अर्हसि मुहुरर्हत्तमार्हणमस्माकमनुपथानां नमो नम इत्येतावत्सदुपशिक्षितं
को ऽर्हति पुमान् प्रकृतिगुणव्यतिकरमतिरनीश ईश्वरस्य परस्य प्रकृतिपुरुषयो
रर्वाक्तनाभिर्नामरूपाकृतिभी रूपनिरूपणम् ॥४॥ सकलजननिकायवृजिन
निरसनशिवतमप्रवरगुणगणैकदेशकथनादृते ॥५॥
ṛtvija ūcuḥ
arhasi muhur arhattamÄrhaṇam asmÄkam anupathÄnÄá¹ namo nama ity etÄvat sad-upaÅ›iká¹£itaá¹ ko 'rhati pumÄn praká¹›ti-guṇa-vyatikara-matir anÄ«Å›a Ä«Å›varasya parasya praká¹›ti-puruá¹£ayor arvÄktanÄbhir nÄma-rÅ«pÄká¹›tibhÄ« rÅ«pa-nirÅ«paṇam; sakala-jana-nikÄya-vá¹›jina-nirasana-Å›ivatama-pravara-guṇa-gaṇaika-deÅ›a-kathanÄd á¹›te
á¹›tvijaḥ Å«cuḥ - the priests said; arhasi - please (accept); muhuḥ - again and again; arhat-tama - O most exalted, worshipable person; arhaṇam - offering of worship; asmÄkam - of us; anupathÄnÄm - who are Your servants; namaḥ - respectful obeisances; namaḥ - respectful obeisances; iti - thus; etÄvat - so far; sat - by exalted personalities; upaÅ›iká¹£itam - instructed; kaḥ - what; arhati - is able (to make); pumÄn - man; praká¹›ti - of material nature; guṇa - of the modes; vyatikara - in the transformations; matiḥ - whose mind (is absorbed); anÄ«Å›aḥ - who is most incapable; Ä«Å›varasya - of the Supreme Personality of Godhead; parasya - beyond; praká¹›ti-puruá¹£ayoḥ - the jurisdiction of the three modes of material nature; arvÄktanÄbhiḥ - which do not reach up to, or which are of this material world; nÄma-rÅ«pa-Äká¹›tibhiḥ - by names, forms and qualities; rÅ«pa - of Your nature or position; nirÅ«paṇam - ascertainment, perception; sakala - all; jana-nikÄya - of mankind; vá¹›jina - sinful actions; nirasana - which wipe out; Å›ivatama - most auspicious; pravara - excellent; guṇa-gaṇa - of the transcendental qualities; eka-deÅ›a - one part; kathanÄt - by speaking; á¹›te - except.
The priests began to offer prayers to the Lord, saying: O most worshipable one, we are simply Your servants. Although You are full in Yourself, please, out of Your causeless mercy, accept a little service from us, Your eternal servants. We are not actually aware of Your transcendental form, but we can simply offer our respectful obeisances again and again, as instructed by the Vedic literatures and authorized ÄcÄryas. Materialistic living entities are very much attracted to the modes of material nature, and therefore they are never perfect, but You are above the jurisdiction of all material conceptions. Your name, form and qualities are all transcendental and beyond the conception of experimental knowledge. Indeed, who can conceive of You? In the material world we can perceive only material names and qualities. We have no other power than to offer our respectful obeisances and prayers unto You, the transcendental person. The chanting of Your auspicious transcendental qualities will wipe out the sins of all mankind. That is the most auspicious activity for us, and we can thus partially understand Your supernatural position.
The Supreme Personality of Godhead has nothing to do with material perception. Even the impersonalist Åšaá¹…karÄcÄrya says, nÄrÄyaṇaḥ paro ’vyaktÄt: “NÄrÄyaṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is beyond the material conception.†We cannot concoct the form and attributes of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. We must simply accept the description given in Vedic literatures about the Lord’s form and activities. As stated in Brahma-saá¹hitÄ (5.29):
cintÄmaṇi-prakara-sadmasu kalpa-vá¹›ká¹£a-
laká¹£Ävá¹›teá¹£u surabhÄ«r abhipÄlayantam
laká¹£mÄ«-sahasra-Å›ata-sambhrama-sevyamÄnaá¹
govindam Ädi-puruá¹£aá¹ tam ahaá¹ bhajÄmi
“I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, the first progenitor, who is tending the cows, yielding all desires, in abodes built with spiritual gems and surrounded by millions of purpose trees. He is always served with great reverence and affection by hundreds and thousands of goddesses of fortune.†We can have some conception of the Absolute Truth, His form and His attributes simply by reading the descriptions given in Vedic literatures and authoritative statements given by exalted personalities like BrahmÄ, NÄrada, Åšukadeva GosvÄmÄ« and others. ÅšrÄ«la RÅ«pa GosvÄmÄ« says, ataḥ Å›rÄ«-kṛṣṇa-nÄmÄdi na bhaved grÄhyam indriyaiḥ: “We cannot conceive the name, form and qualities of ÅšrÄ« Kṛṣṇa through our material senses.†Because of this, other names for the Lord are adhoká¹£aja and aprÄká¹›ta, which indicate that He is beyond any material senses. Out of His causeless mercy upon His devotees, the Lord appeared before MahÄrÄja NÄbhi. Similarly, when we are engaged in the Lord’s devotional service, the Lord reveals Himself to us. Sevonmukhe hi jihvÄdau svayam eva sphuraty adaḥ. This is the only way to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead. As confirmed in Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ, bhaktyÄ mÄm abhijÄnÄti yÄvÄn yaÅ› cÄsmi tattvataḥ: one can understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead through devotional service. There is no other way. We have to hear from the authorities and from the Å›Ästras and consider the Supreme Lord in terms of their statements. We cannot imagine or concoct forms and attributes of the Lord.
