BHAGAVAD-GITA 13:18

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BHAGAVAD-GITA 13:18

 

jyotisam api tajjyotis

tamasah param ucyate

jnanam jneyam jnana-gamyam

hrdi sarvasya visthitam

 

WORD FOR WORD

 

jyotisam--in all luminous objects; api--also; tat--that; jyotih--the

source of light; tamasah--the darkness; param--beyond; ucyate--is

said; jnanam--knowledge; jneyam--to be known; jnana-gamyam--to be

approached by knowledge; hrdi--in the heart; sarvasya--of everyone;

visthitam--situated.

 

TRANSLATION

 

He is the source of light in all luminous objects. He is beyond the

darkness of matter and is unmanifested. He is knowledge, He is the

object of knowledge, and He is the goal of knowledge. He is situated

in everyone's heart.

 

PURPORT

 

The Supersoul, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is the source of

light in all luminous objects like the sun, moon and stars. In the

Vedic literature we find that in the spiritual kingdom there is no

need of sun or moon, because the effulgence of the Supreme Lord is

there. In the material world that brahmajyoti, the Lord's spiritual

effulgence, is covered by the mahat-tattva, the material elements;

therefore in this material world we require the assistance of sun,

moon, electricity, etc., for light. But in the spiritual world there

is no need of such things. It is clearly stated in the Vedic

literature that because of His luminous effulgence, everything is

illuminated. It is clear, therefore, that His situation is not in the

material world. He is situated in the spiritual world, which is far,

far away in the spiritual sky. That is also confirmed in the Vedic

literature. Aditya-varnam tamasah parastat (Svetasvatara Upanisad

3.8). He is just like the sun, eternally luminous, but He is far, far

beyond the darkness of this material world.

 

His knowledge is transcendental. The Vedic literature confirms that

Brahman is concentrated transcendental knowledge. To one who is

anxious to be transferred to that spiritual world, knowledge is given

by the Supreme Lord, who is situated in everyone's heart. One Vedic

mantra (Svetasvatara Upanisad 6.18) says, tam ha devam

atma-buddhi-prakasam mumuksur vai saranam aham prapadye. One must

surrender unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead if he at all wants

liberation. As far as the goal of ultimate knowledge is concerned, it

is also confirmed in Vedic literature: tam eva viditvati mrtyum eti.

"Only by knowing Him can one surpass the boundary of birth and death."

(Svetasvatara Upanisad 3.8)

 

He is situated in everyone's heart as the supreme controller. The

Supreme has legs and hands distributed everywhere, and this cannot be

said of the individual soul. Therefore that there are two knowers of

the field of activity--the individual soul and the Supersoul--must be

admitted. One's hands and legs are distributed locally, but Krsna's

hands and legs are distributed everywhere. This is confirmed in the

Svetasvatara Upanisad (3.17): sarvasya prabhum isanam sarvasya saranam

brhat. That Supreme Personality of Godhead, Supersoul, is the prabhu,

or master, of all living entities; therefore He is the ultimate

shelter of all living entities. So there is no denying the fact that

the Supreme Supersoul and the individual soul are always different.

 

Copyright 1983 The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International. Used with

permission.