Bhagavad Gita -Srila Prabhupada 451

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

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The Opulence of the Absolute
Chapter 10: Verse-20

aham ätmä Gudakesa sarva-bhütäsaya-sthitah
aham ädis ca madhyam ca bhütänäm anta eva ca [1]

TRANSLATION

I am the Supersoul, O Arjuna, seated in the hearts of all living entities. I am the beginning, the middle and the end of all beings.


PURPORT

In this verse Arjuna is addressed as Gudakesa, which means “one who has conquered the darkness of sleep.” For those who are sleeping in the darkness of ignorance, it is not possible to understand how the Supreme Personality of Godhead manifests Himself in various ways in the material and spiritual worlds. Thus this address by krsna to Arjuna is significant. Because Arjuna is above such darkness, the Personality of Godhead agrees to describe His various opulences.

Krsna first informs Arjuna that He is the soul of the entire cosmic manifestation by dint of His primary expansion. Before the material creation, the Supreme Lord, by His plenary expansion, accepts the purusa incarnations, and from Him everything begins. Therefore He is ätmä, the soul of the mahat-tattva, the universal elements. The total material energy is not the cause of the creation; actually the Mahä-Visnu enters into the mahat-tattva, the total material energy. He is the soul. When Mahä-Visnu enters into the manifested universes, He again manifests Himself as the Supersoul in each and every entity. We have experience that the personal body of the living entity exists due to the presence of the spiritual spark. Without the existence of the spiritual spark, the body cannot develop. Similarly, the material manifestation cannot develop unless the Supreme Soul, Krsna, enters. As stated in the Subala Upanisad, prakrty-ädi-sarva-bhütäntar-yämi sarva-sesi ca näräyanah: “The Supreme Personality of Godhead is existing as the Supersoul in all manifested universes.”

The three puruña-avatäras are described in Srimad-Bhägavatam. They are also described in the Sätvata-tantra. Viñëos tu trini rüpäni purusäkhyäny atho viduù :the Supreme Personality of Godhead manifests three features—as Käranodakasäyi Visnu, Garbhodakasäyi Visnu and Ksirodakasäyi Visnu—in this material manifestation. The Mahä-Visnu, or Käranodakasäyi Visnu, is described in the [2]. Yah käranärnava-jale bhajati sma yoga-nidräm: the Supreme Lord, Krsna, the cause of all causes, lies down in the cosmic ocean as Mahä-Visnu. Therefore the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the beginning of this universe, the maintainer of the universal manifestations, and the end of all energy.

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References

  1. aham=I; ätmä=the soul; Gudakesa=O Arjuna; sarva-bhüta=of all living
    entities; äsaya-sthitah=situated within the heart; aham=I am; ädih=the origin; ca=also; madhyam=middle; ca=also; bhütänäm=of all living entities; antah=end; eva=certainly; ca—and.
  2. Brahma-samhitä 5.47

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