Srimad Bhagavatam — Dvitiya Skandha, Shloka 41
Bhagavān’s Avatāras, Their Protections (Poṣaṇa), and the Limits of Knowing Him
नान्तं विदाम्यहममी मुनयोऽग्रजास्ते मायाबलस्य पुरुषस्य कुतोऽवरा ये । गायन् गुणान् दशशतानन आदिदेव: शेषोऽधुनापि समवस्यति नास्य पारम् ॥ ४१ ॥
nāntaṁ vidāmy aham amī munayo ’gra-jās te māyā-balasya puruṣasya kuto ’varā ye gāyan guṇān daśa-śatānana ādi-devaḥ śeṣo ’dhunāpi samavasyati nāsya pāram
Neither I nor the sages born before you know the end of that omnipotent Supreme Person, whose power is māyā; how then could those born after us know Him? Even Śeṣa, the Lord’s first expansion, though singing His qualities with a thousand mouths, has not yet reached the far shore of that knowledge.
The omnipotent Personality of Godhead has three primary potencies, namely the internal, external and marginal potencies, with unlimited expansions of these three energies. As such, the expansions of His potencies can never be calculated by anyone because even the Personality of God Himself, as the incarnation of Śeṣa, cannot estimate the potencies, although He has been describing them continuously with His one thousand faces.
FAQs
This verse states that even exalted sages and Ananta Śeṣa, who endlessly sings with thousands of mouths, cannot find the end of the Lord’s qualities—showing Bhagavān is infinite and beyond complete measurement.
Śeṣa represents the greatest possible glorifier of the Lord; if even he cannot reach the limit of the Lord’s greatness, it confirms that the Lord’s attributes are boundless and eternally fresh.
Approach spiritual life with humility: instead of trying to “fully control” God through intellect alone, cultivate devotion—hearing and chanting His glories—accepting that the Infinite is realized by surrender, not conquered by analysis.