Text 11] The Manus, Administrators of the Universe 17

birth, before we came to the land. How did it become our property? Such
deliberation will help us understand that there is a supreme proprietor of
everything —the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

The Supreme Godhead is always awake. In the conditioned stage we
forget things because we change our bodies, but because the Supreme
Personality of Godhead does not change His body, He remembers past,
present and future. Krsna says in Bhagavad-gita (4.1), imam vivasvate
yogam proktavan aham avyayam: “I spoke this science of God—
Bhagavad-gita—to the sun-god at least forty million years ago.” When
Arjuna inquired from Krsna how He could remember incidents that had
taken place so long ago, the Lord answered that Arjuna was also present
at that time. Because Arjuna is Krsna’s friend, wherever Krsna goes, Ar-
juna goes. But the difference is that Krsna remembers everything,
whereas the living entity like Arjuna, being a minute particle of the
Supreme Lord, forgets. Therefore it is said, the Lord’s vigilance is never
diminished. This is also confirmed in Bhagavad-gita (15.15). Sarvasya
caham hrdi sannivisto mattah smrtir jidnam apohanam ca: the Supreme
Personality of Godhead in His Paramatma feature is always present
within the hearts of all living entities, and from Him come memory,
knowledge and forgetfulness. This is also indicated in this verse by the
word suparnam, which means “friend.” In the Svetdsvatara Upanisad
(4.6) it is therefore said, dvd suparnd sayuja sakhayaé samaénam vrksarn
parisasvajate: two birds are sitting on the same tree as friends. One bird
is eating the fruit of the tree, and the other is simply observing. This ob-
serving bird is always present as a friend to the eating bird and giving
him remembrance of things he wanted to do. Thus if we take into ac-
count the Supreme Personality of Godhead in our daily affairs, we can
see Him or at least perceive His presence everywhere.

The words caksur yasya na risyati mean that although we cannot see
Him, this does not mean that He cannot see us. Nor does He die when the
cosmic manifestation is annihilated. The example is given in this connec-
tion that the sunshine is present when the sun is present, but when the
sun is not present, or when we cannot see the sun, this does not mean
that the sun is lost. The sun is there, but we cannot see it. Similarly, al-
though we cannot see the Supreme Personality of Godhead in our present
darkness, our lack of knowledge, He is always present, seeing our ac-
tivities. As the Paramatma, He is the witness and adviser (upadrasta and
