Shloka 38
Kṛṣṇa Defeats Bāṇāsura and Receives Śiva’s Prayers
The Śoṇitapura Battle and the Jvara Episode
त्वमेक आद्य: पुरुषोऽद्वितीय- स्तुर्य: स्वदृग् धेतुरहेतुरीश: । प्रतीयसेऽथापि यथाविकारं स्वमायया सर्वगुणप्रसिद्ध्यै ॥ ३८ ॥
tvam eka ādyaḥ puruṣo ’dvitīyas turyaḥ sva-dṛg dhetur ahetur īśaḥ pratīyase ’thāpi yathā-vikāraṁ sva-māyayā sarva-guṇa-prasiddhyai
Du bist der ursprüngliche Puruṣa, der Eine ohne Zweiten; transzendent (turīya), aus Dir selbst offenbar; ursachlos und doch Ursache aller Ursachen, der höchste Herr. Und dennoch wirst Du durch Deine eigene Māyā gemäß den Wandlungen der Materie wahrgenommen, damit die Qualitäten voll zur Erscheinung kommen.
The ācāryas comment as follows on this verse: Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī explains that the term ādyaḥ puruṣaḥ, “the original puruṣa, ” indicates that Lord Kṛṣṇa expands Himself as Mahā-Viṣṇu, the first of the three puruṣas who take charge of cosmic manifestation. The Lord is eka advitīyaḥ, “one without a second,” because there is no one equal to the Lord or different from Him. No one is completely equal to the Supreme Godhead, and yet because all the living beings are expansions of the potency of the Godhead, no one is qualitatively different from Him. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu nicely explains this inconceivable situation by stating that the Absolute Truth and the living beings are qualitatively one but quantitatively different. The Absolute possesses infinite spiritual consciousness, whereas the living beings possess infinitesimal consciousness, which is subject to being covered by illusion.
FAQs
This verse calls Kṛṣṇa the original, non-dual Supreme Person—“hetur ahetuḥ”—the cause of everything, while He Himself has no prior cause, affirming His absolute supremacy.
Śiva explains that the Lord’s apparent ‘changes’ are not real transformations of His nature; by His own māyā (divine potency) He manifests forms and actions so His limitless qualities can be revealed to the world.
It encourages devotion with clarity: the Divine may appear in many forms and situations, yet remains unchanged; a devotee learns to see God’s guiding presence behind life’s shifting experiences and to glorify His qualities.