Text 6] The Structure of the Universe 281

bhisdsmad vatah pavate
bhisodeti siiryah

bhisdsmad agnis cendras ca
mrtyur dhavati paricamah

“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 begin-
ning with Plaksadvipa worship the sun-god, the moon-god, the fire-god,
the air-god and Lord Brahma respectively. Although they engage in the
worship of these five demigods, however, they actually worship Lord
Visnu, the Supersoul of all living entities, as indicated in this verse by
the words pratnasya visno ripam. Visnu is brahma, amrta, mrtyu—the
Supreme Brahman and the origin of everything, auspicious and in-
auspicious. He is situated in the heart of everyone, including all the
demigods. As stated in Bhagavad-gita (7.20), kamais tais tair hrta-
Jidnah prapadyante ‘nya devatah: 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 Visnu. People who are too lusty worship
various demigods instead of worshiping Lord Visnu, the Supersoul of all
living entities, but ultimately it is Lord Visnu they worship because He is
the Supersoul of all demigods.

TEXT 6

TAT IG TOMINTaezaata: aa ae gfafaan efi a
aatacataat ferfeetarn ada i & 1

plaksddisu paficasu purusdndm ayur indriyam ojah saho bala buddhir
vikrama iti ca sarvesam autpattiki siddhir avisesena vartate.
