FolioCorpusBhagavad-gītā

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 4.7.31

బ్రహ్మోవాచ నైతత్స్వరూపం భవతోఽసౌ పదార్థ భేదగ్రహై: పురుషో యావదీక్షేత్ । జ్ఞానస్య చార్థస్య గుణస్య చాశ్రయో మాయామయాద్వయ‍‌తిరిక్తో మతస్త్వమ్ ॥ ౩౧ ॥
brahmovāca
[brahmovaacha]
naitat svarūpaṁ bhavato ’sau padārtha-
[naitat svaroopam bhavato ’sau padaartha-]
bheda-grahaiḥ puruṣo yāvad īkṣet
[bheda-grahaih purusho yaavad eekshet]
jṣānasya cārthasya guṇasya cāśrayo
[jshaanasya chaarthasya gunasya chaashrayo]
māyāmayād vyatirikto matas tvam
[maayaamayaad vyatirikto matas tvam]
Word-for-word
brahmā uvāca — Lord Brahmā said na — not etat — this svarūpam — eternal form bhavataḥ — Your asau — that other pada-artha — knowledge bheda — different grahaiḥ — by the acquiring puruṣaḥ — person yāvat — as long as īkṣet — wants to see jṣānasya — of knowledge ca — also arthasya — of the objective guṇasya — of the instruments of knowledge ca — also āśrayaḥ — the basis māyā-mayāt — from being made of material energy vyatiriktaḥ — distinct mataḥ — regarded tvam — You.
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
brahmovāca
brahmā uvāca
Lord Brahmā said
naitat svarūpaṁ bhavato ’sau padārtha-
na
not
bheda-grahaiḥ puruṣo yāvad īkṣet
etat
this
svarūpam
eternal form
bhavataḥ
Your
jṣānasya cārthasya guṇasya cāśrayo
asau
that other
pada-artha
knowledge
bheda
different
grahaiḥ
by the acquiring
puruṣaḥ
person
yāvat
as long as
māyāmayād vyatirikto matas tvam
īkṣet
wants to see
jṣānasya
of knowledge
ca
also
arthasya
of the objective
guṇasya
of the instruments of knowledge
ca
also
āśrayaḥ
the basis
māyā-mayāt
from being made of material energy
vyatiriktaḥ
distinct
mataḥ
regarded
tvam
You.
Lord Brahmā said: My dear Lord, Your personality and eternal form cannot be understood by any person who is trying to know You through the different processes of acquiring knowledge. Your position is always transcendental to the material creation, whereas the empiric attempt to understand You is material, as are its objectives and instruments.
Purport

It is said that the transcendental name, qualities, activities, paraphernalia, etc., of the Supreme Personality of Godhead cannot be understood with our material senses. The attempt of the empiric philosophers to understand the Absolute Truth by speculation is always futile because their process of understanding, their objective and the instruments by which they try to understand the Absolute Truth are all material. The Lord is aprākṛta, beyond the creation of the material world. This fact is also accepted by the great impersonalist Śaṅkarācārya: nārāyaṇaḥ paro ’vyaktād aṇḍam avyakta-sambhavam. Avyakta, or the original material cause, is beyond this material manifestation and is the cause of the material world. Because Nārāyaṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is beyond the material world, one cannot speculate upon Him by any material method. One has to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead simply by the transcendental method of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. This is confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā (18.55) . Bhaktyā mām abhijānāti: only by devotional service can one understand the transcendental form of the Lord. The difference between the impersonalists and the personalists is that the impersonalists, limited by their speculative processes, cannot even approach the Supreme Personality of Godhead, whereas the devotees please the Supreme Personality of Godhead through His transcendental loving service. Sevonmukhe hi: due to the service attitude of the devotee, the Lord is revealed to him. The Supreme Lord cannot be understood by materialistic persons even though He is present before them. In Bhagavad-gītā, Lord Kṛṣṇa therefore condemns such materialists as mūḍhas. Mūḍha means “rascal.” It is said in the Gītā, “Only rascals think of Lord Kṛṣṇa as an ordinary person. They do not know what Lord Kṛṣṇa’s position is or what His transcendental potencies are.” Unaware of His transcendental potencies, the impersonalists deride the person of Lord Kṛṣṇa, whereas the devotees, by dint of their service attitude, can understand Him as the Personality of Godhead. In the Tenth Chapter of Bhagavad-gītā, Arjuna also confirmed that it is very difficult to understand the personality of the Lord.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Gauḍīya Ācāryas
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
Brahmā said: As long as one cannot see the form of the Lord by using material senses, one is merely under the shelter of the sense devatās, bodily parts and sense organs. You are different from these material factors. As long as one does not see your form, one is the shelter of the presiding deities of the senses (jṣānasya), the gross organ and sense object (arthasya), and the subtle sense organ (guṇasya). [Note: See SB 3.6.9.] When one sees the Lord directly, one is no longer under the shelter of the sense deities, gross organs or sense organs. One will have non-material perception, since you have a spiritual form different from the material factors such as sense devatās. You cannot be perceived by those material factors. That much we know. Those with material senses who think they see the Lord do not see the Lord’s real form. This is a statement directed to Bhṛgu and others.
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Source: vedabase.io

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