Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.19.4

yat tad viśuddhānubhava-mātram ekam

sva-tejasā dhvasta-guna-vyavastham

pratyak praśāntam sudhiyopalambhanam

hy anāma-rūpam niraham prapadye

SYNONYMS

yat — which; tat — to that supreme truth; viśuddha — transcendentally pure, without contamination by material nature; anubhava — experience; mātram — that sac-cid-ānanda transcendental body; ekam — the one; sva-tejasā — by His own spiritual potency; dhvasta — vanquished; guna-vyavastham — the influence of the modes of material nature; pratyak — transcendental, not to be seen with material eyes; praśāntam — undisturbed by material agitation; sudhiyā — by Krishna consciousness, or purified consciousness, uncontaminated by material desires, fruitive activities and speculative philosophy; upalambhanam — who can be achieved; hi — indeed; anāma-rūpam — without a material name and form; niraham — without a material ego; prapadye — let me offer my respectful obeisances.

TRANSLATION

The Lord, whose pure form [sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha [Bs. 5.1]] is uncontaminated by the modes of material nature, can be perceived by pure consciousness. In the Vedānta He is described as being one without a second. Because of His spiritual potency, He is untouched by the contamination of material nature, and because He is not subjected to material vision, He is known as transcendental. He has no material activities, nor has He a material form or name. Only in pure consciousness, Krishna consciousness, can one perceive the transcendental form of the Lord. Let us be firmly fixed at the lotus feet of Lord Rāmacandra, and let us offer our respectful obeisances unto those transcendental lotus feet.

PURPORT

The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna, appears in various expansions, as stated in the Brahma-samhitā (5.39):

rāmādi-mūrtishu kalā-niyamena tishthan

nānāvatāram akarod bhuvaneshu kintu

krishnah svayam samabhavat paramah pumān yo

govindam ādi-purusham tam aham bhajāmi

"I worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Govinda, who is always situated in various incarnations such as Rāma, Nrisimha and many subincarnations as well, but who is the original personality of Godhead known as Krishna and who incarnates personally also." Krishna, who is vishnu-tattva, has expanded Himself in many Vishnu forms, of which Lord Rāmacandra is one. We know that the vishnu-tattva is carried by the transcendental bird Garuda and is equipped with different types of weapons in four hands. Therefore we may doubt whether Lord Rāmacandra could be in the same category, since He was carried by Hanumān, not by Garuda, and had neither four hands nor the śańkha, cakra, gadā and padma. Consequently this verse clarifies that Rāmacandra is as good as Krishna (rāmādi-mūrtishu kalā). Although Krishna is the original Supreme Personality of Godhead, Rāmacandra is not different from Him. Rāmacandra is unaffected by the modes of material nature, and therefore He is praśānta, never disturbed by those modes.

Unless one is saturated with love for the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one cannot appreciate the transcendental value of Lord Rāmacandra; one cannot see Him with material eyes. Because demons like Rāvana have no spiritual vision, they consider Lord Rāmacandra an ordinary kshatriya king. Rāvana therefore attempted to kidnap Lord Rāmacandra's eternal consort, Sītādevī. Actually, however, Rāvana could not carry off Sītādevī in her original form. As soon as she was touched by Rāvana's hands, she gave him a material form, but she maintained her original form beyond his vision. Therefore in this verse the words pratyak praśāntam indicate that Lord Rāmacandra and His potency, the goddess Sītā, keep themselves aloof from the influence of the material energy.

In the Upanishads it is said: yam evaisha vrinute tena labhyah. The Supreme Lord, Paramātmā, the Personality of Godhead, can be seen or perceived only by persons who are saturated with devotional service. As stated in the Brahma-samhitā (5.38):

premāñjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena

santah sadaiva hridayeshu vilokayanti

yam śyāmasundaram acintya-guna-svarūpam

govindam ādi-purusham tam aham bhajāmi

"I worship the primeval Lord, Govinda, who is always seen by the devotee whose eyes are anointed with the pulp of love. He is seen in His eternal form of Śyāmasundara, situated within the heart of the devotee." Similarly, in the Chāndogya Upanishad it is stated, etās tisro devatā anena jīvena. In this verse of the Chāndogya Upanishad the word anena is used to distinguish the ātmā and Paramātmā as two separate identities. The words tisro devatā indicate that the body of the living entity is made of three material elements — fire, earth and water. Although the Paramātmā enters the heart of the jīvātmā, who is influenced and designated by a material body, the Paramātmā has nothing to do with the jīvātmā's body. Because the Paramātmā has no material connections, He is described here as anāma-rūpam niraham. The Paramātmā has no material identity, whereas the jīvātmā does. The jīvātmā may introduce himself as an Indian, American, German and so on, but the Paramātmā has no such material designations, and therefore He has no material name. The jīvātmā is different from his name, but the Paramātmā is not; His name and He Himself are one and the same. This is the meaning of niraham, which means "without material designations." This word cannot possibly be twisted to mean that the Paramātmā has no ahańkāra, no "I-ness" or identity. He has His transcendental identity as the Supreme. This is the explanation given by Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī. According to another interpretation, given by Viśvanātha Cakravartī Thākura, niraham means nirniścayena aham. Niraham does not mean that the Supreme Lord has no identity. Rather, the stress given by the word aham proves strongly that He does have His personal identity because nir not only means "negative" but also means "strong ascertainment."

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