Puruśottamāya namah

Mother Aditi prayed,

“viśvāya viśva-bhavana-sthiti-saṁyamāya svairaṁ gṛhīta-puru-śakti-guṇāya bhūmne sva-sthāya śaśvad-upabṛṁhita-pūrṇa-bodha- vyāpāditātma-tamase haraye namas te

O Srihari! Out of Your own freewill You accept the traits of goodness, action and ignorance i.e. three attributes of Nature, as Your carriers and through this You become the cause for the creation, sustenance and dissolution of the Universe. You have manifested in the form of this universe. O Lord, You are beyond the limitations of time and place. You eternally remain in Your original form of pure illumining knowledge and thereby remain beyond the traits of ignorance. Please accept my obeisance.

O Ananta! It is from You that living entities obtain longevity, great opulence; a body of their choice; residence in heavenly planets, in earth or in lower planetary systems such as Rasatala; adherence to righteousness (dharma), material prosperity (atha) and fulfilment of desires (kāma) and the indirect Self-knowledge. This being the case, is there any specific need to mention that they even obtain victory over enemies?”

When Mother Aditi extolled the Supreme Lord, who remains the eternal witness with the gross body of every living entity, He addressed her and said,

“O mother of Devatas, I am aware that enemies have thrown the Devatas away from their positions in heaven and have usurped all their wealth. I am aware of the desire in your heart and in the hearts of the Devatas. You seek that your sons should defeat the arrogant, powerful demons in a war. Together with your sons who have emerged victorious, you then seek to worship Me.

You want your eldest son Indra along with his brothers to destroy the demons in the war such that they will obtain their original position. You want to see the wives of the demons grieving the death of their husbands in war. Moreover, you want your sons to regain their lost fame, prosperity and positions back in heaven. You want to see them wandering leisurely in heaven.

However O mother of Devatas, I am of the opinion that it is impossible to suddenly obtain victory over these demons. This is because the Lord who exists in the form of time is favourable to them. Moreover these demons have the protection of the Vedic Brahmin scholars. Under these circumstances attacking them will not be favourable to the Devatas. O Mother, even then as you have completed the ritual with absolute strictness, I am pleased. I shall think of a plan so that you come out of your difficulty.

**Mamārcanaṁ nārhati gantum anyathā Śraddhānurūpaṁ phala-hetukatvāt ** The results obtained by worshipping Me are proportionate to the dedication with which worship is performed. Worshipping Me can never go in vain. To the best of your ability you have worshipped Me through the Payo-vrata ritual seeking the well-being of your sons. You have prayed to me superbly. Therefore through Kaśyapa’s radiance, generated from his power of penance, I shall enter your womb and take birth as your son and will protect your other sons.

O auspicious woman! Believing that I am situated in this form within the body of your husband serve him devotedly. Due to his austerities he has been rendered absolutely pure. Even if anyone enquires, you should not disclose these details to them. This is the ultimate divine secret. Only when it is retained secretively the results will be obtained by you”- saying this, the Supreme Lord disappeared.

To obtain Srihari as a son is the rarest of the rare fortune! Aditi was the most fortunate woman. Having obtained such a supreme boon she felt she had accomplished the purpose of her life. With absolute devotion she served her husband.

Kaśyapa Prajapati was, without even the slightest deviation, firmly established in the Self. As he was established in the state of Samādhi, he understood that the partial aspect of the Supreme Lord Srihari had entered into Him. With single-focussed concentration of mind, Kaśpaya Prajapati transferred the entire radiance that he had earned through years of dedicated austerities, to Aditi.

Just as the Wind-god secretively retains fire in wood, Kaśyapa Prajāpati retained his radiance within Aditi. Lord Brahma who understood that the Supreme Lord had entered Aditi’s womb, worshipped Him with secretive names as under,

Jayorugāya bhagavann urukrama namo ’stu te Namo brahmaṇya-devāya tri-guṇāya namo namaḥ

O Srihari! You are glorified by all the worlds. Your prowess is unmatched. Vedic scholars are very dear to You. I offer many obeisances to You, who accept traits of goodness, action and inertia as Your carriers .

Namas te pṛśni-garbhāya veda-garbhāya vedhase Tri-nābhāya tri-pṛṣṭhāya śipi-viṣṭāya viṣṇave

O Lord! You, who are born as the son of Pṛśni, retain all the Vedas within You. The Vedas hold You in them. You, who hold all the three planes of existence within Your navel, are situated beyond the three planes. You, who are the inner dweller within the living entity, are all-pervading. To such Lord I offer obeisance.

O Supreme Lord! You are the beginning, middle and ending for this entire creation. You are of unlimited energies. Mahatmas declare that You are the Self (Puruṣa). Just as a river carries with it grass and other objects that have fallen into its deep waters, You who are an embodiment of time carry the universe towards annihilation.

O Lord, You create the Prajāpatis and all the moving and non-moving entities. The inhabitants of heaven have been thrown out from their position. Just as a boat is the only hope for a person who is drowning in the waters, You are the sole refuge for the Devatas.”

With this the seventeenth chapter of the eighth canto comes to an end. Aniruddhaya namah