sama-viá¹£ama-matÄ«nÄá¹ matam anusarasi yathÄ rajju-khaṇá¸aḥ sarpÄdi-dhiyÄm
sama - equal or proper; viá¹£ama - and unequal or mistaken; matÄ«nÄm - of those having intelligence; matam - conclusion; anusarasi - You follow; yathÄ - just as; rajju-khaṇá¸aḥ - a piece of rope; sarpa-Ädi - a snake, etc.; dhiyÄm - of those who perceive.
A rope causes fear for a bewildered person who considers it a snake, but not for a person with proper intelligence who knows it to be only a rope. Similarly, You, as the Supersoul in everyone’s heart, inspire fear or fearlessness according to one’s intelligence, but in You there is no duality.
In Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (4.11) the Lord says, ye yathÄ mÄá¹ prapadyante tÄá¹s tathaiva bhajÄmy aham: “As one surrenders unto Me, I reward him accordingly.†The Supreme Personality of Godhead is the reservoir of everything, including all knowledge, all truth and all contradictions. The example cited herein is very appropriate. A rope is one truth, but some mistake it for a snake, whereas others know it to be a rope. Similarly, devotees who know the Supreme Personality of Godhead do not see contradictions in Him, but nondevotees regard Him as the snakelike source of all fear. For example, when Ná¹›siá¹hadeva appeared, PrahlÄda MahÄrÄja saw the Lord as the supreme solace, whereas his father, a demon, saw Him as the ultimate death. As stated in ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam (11.2.37), bhayaá¹ dvitÄ«yÄbhiniveÅ›ataḥ syÄt: fear results from being absorbed in duality. When one is in knowledge of duality, one knows both fear and bliss. The same Supreme Lord is a source of bliss to devotees and fear to nondevotees who have a poor fund of knowledge. God is one, but people understand the Absolute Truth from different angles of vision. The unintelligent see contradictions in Him, but sober devotees find no contradictions.
