218 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 4, Ch. 7
PURPORT
This time, all the demigods and great sages were very careful not to
irritate Lord Siva. Therefore whatever he asked was done. It is specifically
said here that Dakga’s body was joined to the head of an animal (a goat).
TEXT 9
eedtraret fate cat eathdtaa: |
AM GA AT TEN AM FET I! 2 1
sandhiyamane Sirasi
dakso rudrabhiviksitah
sadyah supta ivottasthau
dadyse cagrato mrdam
sandhiyamane—being executed; girasi—by the head; daksah—King Daksa;
rudra-abhiviksitah—having been seen by Rudra (Lord Siva); sadyah—
immediately; supte—sleeping; iva—like; uttasthau—awakened; dadyse—saw;
ca—also; agratah—in front; mrdam—Lord Siva.
TRANSLATION
When the animal’s head was fixed on the body of King Daksa, Daksa
was immediately brought to consciousness, and as he awakened from sleep,
the King saw Lord Siva standing before him.
PURPORT
The example given here is that Daksa got up as if he were awakened
from deep sleep. In Sanskrit this is called supta ivottasthau. The meaning
is that after a man awakens from sleep, he immediately remembers all the
duties which he must execute. Daksa was killed, and his head was taken
away and burnt to ashes. His body was lying dead, but by the grace of
Lord Siva, as soon as the head of a goat was joined to the body, Daksa
came back to consciousness again. This indicates that consciousness is
also individual. Daksa actually took another body when he took on the
head of a goat, but because consciousness is individual, his consciousness
remained the same although his bodily condition changed. Thus bodily
construction has nothing to do with the development of consciousness.
Consciousness is carried with the transmigration of the soul. There are
many instances of this in Vedic history, such as the case of Maharaja
Bharata. After quilting his body as a king, Maharaja Bharata was trans-
ferred to the body of a deer, but he retained the same consciousness. He
