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TEXT 12
apasyann iti hovaca
mayanvistam idam jagat
bhratr-ha me gato nunam
yato navartate puman
SYNONYMS
apasyannot seeing Him; itiin this way; ha uvacauttered; mayaby me; anvistamhas been sought; idamthe whole; jagatuniverse; bhratr-haLord Visnu, who killed the brother; memy; gatahmust have gone; nunamindeed; yatahfrom where; nanot; avartatecomes back; pumana person.
TRANSLATION
Unable to see Him, Hiranyakasipu said, I have searched the entire universe, but I could not find Visnu, who has killed my brother. Therefore, He must certainly have gone to that place from which no one returns. [In other words, He must now be dead.]
PURPORT
Atheists generally follow the Bauddha philosophical conclusion that at death everything is finished. Hiranyakasipu, being an atheist, thought this way. Because Lord Visnu was not visible to him, he thought that the Lord was dead. Even today, many people follow the philosophy that God is dead. But God is never dead. Even the living entity, who is part of God, never dies. Na jayate mriyate va kadacit: For the soul there is never birth or death. This is the statement of Bhagavad-gita (2.20). Even the ordinary living entity never takes birth or dies. What then is to be said of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is the chief of all living entities? He certainly never takes birth or dies. Ajopi sann avyayatma (Bg. 4.6). Both the Lord and the living entity exist as unborn and inexhaustible personalities. Thus Hiranyakasipus conclusion that Visnu was dead was wrong.
As indicated by the words yato navartate puman, there is certainly a spiritual kingdom, and if the living entity goes there, he never returns to this material world. This is also confirmed in Bhagavad-gita (4.9): tyaktva deham punar janma naiti mam eti sorjuna. Materially speaking, every living entity dies; death is inevitable. But those who are karmis, jnanis and yogis return to this material world after death, whereas bhaktas do not. Of course, if a bhakta is not completely perfect he takes birth in the material world again, but in a very exalted position, either in a rich family or a family of the purest brahmanas (sucinam srimatam gehe), just to finish his development in spiritual consciousness. Those who have completed the course of Krsna consciousness and are free from material desire return to the abode of the Supreme Personality of Godhead (yad gatva na nivartante tad dhama paramam mama [Bg. 15.6]). Here the same fact is stated: yato navartate puman. Any person who goes back home, back to Godhead, does not return to this material world.
Link to this page: https://prabhupadabooks.com/sb/8/19/12 Previous: SB 8.19.11 Next: SB 8.19.13
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