392 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 1, Ch. 8

out. Although He was present before Srimati Kunti as her nephew, He
was also within her and everyone else. In the Bhagavad-gita the Lord says
(Bg. 15.15), “I am situated in everyone’s heart, and due to Me only one
remembers, forgets and is cognizant, etc. Through all the Vedas I am to
be known because I am the compiler of the Vedas, and I am the teacher of
the Vedanta.” Queen Kunti affirms that the Lord, although both within
and without all living beings, is still invisible. The Lord is, so to speak, a
puzzle for the common man. Queen Kunti experienced personally that
Lord Krsna was present before her, yet He entered within the womb of
Uttara to save her embryo from the attack of Agvatthama’s brahmastra.
Kunti herself was puzzled whether Sri Krsna is all-pervasive or localized.
In fact, He is both, but He reserves the right of not being exposed to per-
sons who are not surrendered souls. This checking curtain is called the
maya energy of the Supreme Lord, and it controls the limited vision of the
rebelled soul. It is explained as follows.

TEXT 19

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AMET YSEM AST AAT TAT 11281

maya-javanikacchannam
ajnadhoksajam avyayam

na laksyase mudha-drga
nato natyadharo yatha

maya—deluding; javanika—curtain; dcchannam—covered by; ajna—
ignorant; adhoksajam—beyond the range of material conception (tran-
scendental): avyayam—irreproachable; na—not; laksyase—observed; mudha-
drsa—by the foolish observer; nafah—artist; natya-dharah—dressed as a
player; yatha—as.

TRANSLATION

Being beyond the range of limited sense perception, the eternally
irreproachable factor covered by the curtain of deluding energy, You
are invisible to the foolish observer, exactly as an actor dressed as a player
is not recognized.
