Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 11.3.36

naitan mano viśati vāg uta cakṣur ātmā

prāṇendriyāṇi ca yathānalam arciṣaḥ svāḥ

śabdo 'pi bodhaka-niṣedhatayātma-mūlam

arthoktam āha yad-ṛte na niṣedha-siddhiḥ

SYNONYMS

na — cannot; etat — this (Supreme Truth); manaḥ — the mind; viśati — enter; vāk — the function of speech; uta — nor; cakṣuḥ — sight; ātmā — intelligence; prāṇa — the subtle airs supporting life; indriyāṇi — the senses; ca — or; yathā — just as; analam — a fire; arciṣaḥ — its sparks; svāḥ — own; śabdaḥ — the authoritative sound of the Vedas; api — even; bodhaka — being able to indicate by verbal reference; niṣedhatayā — because of denying such; ātma — of the Supreme Soul; mūlam — basic evidence; artha-uktam — expressed indirectly; āha — does express; yat-ṛte — without which (Supreme); na — there is not; niṣedha — of the negative statements of scripture; siddhiḥ — ultimate purpose.

TRANSLATION

Neither the mind nor the faculties of speech, sight, intelligence, the life air or any of the senses are capable of penetrating that Supreme Truth, any more than small sparks can affect the original fire from which they are generated. Not even the authoritative language of the Vedas can perfectly describe the Supreme Truth, since the Vedas themselves disclaim the possibility that the Truth can be expressed by words. But through indirect reference the Vedic sound does serve as evidence of the Supreme Truth, since without the existence of that Supreme Truth the various restrictions found in the Vedas would have no ultimate purpose.

PURPORT

The small sparks generated by a blazing fire have no power to illuminate the original fire, nor can they burn it. The quantity of heat and light in the original fire is always superior to the quantity found in the insignificant sparks. Similarly, the minute living entity is generated from the internal potency of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, as stated in Vedānta-sūtra (janmādy asya yataḥ [SB 1.1.1]) and Bhagavad-gītā (ahaḿ sarvasya prabhavaḥ, mamaivāḿśo jīva-loke jīva-bhūtaḥ sanātanaḥ [Bg. 15.7]). The minute living entities, being aḿśaḥ, or sparks of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, can never equal the Supreme Godhead in the quantity of their potency. The quantity of knowledge and bliss in the Supreme Personality of Godhead is always superior. Therefore, when a foolish conditioned soul tries to illuminate the subject matter of the highest truth with his tiny brain, he merely illuminates his own foolishness. The Personality of Godhead has personally spoken Bhagavad-gītā, which is the blazing fire of perfect knowledge that burns to ashes the insignificant speculations and theories of so-called philosophers and scientists regarding the ultimate truth.

The Supreme Personality of Godhead is called Hṛṣīkeśa, or the Lord of everyone's senses. Because the Personality of Godhead has supreme seeing power, hearing power, touching power, smelling power and tasting power, the living entities in a limited sense can also see, hear, touch, smell and taste, by the mercy of Hṛṣīkeśa. This idea is expressed in the Bṛhad-āraṇyaka Upaniṣad (4.4.18): prāṇasya prāṇam uta cakṣuṣaś cakṣur uta śrotrasya śrotram annasyānnaḿ manaso ye mano viduḥ. "The Supreme Truth is understood to be the life air sustaining everyone's life air, the vision of everyone's eyes, the hearing power of the ear, and the sustenance of food itself." The obvious conclusion is that the Supreme Truth can be known by His own causeless mercy, and not by our foolish attempts to bring the all-pervading truth within the insignificant boundaries of our intelligence. It is stated in the Taittirīya Upaniṣad (2.4.1), yato vāco nivartante aprāpya manasā saha: "The descriptive power of speech fails in the realm of the Supreme Truth, and the speculative power of the mind cannot achieve Him."

But because such statements of Vedic śrutis are in themselves descriptions of the Absolute Truth, one may consider such Vedic statements contradictory. Therefore, in this connection it is stated, śabdo 'pi bodhaka-niṣedhatayātma-mūlam arthoktam āha: although the Vedic śruti (śabda) forbids us to speculate upon the Absolute Truth, such restrictive injunctions indirectly constitute positive assertions of the existence of the supreme living entity. In fact, the Vedic restrictions are meant to save one from the false path of mental speculation and ultimately bring one to the point of devotional surrender. As Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself states in Bhagavad-gītā, vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ: [Bg. 15.15] by all Vedic literatures the Supreme Personality of Godhead is to be known. The assertion that a particular process, such as mental speculation, is useless (yato vāco nivartante aprāpya manasā saha) constitutes an indirect assertion of the existence of a correct path of achieving the Supreme. As Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī has stated, sarvasya niṣedhasya sāvadhitvāt: "Every negative injunction is understood to have a specific limit. Negative injunctions cannot be taken as applicable in all cases." For example, a negative injunction is that no living entity can be equal to or greater than the Supreme Personality of Godhead. But Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam clearly states that because of the intense love of the residents of Vṛndāvana for Kṛṣṇa, they sometimes assume a superior position. Thus mother Yaśodā binds Kṛṣṇa with ropes, and the influential cowherd boys sometimes ride on the shoulders of Kṛṣṇa or defeat Him in wrestling. Negative injunctions, therefore, may sometimes be adjusted according to the transcendental situation.

Although the Absolute Truth is transcendental to the material creation and therefore beyond the scope of material senses, when those same material senses are saturated with love of Godhead they become spiritualized and empowered to perceive the Absolute Truth. As stated in Brahma-saḿhitā (5.38),

premāñjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena

santaḥ sadaiva hṛdayeṣu vilokayanti

yaḿ śyāmasundaram acintya-guṇa-svarūpaḿ

govindam ādi-puruṣaḿ tam ahaḿ 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 within the heart of the devotee." In Bhagavad-gītā (11.8) Lord Kṛṣṇa says to Arjuna,

na tu māḿ śakyase draṣṭum

anenava sva-cakṣuṣā

divyaḿ dadāmi te cakṣuḥ

paśya me yogam aiśvaram

"But you cannot see Me with your present eyes. Therefore I give you divine eyes by which you can behold My mystic opulence." Similarly, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam describes many incidents in which the Supreme Absolute Truth revealed Himself to His devotee, as in the histories of Prahlāda Mahārāja, Dhruva Mahārāja, Pṛthu Mahārāja, Kardama Muni, the Pāṇḍavas and the gopīs. Therefore, the Vedic assertions that the Absolute Truth is beyond the power of the eyes refer to those who have not received transcendental eyes by the mercy of the Personality of Godhead. But the Lord's own transcendental senses, which are the source of our limited senses, are confirmed in the śruti, as in the following statement from the Kena Upaniṣad (1.4): yad vācānabhyuditaḿ yena vāg abhyudyate/ tad eva brahma tvaḿ viddhi nedaḿ yad idam upāsate. "Brahman, the Absolute, should be understood to be that which cannot be ascertained by the material power of speech; speech itself is evinced by that Supreme Truth." By the statement yena vāg abhyudyate, "our power of speech is expressed by the Absolute Truth," it is clearly expressed that the Absolute Truth has His own transcendental senses. Therefore He is called Hṛṣīkeśa.

Śrīla Nārada Muni has stated, hṛṣīkena hṛṣīkeśa-sevanaḿ bhaktir ucyate [Cc. Madhya 19.170]. Our senses cannot approach the Absolute Truth by their own power, but when engaged in loving devotional service to satisfy the Lord of the senses, our limited senses must become connected with the Lord's unlimited senses, and thus by the Lord's mercy He can be understood.

Śrīla Madhvācārya has quoted the following statement from the Brahma-tarka:

ānando nedṛśānanda

ity ukte lokataḥ param

pratibhāti na cābhāti

yathāvad darśanaḿ vinā

"The transcendental bliss of the Absolute Truth cannot be compared to the ordinary happiness of the material world." Similarly, in the Vedānta-sūtra the Absolute Truth is described as ānandamaya, or full of bliss.

According to Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura, in this verse Śrī Pippalāyana is more or less describing the impersonal feature of the Absolute Truth. The nine Yogendras were themselves devotees of the personal feature of the Lord, so King Nimi asked his question about the different features of the Absolute Truth to clarify that the Personality of Godhead is the source of all the variegated aspects of the advaya-jñāna, or transcendental reality. This is also expressed by the following statement in śruti: taḿ tv aupaniṣadaḿ puruṣaḿ pṛcchāmi. "I am inquiring about that Supreme Person revealed in the Upaniṣads."

If the Absolute Truth were actually inaccessible by words, there would be no meaning to the Vedic literature, which consists of collections of transcendental words. Since the Vedic descriptions of the truth are to be taken as infallible, it is impossible to maintain that the power of speech is in all cases unable to describe the truth. After all, the Vedic mantras themselves are meant to be spoken and heard. Therefore, the injunction that neither the mind nor speech can approach the Absolute Truth (naitan mano viśati vāg uta) cannot be taken as applicable in all cases; rather, it is a warning to those who foolishly try to encompass the Absolute Truth by their own puny speculative powers. Since the Vedic injunctions, either positive or negative, are to be taken as realistic descriptions of the Absolute Truth, the process of hearing and repeating Vedic knowledge (śravaṇaḿ kīrtanaḿ viṣṇoḥ [SB 7.5.23]) can be understood as a separate process in which one's hearing and speaking power becomes spiritualized by submissive reception of transcendental knowledge. This process depends upon one's faith in the bona fide spiritual master, who is a devotee of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore it is stated,

yasya deve parā bhaktir

yathā deve tathā gurau

tasyaite kathitā hy arthāḥ

prakāśante mahātmanaḥ

[ŚU 6.23]

"Only unto those great souls who have implicit faith in both the Lord and the spiritual master are all the imports of Vedic knowledge automatically revealed." (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 6.23) As the Lord Himself states in the Hari-vaḿśa,

tat-paraḿ paramaḿ brahma

sarvaḿ vibhajate jagat

mamaiva tad ghanaḿ tejo

jñātum arhasi bhārata

"That Supreme Truth, Parabrahman, expands itself into all the variegatedness of this universe. You should know it to be My own concentrated effulgence, O Bhārata." The words jñātum arhasi, "you must know it," spoken by the Lord Himself, indicate that the Absolute Truth is to be known, but one must surrender to the truth, rather than waste time in foolish speculation.

Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura has pointed out that according to authorized statements of Vedic literature the Lord's transcendental form is understood to be brahmamaya, or completely spiritual, with no trace of material contamination. Therefore, in such statements as nīlotpala-dala-śyāmam, "the Lord's form is beautifully manifest with the hue of dark blue lotus petals," it is understood that a transcendental dark blue color is being described. Still, the Lord is inconceivably merciful to His devotees, even those on the neophyte platform who are trying to come to the state of love of Godhead. Therefore the Lord gradually purifies the senses of a conditioned soul who is trying to understand Him, and eventually the Lord appears before such a rectified servitor. According to Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura, prākṛta-nīlotpala-varṇatvena bhaktair dhyātam atādṛśam api. In the beginning, being conditioned by previous materialistic activities, a devotee meditating on the Lord's transcendental form may base his meditation on his experience of material forms and colors within this world. The Lord's transcendental form has nothing to do with material forms and colors, but since the object of this meditation is Kṛṣṇa, such meditation will eventually be transformed into transcendental experience of the actual form, color, activities, pastimes and entourage of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In other words, transcendental knowledge depends not on material logic but on the pleasure of the Personality of Godhead. If the Lord is pleased by His devotee's sincere attempt to understand Him, the Lord can immediately circumvent all the so-called technicalities of material logic and Vedic injunctions and reveal Himself to His pure devotee. Unless one accepts this omnipotency of the Personality of Godhead, there is no hope of approaching the Absolute Truth. Therefore it is stated in the Kaṭha Upaniṣad (1.3.12), dṛśyate tv agryayā buddhyā: the Absolute Truth is seen by transcendental intelligence.

Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura has pointed out that knowledge acquired through the interaction of the material senses with the modes of nature is merely hypothetical and not factual. Empirical knowledge deals with our ephemeral experience of the sense objects generated by material nature. For example, there are many wars currently going on because of a false concept of nationalism. Similarly, there is conflict throughout the world, and great world leaders fight like cats and dogs for the economic development of their countries. Thus, material language is used to designate temporary objects perceived by the eyes, nose, tongue, touch and taste. This type of language and experience is useless for approaching the Absolute Truth. But the transcendental sound from the spiritual sky has a completely different effect. We should not foolishly try to use materially concocted language to include the Supreme Personality of Godhead as an object of the material world. The Supreme Lord is completely transcendental and is known as ātma-prakāśa, or self-manifested. Therefore, as stated in the Padma Purāṇa,

ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi

na bhaved grāhyam indriyaiḥ

sevonmukhe hi jihvādau

svayam eva sphuraty adaḥ

[BRS. 1.2.234]

"Material senses cannot appreciate Kṛṣṇa's holy name, form, qualities and pastimes. But when a conditioned soul is awakened to Kṛṣṇa consciousness and renders service by using his tongue to chant the Lord's holy name and taste the remnants of the Lord's food, the tongue is purified, and one gradually comes to understand who Kṛṣṇa really is." If one surrenders to the Supreme Lord, taking shelter at His lotus feet, one's spiritualized senses gradually become empowered to perceive the Lord. Mere empiricism and material logic have a limited jurisdiction within the external energy of the Supreme Lord and cannot apply to those things which are eternal. In this regard, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura has quoted the following verse from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (7.5.32):

naiṣāḿ matis tāvad urukramāńghriḿ

spṛśaty anarthāpagamo yad-arthaḥ

mahīyasām pāda-rajo-'bhiṣekaḿ

niṣkiñcanānāḿ na vṛṇīta yāvat

"Unless they smear upon their bodies the dust of the lotus feet of a Vaiṣṇava completely freed from material contamination, persons very much inclined toward materialistic life cannot be attached to the lotus feet of the Lord, who is glorified for His uncommon activities. Only by becoming Kṛṣṇa conscious and taking shelter at the lotus feet of the Lord in this way can one be freed from material contamination."

Although Śrī Pippalāyana is expressing that the Absolute Truth cannot be approached by material senses, the sage himself is describing the Absolute Truth with transcendental senses, and King Nimi is able to understand this transcendental sound because he has surrendered at the lotus feet of pure devotees, the nava-yogendras. Therefore, one should not foolishly try to understand this verse out of context, in an impersonal way, but should follow the example of King Nimi, who was trying to understand how the Supreme Personality of Godhead is ultimately the source of everything.

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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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