Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrī Caitanya Caritāmrita Ādi 7.111

'brahma'-śabde mukhya arthe kahe — 'bhagavān'

cid-aiśvarya-paripūrna, anūrdhva-samāna

SYNONYMS

brahma — the Absolute Truth; śabde — by this word; mukhya — direct; arthe — meaning; kahe — says; bhagavān — the Supreme Personality of Godhead; cit-aiśvarya — spiritual opulence; paripūrna — full of; anūrdhva — unsurpassed by anyone; samāna — not equaled by anyone.

TRANSLATION

"According to direct understanding, the Absolute Truth is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who has all spiritual opulences. No one can be equal to or greater than Him.

PURPORT

This statement by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is confirmed in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.2.11):

vadanti tat tattva-vidas tattvam yaj jñānam advayam

brahmeti paramātmeti bhagavān iti śabdyate

"Learned transcendentalists who know the Absolute Truth call this nondual substance Brahman, Paramātmā or Bhagavān." The Absolute Truth is ultimately understood as Bhagavān, partially understood as Paramātmā and vaguely understood as the impersonal Brahman. Bhagavān, or the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is opulent in all excellence; no one can be equal to or greater than Him. This is also confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā (7.7), where the Lord says, mattah parataram nānyat kiñcid asti dhanañjaya: "O conqueror of wealth [Arjuna], there is no truth superior to Me." There are many other verses which prove that the Absolute Truth in the ultimate sense is understood to be the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness