ri-vasudevah uvaca--Sri Vasudeva prayed; viditah asi--now I am fully

conscious of You; bhavan--Your Lordship; saksat--directly; purusah--the

Supreme Person; prakrteh--to material nature; parah--transcendental,
beyond everything material; kevala-anubhava-ananda-svarupah--Your form
is sac-cid-ananda-vigraha, and whoever perceives You becomes
transcendentally blissful; sarva-buddhi-drk--the supreme observer, the
Supersoul, the intelligence of everyone.

Vasudeva said: My Lord, You are the Supreme Person, beyond material
existence, and You are the Supersoul. Your form can be perceived by
transcendental knowledge, by which You can be understood as the Supreme
Personality of Godhead. I now understand Your position perfectly.

THE SUPREME LORD'S SELF IS NOT DIFFERENT FROM HIS FORM (THEREFORE IF
ONE CANNOT UNDERSTAND THE LORD'S FORM, HE CANNOT UNDERSTAND THE LORD'S
TRANSCENDENTAL, BLISSFUL SELF).
(Vs. 3.2.17)

10.14.1,2
sri-brahmovaca
naumidya te 'bhra-vapuse tadid-ambaraya
gunjavatamsa-paripiccha-lasan-mukhaya
vanya-sraje kavala-vetra-visana-venu-
laksma-sriye mrdu-pade pasupangajaya

sri-brahma uvaca--Lord Brahma said; naumi--I offer praise; idya--O most

worshipable one; te--unto You; ambhra--like a dark cloud; vapuse--whose
body; tadit--like lightening; ambaraya--whose garment; gunja--made of
small berries; avatamsa--with ornaments (for the ears); paripiccha--and
peacock feathers; lasat--resplendent; mukhaya--whose face; vanya-sraje-
-wearing garlands of forest flowers; kavala--a morsel of food; vetra--
a stick; visana--a buffalo-horn bugle; venu--and a flute; laksma--
characterized by; sriye--whose beauty; mrdu--soft; pade--whose feet;
pasu-pa--of the cowherd (Nanda Maharaja); anga-jaya--unto the son.

asyapi deva vapuso mad-anugrahasya

sveccha-mayasya na tu bhuta-mayayasya ko 'pi
nese mahi tv avasitum manasantarena
saksast tavaiva kim utatma-sukhanubhuteh

asya--of this; api--even; deva--O Lord; vapusah--the body; mat-

anugrahasya--which has shown mercy to me; sva-iccha-mayasya--which
appears in response to the desires of Your pure devotees; na--not; tu--
on the other hand; bhuta-mayayasya--a product of matter; kah--Brahma;
api--even; naise--I am not able; mahi--the potency; tu--indeed;
avasitum--to estimate; manasa--with my mind; antarena--which is
controlled and withdrawn; saksat--directly; tava--Your; eva--indeed;
kim uta--what to speak; atma--within Yourself; sukha--of happiness;
anubhuteh--of Your experience.

My dear Lord, neither I nor anyone else can estimate the potency
of this transcendental body of Yours, which has shown such mercy to me
and which appears just to fulfill the desires of Your pure devotees.
Although my mind is completely withdrawn from material affairs, I cannot
understand Your personal form. How, then, could I possibly understand
the happiness You experience within Yourself?

Adhikarana 9: The worshiped is different from the worshiper.

IT IS ESTABLISHED THAT THE SUPREME LORD IS A PERSON WHOSE FORM IS

BLISSFUL SPIRIT. BUT WHAT ABOUT THE INDIVIDUAL SPIRIT SOULS? ARE THEY
THE SUPREME LORD HIMSELF, OR ARE THEY DIFFERENT FROM HIM?

THE ANSWER IS GIVEN IN THE EXAMPLE OF THE SUN AND ITS REFLECTION: THEY
ARE DIFFERENT, THOUGH INSEPARABLE.
(Vs. 3.2.18)

3.27.12
yatha jala-stha abhasah
sthala-sthenavadrsyate
svabhasena tatha suryo
jala-sthena divi sthitah

yatha--as; jala-sthah--situated on water; abhasah--a reflection;

sthala-sthena--situated on the wall; avadrsyate--is perceived;
svaabhasena--by its reflection; tatha--in that way; suryah--the sun;
jala-sthena--situated on the water; divi--in the sky; sthitah--
situated.

The presence of the Supreme Lord can be realized just as the sun
is realized first as a reflection on water, and again as a second
reflection on the wall of a room, although the sun itself is situated
in the sky.

Adhikarana 10: The individual spirit souls are not reflections of

Brahman.

OBJECTION: THIS EXAMPLE REALLY PROVES THAT THE INDIVIDUAL SOUL AND THE
SUPREME LORD ARE ONE AND THE SAME. A REFLECTION OF THE SUN IS, AFTER
ALL, ONLY THE SUN ITSELF. THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE SUN AND ITS
REFLECTION IS ONLY APPARENT.

REPLY: THIS ARGUMENT WILL NOT STAND. UNLIKE THE SUN, WHICH REMAINS IN
ONE PLACE WHILE BEING REFLECTED IN MANY PLACES, THE LORD EXPANDS
HIMSELF TO BE WITHIN THE HEART OF EVERY LIVING BEING AS THE SUPERSOUL,
THE NEAREST AND DEAREST FRIEND OF THE INDIVIDUAL SOUL. THUS THE
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE SOUL AND THE SUPREME LORD IS ETERNALLY REAL.
(Vs. 3.2.19)

8.3.10
nama atma-pradipaya
saksine paramatmane
namo giram viduraya
manasas cetasam api

namah--I offer my respectful obeisances; atma-pradipaya--unto He who is

self-effulgent or who gives enlightenment to the living entities;
saksine--who is situated in everyone's heart as a witness; parama-
atmane--unto the Supreme Soul, the Supersoul; namah--I offer my
respectful obeisances; giram--by words; viduraya--who is impossible to
reach; manasah--by the mind; cetasam--or by consciousness; api--even.

I offer my respectful obeisances unto the Supreme Personality of

Godhead, the self-effulgent Supersoul, who is the witness in everyone's
heart, who enlightens the individual soul and who cannot be reached by
exercises of the mind, words or consciousness.

THE EXAMPLE OF THE REFLECTION SHOULD BE UNDERSTOOD IN TERMS OF GREAT

AND SMALL: THE SUN IS ALWAYS GREAT AND FIXED IN ITS POSITION, BUT ITS
REFLECTION IN WATER IS SMALL AND QUIVERING. SIMILARLY THE SUPREME LORD
IS GREAT AND EVER-TRANSCENDENTAL TO THE INFLUENCE OF MATTER, BUT THE
INDIVIDUAL SOUL IS SMALL AND IS AFFECTED BY MATTER.
(Vs. 3.2.20)

3.7.11
yatha jale candramasah
kampadis tat-krto gunah
drsyate 'sann api drastur
atmano 'natmano gunah

yatha--as; jale--in the water; candramasah--of the moon; kampa-adih--

quivering, etc.; tat-krtah--done by the water; gunah--quality; drsyate-
-it is so seen; asan api--without existence; drastuh--of the seer;
atmanah--of the self; anatmanah--of other than the self; gunah--quality.

As the moon reflected on water appears to the seer to tremble due

to being associated with the quality of the water, so the self associated
with matter appears to be qualified as matter.

THE POINT OF THE ABOVE EXAMPLE IS NOT TO ILLUSTRATE HOW THE SOUL IS
A REFLECTION OF GOD, BUT HOW MATTER, WHICH CANNOT APPROACH THE SUPREME
LORD JUST AS SEA WATER CANNOT APPROACH THE SUN OR MOON IN THE SKY,
APPEARS TO DISTURB THE SOUL, JUST AS WATER APPEARS TO MAKE THE
REFLECTION OF THE MOON TREMBLE. THUS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE
SUPREME LORD AND THE INDIVIDUAL SOUL IS ILLUSTRATED.
(Vs. 3.2.21)

3.7.16
sadhv etad vyakrtam vidvan
natma-mayayanam hareh
abhaty apartham nirmulam
visva-mulam na yad bahih

sadhu--as good as it should be; etat--all these explanations; vyahrtam-

-thus spoken; vidvan--O learned one; na--not; atma--the self; maya--
energy; ayanam--movement; hareh--of the Personality of Godhead; abhati-
-appears; apartham--without meaning; nirmulam--without basis; visva-
mulam--the origin is the Supreme; na--not; yat--which; bahih--outside.

O learned sage, your explanations are very good, as they should

be. Disturbances to the conditioned soul have no other basis than the
movement of the external energy of the Lord.

Adhikarana 11: The 'neti-neti' text explained.

OBJECTION: YOUR REBUTTAL OF THE ONENESS OF SOUL AND SUPREME SOUL IS

INVALIDATED BY THE NETI-NETI VERSE OF THE BRIHAD-ARANYAKA UPANISAD
(2.3.6) IN WHICH THE SUPREME LORD IS DECLARED TO BE THE ONLY TRUTH,
APART FROM WHICH NOTHING ELSE (NETI-NETI: NOT THIS, NOT THIS) EXISTS.

REPLY: THIS INTERPRETATION OF THE NETI-NETI VERSE IS FALSE. THE VERSE

STATES, ATHATA ADESO NETI NETI; NA HI ETASMAD ITI; NETY ANYAD PARAM
ASTI: 'THIS IS THE TEACHING--NO, NO; NAUGHT THAN HIM; NOTHING IS
GREATER THAN HIM.' THIS MEANS THAT THE SUPREME LORD IS GREATER THAN
ALL ELSE THAT EXISTS. IT DOES NOT MEAN THAT ONLY HE EXISTS AND NOTHING
ELSE EXISTS.
(Vs. 3.2.22)