392
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
[Canto 1, Ch. 8]
out. Although He was present before Śrīmatī Kuntī as her nephew, He was also within her and everyone else. In the  Bhagavad-gītā  the Lord says (Bg. 15.15), “I am situated in everyone’s heart, and due to Me only one remembers, forgets and is cognizant, etc. Through all the  Vedas  I am to be known because I am the compiler of the  Vedas , and I am the teacher of the  Vedānta .” Queen Kuntī affirms that the Lord, although both within and without all living beings, is still invisible. The Lord is, so to speak, a puzzle for the common man. Queen Kuntī experienced personally that Lord Kṛṣṇa was present before her, yet He entered within the womb of Uttarā to save her embryo from the attack of Aśvatthāmā’s  brahmāstra . Kuntī herself was puzzled whether Śrī Kṛṣṇa is all-pervasive or localized. In fact, He is both, but He reserves the right of not being exposed to persons who are not surrendered souls. This checking curtain is called the  māyā  energy of the Supreme Lord, and it controls the limited vision of the rebelled soul. It is explained as follows.
TEXT 19
मायाजवनिकाच्छन्नमज्ञाधोक्षजमव्ययम् । न लक्ष्यसे मूढदृशा नटो नाश्चधरो यथा ॥१९॥
māyā-javanikācchannam   ajñādhokṣajam avyayam   na lakṣyase mūḍha-drṣā   naṭo nāṭyadharo yathā
māyā —deluding;  javanikā —curtain;  ācchannam —covered by;  ajñā —ignorant;  adhokṣajam —beyond the range of material conception (transcendental);  avyayam —irreproachable;  na —not;  lakṣyase —observed;  mūḍha-drṣā —by the foolish observer;  naṭaḥ —artist;  nāṭya-dharaḥ —dressed as a player;  yathā —as.
TRANSLATION
Being beyond the range of limited sense perception, the eternally irreproachable factor covered by the curtain of deluding energy, You are invisible to the foolish observer, exactly as an actor dressed as a player is not recognized.