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Bhagavad-gītā 10.19
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A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
TEXT 19
- श्रीभगवानुवाच ।
- हन्त ते कथयिष्यामि दिव्या ह्यात्मविभूतयः ।
- प्राधान्यतः कुरुश्रेष्ठ नास्त्यन्तो विस्तरस्य मे ॥१९॥
- śrī-bhagavān uvāca
- hanta te kathayiṣyāmi
- divyā hy ātma-vibhūtayaḥ
- prādhānyataḥ kuru-śreṣṭha
- nāsty anto vistarasya me
śrīthe Supreme Personality of Godhead said-bhagavānthe Supreme Personality of Godhead said uvācathe Supreme Personality of Godhead said — the Supreme Personality of Godhead said; hantayes — yes; teunto you — unto you; kathayiṣyāmiI shall speak — I shall speak; divyāḥdivine — divine; hicertainly — certainly; ātmapersonal opulences-vibhūtayaḥpersonal opulences — personal opulences; prādhānyataḥwhich are principal — which are principal; kuruO best of the Kurus-śreṣṭhaO best of the Kurus — O best of the Kurus; nathere is not astithere is not — there is not; antaḥlimit — limit; vistarasyato the extent — to the extent; meMy — My.
The Supreme Personality of Godhead said:Yes, I will tell you of My splendorous manifestations, but only of those which are prominent, O Arjuna, for My opulence is limitless.
It is not possible to comprehend the greatness of Kṛṣṇa and His opulences. The senses of the individual soul are limited and do not permit him to understand the totality of Kṛṣṇa's affairs. Still the devotees try to understand Kṛṣṇa, but not on the principle that they will be able to understand Kṛṣṇa fully at any specific time or in any state of life. Rather, the very topics of Kṛṣṇa are so relishable that they appear to the devotees as nectar. Thus the devotees enjoy them. In discussing Kṛṣṇa's opulences and His diverse energies, the pure devotees take transcendental pleasure. Therefore they want to hear and discuss them. Kṛṣṇa knows that living entities do not understand the extent of His opulences; He therefore agrees to state only the principal manifestations of His different energies. The word prādhānyataḥ ("principal") is very important because we can understand only a few of the principal details of the Supreme Lord, for His features are unlimited. It is not possible to understand them all. And vibhūti, as used in this verse, refers to the opulences by which He controls the whole manifestation. In the Amara-kośa dictionary it is stated that vibhūti indicates an exceptional opulence.
The impersonalist or pantheist cannot understand the exceptional opulences of the Supreme Lord nor the manifestations of His divine energies. Both in the material world and in the spiritual world His energies are distributed in every variety of manifestation. Now Kṛṣṇa is describing what can be directly perceived by the common man; thus part of His variegated energy is described in this way.