For those who have read Krishna Susarla's response to the following query, I'm
sorry that before I saw his post I also wrote much of what he already observed;
anyway, here's my reply.

> On Sun, 28 Dec 2003, sumeet1981 wrote:
> > Here is a quote from Vishnu Purana (5.33.46)
> >
> > "yo harih sa sivah saksad yah sivah sa svayam harih
> > ye tayor bhedamati sthan narakaya bhave nnarah "
> >
> > TRANSLATION: Whoever is Lord Hari, He Himself is Lord Shiva indeed.
> > Whoever is manifesting as Lord Shiva, He Himself is Lord Hari. Any
> > human being who mistakes both the Lords to be different, he/she
> > surely goes to hell.
> >
> > How this is understood in Vaishnava tradition ? Please reply with
> > scriptural and acarya commentary support. Anyone knows, how Sridhar
> > Swami comments on this verse ?


I don't know of any Gaudiya Vaisnava commentary on the Visnu Purana, nor do I
have access to Madhva's or Ramanuja's tikas at the moment. However, neither can
I provide Sridharasvami's comments either, but only because the above verse
isn't Visnu Purana text 5.33.46, at least not in both of my editions.* Each one
gives another verse instead, while neither contains the above verse.

That said, there are some statements that somewhat resemble the incorrect
Sanskrit transliteration given above. The context of the passage involves
Krsna's instructions to lord Siva regarding the latter's destructive boon to
Banasura.

Significantly, the closest thing to the above verse, is Krsna's following
comment (VP 5.33.47-48):

tvayA yad abhayaM dattaM tad dAnaM akhilaM mayA |
matto 'vibhinnam AtmAnaM draSTum arhasi zaGkara ||

"Whatever fearlessness was given by you is wholly a gift from Me.
O Sankara, you're fit to see that you yourself are not apart from Me."


yo 'haM sa tvaM jagac cedaM sa-devAsura-mAnuSam |
avidyA-mohitAtmAnaH puruSA bhinna-darzanaH ||

"What I am, you are--as well as the universe with its gods, demons, and men.
Those who are bewildered by ignorance see with separate vision."


Sridharasvamin's only remark for this and all following verses in the chapter is
that "matto vibhinnam" means "chedah," or "cut off," "from Me" (mattaH, i.e.,
from Krsna). The word "cheda" (splitting) implies a conflict of interest or
even deliberate separatism. That is, one should not try to be independent of
the Lord.

Moreover, Krsna explicitly mentions that not only lord Siva, but the demigods,
demons, and humans--everything in the universe--are also nondifferent from
Himself. Of course, this also simply reiterates what Krsna says in Gita,
18.20-22. It doesn't establish any unique equality with Vishnu for Siva.

Clearly, Krsna's emphasis is that no one--and no thing--is autonomous or truly
separate from Him, including Siva. To demonstrate the ultimate harmony that
exists between the Lord and all his servants, as well as to fortify the
authority He so invests in lord Siva, Krsna even agreed to respect Siva's
problematic benediction to Bana. Then Krsna resolved Banasura's situation by
His own perfect intelligence.

I would say the purport is that no one should be divisive or independent, for
that only cuts one off from Krsna's mercy, one's own welfare. Separatism is an
unhealthy condition among those bewildered by ignorance.

The logic here also seems fairly analogous to that of "saksad dharitvena
samasta-sastraih uktas tatha bhavyata eva sadbhih, kintu prabhor yah priya eva
tasya" (the Lord's representatives are nondifferent from the Lord because of
being dear to Him, and all authorities uphold this widely recognized principle).

I hope this clarifies things.

MDd


*
1)
Upreti, Thanezacandra, ed. 1987. _viSNu-purANam:
zrIdharasvAmi-kRtAtma-prakAzAvyAkhyayA bhUSitam_. DillI: Parimala. (in
Sanskrit)

2)
Gupta, MunilAla, trans. 1993 _zrIzrIviSNupurANa_. Gorakhapura: gItA-presa