SRIMAD BHAGAVATAM: CANTO 5

S'rî S'uka said: 'At a distance of thirty-eight thousand yojanas beneath the base of Pâtâla [see footnote] remains He who is indeed the part of the Supreme Lord that relates to darkness and is called Ananta [the eternal one]; the truthful of vision and understanding derive the idea of the self-concept of having an ego, as a symptom [of that darkness] thus, from Him, Sankarshana, so the learned declare [see also 3.26: 25 and 4.24: 35].

S'rî S'ukadeva Gosvâmî said to Mahârâja Parîkshit: My dear King, approximately 240.000 miles beneath the planet Pâtâla lives another incarnation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He is the expansion of Lord Vishnu known as Lord Ananta or Lord Sankarshana. He is always in the transcendental position, but because He is worshiped by Lord S'iva, the deity of tamo-guna or darkness, He is sometimes called tâmasî. Lord Ananta is the predominating Deity of the material mode of ignorance as well as the false ego of all conditioned souls. When a conditioned living being thinks, "I am the enjoyer, and this world is meant to be enjoyed by me," this conception of life is dictated to him by Sankarshana. Thus the mundane conditioned soul thinks himself the Supreme Lord. (Vedabase)

Text 2

This universe is, as seen sustained on only one of the thousands of hoods of the Supreme Lord in the form of Anantadeva, just like a white mustard seed [like a single galaxy among many others in deep space].

S'ukadeva Gosvâmî continued: This great universe, situated on one of Lord Anantadeva's thousands of hoods, appears just like a white mustard seed. It is infinitesimal compared to the hood of Lord Ananta. (Vedabase)

Text 3

Of His desire to, in due course of time, by anger destroy this so very beautiful spinning world, is indeed from between His eyebrows a Rudra [an incarnation of Lord S'iva] named Sânkarshana [born from Sankarshana] formed from which eleven three-eyed expansions upholding pointed tridents arose.

At the time of devastation, when Lord Anantadeva desires to destroy the entire creation, He becomes slightly angry. Then from between His two eyebrows appears three-eyed Rudra, carrying a trident. This Rudra, who is known as Sankarshana, is the embodiment of the eleven Rudras, or incarnations of Lord S'iva. He appears in order to devastate the entire creation. (Vedabase)

Text 4

On the round surfaces of the brilliant pink gemlike toenails of His lotus feet do the leaders of the snakelike, who with the best of the devotees in unalloyed devotion offer their prayers, see, to the effulgence of the glittering earrings decorating their cheeks, their own faces beautifully reflected and are their minds truly refreshed.

The pink, transparent toenails on the Lord's lotus feet are exactly like valuable gems polished to a mirror finish. When the unalloyed devotees and the leaders of the snakes offer their obeisances to Lord Sankarshana with great devotion, they become very joyful upon seeing their own beautiful faces reflected in His toenails. Their cheeks are decorated with glittering earrings, and the beauty of their faces is extremely pleasing to see. (Vedabase)

Text 5

The marriageable princesses of the serpent kings hoping for the blessings of Him indeed, smear with an ointment of saffron, aloe, and sandalwood paste the gleaming roundings of His auspicious, beautiful, white, spotless arms that are like columns of silver; by the contact are due to the entrance of Cupid their hearts beating faster and see they, bashfully as lotusflowers, His appreciative, very attractive delicate, beautiful smiles that intoxicate them mad with delight about his rolling, pink and kindly glancing eyes and face.

Lord Ananta's arms are attractively long, beautifully decorated with bangles and completely spiritual. They are white, and so they appear like silver columns. When the beautiful princesses of the serpent kings, hoping for the Lord's auspicious blessing, smear His arms with aguru pulp, sandalwood pulp and kunkuma, the touch of His limbs awakens lusty desires within them. Understanding their minds, the Lord looks at the princesses with a merciful smile, and they become bashful, realizing that He knows their desires. Then they smile beautifully and look upon the Lord's lotus face, which is beautified by reddish eyes rolling slightly from intoxication and delighted by love for His devotees. (Vedabase)

Text 6

That Ananta is for certain the Supreme Lord, the reservoir of all transcendental qualities and the original Godhead who in restraint of the force of His intolerance and wrath remains for the welfare of the humans of all worlds.

Lord Sankarshana is the ocean of unlimited spiritual qualities, and thus He is known as Anantadeva. He is nondifferent from the Supreme Personality of Godhead. For the welfare of all living entities within this material world, He resides in His abode, restraining His anger and intolerance. (Vedabase)

Text 7

Being constantly meditated upon by the scores of the enlightened and unenlightened, the semi-divine snakelike, the perfected, the heavenly singers and the ones founded in knowledge and the wise, does he, delighted under the influence roll His eyes to and fro. By the nectar of a fine choice of words and sweet song are His associates, the leaders of the different groups of intelligence, pleasing Him whose luster never fades, who is ever fresh with the fragrance of the tulsî blossoms that with their honey madden the bees about His thus even more beautiful Vaijayantî flowergarland. Clad in blue with only one earring and the beauty of His auspicious hands placed on the handle of His plow is He, wearing a golden belt and as invincible as Indra's elephant, engaged in transcendental pastimes being the Supreme Lord in person.

S'ukadeva Gosvâmî continued: The demigods, the demons, the Uragas [serpentine demigods], the Siddhas, the Gandharvas, the Vidyâdharas and many highly elevated sages constantly offer prayers to the Lord. Because He is intoxicated, the Lord looks bewildered, and His eyes, appearing like flowers in full bloom, move to and fro. He pleases His personal associates, the heads of the demigods, by the sweet vibrations emanating from His mouth. Dressed in bluish garments and wearing a single earring, He holds a plow on His back with His two beautiful and well-constructed hands. Appearing as white as the heavenly King Indra, He wears a golden belt around His waist and a vaijayantî garland of ever-fresh tulasî blossoms around His neck. Bees intoxicated by the honeylike fragrance of the tulasî flowers hum very sweetly around the garland, which thus becomes more and more beautiful. In this way, the Lord enjoys His very magnanimous pastimes. (Vedabase)

Text 8

Those after liberation who by mouth of the tradition hear about the glories of this one Lord, find the knot that since time immemorial of the illusory energy, consisting of passion, goodness and slowness, in the unconscious of fruitive action was tied in the core of their hearts, very soon cut. The greatly powerful son of Brahmâ, Nârada, along with his instrument the Tumburu, describes Him in the brahman assembly in selected verses:

If persons who are very serious about being liberated from material life hear the glories of Anantadeva from the mouth of a spiritual master in the chain of disciplic succession, and if they always meditate upon Sankarshana, the Lord enters the cores of their hearts, vanquishes all the dirty contamination of the material modes of nature, and cuts to pieces the hard knot within the heart, which has been tied tightly since time immemorial by the desire to dominate material nature through fruitive activities. Nârada Muni, the son of Lord Brahmâ, always glorifies Anantadeva in his father's assembly. There he sings blissful verses of his own composition, accompanied by his stringed instrument [or a celestial singer] known as Tumburu. (Vedabase)

Text 9

'By whose form unlimited and beginningless and by whose glance, with goodness leading, the modes of material nature were enabled to act as the primal causes for creation, maintenance and destruction; He who is one of Soul and diverse in manifestation, how can His path with certainty be understood?

By His glance, the Supreme Personality of Godhead enables the modes of material nature to act as the causes of universal creation, maintenance and destruction. The Supreme Soul is unlimited and beginningless, and although He is one, He has manifested Himself in many forms. How can human society understand the ways of the Supreme? (Vedabase)

Text 10

Out of His mercy for us He exhibited His existence in different forms as being completely transcendental to this manifestation of cause and effect; He who in His pastimes, to the minds of His devotees, shines as the most liberal and powerful master of all beings, taught us to conquer free from material concerns.

This manifestation of subtle and gross matter exists within the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Out of causeless mercy toward His devotees, He exhibits various forms, which are all transcendental. The Supreme Lord is most liberal, and He possesses all mystic power. To conquer the minds of His devotees and give pleasure to their hearts, He appears in different incarnations and manifests many pastimes. (Vedabase)

Text 11

Any person in distress who accidentally heard of, or whatever fallen soul who just for fun could chant or repeat His name, will instantly see the endless sinful of human association vanquished; with whom else but Lord Ananta S'esha should any seeker of salvation take shelter?

Even if he be distressed or degraded, any person who chants the holy name of the Lord, having heard it from a bona fide spiritual master, is immediately purified. Even if he chants the Lord's name jokingly or by chance, he and anyone who hears him are freed from all sins. Therefore how can anyone seeking disentanglement from the material clutches avoid chanting the name of Lord S'esha? Of whom else should one take shelter? (Vedabase)

Text 12

This universe with its mountains, trees, oceans and beings is like an atom fixed on the crest of Ananta, the thousand headed one; whomever, however many his tongues, is, due to His inscrutable power, able to enumerate His potencies?

Because the Lord is unlimited, no one can estimate His power. This entire universe, filled with its many great mountains, rivers, oceans, trees and living entities, is resting just like an atom on one of His many thousands of hoods. Is there anyone, even with thousands of tongues, who can describe His glories? (Vedabase)

Text 13

Existing completely self-sufficient at the base of the nether worlds is Ananta the so very powerful Supreme Lord of insurmountable prowess and the great one of all transcendental qualities and glory, who playfully for its maintenance keeps the earth from falling.'

There is no end to the great and glorious qualities of that powerful Lord Anantadeva. Indeed, His prowess is unlimited. Though self-sufficient, He Himself is the support of everything. He resides beneath the lower planetary systems and easily sustains the entire universe. (Vedabase)

Text 14

All the destinations that those desiring after material enjoyment, according their karma, in this thereof fashioned universe can achieve, have thus for true, as it was received, been described.

My dear King, as I heard of it from my spiritual master, I have fully described to you the creation of this material world according to the fruitive activities and desires of the conditioned souls. Those conditioned souls, who are full of material desires, achieve various situations in different planetary systems, and in this way they live within this material creation. (Vedabase)

Text 15

As you inquired, have I shown you, o King, what, to the people their inclinations and nature, are the inevitably resultant different higher and lower kinds of destinations; what more should I tell you about?

My dear King, I have thus described how people generally act according to their different desires and, as a result, get different types of bodies in higher or lower planets. You inquired of these things from me, and I have explained to you whatever I have heard from authorities. What shall I speak of now? (Vedabase)

*: The mentioning of distance in connection with the transcendental reality of Ananta suggests a physical correlate in the universe that compares to the darkness of the intergalactic space that as an organic existence of eternity, purity and divinity or void of self envelops all the galaxies in the cosmos, giving each his own 'snake'-foundation in the darkness of an awareness of 'I'. The actual shortest distance between the center of our stellar system and the outerspace of darkness below it is about 3500 lightyears.