सत्यः स्वयंज्योतिरजः पुराणः ।
धत्तेऽस्य जन्माद्यजयात्मशक्त्या
तां विद्ययोदस्य निरीह आस्ते ॥१३॥
sa viÅ›va-kÄyaḥ puru-hÅ«ta-Ä«Å›aḥ
satyaḥ svayaá¹-jyotir ajaḥ purÄṇaḥ
dhatte 'sya janmÄdy-ajayÄtma-Å›aktyÄ
tÄá¹ vidyayodasya nirÄ«ha Äste
1 times this text was mentioned in purports to other texts: MM(1)
saḥ - that Supreme Personality of Godhead; viÅ›va-kÄyaḥ - the total form of the universe (the whole universe is the external body of the Supreme Personality of Godhead); puru-hÅ«taḥ - known by so many names; Ä«Å›aḥ - the supreme controller (with full power); satyaḥ - the ultimate truth; svayam - personally; jyotiḥ - self-effulgent; ajaḥ - unborn, beginningless; purÄṇaḥ - the oldest; dhatte - He performs; asya - of this universe; janma-Ädi - the creation, maintenance and annihilation; ajayÄ - by His external energy; Ätma-Å›aktyÄ - by His personal potency; tÄm - that external material energy; vidyayÄ - by His spiritual potency; udasya - giving up; nirÄ«haḥ - without any desire or activity; Äste - He is existing (untouched by the material energy).
The entire cosmic manifestation is the body of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Absolute Truth, who has millions of names and unlimited potencies. He is self-effulgent, unborn and changeless. He is the beginning of everything, but He has no beginning. Because He has created this cosmic manifestation by His external energy, the universe appears to be created, maintained and annihilated by Him. Nonetheless, He remains inactive in His spiritual energy and is untouched by the activities of the material energy.
ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu says in His Åšiká¹£Äá¹£á¹aka, nÄmnÄm akÄri bahudhÄ nija-sarva-Å›aktiḥ: the Supreme Personality of Godhead has many names, which are all nondifferent from the Supreme Person. This is spiritual existence. By chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahÄ-mantra, consisting of names of the Supreme Lord, we find that the name has all the potencies of the person. The Lord’s activities are many, and according to His activities He has many names. He appeared as the son of mother YaÅ›odÄ, and also as the son of mother DevakÄ«, and therefore He is named DevakÄ«-nandana and YaÅ›odÄ-nandana. ParÄsya Å›aktir vividhaiva Å›rÅ«yate: the Lord has a multitude of energies, and therefore He acts in multifarious ways. Yet He has a particular name. The Å›Ästras recommend which names we should chant, such as Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare. It is not that we have to search for some name or manufacture one. Rather, we must follow the saintly persons and the Å›Ästras in chanting His holy name.
Although the material and spiritual energies both belong to the Lord, He is impossible to understand as long as we are in the material energy. And when we come to the spiritual energy, He is very easy to know. As stated in ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam (1.7.23): mÄyÄá¹ vyudasya cic-chaktyÄ kaivalye sthita Ätmani. Although the external energy belongs to the Lord, when one is in the external energy (mama mÄyÄ duratyayÄ) He is very difficult to understand. However, when one comes to the spiritual energy, one can understand Him. Therefore in Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (18.55) it is said, bhaktyÄ mÄm abhijÄnÄti yÄvÄn yaÅ› cÄsmi tattvataḥ: one who wants to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead in reality must take to the platform of bhakti, or Kṛṣṇa consciousness. This bhakti consists of various activities (Å›ravaṇaá¹ kÄ«rtanaá¹ viṣṇoḥ smaraṇaá¹ pÄda-sevanam/ arcanaá¹ vandanaá¹ dÄsyaá¹ sakhyam Ätma-nivedanam), and to understand the Lord one must take to this path of devotional service. Even though the people of the world have forgotten God and may say that God is dead, this is not a fact. One can understand God when one takes to the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, and thus one can be happy.
