Text 40
yan-māyā-mohita-dhiyaḥ
putra-dāra-gṛhādiṣu
unmajjanti nimajjanti
prasaktā vṛjinārṇave
yat — of whom; māyā — by the illusory energy; mohita — bewildered; dhiyaḥ — their intelligence; putra — with regard to children; dāra — wife; gṛha — home; ādiṣu — and so on; unmajjanti — they rise to the surface; nimajjanti — they become submerged; prasaktāḥ — fully entangled; vṛjina — of misery; arṇave — in the ocean.
Their intelligence bewildered by Your māyā, fully attached to children, wife, home and so on, persons immersed in the ocean of material misery sometimes rise to the surface and sometimes sink down.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī explains that “rising in the ocean of misery” indicates elevation to higher species, such as demigods, and that “being submerged” refers to degradation to lower species — even to immobile forms of life such as trees. As stated in the Vāyu Purāṇa, viparyayaś ca bhavati brahmatva-sthāvaratvayoḥ: “The living being rotates between the position of Brahmā and that of an unmoving creature.”
Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī points out that Śiva, having glorified the Lord, now pursues his original intention of securing the Lord’s grace for Bāṇāsura. Thus in this and the following four verses, Lord Śiva instructs Bāṇa on his actual position in relation to the Lord. Śiva’s appeal to the Lord for compassion toward Bāṇa appears in text 45.