Chapter Eight
The Churning of the Milk Ocean
TEXT 8
tataś cāvirabhūt sākṣāc
chrī ramā bhagavat-parā
rañjayantī diśaḥ kāntyā
vidyut saudāmanī yathā
SYNONYMS
tataḥ—thereafter; ca—and; āvirabhūt—manifested; sākṣāt—directly; śrī—the goddess of fortune; ramā—known as Ramā; bhagavat-parā—absolutely inclined to be possessed by the Supreme Personality of Godhead; rañjayantī—illuminating; diśaḥ—all directions; kāntyā—by luster; vidyut—lightning; saudāmanī—Saudāmanī; yathā—as.
TRANSLATION
Then there appeared the goddess of fortune, Ramā, who is absolutely dedicated to being enjoyed by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. She appeared like electricity, surpassing the lightning that might illuminate a marble mountain.
PURPORT
Śrī means opulence. Kṛṣṇa is the owner of all opulences.
bhoktāraṁ yajña-tapasāṁ
sarva-loka-maheśvaram
suhṛdaṁ sarva-bhūtānāṁ
jñātvā māṁ śāntim ṛcchati
This peace formula for the world is given in Bhagavad-gītā (5.29). When people know that the Supreme Lord, Kṛṣṇa, is the supreme enjoyer, the supreme proprietor and the most intimate well-wishing friend of all living entities, peace and prosperity will ensue all over the world. Unfortunately, the conditioned souls, being placed into illusion by the external energy of the Lord, want to fight with one another, and therefore peace is disturbed. The first prerequisite for peace is that all the wealth presented by Śrī, the goddess of fortune, be offered to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Everyone should give up his false proprietorship over worldly possessions and offer everything to Kṛṣṇa. This is the teaching of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement.
TEXT 9
tasyāṁ cakruḥ spṛhāṁ sarve
sasurāsura-mānavāḥ
rūpaudārya-vayo-varṇa-
mahimākṣipta-cetasaḥ
SYNONYMS
tasyām—unto her; cakruḥ—did; spṛhām—desire; sarve—everyone; sa-sura-asura-mānavāḥ—the demigods, the demons and the human beings; rūpa-audārya—by the exquisite beauty and bodily features; vayaḥ—youth; varṇa—complexion; mahimā—glories; ākṣipta—agitated; cetasaḥ—their minds.
TRANSLATION
Because of her exquisite beauty, her bodily features, her youth, her complexion and her glories, everyone, including the demigods, the demons and the human beings, desired her. They were attracted because she is the source of all opulences.
PURPORT
Who in this world does not want to possess wealth, beauty and the social respectability that come from these opulences? People generally desire material enjoyment, material opulence and the association of aristocratic family members (bhogaiśvarya-prasaktānām). Material enjoyment entails money, beauty and the reputation they bring, which can all be achieved by the mercy of the goddess of fortune. The goddess of fortune, however, never remains alone. As indicated in the previous verse by the word bhagavat-parā, she is the property of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and is enjoyable only by Him. If one wants the favor of the goddess of fortune, mother Lakṣmī, because she is by nature bhagavat-parā one must keep her with Nārāyaṇa. The devotees who always engage in the service of Nārāyaṇa (nārāyaṇa-parāyaṇa) can easily achieve the favor of the goddess of fortune without a doubt, but materialists who try to get the favor of the goddess of fortune only to possess her for personal enjoyment are frustrated. Theirs is not a good policy. The celebrated demon Rāvaṇa, for example, wanted to deprive Rāmacandra of Lakṣmī, Sītā, and thus be victorious, but the result was just the opposite. Sītā, of course, was taken by force by Lord Rāmacandra, and Rāvaṇa and his entire material empire were vanquished. The goddess of fortune is desirable for everyone, including human beings, but one should understand that the goddess of fortune is the exclusive property of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. One cannot achieve the mercy of the goddess of fortune unless one prays both to her and to the supreme enjoyer, the Personality of Godhead.
TEXT 10
tasyā āsanam āninye
mahendro mahad-adbhutam
mūrtimatyaḥ saric-chreṣṭhā
hema-kumbhair jalaṁ śuci
SYNONYMS
tasyāḥ—for her; āsanam—a sitting place; āninye—brought; mahā-indraḥ—the King of heaven, Indra; mahat—glorious; adbhutam—wonderful; mūrti-matyaḥ—accepting forms; sarit-śreṣṭhāḥ—the best of various sacred waters; hema—golden; kumbhaiḥ—with waterpots; jalam—water; śuci—pure.
TRANSLATION
The King of heaven, Indra, brought a suitable sitting place for the goddess of fortune. All the rivers of sacred water, such as the Ganges and Yamunā, personified themselves, and each of them brought pure water in golden waterpots for mother Lakṣmī, the goddess of fortune.
TEXT 11
ābhiṣecanikā bhūmir
āharat sakalauṣadhīḥ
gāvaḥ pañca pavitrāṇi
vasanto madhu-mādhavau
SYNONYMS
ābhiṣecanikāḥ—paraphernalia required for installing the Deity; bhūmiḥ—the land; āharat—collected; sakala—all kinds of; auṣadhīḥ—drugs and herbs; gāvaḥ—the cows; pañca—five different varieties of products from the cow, namely milk, yogurt, clarified butter, cow dung and cow urine; pavitrāṇi—uncontaminated; vasantaḥ—personified springtime; madhu-mādhavau—flowers and fruits produced during spring, or in the months of Caitra and Vaiśākha.
TRANSLATION
The land became a person and collected all the drugs and herbs needed for installing the Deity. The cows delivered five products, namely milk, yogurt, ghee, urine and cow dung, and spring personified collected everything produced in spring, during the months of Caitra and Vaiśākha [April and May].
PURPORT
Pañca-gavya, the five products received from the cow, namely milk, yogurt, ghee, cow dung and cow urine, are required in all ritualistic ceremonies performed according to the Vedic directions. Cow urine and cow dung are uncontaminated, and since even the urine and dung of a cow are important, we can just imagine how important this animal is for human civilization. Therefore the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, directly advocates go-rakṣya, the protection of cows. Civilized men who follow the system of varṇāśrama, especially those of the vaiśya class, who engage in agriculture and trade, must give protection to the cows. Unfortunately, because people in Kali-yuga are mandāḥ, all bad, and sumanda-matayaḥ, misled by false conceptions of life, they are killing cows in the thousands. Therefore they are unfortunate in spiritual consciousness, and nature disturbs them in so many ways, especially through incurable diseases like cancer and through frequent wars and among nations. As long as human society continues to allow cows to be regularly killed in slaughterhouses, there cannot be any question of peace and prosperity.
TEXT 12
ṛṣayaḥ kalpayāṁ cakrur
ābhiṣekaṁ yathā-vidhi
jagur bhadrāṇi gandharvā
naṭyaś ca nanṛtur jaguḥ
SYNONYMS
ṛṣayaḥ—the great sages; kalpayām cakruḥ—executed; ābhiṣekam—the abhiṣeka ceremony, which is required during the installation of the Deity; yathā-vidhi—as directed in the authorized scriptures; jaguḥ—chanted Vedic mantras; bhadrāṇi—all good fortune; gandharvāḥ—and the inhabitants of Gandharvaloka; naṭyaḥ—the women who were professional dancers; ca—also; nanṛtuḥ—very nicely danced on the occasion; jaguḥ—and sang authorized songs prescribed in the Vedas.
TRANSLATION
The great sages performed the bathing ceremony of the goddess of fortune as directed in the authorized scriptures, the Gandharvas chanted all-auspicious Vedic mantras, and the professional women dancers very nicely danced and sang authorized songs prescribed in the Vedas.
TEXT 13
meghā mṛdaṅga-paṇava-
murajānaka-gomukhān
vyanādayan śaṅkha-veṇu-
vīṇās tumula-niḥsvanān
SYNONYMS
meghāḥ—personified clouds; mṛdaṅga—drums; paṇava—kettledrums; muraja—another kind of drum; ānaka—another type of drum; gomukhān—a type of bugle; vyanādayan—vibrated; śaṅkha—conchshells; veṇu—flutes; vīṇāḥ—stringed instruments; tumula—tumultuous; niḥsvanān—vibration.
TRANSLATION
The clouds in personified form beat various types of drums, known as mṛdaṅgas, paṇavas, murajas and ānakas. They also blew conchshells and bugles known as gomukhas and played flutes and stringed instruments. The combined sound of these instruments was tumultuous.
TEXT 14
tato ’bhiṣiṣicur devīṁ
śriyaṁ padma-karāṁ satīm
digibhāḥ pūrṇa-kalaśaiḥ
sūkta-vākyair dvijeritaiḥ
SYNONYMS
tataḥ—thereafter; abhiṣiṣicuḥ—poured all-auspicious water on the body; devīm—the goddess of fortune; śriyam—very beautiful; padma-karām—with a lotus in her hand; satīm—she who is most chaste, not knowing anyone but the Supreme Personality of Godhead; digibhāḥ—the great elephants; pūrṇa-kalaśaiḥ—by completely full water jugs; sūkta-vākyaiḥ—with Vedic mantras; dvi-ja—by brāhmaṇas; īritaiḥ—chanted.
TRANSLATION
Thereafter, the great elephants from all the directions carried big water jugs full of Ganges water and bathed the goddess of fortune, to the accompaniment of Vedic mantras chanted by learned brāhmaṇas. While thus being bathed, the goddess of fortune maintained her original style, with a lotus flower in her hand, and she appeared very beautiful. The goddess of fortune is the most chaste, for she does not know anyone but the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
PURPORT
The goddess of fortune, Lakṣmī, is described in this verse as śriyam, which means that she has six opulences—wealth, strength, influence, beauty, knowledge and renunciation. These opulences are received from the goddess of fortune. Lakṣmī is addressed here as devī, the goddess, because in Vaikuṇṭha she supplies all opulences to the Supreme Personality of Godhead and His devotees, who in this way enjoy natural life in the Vaikuṇṭha planets. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is pleased with His consort, the goddess of fortune, who carries a lotus flower in her hand. Mother Lakṣmī is described in this verse as satī, the supremely chaste, because she never diverts her attention from the Supreme Personality of Godhead to anyone else.
TEXT 15
samudraḥ pīta-kauśeya-
vāsasī samupāharat
varuṇaḥ srajaṁ vaijayantīṁ
madhunā matta-ṣaṭpadām
SYNONYMS
samudraḥ—the ocean; pīta-kauśeya—yellow silk; vāsasī—both the upper and lower portions of a garment; samupāharat—presented; varuṇaḥ—the predominating deity of the water; srajam—garland; vaijayantīm—the most decorated and the biggest; madhunā—with honey; matta—drunken; ṣaṭ-padām—bumblebees, which have six legs.
TRANSLATION
The ocean, which is the source of all valuable jewels, supplied the upper and lower portions of a yellow silken garment. The predominating deity of the water, Varuṇa, presented flower garlands surrounded by six-legged bumblebees, drunken with honey.
PURPORT
When bathing the Deity in the abhiṣeka ceremony with various liquids, such as milk, honey, yogurt, ghee, cow dung and cow urine, it is customary to supply yellow garments. In this way the abhiṣeka ceremony for the goddess of fortune was performed according to the regular Vedic principles.
TEXT 16
bhūṣaṇāni vicitrāṇi
viśvakarmā prajāpatiḥ
hāraṁ sarasvatī padmam
ajo nāgāś ca kuṇḍale
SYNONYMS
bhūṣaṇāni—varieties of ornaments; vicitrāṇi—all very nicely decorated; viśvakarmā prajāpatiḥ—Viśvakarmā, one of the prajāpatis, the sons of Lord Brahmā who generate progeny; hāram—garland or necklace; sarasvatī—the goddess of education; padmam—a lotus flower; ajaḥ—Lord Brahmā; nāgāḥ ca—the inhabitants of Nāgaloka; kuṇḍale—two earrings.
TRANSLATION
Viśvakarmā, one of the prajāpatis, supplied varieties of decorated ornaments. The goddess of learning, Sarasvatī, supplied a necklace, Lord Brahmā supplied a lotus flower, and the inhabitants of Nāgaloka supplied earrings.
TEXT 17
tataḥ kṛta-svastyayanotpala-srajaṁ
nadad-dvirephāṁ parigṛhya pāṇinā
cacāla vaktraṁ sukapola-kuṇḍalaṁ
savrīḍa-hāsaṁ dadhatī suśobhanam
SYNONYMS
tataḥ—thereafter; kṛta-svastyayanā—being worshiped regularly by all-auspicious ritualistic ceremonies; utpala-srajam—a garland of lotuses; nadat—humming; dvirephām—surrounded by bumblebees; parigṛhya—capturing; pāṇinā—by the hand; cacāla—went on; vaktram—face; su-kapola-kuṇḍalam—her cheeks decorated with earrings; sa-vrīḍa-hāsam—smiling with shyness; dadhatī—expanding; su-śobhanam—her natural beauty.
TRANSLATION
Thereafter, mother Lakṣmī, the goddess of fortune, having been properly celebrated with an auspicious ritualistic ceremony, began moving about, holding in her hand a garland of lotus flowers, which were surrounded by humming bumblebees. Smiling with shyness, her cheeks decorated by her earrings, she looked extremely beautiful.
PURPORT
The goddess of fortune, mother Lakṣmījī, accepted the ocean of milk as her father, but she perpetually rests on the bosom of Nārāyaṇa. She offers benedictions even to Lord Brahmā and other living entities in this material world, yet she is transcendental to all material qualities. Although she appeared to have been born of the ocean of milk, she immediately resorted to her eternal place on the bosom of Nārāyaṇa.
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