SB 4.29.43 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

प्रजापतिपति: साक्षाद्भगवान् गिरिशो मनु: । दक्षादय: प्रजाध्यक्षा नैष्ठिका: सनकादय: ॥ ४२ ॥ मरीचिरत्र्यङ्गिरसौ पुलस्त्य: पुलह: क्रतु: । भृगुर्वसिष्ठ इत्येते मदन्ता ब्रह्मवादिन: ॥ ४३ ॥ अद्यापि वाचस्पतयस्तपोविद्यासमाधिभि: । पश्यन्तोऽपि न पश्यन्ति पश्यन्तं परमेश्वरम् ॥ ४४ ॥

Verse text

prajāpati-patiḥ sākṣād bhagavān giriśo manuḥ dakṣādayaḥ prajādhyakṣā naiṣṭhikāḥ sanakādayaḥ marīcir atry-aṅgirasau pulastyaḥ pulahaḥ kratuḥ bhṛgur vasiṣṭha ity ete mad-antā brahma-vādinaḥ adyāpi vācas-patayas tapo-vidyā-samādhibhiḥ paśyanto ’pi na paśyanti paśyantaṁ parameśvaram

Synonyms

prajāpati — patiḥ — Brahmā, the father of all progenitors ; sākṣāt — directly ; bhagavān — the most powerful ; giriśaḥ — Lord Śiva ; manuḥ — Manu ; dakṣa — ādayaḥ — headed by King Dakṣa ; prajā — adhyakṣāḥ — the rulers of humankind ; naiṣṭhikāḥ — the strong brahmacārīs ; sanaka — ādayaḥ — headed by Sanaka ; marīciḥ — Marīci ; atri — aṅgirasau — Atri and Aṅgirā ; pulastyaḥ — Pulastya ; pulahaḥ — Pulaha ; kratuḥ — Kratu ; bhṛguḥ — Bhṛgu ; vasiṣṭhaḥ — Vasiṣṭha ; iti — thus ; ete — all of them ; mat — antāḥ — ending with me ; brahma — vādinaḥ — brāhmaṇas, speakers on Vedic literature ; adya api — up to date ; vācaḥ — patayaḥ — masters of speaking ; tapaḥ — austerities ; vidyā — knowledge ; samādhibhiḥ — and by meditation ; paśyantaḥ — observing ; api — although ; na paśyanti — do not observe ; paśyantam — the one who sees ; parama — īśvaram — the Supreme Personality of Godhead .

Translation

The most powerful Lord Brahmā, the father of all progenitors; Lord Śiva; Manu, Dakṣa and the other rulers of humankind; the four saintly first-class brahmacārīs headed by Sanaka and Sanātana; the great sages Marīci, Atri, Aṅgirā, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu, Bhṛgu and Vasiṣṭha; and my humble self [Nārada] are all stalwart brāhmaṇas who can speak authoritatively on Vedic literature. We are very powerful because of austerities, meditation and education. Nonetheless, even after inquiring about the Supreme Personality of Godhead, whom we always see, we do not know perfectly about Him.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Omniscient Brahmā, the father of all progenitors, Śiva, Manu, Dakṣa and the other rulers of humankind, the four Kumāras, Marīci, Atri, Aṅgirā, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu, Bhṛgu, Vasiṣṭha, and I as well, though we know the Vedas and skilful at speaking and though even today we reflect upon the Supreme Lord by austerity, knowledge and concentration, cannot see the Lord who sees everything. “Śruti says tarati śokam ātmavit: the knower of ātmā surpasses lamentation. What is the use of bhakti for the jṣānīs?” Jṣānīs never know the Lord. This is expressed by kaimutya-nyāya in four verses (We do not know the Lord. What then to speak of others?). Bhagavān means “knowing everything.” I criticize not only these persons, but myself also. We try to see him by austerity, knowledge and meditation, but we do not use bhakti. Though they are actually all famous as devotees, they express themselves as very fallen, without bhakti. We are all expert at teaching the meaning of scriptures to others (vācaspataḥ), but we do not know the actual meaning of the scriptures, since we do no have bhakti. “Even today” indicates they are expert at austerities, knowledge and meditation. They reflect on the Lord, but do not see him. This means they do not know him.

Purport

According to the foolish Darwinian theory of the anthropologists, it is said that forty thousand years ago Homo sapiens had not appeared on this planet because the process of evolution had not reached that point. However, the Vedic histories — the Purāṇas and Mahābhārata — relate human histories that extend millions and millions of years into the past. In the beginning of creation there was a very intelligent personality, Lord Brahmā, and from him emanated all the Manus, and the brahmacārīs like Sanaka and Sanātana, as well as Lord Śiva, the great sages and Nārada. All these personalities underwent great austerities and penances and thus became authorities in Vedic knowledge. Perfect knowledge for human beings, as well as all living entities, is contained in the Vedas. All the above-mentioned great personalities are not only powerful — being cognizant of past, present and future — but are also devotees. Still, in spite of their great education in knowledge, and despite their meeting the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Viṣṇu, they cannot actually understand the perfection of the living entity’s relationship with Lord Viṣṇu. This means that these personalities are still limited as far as their knowledge of the unlimited is concerned. The conclusion is that simply by advancing one’s knowledge, one cannot be accepted as an expert in understanding the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Supreme Personality of Godhead can be understood not by advanced knowledge but by pure devotional service, as confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā (18.55) . Bhaktyā mām abhijānāti yāvān yaś cāsmi tattvataḥ: unless one takes to pure, transcendental devotional service, he cannot understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead in truth. Everyone has some imperfect ideas about the Lord. So-called scientists and philosophical speculators are unable to understand the Supreme Lord by virtue of their knowledge. Knowledge is not perfect unless one comes to the platform of devotional service. This is confirmed by the Vedic version: athāpi te deva padāmbuja-dvaya- prasāda-leśānugṛhīta eva hi jānāti tattvaṁ bhagavan mahimno na cānya eko ’pi ciraṁ vicinvan ( Bhāg. 10.14.29 ) The speculators, the jṣānīs, go on speculating about the Supreme Personality of Godhead for many, many hundreds of thousands of years, but unless one is favored by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one cannot understand His supreme glories. All the great sages mentioned in this verse have their planets near Brahmaloka, the planet where Lord Brahmā resides along with four great sages — Sanaka, Sanātana, Sanandana and Sanat-kumāra. These sages reside in different stars known as the southern stars, which circle the polestar. The polestar, called Dhruvaloka, is the pivot of this universe, and all planets move around this polestar. All the stars are planets, as far as we can see, within this one universe. According to Western theory, all the stars are different suns, but according to Vedic information, there is only one sun within this universe. All the so-called stars are but different planets. Besides this universe, there are many millions of other universes, and each of them contains similar innumerable stars and planets.