Shloka 18
Kuntī’s Prayers and the Neutralization of the Brahmāstra
Uttarā Protected; Yudhiṣṭhira’s Grief Begins
कुन्त्युवाच नमस्ये पुरुषं त्वाद्यमीश्वरं प्रकृते: परम् । अलक्ष्यं सर्वभूतानामन्तर्बहिरवस्थितम् ॥ १८ ॥
kunty uvāca namasye puruṣaṁ tvādyam īśvaraṁ prakṛteḥ param alakṣyaṁ sarva-bhūtānām antar bahir avasthitam
พระนางกุนตีตรัสว่า: โอ้กฤษณะ ข้าพเจ้าขอนอบน้อมแด่พระองค์ ผู้เป็นปุรุษดั้งเดิม พระผู้เป็นเจ้าเหนือสุด ผู้เหนือพ้นปรกฤติ พระองค์สถิตทั้งภายในและภายนอกสรรพสัตว์ทั้งปวง แต่กลับไม่อาจมองเห็นได้โดยใครๆ
Śrīmatī Kuntīdevī was quite aware that Kṛṣṇa is the original Personality of Godhead, although He was playing the part of her nephew. Such an enlightened lady could not commit a mistake by offering obeisances unto her nephew. Therefore, she addressed Him as the original puruṣa beyond the material cosmos. Although all living entities are also transcendental, they are neither original nor infallible. The living entities are apt to fall down under the clutches of material nature, but the Lord is never like that. In the Vedas, therefore, He is described as the chief among all living entities ( nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām ). Then again He is addressed as īśvara, or the controller. The living entities or the demigods like Candra and Sūrya are also to some extent īśvara, but none of them is the supreme īśvara, or the ultimate controller. He is the parameśvara, or the Supersoul. He is both within and without. Although He was present before Śrīmatī Kuntī as her nephew, He was also within her and everyone else. In the Bhagavad-gītā (15.15) the Lord says, “I am situated in everyone’s heart, and only due to Me one remembers, forgets and is cognizant, etc. Through all the Vedas I am to be known because I am the compiler of the Vedas, and I am the teacher of the Vedānta. ” Queen Kuntī affirms that the Lord, although both within and without all living beings, is still invisible. The Lord is, so to speak, a puzzle for the common man. Queen Kuntī experienced personally that Lord Kṛṣṇa was present before her, yet He entered within the womb of Uttarā to save her embryo from the attack of Aśvatthāmā’s brahmāstra. Kuntī herself was puzzled about whether Śrī Kṛṣṇa is all-pervasive or localized. In fact, He is both, but He reserves the right of not being exposed to persons who are not surrendered souls. This checking curtain is called the māyā energy of the Supreme Lord, and it controls the limited vision of the rebellious soul. It is explained as follows.
FAQs
In this verse (1.8.18), Queen Kuntī describes the Lord as present both internally (as the indwelling witness) and externally (as the all-pervading controller), even though He remains unseen to conditioned beings.
After witnessing extraordinary protection and the Lord’s presence among the Pāṇḍavas, Kuntī glorifies Kṛṣṇa as the original Supreme Person who is not limited by prakṛti, unlike all embodied beings.
Remembering that the Lord is the unseen guide within and the ruler without encourages humility, ethical living, and steady devotion—seeing life’s events as under a higher, benevolent direction.