SB 1.2.11

What is that highest truth (tattvam)? This verse explains. It is advaya-jṣānam. And what is jṣānam? It is called brahman. What the jṣānīs call brahman is jṣānam. According to them it is without form, without distinction of knower and known, a condition of consciousness alone. This jṣānam is called Paramātmā by the yogīs. This jṣānam is advaitam because of oneness between him and his śaktis--jīva and prakṛti, because as cause he pervades the effect, this universe, the prison-like abode, and because Paramātmā is non-different from his form and abodes through particularization of his consciousness aspect. According to the yogīs, the form of Paramātmā is still pure jṣāna because his form is also the same knowledge. Even though he is pure jṣāna, Paramātmā is also the shelter of particularization of jṣāna, because he performs functions such as acting as the witness. Paramātmā is just like the sun or a lamp. Though the sun is the very form of light, it is also the possessor of luminosity. Thus there is no contradiction. Paramātmā is understood to have a form as shown in the following verse: kecit sva-dehāntar-hṛdayāvakāśe prādeśa-mātraṁ puruṣaṁ vasantam catur-bhujaṁ kaṣja-rathāṅga-śaṅkha-gadā-dharaṁ dhāraṇayā smaranti Others conceive of the Personality of Godhead residing within the body in the region of the heart and measuring only eight inches, with four hands carrying a lotus, a wheel of a chariot, a conch shell and a club respectively. SB 2.2.8 This jṣānam is called Bhagavān by the devotees. He is called advayam because material energy is the śakti (and śakti and śaktimān are one); because he is completely different from the jīvas in illusion (advayam meaning unique); because the jīvas are distinct aṁśas or parts of the whole (identity of part and whole); and because no one is in the same position as the Lord (advayam meaning having no equal). According to the devotees, though Bhagavān is pure jṣāna, as the yogīs and jṣānīs agree, he has a form possessing the six qualities described by the word bhaga, which is non-material, because the form is pure consciousness. Thus it is said in the Viṣṇu Purāṇa: aiśvaryasya samagrasya vīryasya yaśasaḥ śriyaḥ | jṣāna-vairāggyayoś caiva ṣaṇṇāṁ bhaga itīṅganā || Bhaga of six parts is defined as: complete control, complete influence, complete excellent qualities of body, mind and words, complete beauty or wealth, complete knowledge, and complete detachment from worldly affairs. Viṣṇu Purāṇa 6.74 jṣāna-śakti-balaiśvarya-vīrya-tejāṁsy aśeṣataḥ | bhagavac-chabda-vācyāni vinā heyair guṇādibhiḥ || The word Bhagavān means to be endowed with unlimited knowledge, sense power, bodily strength, power of control, influence and beauty without inferior guṇas. Viṣṇu Purāṇa 6.5.79 Though he is situated within and without in various forms of pure consciousness with two or four hands, and though there is eternally a difference between himself and the jīva as served and servant, he is still advaya or one. That the difference between jīva and the Lord is eternal is stated in the Skanda Purāṇa: na cyavante hi mad-bhaktā mahatyāṁ pralayād api: my devotees are not destroyed even at the time of pralaya. The word advayam negates any conception of difference, since one must consider non-difference between the Lord and his śaktis, spiritual actions, and abodes. The jṣānī who selects the general form of the Lord is qualified for brahman. The yogī who accepts the Lord as the soul within all beings, who possesses qualities, and who is different from the jīva, is qualified for realizing Paramātmā. The devotee who accepts the Lord — who possesses an inconceivable and infinite form of knowledge and bliss, with infinite qualities and pastimes — is qualified for realizing Bhagavān. Actually he alone exists. This is shown in the following verses: aho bhāgyam aho bhāgyaṁ nanda-gopa-vrajaukasām yan-mitraṁ paramānandaṁ pūrṇaṁ brahma sanātanam How greatly fortunate are Nanda Mahārāja, the cowherd men and all the other inhabitants of Vrajabhūmi! There is no limit to their good fortune, because the Absolute Truth, the source of transcendental bliss, the eternal Supreme Brahman, has become their friend. SB 10.14.32 kṛṣṇāya vāsudevāya haraye paramātmane praṇata-kleśa-nāśāya govindāya namo namaḥ Again and again we offer our obeisances unto Lord Kṛṣṇa, Hari, the son of Vasudeva. That Supreme Paramātmā, Govinda, vanquishes the suffering of all who surrender to Him. SB 10.73.16 madīyaṁ mahimānaṁ ca paraṁ brahmeti śabditam vetsyasy anugṛhītaṁ me sampraśnair vivṛtaṁ hṛdi By my mercy, you will realize my power known as the impersonal Brahman, which will be disclosed in your heart through questions and answers. SB 8.24.38 brahmaṇo hi pratiṣṭhāham I am the basis of brahman. BG 14.27 viṣṭabhyāham idaṁ krṭsnam ekāṁśena sthito jagat I pervade this universe by my one portion, Paramātmā. BG 10.42 This is also shown by the attainment of prema for the worshippers of Bhagavān. Because the worshippers of brahman and Paramātmā do not attain prema, it can be seen that Bhagavān is the root of the other forms, though Bhagavān is both brahman and Paramātmā. The yogī worshipping Paramātmā is superior to the jṣānīs who worship the brahman. But the worshipper of Bhagavān is superior to the yogīs. This hierarchy is seen in the Gītā: tapasvibhyo ’dhiko yogī jṣānibhyo ’pi mato ’dhikaḥ | karmibhyaś cādhiko yogī tasmād yogī bhavārjuna || yoginām api sarveṣāṁ mad-gatenāntar-ātmanā | śraddhāvān bhajate yo māṁ sa me yuktatamo mataḥ || According to me, the yogī is better than the tapasvī, better than the jṣānī, and better than the karma-yogī. Therefore be a yogī, Arjuna. But I consider he who worships me with faith, with mind attached to me, to be greater than all types of yogīs. BG 6.46-47 Rāmānujācārya explains that the possessive case (of the yogīs--yogīnām) actually means the ablative case (than the yogīs).