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ŚB 2.9.13

Devanagari

भ्राजिष्णुभिर्य: परितो विराजते
लसद्विमानावलिभिर्महात्मनाम् ।
विद्योतमान: प्रमदोत्तमाद्युभि:
सविद्युदभ्रावलिभिर्यथा नभ: ॥ १३ ॥

Text

bhrājiṣṇubhir yaḥ parito virājate
lasad-vimānāvalibhir mahātmanām
vidyotamānaḥ pramadottamādyubhiḥ
savidyud-abhrāvalibhir yathā nabhaḥ

Synonyms

bhrājiṣṇubhiḥ — by the glowing; yaḥ — the Vaikuṇṭhalokas; paritaḥ — surrounded by; virājate — thus situated; lasat — brilliant; vimāna — airplanes; avalibhiḥ — assemblage; mahā-ātmanām — of the great devotees of the Lord; vidyotamānaḥ — beautiful like lightning; pramada — ladies; uttama — celestial; adyubhiḥ — by complexion; sa-vidyut — with electric lightning; abhrāvalibhiḥ — with clouds in the sky; yathā — as it were; nabhaḥ — the sky.

Translation

The Vaikuṇṭha planets are also surrounded by various airplanes, all glowing and brilliantly situated. These airplanes belong to the great mahātmās or devotees of the Lord. The ladies are as beautiful as lightning because of their celestial complexions, and all these combined together appear just like the sky decorated with both clouds and lightning.

Purport

It appears that in the Vaikuṇṭha planets there are also airplanes brilliantly glowing, and they are occupied by the great devotees of the Lord with ladies of celestial beauty as brilliant as lightning. As there are airplanes, so there must be different types of carriages like airplanes, but they may not be driven machines, as we have experience in this world. Because everything is of the same nature of eternity, bliss and knowledge, the airplanes and carriages are of the same quality as Brahman. Although there is nothing except Brahman, one should not mistakenly think that there is only void and no variegatedness. Thinking like that is due to a poor fund of knowledge; otherwise no one would have such a misconception of voidness in Brahman. As there are airplanes, ladies and gentlemen, so there must be cities and houses and everything else just suitable to the particular planets. One should not carry the ideas of imperfection from this world to the transcendental world and not take into consideration the nature of the atmosphere, as completely free from the influence of time, etc., as described previously.