Shloka 23
Kṛṣṇa’s Impending Departure; Uddhava’s Surrender; King Yadu and the Avadhūta’s Twenty-Four Gurus
Beginnings
अत्र मां मृगयन्त्यद्धा युक्ता हेतुभिरीश्वरम् । गृह्यमाणैर्गुणैर्लिङ्गैरग्राह्यमनुमानत: ॥ २३ ॥
atra māṁ mṛgayanty addhā yuktā hetubhir īśvaram gṛhyamāṇair guṇair liṅgair agrāhyam anumānataḥ
Ich, der Höchste Herr, werde niemals durch gewöhnliche Sinneswahrnehmung erfasst; dennoch können Menschen Mich mit Verstand und anderen Erkenntniskräften durch sichtbare wie auch erschlossene Merkmale suchen.
According to Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura, the word yuktāḥ in this verse indicates those engaged in the regulative practice of bhakti-yoga. The devotees of the Lord do not abandon their intelligence and become mindless fanatics, as some fools think. As indicated by the words anumānataḥ and guṇair liṅgaiḥ, a devotee engaged in bhakti-yoga intensely searches out the Personality of Godhead through all of the rational faculties of the human brain. The word mṛgayanti, or “searching,” does not, however, indicate an unregulated or unauthorized process. If we are searching for the telephone number of a particular person, we look in the authorized telephone directory. Similarly, if we are searching for a particular product, we go to a specialized store where we are likely to find what we are looking for. Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī points out that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is not a product of the imagination, and thus we cannot whimsically imagine what the Lord might be. Therefore, to gain information about Lord Kṛṣṇa, one must conduct a regulated search in the authorized Vedic scriptures. The word agrāhyam in this verse indicates that no one can achieve or understand Lord Kṛṣṇa by ordinary speculation or through the activities of the material senses. In this regard Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī states the following verse in the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu (1.2.234):
FAQs
This verse explains that people try to find the Supreme Lord by reasoning from observable material qualities and symptoms, but God ultimately remains beyond what can be fully captured by mere inference.
Because material qualities (the guṇas) can indicate God’s presence only indirectly; the Lord transcends the guṇas, so intellectual inference alone cannot fully seize Him without higher realization.
Use study and reasoning as supportive tools, but prioritize devotion, humility, and direct spiritual practice (hearing, chanting, remembrance) to move from speculation to realization.