कूटस्थमादिपुरुषं जगतामधीशम् ।
यत्सत्त्वतः सुरगणा रजसः प्रजेशा
मन्योश्च भूतपतयः स भवान् गुणेशः ॥१४॥
na tvÄá¹ vayaá¹ jaá¸a-dhiyo nu vidÄma bhÅ«man
kÅ«á¹a-stham Ädi-puruá¹£aá¹ jagatÄm adhÄ«Å›am
yat-sattvataḥ sura-gaá¹‡Ä rajasaḥ prajeÅ›Ä
manyoÅ› ca bhÅ«ta-patayaḥ sa bhavÄn guṇeÅ›aḥ
na - not; tvÄm - Your Lordship; vayam - we; jaá¸a-dhiyaḥ - dull-minded, possessing blunt intelligence; nu - indeed; vidÄmaḥ - can know; bhÅ«man - O Supreme; kÅ«á¹a-stham - within the core of the heart; Ädi-puruá¹£am - the original Personality of Godhead; jagatÄm - of the universes, which progressively go on; adhÄ«Å›am - the supreme master; yat - fixed under Your direction; sattvataḥ - infatuated with sattva-guṇa; sura-gaṇÄḥ - such demigods; rajasaḥ - infatuated with rajo-guṇa; prajÄ-Ä«Å›Äḥ - the PrajÄpatis; manyoḥ - influenced by tamo-guṇa; ca - and; bhÅ«ta-patayaḥ - rulers of ghosts; saḥ - such a personality; bhavÄn - Your Lordship; guṇa-Ä«Å›aḥ - the master of all three modes of material nature.
O all-pervading Supreme Person, we are dull-minded and did not understand who You are, but now we understand that You are the Supreme Person, the master of the entire universe, the unchanging and original Personality of Godhead. The demigods are infatuated with the mode of goodness, the PrajÄpatis with the mode of passion, and the lord of ghosts with the mode of ignorance, but You are the master of all these qualities.
The word jaá¸a-dhiyaḥ refers to intelligence like that of an animal. A person with such intelligence cannot understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Without being beaten, an animal cannot understand the purpose of a man. Similarly, those who are dull-minded cannot understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but when punished severely by the modes of material nature, they begin to understand Him. A Hindi poet has said:
duḥkha se saba hari bhaje
sukha se bhaje koī
sukha se agar hari bhaje
duḥkha kÄthÄá¹… se haya
When one is distressed he goes to the church or temple to worship the Lord, but when opulent he forgets the Lord. Therefore, punishment by the Lord through material nature is necessary in human society, for without it men forget the supremacy of the Lord due to their dull, blunt intelligence.
