Impersonalists Less Intelligent

Modern impersonalists are even less intelligent, for they do not even follow Sahkaracarya, the greatest of the impersonalists, who has specifically stated that Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The fact is that one cannot understand Krsna without rendering devotional service. Without developing Krsna consciousness, one cannot understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead Krsna, or His form, His quality, His name, simply by mental speculation or by discussing Vedic literature. One must understand Him by rendering devotional service.

When one is fully engaged in Krsna consciousness, beginning with the chanting of the mahamantra Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare, then only can one understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The twenty-fifth verse makes this still more clear when Krsna says, "I am never manifested to the foolish and unintelligent. For them I am covered by My eternal creative potency, maya. And so the deluded world knows Me not, who am unborn and infallible." Even when Krsna was present personally on this earth 5,000 years ago, only a few people could recognize Him to be the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In the prayers of Kunti in the Srimad-Bhagavatam (1.8.18) it is said that the Lord is covered by His yoga-maya, and thus ordinary people cannot understand Him. Kunti prays, "O my Lord, You are the maintainer of the entire universe, and Your devotional service is the highest form of religious principles. Therefore I pray that You will also maintain me. Your transcendental form is covered by yoga-maya. The Brahmajyoti is the internal potency. May You kindly remove this glowing effulgence that impedes my seeing Your sac-cid-ananda-vigraha, Your eternal form of bliss and knowledge." Similarly, Lord Brahma prays, "O Supreme Personality of Godhead, O Supersoul, O master of all mystery! Who can calculate Your potency and pastimes in this world? You are always expanding Your internal potency, and therefore no one can understand You." Learned scientists and learned scholars can examine the atomic constitution of the material world or even the planets, but still they are unable to calculate Krsna's energy and potency, although Krsna is present before them. No one can see Krsna but the devotee. But by the grace of the devotee, one can see Krsna. The supreme devotee, Lord Caitanya, Krsna Himself, has appeared to spread this love of Krsna just to reclaim all the forgotten souls back into that loving relationship with the primal Lord, Govinda, Lord Krsna, who is not only unborn but inexhaustible, and whose form is eternal, blissful and knowledgeable.

In the concluding four verses Krsna affirms again that the only way out of the darkness is through worship of Him, by rendering transcendental loving service unto the Supreme. Only unintelligent persons worship the demigods or rely on their own mental speculation. The twenty-ninth verse says that intelligent persons "take refuge in Me in devotional service." They are actually Brahman because they entirely know everything about transcendental activities. As explained in the thirtieth verse, "Those who know Me as the Supreme Lord, as the governing principle of the material manifestation, who know Me as the one underlying all the demigods and as the one sustaining all sacrifices, can with steadfast mind understand and know Me even at the hour of death."

The beginning of Krsna consciousness entails association with persons who are Krsna conscious. Such association is spiritual and puts one directly in touch with the Supreme Lord, either with His form, His activities, or His words, but most especially with His name. Hearing the name of Krsna is not different from seeing Krsna. Thus by His inconceivable potencies, simply by chanting the mahamantra, Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare / Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare, one can personally associate with Him. When one is actually associating with Krsna, by His grace, one can understand Krsna to be the Supreme God. At the same time one comes to understand the constitutional position of the living entity and how the living entity forgets Krsna and becomes entangled in material activities. By gradual development of Krsna consciousness in good association, the living entity can understand that due to forgetfulness of Krsna he has become conditioned by the laws of material nature. He can also understand that this human form of life is an opportunity to regain Krsna consciousness and should be fully utilized to attain the causeless mercy of the Supreme Lord.