Text 6]
The Structure of the Universe
281
bhīṣāsmād vātaḥ pavate bhīṣodeti sūryaḥ bhīṣāsmād agniś cendraś ca mṛtyur dhāvati pañcamaḥ
“It is out of fear of the Supreme Brahman that the wind is blowing, out of fear of Him that the sun regularly rises and sets, and out of fear of Him that fire acts. It is only due to fear of Him that death and Indra, the King of heaven, perform their respective duties.”
As described in this chapter, the inhabitants of the five islands beginning with Plakṣadvīpa worship the sun-god, the moon-god, the fire-god, the air-god and Lord Brahmā respectively. Although they engage in the worship of these five demigods, however, they actually worship Lord Viṣṇu, the Supersoul of all living entities, as indicated in this verse by the words  pratnasya viṣṇo rūpam . Viṣṇu is  brahma, amṛta, mṛtyu —the Supreme Brahman and the origin of everything, auspicious and inauspicious. He is situated in the heart of everyone, including all the demigods. As stated in  Bhagavad-gītā  (7.20),  kāmais tais tair hṛta-jñānāḥ prapadyante 'nya devatāḥ : those whose minds are distorted by material desires surrender unto the demigods. People who are almost blind because of lusty desires are recommended to worship the demigods to have their material desires fulfilled, but actually those desires are not fulfilled by the material demigods. Whatever the demigods do is done with the sanction of Lord Viṣṇu. People who are too lusty worship various demigods instead of worshiping Lord Viṣṇu, the Supersoul of all living entities, but ultimately it is Lord Viṣṇu they worship because He is the Supersoul of all demigods.
TEXT 6
प्रक्षादिषु पञ्चसु पुरुषाणामायुरिन्द्रियमोजः सहो बलं बुद्धिविक्रम इति च सर्वेषामौत्पत्तिकी सिद्धिरविशेषेण वर्तते ॥ ६ ॥
plakṣādiṣu pañcasu puruṣāṇām āyur indriyam ojaḥ saho balam buddhir vikrama iti ca sarveṣām autpattikī siddhir aviśeṣṇa vartate.