Shloka 23
Kurukṣetra Pilgrimage: Sages Praise Kṛṣṇa; Vasudeva Inquires on Karma; Viṣṇu-yajña Performed
न यं विदन्त्यमी भूपा एकारामाश्च वृष्णय: । मायाजवनिकाच्छन्नमात्मानं कालमीश्वरम् ॥ २३ ॥
na yaṁ vidanty amī bhū-pā ekārāmāś ca vṛṣṇayaḥ māyā-javanikācchannam ātmānaṁ kālam īśvaram
Neither these kings nor even the Vṛṣṇis, who relish intimate association with You, know You as the Soul of all existence, the power of Time, and the supreme controller, for You are hidden from them by the curtain of Māyā.
Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī explains that Lord Kṛṣṇa’s family, the Vṛṣṇis, were too familiar with Him to realize that He is the Supersoul residing in the heart of every created being. And those kings at Kurukṣetra who were not devotees of Kṛṣṇa could not recognize Him as time, the annihilator of everything. Devotees and nondevotees are both covered by Māyā, but in different ways. For the materialists Māyā is illusion, but for the Vaiṣṇavas she acts as Yoga-māyā, the internal potency who covers their awareness of the Supreme Lord’s majesty and engages them in His eternal pleasure pastimes.
FAQs
This verse identifies the Lord as kāla—Time itself—and īśvara, the supreme controller, indicating His governance over all change and destiny.
Because the Lord is veiled by His own māyā (māyā-javanikā), He can appear as an ordinary relative or human-like person, so many present could not perceive His absolute divinity.
It encourages humility and steady bhakti: even when God seems “ordinary” or distant, one should continue sincere devotion, knowing the divine may be hidden by appearances.