2016-11-23 Srimad Bhagavatam 10.87.28 - Difficult to Understand Krishna (download mp3) by Madan Gopal Prabhu at ISKCON Chowpatty www.iskcondesiretree.com SB 10.87.28tvam akaranah sva-rad akhila-karaka-sakti-dharas tava balim udvahanti samadanty ajayanimisahvarsa-bhujo ’khila-ksiti-pater iva visva-srjo vidadhati yatra ye tv adhikrta bhavatas cakitah Translation: Though You have no material senses, You are the self-effulgent sustainer of everyone’s sensory powers. The demigods and material nature herself offer You tribute, while also enjoying the tribute offered them by their worshipers, just as subordinate rulers of various districts in a kingdom offer tribute to their lord, the ultimate proprietor of the land, while also enjoying the tribute paid them by their own subjects. In this way the universal creators faithfully execute their assigned services out of fear of You. Purport: All intelligent living beings should acknowledge the sovereignty of the Lord and willingly engage in devotional service to Him. Such is the consensus of the personified Vedas. But Lord Narayana, while hearing these prayers, may have reasonably asked, “Since I also have a bodily form with sense organs and limbs, am I not just another doer and enjoyer? Especially since as the Supersoul in every being’s heart I supervise countless organs and limbs, how am I not implicated in the sum total of everyone’s sense gratification?” “No,” the assembled srutis here rejoin, “You have no material senses, yet You are the absolute controller of all.” As expressed in the Svetasvatara Upanisad (3.19): apani-pado javano grahita pasyaty acaksuh sa srnoty akarnahsa vetti vedyam na ca tasya vetta tam ahur agryam purusam puranam “He has no feet or hands, yet He is the swiftest runner and can grasp anything. Though without eyes or ears, He sees and hears. Nobody knows Him, yet He is the knower and the object of knowledge. Sages describe Him as the supreme, original Personality of Godhead.” The hands, feet, eyes and ears of the Supreme Person are not like those of an ordinary, conditioned soul, which are derived from false ego, a material substance. Rather, the Lord’s transcendentally beautiful features are direct manifestations of His internal nature. Thus, unlike the soul and body of conditioned living beings, the Lord and His bodily form are identical in all respects. Moreover, His lotus hands, lotus feet, lotus eyes and other limbs are not restricted in their functions. Sri Brahma, the Lord’s first creature, glorifies Him on this account: angani yasya sakalendriya-vrttimanti pasyanti panti kalayanti ciram jagantiananda-cinmaya-sad-ujjvala-vigrahasya govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami “I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, whose transcendental form is full of bliss, truth and substantiality and thus emanates the most dazzling splendor. Each of the limbs of that transcendental figure possesses in itself the full-fledged functions of all the organs, and He eternally sees, maintains and manifests the infinite universes, both spiritual and material.” (Brahma-samhita 5.32) Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti gives an alternative explanation of the phrase akhila-sakti-dhara: The power that the Supreme Lord maintains within Himself is akhila, free from the limitations of all that is khila, or inferior and insignificant. He energizes the living being’s senses, as described by the Kena Upanisad (1.2): Srotrasya srotram manaso mano yad vaco ha vacam. “He is the ear’s ear, the mind’s mind, and the voice’s capacity of speech.” And the Svetasvatara Upanisad (6.8) declares: na tasya karyam karanam ca vidyate na tat-samas cabhyadhikas ca drsyateparasya saktir vividhaiva sruyate svabhaviki jñana-bala-kriya ca “He has no material work to perform, nor any material senses with which to perform it. No one can be found who is equal to or greater than Him. From the Vedas we hear how that Supreme Lord possesses multifarious energies — the potencies of knowledge, strength and action — each of