Text 8
taṁ tvām ahaṁ brahma paraṁ pumāṁsaṁ
pratyak-srotasy ātmani saṁvibhāvyam
sva-tejasā dhvasta-guṇa-pravāhaṁ
vande viṣṇuṁ kapilaṁ veda-garbham
tam — unto Him; tvām — You; aham — I; brahma — Brahman; param — supreme; pumāṁsam — the Supreme Personality of Godhead; pratyak-srotasi — turned inwards; ātmani — in the mind; saṁvibhāvyam — meditated upon, perceived; sva-tejasā — by Your own potency; dhvasta — vanished; guṇa-pravāham — the influence of the modes of material nature; vande — I offer obeisances; viṣṇum — unto Lord Viṣṇu; kapilam — named Kapila; veda-garbham — the repository of the Vedas.
I believe, my Lord, that You are Lord Viṣṇu Himself under the name of Kapila, and You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Supreme Brahman! The saints and sages, being freed from all the disturbances of the senses and mind, meditate upon You, for by Your mercy only can one become free from the clutches of the three modes of material nature. At the time of dissolution, all the Vedas are sustained in You only.
Devahūti, the mother of Kapila, instead of prolonging her prayers, summarized that Lord Kapila was none other than Viṣṇu and that since she was a woman it was not possible for her to worship Him properly simply by prayer. It was her intention that the Lord be satisfied. The word pratyak is significant. In yogic practice, the eight divisions are yama, niyama, āsana, prāṇāyāma, pratyāhāra, dhāraṇā, dhyāna and samādhi. Pratyāhāra means to wind up the activities of the senses. The level of realization of the Supreme Lord evidenced by Devahūti is possible when one is able to withdraw the senses from material activities. When one is engaged in devotional service, there is no scope for his senses to be engaged otherwise. In such full Kṛṣṇa consciousness, one can understand the Supreme Lord as He is.