Adi-lila, Chapter 2 93
SYNONYMS

yat—that which; advaitam—without a second; brahma—the impersonal Brahman;
upanisadi—in the Upanisads; tat—that; api—certainly; asya—His; tanu-bha—the
effulgence of His transcendental body; yah—who; atma—the Supersoul; antaryami—
indwelling Lord; purusah—the supreme enjoyer; iti—thus; sah—He; asya—His; armsa-
vibhavah—expansion of a plenary portion; sat-aiSvaryaih—with the six opulences;
pirnah—full; yah—who; iha—here; bhagavan—the Supreme Personality of Godhead;
sah—He; svayam—Himself; ayarm—this one; na—not; caitanyat—than Lord Caitanya;
krsnat—than Lord Krsna; jagati—in the world; para—higher; tattvam—truth; param—
another; jha—here.

TRANSLATION

What the Upanisads describe as the impersonal Brahman is but the effulgence of
His body, andthe Lord known as the Supersoul is but His localized plenary portion.
He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna Himself, full with six opulences. He
is the Absolute Truth, and no other truth is greater than or equal to Him.

PURPORT

The compilers of the Upanisads speak very highly of the impersonal Brahman.
The Upanisads, which are considered the most elevated portion of the Vedic litera-
tures, are meant for persons who desire to get free from material association and
who therefore approach a bona fide spiritual master for enlightenment. The prefix
upa indicates that one must receive knowledge about the Absolute Truth from a
spiritual master. One who has faith in his spiritual master actually receives transcen-
dental instruction, and as his attachment for material life slackens, he is able to
advance on the spiritual path. Knowledge of the transcendental science of the
Upanisads can free one from the entanglement of existence in the material world,
and when thus liberated, one can be elevated to the spiritual kingdom of the
Supreme Personality of Godhead by advancement in spiritual life.

The beginning of spiritual enlightenment is realization of impersonal Brahman.
Such realization is effected by gradual negation of material variegatedness. I mper-
sonal Brahman realization is the partial, distant experience of the Absolute Truth
that one achieves through the rational approach. It is compared to one’s seeing a
hill from a distance and taking it to be a smoky cloud. A hill is not a smoky cloud,
but it appears to be one from a distance because of our imperfect vision. In imper-
fect or smoky realization of the Absolute Truth, spiritual variegatedness is con-
spicuous by its absence. This experience is therefore called advaita-vada, or realiza-
tion of the oneness of the Absolute.

The impersonal glowing effulgence of Brahman consists only of the personal
bodily rays of the Supreme Godhead, Sri Krsna. Since $ri Gaurasundara, or Lord
Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, is identical with Sri Krsna Himself, the Brahman efful-
gence consists of the rays of His transcendental body.

Similarly, the Supersoul, which is called the Paramatma, is a plenary representa-
tion of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. The antaryami, the Supersoul in everyone's heart, is
