SRI BRAHMA-SAMHITA

Verse 10

saktiman purusah so ’yam linga-rupi mahesvarah
tasminn-avir abhul-linge mahavisnur jagat-patih [10]

Translation: Mahesvara Sambhu, the male principle of the efficient cause representing the primal male organ, is united with the instrumental cause represented by his Maya potency. Maha-Vishnu, the Lord of the universe, partially advents within him by the casting of His glance.

Purport: Sri Narayana, nondifferent from Krishna, presides in the Paravyoma, the area of the spiritual world predominated by majesty and reverence. Maha-Sankarsan is one of Sri Narayana’s quadruple expansions, or chatur-vyuha, so even He is a plenary portion of Krishna’s Narayana form. By His spiritual potency, Maha-Sankarsan’s plenary expansion eternally reclines on the Viraja river, which is situated at the point midway between the transcendental world and the mundane world; and at the time of universal creation He casts a glance at the distant shadow Maya potency.

At that moment, the reflection of the intrinsic form of Godhead in the form of His divine glance—Sambhu, the lord of the pradhana, or primordial material elements, the energy of which is personified by his Rudra form—unites with the mundane instrumental cause, Maya; but he is unable to act without being empowered by Maha-Vishnu, who represents the direct divine power of Krishna. Therefore, the material seminal element (mahat-tattva) can come forth only when Krishna’s plenary expansion, that is—the primal avatar Maha-Vishnu who is a plenary portion of Maha-Sankarsan, who is a plenary expansion of Krishna—sanctions the mutual function of Siva’s Maya potency and the efficient causal primordial material elements.

With Maha-Vishnu’s sanction, the Siva potency progressively creates ego (ahankara) and the five basic elements (pancha-bhuta) of ether, etc., the subtle form of their attributes (sense objects, tanmatra), and the mundane senses of the (conditioned) soul. The individual souls, or jivas, emanate as particles of the rays of the effulgence of Maha-Vishnu. This will be elucidated later in this commentary.

• For Reader's Appreciation
• Feelings of Appreciation
• Prologue
• Translator's Note
• Illumination
• Verse 1
• Verse 2
• Verse 3
• Verse 4
• Verse 5
• Verse 6
• Verse 7
• Verse 8
• Verse 9

• Verse 11
• Verse 12
• Verse 13
• Verse 14
• Verse 15
• Verse 16
• Verse 17
• Verse 18
• Verse 19

• Verse 20
• Verse 21
• Verse 22
• Verse 23
• Verse 24
• Verse 25
• Verse 26
• Verse 27
• Verse 28
• Verse 29

• Verse 30
• Verse 31
• Verse 32
• Verse 33
• Verse 34
• Verse 35
• Verse 36
• Verse 37
• Verse 38
• Verse 39

• Verse 40
• Verse 41
• Verse 42
• Verse 43
• Verse 44
• Verse 45
• Verse 46
• Verse 47
• Verse 48
• Verse 49

• Verse 50
• Verse 51
• Verse 52
• Verse 53
• Verse 54
• Verse 55
• Verse 56
• Verse 57
• Verse 58
• Verse 59

• Verse 60
• Verse 61
• Verse 62

• Verse Contents

Download (epub)
Download (pdf)