सर्वेषामपि भूतानां हरिरात्मात्मदः प्रियः ॥१३॥
Å›reyasÄm api sarveá¹£Äm
ÄtmÄ hy avadhir arthataḥ
sarveá¹£Äm api bhÅ«tÄnÄá¹
harir ÄtmÄtmadaḥ priyaḥ
Å›reyasÄm - of auspicious activities; api - certainly; sarveá¹£Äm - all; ÄtmÄ - the self; hi - certainly; avadhiḥ - destination; arthataḥ - factually; sarveá¹£Äm - of all; api - certainly; bhÅ«tÄnÄm - living entities; hariḥ - the Supreme Personality of Godhead; ÄtmÄ - the Supersoul; Ätma-daḥ - who can give us our original identity; priyaḥ - very dear.
Factually the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the original source of all self-realization. Consequently, the goal of all auspicious activities — karma, jñÄna, yoga and bhakti — is the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
The living entity is the marginal energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and the material world is the external energy. Under the circumstances, one must understand that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is factually the original source of both matter and spirit. This is explained in the Seventh Chapter of Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (7.4-5):
bhÅ«mir Äpo ’nalo vÄyuḥ
khaá¹ mano buddhir eva ca
ahaá¹…kÄra itÄ«yaá¹ me
bhinnÄ praká¹›tir aá¹£á¹adhÄ
apareyam itas tv anyÄá¹
praká¹›tiá¹ viddhi me parÄm
jÄ«va-bhÅ«tÄá¹ mahÄ-bÄho
yayedaá¹ dhÄryate jagat
“Earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence and false ego — all together these eight comprise My separated material energies. But besides this inferior nature, O mighty-armed Arjuna, there is a superior energy of Mine, which consists of all living entities who are struggling with material nature and are sustaining the universe.â€
The entire cosmic manifestation is but a combination of matter and spirit. The spiritual part is the living entity, and these living entities are described as prakṛti, or energy. The living entity is never described as puruṣa, the Supreme Person; therefore to identify the living entity with the Supreme Lord is simply ignorance. The living entity is the marginal potency of the Supreme Lord, although there is factually no difference between the energy and the energetic. The duty of the living entity is to understand his real identity. When he does, Kṛṣṇa gives him all the facilities to come to the platform of devotional service. That is the perfection of life. This is indicated in the Vedic Upaniṣad:
yam evaiṣa vṛṇute tena labhyas
tasyaiá¹£a ÄtmÄ vivṛṇute tanÅ«á¹ svÄm
Lord Kṛṣṇa confirms this in Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (10.10):
teá¹£Äá¹ satata-yuktÄnÄá¹
bhajatÄá¹ prÄ«ti-pÅ«rvakam
dadÄmi buddhi-yogaá¹ taá¹
yena mÄm upayÄnti te
“To those who are constantly devoted and worship Me with love, I give the understanding by which they can come to Me.†The conclusion is that one must come to the platform of bhakti-yoga, even though one may begin with karma-yoga, jñÄna-yoga or aá¹£á¹Äá¹…ga-yoga. Unless one comes to the platform of bhakti-yoga, self-realization or realization of the Absolute Truth cannot be achieved.
