Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrī Caitanya Caritāmrita Madhya 20.162

krishnam enam avehi tvam

ātmānam akhilātmanām

jagad-dhitāya so 'py atra

dehīvābhāti māyayā

SYNONYMS

krishnam — in the Supreme Personality of Godhead; enam — this; avehi — just try to understand; tvam — you; ātmānam — the soul; akhila-ātmanām — of all living entities; jagat-hitāya — the benefit of the whole universe; sah — He; api — certainly; atra — here; dehī — a human being; iva — like; ābhāti — appears; māyayā — by His internal potency.

TRANSLATION

"'You should know Krishna to be the original soul of all ātmās [living entities]. For the benefit of the whole universe, He has, out of His causeless mercy, appeared as an ordinary human being. He has done this by the strength of His own internal potency.'

PURPORT

This is a quotation from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.14.55). Parīkshit Mahārāja asked Śukadeva Gosvāmī why Krishna was so beloved by the residents of Vrindāvana, who loved Him even more than their own offspring or life itself. At that time Śukadeva Gosvāmī replied that everyone's ātmā, or soul, is very, very dear, especially to all living entities who have accepted material bodies. But that ātmā, the spirit soul, is part and parcel of Krishna. For this reason, Krishna is very dear to every living entity. Everyone's body is very dear to oneself, and one wants to protect the body by all means because within the body the soul is living. Due to the intimate relationship between the soul and the body, the body is important and dear to everyone. Similarly, the soul, being part and parcel of Krishna, the Supreme Lord, is very, very dear to all living entities. Unfortunately, the soul forgets his constitutional position and thinks he is only the body (deha-ātma-buddhi). Thus the soul is subjected to the rules and regulations of material nature. When a living entity, by his intelligence, reawakens his attraction for Krishna, he can understand that he is not the body but part and parcel of Krishna. Thus filled with knowledge, he no longer labors under attachment to the body and everything related to the body. Janasya moho 'yam aham mameti [SB 5.5.8]. Material existence, wherein one thinks, "I am the body, and this belongs to me," is also illusory. One must redirect his attraction to Krishna. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.2.7) states:

vāsudeve bhagavati bhakti-yogah prayojitah

janayaty āśu vairāgyam jñānam ca yad ahaitukam

"By rendering devotional service unto the Personality of Godhead, Śrī Krishna, one immediately acquires causeless knowledge and detachment from the world."

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