Shloka 28
Brahmā’s Prayers to Lord Kṛṣṇa (Brahmā-stuti) and the Restoration of Vraja’s Lunch Pastime
अन्तर्भवेऽनन्त भवन्तमेव ह्यतत्त्यजन्तो मृगयन्ति सन्त: । असन्तमप्यन्त्यहिमन्तरेण सन्तं गुणं तं किमु यन्ति सन्त: ॥ २८ ॥
antar-bhave ’nanta bhavantam eva hy atat tyajanto mṛgayanti santaḥ asantam apy anty ahim antareṇa santaṁ guṇaṁ taṁ kim u yanti santaḥ
O unlimited Lord, saintly devotees seek You within their own bodies by rejecting everything separate from You. Indeed, how can a discerning person grasp the true nature of a rope lying before him until he refutes the illusion that it is a snake?
One may argue that a person should cultivate self-realization and at the same time pursue sense gratification for the material body. This proposition is herein refuted by the example of misidentifying a rope as a snake. One who mistakes a rope for a snake becomes fearful and thinks of the so-called snake. But upon discovering that the so-called snake is actually a rope, he experiences a different emotion — relief — and can then ignore the rope. Similarly, because we misunderstand the material body to be the self, we are experiencing many emotions in relation to the body. Upon discovering, however, that the body is simply a bag of material chemicals, we carefully note how this illusion was created and then lose interest in the body. Discovering that we are actually an eternal soul within the body, we naturally focus our attention on that real self.
FAQs
It says true saints search only for the Infinite Lord and do not abandon that supreme goal; realizing the futility of the unreal, they naturally cling to the real—devotion to Kṛṣṇa.
After being humbled by Kṛṣṇa’s līlā, Brahmā offers prayers admitting Kṛṣṇa’s supremacy and glorifying the path of saintly devotion as the sure approach to the Absolute.
Keep Kṛṣṇa as the central aim, learn from repeated disappointments in temporary pleasures, and deliberately cultivate the “real quality” of bhakti through hearing, chanting, and steady remembrance.