Shloka 31
Dakṣa’s Sacrifice Restored: Śiva’s Mercy and Nārāyaṇa’s Appearance
ब्रह्मोवाच नैतत्स्वरूपं भवतोऽसौ पदार्थ भेदग्रहै: पुरुषो यावदीक्षेत् । ज्ञानस्य चार्थस्य गुणस्य चाश्रयो मायामयाद्वयतिरिक्तो मतस्त्वम् ॥ ३१ ॥
brahmovāca naitat svarūpaṁ bhavato ’sau padārtha- bheda-grahaiḥ puruṣo yāvad īkṣet jñānasya cārthasya guṇasya cāśrayo māyāmayād vyatirikto matas tvam
قال برهما: يا بهاگافان، من يحاول إدراكك عبر تمييز الأشياء واختلافاتها لا يستطيع فهم صورتك الأزلية. أنت ملجأ المعرفة والغاية والصفات، ومع ذلك فأنت متعالٍ عن الثنائية التي تنشأ من المايا؛ أنت الحقيقة الواحدة غير المزدوجة.
It is said that the transcendental name, qualities, activities, paraphernalia, etc., of the Supreme Personality of Godhead cannot be understood with our material senses. The attempt of the empiric philosophers to understand the Absolute Truth by speculation is always futile because their process of understanding, their objective and the instruments by which they try to understand the Absolute Truth are all material. The Lord is aprākṛta, beyond the creation of the material world. This fact is also accepted by the great impersonalist Śaṅkarācārya: nārāyaṇaḥ paro ’vyaktād aṇḍam avyakta-sambhavam. Avyakta, or the original material cause, is beyond this material manifestation and is the cause of the material world. Because Nārāyaṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is beyond the material world, one cannot speculate upon Him by any material method. One has to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead simply by the transcendental method of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. This is confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā (18.55) . Bhaktyā mām abhijānāti: only by devotional service can one understand the transcendental form of the Lord. The difference between the impersonalists and the personalists is that the impersonalists, limited by their speculative processes, cannot even approach the Supreme Personality of Godhead, whereas the devotees please the Supreme Personality of Godhead through His transcendental loving service. Sevonmukhe hi: due to the service attitude of the devotee, the Lord is revealed to him. The Supreme Lord cannot be understood by materialistic persons even though He is present before them. In Bhagavad-gītā, Lord Kṛṣṇa therefore condemns such materialists as mūḍhas. Mūḍha means “rascal.” It is said in the Gītā, “Only rascals think of Lord Kṛṣṇa as an ordinary person. They do not know what Lord Kṛṣṇa’s position is or what His transcendental potencies are.” Unaware of His transcendental potencies, the impersonalists deride the person of Lord Kṛṣṇa, whereas the devotees, by dint of their service attitude, can understand Him as the Personality of Godhead. In the Tenth Chapter of Bhagavad-gītā, Arjuna also confirmed that it is very difficult to understand the personality of the Lord.
FAQs
This verse teaches that when one views the Supreme through material distinctions, one misses His true nature; the Lord is the shelter of all knowledge and qualities yet remains beyond māyā-made duality (advaya).
Brahmā highlights that the tendency to divide reality into separate material categories distorts spiritual vision; the Supreme is ultimately nondual and transcends such conceptual fragmentation.
Reduce identity-based and object-based judgments, and cultivate devotional remembrance that the divine reality is beyond opposites—helping one act with steadiness, humility, and clearer spiritual focus.