BHAGAVAD-GITA 10:15

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BHAGAVAD-GITA 10:15

 

svayam evatmanatmanam

vettha tvam purusottama

bhuta-bhavana bhutesa

deva-deva jagat-pate

 

WORD FOR WORD

 

svayam--personally; eva--certainly; atmana--by Yourself;

atmanam--Yourself; vettha--know; tvam--You; purusa-uttama--O greatest

of all persons; bhuta-bhavana--O origin of everything; bhuta-isa--O

Lord of everything; deva-deva--O Lord of all demigods; jagat-pate--O

Lord of the entire universe.

 

TRANSLATION

 

Indeed, You alone know Yourself by Your own internal potency, O

Supreme Person, origin of all, Lord of all beings, God of gods, Lord

of the universe!

 

PURPORT

 

The Supreme Lord, Krsna, can be known by persons who are in a

relationship with Him through the discharge of devotional service,

like Arjuna and his followers. Persons of demonic or atheistic

mentality cannot know Krsna. Mental speculation that leads one away

from the Supreme Lord is a serious sin, and one who does not know

Krsna should not try to comment on Bhagavad-gita. Bhagavad-gita is the

statement of Krsna, and since it is the science of Krsna, it should be

understood from Krsna as Arjuna understood it. It should not be

received from atheistic persons.

 

As stated in Srimad-Bhagavatam (1.2.11):

vadanti tat tattva-vidas

tattvam yaj jnanam advayam

brahmeti paramatmeti

bhagavan iti sabdyate

 

The Supreme Truth is realized in three aspects: as impersonal Brahman,

localized Paramatma and at last as the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

So at the last stage of understanding the Absolute Truth, one comes to

the Supreme Personality of Godhead. A common man or even a liberated

man who has realized impersonal Brahman or localized Paramatma may not

understand God's personality. Such men, therefore, may endeavor to

understand the Supreme Person from the verses of Bhagavad-gita, which

are being spoken by this person, Krsna. Sometimes the impersonalists

accept Krsna as Bhagavan, or they accept His authority. Yet many

liberated persons cannot understand Krsna as Purusottama, the Supreme

Person. Therefore Arjuna addresses Him as Purusottama. Yet one still

may not understand that Krsna is the father of all living entities.

Therefore Arjuna addresses Him as Bhuta-bhavana. And if one comes to

know Him as the father of all the living entities, still one may not

know Him as the supreme controller; therefore He is addressed here as

Bhutesa, the supreme controller of everyone. And even if one knows

Krsna as the supreme controller of all living entities, still one may

not know that He is the origin of all the demigods; therefore He is

addressed herein as Devadeva, the worshipful God of all demigods. And

even if one knows Him as the worshipful God of all demigods, one may

not know that He is the supreme proprietor of everything; therefore He

is addressed as Jagatpati. Thus the truth about Krsna is established

in this verse by the realization of Arjuna, and we should follow in

the footsteps of Arjuna to understand Krsna as He is.

 

Copyright 1983 The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International. Used with

permission.