FolioCorpusŚrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 2.9.38

श्रीशुक उवाच सम्प्रदिश्यैवमजनो जनानां परमेष्ठिनम् । पश्यतस्तस्य तद् रूपमात्मनो न्यरुणद्धरि: ॥ ३८ ॥
śrī-śuka uvāca
[shree-shuka uvaacha]
sampradiśyaivam ajano
[sampradishyaivam ajano]
janānāṁ parameṣṭhinam
[janaanaam parameshthinam]
paśyatas tasya tad rūpam
[pashyatas tasya tad roopam]
ātmano nyaruṇad dhariḥ
[aatmano nyarunad dharih]
śrī-śukaḥ uvāca — Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī said sampradiśya — fully instructing Brahmājī evam — thus ajanaḥ — the Supreme Lord janānām — of the living entities parameṣṭhinam — unto the supreme leader, Brahmā paśyataḥ — while he was seeing tasya — His tat rūpam — that transcendental form ātmanaḥ — of the Absolute nyaruṇat — disappeared hariḥ — the Lord, the Personality of Godhead.
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
śrī-śuka uvāca
śrī-śukaḥ uvāca
Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī said
sampradiśyaivam ajano
sampradiśya
fully instructing Brahmājī
evam
thus
ajanaḥ
the Supreme Lord
janānāṁ parameṣṭhinam
janānām
of the living entities
parameṣṭhinam
unto the supreme leader, Brahmā
paśyatas tasya tad rūpam
paśyataḥ
while he was seeing
tasya
His
tat rūpam
that transcendental form
ātmano nyaruṇad dhariḥ
ātmanaḥ
of the Absolute
nyaruṇat
disappeared
hariḥ
the Lord, the Personality of Godhead.
Śukadeva Gosvāmī said to Mahārāja Parīkṣit: The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Hari, after being seen in His transcendental form, instructing Brahmājī, the leader of the living entities, disappeared.

In this verse it is clearly mentioned that the Lord is ajanaḥ, or the Supreme Person, and that He was showing His transcendental form ( ātmano rūpam ) to Brahmājī while instructing him in the summarization of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam in four verses. He is ajanaḥ, or the Supreme Person, amongst janānām, or all persons. All living entities are individual persons, and amongst all such persons Lord Hari is supreme, as confirmed in the śruti-mantra, nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām. So there is no place for impersonal features in the transcendental world as there are impersonal features in the material world. Whenever there is cetana, or knowledge, the personal feature comes in. In the spiritual world everything is full of knowledge, and therefore everything in the transcendental world, the land, the water, the tree, the mountain, the river, the man, the animal, the bird — everything — is of the same quality, namely cetana, and therefore everything there is individual and personal. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam gives us this information as the supreme Vedic literature, and it was personally instructed by the Supreme Personality of Godhead to Brahmājī so that the leader of the living entities might broadcast the message to all in the universe in order to teach the supreme knowledge of bhakti-yoga. Brahmājī in his turn instructed Nārada, his beloved son, the same message of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, and Nārada, in his turn, taught the same to Vyāsadeva, who again taught it to Śukadeva Gosvāmī. Through Śukadeva Gosvāmī’s grace and by the mercy of Mahārāja Parīkṣit we are all given Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam perpetually to learn the science of the Absolute Personality of Godhead, Lord Kṛṣṇa.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
Śuka said: The Lord who is beyond the material world, having instructed Brahmā, the creator of the progeny, then made his form disappear while Brahmā watched.
Commentary

Parameṣṭhinam refers to the creator, Brahmā. Ātmano rūpam means the form of the Lord and Vaikuṇṭha as well. Nyaruṇad means “made (his form) disappear.”

After instructing Brahmā in the seed Bhāgavatam, the Lord disappeared. He is the Supreme Person among all persons — never impersonal in the spiritual world. Personhood is the deeper reality, not less than impersonal.
Reflection Questions
  • What in me secretly prefers an impersonal God because Persons make demands?
  • How does meeting Him as Supreme Person change my relating to all other persons?
📝 My note

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