Srimad Bhagavatam — Panchama Skandha, Shloka 11
Rahūgaṇa Instructed by Jaḍa Bharata — Dehātma-buddhi, Nondual Truth, and the Mercy of Devotees
ज्ञानं विशुद्धं परमार्थमेक- मनन्तरं त्वबहिर्ब्रह्म सत्यम् । प्रत्यक् प्रशान्तं भगवच्छब्दसंज्ञं यद्वासुदेवं कवयो वदन्ति ॥ ११ ॥
jñānaṁ viśuddhaṁ paramārtham ekam anantaraṁ tv abahir brahma satyam pratyak praśāntaṁ bhagavac-chabda-saṁjñaṁ yad vāsudevaṁ kavayo vadanti
What is the ultimate truth? It is pure, nondual knowledge—untainted by the material guṇas, granting liberation, one without a second, all-pervading and beyond imagination. Its first realization is Brahman; then yogīs, with tranquil hearts, perceive Him within as Paramātmā; and the complete realization of that same supreme knowledge is Bhagavān, the Supreme Person. The learned describe that Supreme Person as Vāsudeva, the source of Brahman, Paramātmā, and all else.
In Caitanya-caritāmṛta it is said: yad advaitaṁ brahmopaniṣadi tad apy asya tanu-bhā. The impersonal Brahman effulgence of the Absolute Truth consists of the bodily rays of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Ya ātmāntaryāmī puruṣa iti so ’syāṁśa-vibhavaḥ. What is known as ātmā and antaryāmī, the Supersoul, is but an expansion of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Sad-aiśvaryaiḥ pūrṇo ya iha bhagavān sa svayam ayam. What is described as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, complete with all six opulences, is Vāsudeva, and Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is nondifferent from Him. Great learned scholars and philosophers accept this after many, many births. Vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti sa mahātmā sudurlabhaḥ ( Bg. 7.19 ). The wise man can understand that ultimately Vāsudeva, Kṛṣṇa, is the cause of Brahman, and Paramātmā, the Supersoul. Thus Vāsudeva is sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam, the cause of all causes. This is confirmed in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. The real tattva, Absolute Truth, is Bhagavān, but due to incomplete realization of the Absolute Truth, people sometimes describe the same Viṣṇu as impersonal Brahman or localized Paramātmā.
FAQs
This verse states that the one, pure, nondual Supreme Reality—Brahman, the indwelling peaceful Self—is also designated by the word “Bhagavān,” and the wise identify that same Absolute as Vāsudeva.
Rahūgaṇa approached Bharata with pride and confusion about self-realization; Bharata instructs him that true knowledge is realization of the one Absolute, ultimately known personally as Bhagavān Vāsudeva.
Practice inner stillness and self-inquiry while anchoring devotion in the personal name of God (Vāsudeva/Kṛṣṇa), seeing spiritual truth as both inward realization and loving relationship with the Supreme.