Text 35] The Activities of Mahārāja Priyavrata
63
in other words, an untouchable—is immediately relieved of bondage to material existence if he utters the holy name of the Lord even once.
PURPORT
Śukadeva Gosvāmī was speaking to Mahārāja Parīkṣit about the activities of King Priyavrata, and since the King might have had doubts about these wonderful, uncommon activities, Śukadeva Gosvāmī reassured him. “My dear King,” he said, “don’t be doubtful about the wonderful activities of Priyavrata. For a devotee of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, everything is possible because the Lord is also known as Urukrama.” Urukrama is a name for Lord Vāmanadeva, who performed the wonderful act of occupying the three worlds with three footsteps. Lord Vāmanadeva requested three paces of land from Mahārāja Bali, and when Mahārāja Bali agreed to grant them, the Lord immediately covered the entire world with two footsteps, and for His third step He placed His foot upon Bali Mahārāja’s head. Śrī Jayadeva Gosvāmī says:
chalayasi vikramaṇe balim adbhuta-vāmana pada-nakha-nīra-janita-jana-pāvana keśava dhṛta-vamāna-rūpa jaya jagadīśa hare
“All glories to Lord Keśava, who assumed the form of a dwarf. O Lord of the universe, who takes away everything inauspicious for the devotees! O wonderful Vāmanadeva! You tricked the great demon Bali Mahārāja by Your steps. The water that touched the nails of Your lotus feet when You pierced through the covering of the universe purifies all living entities in the form of the River Ganges.”
Since the Supreme Lord is all-powerful, He can do things that seem wonderful for a common man. Similarly, a devotee who has taken shelter at the lotus feet of the Lord can also do wonderful things, unimaginable to a common man, by the grace of the dust of those lotus feet. Caitanya Mahāprabhu therefore teaches us to take shelter of the Lord’s lotus feet:
ayi nanda-tanuja kiṇkaraṁ patitaṁ māṁ viṣame bhavāṁbudhau