144 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 7, Ch. 8
touch Him. Whenever the Lord is present, there cannot be any darkness
from the mode of ignorance. It is stated in Caitanya-caritamrta
(Madhya 22.31):
krsna—sirya-sama, maya haya andhakara
yahan krsna, tahan nahi mayara adhikara
“Godhead is light. Nescience is darkness. Where there is Godhead there
is no nescience.” This material world is full of darkness and ignorance of
spiritual life, but by bhakti-yoga this ignorance is dissipated. The Lord
appeared because of the bhakti-yoga exhibited by Prahlada Maharaja,
and as soon as the Lord appeared, the influence of Hiranyakasipu’s pas-
sion and ignorance was vanquished as the Lord’s quality of pure good-
ness, or the Brahman effulgence, became prominent. In that prominent
effulgence, Hiranyakasipu became invisible, or his influence became in-
significant. An example illustrating how the darkness of the material
world is vanquished is given in the sastra. When Brahma was created
from the lotus stem growing from the abdomen of Garbhodakasayi
Visnu, Lord Brahma saw everything to be dark, but when he received
knowledge from the Supreme Personality of Godhead, everything be-
came clear, as everything becomes clear when one comes from night to
sunshine. The important point is that as long as we are in the material
modes of nature, we are always in darkness. This darkness cannot be dis-
sipated without the presence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead,
which is invoked by the practice of bhakti-yoga. Bhakti-yoga creates a
transcendental situation with no tinges of material contamination.
TEXT 25
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oN Tee TEATRITT |
d fierd ame aged
MEN ATH TATE URI
tato *bhipadyabhyahanan mahdsuro
rusa nrsimham gadayoruvegaya
