Now, those who are directly worshiping the Supreme Lord, Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, they have been described as mahātmā. And there are others, worshipers; they cannot conceive of the Supreme Personality of Godhead directly on account of less . . . on account of being less advanced. Therefore they have been described here anye, "others."
So others, they worship the Absolute Truth in three different ways. The first-class others . . . amongst the others, there is first class, second class, third class, as amongst the direct worshipers there . . . there are first class, second class and third class. In every, I mean to say, department, as you have got experience in the material world, there are things first class, second class and third class. Even in this whole material world is under first class, second class and third class. The first class is mode of goodness, the second class is mode of passion and the third class is mode of ignorance. Simi . . . in every department, more or less, there are three classes.
So amongst the persons who worship the Absolute Truth not directly as the Personality of Godhead but as ahaṅgrahopāsanam . . . ahaṅgrahopāsanam means taking himself as the Supreme. This we have already explained, that taking himself as the Supreme means, as the part and parcel of the Supreme, if we study myself, then I can understand also what is God. The only difference is: quantitatively, God is great and I am small. Otherwise, so far quality is concerned, that is one. So this ahaṅgrahopāsanam, that is number one.
Then next upāsanā, next worship, is ekatvena pṛthaktvena (BG 9.15). Pṛthaktvena means pantheism. Just like there are persons who worship any demigod as God. Their opinion is that there are different forms of God, so any form we accept as God and worship, we shall be benefited. We shall approach the highest perfection. That is another section. So this can be adjusted that God is everywhere. That . . . there is no denying this fact, because by His energy, He is everywhere.
Just like we are His energy. Living entities, they are superior energy of God. Apareyam itas tu viddhi me prakṛtiṁ parām (BG 7.5). Parām means superior. So we are also energy. So energy and the energetic, they're one. Just like the sun and the sunshine, they're not different. So wherever the sunshine is there, there is sun. You cannot deny that. Wherever the sunshine is there, there is sun. Similarly, wherever the energy of God is there, there is God. So in that way, everything is God. Pṛthaktvena. Everything . . . pantheism. These are different processes.
But these processes one has to transcend. Just like simply studying the sunshine is not complete study of the sun. Although sunshine is not different from the sun, still, if you simply study scientifically, scientifically, what is the molecules, what are these rays, where this brilliant illuminative thing . . . so many things you can go on studying. That is also, one sense, studying sun, but not sun also.
So pṛthaktvena and viśvato-mukham. Viśvato-mukham means the universal form. Just like it is stated in the śāstras, the hills, oh, they are bones of God. The trees and grass and, I mean to say, vegetation, vegetation, they are just like hairs on the body of the Lord. So the, the ocean is the navel of God. In this way there are description. The highest planet, svarga . . . brahmaloka, oh, that is the head of God. The lowest planet, pātālaloka, that is, I mean to say, sole of the God. These things are described, the whole universal form.
So somebody prefers the universal form, somebody prefers that "All, everything, whatever we see, it is God," and somebody prefers that "I am God." So these are different methods of appreciating God. But they're also accepted, because they have taken into the line. They are better than who are just like animals, simply eating, sleeping and defending and mating. But those who have taken either of these, jñāna-yajñena, pṛthaktvena and viśvato-mukham . . .
So those who are impersonalist, they prefer these three processes. And those who are personalist, they prefer directly to worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa. So they're all transcendentalist. They're on the line. But here in the Bhagavad-gītā, those who are directly worshiping the Supreme Lord, they have been described as mahātmā. And those who are worshiping in other processes, they have been described, anye. Anye means others.
So they have not been given so much importance, although they have been accepted. They have been . . . because they have come to the line. Because . . . suppose you are accepting the universal form of God. That is a fact also. Because the universe, this manifestation of the universe, is also manifestation of the energy of God. And the energy of God and God is not different. So therefore one who takes the manifestation of the energy as God, he's not mistaken. That is also true. Because there is nothing beyond God. If you think, "I am God," yes, you are also God. Because there is nothing beyond God. Ahaṅgrahopāsanam. If you think everything is God, that is also true. Because in the higher conception, there is nothing beyond God. Sarvaṁ khalv idaṁ brahma. Sarvam, everything.
But the Vaiṣṇava, those who are personalist, they take it in a different way. Why? Because in the Bhagavad-gītā it is said by the Lord, mayā tatam idaṁ sarvaṁ jagad avyakta-mūrtinā: "I am spread all over the universe, all over the manifestation, in My impersonal feature." Mat-sthāni sarva-bhūtāni nāhaṁ teṣu avasthitaḥ (BG 9.4): "Everything is resting on Me, but I am not there." Paśya me yogam aiśvaram (BG 9.5).