TEXT 37
naham na yuyam yad-rtam gatim vidur
na vamadevah kim utapare surah
tan-mayaya mohita-buddhayas tv idam
vinirmitam catma-samam vicaksmahe
SYNONYMS
naneither; ahamI; nanor; yuyamall you sons; yatwhose; rtamfactual; gatimmovements; viduhdo know; nanor; vamadevahLord Siva; kimwhat; utaelse; apareothers; surahdemigods; tatby His; mayayaby the illusory energy; mohitabewildered; buddhayahwith such intelligence; tubut; idamthis; vinirmitamwhat is created; caalso; atma-samamby dint of one's personal ability; vicaksmaheobserve.
TRANSLATION
Since neither Lord Siva nor you nor I could ascertain the limits of spiritual happiness, how can other demigods know it? And because all of us are bewildered by the illusory external energy of the Supreme Lord, we can see only this manifested cosmos according to our individual ability.
PURPORT
We have many times mentioned the names of twelve selected authorities (dvadasa-mahajana), of which Brahma, Narada and Lord Siva head the list as the first, second and third in order of merit of those who know something of the Supreme Lord. Other demigods, semi-demigods, Gandharvas, Caranas, Vidyadharas, human beings or asuras cannot possibly know fully about the potencies of the Absolute Lord, Sri Krsna. The demigods, semi-demigods, Gandharvas, etc., are all highly intelligent persons in the upper planets, the human beings are inhabitants of the intermediate planets, and the asuras are inhabitants of the lower planets. All of them have their respective conceptions and estimations of the Absolute Truth, as does the scientist or the empiric philosopher in human society. All such living entities are creatures of the material nature, and consequently they are bewildered by the wonderful display of the three modes of material nature. Such bewilderment is mentioned in the Bhagavad-gita (7.13). Tribhir gunamayair bhavair ebhih samam idam jagat: every entity, beginning from Brahma down to the ant, is individually bewildered by the three modes of material nature, namely goodness, passion and ignorance. Everyone thinks, in terms of individual capacity, that this universe, which is manifested before us, is all in all. And so the scientist in the human society of the twentieth century calculates the beginning and end of the universe in his own way. But what can the scientists know? Even Brahma himself was once bewildered, thinking himself the only one Brahma favored by the Lord, but later on, by the grace of the Lord, he came to know that there are innumerable more powerful Brahmas as well, in far bigger universes beyond this universe, and all of these universes combined together form ekapad-vibhuti, or one fourth of the manifestation of the Lord's creative energy. The other three fourths of His energy are displayed in the spiritual world, and so what can the tiny scientist with a tiny brain know of the Absolute Personality of Godhead, Lord Krsna? The Lord says, therefore, mohitam nabhijanati mam ebhyah param avyayam: [Bg. 7.13] bewildered by such modes of material nature, they cannot understand that beyond these manifestations is a Supreme Person who is the absolute controller of everything. Brahma, Narada and Lord Siva know about the Lord to a considerable extent, and therefore one should follow the instructions of these great personalities instead of being satisfied with a tiny brain and its playful discoveries such as spacecraft and similar products of science. As the mother is the only authority to identify the father of a child, so the mother Vedas, presented by the recognized authority such as Brahma, Narada or Siva, is the only authority to inform us about the Absolute Truth.

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