Text 47
rūpe ime sad-asatī tava veda-sṛṣṭe
bījāṅkurāv iva na cānyad arūpakasya
yuktāḥ samakṣam ubhayatra vicakṣante tvāṁ
yogena vahnim iva dāruṣu nānyataḥ syāt
rūpe — in the forms; ime — these two; sat-asatī — the cause and the effect; tava — Your; veda-sṛṣṭe — explained in the Vedas; bīja-aṅkurau — the seed and the sprout; iva — like; na — never; ca — also; anyat — any other; arūpakasya — of You, who possess no material form; yuktāḥ — those engaged in Your devotional service; samakṣam — before the very eyes; ubhayatra — in both ways (spiritually and materially); vicakṣante — can actually see; tvām — You; yogena — simply by the method of devotional service; vahnim — fire; iva — like; dāruṣu — in wood; na — not; anyataḥ — from any other means; syāt — it is possible.
By authorized Vedic knowledge one can see that the forms of cause and effect in the cosmic manifestation belong to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, for the cosmic manifestation is His energy. Both cause and effect are nothing but energies of the Lord. Therefore, O my Lord, just as a wise man, by considering cause and effect, can see how fire pervades wood, those engaged in devotional service understand how You are both the cause and effect.
As described in previous verses, many so-called students of spiritual understanding follow the ten different methods known as mauna-vrata-śruta-tapo-’dhyayana-sva-dharma-vyākhyā-raho-japa-samādhayaḥ. These may be very attractive, but by following such methods, one cannot actually understand the real cause and effect and the original cause of everything (janmādy asya yataḥ). The original source of everything is the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself (sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam). This original source of everything is Kṛṣṇa, the supreme ruler. īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ. He has His eternal spiritual form. Indeed, He is the root of everything (bījaṁ māṁ sarva-bhūtānām). Whatever manifestations exist, their cause is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This cannot be understood by so-called silence or by any other hodgepodge method. The supreme cause can be understood only by devotional service, as stated in Bhagavad-gītā (bhaktyā mām abhijānāti). Elsewhere in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.14.21), the Supreme Godhead personally says, bhaktyāham ekayā grāhyaḥ: one can understand the original cause of all causes, the Supreme Person, only by devotional service, not by show-bottle exhibitionism.