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Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.18.23
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A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
TEXT 23
- ahaṁ hi pṛṣṭo 'ryamaṇo bhavadbhir
- ācakṣa ātmāvagamo 'tra yāvān
- nabhaḥ patanty ātma-samaṁ patattriṇas
- tathā samaṁ viṣṇu-gatiṁ vipaścitaḥ
ahammy humble self — my humble self; hicertainly — certainly; pṛṣṭaḥasked by you — asked by you; aryamaṇaḥas powerful as the sun — as powerful as the sun; bhavadbhiḥby you — by you; ācakṣemay describe — may describe; ātmaas far as my knowledge is concerned-avagamaḥas far as my knowledge is concerned — as far as my knowledge is concerned; atraherein — herein; yāvānso far — so far; nabhaḥsky — sky; patantifly — fly; ātmaas far as it can-samamas far as it can — as far as it can; patattriṇaḥthe birds — the birds; tathāthus — thus; samamsimilarly — similarly; viṣṇuknowledge of Viṣṇu-gatimknowledge of Viṣṇu — knowledge of Viṣṇu; vipaścitaḥeven though learned — even though learned.
O ṛṣis, who are as powerfully pure as the sun, I shall try to describe to you the transcendental pastimes of Viṣṇu as far as my knowledge is concerned. As the birds fly in the sky as far as their capacity allows, so do the learned devotees describe the Lord as far as their realization allows.
The Supreme Absolute Truth is unlimited. No living being can know about the unlimited by his limited capacity. The Lord is impersonal, personal and localized. By His impersonal feature He is all-pervading Brahman, by His localized feature He is present in everyone's heart as the Supreme Soul, and by His ultimate personal feature He is the object of transcendental loving service by His fortunate associates the pure devotees. The pastimes of the Lord in different features can only be estimated partly by the great learned devotees. So Śrīla Sūta Gosvāmī has rightly taken this position in describing the pastimes of the Lord as far as he has realized. Factually only the Lord Himself can describe Himself, and His learned devotee also can describe Him as far as the Lord gives him the power of description.