792 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 4, Ch. 20

qa waed fafa saa

faraeeeagrefates: = Ra

athavamrjyasru-kala vilokayann
atrpta-drg-gocaram aha piirusam

pada sprsantam ksitim amsa unnate
vinyasta-hastagram uranga-vidvisah

atha—thereupon; avamrjya—wiping; asru-kalah—the tears in his eyes;
vilokayan—observing; atrpta—not satisfied; drk-gocaram—visible to his
naked eyes; adha—he said; pitrusam—unto the Supreme Personality of God-
head; pada—with His lotus feet; sprsantam—just touching; ksitim—the
ground; amse—on the shoulder; unnate--raised; vinyasta—rested; hasta—of
this hand; agram—the front part; uranga-vidvisah—of Garuda, the enemy
of the snakes.

TRANSLATION

The Supreme Personality of Godhead stood with His lotus feet almost
touching the ground while He rested the front of His hand on the raised
shoulder of Garuda, the enemy of the snakes. Maharaja Prthu, wiping the
tears from his eyes, tried to look upon the Lord, but it appeared that he
was not fully satisfied by looking at Him. Thus he offered the following
prayers.

PURPORT

The significant point in this verse is that the Lord was standing above
the ground, almost touching it. The residents of the upper planetary
systems, beginning from Brahmaloka (the planet where Lord Brahma lives)
down to Svargaloka (the heavenly planet of Indra), are so advanced in
spiritual life that when they come to visit this or similar other lower
planetary systems, they keep their weightlessness. This means that they can
stand without touching the ground. Lord Vignu is the Supreme Personality
of Godhead, but because He lives in one of the planetary systems within
this universe, He sometimes plays as if one of the demigods of this uni-
verse. When He first appeared before Prthu Maharaja, He was not touching
the ground of this earth, but when He was fully satisfied with the behavior
and character of Maharaja Prthu, He immediately acted as the Supreme
Personality of Godhead Narayana from Vaikuntha. Out of affection for
Prthu Maharaja, He touched the earth, but He rested the front of His hand
on the raised shoulder of Garuda, His carrier, as if to prevent Himself from
falling down, since the Lord is not accustomed to stand on earthly ground.
