TEXT 38
etad isanam isasya
prakrti-stho 'pi tad-gunaih
na yujyate sadatma-sthair
yatha buddhis tad-asraya
SYNONYMS
etatthis; isanamdivinity; isasyaof the Personality of Godhead; prakrti-sthahbeing in contact with material nature; apiin spite of; tat-gunaihby the qualities; nanever; yujyateis affected; sada atma-sthaihby those who are situated in eternity; yathaas is; buddhihintelligence; tatthe Lord; asrayathose who are under the shelter of.
TRANSLATION
This is the divinity of the Personality of Godhead: He is not affected by the qualities of material nature, even though He is in contact with them. Similarly, the devotees who have taken shelter of the Lord do not become influenced by the material qualities.
PURPORT
In the Vedas and Vedic literatures (Sruti and Smrti) it is affirmed that in the Divinity there is nothing material. He is transcendental (nirguna) only, the supreme cognizant. Hari, or the Personality of Godhead, is the supreme transcendental person situated beyond the range of material affection. These statements are also confirmed even by Acarya Sankara. One may argue that His relation with the goddesses of fortune may be transcendental, but what about His relation with the Yadu dynasty, being born in that family, or His killing the nonbelievers like Jarasandha and other asuras directly in contact with the modes of material nature. The answer is that the divinity of the Personality of Godhead is never in contact with the qualities of material nature in any circumstances. Actually He is in contact with such qualities because He is the ultimate source of everything, yet He is above the actions of such qualities. He is known, therefore, as Yogesvara, or the master of mystic power, or in other words the all-powerful. Even His learned devotees are not affected by the influence of the material modes. The great six Gosvamis of Vrndavana all came from greatly rich and aristocratic families, but when they adopted the life of mendicants at Vrndavana, superficially they appeared to be in wretched conditions of life, but factually they were the richest of all in spiritual values. Such maha-bhagavatas, or first-grade devotees, although moving amongst men, are not contaminated by honor or insult, hunger or satisfaction, sleep or wakefulness, which are all resultant actions of the three modes of material nature. Similarly, some of them are engaged in worldly dealings, yet are unaffected. Unless these neutralities of life are there, one cannot be considered situated in transcendence. The Divinity and His associates are on the same transcendental plane, and their glories are always sanctified by the action of yogamaya, or the internal potency of the Lord. The devotees of the Lord are always transcendental, even if they are sometimes found to have fallen in their behavior. The Lord emphatically declares in the Bhagavad-gita (9.30) that even if an unalloyed devotee is found to be fallen due to a previous material contamination, he is nevertheless to be accepted as fully transcendental because of his being engaged cent percent in the devotional service of the Lord. The Lord protects him always because of his rendering service unto Him, and the fallen conditions are to be considered accidental and temporary. They will vanish in no time.
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