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TEXT 17 katham vidyam aham yogims
SYNONYMS  katham--how;
vidyam
aham--shall I know; yogin--O supreme mystic; tvam--You;
sada--always;
paricintayan--thinking; kesu--in which;
kesu--in which;
ca--also; bhavesu--nature; cintyah asi--You are remembered;
bhagavan--O Supreme; maya--by me.
TRANSLATION How should
I meditate on You? In what various forms are You to be contemplated, O
Blessed Lord?
PURPORT As it is stated
in the previous chapter, the Supreme Personality of Godhead is covered
by His yoga-maya. Only surrendered souls and devotees can see Him.
Now Arjuna is convinced that His friend, Krsna, is the Supreme Godhead,
but he wants to know the general process by which the all-pervading Lord
can be understood by the common man. No common men, including the demons
and atheists, can know Krsna because He is guarded by His yoga-maya
energy. Again, these questions are asked by Arjuna for their benefit. The
superior devotee is not only concerned for his own understanding, but for
the understanding of all mankind. Out of his mercy, because he is a Vaisnava,
a devotee, Arjuna is opening the understanding for the common man as far
as the all-pervasiveness of the Supreme is concerned. He addresses Krsna
specifically as yogin because Sri Krsna is the master of the yoga-maya
energy by which He is covered and uncovered to the common man. The common
man who has no love for Krsna cannot always think of Krsna; therefore he
has to think materially. Arjuna is considering the mode of thinking of
the materialistic persons of this world. Because materialists cannot understand
Krsna spiritually, they are advised to concentrate the mind on physical
things and try to see how Krsna is manifested by physical representations.
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