Verse 13.13

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 13.13:

ज्ञेयं यत् तत् प्रवक्ष्यामि यज् ज्ञात्वामृतम् अश्नुते ।
अनादि मत्-परं ब्रह्म न सत् तन् नासद् उच्यते ॥ १२ ॥

jñeyaṃ yat tat pravakṣyāmi yaj jñātvāmṛtam aśnute |
anādi mat-paraṃ brahma na sat tan nāsad ucyate || 12 ||

jñeyam–worthy to be known; yat–which; tat–that; pravakṣyāmi–I shall thoroughly explain; yat–which; jñātvā–understanding; amṛtam–immortality; aśnute–one attains; anādi–without beginning; mat-param–dependent on Me; brahma–the great (refers to both the personal and impersonal aspects of God); na–neither; sat–cause; tat–that; na–nor; asat–effect; ucyate–is said.

Now I shall fully explain to you that which is worthy to be known. Upon understanding it, one attains liberation. The beginningless brahma is dependent on My personal form and is said to lie beyond all cause and effect.

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Ṭīkā

(By Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura; the innermost intention of the commentary named ‘the shower of essential meanings’)

The living entity and Paramātmā can be known by the various practices mentioned previously. Of the two, Paramātmā alone has been indicated by the word sarvagata-brahma, the all-pervading Supreme Spirit. [Note: The word sarvagata is from Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura’s original Sanskrit commentary.] This brahma, in His nirviśeṣa aspect (devoid of attributes) is the worshipful object of the jñānīs, and in His saviśeṣa aspect (replete with a variety of attributes), He is the worshipful object of the devotees. Because He is meditated upon in His four-armed form, He is known as Paramātmā, even though He resides within the body.

First, brahma is explained in this verse beginning with jñeyam. “Anādi means ‘without a beginning’, and since brahma is My svarūpa, it is eternal.” Mat-param means ‘I am the supreme shelter of brahma’. As will be said later on, “brahmaṇo hi pratiṣṭhāham–I am the foundation, or basis, of brahma.” But what is that brahma? Expecting this question, Śrī Bhagavān says that brahma is neither temporary nor eternal, being beyond both cause and effect.

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Prakāśikā-vṛtti

(By Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja; the explanation that illuminates the commentary named Sārārtha-varṣiṇī)

Previously, Śrī Bhagavān explained the means of attaining jñāna. Now, in the present verse, He is explaining the Supreme Absolute Truth, which is knowable and which is the goal of that jñāna. The jñānīs think that the Absolute Truth is nirviśeṣa-brahma, bereft of name, form, qualities, pastimes, associates and so forth. Indeed, they imagine the Truth to be merely a void bereft of qualities like variegated activity. Pure devotees, who take shelter of exclusive, unwavering devotion, see the Supreme Absolute Reality as Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the embodiment of transcendental sports, the basis of all transcendental qualities, energies and rasa, and devoid of petty material qualities. Although in some places the Śrutis describe this Truth as devoid of features, these statements only refute that Śrī Bhagavān possesses any material features; they do not deny His transcendental qualities.

The scriptures themselves have illuminated this deep secret:

yā yā śrutir jalpati nirviśeṣaṃ sā sābhidhatte sa-viśeṣam eva
vicāra-yoge sati hanta tāsāṃ prāyo balīyaḥ sa-viśeṣam eva

(Hayaśīrṣa-pañcarātra)

Those very same Vedic mantras that first describe the Absolute Truth as nirviśeṣa (without qualities) alternatively establish that Truth as saviśeṣa (with qualities). Both nirviśeṣa and saviśeṣa are indeed eternal aspects of Bhagavān, but deeply deliberating on this will reveal the personal saviśeṣa-tattva as superior. This is because one experiences only saviśeṣa-tattva in this world, whereas there is no experience of nirviśeṣa-tattva here.

The only knowable object of the nirviśeṣa-jñānīs is indicated in the present verse, spoken by Śrī Kṛṣṇa Himself, with the word mat-param, meaning ‘sheltered in Me’.

brahmaṇo hi pratiṣṭhāham amṛtasyāvyayasya ca
śāśvatasya ca dharmasya sukhasyaikāntikasya ca

Bhagavad-gītā (14.27)

I am the shelter of formless and imperishable brahma and the sole refuge of everlasting immortality, eternal dharma and transcendental bliss in the form of prema related to one-pointed devotion.

This subject will be described in detail in the commentary on the above verse. Sometimes in śāstra, the jīva is also called brahma, but the jīva can never be called Parabrahma‚ because he is different from Parabrahma in every respect. The living entity has atomic consciousness and Parabrahma is the infinite, conscious Entity.

Some people suffer from the misconception that the living entity becomes brahma. This is because they do not understand the deep import of the Gītā’s phrases such as brahma-bhūta (18.54) and brahma-bhūyāya kalpate (14.26), which describe the living entity. This subject will be described in detail in the verse brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā (18.54).

Both the jīvātmā and Paramātmā are the objects of knowledge, but one can only understand that jīva-tattva is dependent on Paramātmā by continuously cultivating devotional service to Him. The jīva is without beginning and by constitution devoted to Bhagavān. He is only partly endowed with the qualities of brahma, and he is beyond cause and effect.

Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura quotes Kṛṣṇa as saying, “O Arjuna, I have explained to you the fundamental principle of kṣetra-jña (the knowers of the field of the body). I have explained the nature of kṣetra (the field of body), its transformations, and the process by which one can become free from these transformations. I have also explained that the living entity and the Supersoul are the knowers of this field. Now, please listen as I explain that tattva which is knowable by realization. Brahma, the knowable, is without beginning. He is dependent on Me (mat-param) and beyond both cause and effect. Knowing this, one tastes the nectar of My bhakti.”