Devanagari
य एक ईशो निजमायया न:
ससर्ज येनानुसृजाम
विश्वम् ।
Verse text
ya eka īśo nija-māyayā naḥ
sasarja yenānusṛjāma viśvam
vayaṁ na yasyāpi puraḥ samīhataḥ
paśyāma liṅgaṁ pṛthag īśa-māninaḥ
Synonyms
yaḥ
—
He who
;
ekaḥ
—
one
;
īśaḥ
—
controller
;
nija
—
māyayā — by His transcendental potency
;
naḥ
—
us
;
sasarja
—
created
;
yena
—
by whom (through whose mercy)
;
anusṛjāma
—
we also create
;
viśvam
—
the universe
;
vayam
—
we
;
na
—
not
;
yasya
—
of whom
;
api
—
although
;
puraḥ
—
in front of us
;
samīhataḥ
—
of Him who is acting
;
paśyāma
—
see
;
liṅgam
—
the form
;
pṛthak
—
separate
;
īśa
—
as controllers
;
māninaḥ
—
thinking of ourselves .
Translation
The Supreme Personality of Godhead, who created us by His external potency and by whose mercy we expand the creation of the universe, is always situated before us as the Supersoul, but we cannot see His form. We are unable to see Him because all of us think that we are separate and independent gods.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
That one Lord created us by his own energy, and by him alone we create the universe. We, thinking we are also creators, do not see the form of the Lord who performed pastimes long before we existed.
Though the Lord is present everywhere and also here, he is not visible to our material senses. But by his mercy may he become visible and protect us! This is expressed in three verses. We do not see the form of the Lord who performed pastimes (samīhataḥ puraḥ) in the forms of Rāma or Kṛṣṇa before we existed. The reason is that we think we are the lords.
Purport
Here is an explanation of why the conditioned soul cannot see the Supreme Personality of Godhead face to face. Even though the Lord appears before us as Lord Kṛṣṇa or Lord Rāmacandra and lives in human society as a leader or king, the conditioned soul cannot understand Him.
Avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā mānuṣīṁ tanum āśritam:
rascals (
mūḍhas
) deride the Supreme Personality of Godhead, thinking Him an ordinary human being. However insignificant we are, we think that we are also God, that we can create a universe or that we can create another God. This is why we cannot see or understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In this regard, Śrīla Madhvācārya says:
liṅgam eva paśyāmaḥ
kadācid abhimānas tu
devānām api sann iva
prāyaḥ kāleṣu nāsty eva
tāratamyena so ’pi tu
We are all conditioned to various degrees, but we think that we are God. This is why we cannot understand who God is or see Him face to face.