Inconceivable (BG)

Expressions researched:
"inconceivability" |"inconceivable" |"inconceivably"

BG Chapters 1 - 6

The soul is inconceivable by human experimental knowledge.

BG 2.25, Translation and Purport:

It is said that the soul is invisible, inconceivable and immutable. Knowing this, you should not grieve for the body.

As described previously, the magnitude of the soul is so small for our material calculation that he cannot be seen even by the most powerful microscope; therefore, he is invisible. As far as the soul's existence is concerned, no one can establish his existence experimentally beyond the proof of śruti, or Vedic wisdom. We have to accept this truth, because there is no other source of understanding the existence of the soul, although it is a fact by perception. There are many things we have to accept solely on grounds of superior authority. No one can deny the existence of his father, based upon the authority of his mother. There is no source of understanding the identity of the father except by the authority of the mother. Similarly, there is no source of understanding the soul except by studying the Vedas. In other words, the soul is inconceivable by human experimental knowledge.

"Viṣṇu is one, and yet He is certainly all-pervading. By His inconceivable potency, in spite of His one form, He is present everywhere, as the sun appears in many places at once."

BG 6.31, Purport:

Kṛṣṇa consciousness is the highest stage of trance in yoga practice. This very understanding that Kṛṣṇa is present as Paramātmā in everyone's heart makes the yogī faultless. The Vedas (Gopāla-tāpanī Upaniṣad 3.2) confirm this inconceivable potency of the Lord as follows: eko 'pi san bahudhā yo 'vabhāti. "Although the Lord is one, He is present in innumerable hearts as many." Similarly, in the smṛti-śāstra it is said:

eka eva paro viṣṇuḥ

sarva-vyāpī na saṁśayaḥ

aiśvaryād rūpam ekaṁ ca

sūrya-vat bahudheyate

"Viṣṇu is one, and yet He is certainly all-pervading. By His inconceivable potency, in spite of His one form, He is present everywhere, as the sun appears in many places at once."

BG Chapters 7 - 12

Only the pure devotees can know something of the inconceivable transcendental qualities in Kṛṣṇa—His being the cause of all causes, His omnipotence and opulence, and His wealth, fame, strength, beauty, knowledge and renunciation—because Kṛṣṇa is benevolently inclined to His devotees.

BG 7.3, Purport:

It is not possible for the Brahman-realized impersonalist or the Paramātmā-realized yogī to understand Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead as the son of mother Yaśodā or the charioteer of Arjuna. Even the great demigods are sometimes confused about Kṛṣṇa (muhyanti yat sūrayaḥ). Māṁ tu veda na kaścana: "No one knows Me as I am," the Lord says. And if one does know Him, then sa mahātmā su-durlabhaḥ. "Such a great soul is very rare." Therefore unless one practices devotional service to the Lord, one cannot know Kṛṣṇa as He is (tattvataḥ), even though one is a great scholar or philosopher. Only the pure devotees can know something of the inconceivable transcendental qualities in Kṛṣṇa—His being the cause of all causes, His omnipotence and opulence, and His wealth, fame, strength, beauty, knowledge and renunciation—because Kṛṣṇa is benevolently inclined to His devotees. He is the last word in Brahman realization, and the devotees alone can realize Him as He is.

BG 8.9, Translation:

One should meditate upon the Supreme Person as the one who knows everything, as He who is the oldest, who is the controller, who is smaller than the smallest, who is the maintainer of everything, who is beyond all material conception, who is inconceivable, and who is always a person. He is luminous like the sun, and He is transcendental, beyond this material nature.

The living entity is one ten-thousandth part of the tip of a hair, but the Lord is so inconceivably small that He enters into the heart of this particle. And it is stated here that the Supreme Lord, by His inconceivable energy, is sustaining all these big planets and systems of galaxies.

BG 8.9, Purport:

The living entity is one ten-thousandth part of the tip of a hair, but the Lord is so inconceivably small that He enters into the heart of this particle. Therefore He is called smaller than the smallest. As the Supreme, He can enter into the atom and into the heart of the smallest and control him as the Supersoul. Although so small, He is still all-pervading and is maintaining everything. By Him all these planetary systems are sustained. We often wonder how these big planets are floating in the air. It is stated here that the Supreme Lord, by His inconceivable energy, is sustaining all these big planets and systems of galaxies.

God's energy is beyond our conception, beyond our thinking jurisdiction, and is therefore called inconceivable (acintya).

BG 8.9, Purport:

The word acintya ("inconceivable") is very significant in this connection. God's energy is beyond our conception, beyond our thinking jurisdiction, and is therefore called inconceivable (acintya). Who can argue this point? He pervades this material world and yet is beyond it. We cannot comprehend even this material world, which is insignificant compared to the spiritual world—so how can we comprehend what is beyond? Acintya means that which is beyond this material world, that which our argument, logic and philosophical speculation cannot touch, that which is inconceivable. Therefore intelligent persons, avoiding useless argument and speculation, should accept what is stated in scriptures like the Vedas, Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and follow the principles they set down. This will lead one to understanding.