Shloka 39
Bhagavān’s Avatāras, Their Protections (Poṣaṇa), and the Limits of Knowing Him
सर्गे तपोऽहमृषयो नव ये प्रजेशा: स्थानेऽथ धर्ममखमन्वमरावनीशा: । अन्ते त्वधर्महरमन्युवशासुराद्या मायाविभूतय इमा: पुरुशक्तिभाज: ॥ ३९ ॥
sarge tapo ’ham ṛṣayo nava ye prajeśāḥ sthāne ’tha dharma-makha-manv-amarāvanīśāḥ ante tv adharma-hara-manyu-vaśāsurādyā māyā-vibhūtaya imāḥ puru-śakti-bhājaḥ
സൃഷ്ടിയുടെ ആദിയിൽ തപസ്സ്, ഞാൻ (ബ്രഹ്മാവ്), പ്രജാപതികൾ, ഒൻപത് മഹർഷികൾ എന്നിവർ പ്രജാസൃഷ്ടി നടത്തുന്നു; സ്ഥിതികാലത്ത് ഭഗവാൻ വിഷ്ണു, ദേവഗണം, ലോകപാലകർ, വിവിധ ലോകങ്ങളുടെ രാജാക്കന്മാർ പ്രവർത്തിക്കുന്നു; അവസാനം അധർമ്മം, പിന്നെ രുദ്രനും ക്രോധഭരിത നാസ്തികാദികളും—ഇവയെല്ലാം പരമപ്രഭുവിന്റെ ശക്തിയുടെ പ്രതിനിധി വിഭൂതികളാണ്.
The material world is created by the energy of the Lord, which is manifested in the beginning of the creation by the penance of Brahmājī, the first living being in the creation, and then there are the nine Prajāpatis, known as great sages. In the stage when the creation is maintained, there are devotional service to Lord Viṣṇu, or factual religion, the different demigods, and the kings of different planets who maintain the world. At last, when the creation is preparing to wind up, there is first the principle of irreligion, then Lord Śiva along with the atheists, full of anger. But all of them are but different manifestations of the Supreme Lord. Therefore Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Mahādeva (Śiva) are different incarnations of the different modes of material nature. Viṣṇu is the Lord of the mode of goodness, Brahmā is the lord of the mode of passion, and Śiva is the lord of the mode of ignorance. Ultimately, the material creation is but a temporary manifestation meant to give the chance of liberation to the conditioned souls, who are entrapped in the material world, and one who develops the mode of goodness under the protection of Lord Viṣṇu has the greatest chance of being liberated by following the Vaiṣṇava principles and thus being promoted to the kingdom of God, no more to return to this miserable material world.
FAQs
This verse explains that the Lord’s potencies manifest differently across cosmic phases: sages and Prajāpatis for creation through austerity, divine rulers and yajña for maintaining dharma, and even anger-driven asuras at the end as instruments to remove irreligion.
Śukadeva highlights that even disruptive forces can function under the Lord’s māyā as part of cosmic order—helping to check or eliminate adharma when the time comes.
See life’s constructive and challenging forces as part of a larger divine order: cultivate tapas (discipline), support dharma and sacred duty, and respond to chaos by strengthening righteousness rather than losing faith.