Text 47]
Description of the Kingdom of God
627
is seated within the heart. These persons are described here as  durātmā , which means a person who has a very crooked heart, or a less intelligent person, just opposite to a  mahātmā , which means one who has a broad heart. Those so-called  yogīs  who, although engaged in meditation, are not broad-hearted cannot find the four-handed Nārāyaṇa form, even though He is seated within their hearts. Although the first realization of the Supreme Absolute Truth is impersonal Brahman, one should not remain satisfied with experiencing the impersonal effulgence of the Supreme Lord. In the  Īśopaniṣad  also, the devotee prays that the glaring effulgence of Brahman may be removed from his eyes so that he can see the real personal feature of the Lord and thus satisfy himself fully. Similarly, although the Lord is not visible in the beginning because of His glaring bodily effulgence, if a devotee sincerely wants to see Him, the Lord is revealed to him. It is said in  Bhagavad-gītā  that the Lord cannot be seen by our imperfect eyes, He cannot be heard by our imperfect ears, and He cannot be experienced by our imperfect senses; but if one engages in devotional service with faith and devotion, then God reveals Himself.
Here the four sages Sanat-kumāra, Sanātana, Sanandana, and Sanaka are described as actually sincere devotees. Although they had heard from their father, Brahmā, about the personal feature of the Lord, only the impersonal feature—Brahman—was revealed to them. But because they were sincerely searching for the Lord, they finally saw His personal feature directly, which corresponded with the description given by their father. They thus became fully satisfied. Here they express their gratitude that although they were foolish impersonalists in the beginning, by the grace of the Lord they could now have the good fortune to see His personal feature. Another significant aspect of this verse is that the sages describe their experience of hearing from their father, Brahmā, who was born of the Lord directly. In other words, the discipline succession from the Lord to Brahmā and from Brahmā to Nārada and from Nārada to Vyāsa, and so on, is accepted here. Because the Kumāras were sons of Brahmā, they had the opportunity to learn Vedic knowledge from the discipline succession of Brahmā, and therefore, in spite of their impersonalist beginnings, they became, in the end, direct seers of the personal feature of the Lord.
TEXT 47
तंत्वां विदाम भगवन् परमात्मतत्त्वं
सत्त्वेन सम्प्रति रतिं रचयन्तमेषाम्।
तत्तेऽनुतापविदितैर्दृढभक्तियोगै-
रुद्रन्थयोहृदि विदुर्मुनयो विरागाः॥४७॥