Text 25
jvara uvāca
namāmi tvānanta-śaktiṁ pareśam
sarvātmānaṁ kevalaṁ jñapti-mātram
viśvotpatti-sthāna-saṁrodha-hetuṁ
yat tad brahma brahma-liṅgam praśāntam
jvaraḥ uvāca — the fever weapon (of Lord Śiva) said; namāmi — I bow down; tvā — to You; ananta — unlimited; śaktim — whose potencies; para — Supreme; īśam — the Lord; sarva — of all; ātmānam — the Soul; kevalam — pure; jñapti — of consciousness; mātram — the totality; viśva — of the universe; utpatti — of the creation; sthāna — maintenance; saṁrodha — and dissolution; hetum — the cause; yat — which; tat — that; brahma — Absolute Truth; brahma — by the Vedas; lingam — indirect reference to whom; praśāntam — perfectly peaceful.
The Śiva-jvara said: I bow down to You of unlimited potencies, the Supreme Lord, the Supersoul of all beings. You possess pure and complete consciousness and are the cause of cosmic creation, maintenance and dissolution. Perfectly peaceful, You are the Absolute Truth to whom the Vedas indirectly refer.
Previously the Śiva-jvara felt himself to be unlimitedly powerful and thus attempted to burn Śrī Kṛṣṇa. But now he himself has been burned, and understanding that Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Lord, he humbly approaches to bow down and offer praise to the Absolute Truth.
According to the ācāryas, the word sarvātmānam indicates that Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the Supersoul, the giver of consciousness to all living beings. Kṛṣṇa confirms this in the Bhagavad-gītā (15.15): mattaḥ smṛtir jñānam apohanaṁ ca. “From Me come remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness.”
In his commentary Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī emphasizes that the Śiva-jvara has realized in many ways Lord Kṛṣṇa’s supremacy over his own master, Lord Śiva. Thus the Śiva-jvara addresses Kṛṣṇa as ananta-śakti, “possessor of unlimited potency”; pareśa, “the supreme controller”; and sarvātmā, “the Supersoul of all beings” — even of Lord Śiva.
The words kevalaṁ jñapti-mātram indicate that Lord Kṛṣṇa possesses pure omniscience. According to our limited understanding, we act in this world, but Lord Kṛṣṇa, with His unlimited understanding, performs infinite works of creation, maintenance and annihilation. As Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī points out, even the functions of the gross elements, such as air, depend on Him. The Taittirīya Upaniṣad (2.8.1) confirms this: bhīṣāsmād vātaḥ-pavate. “Out of fear of Him, the wind blows.” Thus Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the ultimate object of worship for all living beings.