatamrita, Srila Rupa Gosvami has done a very minute analysis of the various manifestations of the Lord. He says (Sri-Sankshepa-Bhagavatamrita 1.11):
"In the transcendental abodes the Lord exists in three ways such as svayam-rupa, tadekatma-rupa, and avesa." Svayam-rupa is the original form of Lord Krishna which does not depend on any other form. In this form the Lord sometimes manifests two hands and sometimes four.
The form that is non-different form the original form by nature, but looks different owing to appearance and pastime, is called tadekatma-rupa. It is further divided into vilasa forms such as Narayana, and svamsa forms such as Matsya and Kurma. Their bodies are different from the original body of Lord Krishna in appearance.
When the Lord empowers a particular entity with knowledge or bhakti, those individuals are called avesa-rupa. Examples are Sesha, Narada, Sanaka, and so on. This is summarized in the chart below:
LORD KRISHNA
Svayam-rupa -- Tadekatma-rupa
Two-handed -- Avesa -- Prakasa
Four-handed -- Vilasa -- Svamsa
Out of these the prakasa manifestations are the same as the svayam-rupa. Lord Krishna's expansions in rasa dance as well as in Dwarka are the example of prakasa. They are not related like parts to a whole. Although these forms can be seen acting differently at different places they are all one. Sometimes Lord Krishna manifests a four handed form but this should not be considered as different from svayam rupa. But when He manifest the four handed Narayana or Vishnu form that is not His original form. He does not manifest the same qualities and pastimes in this form. This does not appeal to mundane logic but it is certainly a transcendental reality. It is but another example of how nothing is impossible for the Supreme Personality of Godhead. One must give up logic to peep into the transcendental arena. Pure devotee simply accept the Lord as He reveals Himself.
Srila Jiva Gosvami continues to explain the all pervading feature of Lord Krishna's form in the next text.
Go to Section Forty-four (Please note, Section 43 not available)
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