Shloka 23
Nimi Questions the Yogendras: Varṇāśrama’s Purpose, Ritualism’s Fall, and Yuga-Avatāras with Kali-yuga Saṅkīrtana
हंस: सुपर्णो वैकुण्ठो धर्मो योगेश्वरोऽमल: । ईश्वर: पुरुषोऽव्यक्त: परमात्मेति गीयते ॥ २३ ॥
haṁsaḥ suparṇo vaikuṇṭho dharmo yogeśvaro ’malaḥ īśvaraḥ puruṣo ’vyaktaḥ paramātmeti gīyate
Im Satya-yuga wird der Herr mit den Namen Haṁsa, Suparṇa, Vaikuṇṭha, Dharma, Yogeśvara, Amala, Īśvara, Puruṣa, Avyakta und Paramātmā gepriesen.
The sage Karabhājana Muni is replying to Videharāja Nimi’s questions about the varieties of the Lord’s incarnations. In Satya-yuga the Lord’s color is white, and He wears tree bark and a black deerskin as an ideal meditative brahmacārī. Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura has explained the Lord’s various names in Satya-yuga as follows. Those who are self-realized know this supreme reality of the Personality of Godhead as Paramātmā. Those souls who are situated in the religious system of varṇāśrama glorify Him as the haṁsa who is transcendental to all the varṇas and āśramas. Persons absorbed in gross matter consider Him to be Suparṇa, “the beautifully winged” basis of the conceptions of cause and effect who flies within the subtle sky of the soul, as described in Chāndogya Upaniṣad. Persons accustomed to wandering within this universe of subtle and gross matter created by the Lord’s illusory potency chant His name Vaikuṇṭha. Persons deprived of the power of transcendental meditation ( dhāraṇā ), who are thus subject to falling from the path of religion, glorify Him as Dharma, or religion personified. Those who are forced to submit to the illusory modes of material nature and whose minds are uncontrolled and disturbed glorify Him as the most perfectly self-controlled Yogeśvara. Persons tainted by a mixture of the modes of passion and ignorance call Him Amala, or the uncontaminated. Persons devoid of potency call Him Īśvara, and those who consider themselves to be under His shelter chant His glories by the name Uttama Puruṣa. Those who know that this material manifestation is only temporary call Him Avyakta. In this way, in Satya-yuga Lord Vāsudeva appears in various four-armed transcendental forms, and the jīva souls worship Him, each by their own particular process of devotional service. Therefore the Supreme Lord has many different names.
FAQs
This verse explains that the one Supreme Lord is glorified by many names—such as Haṁsa, Vaikuṇṭha, Dharma, Yogeśvara, Īśvara, Puruṣa, Avyakta, and Paramātmā—each highlighting a specific aspect of His transcendental nature.
Narada teaches Vasudeva that the Supreme is one, yet understood through multiple realizations: as Vaikuṇṭha (Lord of the spiritual realm), Paramātmā (the indwelling guide), and Avyakta (beyond material perception).
Remembering the Lord as Paramātmā encourages inner accountability, steadiness in dharma, and devotional mindfulness—acting with the awareness that the Divine witness and guide is present within the heart.