Shloka 26
Kapila’s Conclusion: Limits of Karma and Yoga; Supremacy of Bhakti and Qualification to Receive the Teaching
ज्ञानमात्रं परं ब्रह्म परमात्मेश्वर: पुमान् । दृश्यादिभि: पृथग्भावैर्भगवानेक ईयते ॥ २६ ॥
jñāna-mātraṁ paraṁ brahma paramātmeśvaraḥ pumān dṛśy-ādibhiḥ pṛthag bhāvair bhagavān eka īyate
Bhagavān alone—the Supreme Personality of Godhead—is complete transcendental knowledge; yet according to different ways of understanding, He is perceived as impersonal Brahman, as the indwelling Paramātmā, or as the personal Supreme Lord and the puruṣa-avatāra.
The word dṛśy-ādibhiḥ is significant. According to Jīva Gosvāmī, dṛśi means jñāna, philosophical research. By different processes of philosophical research under different concepts, such as the process of jñāna-yoga, the same Bhagavān, or Supreme Personality of Godhead, is understood as impersonal Brahman. Similarly, by the eightfold yoga system He appears as the Paramātmā. But in pure Kṛṣṇa consciousness, or knowledge in purity, when one tries to understand the Absolute Truth, one realizes Him as the Supreme Person. The Transcendence is realized simply on the basis of knowledge. The words used here, paramātmeśvaraḥ pumān, are all transcendental, and they refer to Supersoul. Supersoul is also described as puruṣa, but the word Bhagavān directly refers to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is full of six opulences: wealth, fame, strength, beauty, knowledge and renunciation. He is the Personality of Godhead in different spiritual skies. The various descriptions of paramātmā, īśvara and pumān indicate that the expansions of the Supreme Godhead are unlimited.
FAQs
This verse explains that the Absolute Truth is one Supreme Person, realized in three aspects—Brahman (impersonal), Paramātmā (indwelling Lord), and Bhagavān (the personal Supreme)—according to the observer’s perception.
Kapiladeva is teaching Devahūti the nature of the Absolute Truth so she can understand the goal of yoga and devotion: not merely an impersonal realization, but the complete realization of the one Lord.
It helps a seeker harmonize spiritual paths: respect impersonal and meditative realizations while aiming for the fullest relationship through bhakti to Bhagavān, the personal source of all.