Devanagari
स एष भगवाल्लिंङ्गैस्त्रिभिरेतैरधोक्षज: ।
स्वलक्षितगतिर्ब्रह्मन् सर्वेषां मम चेश्वर: ॥ २० ॥
Verse text
sa eṣa bhagavāḻ liṅgais
tribhir etair adhokṣajaḥ
svalakṣita-gatir brahman
sarveṣāṁ mama ceśvaraḥ
Synonyms
saḥ
—
He
;
eṣaḥ
—
this
;
bhagavān
—
the Personality of Godhead
;
liṅgaiḥ
—
by the symptoms
;
tribhiḥ
—
by the three
;
etaiḥ
—
by all these
;
adhokṣajaḥ
—
the Superseer Transcendence
;
su
—
alakṣita — veritably unseen
;
gatiḥ
—
movement
;
brahman
—
O Nārada
;
sarveṣām
—
of everyone
;
mama
—
mine
;
ca
—
as also
;
īśvaraḥ
—
the controller .
Translation
O Brāhmaṇa Nārada, the Superseer, the transcendent Lord, is beyond the perception of the material senses of the living entities because of the above-mentioned three modes of nature. But He is the controller of everyone, including me.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
The Lord, who is brahman, who is the controller of me and all beings, is not known because of the covering of the three guṇas on the jīva.
Purport
In the
Bhagavad-gītā
(7.24-25) the Lord has declared very clearly that the impersonalist, who gives more importance to the transcendental rays of the Lord as
brahmajyoti
and who concludes that the Absolute Truth is ultimately impersonal and only manifests a form at a time of necessity, is less intelligent than the personalist, however much the impersonalist may be engaged in studying the
Vedānta.
The fact is that such impersonalists are covered by the above-mentioned three modes of material nature; therefore, they are unable to approach the transcendental personality of the Lord. The Lord is not approachable by everyone because He is curtained by His
yoga-māyā
potency. But one should not wrongly conclude that the Lord was formerly unmanifested and has now manifested Himself in the human form. This misconception of the formlessness of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is due to the
yoga-māyā
curtain of the Lord and can be removed only by the Supreme Will, as soon as the conditioned soul surrenders unto Him. The devotees of the Lord who are transcendental to the above-mentioned three modes of material nature can see the all-blissful transcendental form of the Lord with their vision of love in the attitude of pure devotional service.
Commentary (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
The Lord is the possessor of māyā-śakti. His nature (gatiḥ) is not known (su alakṣita) because of the coverings of the three guṇas on the jīvas. Or he is not known by the three guṇas. However he is known by his devotees with knowledge.
sattvaṁ na ced dhātar idaṁ nijaṁ bhaved
vijṣānam ajṣāna-bhidāpamārjanam
guṇa-prakāśair anumīyate bhavān
prakāśate yasya ca yena vā guṇaḥ
O Lord, cause of all causes, if your transcendental body were not beyond the modes of material nature, one could not understand the difference between matter and transcendence. Only by your presence can one understand the transcendental nature of your Lordship, who are the controller of material nature. Your transcendental nature is very difficult to understand unless one is influenced by the presence of your transcendental form. SB 10.2.35