SB 10.84.24 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

यथा शयान: पुरुष आत्मानं गुणतत्त्वद‍ृक् । नाममात्रेन्द्रियाभातं न वेद रहितं परम् ॥ २४ ॥ एवं त्वा नाममात्रेषु विषयेष्विन्द्रियेहया । मायया विभ्रमच्चित्तो न वेद स्मृत्युपप्लवात् ॥ २५ ॥

Verse text

yathā śayānaḥ puruṣa ātmānaṁ guṇa-tattva-dṛk nāma-mātrendriyābhātaṁ na veda rahitaṁ param evaṁ tvā nāma-mātreṣu viṣayeṣv indriyehayā māyayā vibhramac-citto na veda smṛty-upaplavāt

Synonyms

yathā — as ; śayānaḥ — sleeping ; puruṣaḥ — a person ; ātmānam — himself ; guṇa — secondary ; tattva — of reality ; dṛk — whose vision ; nāma — with names ; mātra — and forms ; indriya — through his mind ; ābhātam — manifest ; na veda — he does not know ; rahitam — separate ; param — rather ; evam — similarly ; tvā — You ; nāma — mātreṣu — having names and forms ; viṣayeṣu — in objects of material perception ; indriya — of the senses ; īhayā — by the activity ; māyayā — because of the influence of Your illusory energy ; vibhramat — becoming bewildered ; cittaḥ — whose consciousness ; na veda — one does not know ; smṛti — of his memory ; upaplavāt — due to the disruption .

Translation

A sleeping person imagines an alternative reality for himself and, seeing himself as having various names and forms, forgets his waking identity, which is distinct from the dream. Similarly, the senses of one whose consciousness is bewildered by illusion perceive only the names and forms of material objects. Thus such a person loses his memory and cannot know You.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

A sleeping person imagines an alternative reality for himself and, seeing himself as having various names and forms, forgets his waking identity, which is distinct from the dream. Similarly, the senses of one whose consciousness is bewildered by illusion perceive only the names and forms of material objects. Thus such a person loses his memory and cannot know You. KB 10.84.24-25 “When a person dreams at night, hallucinatory figures created by the dream are accepted as real, and the imaginary dream body is accepted as one’s real body. For the time being, one forgets that besides the body created in hallucination, there is another, real body in his awakened state. Similarly, in the awakened state also, the bewildered conditioned soul considers sense enjoyment to be real happiness. “By the process of enjoying the senses of the material body, the spirit soul is covered, and his consciousness becomes materially contaminated. It is due to material consciousness that one cannot understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa.

Purport

Just as a person’s dream is a secondary reality created from the stock of his memories and desires, so this universe exists as the inferior creation of the Supreme Lord, in no real way separate from Him. And just as the person who awakens from sleep experiences the higher reality of his waking life, so the Supreme Lord also has His distinct, higher reality beyond everything we know of this world. In His own words, mayā tatam idaṁ sarvaṁ jagad avyakta-mūrtinā mat-sthāni sarva-bhūtāni na cāhaṁ teṣv avasthitaḥ na ca mat-sthāni bhūtāni paśya me yogam aiśvaram bhūta-bhṛn na ca bhūta-stho mamātmā bhūta-bhāvanaḥ “By Me, in My unmanifested form, this entire universe is pervaded. All beings are in Me, but I am not in them. And yet everything that is created does not rest in Me. Behold My mystic opulence! Although I am the maintainer of all living entities and although I am everything, I am not part of this cosmic manifestation, for My Self is the very source of creation.” (Bg. 9.4-5)

Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

People do not know that you are one with the universe with its many names and forms and also superior to it. This is explained using an example in two verses. Just as a man dreaming sees as real the objects in the dream, and knows many names and forms of tiger, snake and king appearing with senses such as the ear, tan matras such as form an sound, and names, but does not know himself who has become those forms, and rather knows something other than his real form, so the ignorant man bewildered by maya through action of the senses like the ear, knows you by the names of deva or man, and with material form and qualities. He does not know your true form, separate from the many names and forms that you assume as the universe, because of loss of intelligence.

Purport (Jiva Goswami)

Others do not know you. Two verses explain. Verses 22 onwards can be explained in another way. How does the Lord act is this way? He is not covered by māyā. We offer respects to the Lord who is not covered (acchanna) by his extraordinary āvaraṇa-śakti (material māyā), since he manifests unlimited powers. Or, we offer respects to the Lord who covers his powers by his mercy (māyayā) so that he can have intimate relationships (yoga) with his devotees (sva). Therefore he is most dear to all (paramātmane). The persons present at this place are more fortunate than us. That is explained in verse 23. Those who have gathered here and the intimate Vṛṣṇis who are superior to the others, do not see the Lord to be covered by a screen of māyā. Rather they see him uncovered, because he manifests his svarūpa to them. Realizing his uncovered form, they do not see his form as impersonal Brahman (ātmanam). Surpassing that, realizing his personal form, they do not even see his form as Paramātmā (kālam). Surpassing that, realizing the form of Bhagavān, the source of all other forms, they do not see his form as the Supreme Lord. Surpassing all those realization of bliss in those forms one after the other, they realize him as the lord of his affectionate friends. itthaṁ satāṁ brahma-sukhānubhūtyā dāsyaṁ gatānāṁ para-daivatena māyāśritānāṁ nara-dārakeṇa sākaṁ vijahruḥ kṛta-puṇya-puñjāḥ In this way with an abundance of splendor caused by Kṛṣṇa, they played with him, though he is pure consciousness or happiness known as Brahman for the jñānīs, the Supreme Lord for the devotees with dāsya-bhāva and an ordinary human child for those covered by material illusion.

Purport (Sanatana Goswami)

The devotee is unbewildered by māyā, which incites the senses to objects and forms, because of absorption in scriptures. Others do not know you. That is explained in these two verses. A sleeping person sees himself as names, which are false (nāma-mātra), because the image appears through the senses (indriyābhātam). Or some person among the Vṛṣṇis, even while sleeping, knows you, the Lord (ātmānam), correctly (yathā), and not anything else (rahitam param), because he directly realizes (paśyati) your qualities like mercy, which are real and eternal (guṇa-tattva-dṛk). He knows you who reveal yourself (ābhātam) in the senses, objects (mātra) and all your names. Or he knows you, manifested as Śyamasundara, with senses, forms and names, not devoid of these as Brahman. People are not bewildered about you (vibhama-cittaḥ) because of māyā, which activates (īhayā) the senses in perceiving objects and forms visibly (nāma). Rather they constantly realize you through Vedas and smṛtis (veda-smṛtyupaplavāt).