स्तुतिमब्रूत दैवीभिर्गीर्भिस्त्ववहितेन्द्रियः ॥२५॥
tatrÄdṛṣá¹a-svarÅ«pÄya
Å›ruta-pÅ«rvÄya vai prabhuḥ
stutim abrūta daivībhir
gīrbhis tv avahitendriyaḥ
tatra - there (at the Lord's abode known as ÅšvetadvÄ«pa); adṛṣá¹a-svarÅ«pÄya - unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who was not seen even by Lord BrahmÄ; Å›ruta-pÅ«rvÄya - but who was heard about from the Vedas; vai - indeed; prabhuḥ - Lord BrahmÄ; stutim - prayers derived from Vedic literature; abrÅ«ta - performed; daivÄ«bhiḥ - by prayers mentioned in the Vedic literature or offered by persons strictly following Vedic principles; gÄ«rbhiḥ - by such sound vibrations or songs; tu - then; avahita-indriyaḥ - fixed in mind, without deviation.
There [at ÅšvetadvÄ«pa], Lord BrahmÄ offered prayers to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, even though he had never seen the Supreme Lord. Simply because Lord BrahmÄ had heard about the Supreme Personality of Godhead from Vedic literature, with a fixed mind he offered the Lord prayers as written or approved by Vedic literature.
It is said that when BrahmÄ and the other demigods go to see the Supreme Personality of Godhead in ÅšvetadvÄ«pa, they cannot directly see Him, but their prayers are heard by the Lord, and the needful action is taken. This we have seen in many instances. The word Å›ruta-pÅ«rvÄya is significant. We get experience by directly seeing or by hearing. If it is not possible to see someone directly, we can hear about him from authentic sources. Sometimes people ask whether we can show them God. This is ludicrous. It is not necessary for one to see God before he can accept God. Our sensory perception is always incomplete. Therefore, even if we see God, we may not be able to understand Him. When Kṛṣṇa was on earth, many, many people saw Him but could not understand that He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. AvajÄnanti mÄá¹ mÅ«á¸hÄ mÄnuṣīṠtanum ÄÅ›ritam. Even though the rascals and fools saw Kṛṣṇa personally, they could not understand that He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Even upon seeing God personally, one who is unfortunate cannot understand Him. Therefore we have to hear about God, Kṛṣṇa, from the authentic Vedic literature and from persons who understand the Vedic version properly. Even though BrahmÄ had not seen the Supreme Personality of Godhead before, he was confident that the Lord was there in ÅšvetadvÄ«pa. Thus he took the opportunity to go there and offer prayers to the Lord.
These prayers were not ordinary concocted prayers. Prayers must be approved by Vedic literature, as indicated in this verse by the words daivÄ«bhir gÄ«rbhiḥ. In our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement we do not allow any song that has not been approved or sung by bona fide devotees. We cannot allow cinema songs to be sung in the temple. We generally sing two songs. One is Å›rÄ«-kṛṣṇa-caitanya prabhu nityÄnanda Å›rÄ«-advaita gadÄdhara Å›rÄ«vÄsÄdi-gaura-bhakta-vá¹›nda. This is bona fide. It is always mentioned in the Caitanya-caritÄmá¹›ta, and it is accepted by the ÄcÄryas. The other, of course, is the mahÄ-mantra — Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare RÄma, Hare RÄma, RÄma RÄma, Hare Hare. We may also sing the songs of Narottama dÄsa ṬhÄkura, Bhaktivinoda ṬhÄkura and Locana dÄsa ṬhÄkura, but these two songs — “śrÄ«-kṛṣṇa-caitanya†and the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahÄ-mantra — are sufficient to please the Supreme Personality of Godhead, although we cannot see Him. Seeing the Lord is not as important as appreciating Him from the authentic literature or the authentic statements of authorized persons.
