Devanagari
कुन्त्युवाच
नमस्ये पुरुषं त्वाद्यमीश्वरं प्रकृते: परम् ।
अलक्ष्यं सर्वभूतानामन्तर्बहिरवस्थितम् ॥ १८ ॥
Verse text
kunty uvāca
namasye puruṣaṁ tvādyam
īśvaraṁ prakṛteḥ param
alakṣyaṁ sarva-bhūtānām
antar bahir avasthitam
Synonyms
kuntī uvāca
—
Śrīmatī Kuntī said
;
namasye
—
let me bow down
;
puruṣam
—
the Supreme Person
;
tvā
—
You
;
ādyam
—
the original
;
īśvaram
—
the controller
;
prakṛteḥ
—
of the material cosmos
;
param
—
beyond
;
alakṣyam
—
the invisible
;
sarva
—
all
;
bhūtānām
—
of living beings
;
antaḥ
—
within
;
bahiḥ
—
without
;
avasthitam
—
existing .
Translation
Śrīmatī Kuntī said: O Kṛṣṇa, I offer my obeisances unto You because You are the original personality and are unaffected by the qualities of the material world. You are existing both within and without everything, yet You are invisible to all.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
I offer my respects to you, the Supreme Person, the original one, the controller, beyond the control of prakṛti, unseen by material senses, and existing inside and outside of all living beings.
Purport
Śrīmatī Kuntīdevī was quite aware that Kṛṣṇa is the original Personality of Godhead, although He was playing the part of her nephew. Such an enlightened lady could not commit a mistake by offering obeisances unto her nephew. Therefore, she addressed Him as the original
puruṣa
beyond the material cosmos. Although all living entities are also transcendental, they are neither original nor infallible. The living entities are apt to fall down under the clutches of material nature, but the Lord is never like that. In the
Vedas,
therefore, He is described as the chief among all living entities (
nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām
). Then again He is addressed as
īśvara,
or the controller. The living entities or the demigods like Candra and Sūrya are also to some extent
īśvara,
but none of them is the supreme
īśvara,
or the ultimate controller. He is the
parameśvara,
or the Supersoul. He is both within and without. Although He was present before Śrīmatī Kuntī as her nephew, He was also within her and everyone else. In the
Bhagavad-gītā
(15.15)
the Lord says, “I am situated in everyone’s heart, and only due to Me one remembers, forgets and is cognizant, etc. Through all the
Vedas
I am to be known because I am the compiler of the
Vedas,
and I am the teacher of the
Vedānta.
” Queen Kuntī affirms that the Lord, although both within and without all living beings, is still invisible. The Lord is, so to speak, a puzzle for the common man. Queen Kuntī experienced personally that Lord Kṛṣṇa was present before her, yet He entered within the womb of Uttarā to save her embryo from the attack of Aśvatthāmā’s
brahmāstra.
Kuntī herself was puzzled about whether Śrī Kṛṣṇa is all-pervasive or localized. In fact, He is both, but He reserves the right of not being exposed to persons who are not surrendered souls. This checking curtain is called the
māyā
energy of the Supreme Lord, and it controls the limited vision of the rebellious soul. It is explained as follows.
Commentary (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Understanding everything that Kṛṣṇa had done recently, Kuntī was unable to tolerate the agitation caused by the great respect that arose in her heart. Thus she began praising Kṛṣṇa.
“But I am your nephew. Why are you offering respects?”
“But you are the Supreme Lord (puruṣam).”
“Of course I am a man (puruṣam). There is no doubt about that!”
“You are the first one (ādyam).”
“Well, all bodies come and go. All souls are original (ādya).”
“But you are supreme (īśvaraḥ).”
“Oh, in Svarga, Indra and the moon god, and on earth the kings are controllers (iśvara).”
“But you are superior to prakṛti.”
“Am I the puruṣa within, Paramātmā?”
”No, you are imperceptible (alakṣyam). The Paramātmā is subject to revelation by use of intelligence and other means.”
“Am I the imperceptible brahman?
“No, you are situated internally and externally.”