Text 61
pralaya-payasi dhātuḥ supta-śakter mukhebhyaḥ
śruti-gaṇam apanītaṁ pratyupādatta hatvā
ditijam akathayad yo brahma satyavratānāṁ
tam aham akhila-hetuṁ jihma-mīnaṁ nato ’smi
pralaya-payasi — in the water of inundation; dhātuḥ — from Lord Brahmā; supta-śakteḥ — who was inert because of sleeping; mukhebhyaḥ — from the mouths; śruti-gaṇam — Vedic records; apanītam — stolen; pratyupādatta — gave back to him; hatvā — by killing; ditijam — the great demon; akathayat — explained; yaḥ — one who; brahma — Vedic knowledge; satyavratānām — for the enlightenment of Satyavrata and the great saintly persons; tam — unto Him; aham — I; akhila-hetum — unto the cause of all causes; jihma-mīnam — appearing as and pretending to be a great fish; nataḥ asmi — I offer my respectful obeisances.
I offer my respectful obeisances unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who pretended to be a gigantic fish, who restored the Vedic literature to Lord Brahmā when Lord Brahmā awakened from sleep, and who explained the essence of Vedic literature to King Satyavrata and the great saintly persons.
Here is a summary of Satyavrata’s meeting with the fish incarnation of Lord Viṣṇu. Lord Viṣṇu’s purpose was to take back all the Vedic literatures from the demon Hayagrīva and restore them to Lord Brahmā. Incidentally, by His causeless mercy, the Lord spoke with Satyavrata. The word satyavratānām is significant because it indicates that those on the level of Satyavrata can take knowledge from the Vedas delivered by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Whatever is spoken by the Supreme Lord is accepted as Veda. As stated in Bhagavad-gītā, vedānta-kṛd veda-vit: the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the compiler of all Vedic knowledge, and He knows the purport of the Vedas. Therefore, anyone who takes knowledge from the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, or from Bhagavad-gītā as it is, knows the purpose of the Vedas (vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ). One cannot understand Vedic knowledge from the veda-vāda-ratās, who read the Vedas and misconstrue their subject matter. One has to know the Vedas from the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Thus end the Bhaktivedanta purports of the Eighth Canto, Twenty-fourth Chapter, of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, entitled “Matsya, the Lord’s Fish Incarnation.”
— This commentation has been finished in our New Delhi center today, the first of September, 1976, the day of Rādhāṣṭamī, by the grace of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the ācāryas. Śrīla Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura says, tāṅdera caraṇa sevi bhakta-sane vāsa janame janame haya, ei abhilāṣa. I am attempting to present Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam in the English language by the order of my spiritual master, Śrīmad Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, and by his grace the work of translation is gradually progressing, and the European and American devotees who have joined the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement are helping me considerably. Thus we have expectations of finishing the great task before my passing away. All glories to Śrī Guru and Gaurāṅga.
END OF THE EIGHTH CANTO