TEXT 24
alaksito gnau patitah patangamo
yatha nrsimhaujasi so suras tada
na tad vicitram khalu sattva-dhamani
sva-tejasa yo nu purapibat tamah
SYNONYMS
alaksitahinvisible; agnauin the fire; patitahfallen; patangamahan insect; yathajust as; nrsimhaof Lord Nrsimhadeva; ojasiin the effulgence; sahhe; asurahHiranyakasipu; tadaat that time; nanot; tatthat; vicitramwonderful; khaluindeed; sattva-dhamaniin the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is situated in pure goodness; sva-tejasaby His own effulgence; yahHe who (the Lord); nuindeed; puraformerly; apibatswallowed up; tamahthe darkness within the material creation.
TRANSLATION
Just as a small insect falls forcefully into a fire and the insignificant creature becomes invisible, when Hiranyakasipu attacked the Lord, who was full of effulgence, Hiranyakasipu became invisible. This is not at all astonishing, for the Lord is always situated in pure goodness. Formerly, during creation, He entered the dark universe and illuminated it by His spiritual effulgence.
PURPORT
The Lord is situated transcendentally, in pure goodness. The material world is generally controlled by tamo-guna, the quality of ignorance, but the spiritual world, because of the presence of the Lord and His effulgence, is free from all contamination by darkness, passion or contaminated goodness. Although there is a tinge of goodness in this material world in terms of the brahminical qualifications, such qualifications sometimes become invisible because of the strong prevalence of the modes of passion and ignorance. But because the Lord is always transcendentally situated, the material modes of passion and ignorance cannot touch Him. Whenever the Lord is present, there cannot be any darkness from the mode of ignorance. It is stated in Caitanya-caritamrta (Madhya 22.31):
Godhead is light. Nescience is darkness. Where there is Godhead there is no nescience. This material world is full of darkness and ignorance of spiritual life, but by bhakti-yoga this ignorance is dissipated. The Lord appeared because of the bhakti-yoga exhibited by Prahlada Maharaja, and as soon as the Lord appeared, the influence of Hiranyakasipus passion and ignorance was vanquished as the Lords quality of pure goodness, or the Brahman effulgence, became prominent. In that prominent effulgence, Hiranyakasipu became invisible, or his influence became insignificant. An example illustrating how the darkness of the material world is vanquished is given in the sastra. When Brahma was created from the lotus stem growing from the abdomen of Garbhodakasayi Visnu, Lord Brahma saw everything to be dark, but when he received knowledge from the Supreme Personality of Godhead, everything became clear, as everything becomes clear when one comes from night to sunshine. The important point is that as long as we are in the material modes of nature, we are always in darkness. This darkness cannot be dissipated without the presence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, which is invoked by the practice of bhakti-yoga. Bhakti-yoga creates a transcendental situation with no tinges of material contamination.

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