Canto 10: The Summum BonumChapter 56: The Syamantaka Jewel

Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Srimad Bhagavatam 10.56.22

sa vai bhagavata tena

yuyudhe svaminatmanah

purusam prakrtam matva

kupito nanubhava-vit

SYNONYMS

sah -- he; vai -- indeed; bhagavata -- with the Lord; tena -- with Him; yuyudhe -- fought; svamina -- master; atmanah -- his own; purusam -- a person; prakrtam -- mundane; matva -- thinking Him; kupitah -- angry; na -- not; anubhava -- of His position; vit -- aware.

TRANSLATION

Unaware of His true position and thinking Him an ordinary man, Jambavan angrily began fighting with the Supreme Lord, his master.

PURPORT

The words purusam prakrtam matva, "thinking Him a mundane person," are very significant. So-called Vedic scholars, including most Western ones, enjoy translating the word purusam as "man" even when the word refers to Lord Krsna, and thus their unauthorized translations of Vedic literature are tainted by their materialistic conceptions of the Godhead. However, here it is clearly stated that it was because Jambavan misunderstood the Lord's position that he considered Him prakrta-purusa, "a mundane person." In other words, the Lord is actually purusottama, "the ultimate transcendental person."

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Founder Acarya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness
His Holiness Hrdayananda dasa Goswami
Gopiparanadhana dasa Adhikari
Dravida dasa Brahmacari