God's unlimited potencies transcend all perception; only through devotional surrender does He reveal Himself.Listen — Srila Prabhupada Uvaca
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.3.16 and Initiations — September 21, 1972, Los Angeles 720921SB-LOS ANGELES [33:23 Minutes] SB-01.03.16_720921SB-LOS ANGELES Initiations_720921SB-LOS ANGELES Prabhupāda: [sings Jaya Rādhā-Mādhava] [prema-dhvani] Thank you very much.
Devotees: All glories to Śrīla Prabhupāda. [obeisances] Pradyumna: Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Canto One, Chapter 3, text 16.
[leads chanting of verse] [Prabhupāda and devotees repeat] surāsurāṇām udadhiṁ mathnatāṁ mandarācalam dadhre kamaṭha-rūpeṇa pṛṣṭha ekādaśe vibhuḥ [SB 1.3.16] Prabhupāda: Ladies. [ladies chant] That's all right. Word meaning? Pradyumna: [leads chanting of synonyms] sura—the theists; asurāṇām—of the atheists; udadhim—in the ocean; mathnatām—churning; mandarācalam—the Mandarācala Hill; dadhre—sustained; kamaṭha—tortoise; rūpeṇa—in the form of; pṛṣṭhe—shell; ekādaśe—the eleventh in the line; vibhuḥ—the great.
[11:24] Translation: "The eleventh incarnation of the Lord was in the form of a tortoise, whose shell served as a pivot for the Mandarācala Hill, which was being used as a churning rod by the theists and the atheists of the universe." Prabhupāda: So, yasyāntaṁ na viduḥ surāsura-gaṇa devāya tasmai namaḥ [SB 12.13.1]. The mantra, there is mantra, that yasyāntaṁ na viduḥ. One cannot understand the antam, the ultimate end, of the Supreme. Yasyāntaṁ na viduḥ.
Viduḥ means "does not know." Surāsura-gaṇa. Sura. Sura means demigods, theists. Those who are believer in God, they are called sura, and just the opposite—asura.
Asura does not believe in the existence of God. He thinks he is God. That is asura. Āsuri-bhāvam āśritāḥ. In the Bhagavad-gītā it is said āsuri. Āsuri, this word has come from this āsura. Adjective.
Asura is nominative. So from āsura, it becomes āsuri. Āsuri-bhāvam āśritāḥ. Those who are atheists, they do not surrender. They do not like the idea of God or Kṛṣṇa consciousness.