Devanagari
मदीयं महिमानं च परं ब्रह्मेति शब्दितम् ।
वेत्स्यस्यनुगृहीतं मे सम्प्रश्नैर्विवृतं हृदि ॥ ३८ ॥
Verse text
madīyaṁ mahimānaṁ ca
paraṁ brahmeti śabditam
vetsyasy anugṛhītaṁ me
sampraśnair vivṛtaṁ hṛdi
Synonyms
madīyam
—
pertaining to Me
;
mahimānam
—
glories
;
ca
—
and
;
param brahma
—
the Supreme Brahman, the Absolute Truth
;
iti
—
thus
;
śabditam
—
celebrated
;
vetsyasi
—
you shall understand
;
anugṛhītam
—
being favored
;
me
—
by Me
;
sampraśnaiḥ
—
by inquiries
;
vivṛtam
—
thoroughly explained
;
hṛdi
—
within the heart .
Translation
You will be thoroughly advised and favored by Me, and because of your inquiries, everything about My glories, which are known as paraṁ brahma, will be manifest within your heart. Thus you will know everything about Me.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
By my mercy, you will realize my power known as the impersonal Brahman, which will be disclosed in your heart through questions and answers.
Let us return to the topic. Since you associate with ātmārāmas, the desire to experience Brahman arises in your heart. By my mercy, that desire will be fulfilled. That is expressed in this verse. You will realize that power of mine indicated by the word Brahman which is one of my qualities, the all-pervading form without qualities. This will be revealed to you by my mercy. What is the need to endeavor for jṣāna, since it is possible for me to give it, because that Brahman belongs to me? “By what method will you be merciful to me?” By your questions and my answers to you, it will be disclosed in your heart. Brahman, which cannot be defined even by me, will be understood by your strength. Just as I give perception of material objects to the jīvas by creating intelligence and senses, I will give you your own ability to perceive Brahman.
Purport
As stated in
Bhagavad-gītā
(15.15)
,
sarvasya cāhaṁ hṛdi sanniviṣṭo mattaḥ smṛtir jṣānam apohanaṁ ca:
the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Paramātmā, is situated in everyone’s heart, and from Him come remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness. The Lord reveals Himself in proportion to one’s surrender to Him.
Ye yathā māṁ prapadyante tāṁs tathaiva bhajāmy aham.
In responsive cooperation, the Lord reveals Himself in proportion to one’s surrender. That which is revealed to one who fully surrenders is different from what is revealed to one who surrenders partially. Everyone naturally surrenders to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, either directly or indirectly. The conditioned soul surrenders to the laws of nature in material existence, but when one fully surrenders to the Lord, material nature does not act upon him. Such a fully surrendered soul is favored by the Supreme Personality of Godhead directly.
Mām eva ye prapadyante māyām etāṁ taranti te
. One who has fully surrendered to the Lord has no fear of the modes of material nature, for everything is but an expansion of the Lord’s glories (
sarvaṁ khalv idaṁ brahma
), and these glories are gradually revealed and realized. The Lord is the supreme purifier (
paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān
). The more one is purified and the more he wants to know about the Supreme, the more the Lord reveals to him. Full knowledge of Brahman, Paramātmā and Bhagavān is revealed to the pure devotees. The Lord says in
Bhagavad-gītā
(10.11)
:
teṣām evānukampārtham
aham ajṣāna-jaṁ tamaḥ
nāśayāmy ātma-bhāvastho
jṣāna-dīpena bhāsvatā
“Out of compassion for them, I, dwelling in their hearts, destroy with the shining lamp of knowledge the darkness born of ignorance.”