ime vayaá¹ yat-priyayaiva tanvÄ
sattvena sṛṣá¹Ä bahir-antar-Äviḥ
gatiá¹ na sÅ«ká¹£mÄm ṛṣayaÅ› ca vidmahe
kuto 'surÄdyÄ itara-pradhÄnÄḥ
ime - these; vayam - we (the demigods); yat - to whom; priyayÄ - appearing very near and dear; eva - certainly; tanvÄ - the material body; sattvena - by the mode of goodness; sṛṣá¹Äḥ - created; bahiḥ-antaḥ-Äviḥ - although fully aware, internally and externally; gatim - destination; na - not; sÅ«ká¹£mÄm - very subtle; ṛṣayaḥ - great saintly persons; ca - also; vidmahe - understand; kutaḥ - how; asura-ÄdyÄḥ - the demons and atheists; itara - who are insignificant in their identities; pradhÄnÄḥ - although they are leaders of their own societies.
Atheists and demons cannot understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead, although He is situated within everyone. For them the Lord finally appears in the form of death, as confirmed in Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (má¹›tyuḥ sarva-haraÅ› cÄham). Atheists think that they are independent, and therefore they do not care about the supremacy of the Lord, yet the Lord asserts His supremacy when He overcomes them as death. At the time of death, their attempts to use their so-called scientific knowledge and philosophical speculation to deny the supremacy of the Lord cannot work. HiraṇyakaÅ›ipu, for example, was an exalted representative of the atheistic class of men. He always challenged the existence of God, and thus he became inimical even toward his own son. Everyone was afraid of HiraṇyakaÅ›ipu’s atheistic principles. Nonetheless, when Lord Ná¹›siá¹hadeva appeared in order to kill him, HiraṇyakaÅ›ipu’s atheistic principles could not save him. Lord Ná¹›siá¹hadeva killed HiraṇyakaÅ›ipu and took away all his power, influence and pride. Atheistic men, however, never understand how everything they create is annihilated. The Supersoul is situated within them, but because of the predominance of the modes of passion and ignorance, they cannot understand the supremacy of the Lord. Even the demigods, the devotees, who are transcendentally situated or situated on the platform of goodness, are not fully aware of the qualities and position of the Lord. How then can the demons and atheists understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead? It is not possible. Therefore, to gain this understanding, the demigods, headed by Lord BrahmÄ, offered their respectful obeisances to the Lord.