Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.84.23
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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eka-ārāmāḥ
—
who enjoy together
eka (one, together) + ārāma (enjoyment, pleasure-garden). The Vṛṣṇis enjoy in unison with Kṛṣṇa. Gauḍīyas read this as a marker of intimate līlā — and exactly therefore as the cover under which His aiśvarya is hidden from them.
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javanikā
—
curtain
From java (speed) — a curtain that moves quickly. The technical word for a stage-curtain in Sanskrit drama. Bhagavān's līlā is staged; māyā is the curtain whose movements time the rasa.
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kālam
—
time
Kṛṣṇa as kāla — the same self-disclosure He makes in BG 11.32, kālo 'smi loka-kṣaya-kṛt. Paired with īśvaram in the verse. Gauḍīyas note that the Person familiar to the Vṛṣṇis as 'cousin' is also the Time that swallows all kings.
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ātmānam
—
the Supreme Soul
ātman as Bhagavān's Self, here qualified by kālam īśvaram. Gauḍīyas read ātmā in this verse not as the impersonal self but as the Soul of all souls — paramātmā, equivalent to Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa.
Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī explains that Lord Kṛṣṇa’s family, the Vṛṣṇis, were too familiar with Him to realize that He is the Supersoul residing in the heart of every created being. And those kings at Kurukṣetra who were not devotees of Kṛṣṇa could not recognize Him as time, the annihilator of everything. Devotees and nondevotees are both covered by Māyā, but in different ways. For the materialists Māyā is illusion, but for the Vaiṣṇavas she acts as Yoga-māyā, the internal potency who covers their awareness of the Supreme Lord’s majesty and engages them in His eternal pleasure pastimes.
The Vrsnis do not know you, who are the object of the intense affection, as the Lord, having sat on the same seat or bed with you, and the kings do not know you, who destroys them as time, as the Lord. Why? Because you are covered by the screen of maya, a covering of their knowledge. It should be concluded however that it is ignorance which covers the kings and yogamaya which covers the Vrsnis.
Who are we, so far from you? Those who are near you, even the kings, and even the Vṛṣṇis, who take you as their only pleasure, do not know you as Svayam Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa. They cannot realize the real extent of your greatness. “What is the cause of their not realizing me, filled with all powers, since I remain in a manifested form?” You are covered by māyā. How can it cover all my powers? It is a screen: those who are your intimate associates can realize your greatness by your desire. They describe his greatness. You are Brahman (ātmanam). You impel all beings (kalayati -kālam) as antaryāmī. You are Svayam Bhagavān (īśvaram).
The people gathered here are more fortunate than us sages. They take pleasure only in you (ekārāmāḥ). They do not know you as all pervading Brahman (ātmanam), as fearful time, destroying everything, or as the Lord. They know you as the son of Devakī, protector of everyone, and the dearest. Why? You are covered by a curtain of māyā, since you manifest your unlimited qualities as bhagavān.
- Padaseva Pr SB 10-84-23 Oriya
- BhaktiVasudeva Sw SB 10-84-23 - Mahamaya and Yogamaya coverings for Nondevotees and Devotees Respectively - 2011-04-22 I
- Bhanu Sw SB 10-84-23 - Illusion in pastimes increases bliss and Illusion in material world amplifies suffering - ISKCON Chennai
- Bhanu Sw SB 10-84-23 - Krishna%27s illusory potency acts differently for the Devotees and Non-Devotees - 2008-04-12
- Where am I assuming I 'know' God because I am close to Him?
- What aspect of God could I let remain mysterious rather than rushing to define?
A son growing up with his father may know him as 'papa' but never as the celebrated jurist of the city. The Vṛṣṇis and the Pāṇḍavas live with Kṛṣṇa, share His bed and His war, but the curtain of māyā keeps Him in domestic costume. The sages, arriving from outside the household, name what the household cannot quite name from inside.
Arjuna, the most intimate friend, asks Kṛṣṇa to show him the Universal Form (BG 11) and is undone by it. Afterward he says, sakheti matvā prasabhaṁ yad uktam — thinking of You as a friend, I have addressed You presumptuously (11.41–42).
Gauḍīyas read Arjuna's confession as the very condition this verse describes: intimacy that did not register the aiśvarya, until yoga-māyā briefly lifted the curtain.
My note
Source: vedabase.io