bhaktya mam abhijanati: Krishna is ONLY understood by bhaktya--by pure devotional service

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Bhagavad Gita AS IT IS 7.25 T Knowledge of the AbsoluteTranslation by

HIS DIVINE GRACE A C BHAKTIVEDANTA SWAMI PRABHUPADA

 

naham prakasah sarvasya

yoga-maya-samavrtah mudho 'yam nabhijanati

loko mam ajam avyayam

 

SYNONYMS

 

na--nor; aham--I; prakasah--manifest; sarvasya--to everyone; yoga-maya--internal

potency; samavrtah--covered; mudhah--foolish; ayam--this; na--not;

abhijanati--can understand; lokah--such less intelligent persons; mam--Me;

ajam--unborn; avyayam--inexhaustible.

 

TRANSLATION

 

I am never manifest to the foolish and unintelligent. For them I am covered

by My eternal creative potency [yoga-maya]; and so the deluded world knows Me

not, who am unborn and infallible.

 

PURPORT

 

It may be argued that since Krsna was present on this earth and was visible

to everyone, then why isn't He manifest to everyone now? But actually He was

not manifest to everyone. When Krsna was present there were only a few people

who could understand Him to be the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In the

assembly of Kurus, when Sisupala spoke against Krsna being elected president of

the assembly, Bhisma supported Him and proclaimed Him to be the Supreme God.

Similarly, the Pandavas and a few others knew that He was the Supreme, but not

everyone. He was not revealed to the nondevotees and the common man. Therefore

in the Gita Krsna says that but for His pure devotees, all men consider Him to

be like themselves. He was manifest only to His devotees as the reservoir of

all pleasure. But to others, to unintelligent nondevotees, He was covered by

His eternal potency. In the prayers of Kunti in the Srimad-Bhagavatam

(1.8.18) it is said that the Lord is covered by the curtain of yoga-maya and

thus ordinary people cannot understand Him. Kunti prays: "O my Lord, You are

the maintainer of the entire universe, and devotional service to You is the

highest religious principle. Therefore, I pray that You will also maintain me.

Your transcendental form is covered by the yoga-maya. The brahmajyoti is the

covering of the internal potency. May You kindly remove this glowing effulgence

that impedes my seeing Your sac-cid-ananda-vigraha, Your eternal form of bliss

and knowledge." This yoga-maya curtain is also mentioned in the Fifteenth

Chapter of the Gita. The Supreme Personality of Godhead in His transcendental

form of bliss and knowledge is covered by the eternal potency of brahmajyoti,

and the less intelligent impersonalists cannot see the Supreme on this account.

Also in the Srimad-Bhagavatam (10.14.7) there is this prayer by Brahma: "O

Supreme Personality of Godhead, O Supersoul, O master of all mystery, who can

calculate Your potency and pastimes in this world? You are always expanding

Your eternal potency, and therefore no one can understand You. Learned

scientists and learned scholars can examine the atomic constitution of the

material world or even the planets, but still they are unable to calculate Your

energy and potency, although You are present before them." The Supreme

Personality of Godhead, Lord Krsna, is not only unborn, but He is avyaya,

inexhaustible. His eternal form is bliss and knowledge, and His energies are

all inexhaustible.

 

 

Bg 18.55 T Conclusion--The Perfection of Renunciation

bhaktya mam abhijanati yavan yas

casmi tattvatah tato mam tattvato jnatva

visate tad-anantaram

 

SYNONYMS

 

bhaktya--by pure devotional service; mam--Me; abhijanati--one can know;

yavan--as much as; yah ca asmi--as I am; tattvatah--in truth;

tatah--thereafter; mam--Me; tattvatah--by truth; jnatva--knowing;

visate--enters; tat-anantaram--thereafter.

 

TRANSLATION

 

One can understand the Supreme Personality as He is only by devotional

service. And when one is in full consciousness of the Supreme Lord by such

devotion, he can enter into the kingdom of God.

 

PURPORT

 

The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna, and His plenary portions cannot be

understood by mental speculation nor by the nondevotees. If anyone wants to

understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he has to take to pure

devotional service under the guidance of a pure devotee. Otherwise, the truth

of the Supreme Personality of Godhead will always be hidden. It is already

stated (naham prakasah) that He is not revealed to everyone. Everyone cannot

understand God simply by erudite scholarship or mental speculation. Only one

who is actually engaged in Krsna consciousness and devotional service can

understand what Krsna is. University degrees are not helpful. One who is

fully conversant with the Krsna science becomes eligible to enter into the

spiritual kingdom, the abode of Krsna. Becoming Brahman does not mean that one

loses his identity. Devotional service is there, and as long as devotional

service exists, there must be God, the devotee, and the process of devotional

service. Such knowledge is never vanquished, even after liberation. Liberation

involves getting free from the concept of material life; in spiritual life the

same distinction is there, the same individuality is there, but in pure Krsna

consciousness. One should not misunderstand that the word visate, "enters into

Me," supports the monist theory that one becomes homogeneous with the

impersonal Brahman. No. Visate means that one can enter into the abode of the

Supreme Lord in his's individuality to engage in His association and render

service unto Him. For instance, a green bird enters a green tree not to become

one with the tree but to enjoy the fruits of the tree. Impersonalists generally

give the example of a river flowing into the ocean and merging. This may be a

source of happiness for the impersonalist, but the personalist keeps his

personal individuality like an aquatic in the ocean. We find so many living

entities within the ocean, if we go deep. Surface acquaintance with the ocean

is not sufficient; one must have complete knowledge of the aquatics living in

the ocean depths. Because of his pure devotional service, a devotee can

understand the transcendental qualities and the opulences of the Supreme Lord

in truth. As it is stated in the Eleventh Chapter, only by devotional service

can one understand. The same is confirmed here; one can understand the Supreme

Personality of Godhead by devotional service and enter into His kingdom.

After attainment of the brahma-bhuta stage of freedom from material

conceptions, devotional service begins by one's hearing about the Lord. When

one hears about the Supreme Lord, automatically the brahma-bhuta stage

develops, and material contamination--greediness and lust for sense

enjoyment--disappears. As lust and desires disappear from the heart of a

devotee, he becomes more attached to the service of the Lord, and by such

attachment he becomes free from material contamination. In that state of life

he can understand the Supreme Lord. This is the statement of Srimad-Bhagavatam

also. Also after liberation the process of bhakti or transcendental service

continues. The Vedanta-sutra confirms this: aprayanat tatrapi hi drstam. This

means that after liberation the process of devotional service continues. In the

Srimad-Bhagavatam, real devotional liberation is defined as the reinstatement of

the living entity in his own identity, his own constitutional position. The

constitutional position is already explained: every living entity is the part

and parcel fragmental portion of the Supreme Lord. Therefore his constitutional

position is to serve. After liberation, this service is never stopped. Actual

liberation is getting free from misconceptions of life.