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ŚB 12.10.41

Devanagari

एतत् केचिदविद्वांसो मायासंसृतिरात्मन: ।
अनाद्यावर्तितं नृणां कादाचित्कं प्रचक्षते ॥ ४१ ॥

Text

etat kecid avidvāṁso
māyā-saṁsṛtir ātmanaḥ
anādy-āvartitaṁ nṝṇāṁ
kādācitkaṁ pracakṣate

Synonyms

etat — this; kecit — some persons; avidvāṁsaḥ — who are not learned; māyā-saṁsṛtiḥ — the illusory creation; ātmanaḥ — of the Supreme Soul; anādi — from time immemorial; āvartitam — repeating; nṝṇām — of conditioned living beings; kādācitkam — unprecedented; pracakṣate — they say.

Translation

Although this event was unique and unprecedented, some unintelligent persons compare it to the cycle of illusory material existence the Supreme Lord has created for the conditioned souls — an endless cycle that has been continuing since time immemorial.

Purport

Mārkaṇḍeya’s being drawn into the Lord’s body by His inhalation and expelled again by His exhalation should not be considered a symbolic description of the perennial cycles of material creation and annihilation. This portion of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam describes a real, historical event experienced by a great devotee of the Lord, and those trying to relegate this story to mere symbolic allegory are here declared to be unintelligent fools.