SB 06.03.16 yam vai na gobhir manasasubhir va... cited

Expressions researched:
"atmanam antar-hrdi santam atmanam" |"caksur yathaivakrtayas tatah param" |"hrda gira vasu-bhrto vicaksate" |"yam vai na gobhir manasasubhir va"

SB Canto 6

SB 6.3.16, Translation and Purport:

As the different limbs of the body cannot see the eyes, the living entities cannot see the Supreme Lord, who is situated as the Supersoul in everyone's heart. Not by the senses, by the mind, by the life air, by thoughts within the heart, or by the vibration of words can the living entities ascertain the real situation of the Supreme Lord.

Although the different parts of the body do not have the power to see the eyes, the eyes direct the movements of the body's different parts. The legs move forward because the eyes see what is in front of them, and the hand touches because the eyes see touchable entities. Similarly, every living being acts according to the direction of the Supersoul, who is situated within the heart. As the Lord Himself confirms in Bhagavad-gītā (15.15), sarvasya cāhaṁ hṛdi sanniviṣṭo mattaḥ smṛtir jñānam apohanaṁ ca: "I am sitting in everyone's heart and giving directions for remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness." Elsewhere in Bhagavad-gītā it is stated, īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-deśe 'rjuna tiṣṭhati: (BG 18.61) "The Supreme Lord, as the Supersoul, is situated within the heart." The living entity cannot do anything without the sanction of the Supersoul. The Supersoul is acting at every moment, but the living entity cannot understand the form and activities of the Supersoul by manipulating his senses. The example of the eyes and the bodily limbs is very appropriate. If the limbs could see, they could walk forward without the help of the eyes, but that is impossible. Although one cannot see the Supersoul in one's heart through sensual activities, His direction is necessary.

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Lecture on SB 6.3.12-15 -- Gorakhpur, February 9, 1971:

So śāstra says, ṣaṭ-karma-nipuṇo vipro mantra-tantra-viśāradaḥ. He is not only... A brāhmaṇa, qualified brāhmaṇa, is expert in these six kinds of businesses, but he should be very much expert in chanting the Vedic mantras, hymns, mantra-tantra-viśāradaḥ, very expert. And even he is expert in such way, if he is avaiṣṇava, if he has no tendency for rendering devotional service to the Lord, avaiṣṇavo gurur na sa syāt, he cannot be a guru. Even without... Even with all the qualifications, if he is avaiṣṇava... You will find, there are many brāhmaṇas, they are smārtas. They are called smārta, means they are under conclusion that "If we do nice Vedic..., perform nice Vedic rituals, then our duty is finished. These devotees, they are chanting. They are less intelligent class of men. They do not, cannot do anything. They have taken to this process." So therefore he is avaiṣṇava. Just like Rāmānanda Rāya. He was accompanied by very, very learned men, learned brāhmaṇas. And Caitanya Mahāprabhu, when he met Caitanya Mahāprabhu and both of them embraced and were crying in ecstasy, the brāhmaṇas, the smārta-brāhmaṇas, they could not understand that "Why this great personality, governor...? He is so great and simply by embracing a sannyāsī he is crying. And why this sannyāsī... It is understood that He is coming from a brāhmaṇa family. And He has taken such a great personality. Why He is crying by embracing Rāmānanda?" They could not understand. And as soon as Lord Caitanya saw that the smārtas are puzzled, He stopped. He stopped. Perhaps you know this incidence. So the smārtas, they cannot understand the... Smārta, jāta-gosāi. The smārtas, to pull on their business, so they have become gosvāmīs. But actually they are not devotees. So these gosvāmīs will go to a devotee, and one who is willing to accept a spiritual master. Then they will offer different kinds of mantras: "You want to worship Kṛṣṇa? All right. I will give you Kṛṣṇa mantra. You want to worship Kālī? I will give you kālī-mantra." This way the business is going on.

So that sort of qualification is not very good qualification. One should be actually a surrendered soul. That will make him qualified. Mām eva ye prapadyante māyām. Here it is said, spṛṣṭa-māyāḥ. Even such qualified brāhmaṇas, they are also spṛṣṭa-māyāḥ, contaminated by the touch of māyā, māyā-grasta. He is not free. But Kṛṣṇa says, mām eva ye prapadyante māyām etāṁ taranti te (BG 7.14). Only a fully surrendered soul to Kṛṣṇa is able to get out of the contamination of māyā. Therefore such surrendered soul can understand what is Kṛṣṇa, not others. Not others.

yaṁ vai na gobhir manasāsubhir vā

hṛdā girā vāsu-bhṛto vicakṣate

ātmānam antar-hṛdi santam ātmanāṁ

cakṣur yathaivākṛtayas tataḥ param

Tan māyā-mohitam, mohitād na jānanty ity uktam.

So the conclusion is that nāhaṁ prakāśaḥ sarvasya yogamāyā-samāvṛtaḥ (BG 7.25). Kṛṣṇa says, "I am not revealed to everyone." Yogamāyā. Therefore very few persons can understand what is Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa does not reveal Himself. Those who are devotees... Sevonmukhe hi jihvādau svayam eva sphuraty adaḥ (Brs. 1.2.234). Those who are actually devotees, dedicated the life and everything for Kṛṣṇa, for them only, Kṛṣṇa reveals: "Yes, I am like this." Teṣāṁ satata-yuktānāṁ bhajatāṁ prīti-pūrvakam (BG 10.10). Those who are twenty-four hours engaged in the devotional service—not as a routine, but with faith and love—bhajatāṁ prīti-pūrvakam. Not that official. Official, he cannot understand. But one who is serving the Deity with love and faith, to him only, Kṛṣṇa will reveal and He will give intelligence. Kṛṣṇa is very intelligent. Kṛṣṇa ye bhaje... Only intelligent men can worship Kṛṣṇa.

So here it is said, yaṁ vai na gobhir manasāsubhir vā hṛdā girā vāsu-bhṛto vicakṣate. (reads commentary) Tan māyā-mohitād na jānanty ity uktam, avaśed tata tasya ityāhayam iti. Gobhir indriyair cittena na vicakṣata na paśyanti.(?) So gobhiḥ, by sensual gymnastic or mental speculation, the Supreme Personality of Godhead cannot be understood. There are many mental speculator, just like Aurobindo Ghosh. So he speculated. He understood that there are activities even after liberation, but he could not understand Kṛṣṇa, so hard it is. Others, the so-called sannyāsīs, just like Ramatirtha or Vivekananda, they could not approach even, in the modern age. And the Aurobindo, he approached up to the Brahman liberation, but he could not approach to the understanding of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That is... Arjuna says also in the Bhagavad-gītā, "It is very difficult to understand Your personality." Everyone becomes... The other day in the Melā, Māgha-melā, one Gangeshvarananda, retired high-court judge, he said that "This is the first time, Swamijī, that we are hearing from you on solid basis about the Personality." The whole world, nirviśeṣa-śūnyavādi... Nirviśeṣa... Means the impersonalists and voidists, that's all. They have no understanding what is Personality of Godhead. Gobhir indriyair hṛdā cittena na vicakṣate. One cannot, a gobhiḥ, by exercise of the senses. Gobhiḥ and indriyair hṛdā, heart also, meditation. The jñānīs, the speculators, they are speculating by sensual activities, and the yogis, they are trying to find out the Supreme within the heart, cittena. So na paśyanti: "But they cannot see." They cannot see. So jñānīs, the yogis, they cannot understand. Although they are trying for it, they cannot understand. It is clearly said, hṛdā girā vāsu-bhṛto vicakṣate. Yad vāca nābhūd dhṛtaṁ yan manaḥ manute ityādi śruteḥ.(?) And he is giving recitation from the Vedas: yad vāca nābhūd dhṛtaṁ yan manaḥ manute ityādi śruteḥ. Avann mānasa-gocaraḥ.(?) He is beyond the reception of mental speculation or philosophical topics.

(reading commentary) Ātmānaṁ jīvanam ātmānaṁ drastaram yam ākṛte rūpāṇi cakṣur yathā karmabhūt na jānanti. Tataḥ param ākṛte nāyaṁ prakāśakaṁ nāhi pramattaḥ pranmanasya viṣaya iti bhāvam. Evaṁ bhūta parameśvara mad-anyasyeti pūrvenaiva sambandhaḥ.(?) So he is trying to explain about his master, that it is not very easily understood. That was the point of Yamarāja to his assistants, that "People like you, they think that Yamarāja... I am the supreme. But that's not a fact. The fact is I am also controlled by another supreme master." And how to know him he is describing. He is describing that, "It is not possible to know Him in this way. It is not possible in this way. Even great sages and ṛṣis, they could not understand in this way. Yam evaiṣa vṛṇute... Nāyam ātmā pravacanena labh... This is Vedic injunction. Simply by talking, becoming a very nice speaker or lecturer. you cannot understand the Supreme. Nāyam ātmā na medhayā. Because you have got very nice brain, therefore you will be able to understand—no. Na medhayā. Nāyam ātmā pravacanena labhyo na medhayā na. Then how? Yam evaiṣa vṛṇute tena labhyaḥ-labhyaḥ Kaṭha Upaniṣad 1.2.23. "Only such person who is favored by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he can understand." He can understand. Otherwise, nobody can understand. So therefore our business should be how to get His favor. And that favor, that is very easy to understand, that if you surrender to a person, then you can get his favor; otherwise not. This is process of understanding the Supreme Personality. (break)

Lecture on SB 6.3.16-17 -- Gorakhpur, February 10, 1971:

Prabhupāda:

yaṁ vai na gobhir manasāsubhir vā

hṛdā girā vāsu-bhṛto vicakṣate

ātmānam antar-hṛdi santam ātmanāṁ

(sic:) yac-cakṣur yathaivākṛtayāntaḥ param

(SB 6.3.16)

Tasmād..., tan-māyā-mohitatvād na jānanti ity uktam aviṣayatvāc ca tasya ity āha. So Śrīdhāra Swami give his comment that "Those who are," I mean to say, "involved with the material energy..." This material energy means the three modes of passion, ignorance, and goodness. Tan-māyā-mohita. This is the moha. Moha means illusion. Anyone who is contaminated by these three qualities of māyā, he is supposed to be involved in māyika, or material existence. Tan-māyā-mohitatvād na jānanti: "And anyone who is involved with the material qualities of this external energy, they cannot understand what is God." It is not possible. Aviṣayatvāc ca. This is not their subject matter at all. The subject matter for them different. Therefore we see. They are becoming educated, scientists, philosophers, but they do not understand what is God. Avisayatvāc ca. It is not their subject matter. That I repeatedly say, that one who is not a devotee of Kṛṣṇa, it is, Bhagavad-gītā is not a subject matter for their study, what to speak of commenting upon it? He has no business to comment on Bhagavad-gītā because it is not their subject matter. This should be very distinctly understood. There is a Bengali parable, ādhāra vyapari yahāre khabola (?). Ādhāra vyapari, a merchant dealing in ginger, so he is taking information, "What about the shipping one..., just like one cartload or one ship full of ginger?" So ādhāre vyapari means he has not very large quantity to sell. Ginger is taken, very little quantity. So ginger merchant, if he has got stock, say, one bag, it will take months together to sell it. And if he thinks that "I will stock hundreds of bags," it is useless for him. That is not his subject. But one who sells rice or wheat, that is in great demand. That he can stock and talk of large shipment. Similarly, those who are already engrossed in material qualities, the science of God is not their subject matter at all. So that is the test. Just like who shall be the guru? Whose subject matter is only Kṛṣṇa or God, he shall be guru, not an amateur man. He is doing some other business, and in some pastime he makes a guru business. No, that is not their subject matter. The subject matter is different.

Lecture on SB 6.3.16-17 -- Gorakhpur, February 10, 1971:

Tasmād..., tan-māyā-mohitatvād na jānanti ity uktam aviṣayatvāc ca tasya ity āha. So Śrīdhāra Swami give his comment that "Those who are," I mean to say, "involved with the material energy..." This material energy means the three modes of passion, ignorance, and goodness. Tan-māyā-mohita. This is the moha. Moha means illusion. Anyone who is contaminated by these three qualities of māyā, he is supposed to be involved in māyika, or material existence. Tan-māyā-mohitatvād na jānanti: "And anyone who is involved with the material qualities of this external energy, they cannot understand what is God." It is not possible. Aviṣayatvāc ca. This is not their subject matter at all. The subject matter for them different. Therefore we see. They are becoming educated, scientists, philosophers, but they do not understand what is God. Avisayatvāc ca. It is not their subject matter. That I repeatedly say, that one who is not a devotee of Kṛṣṇa, it is, Bhagavad-gītā is not a subject matter for their study, what to speak of commenting upon it? He has no business to comment on Bhagavad-gītā because it is not their subject matter. This should be very distinctly understood. There is a Bengali parable, ādhāra vyapari yahāre khabola (?). Ādhāra vyapari, a merchant dealing in ginger, so he is taking information, "What about the shipping one..., just like one cartload or one ship full of ginger?" So ādhāre vyapari means he has not very large quantity to sell. Ginger is taken, very little quantity. So ginger merchant, if he has got stock, say, one bag, it will take months together to sell it. And if he thinks that "I will stock hundreds of bags," it is useless for him. That is not his subject. But one who sells rice or wheat, that is in great demand. That he can stock and talk of large shipment. Similarly, those who are already engrossed in material qualities, the science of God is not their subject matter at all. So that is the test. Just like who shall be the guru? Whose subject matter is only Kṛṣṇa or God, he shall be guru, not an amateur man. He is doing some other business, and in some pastime he makes a guru business. No, that is not their subject matter. The subject matter is different.

Therefore Śrīdhāra Swami says, aviṣayatvāc ca tasya ity āha, gobhir indriyair na cittena: "Because the subject matter is not for them, however they may exercise their senses, gobhiḥ..." Go means indra (indriya). Simply by exercising... Just like there are so many yogis. They exercise their senses only—yama, niyama, prāṇāyāma—senses. But it is not their subject matter to understand God. They may show some jugglery or some gymnastic, wonderful, or they may get some material perfection, animā... The eight kinds of perfection in yoga system... One can become very small. Just like there was a trailiṅga swami in Benares. He was staying naked on the street, and the police objected, and he was put into police custody. He again came out. That means people became more devoted to him. But still... This is a perfection by the gymnastic of yoga process, but that does not mean he knows God. That does not mean. There was another yogi in Benares. Anyone who would come to him, immediately in a pot he will present two rasagullā. And after eating two rasagullā, the man will be captivated, and big man, manager of bank and this and that, and they... They become captivated. He does not know "What he has given me? Two rasagullā. Say, two annas, or four annas at most." So, but they become captivated: "Oh, here is a yogi. He can manufacture immediately." In Calcutta I was passing in a street, Cornwallis Street, and there was some crowd, and I entered that crowd, long ago, when I was young man. So I saw that he was a Muhammadan (indistinct). He was giving everyone some pieces of grass, straw. So he gave me one. So I saw it is raisin, kismis. You see? So I immediate threw it away and went away. So some yogi can show. He'll press his beads, and there milk will come. So there are so many yogic fantasies. But that does not mean that he knows God. Or a great philosopher like Dr. Radhakrishnan, that does not mean he knows God.

Therefore Brahma-saṁhitā says, advaitam acyutam anādim ananta-rūpam ādyam purāṇa-puruṣaṁ nava-yauvanaṁ ca vedeṣu durlabha (Bs. 5.33). Simply by Vedic knowledge it is very difficult to understand what is Govinda. Vedeṣu durlabha adurlabha ātma-bhaktau: "But He is available from His pure devotees." So here the same thing is stated by Yamarāja. Yaṁ vai na gobhir manasāsubhir vā hṛdā girā vāsu-bhṛto vicakṣate. So ātmānaṁ jīvanam ātmānaṁ draṣṭāraṁ yam akṛtayaḥ rūpāṇi cakṣur yathā karma-bhūtaṁ na jānanti tataḥ param akṛtinaṁ prakāśakaṁ na hi pramata-pramāṇasya viṣaya iti. Bhāla. So our bhakti process is not to try to see God personally. Just like the karmīs, they challenge, "If we can see eye to eye, God?" No. That is not our process. Our process is different. Just like Caitanya Mahāprabhu teaches us, āśliṣya vā pāda-ratāṁ pinaṣṭu māṁ marma-hatāṁ karotu vā adarśanān (CC Antya 20.47). Every devotee likes to see, but Caitanya Mahāprabhu teaches that "Even if You make me broken-hearted, not being seen for life or perpetually, it doesn't matter. Still, You are my worshipable Lord." That is pure devotee. Just like there is a song, "My dear Lord, please appear before me, dancing with Your flute." This is not devotion. This is not devotion. People may think, "Oh, how great devotee he is, asking Kṛṣṇa to come before him dancing." That means ordering Kṛṣṇa. A devotee does not order anything or ask anything from Kṛṣṇa, but he loves only. That is the pure love. That is the teaching of Lord Caitanya. Āśliṣya vā pāda-ratāṁ pinaṣṭu mām: (CC Antya 20.47) "Either You embrace me or You trample down, You give me all kinds of miserable life and You break my heart, not being seen by me..." This is Caitanya Mahāprabhu's prayer in His ecstasy of Rādhārāṇī.