Devanagari
जानन्त एव जानन्तु किं बहूक्त्या न मे प्रभो ।
मनसो वपुषो वाचो वैभवं तव गोचर: ॥ ३८ ॥
Verse text
jānanta eva jānantu
kiṁ bahūktyā na me prabho
manaso vapuṣo vāco
vaibhavaṁ tava go-caraḥ
Synonyms
jānantaḥ
—
persons who think they are aware of Your unlimited potency
;
eva
—
certainly
;
jānantu
—
let them think like that
;
kim
—
what is the use
;
bahu
—
uktyā — with many words
;
na
—
not
;
me
—
my
;
prabho
—
O Lord
;
manasaḥ
—
of the mind
;
vapuṣaḥ
—
of the body
;
vācaḥ
—
of the words
;
vaibhavam
—
opulences
;
tava
—
Your
;
go
—
caraḥ — within the range .
Translation
There are people who say, “I know everything about Kṛṣṇa.” Let them think that way. As far as I am concerned, I do not wish to speak very much about this matter. O my Lord, let me say this much: As far as Your opulences are concerned, they are all beyond the reach of my mind, body and words.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
There are people who say, "I know everything about Kṛṣṇa." Let them think that way. As far as I am concerned, I do not wish to speak very much about this matter. O my Lord, let me say this much: As far as Your opulences are concerned, they are all beyond the reach of my mind, body and words.
KB 10.14.38
“My dear Lord, I have nothing to say about people who advertise that they have already realized God or that by their realization they have themselves become God. But as far as I am concerned, I admit frankly that for me it is not possible to realize You by my body, mind or speech. What can I say about You, or how can I realize You by my senses? I cannot even think of You perfectly with my mind, which is the master of the senses. Your qualities, Your activities and Your body cannot be conceived of by any person within this material world. Only by Your mercy can one understand, to some extent, what You are.
Purport
This translation is quoted from Śrīla Prabhupāda’s
Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā,
Chapter Twenty-one, text 27.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
"O Brahma, what you have said is absolutely true. There is no one else in the universe who can explain about my form, my Vraja devotees, my pastimes and my bhakti in front of me."
Fearing that the Lord would request him to speak further, Brahma then speaks with shame, fear, and repentance. "I am of that category, I am te greatest fool."
"O brahma, then why have you spoken till now?"
"Speaking too much in your presence will show my foolishness."
"O Brahma, please speak the truth."
"My mind cannot grasp your powers by meditation. My eyes cannot grasp your form. My words cannot describe you. As I said previously, who can describe your heaps of good qualities (gunatmanas te’pi gunan vimatum). Another meaning is: I cannot grasp the powers of your mind with my senses. I cannot understand what is in your mind. (sasksat tavaiva kim uta atmasukhanubhuta 10.14.2) I cannot understand anything about your body or any of your words which are the Vedas. Thus, when you are standing before me silently, I cannot speak even a word. Thus I say, in front of you, I am really insignificant."
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
In a general way in verse 2, Brahmā declared that inconceivability of Kṛṣṇa’s greatness. Then in verse 9 he showed that Kṛṣṇa’s svarūpa-śakti, māyā-śakti and his svarūpa were inconceivable. In verse 31 he showed that the prema of the people of Vraja was inconceivable and in verse 35 and verse 37 he showed that Kṛṣṇa’s mercy and pastimes were inconceivable. Now he abandons further definitions and begins his conclusion by indicating his desired goal. O Lord with unlimited, variegated powers (prabho)! Even your glories stated in the Vedas cannot be understood by me. Even though I see this form before me, it cannot be perceived by the body—such as the material eye (organ of the body) or described by material words. Therefore I began simply by praying. That is what I will do now.
Purport (Sanatana Goswami)
Starting in SB 10.14.3, Brahmā has explained that jñana is insignificant and bhakti is great. He now summarizes this. Let those who think they know (janataḥ) the glory of your bhakti (vaibhavam) think they are very learned. Practicing jñāna, let them perfect it. This is said with irony. What more can be said about the insignificance of jñāna and the greatness of bhakti?
O lord with various unlimited powers (prabho)! Your greatness cannot approached by writing ability with the body, by descriptions using words or by thinking with the mind since your greatness is continuous and inconceivable. All else is approachable.
Or first Brahmā described the body of the Lord by praises. Then he raised various doubts.
Now he summarizes with conviction by a description of the greatness of bhakti. O Lord who reveals excellently great beauty (prabho)! The greatness of your body is beyond my understanding.
Or the greatness of your mind, words and body are beyond my understanding. Like you, your mind is deeper than a million oceans. Your single body is like the unlimitedly deep Vedas, being limited and unlimited simultaneously. I cannot understand the meaning of your words, measured and abundant, uttered to your friends.
Or summarizing the greatness of Vraja by praising the Lord in front of him, he mocks the fools who think they know. O lord of Gokula (prabho)! The glory of the people of Vraja is beyond my and even your body, mind and words. Those who think they know are fools, worthy of mockery.