14
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
[Canto 2, Ch. 1
Dvāpara-yuga,” in this context means just prior to the beginning of the Kali-yuga. The logic of this statement is, according to Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī, comparable to calling the upper portion of the tree the beginning. The root of the tree is the beginning of the tree, but in common knowledge, the upper portion of the tree is first seen. In that way the end of the tree is accepted as its beginning.
TEXT 9
परिनिष्ठिताऽपि नैर्गुण्य उत्तमश्लोकतीत्या । गृहीतचेता राजर्षे आख्यानं यदधीतवान् ॥ ९ ॥
pariniṣṭhito'pi nairguṇya uttama-śloka-līlayā grhīta-cetā rājarṣe ākhyānam yad adhītavān
pariniṣṭhitaḥ—fully realized; api—in spite of; nair-guṇye—in transcendence; uttama—enlightened; śloka—verse; līlayā—by the pastimes; grhīta—being attracted; cetāḥ—attention; rājarṣe—O saintly King; ākhyānam—delineation; yat—that; adhītavān—I have studied.
TRANSLATION
O saintly King, I was certainly situated perfectly in transcendence, yet I was still attracted by the delineation of the pastimes of the Lord, who is described by enlightened verses.
PURPORT
The Absolute Truth is realized as the impersonal Brahman at the first instance by philosophical speculation and later on as the Supersoul by further progress of transcendental knowledge. But, if, by the grace of the Lord, an impersonalist is enlightened by the superior statements of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, he is also converted into a transcendental devotee of the Personality of Godhead. With a poor fund of knowledge, we cannot adjust to the idea of the personality of the Absolute Truth, and the