SB 5.19.4 · Srimad Bhagavatam

Devanagari

यत्तद्विशुद्धानुभवमात्रमेकं स्वतेजसा ध्वस्तगुणव्यवस्थम् । प्रत्यक्प्रशान्तं सुधियोपलम्भनं ह्यनामरूपं निरहं प्रपद्ये ॥ ४ ॥

Verse text

yat tad viśuddhānubhava-mātram ekaṁ sva-tejasā dhvasta-guṇa-vyavastham pratyak praśāntaṁ sudhiyopalambhanaṁ hy anāma-rūpaṁ nirahaṁ prapadye

Synonyms

yat — which ; tat — to that supreme truth ; viśuddha — transcendentally pure, without contamination by material nature ; anubhava — experience ; mātram — that sac-cid-ānanda transcendental body ; ekam — the one ; sva — tejasā — by His own spiritual potency ; dhvasta — vanquished ; guṇa — vyavastham — the influence of the modes of material nature ; pratyak — transcendental, not to be seen with material eyes ; praśāntam — undisturbed by material agitation ; sudhiyā — by Kṛṣṇa consciousness, or purified consciousness, uncontaminated by material desires, fruitive activities and speculative philosophy ; upalambhanam — who can be achieved ; hi — indeed ; anāma — rūpam — without a material name and form ; niraham — without a material ego ; prapadye — let me offer my respectful obeisances .

Translation

The Lord, whose pure form [sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha] is uncontaminated by the modes of material nature, can be perceived by pure consciousness. In the Vedānta He is described as being one without a second. Because of His spiritual potency, He is untouched by the contamination of material nature, and because He is not subjected to material vision, He is known as transcendental. He has no material activities, nor has He a material form or name. Only in pure consciousness, Kṛṣṇa consciousness, can one perceive the transcendental form of the Lord. Let us be firmly fixed at the lotus feet of Lord Rāmacandra, and let us offer our respectful obeisances unto those transcendental lotus feet.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

I surrender with certainly to the Lord who is one alone, who is devoid of māyā by the power of his form, who is invisible, peaceful, realized by the intelligent, and who has no material form and name. “Will not some people doubt that Rāma is God since he does not hold the conch and cakra and does not ride Garuḍa or display extraordinary powers?” Let those who doubt continue to doubt! But I realize personally Rāma as the supreme Brahman. I surrender to Rāma who is a state devoid of māyā. “But even a purified jīva is devoid of māyā.” His form is devoid of māyā by the power of his form (sva-tejasā). He is thus invisible (pratyak). Na cakṣuṣā paśyati rūpam asya: one cannot see his form by the eye. (Katha Upaniṣad 6.8) Yam evaiṣa vṛṇute tena labhyas tasyaiṣa ātmā vivṛṇute tanuṁ svām: he reveals his form to that person whom he chooses. (Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad 3.2.3) He is thus devoid of all disturbances (praṣāntam). “Does that mean that Rāma cannot be seen?” He can be realized by a person having fine intelligence, because he is without material name and form. Etās tisro devatā anena jīvenātmanānupraviśya nāmarūpe vyākaravāṇi: entering the three devatās as jīva, I will reveal name and form. (Chāndogya Upaniṣad 6.3.2) The three devatās means fire, water and earth. I surrender to the Lord with certainty (niḥ). Or I surrender without ahaṇkāra (niraham). The devotee thinks, “Surrender is accomplished by the Lord by his mercy, not by me, who have false identity as the doer.”

Purport

The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, appears in various expansions, as stated in the Brahma-saṁhitā (5.39) : rāmādi-mūrtiṣu kalā-niyamena tiṣṭhan nānāvatāram akarod bhuvaneṣu kintu kṛṣṇaḥ svayaṁ samabhavat paramaḥ pumān yo govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi “I worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Govinda, who is always situated in various incarnations such as Rāma, Nṛsiṁha and many subincarnations as well, but who is the original Personality of Godhead known as Kṛṣṇa and who incarnates personally also.” Kṛṣṇa, who is viṣṇu-tattva, has expanded Himself in many Viṣṇu forms, of which Lord Rāmacandra is one. We know that the viṣṇu-tattva is carried by the transcendental bird Garuḍa and is equipped with different types of weapons in four hands. Therefore we may doubt whether Lord Rāmacandra could be in the same category, since He was carried by Hanumān, not by Garuḍa, and had neither four hands nor the śaṅkha, cakra, gadā and padma. Consequently this verse clarifies that Rāmacandra is as good as Kṛṣṇa ( rāmādi-mūrtiṣu kalā ). Although Kṛṣṇa is the original Supreme Personality of Godhead, Rāmacandra is not different from Him. Rāmacandra is unaffected by the modes of material nature, and therefore He is praśānta, never disturbed by those modes. Unless one is saturated with love for the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one cannot appreciate the transcendental value of Lord Rāmacandra; one cannot see Him with material eyes. Because demons like Rāvaṇa have no spiritual vision, they consider Lord Rāmacandra an ordinary kṣatriya king. Rāvaṇa therefore attempted to kidnap Lord Rāmacandra’s eternal consort, Sītādevī. Actually, however, Rāvaṇa could not carry off Sītādevī in her original form. As soon as she was touched by Rāvaṇa’s hands, she gave him a material form, but she maintained her original form beyond his vision. Therefore in this verse the words pratyak praśāntam indicate that Lord Rāmacandra and His potency, the goddess Sītā, keep themselves aloof from the influence of the material energy. In the Upaniṣads it is said: yam evaiṣa vṛṇute tena labhyaḥ ( Kaṭha Upaniṣad 1.2.23). The Supreme Lord, Paramātmā, the Personality of Godhead, can be seen or perceived only by persons who are saturated with devotional service. As stated in the Brahma-saṁhitā (5.38) : premāṣjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena santaḥ sadaiva hṛdayeṣu vilokayanti yaṁ śyāmasundaram acintya-guṇa-svarūpaṁ govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi “I worship the primeval Lord, Govinda, who is always seen by the devotee whose eyes are anointed with the pulp of love. He is seen in His eternal form of Śyāmasundara, situated within the heart of the devotee.” Similarly, in the Chāndogya Upaniṣad it is stated, etās tisro devatā anena jīvena. In this verse of the Chāndogya Upaniṣad the word anena is used to distinguish the ātmā and Paramātmā as two separate identities. The words tisro devatā indicate that the body of the living entity is made of three material elements — fire, earth and water. Although the Paramātmā enters the heart of the jīvātmā, who is influenced and designated by a material body, the Paramātmā has nothing to do with the jīvātmā’s body. Because the Paramātmā has no material connections, He is described here as anāma-rūpaṁ niraham. The Paramātmā has no material identity, whereas the jīvātmā does. The jīvātmā may introduce himself as an Indian, American, German and so on, but the Paramātmā has no such material designations, and therefore He has no material name. The jīvātmā is different from his name, but the Paramātmā is not; His name and He Himself are one and the same. This is the meaning of niraham, which means “without material designations.” This word cannot possibly be twisted to mean that the Paramātmā has no ahaṅkāra, no “I-ness” or identity. He has His transcendental identity as the Supreme. This is the explanation given by Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī. According to another interpretation, given by Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura, niraham means nirniścayena aham. Niraham does not mean that the Supreme Lord has no identity. Rather, the stress given by the word aham proves strongly that He does have His personal identity because nir not only means “negative” but also means “strong ascertainment.”