SB 7.10.49 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

स वा अयं ब्रह्म महद्विमृग्य- कैवल्यनिर्वाणसुखानुभूति: । प्रिय: सुहृद् व: खलु मातुलेय आत्मार्हणीयो विधिकृद्गुरुश्च ॥ ४९ ॥

Verse text

sa vā ayaṁ brahma mahad-vimṛgya- kaivalya-nirvāṇa-sukhānubhūtiḥ priyaḥ suhṛd vaḥ khalu mātuleya ātmārhaṇīyo vidhi-kṛd guruś ca

Synonyms

saḥ — that (Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa) ; vā — also ; ayam — this ; brahma — the impersonal Brahman (which is an emanation from Kṛṣṇa) ; mahat — by great personalities ; vimṛgya — searched for ; kaivalya — oneness ; nirvāṇa — sukha — of transcendental happiness ; anubhūtiḥ — the source of practical experience ; priyaḥ — very, very dear ; suhṛt — well-wisher ; vaḥ — of you ; khalu — indeed ; mātuleyaḥ — the son of a maternal uncle ; ātmā — exactly like body and soul together ; arhaṇīyaḥ — worshipable (because He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead) ; vidhi — kṛt — (yet He serves you as) an order carrier ; guruḥ — your supreme advisor ; ca — as well .

Translation

The impersonal Brahman is Kṛṣṇa Himself because Kṛṣṇa is the source of the impersonal Brahman. He is the origin of the transcendental bliss sought by great saintly persons, yet He, the Supreme Person, is your most dear friend and constant well-wisher and is intimately related to you as the son of your maternal uncle. Indeed, He is always like your body and soul. He is worshipable, yet He acts as your servant and sometimes as your spiritual master.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Kṛṣṇa definitely expands as the Brahman, the realization of bliss without qualities, which is sought by great sages. He also resides in your house as the object of affection, a friend, a cousin, as your soul, as a person worthy of worship, as a servant and as a guru. One should not say that the Param Brahman has become the human form of Kṛṣṇa. Rather Kṛṣṇa becomes the Param Brahman. This famous human form of Kṛṣṇa (saḥ ayam) is Brahman, sought by the great saints, a realization of supreme bliss without distinctions or qualities. One should explain it as a statement of confirmation like kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam. The proof is brahmaṇo hi pratiṣṭhāham: I am the basis of Brahman. (BG 14.27) The word vai indicates certainly about this. Not only does he live in your house, but he is dear: he gives you great bliss. He is a friend: he does things for your benefit. He is your cousin: his is obedient to you because of a family relationship. He is your ātmā: he thinks of you as his own body. He is worthy of worship: he protects you by his mercy. He is your servant: he places himself at your disposal as a charioteer. He is guru: he gives you good advice. He does not reside in the houses of Prahlāda and others acting as a servant or guru.

Purport

There is always a difference of opinion about the Absolute Truth. One class of transcendentalists concludes that the Absolute Truth is impersonal, and another class concludes that the Absolute Truth is a person. In Bhagavad-gītā, the Absolute Truth is accepted as the Supreme Person. Indeed, that Supreme Person Himself, Lord Kṛṣṇa, instructs in Bhagavad-gītā, brahmaṇo hi pratiṣṭhāham, mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat. “The impersonal Brahman is My partial manifestation, and there is no truth superior to Me.” That same Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, acted as the supreme friend and relative of the Pāṇḍavas, and sometimes He even acted as their servant by carrying a letter from the Pāṇḍavas to Dhṛtarāṣṭra and Duryodhana. Because Kṛṣṇa was the well-wisher of the Pāṇḍavas, He also acted as guru by becoming the spiritual master of Arjuna. Arjuna accepted Kṛṣṇa as his spiritual master ( śiṣyas te ’haṁ śādhi māṁ tvāṁ prapannam ), and Kṛṣṇa sometimes chastised him. For example, the Lord said, aśocyān anvaśocas tvaṁ prajṣā-vādāṁś ca bhāṣase: “While speaking learned words, you are mourning for what is not worthy of grief.” The Lord also said, kutas tvā kaśmalam idaṁ viṣame samupasthitam: “My dear Arjuna, how have these impurities come upon you?” Such was the intimate relationship between the Pāṇḍavas and Kṛṣṇa. In the same way, a pure devotee of the Lord is always with Kṛṣṇa through thick and thin; his way of life is Kṛṣṇa. This is the statement of the authority Śrī Nārada Muni.