35 verses
Brahmā said: Praising the sages, conversant with yoga principles, who had praised him, the Lord, whose abode is Vaikuṇṭha, spoke as follows.
yas tv etayor dhṛto daṇòo bhavadbhir mām anuvrataiḥ sa evānumato smābhir munayo deva-helanāt
The Lord said: O sages! Since my two followers Jaya and Vijaya, ignoring me, have seriously offended you, I permit the punishment given by you, who are dedicated in vows to me, since they have committed offense to me.
You should not be afraid of having committed offense. That is expressed in eleven verses. Mahyam means my. Since (yat) these two, ignoring me (mahyam), have seriously (bahu) committed offense to you, because they have ignored the conduct desired by me, the punishment I should give has been done by you, who have vows dedicated to me (anuvrataiḥ), because they have actually offended me (deva-helanāt).
Today I must ask you for forgiveness. I worship the brāhmaṇas above all else by me. Since my servants disrespected you, I consider that I have committed the offense to you.
Moreover, I have made offense against you. How is it your offense? If Jaya and Vijaya were not my servants, and I had not been so affectionate to them, there would be no offense on my part.
When a servant commits sin using the name of his master, the master gets criticizes and has his fame destroyed, just as a white spot on the skin condemns a person as a leper.
But how can the Supreme Lord commit offense? Even if you do, who could punish you? How can you restrict yourself? There can be no punishment. Infamy alone will be the punishment. The fame of a master is destroyed by a servant who performs sinful activating in the name of the master, just as white leprosy destroys the skin. People will criticize a person with a white spot, saying, This person has leprosy.
I, that Supreme Lord, by hearing whose glories the whole universe including the dog eater is purified, who am famous as a tīrtha because of you, will cut off my own arm if it commits offense against you.
But from offenses to us, you get infamy, and by our pleasure you get fame. You have created us, but now we have become greater than you, the Supreme Lord. What doubt is there about this? I am the Lord (vikuṇṭhaḥ), famous as a tīrtha because of you. What to speak of Jaya and Vijaya, objects of attachment for me, I will even cut off my own limb, the object of my identity as I. Unable to do that, I am your offender.
Even Laksmī to whom I show no attachment, but to gain whose favor others perform vows, does not give up the dust of my feet which immediately destroy all contamination and are full of all qualities. But these feet are made pure by service to devotees like you.
The result of our coming to Vaikuṇṭha is that you, our worshipable lord, speak to us like this. Should I say the opposite? By the service to devotees, the dust particles attached to my feet purify the world, and destroy all contamination caused by myself and others. The devotees have all good qualities. Though Lakṣmī has all wealth, she does not leave me. For the glance of Lakṣmī, Brahmā and others perform austerities. These statements are connected with the previous statement I should cut off my own arm which offends you, by whose service my feet destroy all contamination
I do not eat the offerings of the sacrificer accepted through my mouth in the form of fire as much as I eat the morsels filled with ghee enjoyed by the mouth of the brāhmaṇa who is satisfied by the results of his actions offered to me.
Thus I serve the brāhmaṇas. Those who serve the bṛahmaṇas by my order are my servants, because I eat through the mouth of the brāhmaṇas. Though I eat using fire as my mouth the offerings of rice made by the sacrificer, I do not eat to the same extent that I eat from the mouth of the brāhmaṇa who eats morsels filled with ghee and is satisfied with the results of his actions offered to me. In verse 17 it will said viprāṇāṁ devadevānāṁ bhagavān ātmadaivatam: the Lord is the object of worship for the brāhmaṇas. Thus if a brāhamaṇa is devoid of bhakti, he should not be respected.
śva-pākam iva nekṣeta loke vipram avaiṣṇavam
If a person born in a brāhmaṇa family is not a devotee, one should not see his face, exactly as one should not look upon the face of a dog-eater. Padma Purāṇa
Thus contradiction is avoided. Avaiṣṇava in this context means one who hates Vaiṣṇavas. There are also brāhmaṇas such as Viśiṣṭa who have dharma mixed with a little bhakti. Those who are brāhmaṇas by birth such as Nārada, are called vaiṣṇavas because of predominance of bhakti.
Who would not tolerate the offense of brāhmaṇas ? I, whose foot water immediately purifies all the planets and Śiva, carry on my crown the brāhmanās pure foot dust, and by that have attained unlimited wealth of power.
The offenses made by the brāhmaṇa should be tolerated, and not corrected. Who does not tolerate brāhmaṇas who have made mistakes? All people would. Showing his crown with his forefinger, , he speaks to those inquiring why he does so. I carry on my crown the dust from the feet of brāhmaṇas. I, whose foot water purifies all the worlds and Śiva, have become a wealth of unrestricted powers by the mercy of holding the dust of the brāhmaṇa on my head. One should take the foot water of he who puts brāhmaṇas dust on his head.
The enraged servants of Yama, with forms like vultures, tear out the eyes of those who, with vision destroyed by sin, see difference between my forms and the brāhmaṇas, cows and shelterless beings.
What to speak of those who do not tolerate offenses of brāhmaṇas, those who see difference between me and brāhmaṇas go to hell. Those persons who see my forms as different from the brāhmaṇas, the cows (duhatīḥ) and those without shelter, go to hell. Instead of duhatīḥ sometimes duhitṛ (daughter) is seen. This also means cow since the cow arose from the sun as part of the universal form. The cow is daughter of the sun. The enraged (ahi manyavaḥ) servants of Yama, empowered by me, who have forms like vultures, tear those persons eyes with their beaks.
Just as I am controlled by you, I am controlled by those who worship the brāhmaṇas who have offended others, who see those brāhmaṇas as non-different from me, who remain pleased in heart in spite of their harsh words, showing lotus faces moistened with sweet smiles, and who pacify them by praising them with words filled with love, just as a son praises an angry father.
I am controlled by those who praise brāhmaṇas who have committed offense and even more than that, please them. I am controlled by those who worship the brāhmaṇas who utter harsh words (kṣipataḥ). They see the brāhmaṇas as non-different from me, and remain satisfied even by harsh words. They pacify them, praising them like a good son praises an angry father with words filled with love (anurāga-kalayā vāṇyā), saying You do not speak rough words, but rain a shower of merciful nectar for the highest benefit. They please them with soft addresses such as O masters! O oceans of mercy! I am controlled by them, just as I am controlled by you or Bhṛgu.
Therefore my servants who did not see the intention of their master, should go to a place suitable for their offense to you, and quickly again attain a place near me. Since this punishment is my mercy, let my servants quickly come to me.
Therefore (tat) not seeing the intention of their master by the will of providence, these two should quickly go to a place suitable for the offense they committed to you and then return to me (itām). This is my request. O master! You say that those who commit offense to the brāhmaṇas commit offense to you. Why do you again show affection for those two? I cannot control myself. It is not possible to give up my natural qualities. Since this punishment is also my mercy to them, not punishment, may the two servants quickly live (viḥasaḥ) with me again.
Brahmā said: Though hearing the words of the Lord which were pleasing, filled with logic and worthy of worship, the Kumāras were still not satisfied, since their minds were bitten by the snake of anger.
Sarasvatīm means words and a river. The words were pleasant, or the river had clear water (uśatīm). The words were filled with various logical ornaments or the river was playful (devīm). The words were worshipable or the river was beneficial for the residence of sages (ṛṣi-kulyām). Though tasting that water, experiencing its sweetness, because their minds were bitten by the snake of anger, filled with anger, they could not tolerate even the pleasing words of the Lord, because they did not experience the taste. Their souls, their intelligence and their minds were not satisfied. They did not give regard to his words. Though they showed great repentance, the non-removal of their anger shows the difficulty in removing offense to the devotee. Though the Kumāras committed such offense to the devotees, their experiencing the sweetness of the fragrance of tulasī from the Lords feet shows the strength of the Lords mercy, which follows after the mercy to the Kumāras of Jaya and Vijaya, who were repentant after offending the brāhmaṇas. If the Kumāras had not committed offense to the devotees, then they would have developed pure dāsya-prema, from the mercy of the devotees and the Lord. But because of the remaining presence of offense, they developed only to the stage of śānta-bhakti. It is said
bhāvo py abhāvam āyāti kṛṣṇa-preṣṭhāparādhataḥ |
ābhāsatāṁ ca śanakair nyūna-jātīyatām api ||
By an offense against the dearest devotee of the Lord, even real bhāva will be destroyed, if the offense is grave. If the offense is medium, the bhāva will turn to bhāvābhāsa. If the offense is slight, the bhāva will become an inferior type1 BRS 1.3.54
Hearing attentively the Lords words, which were true, measured, difficult to understand because of deep meaning, whose intention could not be understood, possessing incomprehensible internal and external meaning, the Kumāras could not understand the Lords intention.
Hearing attentively the words which were true, splendid (satyām), made of carefully chosen syllables (laghvīm), difficult to understand because of deep meaning, with incomprehensible intention (agādha), and difficult external meaning (gambhīrām), they pondered them (vigāhya). Does the Lord praise us or condemn us? Will he arrange for the punishment we have decided, limit it or destroy it? Will he blame us for the offense or will he treat his two servants with great mercy? We do not know his intention. The joy of the Lord is evident, but the censure of the Lord is not expressed directly. The Lords censure is understood because of the conjecture of the frightened Kumāras and the revelation given through the Lords clever use of words.
In addressing the sages who were supposed to be omniscient, he said, These are my two associates. This indicates, O fools! You cursed my associates. You have used too much force.
Ignoring my intentions, they offended you. However, since previous to offending the Kumāras, the door keepers had not ignored the Lords intentions, this is a crooked utterance of the Lord, indicating that the Lord was actually angry with the Kumāras. Using the fourth type of atiśayokti, the Lord has reversed the cause and effect of ignoring the Lord and offending the Kumāras. The doorkeepers offended the Kumāras, and thus ignored the Lords intentions. (Thus he is not blaming the doorkeepers.)
The punishment is permitted by me. If I had not given my permission, then the punishment ordered by you would not take place at all since it is later said:
brahma-tejaḥ samartho pi hantuṁ necche mataṁ tu me
Though I am capable of nullifying the curse, I do not desire to do so. SB 3.16.29
The reason is that you would feel worthless if I cancelled the curse. My respect for brāhmaṇas intoxicates you.
I consider that I have committed the offense. This shows the Lords great love for the door keepers, taking them as his very self.
I have attained fame as a tīrtha because of you. These are just words of respect for the sages.
I should cut off my own arm. Since the Lord identifies the door keepers as his arms, the statement shows his great attachment to them.
My feet are made pure by service to you. This is again just external praise by the Lord. Does the Lords foot dust become pure by service to brāhmaṇas? Does that destroy all contamination? By that service does Lakṣmī never give up the Lord?
I do not eat the offering of the sacrificer. You brāhmaṇas are fond of eating, therefore you must be fed. It is well known to the people that I eat through the mouth of the brāhmaṇa. Ghasam carataḥ (eating morsels) can also mean that like a respectable cow grazing in the field, the brāhamaṇa rejoices by the respect given by me. What you think gives me happiness is not service to me.
I have a wealth of powers because of holding the foot dust of the brāhmaṇa on my crown. Because of that, my foot water purifies the whole universe as the Gaḍgā. This type of respect is actually just a joke.
The cows and brāhmaṇas are not different from me since they are my body. This is also a joke.
I am controlled by brāhmaṇas who offend others. It is the natural quality of the brāhmaṇa to become angry. I and my devotee laugh at them. I give natural tolerance only to my devotees and I will be controlled by that alone. Because tolerance did not appear in Jaya and Vijaya at this time, I have shown indifference to them. Thus they have been cursed you, and it will not be otherwise. Because I was not indifferent to Ambarīṣa, there was no effect from the anger of Durvāsa. On the contrary, the burning produced by my cakra was directly produced by me, a lover of brāhmaṇas. Thus Durvāsa fell at the feet of Ambarīṣa.
That the Lord was displeased is also understood from the later statement of the Kumāras:
yaṁ vānayor damam adhīśa bhavān vidhatte
vṛttiṁ nu vā tad anumanmahi nirvyalīkam
asmāsu vā ya ucito dhriyatāṁ sa daṇòo
ye nāgasau vayam ayuḍkṣmahi kilbiṣeṇa
O Lord, whatever punishment you wish to award to these two innocent persons or also to us we shall accept without duplicity. We understand that we have cursed two faultless persons. SB 3.16.25
The joyful sages, with folded hands and hairs standing on end, then spoke to the Lord, who had displayed great powers through his yoga-māyā from the beginning.
Considering for a long time whether the Lord favored or condemned them, they concluded that the Lord was pleased with them, and thus they rejoiced. They spoke to the Lord who had revealed great powers by his yoga-māyā from the beginning. If the most powerful Lord who is not dependent on anyone else has criticized us in the form of praise, and we will be punished, then he would say clearly that we brāhmaṇas should fall to hell since we offended his devotees. Considering in this way, their hairs stood on end. Instead of kṣubhita the word kupitā is seen sometimes. This refers to the hair holes, and indicated that the hairs stood on end.
The sages said: O Lord! We do not know what you desire to do, since you, the Supreme Lord, have said that we have been merciful to you.
Though they had understood, they again asked questions in order to hear from the mouth of the Lord his intentions. We do not know your intention, whether you want to be merciful to us or want to punish us. Since (yat) you, the Supreme Lord, say to us that we have shown mercy to you, and since that is impossible, wanting to punish us, you first joke with us. Or maybe, desiring to favor us to help spread dharma that you created, since you favor brāhmaṇas, you actually are praising us. Please tell us your intention to us, since we are ignorant and unable to understand what you desire.
O Lord! The brāhmaṇas are the supreme deity only because you are fond of brāhmaṇas. You are the supreme deity of the brāhmaṇas, who are worshipped by the devatās.
In this verse the Kumāras explain how it is hard to understand the Lords words. Only because you are fond of brāhmaṇas do the brāhmaṇas have a high position. They do not have that position naturally. The brāhmaṇas are worshipped by the devatās (deva-devānām), but you are Bhagavān. By nature (ātma-daivatam) you are in a high position. You are actually in the position of the Lord, not the brāhmaṇas. Ātma-daivatam also means without you they are simply dead. So what is the meaning of saying that without service to them your foot dust has no power?
The eternal dharma, bhakti, arising from you, is protected by your body in the form of the devotees, not the brāhmaṇas. We consider you to be the end result of dharma, the secret, who undergo no change.
People become respectable only by following rules of dharma. Dharma is characterized by bhakti, not by steadiness in varṇāśrama. Devotees institute that dharma. Thus the devotees are superior to the brāhmaṇas. That is expressed in this verse. The sanātana-dharma known as bhakti has arisen from you. Dṛṣṭiḥ satāṁ darśane stu bhavat-tanūnām: may our eyes see the forms of Vaiṣṇavas, who are non-different from you. (SB 10.10.38) Since the devotees are non-different from you, dharma is protected by your body in the form of the devotees, since they engage in bhakti everywhere. You are the final fruit of dharma, not temporary attainments such as Svarga. You are without change (nirvikāraḥ bhavān). Attaining you is the result of bhakti to you. Other dharmas should not be explained by the words sanātana and nirvikāra.
Since by your mercy alone the detached yogīs cross over death easily, how can you say that you must get mercy from others?
Among the brāhmaṇas, those who are detached from material enjoyment, the yogīs, are better than those who are fixed in their position as brāhmaṇas. The yogīs however cross over death only by the mercy of the Lord. How can you say that you get mercy from others? Kim svid indicates a question with astonishment.
Lakṣmī, whose foot dust people desiring wealth hold on their heads, also serves you on various occasions with a desire for attaining the powerful position of the king of bees perched on the tulasī garland offered by the devotees to your feet,
You have said that Lakṣmī does not give you up because you have served the brāhmaṇas. That is difficult to understand, since it is impossible. This is expressed in two verses. Laksmī, the form of wealth (vibhūtiḥ), whose foot dust others, desiring material benefit, hold on their heads, serves you at various times. She desires the place (lokam) occupied by the chief of the bees, situated on new garland of tulasī offered by the devotees at your feet. Laksṁī is also only your devotee.
You are not attached to Lakṣmī among those who do pure service simply because she is your wife. Rather you are most attached to the greatest devotees. How can you say that you, full of six powers and marked with Śrīvatsa, have been purified by the pure dust on the path tread by brāhmaṇas?
You are not very attached to Lakṣmī by pure service (vivikta-caritaiḥ). The word ati indicates that the Lord is not attracted to Lakṣmī just because she is his wife. But he is attracted by her service as a devotee. And he is attracted (prasaḍgaḥ) to the greatest devotees. How can you say that Lakṣmī does not give you up though she serves you and you are indifferent to her, simply because of the mercy of brāhmaṇas? Do you, marked with Srīvatsa, obtain the pure dust from the path of the brāhmaṇas? You are endowed with six powers (bhaga-bhājanaḥ). How can they with their pure dust purify you marked with the Śrīvatsa? This is difficult to understand.
O Lord, appearing in three yugas! Destroying rajas and tamas which obstruct dharma by sattva, using your body which bestows blessing upon us, as the personification of dharma you protect the universe of moving and nonmoving beings with your extraordinary qualities of austerity, cleanliness and mercy in order to benefit brāhmaṇas and devatās.
We, the brāhmaṇas, have never suffered contempt from you before this time. Because you appear clearly in three yugas you are called tri-yuga. Or tri-yuga can mean three pairs (yuga), Bhagavān possessing six qualities. The universe is protected by the three extraordinary (svaih) qualities of austerity, cleanliness and mercy. Three qualities are mentioned because truth continues in Kali-yuga in spite of the destruction of dharma.
You protect the universe for the devatās and brahmaṇas. By your body which gives blessing to us, you destroy rajas and tajas which obstruct the qualities of austerity, cleanliness and mercy by sattva-guṇa.
If you, the most excellent form of dharma, did not protect the class of best brāhmaṇas who are to be protected by you with kind words and worship, then your auspicious path of the Vedas would be destroyed, since people accept the actions of the most excellent person as authoritative.
You should be merciful to us even now. He seems upset. Let us pacify him. If you, the form of dharma (vṛṣaḥ), do not clearly (ha) protect the class of the best brāhmaṇas who should be protected by you (ātma-gopam), the path of the Vedas will be destroyed, since (hi) the people would accept the actions of the best persons as authoritative. They would not worship the brāhmaṇas or praise them with kind words. The Gītā says Whatever the great man does, others follow. Thus when you said that you take the dust from the brāhmaṇas (verse 7), though we could not understand, those words are for teaching the people.
You, the ocean of sattva, who desire the welfare of the people and who weed out the opposers of dharma by your empowered kings, do not desire the destruction of dharma Since you are the lord of the three worlds and the maintainer of the universe, your power is not decreased though you act with humility to the brāhmaṇas. That humility is only your play.
Let the Vedic path be destroyed. What do I care? The destruction of the path (tat) is not desired by you, who desire good for the people, by giving them engagement in action. Or the dative case of janāya can have a genitive meaning: you desire the good of the people. By your powers, through kings in this world, you weed out the opposers of dharma. But does not humility before lesser beings reduce power? Your power is not reduced when you act with humility before the brāhmaṇas for the purpose of rescuing dharma. That humility is only your play.
O Lord! We willingly accept what punishment or reward you allot to the door keepers. May the suitable punishment which we gave to the innocent door keepers by our curse be given to us!
Bowing to you with body, mind and words we make a request to you whose intentions are hard to understand. We accept whatever punishment you award to the gate keepers if you favor us brāhmaṇas, or whatever promotion in life you award them, if you are affectionate to your devotee door keepers. Do that as you wish, O Lord! May the curse we gave to them go to Rasātala! They then speak fearfully with tears and shaking bodies. Award fitting punishment to us, which we gave to the two sinless door keepers by our curse!
The Lord said: These two will immediately become demons, but they will quickly return to me since they will be absorbed in meditation on me in anger. Understand that the curse of yours was made by me.
Lord speaks to the Kumāras, pacifying them by saying Do not fear. They will be united with me by continuous practice of meditation touched with anger (saṁrambha). O brāhmaṇas! Your curse was produced by me. In order to have my two servants, the greatest devotees, take on the nature of demons, though they have bodies of pure sattva and are the best devotees and brāhmaṇas, they acted unfavorably towards you, and made you, the best of ātmārāmas, angry. And then you cursed them. All this has been done by me only. It is not an offense of my door keepers or an offense committed by you. But what is the cause of giving such suffering to these two devotees, since you are affectionate to your devotees? O brāhmaṇas! Know the cause. Reflecting carefully, understand, since you are omniscient. What more can I reveal?
Here is the cause. Jaya and Vijaya had a desire arising from prema. O best Lord! O Lord of lords! Lord of Vaikuṇṭha! If your fighting instinct is not satisfied because everyone else is so weak, and because we are not your enemies, then make us two guards unfriendly towards you, and you can have pleasure in fighting us. Since we servants cannot tolerate even a small degree of decrease in your full happiness, we pray that this should be done, by necessarily ignoring your quality of affection for your devotee. This is how they thought.
The śrutis show the presence of rasa in the Lord:
raso vai saḥ
The Lord is rasa itself. Taittirīya Upanisad 2.7
anandamayaḥ
The Lord is filled with bliss.
saiṣā ānandamayasya mīmāṁsā bhavati
This concludes the examination of bliss. Taittirīya Upanisad 8.2
It should be understood that there are secondary emotions (such as the desire to fight or to please his devotees in unconventional ways) within this broad category of bliss when considering the perfection of rasas of the Lord such as madhura-rasa. The Lord performs various actions for the pleasure of his devotees according the following statement:
asyāpi deva vapuṣo mad-anugrahasya
svecchā-mayasya na tu bhūta-mayasya ko pi
neśe mahi tv avasituṁ manasāntareṇa
sākṣāt tavaiva kim utātma-sukhānubhūteḥ
My dear Lord, neither I nor anyone else can estimate the potency of this transcendental body of yours, which has shown such mercy to me and which appears just to fulfill the desires of your pure devotees. Although my mind is completely withdrawn from material affairs, I cannot understand your personal form. How, then, could I possibly understand the happiness you experience within yourself? SB 10.14.2
In fulfilling the desires of his devotees, the Lord developed another desire, and thus he did not directly reveal the secret to the Kumāras. They then thought, Even the greatest devotees can fall from Vaikuṇṭha because of great offense! What then to speak of where we, who are just dull reflections of sādhakas, can fall from this earth planet! Thus, it is should be understood that the Lord desired to warn the sādhakas to be careful of committing great offenses.
bhagavantaṁ parikramya praṇipatyānumānya ca pratijagmuḥ pramuditāḥ śaṁsanto vaiṣṇavīṁ śriyam
Brahmā said: The sages, having seen the object of bliss for their eyes, the self-illuminated Lord and his abode Vaikuṇṭha, circumambulated the Lord and offered him respects, and, taking his permission, left that place with great joy, praising the greatness of the Vaiṣṇavas.
The Lord (vikuṇṭha) and his abode are self illuminating (full of knowledge), since they are śuddha-sattva. Anumānya means taking permission.
The Lord spoke to his two associates. Go to the material world. Do not be afraid. You will have good fortune. But also, do not go that world. Though I can nullify the curse of the brāhmaṇa, I do not desire to do go against my own rules.
Seeing that Jaya and Vijaya had just arrived, the Lord spoke. Go to the material world! Seeing them weeping and wailing, the Lord again spoke to them, his heart softened by compassion. Do not fear. May you two have good fortune! Do not go there. Always remain serving me in Vaikuṇṭha. The negative word mā can be used with both yātam and bhaiṣtām. Seeing that they were now happy, he said Though I can nullify the curse of the bṛāhmaṇas, I do not desire to destroy my own promise. I have made a rule to accept the inevitability of a brāhmaṇas curse. Just as Garuòa sacrificed an expansion of his wing in order to maintain the inevitability of the thunderbolts power, you should take on the role of demons in one of your expansions, and at the same time remain in Vaikuṇṭha in your svarūpas. Later this passage is found:
ān abhidravato dṛṣṭvā ditijānīkapān nṛpa
prahasyānucarā viṣṇoḥ pratyaṣedhann udāyudhāḥ
nandaḥ sunando tha jayo vijayaḥ prabalo balaḥ
kumudaḥ kumudākṣaś ca viṣvaksenaḥ patattrirāṭ
jayantaḥ śrutadevaś ca puṣpadanto tha sātvataḥ
sarve nāgāyuta-prāṇāś camūṁ te jaghnur āsurīm
O King, when the associates of Lord Viṣṇu saw the soldiers of the demons coming forward in violence, they smiled. Taking up their weapons, they forbade the demons to continue their attempt. Nanda, Sunanda, Jaya, Vijaya, Prabala, Bala, Kumuda, Kumudākṣa, Viṣvaksena, Patattrirāṭ [Garuòa], Jayanta, Śrutadeva, Puṣpadanta and Sātvata were all associates of Lord Viṣṇu. They were as powerful as ten thousand elephants, and now they began killing the soldiers of the demons. SB 8.21.15-17
In the narration of Vāmana and Bali, Jaya and Vijaya are mentioned among the associates of the Lord fighting. But after being born as Hiraṇyakṣa and Hiraṇyakaśipu, they would later be born as Rāvaṇa and Kumbakarṇa. The explanation of their expansions must be given in order to resolve the contradiction of being simultaneously in the form of demons and associates of the Lord.
This was ordained long ago by angry Lakṣmī when she attempted to enter the door and was prevented by you two, since I was sleeping.
Though this verse is seen in many editions, it has no commentary because it is not traditionally accepted as a verse.
Overcoming the offense to the Kumāras by meditating on me in anger, you will quickly return to me.
Though you will have the mentality of demons, you will think of me, because I will experience pure happiness in vīra-rasa fighting with you two when I descend as three different avatāras. Though you have the mentality of demons, you will be performing service to me. In the third appearance, I will directly accept you. By meeting me in battle with anger, or by meditating on me with anger, you will overcome the offense to the Kumāras. You will come near (nikāśam) to me after a short time.
After thus speaking to the door keepers, the Lord entered his abode, decorated with many airplanes and all-surpassing wealth.
Because of the curse of the brāhmaṇas which could not be nullified, the best of deities lost their bliss and a beauty and fell from the planet of the Lord.
The word fell should be supplied. Vigata-smayau means that they lost their bliss.
O devatās, my sons! When the two were falling from the abode of the Lord, a great cry of disappointment arose from the best of airplanes on Satyaloka.
O devatās (putrakāḥ)! When they fell from the place of the Lord (vikuṇḥta-dhiṣanāt), in the best airplanes from Satyaloka (vimānāgryeṣu), a cry was heard.
The best of the Lords associates have now entered the semen of Kaśyapa, which has entered the womb of Diti.
Tejaḥ means semen. This sentence means that they accepted bodies as sons of Diti.
For certain your power has been disrupted by the power of these two demons at this time. Now the Lord desires to relieve the situation.
Yamayoḥ refers to twins but also indicates that they were death-like. Do something to mitigate the situation. I am powerless! I have no power over these two associates of the Lord who have fallen to earth by a curse. The Lord himself desires to mitigate the situation caused by these two.
The Lord of the three worlds who is the cause of creation, maintenance and destruction, the original person, whose power of yoga-māyā cannot be understood by even the greatest yogīs, will give security. What is the use of us deliberating on this?
We are dying right now. When will the Lord mitigate the situation? That you live or die depends on the desire of the Lord. But now, at the time meant for protection, he will protect you. That is explained in this verse. We do not know how he will do it. Though masters of yoga have all knowledge, they do not know. What will he do to rescue us from destruction? What is the use of us pondering this? Instead of us reflecting on this, he will simply do it.
Thus ends the commentary on Sixteenth Chapter of the Third Canto of the Bhāgavatam for the pleasure of the devotees, in accordance with the previous ācāryas
In the Sixteenth Chapter the Lord accepts the curse made by the Kumāras who were fearful, because they knew that the Lord had affection for the gate keepers who had love for the Lord. The Lord was pleased with their Kumāras words of praise.