Protectress

Expressions researched:
"protectress"

SB Canto 5

The actual protectress is the material nature, but Viṣṇu is her Lord. He is the Lord of everything. Lord Janārdana is the director both externally and internally. He is the cause of the function of words and what is expressed in all sound

SB 5.12.11, Purport: The temporary manifestations and varieties within this material world are simply creations of material nature under various circumstances: prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇa-ni guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ. The actions and reactions carried out by the material nature are sometimes accepted as our scientific inventions; therefore we want to take credit for them and defy the existence of God. This is described in Bhagavad-gītā (3.27), ahaṅkāra-vimūḍhātmā kartāham iti manyate: due to being covered by the illusory external energy, the living entity tries to take credit for the differentiated creations within the material world. Actually all these are being created automatically by the material force set in motion by the energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore the ultimate cause is the Supreme Person. As stated in Brahma-saṁhitā:

īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ

sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ

anādir ādir govindaḥ

sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam

[Bs. 5.1]

He is the cause of all causes, the ultimate cause. In this regard Śrīla Madhvācārya says: evaṁ sarvaṁ tathā prakṛtvayai kalpitaṁ viṣṇor anyat. evaṁ prakṛtyādhāraḥ svayam ananyādhāro viṣṇur eva ataḥ sarva-śabdāś ca tasminn eva. Actually the original cause is Lord Viṣṇu, but out of ignorance people think that matter is the cause of everything.

rājā goptāśrayo bhūmiḥ

śaraṇaṁ ceti laukikaḥ

vyavahāro na tat satyaṁ

tayor brahmāśrayo vibhuḥ

Things are contemplated on the ephemeral or external platform, but actually this is not the truth. The actual protector and shelter of everyone is Brahman, the Supreme, not the king.

goptrī ca tasya prakṛtis

tasyā viṣṇuḥ svayaṁ prabhuḥ

tava goptrī tu pṛthivī

na tvaṁ goptā kṣiteḥ smṛtaḥ

ataḥ sarvāśrayaiś caiva

goptā ca harir īśvaraḥ

sarva-śabdābhidheyaś ca

śabda-vṛtter hi kāraṇam

sarvāntaraḥ sarva-bahir

eka eva janārdanaḥ

The actual protectress is the material nature, but Viṣṇu is her Lord. He is the Lord of everything. Lord Janārdana is the director both externally and internally. He is the cause of the function of words and what is expressed in all sound.

śirasodhāratā yadvad

grīvāyās tadvad eva tu

āśrayatvaṁ ca goptṛtvam

anyeṣām upacārataḥ

Lord Viṣṇu is the resting place of the entire creation: brahmaṇo hi pratiṣṭhāham (Bg. 14.27). On Brahman, everything is resting. All the universes are resting on the brahmajyoti, and all the planets are resting on the universal atmosphere. In each and every planet there are oceans, hills, states and kingdoms, and each planet is giving shelter to so many living entities. They are all standing on the earth of feet and legs, torso and shoulders, but actually everything is resting ultimately on the potencies of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore He is known ultimately as sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam [Bs. 5.1], the cause of all causes.

SB 5.12.11

CC Adi-lila

Rādhā is the protectress of all

CC Adi 4.89, Translation: Therefore Rādhā is parama-devatā, the supreme goddess, and She is worshipable for everyone. She is the protectress of all, and She is the mother of the entire universe.

1947 to 1965 Correspondence

As Superintendent of the material world the Mohamaya has been described Durga as the protectress of the great durga or fortress of the grand universes

Letter to Juggannath Babu -- Calcutta 14 March, 1949: The Mahamaya who is known as Durga, Kali, Candi, Bhadrakali, Mohalaksmi, etc is the embodiment of His external potency as described in the Candi and it is the thankless task of the Mahamaya to punish the asuras with Her all powerful weapons in the ten direction of the material world. She does not only create and maintain this material world but also she annihilates it according to the direction of the almighty God. In the Bhagavad-gita this Mahamaya has also been described as Daivi Maya and She is so powerful that the asuras cannot by-pass Her at any rate. The asura can get remission from the stroke of the trisula of Mohamaya when he the asura, surrenders surrenders himself to Sri Krishna the Personality of Godhead. As Superintendent of the material world the Mohamaya has been described Durga as the protectress of the great durga or fortress of the grand universes. She gives all the necessities for our existence but as soon as we become an asura like the Mohisasuras, Ravanas, Hiranyakasipus, and in later ages like the Mussolinis and such others for the exploitation of the material energy, the Durga Devi at once appears Herself with Her dreadful trident and begins to devastate the whole existence by such tribulations as war, famine, pestilence, or sometimes annihilation of a total existence. The methods of annihilation as are invented by the human brain such as the atomic bombs etc are also Her creations but the deluded asuras, who are caused to act by the modes of prakrti the material nature, do think themselves as the originator or inventor of such weapons. In that way a constant struggle is going on between the asuras and the prakrti and the asuras are thus being punished in different ways which the asuras cannot overcome by any method except by full surrender unto the almighty God.