Madhya 24.285

TEXT 285

TEXT

'আত্মা'-শব্দে কহে - সর্ববিধ ভগবান্ ।
এক 'স্বয়ং ভগবান্', আর 'ভগবান্'-আখ্যান ॥ ২৮৫ ॥

'atma'-sabde kahe-sarva-vidha bhagavan

eka 'svayam bhagavan', ara 'bhagavan'-akhyana

SYNONYMS

atma-sabde-by the word atma; kahe-it is said; sarva-vidha bhagavan-all types of Personalities of Godhead; eka-one; svayam bhagavan-the original Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna; ara-another; bhagavan-akhyana-the Personality of Godhead by an expansive designation.

TRANSLATION

"The word atma refers to all the different expansions of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. One of them is the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself, Krsna, and the others are different incarnations or expansions of Krsna.

PURPORT

The word atma also includes all kinds of Bhagavan, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This means that Krsna has unlimited expansions. This is described in Brahma-samhita (5.46):

diparcir eva hi dasantaram abhyupetya
dipayate vivrta-hetu-samana-dharma
yas tadrg eva hi ca visnutaya vibhati
govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami

These expansions are thus compared to candles that have been lit from an original candle. All the secondary candles are equally powerful, but the original candle is that from which all the others have been lit. Krsna is the original Supreme Personality of Godhead, and He is expanded as Balarama, Saṅkarsana, Aniruddha, Pradyumna and Vasudeva. In this way there are innumerable incarnations and expansions who are also called Bhagavan, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.