न पश्यति त्वां परमात्मनोऽजनो
न बुध्यतेऽद्यापि समाधियुक्तिभिः ।
कुतोऽपरे तस्य मनःशरीरधी
विसर्गसृष्टा वयमप्रकाशाः ॥२१॥
amÅ›umÄn uvÄca
na paÅ›yati tvÄá¹ param Ätmano 'jano
na budhyate 'dyÄpi samÄdhi-yuktibhiḥ
kuto 'pare tasya manaḥ-śarīra-dhī-
visarga-sṛṣá¹Ä vayam aprakÄÅ›Äḥ
amÅ›umÄn uvÄca - AmÅ›umÄn said; na - not; paÅ›yati - can see; tvÄm - Your Lordship; param - transcendental; Ätmanaḥ - of us living beings; ajanaḥ - Lord BrahmÄ; na - not; budhyate - can understand; adya api - even today; samÄdhi - by meditation; yuktibhiḥ - or by mental speculation; kutaḥ - how; apare - others; tasya - his; manaḥ-Å›arÄ«ra-dhÄ« - who consider the body or mind to be the self; visarga-sṛṣá¹Äḥ - created beings within the material world; vayam - we; aprakÄÅ›Äḥ - without transcendental knowledge.
Aá¹Å›umÄn said: My Lord, even Lord BrahmÄ is to this very day unable to understand Your position, which is far beyond himself, either by meditation or by mental speculation. So what to speak of others like us, who have been created by BrahmÄ in various forms as demigods, animals, human beings, birds and beasts? We are completely in ignorance. Therefore, how can we know You, who are the Transcendence?
icchÄ-dveá¹£a-samutthena
dvandva-mohena bhÄrata
sarva-bhÅ«tÄni sammohaá¹
sarge yÄnti parantapa
“O scion of Bharata [Arjuna], O conqueror of the foe, all living entities are born into delusion, overcome by the dualities of desire and hate.†(Bg. 7.27) All living beings in the material world are influenced by the three modes of material nature. Even Lord BrahmÄ is in the mode of goodness. Similarly, the demigods are generally in the mode of passion, and living entities lower than the demigods, such as human beings and animals, are in the mode of ignorance, or in mixed goodness, passion and ignorance. Therefore Aá¹Å›umÄn wanted to explain that because his uncles, who had burnt to ashes, were under the modes of material nature, they could not understand Lord Kapiladeva. “Because You are beyond even the direct and indirect intelligence of Lord BrahmÄ,†he prayed, “unless we are enlightened by Your Lordship it will not be possible for us to understand You.â€
athÄpi te deva padÄmbuja-dvaya-
prasÄda-leÅ›Änugá¹›hÄ«ta eva hi
jÄnÄti tattvaá¹ bhagavan-mahimno
na cÄnya eko ’pi ciraá¹ vicinvan
“My Lord, if one is favored by even a slight trace of the mercy of Your lotus feet, he can understand the greatness of Your personality. But those who speculate to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead are unable to know You, even though they continue to study the Vedas for many years.†(BhÄg. 10.14.29) The Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, can be understood by one who is favored by the Lord; the Lord cannot be understood by others.
