Srimad Bhagavatam — Panchama Skandha, Shloka 40
The Six Dvīpas Beyond Jambūdvīpa and the Cosmic Boundary of Lokāloka
तेषां स्वविभूतीनां लोकपालानां च विविधवीर्योपबृंहणाय भगवान् परममहापुरुषो महाविभूतिपतिरन्तर्याम्यात्मनो विशुद्धसत्त्वं धर्मज्ञानवैराग्यैश्वर्याद्यष्टमहासिद्ध्युपलक्षणं विष्वक्सेनादिभि: स्वपार्षदप्रवरै: परिवारितो निजवरायुधोपशोभितैर्निजभुजदण्डै: सन्धारय-माणस्तस्मिन् गिरिवरे समन्तात्सकललोकस्वस्तय आस्ते ॥ ४० ॥
teṣāṁ sva-vibhūtīnāṁ loka-pālānāṁ ca vividha-vīryopabṛṁhaṇāya bhagavān parama-mahā-puruṣo mahā-vibhūti-patir antaryāmy ātmano viśuddha-sattvaṁ dharma-jñāna-vairāgyaiśvaryādy-aṣṭa-mahā-siddhy-upalakṣaṇaṁ viṣvaksenādibhiḥ sva-pārṣada-pravaraiḥ parivārito nija-varāyudhopaśobhitair nija-bhuja-daṇḍaiḥ sandhārayamāṇas tasmin giri-vare samantāt sakala-loka-svastaya āste.
The Supreme Personality of Godhead is the master of all transcendental opulences and the master of the spiritual sky. He is the Supreme Person, Bhagavān, the Supersoul of everyone. The demigods, led by Indra, the King of heaven, are entrusted with seeing to the affairs of the material world. To benefit all living beings in all the varied planets and to increase the power of those elephants and of the demigods, the Lord manifests Himself on top of that mountain in a spiritual body, uncontaminated by the modes of material nature. Surrounded by His personal expansions and assistants like Viṣvaksena, He exhibits all His perfect opulences, such as religion and knowledge, and His mystic powers such as aṇimā, laghimā and mahimā. He is beautifully situated, and He is decorated by the different weapons in His four hands.
FAQs
This verse describes the Supreme Lord as the antaryāmī—present within as the indwelling Self—who sustains and protects the worlds while empowering the cosmic rulers.
In the cosmological narration, Śukadeva highlights that the universe and its administrators function by the Lord’s power; His purity, opulences, and mystic perfections indicate His supreme capacity to uphold and bless all realms.
Remembering that the Lord sustains everything encourages humility and steadiness: do your duty (dharma), seek true knowledge, practice detachment, and rely on the Divine protector rather than anxiety.