CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Victory of Hiraṇyākṣa Over All the Directions of the Universe
TEXT 1
मैत्रेय उवाच
निशम्यात्मभ्रुवा गीतं कारणं शङ्कयोज्झिताः ।
ततः सर्वे न्यवर्तन्त त्रिदिवाय दिवौकसः ॥ १ ॥
maitreya uvāca niśamyātma-bhuvā gītam kāraṇam śaṅkayojjhitāḥ tataḥ sarve nyavartanta tridivāya divaukasaḥ
maitreyaḥ—the sage Maitreya; uvāca—said; niśamya—upon hearing; ātma-bhuvā—by Brahmā; gītam—explanation; kāraṇam—the cause; śaṅkayā—from fear; ujjhitāḥ—freed; tataḥ—then; sarve—all; nyavartanta—returned; tridivāya—to the heavenly planets; diva-okasaḥ—the demigods (who inhabit the higher planets).
TRANSLATION
Śrī Maitreya said: The demigods, the inhabitants of the higher planets, were freed from all fear upon hearing the cause of the darkness explained by Brahmā, who was born from Viṣṇu. Thus they all returned to their respective planets.
PURPORT
The demigods, who are denizens of higher planets, are also very much afraid of incidents such as the universe's becoming dark, and so they consulted Brahmā. This indicates that the quality of fear exists for every living entity in the material world. The four principal activities of material
677