Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrī Caitanya Caritāmṛta Madhya 6.151

ataeva śruti kahe, brahma — saviśeṣa

'mukhya' chāḍi' 'lakṣaṇā'te māne nirviśeṣa

SYNONYMS

ataeva — therefore; śruti — Vedic mantras; kahe — say; brahma — the Absolute Truth; sa-viśeṣa — personal; mukhya — direct meaning; chāḍi' — giving up; lakṣaṇā'te — by interpretation; māne — accept; nirviśeṣa — impersonal.

TRANSLATION

"All these mantras confirm that the Absolute Truth is personal, but the Māyāvādīs, throwing away the direct meaning, interpret the Absolute Truth as impersonal.

PURPORT

As mentioned above, the Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad (3.19) states:

apāṇi-pādo javano grahītā

paśyaty acakṣuḥ sa śṛṇoty akarṇaḥ

sa vetti vedyaḿ na ca tasyāsti vettā

tam āhur agryaḿ puruṣaḿ mahāntam

This Vedic mantra clearly states, puruṣaḿ mahāntam. The word puruṣa means "person." In the Bhagavad-gītā (10.12) Arjuna confirms that this person is Kṛṣṇa when he addresses Kṛṣṇa as puruṣaḿ śāśvatam: "You are the original person." Thus the puruṣaḿ mahāntam mentioned in the verse from the Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad is Śrī Kṛṣṇa. His hands and legs are not mundane but are completely transcendental. However, when He comes, fools take Him to be an ordinary person (avajānanti māḿ mūḍhā mānuṣīḿ tanum āśritam [Bg. 9.11]). One who has no Vedic knowledge, who has not studied the Vedas from a bona fide spiritual master, does not know Kṛṣṇa. Therefore he is a mūḍha. Such fools take Kṛṣṇa to be an ordinary person (paraḿ bhāvam ajānantaḥ). They do not actually know what Kṛṣṇa is. Manuṣyāṇāḿ sahasreṣu kaścid yatati siddhaye [Bg. 7.3]. It is not possible to understand Kṛṣṇa simply by studying the Vedas perfectly. One must have the mercy of a devotee (yat-pādam). Unless one is favored by a devotee, he cannot understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Arjuna also confirms this in the Bhagavad-gītā (10.14): "My Lord, it is very difficult to understand Your personality." The less intelligent class of men cannot understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead without being favored by His devotee. Therefore the Bhagavad-gītā (4.34) contains another injunction:

tad viddhi praṇipātena paripraśnena sevayā

upadekṣyanti te jñānaḿ jñāninas tattva-darśinaḥ

One has to approach a bona fide spiritual master and surrender to him. Only then can one understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead as a person.

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