Chapter 16

Verse 2 (SB 11.16.2)

SB 11.16.1

SB 11.16.3

SB 11.16.2 • मूल श्लोक

उच्चावचेषु भूतेषु दुर्ज्ञेयमकृतात्मभि: । उपासते त्वां भगवन् याथातथ्येन ब्राह्मणा: ॥ २ ॥

Transliteration

uccāvaceṣu bhūteṣu durjñeyam akṛtātmabhiḥ upāsate tvāṁ bhagavan yāthā-tathyena brāhmaṇāḥ

Synonyms (Word-for-Word)

ucca — in the superior; avaceṣu — and the inferior; bhūteṣu — created objects and entities; durjñeyam — hard to understand; akṛta-ātmabhiḥ — by the impious; upāsate — they worship; tvām — You; bhagavan — my dear Lord; yāthā-tathyena — in truth; brāhmaṇāḥ — those dedicated to the Vedic conclusion.

Translation

“My dear Lord, although it is difficult for the impious to understand that You are situated in all superior and inferior creations, those brāhmaṇas who are actual knowers of the Vedic conclusion worship You in truth.”

Bhaktivedanta Purport

By Śrīla Prabhupāda

The behavior of saintly persons is also to be taken as evidence, and therefore it is here stated that although ignorant, impious persons are bewildered before the Lord’s all-pervading feature, those with purified, clear consciousness worship the Lord as He is. In this chapter Śrī Uddhava inquires about the Lord’s opulences, and here the words uccāvaceṣu bhūteṣu (“within superior and inferior creations”) clearly refer to the Lord’s external opulences, those manifested in the material world. The saintly brāhmaṇas, or Vaiṣṇavas, worship Lord Kṛṣṇa within all things and yet recognize the variety in the Lord’s creation. For example, in worshiping the Deity, the devotees will select the nicest flowers, fruits and ornaments for decorating the transcendental form of the Lord. Similarly, although the Lord is present in the heart of every conditioned soul, the devotee will give more attention to a conditioned soul interested in the message of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Although the Lord is everywhere, the devotees make distinctions, for the sake of the Lord’s service, between His presence in superior (ucca) and inferior (avaceṣu) creations.