| Canto 10: The Summum Bonum | Chapter 47: The Song of the Bee |
Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Srimad Bhagavatam 10.47.29
bhavatinam viyogo me
bhutendriya-gunasrayah
SYNONYMS
sri-bhagavan uvaca -- the Supreme Lord said; bhavatinam -- of you women; viyogah -- separation; me -- from Me; na -- is not; hi -- indeed; sarva-atmana -- from the Soul of all existence; kvacit -- ever; yatha -- as; bhutani -- the physical elements; bhuteshu -- in all created beings; kham -- the ether; vayu-agnih -- air and fire; jalam -- water; mahi -- earth; tatha -- so; aham -- I; ca -- and; manah -- of the mind; prana -- vital air; bhuta -- material elements; indriya -- bodily senses; guna -- and of the primal modes of nature; asrayah -- present as their shelter.
TRANSLATION
The Supreme Lord said: You are never actually separated from Me, for I am the Soul of all creation. Just as the elements of nature -- ether, air, fire, water and earth -- are present in every created thing, so I am present within everyone's mind, life air and senses, and also within the physical elements and the modes of material nature.
PURPORT
According to Srila Jiva Gosvami and Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti, the apparently philosophical language of the Lord's statement conceals a deeper meaning. The Supreme Lord was secretly telling the gopis that He, by way of reciprocating their special love for Him, was present with them, not only as the Soul of all creation but also as their special lover. In this sense of the verse, the word guna indicates the gopis' special divine qualities, which attracted Sri Krishna, and the word sarvatmana, which we have here translated in reference to Lord Krishna Himself (corresponding to the word me, which is also in the instrumental case), is also understood in the sense of sarvatha, or "completely." In other words, although in one sense Lord Krishna was absent, He could never be completely absent, since in His spiritual form He is always in the hearts and minds of the gopis.
In Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead and other books, Srila Prabhupada has elaborately explained that the reason Lord Krishna separated Himself from the gopis was to intensify their love for Him and, as Uddhava noted, to bless other devotees by revealing to them the intensity of the gopis' love. In fact, the Lord was spiritually present with the gopis, since they are His eternal associates.
Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti further points out that foolish persons will conclude that Sri Krishna's use of philosophical language meant that the Lord was trying to bring the gopis to the point of liberation by explaining basic points of Krishna conscious philosophy. In truth, the gopis are the most exalted liberated souls, and their pastimes with Sri Krishna must be understood with the help of authorized acaryas. When the gopis came for the rasa dance, Sri Krishna tried to preach karma-yoga to them, emphasizing ordinary ethics and morality, but the gopis were beyond that. Similarly, Lord Krishna now offers them jnana-yoga, or metaphysical philosophy, but this is also inadequate for the gopis, who have achieved spontaneous, unalloyed love for Sri Krishna.
Copyright (c) The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International, Inc.
His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Founder Acarya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness
His Holiness Hrdayananda dasa Goswami
Gopiparanadhana dasa Adhikari
Dravida dasa Brahmacari