Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.10.32

gṛhyamāṇais tvam agrāhyo

vikāraiḥ prākṛtair guṇaiḥ

ko nv ihārhati vijñātuḿ

prāk siddhaḿ guṇa-saḿvṛtaḥ

SYNONYMS

gṛhyamāṇaiḥ — accepting the body made of material nature as existing at the present moment because of being visible; tvam — You; agrāhyaḥ — not confined in a body made of material nature; vikāraiḥ — agitated by the mind; prākṛtaiḥ guṇaiḥ — by the material modes of nature (sattva-guṇa, rajo-guṇa and tamo-guṇa); kaḥ — who is there; nu — after that; iha — in this material world; arhati — who deserves; vijñātum — to know; prāk siddham — that which existed before the creation; guṇa-saḿvṛtaḥ — because of being covered by the material qualities.

TRANSLATION

O Lord, You exist before the creation. Therefore, who, trapped by a body of material qualities in this material world, can understand You?

PURPORT

As it is said:

ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi

na bhaved grāhyam indriyaiḥ

sevonmukhe hi jihvādau

svayam eva sphuraty adaḥ

[BRS. 1.2.234]

Kṛṣṇa's name, attributes and form are Absolute Truth, existing before the creation. Therefore, how can those who are created — that is, those entrapped in bodies created of material elements — understand Kṛṣṇa perfectly? This is not possible. But, sevonmukhe hi jihvādau svayam eva sphuraty adaḥ: Kṛṣṇa reveals Himself to those engaged in devotional service. This is also confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā (18.15) by the Lord Himself: bhaktyā mām abhijānāti [Bg. 18.55]. Even the descriptions of Kṛṣṇa in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam are sometimes misunderstood by less intelligent men with a poor fund of knowledge. Therefore, the best course by which to know Him is to engage oneself in pure devotional activities. The more one advances in devotional activities, the more one can understand Him as He is. If from the material platform one could understand Kṛṣṇa, then, since Kṛṣṇa is everything (sarvaḿ khalv idaḿ brahma), one could understand Kṛṣṇa by seeing anything within this material world. But that is not possible.

mayā tatam idaḿ sarvaḿ

jagad avyakta-mūrtinā

mat-sthāni sarva-bhūtāni

na cāhaḿ teṣv avasthitaḥ

(Bg. 9.4)

Everything is resting on Kṛṣṇa, and everything is Kṛṣṇa, but this is not to be realized by persons on the material platform.

<<< >>>

Copyright © The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International, Inc.
His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness
His Holiness Hrdayananda dasa Goswami
Gopiparanadhana dasa Adhikari
Dravida dasa Brahmacari