Section 47 F
We now resume our original discussion (on the verse S.B.8.3.8). The distinction of the Lord's attributes that they are wonderful because they are understood by their feature attracting the mind of a self realized sage (ätmaräma). This is seen in the statements of Çré Suta Gosvämé such as (S.B.1.7.10), "Having his mind captivated by Lord Hari's qualities..." The Viñëu-dharmottara Puräëa therefore states:
"The Supreme Personality of Godhead has all good qualities by His magnificence. He is completely devoid of any defects, thus He is the Supreme.
Some illiterate people say that because of Mäyä, the Lord has both good qualities and defects, but if Mäyä and Mäyé both are absent in Him, how can He have their effects in the form of these two? Thus His qualities, form and so on do not spring from Mäyä but from His own magnificence. The Lord is free from Mäyä thus saintly people know Him to be transcendental."
Hereafter we give the remaining part, the explanation of the verse beginning with na vidyate (8.3.8). In this way it is established that the Lord's birth, form, and so on are manifestaitons of the internal energy, and thus is distinct from material birth and so on.
A doubt is raised: Let these features be manifestations of His essential nature, svarupa, but if His svarupa is complete, then what need is there to accept them (birth, form and so on?
The verse answers: Loka-apyaya-sambhaväya. Loka (lit. people) means devotees, apyaya (lit. end) means cessation of their material existence, and sambhavaù (lit. appearance) means achieving bliss of devotional service along with the cessation of material existence. The root bhu (in sambhava) means to attain. This is His purpose.
This is also an indication that His purpose is also to augment the devotional bliss of His eternal associates. Arjuna said this in the First Canto (1.7.25):
Thus You descend as an incarnation to remove the burden of the world and to benefit Your friends, especially those who are Your exclusive devotees and are rapt in meditation upon You.
The sense is this: Just as there are other incarnations such as the Puruña, this is also an incarnation. But only Your appearance who is directly the Personality of Godhead, Çré Kåñëa although is also to relieve the burden of the earth, who is Your great devotee, but it is also to grant devotional bliss to Your other devotees through repetitive meditation.
A doubt is raised: Earlier it was said rhetorically, "What can be the purpose for the Lord, who is in complete bliss?" how could this be true when Lord has a purpose--to grant devotional bliss to the devotees?
The verse answers: Ananyabhavänäm--for the surrendered devotees. The implication is that the Lord, who is the faultless, the crest jewel of omnicient persons, will incur the defect of mercilessness if he neglects His devotees, who are completely dependent on Him.
Although Lord is self-satisfied, ätmaräma, it is possible only in Him, who is the shelter of wonderful qualities, to have compassion, as the Kürma Puräëa says, "He has all opposing attributes." When this quality is seen in others it is an infusion i npart of the Lord's quality which is glorified loudly with wonder at every step by the scriptures. And this quality exists to attract everyone, from Brahmä to a dullard. The Lord Himself says in the Tenth Canto (10.32.19,20):
Then there are those individuals who are spiritually self-satisfied, materially fulfilled, or by nature ungrateful or simply envious of superiors. Such persons will not love even those who love them, what to speak of those who are inimical; but the reason I do not immediately reciprocate the affection of living beings even when they worship Me, O gopis, is that I want to intensify their loving devotion.
" Therefore, the Lord, who is most capable, shows His characteristic of mercy for the purpose of giving bliss to His devotees. This mercy is a special and most wonderful feature of the Lord and it manifests from the bliss contained in His svarupa. This is expressed in the original verse under discussion (8.3.8), by the phrase anukalamåcchati. He accepts them time and again. Therefore He certainly has no other purpose. And this purpose is just a manifestation of the beatitude of the one who is most capable. This is the direction as is stated: 'The mercy of an incapable compassionate person only causes misery but the mercy of a qualified compassionate person only gives happiness.
Purport
After establishing that the Lord's birth, name, form, and activities are eternal and transcendental distinct from other material counter parts, Çréla Jéva Gosvämé continues to explain the original verse under discussion (S.B. 8.3.8) to establish that the Lord's qualities are of the same transcendental nature. To prove this he alludes to the history of Çukadeva, the prime speaker of Çrémad Bhägavatam. Çukadeva was so deeply absorbed in Brahman realization that he did not distinguish between male and female, nor was he concerned about covering his lower parts. Yet as soon as he heard the verses describing the qualities of Lord Kåñëa, he was completely charmed. He gave up his attachment to Brahman and became a Vaisnava. This proves that the Lord's qualities are transcendental and superior even to the bliss of Brahman, otherwise Çré Çuka, who has no interest in anything material, would not have been enamored by them.
After setting that Lord's name, form, birth, activities and qualities are manifestation of His internal energy, further doubt is raised. Lord is complete in His own svarüpa so why does He accept birth and so on. It is answered :Although the Lord is self-satisfied, He engages in pastimes of taking birth and killing demons. This does not make Him imperfect, however. If He remained satisfied and did not act to protect His devotees, then He could be said to be merciless. Mercy is one of His most excellent qualities, and out of mercy on His devotees He appears in the material world. Out of mercy He forgets Himself and becomes the servant of His devotees. His merciful acts captivate the minds even of ätmarämas. In some cases a person is merciful, but incapable of helping. Such mercy is useless and is a further cause of misery. Therefore, one should not try to be merciful artificially. The Lord, however, is omnipotent and thus His mercy nourishes His devotees. When He sees this, His bliss increases beyond that normally felt in His svarüpa. As is said earlier energy gives more pleasure when put to work. For this reason he performs these pasitmes agian and again as the verse said anukälamåchati. Therefore His activities are manifestations of His bliss and have no other purpose.