Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.1.1

śrī-rājovāca

samaḥ priyaḥ suhṛd brahman

bhūtānāḿ bhagavān svayam

indrasyārthe kathaḿ daityān

avadhīd viṣamo yathā

SYNONYMS

śrī-rājā uvāca — Mahārāja Parīkṣit said; samaḥ — equal; priyaḥ — beloved; suhṛt — friend; brahman — O brāhmaṇa (Śukadeva); bhūtānām — toward all living entities; bhagavān — the Supreme Lord, Viṣṇu; svayam — Himself; indrasya — of Indra; arthe — for the benefit; katham — how; daityān — the demons; avadhīt — killed; viṣamaḥ — partial; yathā — as if.

TRANSLATION

King Parīkṣit inquired: My dear brāhmaṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Viṣṇu, being everyone's well-wisher, is equal and extremely dear to everyone. How, then, did He become partial like a common man for the sake of Indra and thus kill Indra's enemies? How can a person equal to everyone be partial to some and inimical toward others?

PURPORT

In Bhagavad-gītā (9.29) the Lord says, samo 'haḿ sarva-bhūteṣu na me dveṣyo 'sti na priyaḥ: "I am equal to everyone. No one is dear to Me, nor is anyone My enemy." In the previous canto, however, it has been observed that the Lord sided with Indra by killing the demons on his account (hata-putrā ditiḥ śakra-pārṣṇi-grāheṇa viṣṇunā). Therefore, the Lord was clearly partial to Indra, although He is the Supersoul in everyone's heart. The soul is extremely dear to everyone, and similarly the Supersoul is also dear to everyone. Thus there cannot be any faulty action on the part of the Supersoul. The Lord is always kind to all living entities, irrespective of form and situation, yet He took the side of Indra just like an ordinary friend. This was the subject of Parīkṣit Mahārāja's inquiry. As a devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa, he knew very well that Kṛṣṇa cannot be partial to anyone, but when he saw that Kṛṣṇa acted as the enemy of the demons, he was somewhat doubtful. Therefore he posed this question to Śukadeva Gosvāmī for a clear answer.

A devotee cannot accept that Lord Viṣṇu has material qualifications. Mahārāja Parīkṣit knew perfectly well that Lord Viṣṇu, being transcendental, has nothing to do with material qualities, but to confirm his conviction he wanted to hear from the authority Śukadeva Gosvāmī. Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura says, samasya kathaḿ vaiṣamyam: since the Lord is equally disposed toward everyone, how can He be partial? Priyasya katham asureṣu prīty-abhāvaḥ. The Lord, being the Supersoul, is extremely dear to everyone. Why, then, should the Lord display unsympathetic behavior toward the asuras? How is this impartial? Suhṛdaś ca kathaḿ teṣv asauhārdam. Since the Lord says that He is suhṛdaḿ sarva-bhūtānām, the well-wisher of all living entities, how could He act with partiality by killing demons? These questions arose in the heart of Parīkṣit Mahārāja, and therefore he inquired from Śukadeva Gosvāmī.

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