Re: [INDOLOGY] BhP 10.333.31 and the Bhāgavata Purāṇa's date

[Suresh Kolichala]

Palaniappan,

Swami Prabhupāda's explanation of the word *īśvara *as 'Lord’s empowered
servants' is pretty dubious here. 10.33.31 should be seen in the context of
the original question (10.33.26-27) on how *īśvara, *the Lord of the
Universe -- who is the the original speaker, the executor, and the
protector of the laws -- could violate the same laws/rules.

SB 10.33.29:
*śrī-śuka uvāca*
*dharma-vyatikramo dṛṣṭa*
* īśvarāṇāṁ ca sāhasam*
*tejīyasāṁ na doṣāya*
* vahneḥ sarva-bhujo yathā*

The answer is that  the status of *īśvara* is not harmed by any apparently
audacious transgression of morality we may see in them, for they are just
like fire, which devours everything fed into it and remains unpolluted
(10.33.29).

SB 10.33.31
īśvarāṇāṁ vacaḥ satyaṁ
tathaivācaritaṁ kvacit
teṣāṁ yat sva-vaco-yuktaṁ
buddhimāṁs tat samācaret

The statements of the Lord are always true, and the acts they perform are
exemplary when consistent with those statements. Therefore one who is
intelligent should carry out those instructions.

There is no reason to doubt that īśvarāṇāṁ in 10.33.31 in any way refers
to devotee or a servant of the Lord, and cannot make a case of any
relationship with the Tamil *āḷvār/āḻvār *variation.

Regards,
Suresh.


On Mon, Mar 20, 2017 at 1:20 PM, Sudalaimuthu Palaniappan via INDOLOGY <
indology at list.indology.info> wrote:

> Sorry, there was a typo in the subject line. It should have been BhP
> 10.33.31.
>
> Regards,
> Palaniappan
>
> On Mar 20, 2017, at 12:16 PM, Sudalaimuthu Palaniappan <Palaniappa at aol.com>
> wrote:
>
> Dear Scholars,
>
> Yesterday, as I was browsing an online BhP text with translation published
> by ISKCON (https://ia801005.us.archive.org/28/items/
> SrimadBhagavatamEnglish-Sanskrit/Srimad-Bhagavatam_Canto_10_2.pdf), I
> came across the following verse.
>
> *īśvarāṇāṁ vacaḥ satyam*
> *tathaivācaritaṁ kvacit*
> *teṣāṁ yat sva-vaco-yuktaṁ*
> *buddhimāṁs tat samācaret*
>
> In connection with this verse, the commentary says, “ The word *īśvara*
> is usually defined in Sanskrit dictionaries as “lord, master, ruler,” and
> also as "capable, potent to perform.”  Based on the commentaries for this
> verse and succeeding verses, it is clear that by the word ‘*īśvara*’ the
> text refers to a devotee of Kṛṣṇa. This usage of '*īśvara*’ to refer to a
> devotee seems to be a clear case of translation of the Tamil word ‘*āḷvār*’
> as used in Tamil texts and inscriptions. Synonyms of *āḷvār* are also
> used to refer to both the devotees and the deities in the Tamil tradition.
> For instance the deity in the temple at Tanjore is called Bṛhadīśvara in
> Sanskrit and Peruvuṭaiyār in Tamil. Here Sanskrit *īśvara* is synonymous
> with Tamil *uṭaiyār*. Interestingly, Rāmānuja is called Uṭaiyavar (an
> alternate form of Uṭaiyār) in the Tamil tradition.
>
> I had shown in an earlier publication that the word *āḷvār* meaning ‘one
> who rules’ got modified to *āḻvār* meaning ‘one who is immersed’ due to
> hypercorrection of *ḷ* to *ḻ*. (See http://www.academia.edu/
> 9668394/Āḻvār_or_Nāyaṉār_The_Role_of_Sound_Variation_
> Hypercorrection_and_Folk_Etymology_in_Interpreting_the_
> Nature_of_Vaiṣṇava_Saint-Poets)
>
> Can anybody with access to the critical edition of the Bhāgavata Purāṇa
> tell me if BhP 10.33.31 quoted above is in the critical edition? If it is,
> then this seems to be an important important information regarding the date
> of the Bhāgavata Purāṇa.
>
> Thanks in advance
>
> Regards,
> Palaniappan
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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