222 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 6, Ch. 4

since He is beyond creation. The Supreme Lord is the creator of every-
thing, and this means that He existed when there was no creation. In
other words, His name, form and qualities are not materially created en-
tities; they are transcendental always. Therefore by our material concoc-
tions, vibrations and thoughts we cannot ascertain the Supreme Lord.
This is explained in the verse atah Sri-krsna-nadmddi na bhaved
grahyam indriyaih.

Pracetasa, Daksa, herein offers prayers unto the Transcendence, not to
anyone within the material creation. Only fools and rascals think God a
material creation. This is confirmed by the Lord Himself in Bhagavad-
gita (9.11):

avajananti mar midha
manusim tanum asritam

param bhadvam ajdnanto
mama. bhiita-mahesvaram

“Fools deride Me when I descend in the human form. They do not know
My transcendental nature and My supreme dominion over all that be.”
Therefore, one must receive knowledge from a person to whom the Lord
has revealed Himself; there is no value in creating an imaginary name or
form for the Lord. Sripada Sankaracarya was an impersonalist, but
nevertheless he said, ndrdyanah paro ’vyaktat: Narayana, the Supreme
Personality of Godhead, is not a person of the material world. We cannot
assign Narayana a material designation, as the foolish attempt to do when
they speak of daridra-nérayana (poor Narayana). Narayana is always
transcendental, beyond this material creation. How can He become
daridra-nardyana ? Poverty is found within this material world, but in
the spiritual world, there is no such thing as poverty. Therefore the idea
of daridra-nardyana is merely a concoction.

Daksa very carefully points out that material designations cannot be
names of the worshipable Lord: yad yan niruktam vacasé niriipitam.
Nirukta refers to the Vedic dictionary. One cannot properly understand
the Supreme Personality of Godhead merely by picking up expressions
from a dictionary. In praying to the Lord, Daksa does not wish material
names and forms to be the objects of his worship; rather, he wants to
worship the Lord, who existed before the creation of material diction-
