FolioCorpusŚrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 4.12.5

तद्गच्छ ध्रुव भद्रं ते भगवन्तमधोक्षजम् । सर्वभूतात्मभावेन सर्वभूतात्मविग्रहम् ॥ ५ ॥
tad gaccha dhruva bhadraṁ te
[tad gachcha dhruva bhadram te]
bhagavantam adhokṣajam
[bhagavantam adhokshajam]
sarva-bhūtātma-bhāvena
[sarva-bhootaatma-bhaavena]
sarva-bhūtātma-vigraham
[sarva-bhootaatma-vigraham]
tat — therefore gaccha — come dhruva — Dhruva bhadram — good fortune te — unto you bhagavantam — unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead adhokṣajam — who is beyond the concepts of material senses sarva-bhūta — all living entities ātma-bhāvena — by thinking of them as one sarva-bhūta — in all living entities ātma — the Supersoul vigraham — having form.
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
tad gaccha dhruva bhadraṁ te
tat
therefore
gaccha
come
dhruva
Dhruva
bhadram
good fortune
te
unto you
bhagavantam adhokṣajam
bhagavantam
unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead
adhokṣajam
who is beyond the concepts of material senses
sarva-bhūtātma-bhāvena
sarva-bhūta
all living entities
ātma-bhāvena
by thinking of them as one
sarva-bhūtātma-vigraham
sarva-bhūta
in all living entities
ātma
the Supersoul
vigraham
having form.
My dear Dhruva, come forward. May the Lord always grace you with good fortune. The Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is beyond our sensory perception, is the Supersoul of all living entities, and thus all entities are one, without distinction. Therefore begin rendering service unto the transcendental form of the Lord, who is the ultimate shelter of all living entities.

Here the word vigraham, “having specific form,” is very significant, for it indicates that the Absolute Truth is ultimately the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That is explained in the Brahma-saṁhitā. Sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ: He has form, but His form is different from any kind of material form. The living entities are the marginal energy of the supreme form. As such, they are not different from the supreme form, but at the same time they are not equal to the supreme form. Dhruva Mahārāja is advised herewith to render service unto the supreme form. That will include service to other individual forms. For example, a tree has a form, and when water is poured on the root of the tree, the other forms — the leaves, twigs, flowers and fruits — are automatically watered. The Māyāvāda conception that because the Absolute Truth is everything He must be formless is rejected here. Rather, it is confirmed that the Absolute Truth has form, and yet He is all-pervading. Nothing is independent of Him.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
Therefore go, Dhruva. Good fortune to you. To attain the Lord who has no material existence, while thinking all beings as equal to oneself, worship the Lord, beyond the senses, who is the form of all beings, the destroyer of saṁsāra, whose feet are worthy of worship, and who, though endowed with the material śakti composed of guṇas, is unaffected by it. Sarva-bhūtātma-bhāvena means “with the thought that all beings are like oneself.” Sarva-bhūtātma-vigraham means that the Lord’s form is all beings. Abhavāya means “in order to attain the Lord who has no birth and death.” He is joined to māyā because māyā is his śakti. He is detached from māyā because that śakti is not his svarūpa.
Come forward; the Lord beyond sensory perception is Supersoul of all, so all are one — render service to His transcendental form. Unity is real, but service is still rendered to a specific Personality.
Reflection Questions
  • Where do I get the oneness without the Person, and how does that go wrong?
  • What specific form of the Lord can I serve today that honors both unity and distinction?
📝 My note

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