Spiritual
अद्वैतमच्युतमनादिमनन्तरूपम् आद्यं पुराणपुरुषं नवयौवनं च । वेदेषु दुर्लभमदुर्लभमात्मभक्तौ गोविन्दमादिपुरुषं तमहं भजामि ॥ ३३ ॥
advaitam acyutam anādim ananta-rūpam
ādyaṁ purāṇa-puruṣaṁ nava-yauvanaṁ ca
vedeṣu durlabham adurlabham ātma-bhaktau
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi
I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who is nondual, infallible, and beginningless. He possesses unlimited forms and is the original and ancient person, yet ever fresh in youth. He is difficult to attain through the Vedas but not difficult to attain through the soul’s devotion.
advaitam—nondual, without equal or second; acyutam—infallible; anādim—without beginning; ananta-rūpam—having unlimited forms; ādyam—the original, the first; purāṇa-puruṣam—the ancient, primeval person; nava-yauvanam—ever fresh in youth; ca—and; vedeṣu—through the Vedas; durlabham—difficult to attain; adurlabham—not difficult to attain; ātma-bhaktau—through the soul’s devotion; govindam—Govinda; ādi-puruṣam—the primeval Lord; tam—Him; aham—I; bhajāmi—worship.
Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā
Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī
The extraordinary nature of Govinda’s form is further established in the next three verses beginning with advaitam.
The word advaitam here means “without equal,” as in the statements, “On Earth this king is without equal” and “the king has no equal.” Thus it means “unrivaled” or “incomparable.” This is supported by Uddhava’s statement in the Third Canto of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (3.2.12): vismāpanaṁ svasya ca saubhagarddheḥ. “His extraordinary beauty was astonishing even to Himself.”
The word acyutam means “infallible” and is confirmed by statements such as Akrūra’s prayer in the Tenth Canto: “Indeed, Kaṁsa has shown me great favor, for by sending me here he has enabled me to behold the lotus feet of Hari, who has descended into this world. By the radiance of His toenails, the ancients crossed the realm of insurmountable darkness. Those feet are worshiped by Brahmā, Śiva, the other demigods, and Śrī Devī herself.”
Uddhava likewise says in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam: “The lotus feet of Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa, which Śrī, Brahmā, and other fully satisfied masters of yoga worship within their hearts, were placed upon the breasts of the gopīs during the rāsa dance; embracing those feet, the gopīs cast off their distress.”
Śukadeva also states: darśayām āsa lokaṁ svaṁ gopānāṁ tamasaḥ param. “He revealed to the cowherds His own realm beyond darkness.” He then says: nandādayas tu taṁ dṛṣṭvā paramānanda-nirvṛtāḥ kṛṣṇaṁ ca tatra chandobhiḥ stūyamānaṁ suvismitāḥ. “Nanda and the others, seeing that realm and Kṛṣṇa praised there by the Vedas, were filled with supreme bliss and great wonder.”
In the Eleventh Canto’s exposition of Sāṅkhya beginning with kālo māyāmaye jīvaḥ, Brahman is taught as that which remains after the great cosmic dissolution. Bhagavān Himself, however, is the witness even of that Brahman. Concerning this, the Lord says: eṣa sāṅkhya-vidhiḥ proktaḥ saṁśaya-granthi-bhedanaḥ pratilomānulomābhyāṁ parāvara-dṛśā mayā. “I, who perceive both the higher and the lower, have explained this method of Sāṅkhya, which severs the knot of doubt, through analysis in both forward and reverse order.”
The term purāṇa-puruṣam, “the primeval person,” is supported by Brahmā’s statement: ekas tvam ātmā puruṣaḥ purāṇaḥ. “You alone are the Self, the primeval person.” It is also supported by the statement of the women of Mathurā: gūḍhaḥ purāṇa-puruṣo vana-citra-mālyaḥ. “The hidden primeval person, adorned with a variegated forest garland.”
Although He is the primeval person, He is nevertheless nava-yauvanam, ever fresh in youth. According to the Vedic dictionary Nirukta: purā api navaḥ purāṇaḥ. “Though ancient, He is ever new.” The Tenth Canto states: gopyas tapaḥ kim acaran yad amuṣya rūpam … dṛgbhiḥ pibanty anusavābhinavaṁ durāpam. “What austerities did the gopīs perform? With their eyes they drink the beauty of His form, ever fresh at every moment and difficult to attain.” The Ninth Canto likewise begins a description: “His face adorned with shark-shaped earrings…” In the First Canto, after qualities such as truthfulness, purity, beauty, skill, and steadiness have been listed, it is said: ete cānye ca bhagavan nityā yatra mahā-guṇāḥ prārthyā mahattvam icchadbhir na viyanti sma karhicit. “These and many other great qualities are eternally present in Bhagavān. Those who aspire for greatness desire them, yet they never depart from Him.” Similar descriptions are also heard in the Bṛhad-dhyāna and related works. The Tāpanī Śruti states: gopa-veśam abhrābhaṁ taruṇaṁ kalpa-drumāśritam. “He was dressed as a cowherd, dark like a raincloud, youthful, and standing beneath a wish-fulfilling tree.” Here the word taruṇa specifically indicates fresh youth as the very abode of beauty.
The words vedeṣu durlabham are supported by statements from the Tenth Canto such as: bhejur mukunda-padavīṁ śrutibhir vimṛgyām. “They attained the path of Mukunda, sought by the Vedas.” It is also stated: adyāpi yat-pada-rajaḥ śruti-mṛgyam eva. “Even now, the dust of His feet is sought by the Vedas.” Yet He is adurlabham ātma-bhaktau, not difficult to attain through the soul’s devotion. Thus in the Eleventh Canto Kṛṣṇa says: bhaktyāham ekayā grāhyaḥ. “I am attainable only through exclusive devotional service.” And in the Tenth Canto (10.14.5) Brahmā prays:
pureha bhūman bahavo ‘pi yoginas tvad-arpitehā nija-karma-labdhayā
vibudhya bhaktyaiva kathopanītayā prapedire ‘ñjo ‘cyuta te gatiṁ parām
“O almighty Lord, in the past many yogīs in this world achieved the platform of devotional service by offering all their endeavors unto You and faithfully carrying out their prescribed duties. Through such devotional service, perfected by the processes of hearing and chanting about You, they came to understand You, O infallible one, and could easily surrender to You and achieve Your supreme abode.”
Brahma-saṁhitā-prakāśinī
Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura
Verse 33
I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who is inaccessible even to the Vedas but attainable through pure devotion of the soul. He is nondual, infallible, beginningless, possessed of unlimited forms, the original and primeval person, yet always beautiful and endowed with ever-fresh youth.
Advaita means advaya-jñāna, the indivisible, nondual truth (akhaṇḍa-tattva). Although the infinite Brahman emanates as His effulgence and the Lord in the form of Paramātmā manifests as His portion, He remains indivisible.
Acyuta means supremely complete (parama-pūrṇa). Although millions upon millions of avatāras manifest as His personal expansions (svāṁśa), and although innumerable living beings emanate as His separated expansions (vibhinnāṁśa), He nevertheless remains supremely complete.
Even while manifesting birth and other pastimes, He is anādi, without beginning. Even when He makes His manifest pastimes unmanifest, He is ananta, without end. Although beginningless, in His manifest pastimes He is ādya, endowed with a beginning in the form of birth and similar events. Although in truth the eternal primeval person (sanātana-puruṣa), He is forever endowed with fresh, eternal youth.
The essential meaning is this: Although He possesses many apparently contradictory qualities, all of them are harmoniously reconciled everywhere through His inconceivable potency (acintya-śakti). This is cid-dharma, a characteristic entirely distinct from matter.
His beautiful flute-bearing form of Śyāmasundara, gracefully standing in the threefold-bending posture, is eternally youthful and entirely beyond the defects of material time and space. In the spiritual realm, only the pure present exists, free from past and future. Likewise, the distinction found in material space between an attribute and its possessor does not exist in the spiritual reality. Therefore, qualities that appear contradictory to intelligence conditioned by material time and space exist there in perfect harmony.
But how can the living being experience such an unprecedented reality? The conditioned soul’s faculty of cognition is always contaminated by the defects arising from material time, space, and other limitations and therefore cannot relinquish the material mode of perception. If that faculty cannot perceive spiritual reality, through what faculty can pure spiritual reality be experienced?
In answer, Brahmā says that the spiritual reality is beyond the reach of the Vedas. The Vedas are rooted in sound, and sound is rooted in material nature. Therefore, the Vedas cannot directly reveal the transcendental realm of Goloka. Only when the Vedas are pervaded by the spiritual potency can they speak of that reality to some extent.
Every jīva, however, can receive the revelation of Goloka through the influence of the saṁvit-śakti united with the essence of the hlādinī-śakti. This influence manifests within the jīva as the faculty of devotion. The hlādinī function of devotion is unlimited and completely spiritual. When knowledge becomes united with devotion, it no longer manifests a separate identity as knowledge, and reveals the reality of Goloka through devotion.