Text 19
ātma-sṛṣṭam idaṁ viśvam
anvāviśya sva-śaktibhiḥ
īyate bahudhā brahman
śruta-pratyakṣa-gocaram
ātma-sṛṣṭam — created by You; idam — this; viśvam — universe; anvāviśya — subsequently entering; sva — with Your own; śaktibhiḥ — energies; īyate — You are perceived; bahudhā — manifold; brahman — O Supreme; śruta — by hearing from scripture; pratyakṣa — and by direct perception; gocaram — knowable.
O Supreme Absolute Truth, with Your personal energies You create this universe and then enter into it. Thus one can perceive You in many different forms by hearing from authorities and by direct experience.
The grammatical agreement of śruta-pratyakṣa-gocaram, in the neuter case, with ātma-sṛṣṭam idaṁ viśvam indicates that the Supreme Lord, by entering His creation with His potencies, makes Himself perceivable within the universe. Throughout the Bhāgavatam and other authorized Vedic literature, we often find descriptions of the Lord’s simultaneous supremacy over all other things and His identity with them. We cannot reasonably draw any other conclusion from Vedic literature than the one powerfully preached by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu: acintya-bhedābheda-tattva. That is, the Absolute Truth is greater than and distinct from everything (since He is the omnipotent creator and controller of all), and simultaneously one with everything (since all that exists is the expansion of His own power).
Throughout these chapters of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, we also observe one of the unique, extraordinary features of this great work. Whether Kṛṣṇa is sending His message to the gopīs or accepting the prayers of Akrūra, there is constant philosophical discussion. Throughout the Bhāgavatam, the steady combination of fascinating pastimes with persistent spiritual philosophy is an extraordinary feature. We are allowed to glimpse and even to relish the spiritual emotions of the Lord and His liberated associates, and yet we are constantly reminded of their ontological position lest we lapse into a cheap, anthropomorphic vision. Thus it is entirely in character with the work that Akrūra, in his ecstasy, glorifies the Lord with precise philosophical prayers.