384
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
[Canto 4, Ch. 9]
energies are continually manifest, but the impersonal Brahman, which is undivided, original, changeless, unlimited and blissful, is the cause of the material manifestation. Because You are the same impersonal Brahman, I offer my respectful obeisances unto You.
PURPORT
In the  Brahma-saṁhitā  it is said that the unlimited impersonal Brahman is the effulgence of the transcendental body of Govinda. In that unlimited effulgent aura of the Supreme Personality of Godhead there are innumerable universes with innumerable planets of different categories. Although the Supreme Person is the original cause of all causes, still His impersonal effulgence, known as Brahman, is the immediate cause of the material manifestation. Dhruva Mahārāja, therefore, offered his respectful obeisances unto the impersonal feature of the Lord. One who realizes this impersonal feature can enjoy the unchangeable  brahmānanda  described here as spiritual bliss.
Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Thākura describes that this impersonal feature or Brahman manifestation of the Supreme Lord is meant for persons who are essentially very advanced but still not able to understand the personal features or variegatedness of the spiritual world. Such devotees are known as  jñāna-miśra-bhaktas , or devotees whose devotional service is mixed with empiric knowledge. Because the impersonal Brahman realization is a partial understanding of the Absolute Truth, Dhruva Mahārāja offers his respectful obeisances.
It is said that this impersonal Brahman is the distant realization of the Absolute Truth. Although apparently Brahman seems to be devoid of energy, factually it has different energies working under the headings of knowledge and ignorance. On account of these different energies, there is continually a manifestation of  vidyā  and  avidyā .  Vidyā  and  avidyā  are very nicely described in  Īśopaniṣad . It is said there that sometimes, due to  avidyā , or a poor fund of knowledge, one accepts the Absolute Truth as ultimately impersonal. But in fact the impersonal and personal realizations develop in proportion to the development of devotional service. The more we develop our devotional service, the more closely we approach the Absolute Truth, which, in the beginning, when we realize the Absolute Truth from a distant place, is manifest as impersonal.
People in general, who are under the influence of  avidyā-śakti , or  māyā , have neither knowledge nor devotion. But when a person who is a little advanced and is therefore called a  jñānī  advances even more, he is in the category of a  jñāna-miśra-bhakta , or a devotee whose love is mixed with