SB 1.6.25 · Srimad Bhagavatam

Devanagari

एतावदुक्त्वोपरराम तन्महद् भूतं नभोलिङ्गमलिङ्गमीश्वरम् । अहं च तस्मै महतां महीयसे शीर्ष्णावनामं विदधेऽनुकम्पित: ॥ २५ ॥

Verse text

etāvad uktvopararāma tan mahad bhūtaṁ nabho-liṅgam aliṅgam īśvaram ahaṁ ca tasmai mahatāṁ mahīyase śīrṣṇāvanāmaṁ vidadhe ’nukampitaḥ

Synonyms

etāvat — thus ; uktvā — spoken ; upararāma — stopped ; tat — that ; mahat — great ; bhūtam — wonderful ; nabhaḥ — liṅgam — personified by sound ; aliṅgam — unseen by the eyes ; īśvaram — the supreme authority ; aham — I ; ca — also ; tasmai — unto Him ; mahatām — the great ; mahīyase — unto the glorified ; śīrṣṇā — by the head ; avanāmam — obeisances ; vidadhe — executed ; anukampitaḥ — being favored by Him .

Translation

Then that supreme authority, personified by sound and unseen by eyes, but most wonderful, stopped speaking. Feeling a sense of gratitude, I offered my obeisances unto Him, bowing my head.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Having spoken this, the Lord, whose words are the highest proof, whose words appeared in the sky, who was not visible to the eyes, and who was capable of bestowing mercy to the most fallen boy, the Lord stopped speaking. Receiving his mercy, I lowered my head to greatest of the great.

Purport

That the Personality of Godhead was not seen but only heard does not make any difference. The Personality of Godhead produced the four Vedas by His breathing, and He is seen and realized through the transcendental sound of the Vedas. Similarly, the Bhagavad-gītā is the sound representation of the Lord, and there is no difference in identity. The conclusion is that the Lord can be seen and heard by persistent chanting of the transcendental sound.

Commentary (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Mahad-bhutam is a name of the Lord in the neuter gender. The śruti says asya mahato bhūtasya niḥśvasitam etad yad ṛg-veda: the breathing of the Lord called Mahadbhūta is the Ṛg-veda. (Bṛhad-āraṇyaka upaniṣad) Since his breathing is the four Vedas, his words are the highest proof. Since he gave blessings even to me, the low born son of a maid servant, he is called the one Supreme Lord (īśvaram—one who is capable). Since the lord left a trace in the ether in the form of his speaking to Nārada, he is called (nabho-liṅgam). He is called aliṅgam because he is not visible to the eyes.