BHAGAVAD-GITA 10:19

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BHAGAVAD-GITA 10:19

 

sri-bhagavan uvaca

hanta te kathayisyami

divya hy atma-vibhutayah

pradhanyatah kuru-srestha

nasty anto vistarasya me

 

WORD FOR WORD

 

sri-bhagavan uvaca--the Supreme Personality of Godhead said;

hanta--yes; te--unto you; kathayisyami--I shall speak; divyah--divine;

hi--certainly; atma-vibhutayah--personal opulences;

pradhanyatah--which are principal; kuru-srestha--O best of the Kurus;

na asti--there is not; antah--limit; vistarasya--to the extent;

me--My.

 

TRANSLATION

 

The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: Yes, I will tell you of My

splendorous manifestations, but only of those which are prominent, O

Arjuna, for My opulence is limitless.

 

PURPORT

 

It is not possible to comprehend the greatness of Krsna and His

opulences. The senses of the individual soul are limited and do not

permit him to understand the totality of Krsna's affairs. Still the

devotees try to understand Krsna, but not on the principle that they

will be able to understand Krsna fully at any specific time or in any

state of life. Rather, the very topics of Krsna are so relishable that

they appear to the devotees as nectar. Thus the devotees enjoy them.

In discussing Krsna's opulences and His diverse energies, the pure

devotees take transcendental pleasure. Therefore they want to hear and

discuss them. Krsna knows that living entities do not understand the

extent of His opulences; He therefore agrees to state only the

principal manifestations of His different energies. The word

pradhanyatah ("principal") is very important because we can understand

only a few of the principal details of the Supreme Lord, for His

features are unlimited. It is not possible to understand them all. And

vibhuti, as used in this verse, refers to the opulences by which He

controls the whole manifestation. In the Amara-kosa dictionary it is

stated that vibhuti indicates an exceptional opulence.

 

The impersonalist or pantheist cannot understand the exceptional

opulences of the Supreme Lord nor the manifestations of His divine

energies. Both in the material world and in the spiritual world His

energies are distributed in every variety of manifestation. Now Krsna

is describing what can be directly perceived by the common man; thus

part of His variegated energy is described in this way.

 

Copyright 1983 The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International. Used with

permission.