TEXT 68
atha tvam asi no brahman
paramatman vipascitam
visvam rudra-bhaya-dhvastam
akutascid-bhaya gatih
SYNONYMS
athatherefore; tvamYou, my Lord; asiare; nahour; brahmanO Supreme Brahman; parama-atmanO Supersoul; vipascitamfor the learned wise men; visvamthe whole universe; rudra-bhayabeing afraid of Rudra; dhvastamannihilated; akutascit-bhayaundoubtedly fearless; gatihdestination.
TRANSLATION
My dear Lord, all actually learned persons know You as the Supreme Brahman and the Supersoul. Although the entire universe is afraid of Lord Rudra, who ultimately annihilates everything, for the learned devotees You are the fearless destination of all.
PURPORT
For the purpose of creation, maintenance and annihilation of this cosmic manifestation, there are three lordsBrahma, Visnu and Siva (Mahesvara). The material body is finished at the time of annihilation. Both the universal body and the small unit, the individual living entitys body, are susceptible to annihilation at the ultimate end. However, the devotees do not fear the annihilation of the body, for they are confident that after the annihilation they will go back home, back to Godhead (tyaktva deham punar janma naiti mam eti so rjuna [Bg. 4.9]).
If one strictly follows the process of devotional service, he has no fear of death, for he is predestined to go back home, back to Godhead. The nondevotees are fearful of death because they have no guarantee of where they are going or of the type of body they are going to get in their next life. The word rudra-bhaya is significant in this verse because Rudra himself, Lord Siva, is speaking of fear of Rudra. This indicates that there are many Rudraseleven Rudrasand the Rudra (Lord Siva) who was offering this prayer to the Supreme Personality of Godhead is different from the other Rudras, although he is as powerful as they are. The conclusion is that one Rudra is afraid of another Rudra because each and every one of them is engaged in the destruction of this cosmic manifestation. But for the devotee, everyone is afraid of Rudra, even Rudra himself. A devotee is never afraid of Rudra because he is always secure, being protected by the lotus feet of the Lord. As Sri Krsna says in Bhagavad-gita (9.31), kaunteya pratijanihi na me bhaktah pranasyati: My dear Arjuna, you may declare publicly that My pure devotee will not be vanquished under any circumstances.

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