Shloka 8
Parīkṣit’s Full Surrender and Śukadeva’s Maṅgalācaraṇa to Kṛṣṇa
Inquiry into Creation, Maintenance, and Dissolution
नूनं भगवतो ब्रह्मन् हरेरद्भुतकर्मण: । दुर्विभाव्यमिवाभाति कविभिश्चापि चेष्टितम् ॥ ८ ॥
nūnaṁ bhagavato brahman harer adbhuta-karmaṇaḥ durvibhāvyam ivābhāti kavibhiś cāpi ceṣṭitam
ഹേ ബ്രാഹ്മണാ! ഭഗവാൻ ഹരിയുടെ അത്ഭുത ലീലകൾ തീർച്ചയായും വിസ്മയകരം; മഹാകവികളും പണ്ഡിതരും ശ്രമിച്ചാലും അവ അചിന്ത്യമായി തോന്നുന്നു।
The acts of the Supreme Lord, in the creation of just this one universe, appear inconceivably wonderful. And there are innumerable universes, and all of them aggregated together are known as the created material world. And this part of His creation is only a fractional portion of the complete creation. The material world stands as a part only ( ekāṁśena sthito jagat ). Supposing that the material world is a display of one part of His energy, the remaining three parts consist of the vaikuṇṭha-jagat or spiritual world described in the Bhagavad-gītā as mad-dhāma or sanātana-dhāma, or the eternal world. We have marked in the previous verse that He creates and again winds up the creation. This action is applicable only in the material world because the other, greater part of His creation, namely the Vaikuṇṭha world, is neither created nor annihilated; otherwise the Vaikuṇṭha-dhāma would not have been called eternal. The Lord exists with His dhāma, or in other words with His eternal name, qualities, pastimes, entourage and personality, which are all a display of His different energies and expansions. The Lord is called anādi, or having no creator, and ādi, or the origin of all. We think in our own imperfect way that the Lord is also created, but the Vedānta informs us that He is not created. Rather, everything else is created by Him ( nārāyaṇaḥ paro ’vyaktāt ). Therefore, for the common man these are all very wonderful matters for consideration. Even for great scholars they are inconceivable, and thus such scholars present theories contradictory to one another. Even for the insignificant part of His creation, this particular universe, they have no complete information as to how far this limited space extends, or how many stars and planets are there, or the different conditions of those innumerable planets. Modern scientists have insufficient knowledge of all this. Some of them assert that there are one hundred million planets scattered all over space. In a news release from Moscow dated 2/21/60, the following piece of knowledge was relayed:
FAQs
This verse states that Lord Hari’s wondrous activities are inherently difficult to conceive, and even great sages and poets cannot fully grasp them—indicating His acintya nature.
In the context of Canto 2’s descriptions of creation and the Lord’s workings, Śukadeva emphasizes that the Lord’s acts transcend ordinary intellect, guiding Parīkṣit toward humble, devotional hearing rather than mere speculation.
Approach scripture and divine topics with humility—hear and chant with devotion, accept the limits of speculation, and let bhakti (devotional service) be the primary means of understanding.