Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.63.27

nānā-bhāvair līlayaivopapannair

devān sādhūn loka-setūn bibharṣi

haḿsy unmārgān hiḿsayā vartamānān

janmaitat te bhāra-hārāya bhūmeḥ

SYNONYMS

nānā — various; bhāvaiḥ — with intentions; līlayā — as pastimes; eva — indeed; upapannaiḥ — assumed; devān — the demigods; sādhūn — the saintly sages; loka — of the world; setūn — the codes of religion; bibharṣi — You maintain; haḿsi — You kill; ut-mārgān — those who stray beyond the path; hiḿsayā — by violence; vartamānān — living; janma — birth; etat — this; te — Your; bhāra — the burden; hārāya — to relieve; bhūmeḥ — of the earth.

TRANSLATION

With various intentions, You perform pastimes to maintain the demigods, the saintly persons and the codes of religion for this world. By these pastimes You also kill those who stray from the right path and live by violence. Indeed, your present incarnation is meant to relieve the earth's burden.

PURPORT

As Lord Kṛṣṇa states in the Bhagavad-gītā (9.29),

samo 'haḿ sarva-bhūteṣu

na me dveṣyo 'sti na priyaḥ

ye bhajanti tu māḿ bhaktyā

mayi te teṣu cāpy aham

"I envy no one, nor am I partial to anyone. I am equal to all. But whoever renders service unto Me in devotion is a friend — is in Me — and I am also a friend to him."

The demigods and sages (devān sādhūn) are dedicated to executing the will of the Supreme Lord. The demigods act as cosmic administrators, and the sages, by their teachings and their good example, illumine the path of self-realization and holiness. But those who transgress the natural law, the law of God, and live by committing violence against others are vanquished by the Supreme Lord in His various pastime incarnations. As the Lord states in the Bhagavad-gītā (4.11), ye yathā māḿ prapadyante tāḿs tathaiva bhajāmy aham. He is impartial, but He responds appropriately to the actions of the living beings.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness
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