16 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 8, Ch. 1

should worship the Supersoul, who always stays with the in-
dividual soul as a friend.

PURPORT

Offering prayers to Krsna, Srimati Kuntidevi, the mother of the
Pandavas, said, alaksyam sarva-bhiitandm antar bahir avasthitam:
“Krsna, You reside both inside and outside of everything, yet the unin-
telligent conditioned souls cannot see You.” In Bhagavad-gitd it is said
that one can see the Supreme Personality of Godhead through jrana-
caksusah, eyes of knowledge. He who opens these eyes of knowledge is
called a spiritual master. Thus we offer our prayers to the spiritual
master with the following sloka:

om ajfidna-timirandhasya
caksur unmilitam yena
tasmai Sri-gurave namah

‘T offer my respectful obeisances unto my spiritual master, who with the
torchlight of knowledge has opened my eyes, which were blinded by
the darkness of ignorance.” (Gautamiya Tantra) The guru’s task is to
open the disciple’s eyes of knowledge. When the disciple is awakened
from ignorance to knowledge, he can see the Supreme Personality
of Godhead everywhere because the Lord actually is everywhere.
Andaéntara-stha-paramaénu-caydantara-stham. The Lord resides within
this universe, He resides within the hearts of all living entities, and He
resides even within the atom. Because we lack perfect knowledge, we
cannot see God, but a little deliberation can help us to see God every-
where. This requires training. With a little deliberation, even the most
degraded person can perceive the presence of God. If we take into ac-
count whose property is the vast ocean, whose property is the vast land,
how the sky exists, how the numberless millions of stars and planets are
set in the sky, who has made this universe and whose property it is, we
should certainly come to the conclusion that there is a proprietor of
everything. When we claim proprietorship over a certain piece of land,
whether individually or for our families or nations, we should also con-
sider how we became the proprietors. The land was there before our
