Bhagavad Gita -Srila Prabhupada 341

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

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Knowledge of the Absolute
Chapter 7: Verse-24

avyaktam vyaktim äpannam manyante mäm abuddhayah
param bhävam ajänanto mamävyayam anuttamam[1]

TRANSLATION

Unintelligent men, who do not know Me perfectly, think that I, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna, was impersonal before and have now assumed this personality. Due to their small knowledge, they do not know My higher nature, which is imperishable and supreme.

PURPORT

Those who are worshipers of demigods have been described as less intelligent persons, and here the impersonalists are similarly described. Lord Krsna in His personal form is here speaking before Arjuna, and still, due to ignorance, impersonalists argue that the Supreme Lord ultimately has no form. Yämunäcärya, a great devotee of the Lord in the disciplic succession of Rämänujäcärya, has written two very appropriate verses in this connection.He says,

tväm sila-rüpa-caritaih parama-prakrstaih
sattvena sättvikatayä prabalais ca sästraih
prakhyäta-daiva-paramärtha-vidäm matais ca
naiväsura-prakrtayah prabhavanti boddhum

“My dear Lord, devotees like Vyäsadeva and Närada know You to be the Personality of Godhead. By understanding different Vedic literatures, one can come to know Your characteristics, Your form and Your activities, and one can thus understand that You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead. But those who are in the modes of passion and ignorance, the demons, the nondevotees, cannot understand You. They are unable to understand You. However expert such nondevotees may be in discussing Vedänta and the Upanisads and other Vedic literatures, it is not possible for them to understand the Personality of Godhead.” Stotra-ratna [2] In the Brahma-samhitä it is stated that the Personality of Godhead cannot be understood simply by study of the Vedänta literature. Only by the mercy of the Supreme Lord can the Personality of the Supreme be known. Therefore in this verse it is clearly stated that not only are the worshipers of the demigods less intelligent, but those nondevotees who are engaged in Vedänta and speculation on Vedic literature without any tinge of true krsna consciousness are also less intelligent, and for them it is not possible to understand God’s personal nature. Persons who are under the impression that the Absolute Truth is impersonal are described as abuddhayah, which means those who do not know the ultimate feature of the Absolute Truth.

In the Srimad-Bhägavatam it is stated that supreme realization begins from the impersonal Brahman and then rises to the localized Supersoul—but the ultimate word in the Absolute Truth is the Personality of Godhead. Modern impersonalists are still less intelligent, for they do not even follow their great predecessor Sankaräcärya, who has specifically stated that krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Impersonalists, therefore, not knowing the Supreme Truth, think krsna to be only the son of Devaki and Vasudeva, or a prince, or a powerful living entity. This is also condemned in the Bhagavad-gita[3]. Avajänanti mäm müdhä mänusim tanum äsritam: “Only the fools regard Me as an ordinary person.”



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References

  1. avyaktam=nonmanifested; vyaktim=personality; äpannam=achieved; manyante=think; mäm=Me; abuddhayah=less intelligent persons; param=supreme; bhävam=existence; ajänantah=without knowing; mama=My
    avyayam=imperishable; anuttamam=the finest.
  2. 12
  3. 9.11

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