TEXT 11
vadanti tat tattva-vidas
tattvam yaj jnanam advayam
brahmeti paramatmeti
bhagavan iti sabdyate
SYNONYMS
vadantithey say; tatthat; tattva-vidahlearned souls; tattvamthe Absolute Truth; yatwhich; jnanamknowledge; advayamnondual; brahmaBrahman; itithus; paramatmaParamatma; itithus; bhagavanBhagavan; itithus; sabdyateis known.
TRANSLATION
"Learned transcendentalists who know the Absolute Truth say that it is nondual knowledge and is called impersonal Brahman, localized Paramatma and the Personality of Godhead."
PURPORT
This Sanskrit verse appears as the eleventh verse of the First Canto, Second Chapter, of Srimad-Bhagavatam, where Suta Gosvami answers the questions of the sages headed by Saunaka Rsi concerning the essence of all scriptural instructions. Tattva-vidah refers to persons who have knowledge of the Absolute Truth. They can certainly understand knowledge without duality because they are on the spiritual platform. The Absolute Truth is known sometimes as Brahman, sometimes as Paramatma and sometimes as Bhagavan. Persons who are in knowledge of the truth know that one who tries to approach the Absolute simply by mental speculation will ultimately realize the impersonal Brahman, and one who tries to approach the Absolute through yoga practice will be able to realize Paramatma, but one who has complete knowledge and spiritual understanding realizes the spiritual form of Bhagavan, the Personality of Godhead.
Devotees of the Personality of Godhead know that Sri Krsna, the son of the King of Vraja, is the Absolute Truth. They do not discriminate between Sri Krsna's name, form, quality and pastimes. One who wants to separate the Lord's absolute name, form and qualities must be understood to be lacking in absolute knowledge. A pure devotee knows that when he chants the transcendental name Krsna, Sri Krsna is present as transcendental sound. He therefore chants with full respect and veneration. When he sees the forms of Sri Krsna, he does not see anything different from the Lord. If one sees otherwise, he must be considered untrained in absolute knowledge. This lack of absolute knowledge is called maya. One who is not Krsna conscious is ruled by the spell of maya under the control of a duality in knowledge. In the Absolute, all manifestations of the Supreme Lord are nondual, just as the multifarious forms of Visnu, the controller of maya, are nondual. Empiric philosophers who pursue the impersonal Brahman accept only the knowledge that the personality of the living entity is not different from the personality of the Supreme Lord, and mystic yogis who try to locate the Paramatma accept only the knowledge that the pure soul is not different from the Supersoul. The absolute conception of a pure devotee, however, includes all others. A devotee does not see anything except in its relationship with Krsna, and therefore his realization is the most perfect of all.

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