42
THE PATH OF PERFECTION
original living being. By Him even the great sages and demigods are placed into illusion, as one is bewildered by the illusory representations of water seen in fire, or land seen on water. Only because of Him do the material universes, temporarily manifested by the reactions of the three modes of nature, appear factual, although they are unreal. I therefore meditate upon Him, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, who is eternally existent in the transcendental abode. which is forever free from the illusory representations of the material world. I meditate upon Him, for He is the Absolute Truth.”
Thus from the very beginning of  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam  the Absolute Truth is proclaimed to be cognizant. He is not dead or void. And what is the nature of His cognizance?  Anvayād itarataś cārtheṣu : “He is directly and indirectly cognizant of all manifestations.” To a limited degree, each and every living entity is cognizant, but we are not completely cognizant. I may claim, “This is my head,” but if someone asks me, “Do you know how many hairs are on your head?” I will not be able to reply. Of course, this kind of knowledge is not transcendental, but in  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam  it is stated that the Supreme Absolute Truth knows everything, directly and indirectly. I may know that I am eating, but I do not know the intricacies of the eating process—how my body is exactly assimilating food, how the blood is passing through my veins, etc. I am cognizant that my body is functioning, but I do not know how these processes are working perfectly and all at once. This is because my knowledge is limited.
By definition, God is He who knows everything. He knows what is going on in every corner of His creation; therefore, from the very beginning,  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam  explains that the Supreme Truth from whom everything is emanating is supremely cognizant ( abhijñaḥ ). One may ask, “If the Absolute Truth is so powerful, wise, and cognizant, He must have attained this knowledge from some similar being.” This is not the case. If He attains His knowledge from someone else, He is not God.  Svarāṭ . He is independent, and His knowledge is automatically there.
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam  is the supreme combination of both the  jñāna - and  bhakti-yoga  systems, because it analyzes in detail the nature of that Supreme Being from whom everything is emanat-
Moderation in Yoga
43
ing. By the  jñāna-yoga  system, one attempts to understand the nature of the Absolute Truth in a philosophical way. In the  bhakti-yoga  system, the target is the same. The methodology, however, is somewhat different. Whereas the  jñānī  attempts to concentrate his mind philosophically on the Supreme, the  bhakta  simply engages himself in the service of the Supreme Lord, and the Lord reveals Himself. The  jñāna  method is called the ascending process; and the  bhakti  method is called the descending process. If we are in the darkness of night, we may attempt to attain the sunlight by ascending in a powerful rocket. According to the descending process, however, we simply await the sunrise, and then we understand immediately.
Through the ascending process, we attempt to reach the Supreme through our own endeavor, through the process of induction. By induction, we may attempt to find out whether man is mortal by studying thousands of men, trying to see whether they are mortal or immortal. This, of course, will take a great deal of time. If, however, I accept from superior authority the fact that all men are mortal, my knowledge is complete and immediate. Thus it is stated in  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam  (10.14.29), “My dear Lord, a person who has received a little favor from You can understand You very quickly. But those who are trying to understand You by the ascending process may go on speculating for millions of years and still never understand You.”
By mental speculation, one is more likely to simply reach a point of frustration and confusion and conclude, “Oh, God is zero.” But if God is zero, how are so many figures emanating from Him? As the  Vedānta  says ( janmādy asya yataḥ ), “Everything is generating from the Supreme.” Therefore the Supreme cannot be zero. We have to study how so many forms, so many infinite living entities, are being generated from the Supreme. This is also explained in the  Vedānta-sūtra , which is the study of ultimate knowledge. The word  veda  means “knowledge,” and  anta  means “ultimate.” Ultimate knowledge is knowledge of the Supreme Lord.
So how is it possible to understand the form of Kṛṣṇa? If it is stated that God does not have eyes, limbs, and senses like ours,