Srimad Bhagavatam — Shashtha Skandha, Shloka 36
Viśvarūpa’s Death, Vṛtrāsura’s Manifestation, and the Devas’ Surrender to Nārāyaṇa
न हि विरोध उभयं भगवत्यपरिमितगुणगण ईश्वरेऽनवगाह्यमाहात्म्येऽर्वाचीनविकल्पवितर्कविचारप्रमाणाभासकुतर्कशास्त्रकलिलान्त:करणाश्रयदुरवग्रहवादिनां विवादानवसर उपरत समस्तमायामये केवल एवात्ममायामन्तर्धाय को न्वर्थो दुर्घट इव भवति स्वरूपद्वयाभावात् ॥ ३६ ॥
na hi virodha ubhayaṁ bhagavaty aparimita-guṇa-gaṇa īśvare ’navagāhya-māhātmye ’rvācīna-vikalpa-vitarka-vicāra-pramāṇābhāsa-kutarka-śāstra-kalilāntaḥkaraṇāśraya-duravagraha-vādināṁ vivādānavasara uparata-samasta-māyāmaye kevala evātma-māyām antardhāya ko nv artho durghaṭa iva bhavati svarūpa-dvayābhāvāt.
O Supreme Personality of Godhead, all contradictions can be reconciled in You. O Lord, since You are the Supreme Person, the reservoir of unlimited spiritual qualities, the supreme controller, Your unlimited glories are inconceivable to the conditioned souls. Many modern theologians argue about right and wrong without knowing what is actually right. Their arguments are always false and their judgments inconclusive because they have no authorized evidence with which to gain knowledge of You. Because their minds are agitated by scriptures containing false conclusions, they are unable to understand the truth concerning You. Furthermore, because of polluted eagerness to arrive at the right conclusion, their theories are incapable of revealing You, who are transcendental to their material conceptions. You are one without a second, and therefore in You contradictions like doing and not doing, happiness and distress, are not contradictory. Your potency is so great that it can do and undo anything as You like. With the help of that potency, what is impossible for You? Since there is no duality in Your constitutional position, You can do everything by the influence of Your energy.
The Supreme Personality of Godhead, being self-sufficient, is full of transcendental bliss ( ātmārāma ). He enjoys bliss in two ways — when He appears happy and when He appears distressed. Distinctions and contradictions are impossible in Him because only from Him have they emanated. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is the reservoir of all knowledge, all potency, all strength, opulence and influence. There is no limit to His powers. Since He is full in all transcendental attributes, nothing abominable from the material world can exist in Him. He is transcendental and spiritual, and therefore conceptions of material happiness and distress do not apply to Him.
FAQs
This verse states that in Bhagavān there is no real contradiction, because His greatness and powers are unfathomable; opposites can coexist in Him without conflict due to His inconceivable potency.
He points out that mundane speculation and sophistic reasoning are limited and often cloud the heart; the Lord’s nature is beyond such tools, and realization comes through purified consciousness and devotion rather than argument.
It encourages humility: instead of forcing God into mental categories, cultivate bhakti, accept the limits of intellect, and trust that the Lord can harmonize what appears impossible in our limited viewpoint.