Adi-lila, Chapter 1 51
sented in the scientific knowledge of Bhagavad-gita, which is read and adored all
over the world by all classes of scholars, with as many interpretations as there are
empiric philosophers. The truth of these mysteries was revealed to Brahma by a
descending process, without the help of the ascending one. His mercy descends
to a devotee like Brahma and, through Brahma, to Narada, from Narada to Vyasa,
from Vyasadeva to Sukadeva and so on in the bona fide chain of disciplic succession.
We cannot discover the mysteries of the Lord by our mundane endeavors; they are
only revealed, by His grace, to the proper devotees. These mysteries are gradually
disclosed to the various grades of devotees in proportion to the gradual development
of their service attitude. In other words, impersonalists who depend upon the
strength of their poor fund of knowledge and morbid speculative habits, without
submission and service in the forms of hearing, chanting and the others mentioned
above, cannot penetrate to the mysterious region of transcendence where the
supreme truth is a transcendental person, free from all tinges of the material elements.
Discovering the mystery of the Lord eliminates the impersonal feature realized by
common spiritualists who are merely trying to enter the spiritual region from the
mundane platform.

TEXT 53
QRCANACTATH AIH AW AWARAAT |
HSTMZS AHSHS CURAPMCISG CURT VOU
aham evasam evagre
nanyad yat sad-asat-param
pascad aham yad etac ca
yo ’vasisyeta so ’smy aham
SYNONYMS

aham—|, the Personality of Godhead; eva—certainly; adsam—existed; eva—only;
agre—before the creation; na—never; anyat—anything else; yat—which; sat—the
effect; asat—the cause; param—the supreme; pascdt—at the end; aham—l, the
Personality of Godhead; yat—which; etat—this creation; ca—also; yah--who; avasis-
yeta—remains; sah—that; asmi—am;aham-—l|, the Personality of Godhead.

TRANSLATION

“Prior to the cosmic creation, only | exist, and no phenomena exist, either
gross, subtle or primordial. After creation, only | exist in everything, and after
annihilation, only | remain eternally.

PURPORT

Aham means “‘I’’; therefore the speaker who is saying aham, “‘I,”” must have His
own personality. The MayavadT philosophers interpret this word aham as referring
to the impersonal Brahman. These Mayavadis are very proud of their grammatical
knowledge, but any person who has actual knowledge of grammar can understand
