nÄhaá¹ parÄyur ṛṣayo na marÄ«ci-mukhyÄ
jÄnanti yad-viracitaá¹ khalu sattva-sargÄḥ
yan-mÄyayÄ muá¹£ita-cetasa īśa daitya-
martyÄdayaḥ kim uta Å›aÅ›vad-abhadra-vá¹›ttÄḥ
na - neither; aham - I; para-Äyuḥ - that personality who lives for millions and millions of years (Lord BrahmÄ); ṛṣayaḥ - the seven ṛṣis of the seven planets; na - nor; marÄ«ci-mukhyÄḥ - headed by MarÄ«ci Ṛṣi; jÄnanti - know; yat - by whom (the Supreme Lord); viracitam - this universe, which has been created; khalu - indeed; sattva-sargÄḥ - although born in the mode of material goodness; yat-mÄyayÄ - by the influence of whose energy; muá¹£ita-cetasaḥ - their hearts are bewildered; īśa - O my Lord; daitya - the demons; martya-Ädayaḥ - the human beings and others; kim uta - what to speak of; Å›aÅ›vat - always; abhadra-vá¹›ttÄḥ - influenced by the base qualities of material nature.
Factually speaking, even those who are situated in the material mode of goodness cannot understand the position of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. What then is to be said of those who are situated in rajo-guṇa and tamo-guṇa, the base qualities of material nature? How can we even imagine the Supreme Personality of Godhead? There are so many philosophers trying to understand the Absolute Truth, but since they are situated in the base qualities of material nature and are addicted to so many bad habits, like drinking, meat-eating, illicit sex and gambling, how can they conceive of the Supreme Personality of Godhead? For them it is impossible. For the present day, the pÄñcarÄtrikÄ«-vidhi as enunciated by NÄrada Muni is the only hope. ÅšrÄ«la RÅ«pa GosvÄmÄ«, therefore, has quoted the following verse from the Brahma-yÄmala:
Å›ruti-smá¹›ti-purÄṇÄdi-
pañcarÄtra-vidhiá¹ vinÄ
aikÄntikÄ« harer bhaktir
utpÄtÄyaiva kalpate
“Devotional service of the Lord that ignores the authorized Vedic literatures like the Upaniá¹£ads, PurÄṇas and NÄrada-pañcarÄtra is simply an unnecessary disturbance in society.†(Bhakti-rasÄmá¹›ta-sindhu 1.2.101) Those who are very advanced in knowledge and are situated in the mode of goodness follow the Vedic instructions of the Å›ruti and smá¹›ti and other religious scriptures, including the pÄñcarÄtrikÄ«-vidhi. Without understanding the Supreme Personality of Godhead in this way, one only creates a disturbance. In this Age of Kali, so many gurus have sprung up, and because they do not refer to the Å›ruti-smá¹›ti-purÄṇÄdi-pÄñcarÄtrika-vidhi, they are creating a great disturbance in the world in regard to understanding the Absolute Truth. However, those who follow the pÄñcarÄtrikÄ«-vidhi under the guidance of a proper spiritual master can understand the Absolute Truth. It is said, pañcarÄtrasya ká¹›tsnasya vaktÄ tu bhagavÄn svayam: the pañcarÄtra system is spoken by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, just like Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ. VÄsudeva-Å›araá¹‡Ä vidur añjasaiva: the truth can be understood only by one who has taken shelter of the lotus feet of VÄsudeva.
bahÅ«nÄá¹ janmanÄm ante
jñÄnavÄn mÄá¹ prapadyate
vÄsudevaḥ sarvam iti
sa mahÄtmÄ sudurlabhaḥ
“After many births and deaths, he who is actually in knowledge surrenders unto Me, knowing Me to be the cause of all causes and all that is. Such a great soul is very rare.†(Bg. 7.19) Only those who have surrendered to the lotus feet of VÄsudeva can understand the Absolute Truth.
vÄsudeve bhagavati
bhakti-yogaḥ prayojitaḥ
janayaty ÄÅ›u vairÄgyaá¹
jñÄnaá¹ ca yad ahaitukam
“By rendering devotional service unto the Personality of Godhead, ÅšrÄ« Kṛṣṇa, one immediately acquires causeless knowledge and detachment from the world.†(BhÄg. 1.2.7) Therefore, VÄsudeva, BhagavÄn ÅšrÄ« Kṛṣṇa, personally teaches in Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ:
sarva-dharmÄn parityajya
mÄm ekaá¹ Å›araṇaá¹ vraja
“Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me.†(Bg. 18.66)
bhaktyÄ mÄm abhijÄnÄti
yÄvÄn yaÅ› cÄsmi tattvataḥ
“One can understand the Supreme Personality as He is only by devotional service.†(Bg. 18.55) The Supreme Personality of Godhead is not properly understood even by Lord Åšiva or Lord BrahmÄ, what to speak of others, but He can be understood by the process of bhakti-yoga.
mayy Äsakta-manÄḥ pÄrtha
yogaá¹ yuñjan mad-ÄÅ›rayaḥ
asaá¹Å›ayaá¹ samagraá¹ mÄá¹
yathÄ jñÄsyasi tac chṛṇu
(Bg. 9.7)
If one practices bhakti-yoga by taking shelter of VÄsudeva, Kṛṣṇa, simply by hearing VÄsudeva speak about Himself, one can understand everything about Him. Indeed, one can understand Him completely (samagram).