Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.40.3

naite svarūpam vidur ātmanas te

hy ajādayo 'nātmatayā grihītah

ajo 'nubaddhah sa gunair ajāyā

gunāt param veda na te svarūpam

SYNONYMS

na — do not; ete — these (elements of creation); svarūpam — the true identity; viduh — know; ātmanah — of the Supreme Soul; te — You; hi — indeed; ajā-ādayah — headed by the total material nature; anātmatayā — by the status of being nonliving matter; grihītāh — seized; ajah — Lord Brahmā; anubaddhah — bound up; sah — he; gunaih — by the modes; ajāyāh — of material nature; gunāt — to these modes; param — transcendental; veda na — he does not know; te — Your; svarūpam — true form.

TRANSLATION

The total material nature and these other elements of creation certainly cannot know You as You are, for they are manifested in the realm of dull matter. Since You are beyond the modes of nature, even Lord Brahma, who is bound up in these modes, does not know Your true identity.

PURPORT

God is transcendental to material nature. Unless we also transcend the limited consciousness of material existence, we cannot know Him. Even the greatest living entity in the universe, Brahmā, cannot understand the Supreme unless he comes to the platform of pure Krishna consciousness.

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