Srimad Bhagavatam — Dvitiya Skandha, Shloka 8
Parīkṣit’s Comprehensive Inquiries and the Bhāgavata as Śabda-avatāra
आसीद् यदुदरात् पद्मं लोकसंस्थानलक्षणम् । यावानयं वै पुरुष इयत्तावयवैः पृथक् ॥ तावानसाविति प्रोक्तः संस्थावयववानिव ॥ ८ ॥
āsīd yad-udarāt padmaṁ loka-saṁsthāna-lakṣaṇam yāvān ayaṁ vai puruṣa iyattāvayavaiḥ pṛthak tāvān asāv iti proktaḥ saṁsthāvayavavān iva
หากพระบุคคลสูงสุด ผู้ซึ่งจากพระอุทรได้บังเกิดก้านดอกบัวอันเป็นเครื่องหมายแห่งโครงสร้างจักรวาล ทรงมีพระวรกายมหึมาตามมาตราของพระองค์เอง แล้วความแตกต่างเฉพาะระหว่างพระวรกายของพระผู้เป็นเจ้า กับกายของสัตว์โลกทั่วไปคืออะไร? โปรดอธิบายเถิด
One should note how Mahārāja Parīkṣit intelligently put questions before his spiritual master for scientific understanding of the transcendental body of the Lord. It has been described in many places before this that the Lord assumed a gigantic body, like that of Kāraṇodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, from whose hair pores innumerable universes have generated. The body of Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu is described as sprouting the lotus stem within which all the planets of the universe remain, and at the top of the stem is the lotus flower on which Lord Brahmā is born. In the creation of the material world the Supreme Lord undoubtedly assumes a gigantic body, and living entities also get bodies, big or small, according to necessity. For example, an elephant gets a gigantic body according to its needs, and so also an ant gets its body according to its needs. Similarly, if the Personality of Godhead assumes a gigantic body to accommodate the universes or the planets of a particular universe, there is no difference in the principle of assuming or accepting a particular type of body in terms of necessity. A living being and the Lord cannot be distinguished simply by the difference in the magnitude of the body. So the answer depends on the specific significance of the body of the Lord, as distinguished from the body of the common living being.
FAQs
This verse states that a lotus arises from the Lord’s abdomen, bearing the signs of the world-system’s arrangement—linking cosmic manifestation to the Supreme Person’s form.
In this section he teaches a meditation-friendly vision of the Lord as the cosmos itself, helping the listener fix the mind on the Supreme through the universe’s structures and limbs.
Practice seeing the world as resting in the Lord—cultivating reverence, responsibility, and steadiness of mind by remembering the Divine presence behind all cosmic order.