BHAGAVAD-GITA 7:19

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BHAGAVAD-GITA 7:19

 

bahunam janmanam ante

jnanavan mam prapadyate

vasudevah sarvam iti

sa mahatma su-durlabhah

 

WORD FOR WORD

 

bahunam--many; janmanam--repeated births and deaths; ante--after;

jnana-van--one who is in full knowledge; mam--unto Me;

prapadyate--surrenders; vasudevah--the Personality of Godhead, Krsna;

sarvam--everything; iti--thus; sah--that; maha-atma--great soul;

su-durlabhah--very rare to see.

 

TRANSLATION

 

After many births and deaths, he who is actually in knowledge

surrenders unto Me, knowing Me to be the cause of all causes and all

that is. Such a great soul is very rare.

 

PURPORT

 

The living entity, while executing devotional service or

transcendental rituals after many, many births, may actually become

situated in transcendental pure knowledge that the Supreme Personality

of Godhead is the ultimate goal of spiritual realization. In the

beginning of spiritual realization, while one is trying to give up

one's attachment to materialism, there is some leaning towards

impersonalism, but when one is further advanced he can understand that

there are activities in the spiritual life and that these activities

constitute devotional service. Realizing this, he becomes attached to

the Supreme Personality of Godhead and surrenders to Him. At such a

time one can understand that Lord Sri Krsna's mercy is everything,

that He is the cause of all causes and that this material

manifestation is not independent from Him. He realizes the material

world to be a perverted reflection of spiritual variegatedness and

realizes that in everything there is a relationship with the Supreme

Lord Krsna. Thus he thinks of everything in relation to Vasudeva, or

Sri Krsna. Such a universal vision of Vasudeva precipitates one's full

surrender to the Supreme Lord Sri Krsna as the highest goal. Such

surrendered great souls are very rare.

 

This verse is very nicely explained in the Third Chapter (verses 14

and 15) of the Svetasvatara Upanisad:

 

sahasra-sirsa purusah

sahasraksah sahasra-pat

sa bhumim visvato vrtva-

tyatisthad dasangulam

 

purusa evedam sarvam

yad bhutam yac ca bhavyam

utamrtatvasyesano

yad annenatirohati

 

In the Chandogya Upanisad (5.1.15) it is said, na vai vaco na caksumsi

na srotrani na manamsity acaksate prana iti evacaksate prano hy

evaitani sarvani bhavanti: "In the body of a living being neither the

power to speak, nor the power to see, nor the power to hear, nor the

power to think is the prime factor; it is life which is the center of

all activities." Similarly Lord Vasudeva, or the Personality of

Godhead, Lord Sri Krsna, is the prime entity in everything. In this

body there are powers of speaking, of seeing, of hearing, of mental

activities, etc. But these are not important if not related to the

Supreme Lord. And because Vasudeva is all-pervading and everything is

Vasudeva, the devotee surrenders in full knowledge (cf. Bhagavad-gita

7.17 and 11.40).

 

Copyright 1983 The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International. Used with

permission.