Srimad Bhagavatam — Ashtama Skandha, Shloka 44
Lord Śiva Bewildered by Mohinī
Viṣṇu’s Yoga-māyā and the Limits of Ascetic Power
यं मामपृच्छस्त्वमुपेत्य योगात्समासहस्रान्त उपारतं वै । स एष साक्षात् पुरुष: पुराणोन यत्र कालो विशते न वेद: ॥ ४४ ॥
yaṁ mām apṛcchas tvam upetya yogāt samā-sahasrānta upārataṁ vai sa eṣa sākṣāt puruṣaḥ purāṇo na yatra kālo viśate na vedaḥ
私が神秘のヨーガ三昧を千年にわたり成就したとき、汝は近づいて、誰を観想していたのかと問うた。今ここにその方が現れている――時が入り込めず、ヴェーダさえも完全には知り得ない、古来の至上なるプルシャである。
Eternal time enters anywhere and everywhere, but it cannot enter the kingdom of god. Nor can the Vedas understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is an indication of the Lord’s being omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient.
FAQs
This verse declares that the primeval Supreme Person is untouched by kāla (time); time cannot enter or limit Him, showing His complete transcendence.
After Śiva witnessed Mohinī-mūrti’s bewildering līlā, Brahmā reminds him that the form is the original Supreme Puruṣa—beyond time and beyond full Vedic grasp—so even great gods can be astonished by His māyā.
It encourages humility: intellect and scholarship have limits, so one should add devotion and surrender—seeking the Lord through bhakti, not only through analysis.