Śrīmad Bhāgavata 1.3.2

Synonyms

brahmā — Brahmā; patiḥ — the chief; viśva-sṛjām — of the progenitors of the world; āsīt — [then] appeared [(abhūt) in the Pādma-kalpa⁵]; ambujāt — from the lotus; hrada — [growing in] the lake; nābhi — [of] the navel; yasya — of Him [the second manifestation of the Puruṣa, Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu (puruṣa-rūpasya dvitīyena vyūhena)⁶]; śayānasya — who was reposing [viśrāntasya]; ambhasi — on the water of the Garbhodaka Ocean [garbhodake⁷]; vitanvataḥ — displaying [or extending (vistārayataḥ)]; yoga-nidrām — His “yogic sleep” of supraconscious absorption [samādhis tad-rūpāṁ nidrām].

While He [the Puruṣa, Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu] was reposing on the water of the Garbhodaka Ocean, displaying His “yogic sleep” of supraconscious absorption (yoga-nidrā),⁸ Brahmā, the chief of the progenitors of the world, appeared from the lotus growing in the lake of His navel.

Notes

5Unless otherwise indicated, this and the following bracketed inserts in verse 2 are Śrīdhara Svāmī’s comments.↩

6Jīva Gosvāmī.↩

7Jīva Gosvāmī.↩

8The word nidrā literally means “sleep.” The yoga-nidrā, or “yogic sleep,” of Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, however, is not factually sleep in any sense that we know it. In his commentary on Brahma-saṁhitā, verse 17, Jīva Gosvāmī first states that the yoga-nidrā of Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu is but a portion (aṁśa) of the mahā-yoga-nidrā of Mahāviṣṇu, mentioned in verse 12. He then glosses the term yoga-nidrā as bhagavatī svarūpānanda-samādhimayatvād antarbhūta-sarvaiśvaryā saṅgatā śrīr iveti, “the state in which the sum total of Viṣṇu’s intrinsic potencies, just like the Goddess Śrī Herself, are enfolded within Him, due to His supraconscious absorption (samādhi) in the bliss (ānanda) that is intrinsic to His own being (svarūpa), stemming from, or coextensive with, His own eternal śakti (bhagavatī).” In his commentary on verse 19, Śrī Jīva adds that in this state, Viṣṇu is inactive (nirīhatayā) in any outward sense. Consequently, Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu’s yoga-nidrā is a state of transcendence, internally experienced, in which He is united with the Goddess Śrī and with His intrinsic potencies. Taking all of this into consideration, we have rendered the term yoga-nidrā as “the ‘yogic sleep’ of supraconscious absorption.”↩

SB 1.3.2

Synonyms

Translation

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