34 verses
Nārada: O King Yudhiṣṭhira! Hiraṇyakaśipu wanted to be the sole king, without a rival, unconquerable, free from old age, and deathless.
Therefore, in a valley of Mandara mountain, Hiraṇyakaśipu began performing extreme austerities by standing with his toes on the ground, keeping his arms upward and looking toward the sky.
Therefore he performed austerities.
He shone like the sun at the time of devastation by the rays from his brilliant locks of hair. When he was performing austerities, the devatās returned to their abodes.
Sthānāni means their houses.
Because of Hiraṇyakaśipu's severe austerities, fire and smoke emanated from his head, and, spreading up, down, sideways, and all around, heated up all the planets.
All the rivers and oceans were agitated. The surface of the globe, with its mountains and islands, began trembling, and the stars and planets fell. All directions were ablaze.
Scorched because of Hiraṇyakaśipu's penances, the devatās left their planets and went to Brahmaloka. They informed the creator as follows: O lord of the devatās! O master of the universe! Because of the penance of Hiraṇyakaśipu, we have become scorched and cannot stay on our planets.
O great person, ruling everywhere! If you think it proper, stop his austerity so that those who offer worship will not be destroyed.
Abhibhūḥ means he who is everywhere. O Lord of everything!
He has made a vow to perform extreme austerity. Please hear what we reveal if it is not already known to you.
tad ahaṁ vardhamānena tapo-yoga-samādhinā kālātmanoś ca nityatvāt sādhayiṣye tathātmanaḥ
Brahmā sits on his throne after creating the universe of moving and non-moving beings by concentration, yoga and austerity. By greater austerity, yoga and concentration of mind I will achieve power greater than that of Brahmā, and achieve his post for myself, since the ātmā and time are eternal.
Sarva-dhiṣṇyebhyaḥ vardhamānena means I will achieve power greater than Brahmā. Brahmā has a very long life, and thus performed great austerity a long time. How can you perform such long austerity? Though my gross body with a short life will be repeatedly destroyed, because time and the ātmā are eternal, after performing austerities for many births, I will achieve the post of Brahmā for myself.
By dint of my severe austerities, I shall reverse the results of pious and impious activities. By my power, what was previously the rule will be opposite. What is the use of other places like Dhruvaloka, which will be destroyed by time at the end of the millennium?
I will make the world opposite. Those who suffer by vows like celibacy, and austerity will attain hell in the next life and will have to suffer. Those who are only absorbed in material enjoyment in this life will attain the enjoyment of Svarga in the next life. Material enjoyment will be the recommended piety and sādhana. Restricting enjoyment will be a sin and not recommended. This will be instituted. But this has not happened in any previous lifetimes of Brahmās. I will make previous rules just the opposite by my power. Why do you consider Brahmās post that you cherish to be better than all others? What is the use of other places like Dhruvaloka which are temporary? The demons will consider Dhruvaloka temporary.
O lord of the three worlds! We have heard that Hiraṇyakaśipu is now engaged in severe austerity with insistence on taking your post. Please, without delay, take suitable action.
We have heard that he is insistent (nirbandham) on taking your post. Therefore he is fixed in extreme austerity.
O lord of the universe! Your position within this universe is certainly the best for the worlds and for the cows and brāhmaṇas, for the flourishing of dharma, for auspiciousness and improvement.
Your position is for producing the best for the world (bhavāya śreyase). If he takes the pose he will create the opposite. Your post is for the flourishing of dharma for the created people and planets (bhūtyai). If he controls, there will be destruction of dharma. Your post is for auspiciousness and improvement. If he reigns there will be inauspiciousness and ruination.
O King! Thus informed by the devatās, powerful Brahmā, accompanied by Bhṛgu, Dakṣa and other great sages, immediately went to the hermitage of Hiraṇyakaśipu. .
Brahmā went with the intention of stopping his austerities by offering benedictions.
tapantaṁ tapasā lokān yathābhrāpihitaṁ ravim vilakṣya vismitaḥ prāha hasaṁs taṁ haṁsa-vāhanaḥ
Lord Brahmā, carried by a swan, at first could not see Hiraṇyakaśipu, whose body was covered by an anthill, grass and bamboo. Then Lord Brahmā saw him, with skin, fat, flesh and blood devoured by ants. Like a cloud-covered sun, he was burning the worlds by his austerity. Struck with wonder, Lord Brahmā smiled and spoke to him.
First Brahmā did not see him since he was covered by the anthill. Then seeing him, he spoke. Ācīrṇam means completely eaten up. He was like the sun covered by a cloud.
Lord Brahmā said: O son of Kaśyapa! Please get up! All good fortune unto you! Your austerity will bear fruit now. I, who will give you benedictions, have arrived. Ask your desired boon.
I have seen your most astonishing fortitude. Since body has been eaten by insects, you life air has taken shelter of your bones.
Hṛt-sāram means fortitude.
Even previous sages like Bhṛgu have not performs such austerities, and no one will do so in the future. Who can sustain his life without even drinking water for one hundred celestial years?
O son of Diti! Because of you determination and steadiness in austerity which is difficult for sages, I have been conquered by you.
O best of the demons! For this reason I will give you all benedictions. The audience of you, a mortal, with me, an immortal, will not go in vain.
Because Hiraṇyakaśipu was born from demons, he is bound to die. Therefore he is called martasya. The meaning is instrumental case (martyena tvayā).
Nārada said: After speaking, Lord Brahmā, the original entity of this universe, sprinkled divine, potent water from his pot upon Hiraṇyakaśipu's body, which had been eaten away by ants.
Pipīlikaiḥ means by ants and gnats. Ādibhavaḥ is Brahmā. Brahmā sprinkled him with water which would give fruitful results (amogha-rādhasā).
Becoming endowed with strength of mind, senses and body, Hiraṇyakaśipu, firm as a thunderbolt and shining like molten gold, then arose from the anthill and the bamboo grove, with his limbs fully restored, like fire arising from wood.
His limbs were strong as thunderbolts (vajra-saṁhananaḥ).
Seeing Lord Brahmā present before him in the sky, carried by his swan airplane, Hiraṇyakaśipu, pleased on seeing him, offered respects on the ground with his head.
Then, rising and seeing Lord Brahmā before him, with tears in his eyes and hairs standing on end out of joy, with folded hands and a faltering voice, he uttered prayers to Lord Brahmā.
ātmanā tri-vṛtā cedaṁ sṛjaty avati lumpati rajaḥ-sattva-tamo-dhāmne parāya mahate namaḥ
Hiraṇyakaśipu said: I offer respects to the great, supreme, self-effulgent lord, the shelter of rajas, sattva and tamas, who manifests by his effulgence the universe covered with darkness at the end of his day through the influence of time, and who creates, maintains and destroys this universe by accepting the three guṇas.
Abhivyanak means he manifested. He creates and destroys by himself, by accepting the three guṇas (tri-vṛtā).
I offer my obeisances to the original person within this universe, the seed, the form of knowledge and realization, who has taken a form by transformations of the life air, senses, mind and intelligence.
He has taken a form (īyuṣe vyaktim) by transformation of life airs, mind, senses and intelligence.
You control the moving and non-moving beings by the chief prāṇa. You are the lord of the progeny, lord of the citta of the progeny by being their consciousness. You are the lord of the mind and senses, the lord of the gross elements, and the lord of the tan-mātras and their impressions.
You are the controller (īśiṣe) through the chief prāṇa, sūtrātmā.1 You are the master of the progeny and master of their citta, by being their consciousness which arises from transformations of citta. You are the master of the minds and the senses controlled by the mind. You are the master of the great elements and their sense objects and their impressions.
You alone propagate the seven parts of sacrifice such as agniṣṭoma by the Vedas and by knowledge of the activities understood by the four priests--hotā, udghātā, adhvaryū and brahma. You are the jīva of all beings. You are the antaryāmī of all beings (antarātmā).
You are unblinking time, and reduce the life span of all beings by times divisions. You are the unchanging antaryāmī, and unborn, great. You are the jīva of all jīvas. You are the antaryāmī.
You are unchanging (kūṭa-sthaḥ), since you do not undergo transformations. You are the antaryāmī (ātmā). You are the ātmā of all the bodies of the jīvas. The previous verse mentioned ātmātmavatām, which has the same meaning. However in the previous verse, it specifically refers to the Lord of the performers of sacrifice, as the instigator of actions of sacrifice and performer of the actions. This verse refers to the Lord in all other persons.
No cause or effect, no non-moving or moving being, is separate from you. The Vedas and its aḍgas are all your bodies. You are the person containing the universe in your belly. You are Brahman. You are separate from the three guṇas.
You are separate from the cause (param) and effect (aparam), from non-moving (anejat) and moving (ejat) beings. Vidyā means the Vedas, Upavedas, sources of knowledge and kalāḥ refers to the aḍgas of the Vedas. They are your bodies. Hiraṇyagarbhaḥ means the form with the universe in his belly. Brhad refers to Brahman. You are separate (pṛṣṭhaḥ) from the three guṇas.
O lord! The universe is your gross body by which you enjoy the senses, life airs, mind and sense objects, but you are still situated in your svarūpa of great power. Thus you are Brahman, Paramātmā and Bhagavān.
This universe, as the universal form, is your gross body by which you enjoy the senses, life airs and mind and sense objects (guṇān), but, situated in your svarūpa (dhāmani) of great power (pārameṣṭhye), you enjoy, without a disappearance of you svarūpa. Therefore you are Brahman (avyaktaḥ), Paramātmā (ātmā), and Bhagavān (puruṣaḥ purāṇaḥ).
I offer respect to you, the powerful lord, endowed with spiritual and material potencies by which you pervade the whole world with an unlimited and unmanifest form.
You are endowed with both cit-śakti from your svarūpa and acit-śakti of prakṛti for performing spiritual and material pastimes.
O my lord! O best of the givers of benediction! If you will kindly grant me the benediction that I desire, then please let me not die from any of the living entities created by you.
Enough of glorification! Please accept a boon. Hiraṇyakaśipu thought, If I ask to be immortal, it will be impossible to fulfill, since, he wills say that he also will die at the end of the mahākalpa. Thus he will refuse m request. Therefore, by intelligence, I will ask for boon that will result in me being immortal. Let me not die from all beings created by Brahmā. Who else is there?
Grant me that I not die within any residence or outside any residence, during the daytime or at night, not by any weapon or something other than a weapon, nor on the ground or in the sky, nor by man or animal.
Death should happen naturally. If all places and times are excluded for death, the natural death will also be excluded. The forms of Viṣṇu such as Varāha are all created by Brahmā, but Viṣṇu is without form. If he, without form, throws his cakra or other weapons, my boon will be useless. This is my worry. Thus let me not be destroyed by any weapon or anything else! Though the words inside and outside covers all places, Viṣṇu could think of some particular loophole related to the meaning of the two words. Thus particular places must also be excluded. Not on earth refers to all the seven lower planets down to Pātala. Not in the sky refers to all the upper planets. All these are excluded. Fearing other beings like Dakṣa, he then says that all men should be excluded as well.
sarveṣāṁ loka-pālānāṁ mahimānaṁ yathātmanaḥ tapo-yoga-prabhāvāṇāṁ yan na riṣyati karhicit
Let me not die by non-living things or living beings, devatās, demons or snakes. Let me not be defeated in battle and have great lordship over all beings and all protectors of planets. Let me have powers of austerity and yoga just as you have, whose potency will never be destroyed!
Because it is impossible to mention all species of living entity he recites these verses. Vyasubhiḥ means by things without life. Asumadbhiḥ means by forms with life. Thus I cannot be killed by objects of any sort. Thinking that he had could not die, he then asked for another boon. Let me have no rival in battle and supremacy over all beings. Just as you have (yathā ātmanaḥ), give me power by austerity and yoga whose power is not destroyed.
Thus ends the commentary on the Third Chapter of the Seventh Canto of the Bhāgavatam for the pleasure of the devotees, in accordance with the previous ācāryas.
The Third Chapter describes how Hiraṇyakaśipu performed penance, disturbed the happiness of the devatās, and after praising Brahmā a long time, attained various benedictions. With the intention of being the only king, he desired to rule one kingdom extending up to Brahmaloka.