Text 18]
Prayers by Queen Kuntī
391
TEXT 18
कुन्त्युवाच
नमस्ये पुरुषं त्वाऽऽद्यमीश्वरं प्रकृतेः परम् । 
  अलक्ष्यं सर्वभूतानामन्तर्वहिरवस्थितम् ॥१८॥
kunty uvāca 
  namasye puruṣaṁ tvādyam 
  īśvaraṁ prakṛteḥ param 
  alakṣyaṁ sarva-bhūtānām 
  antar bahir avasthitam
kuntī uvāca—Śrīmatī Kuntī said; namasye—let me bow down; puruṣam—the Supreme Person; tvā—You; ādyam—the original; īśvaram—the controller; prakṛteḥ—of the material cosmos; param—beyond; alakṣyam—the invisible; sarva—all; bhūtānām—of living beings; antaḥ—within; bahiḥ—without; avasthitam—existing.
TRANSLATION
Śrīmatī Kuntī said: O Kṛṣṇa, I offer my obeisances unto You because You are the original personality and are unaffected by the qualities of the material world. You are existing both within and without everything, yet You are invisible to all.
PURPORT
Śrīmatī Kuntīdevī was quite aware that Kṛṣṇa was the original Personality of Godhead, although He was playing the part of her nephew. Such an enlightened lady could not commit a mistake by offering obeisances unto her nephew. Therefore, she addressed Him as the original  puruṣa  beyond the material cosmos. Although all living entities are also transcendental, they are neither original nor infallible. The living entities are apt to fall down under the clutches of material nature, but the Lord is never like that. In the  Vedas , therefore, He is described as the chief amongst all living entities. Then again He is addressed as  īśvara , or the controller. The living entities or the demigods like Indra, Candra, Sūrya, etc., are also to some extent  īśvara , but none of them is the supreme  īśvara  or the ultimate controller. He is the  parameśvara , or the Supersoul. He is both within and with-