Srimad Bhagavatam — Dashama Skandha, Shloka 24
The Appearance of Lord Viṣṇu (Kṛṣṇa) and the Divine Exchange with Yoga-māyā
श्रीदेवक्युवाच रूपं यत् तत् प्राहुरव्यक्तमाद्यं ब्रह्म ज्योतिर्निर्गुणं निर्विकारम् । सत्तामात्रं निर्विशेषं निरीहं स त्वं साक्षाद् विष्णुरध्यात्मदीप: ॥ २४ ॥
śrī-devaky uvāca rūpaṁ yat tat prāhur avyaktam ādyaṁ brahma jyotir nirguṇaṁ nirvikāram sattā-mātraṁ nirviśeṣaṁ nirīhaṁ sa tvaṁ sākṣād viṣṇur adhyātma-dīpaḥ
Śrī Devakī said: My dear Lord, there are different Vedas, some of which describe You as unperceivable through words and the mind. Yet You are the origin of the entire cosmic manifestation. You are Brahman, the greatest of everything, full of effulgence like the sun. You have no material cause, You are free from change and deviation, and You have no material desires. Thus the Vedas say that You are the substance. Therefore, my Lord, You are directly the origin of all Vedic statements, and by understanding You, one gradually understands everything. You are different from the light of Brahman and Paramātmā, yet You are not different from them. Everything emanates from You. Indeed, You are the cause of all causes, Lord Viṣṇu, the light of all transcendental knowledge.
Viṣṇu is the origin of everything, and there is no difference between Lord Viṣṇu and Lord Kṛṣṇa because both of Them are viṣṇu-tattva. From the Ṛg Veda we understand, oṁ tad viṣṇoḥ paramaṁ padam: the original substance is the all-pervading Lord Viṣṇu, who is also Paramātmā and the effulgent Brahman. The living entities are also part and parcel of Viṣṇu, who has various energies ( parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate svābhāvikī jñāna-bala-kriyā ca ). Viṣṇu, or Kṛṣṇa, is therefore everything. Lord Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā (10.8) , ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavo mattaḥ sarvaṁ pravartate: “I am the source of all spiritual and material worlds. Everything emanates from Me.” Kṛṣṇa, therefore, is the original cause of everything ( sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam ). When Viṣṇu expands in His all-pervading aspect, we should understand Him to be the nirākāra-nirviśeṣa-brahmajyoti.
FAQs
Devakī says that the unmanifest, changeless, nirguṇa Brahman described by the wise is not separate from the Lord—Krishna is directly Viṣṇu, the very spiritual light that illumines the self.
At Krishna’s birth in the prison of Kaṁsa, Devakī offers prayers recognizing His supreme identity: the Absolute Truth that some approach as impersonal Brahman is, in full revelation, the personal Lord Viṣṇu standing before her.
It encourages seekers to move from abstract ideas of spirituality to direct devotion—seeing the ultimate reality not as distant light alone, but as the personal Lord who enlightens the heart through remembrance, prayer, and bhakti.