Chapter 9: The Most Confidential Knowledge
Bg 9.13
TEXT 13
mahatmanas tu mam partha
daivim prakrtim asritah
bhajanty ananya-manaso
jnatva bhutadim avyayam
daivim prakrtim asritah
bhajanty ananya-manaso
jnatva bhutadim avyayam
SYNONYMS
mahatmanah—the great souls; tu—but; mam—unto Me; partha—O son of Prtha; daivim—divine; prakrtim—nature; asritah—taken shelter of; bhajanti—render service; ananya-manasah—without deviation of the mind; jnatva—knowing; bhuta—creation; adim—original; avyayam—inexhaustible.
TRANSLATION
O son of Prtha, those who are not deluded, the great souls, are under the protection of the divine nature. They are fully engaged in devotional service because they know Me as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, original and inexhaustible.
PURPORT
In this verse the description of mahatma is clearly given. The first sign of the mahatma is that he is already situated in the divine nature. He is not under the control of material nature. And how is this effected? That is explained in the Seventh Chapter: one who surrenders unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri Krsna, at once becomes freed from the control of material nature. That is the qualification. One can become free from the control of material nature as soon as he surrenders his soul to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That is the preliminary formula. Being marginal potency, as soon as the living entity is freed from the control of material nature, he is put under the guidance of the spiritual nature. The guidance of the spiritual nature is called daivim prakrtim, divine nature. So, when one is promoted in that way-by surrendering to the Supreme Personality of Godhead-one attains to the stage of great soul, mahatma.
The mahatma does not divert his attention to anything outside Krsna because he knows perfectly well that Krsna is the original Supreme Person, the cause of all causes. There is no doubt about it. Such a mahatma, or great soul, develops through association with other mahatmas, pure devotees. Pure devotees are not even attracted by Krsna's other features, such as the four-armed Maha-Visnu. They are simply attracted by the two-armed form of Krsna. Since they are not attracted to other features of Krsna (what to speak of the demigods), they are not concerned with any form of a demigod or of a human being. They only meditate upon Krsna in Krsna consciousness. They are always engaged in the unswerving service of the Lord in Krsna consciousness.
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Copyright (c) 1972 by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada