TEXT 37
sama-visama-matinam matam anusarasi yatha rajju-khandah sarpadi-dhiyam.
SYNONYMS
samaequal or proper; visamaand unequal or mistaken; matinamof those having intelligence; matamconclusion; anusarasiYou follow; yathajust as; rajju-khandaha piece of rope; sarpa-adia snake, etc.; dhiyamof those who perceive.
TRANSLATION
A rope causes fear for a bewildered person who considers it a snake, but not for a person with proper intelligence who knows it to be only a rope. Similarly, You, as the Supersoul in everyones heart, inspire fear or fearlessness according to ones intelligence, but in You there is no duality.
PURPORT
In Bhagavad-gita (4.11) the Lord says, ye yatha mam prapadyante tams tathaiva bhajamy aham: As one surrenders unto Me, I reward him accordingly. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is the reservoir of everything, including all knowledge, all truth and all contradictions. The example cited herein is very appropriate. A rope is one truth, but some mistake it for a snake, whereas others know it to be a rope. Similarly, devotees who know the Supreme Personality of Godhead do not see contradictions in Him, but nondevotees regard Him as the snakelike source of all fear. For example, when Nrsimhadeva appeared, Prahlada Maharaja saw the Lord as the supreme solace, whereas his father, a demon, saw Him as the ultimate death. As stated in Srimad-Bhagavatam (11.2.37), bhayam dvitiyabhinivesatah syat: fear results from being absorbed in duality. When one is in knowledge of duality, one knows both fear and bliss. The same Supreme Lord is a source of bliss to devotees and fear to nondevotees who have a poor fund of knowledge. God is one, but people understand the Absolute Truth from different angles of vision. The unintelligent see contradictions in Him, but sober devotees find no contradictions.

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