Bhagavad Gita -Srila Prabhupada 335

Shrimad Bhagavad Gita As It Is -Shri Shrimad A.C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

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Knowledge of the Absolute
Chapter 7: Verse-19

bahünäm janmanäm ante jnänavän mäm prapadyate
väsudevah sarvam iti sa mahätmä su-durlabhah[1]


TRANSLATION

After many births and deaths, he who is actually in knowledge surrenders unto Me, knowing Me to be the cause of all causes and all that is. Such a great soul is very rare.


PURPORT

The living entity, while executing devotional service or transcendental rituals after many, many births, may actually become situated in transcendental pure knowledge that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the ultimate goal of spiritual realization. In the beginning of spiritual realization, while one is trying to give up one’s attachment to materialism, there is some leaning towards impersonalism, but when one is further advanced he can understand that there are activities in the spiritual life and that these activities constitute devotional service. Realizing this, he becomes attached to the Supreme Personality of Godhead and surrenders to Him. At such a time one can understand that Lord Krsna’s mercy is everything, that He is the cause of all causes and that this material manifestation is not independent from Him. He realizes the material world to be a perverted reflection of spiritual variegatedness and realizes that in everything there is a relationship with the Supreme Lord Krsna. Thus he thinks of everything in relation to Väsudeva, or Krsna. Such a universal vision of Väsudeva precipitates one’s full surrender to the Supreme Lord Krsna as the highest goal. Such surrendered great souls are very rare. This verse is very nicely explained in the Third Chapter verses [2]of the Svetäsvatara Upanisad:

sahasra-sirsä purusah sahasräksah sahasra-pät
sa bhümim visvato vrtvä- tyätisthad dasängulam
purusa evedam sarvam yad bhütam yac ca bhavyam
utämrtatvasyesäno yad annenätirohati

In the Chändogya[3] it is said, na vai väco na caksümsi na sroträni na manämsity äcaksate präna iti eväcaksate präno hy evaitäni sarväni bhavanti: “In the body of a living being neither the power to speak, nor the power to see, nor the power to hear, nor the power to think is the prime factor; it is life which is the center of all activities.” Similarly Lord Väsudeva, or the Personality of Godhead, Lord Krsna, is the prime entity in everything. In this body there are powers of speaking, of seeing, of hearing, of mental activities, etc. But these are not important if not related to the Supreme Lord. And because Väsudeva is all-pervading and everything is Väsudeva, the devotee surrenders in full knowledge cf. [4]


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References

  1. bahünäm=many; janmanäm=repeated births and deaths; ante=after; jnäna-vän=one who is in full knowledge; mäm=unto Me; prapadyate=surrenders; väsudevah=the Personality of Godhead, Krsna; sarvam=everything; iti=thus; sah=that; mahä-ätmä=great soul; su-durlabhah=very rare to see.
  2. 14 and 15
  3. Upanisad 5.1.15
  4. Bhagavad-gita 7.17 and 11.40

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