Text 20]
Genealogical Table of the Daughters of Manu
17
on one leg only, eating nothing but air, and stood there on one leg for hundreds of years.
TEXT 20
शरणं तं प्रपद्येऽहं य एव जगदीशरः। प्रजामात्मसमां मद्यं प्रयच्छत्विति चिन्तयन्॥२०॥
śaraṇam tam prapadye 'ham ya eva jagad-īśvaraḥ prajām ātmasamām mahyam prayacchatv iti cintayan
śaraṇam—taking shelter; tam—unto Him; prapadye—surrendered; aham—l; yaḥ—one who; eva—certainly; jagat-īśvaraḥ—master of the universe; prajām—son; ātma-samām—like Himself; mahyam—unto me; prayacchatu—let Him give; iti—thus; cintayan—thinking.
TRANSLATION
He was thinking: May the Lord of the universe, of whom I have taken shelter, kindly be pleased to offer me a son exactly like Him.
PURPORT
It appears that the great sage Atri Muni had no specific idea of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Of course he must have been conversant with the Vedic information that there is the Supreme Personality of Godhead who is the creator of the universe, from whom everything emanated, who maintains this created manifestation, and in whom the entire manifestation is conserved after dissolution.  Yato vā imāni bhūtāni . The Vedic  mantras  give us information of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, so he concentrated his mind upon that Supreme Personality of Godhead, even without knowing His name, just to beg from Him a child exactly on His level. This kind of devotional service, in which knowledge of God's name is lacking, is also described in  Bhagavad-gītā  where the Lord says that there are four kinds of men with backgrounds of pious activities who come to Him asking what they need. Atri Muni wanted a son exactly like the Lord, and therefore he is not supposed to be a pure devotee because he had a desire to be fulfilled, and that desire was material. Although he wanted a son exactly like the Supreme Personality of Godhead, still it