Text 26]
Entanglement in Fruitive Activities
1393
PURPORT
The word  dṛśyādibhiḥ  is significant. According to Jīva Gosvāmī,  dṛśyā  means  jñāna , philosophical research. By different processes of philosophical research under different concepts, such as the process of  jñāna-yoga , the same Bhagavān, or Supreme Personality of Godhead, is understood as impersonal Brahman. Similarly, by the eightfold  yoga  system He appears as the Paramātmā. But in pure Kṛṣṇa consciousness, or knowledge in purity, when one tries to understand the Absolute Truth, one realizes Him as the Supreme Person. The Transcendence is realized simply on the basis of knowledge. The words used here,  paramātmeśvaraḥ pumān , are all transcendental, and they refer to Supersoul. Supersoul is also described as  puruṣa , but the word Bhagavān directly refers to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is full of six opulences: wealth, fame, strength, beauty, knowledge and renunciation. He is the Personality of Godhead in different spiritual skies. The various descriptions of  paramātmā ,  īśvara  and  pumān  indicate that the expansions of the Supreme Godhead are unlimited.
Ultimately, to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead one has to accept  bhakti-yoga . By executing  jñāna-yoga  or  dhyāna-yoga  one has to eventually approach the  bhakti-yoga  platform, and then  paramātmā ,  īśvara ,  pumān , etc., are all clearly understood. It is recommended in the Second Canto of  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam  that whether one is a devotee, or fruitive actor, or liberationist, if he is intelligent enough, he should engage himself with all seriousness in the process of devotional service. It is also explained that whatever one desires which is obtainable by fruitive activities, even if one wants to be elevated to higher planets, can be achieved simply by execution of devotional service. Since the Supreme Lord is full in six opulences, He can bestow any one of them upon the worshiper.
The one Supreme Personality of Godhead reveals Himself to different thinkers as the Supreme Person, or impersonal Brahman, or Paramātmā. Impersonalists merge into the impersonal Brahman, but that is not achieved by worshiping the impersonal Brahman. If one takes to devotional service and at the same time desires to merge into the existence of the Supreme Lord, he can achieve that. If someone desires at all to merge into the existence of the Supreme, he has to execute devotional service.
The devotee can see the Supreme Lord face to face, but the  jñānī , the empiric philosopher, or  yogī  cannot. They cannot be elevated to the positions of associates of the Lord. There is no evidence in the scriptures stating that by cultivating knowledge or worshiping the impersonal Brahman one can become a personal associate of the Supreme Personality.