Canto 6: Prescribed Duties for MankindChapter 9: Appearance of the Demon Vṛtrāsura

Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.9.25

ya eka īśo nija-māyayā naḥ

sasarja yenānusṛjāma viśvam

vayaḿ na yasyāpi puraḥ samīhataḥ

paśyāma lińgaḿ pṛthag īśa-māninaḥ

SYNONYMS

yaḥ — He who; ekaḥ — one; īśaḥ — controller; nija-māyayā — by His transcendental potency; naḥ — us; sasarja — created; yena — by whom (through whose mercy); anusṛjāma — we also create; viśvam — the universe; vayam — we; na — not; yasya — of whom; api — although; puraḥ — in front of us; samīhataḥ — of Him who is acting; paśyāma — see; lińgam — the form; pṛthak — separate; īśa — as controllers; māninaḥ — thinking of ourselves.

TRANSLATION

The Supreme Personality of Godhead, who created us by His external potency and by whose mercy we expand the creation of the universe, is always situated before us as the Supersoul, but we cannot see His form. We are unable to see Him because all of us think that we are separate and independent gods.

PURPORT

Here is an explanation of why the conditioned soul cannot see the Supreme Personality of Godhead face to face. Even though the Lord appears before us as Lord Kṛṣṇa or Lord Rāmacandra and lives in human society as a leader or king, the conditioned soul cannot understand Him. Avajānanti māḿ mūḍhā mānuṣīḿ tanum āśritam: [Bg. 9.11] rascals (mūḍhas) deride the Supreme Personality of Godhead, thinking Him an ordinary human being. However insignificant we are, we think that we are also God, that we can create a universe or that we can create another God. This is why we cannot see or understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In this regard, Śrīla Madhvācārya says:

lińgam eva paśyāmaḥ

kadācid abhimānas tu

devānām api sann iva

prāyaḥ kāleṣu nāsty eva

tāratamyena so 'pi tu

We are all conditioned to various degrees, but we think that we are God. This is why we cannot understand who God is or see Him face to face.

<<< >>>

Buy Online Copyright © The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International, Inc.
His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness