1. The Original Person

kunty uvaca
namasye purusam tvadyam
iSvaram prakrteh param
alaksyam sarva-bhitanam
antar bahir avasthitam

Srimati Kunti said: O Krsna, I offer
my obeisances unto You because You
are the original personality and are
unaffected by the qualities of the ma-
terial world. You are existing both
within and without everything, yet You
are invisible to all.

—Srimad-Bhdgavatam 1.8.18

Srimati Kuntidevi was quite aware that Krsna is the original Per-
sonality of Godhead, although He was playing the part of her nephew.
Such an enlightened lady could not commit a mistake by offering obei-
sances unto her nephew. Therefore, she addressed Him as the original
purusa beyond the material cosmos. Although all living entities are also
transcendental, they are neither original nor infallible. The living entities
are apt to fall down under the clutches of material nature, but the Lord is
never like that. In the Vedas, therefore, He is described as the chief
