SB 10.14.29 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

अथापि ते देव पदाम्बुजद्वय- प्रसादलेशानुगृहीत एव हि । जानाति तत्त्वं भगवन् महिम्नो न चान्य एकोऽपि चिरं विचिन्वन् ॥ २९ ॥

Verse text

athāpi te deva padāmbuja-dvaya- prasāda-leśānugṛhīta eva hi jānāti tattvaṁ bhagavan-mahimno na cānya eko ’pi ciraṁ vicinvan

Synonyms

atha — therefore ; api — indeed ; te — Your ; deva — my Lord ; pada — ambuja — dvaya — of the two lotus feet ; prasāda — of the mercy ; leśa — by only a trace ; anugṛhītaḥ — favored ; eva — certainly ; hi — indeed ; jānāti — one knows ; tattvam — the truth ; bhagavat — of the Supreme Personality of Godhead ; mahimnaḥ — of the greatness ; na — never ; ca — and ; anyaḥ — another ; ekaḥ — one ; api — although ; ciram — for a long period ; vicinvan — speculating .

Translation

My Lord, if one is favored by even a slight trace of the mercy of Your lotus feet, he can understand the greatness of Your personality. But those who speculate to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead are unable to know You, even though they continue to study the Vedas for many years.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

My Lord, if one is favored by even a slight trace of the mercy of Your lotus feet, he can understand the greatness of Your personality. But those who speculate to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead are unable to know You, even though they continue to study the Vedas for many years. KB 10.14.29 “One who has attained a little result of devotional service can understand Your glories. Even one striving for Brahman realization or Paramātmā realization cannot understand these features of Your personality unless You bestow on him the result of at least a slight bit of devotional service. One may be the spiritual master of many impersonalists, or he may go to the forest or to a mountain cave and meditate as a hermit for many, many years, but he cannot understand Your glories without being favored by a slight degree of devotional service. Nor are Brahman realization or Paramātmā realization possible, even after one searches for many, many years, unless one is touched by the wonderful effect of devotional service.

Purport

This translation is quoted from Śrīla Prabhupāda’s Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā, Chapter Six, text 84. Lord Kṛṣṇa is very eager to bestow His mercy upon the conditioned living beings, who are uselessly struggling with the Lord’s illusory energy, Māyā. The conditioned soul struggles for happiness through sense gratification and for knowledge through mental speculation. Both processes ultimately bring him to a morose and hopeless condition. If the conditioned soul surrenders to the lotus feet of Lord Kṛṣṇa and thus acquires even a trace of His causeless mercy, the whole situation is changed, and the living entity can begin his real life of bliss and knowledge in Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Only by devotion to Krsna is it possible for the jiva to attain a realization of the bliss of Brahman. The jiva must discard his material coverings. Being blessed with a particle of mercy from your lotus feet, he can understand you as Brahman (mahima). Matysa says: madiyam mahimanam ca para brahmeti sabditam ...my greatness (mahima ) as para Brahman as taught by me and realized in the heart by you will be understood. Sridhara swami explains this verse as follows: you will know the supreme Brahman , having received mercy from me. To obtain a particle of mercy of the Lord means that the jnani performed mixed devotional service previously. The lord bestows mercy of bhakti yoga to that jnani who gives up avidya and vidya, who gives up jnana and accepts pure bhakti. That person who prefers jnana and gives up bhakti and enthusiastically pursues brahman, though he is guru for thousands of jnanis, and studies scripture and practices yoga for a long time, does not know the true nature of the Lord.

Purport (Jiva Goswami)

Though the Lord has unlimited greatness, by his mercy the discriminating person can approach the Lord. The meaning is clear. In knowing your greatness, such persons reject the vivarta-vāda explanations. The words will be explained. O revealer of everything or one who is revealed everywhere (deva)! Or “O Kṛṣṇa, who plays in Vṛndāvana eternally! One who is favored by even a particle of mercy knows your greatness certainly (hi). Yam evaiṣa vṛṇute: the Lord reveals himself to the person he chooses. (Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad 3.2.3) The words “lotus feet” indicate bhakti. O lord who reveals qualities like mercy (bhagavān)! This is the cause of receiving mercy. His glories are clear. He is without limits: asyāpi deva vapuṣo mad-anugrahasya svecchā-mayasya tanu-bhūta-mayasya ko ’pi neśe mahi tv avasituṁ manasāntareṇa sākṣāt tavaiva kim utātma-sukhānubhūteḥ Even by controlling the mind, no one can understand the greatness of this form of the Lord of the universe, which manifested in many four-armed forms, but which is actually you, the one form of Svayam Bhagavān, who gave me mercy, by you own will, spreading through the universe in many spiritual forms, possessing bliss which can be understood only by yourself. SB 10.14.2 They can realize to a small degree the Lord: ko vetti bhūman bhagavan parātman yogeśvarotīr bhavatas tri-lokyām kva vā kathaṁ vā kati vā kadeti vistārayan krīḍasi yoga-māyām O unrestricted Lord! O Lord endowed with all powers! O Supersoul! O lord spread through out all time! Who knows where, how, how many, and when your pastimes will take place in the universe? Spreading yoga-māyā you play. SB 10.14.21 Others are without mercy. One person alone, such as Śiva, may speculate or do yoga, thinking while reviewing the scriptures, “What is this truth and how large is it?” Though the mercy is only one particle, it will gradually increase until it becomes full.

Purport (Sanatana Goswami)

Though your glory is clear, it can only be realized by your mercy. O revealer of everything or one who manifests everywhere (deva)! Or O lord who always plays in Vṛndāvana! Or deva can modify lotus feet in the verse. The person receive a particle of mercy or your pleasure (prasāda). Or he receives mahāprasāda such as tulasī leaves. This is certain (hi). O Lord, who reveals qualities like mercy (bhagavān)! This is the cause of the mercy. Others do not obtain this mercy.This person knows the truth about your glories. Or commencing bhakti, giving up all speculation, by praying for bhakti continuously, one knows the truth about bhakti (mahimnaḥ). One knows what it is, its real nature. Another person, all alone, without association, contemplating by studying scriptures (vicinvan) and yoga practice, does not know the Lord. Though one realizes the truth by getting full mercy, usually one only receives a particle (leśa). This indicates that the mercy is rare.