Text 89] The Liberation of Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya 239
TEXT 89
Borg Ba, —“aw-Faacra SA 4S-Bia |
TSSI-Bi‘AI SI BAIS AAT vd il
acarya kahe, —“vastu-visaye haya vastu-jfiana
vastu-tattva-jfidna haya krpate pramana
SYNONYMS

acarya kahe—Gopinatha Acdarya replied; vastu-visaye—in the matter of the
summum bonum; haya—there is; vastu-jfiana—knowledge of the Supreme;
vastu-tattva—of the Absolute Truth; jfidna—knowledge; haya—is; krpate—of
the mercy; pramana—the evidence.

TRANSLATION

Gopinatha Acarya replied: ‘(Knowledge of the summum bonum, the Ab-

solute Truth, is evidence of the mercy of the Supreme Lord.’
PURPORT

Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya informed his brother-in-law, Gopinatha Acarya, “The
Supreme Personality of Godhead may not have shown mercy to me, but what is
the proof of His having shown it to you? Kindly let us know about this.” In reply to
this, Gopinatha Acarya said that the summum bonum, the Absolute Truth, and His
different potencies are identical. Therefore one can understand the substance of
the Absolute Truth by the manifestation of His different potencies. The summum
bonum includes all potencies in one unit. The Absolute Truth combined with dif-
ferent characteristics is the original substance (vastu): parasya Saktir vividhaiva
srayate.

Thus the Vedas state that the Absolute Truth has different potencies. When
one understands the characteristics of the potencies of the Absolute Truth, one is
aware of the Absolute Truth. On the material platform as well, one can under-
stand the substance by the manifestation of its symptoms. For example, when
there is heat, it is to be understood that there is fire. The heat of the fire is per-
ceived directly. The fire may not be visible, but one can search out the fire by feel-
ing heat. Similarly, if one can perceive the characteristics of the Absolute Truth,
we can know that he has understood the substance of the Absolute Truth by the
mercy of the Lord.

In Bhagavad-gita (7.25) it is said, naham prakadsah sarvasya. The Supreme Per-
sonality of Godhead reserves the right of not being exposed to everyone. Sevon-
mukhe hi jihvadau svayam eva sphuraty adah: “The Lord reveals Himself to a
devotee when He is completely satisfied by the devotee’s service.” Thus one can-
