'This I alone existed before creation, and none else. Nature, the cause of the gross and subtle universes, did not then exist. This I alone exist even after creation; this universe is indeed myself. Whatever will survive the destruction (pralaya) of the world will also be this I.'
"In this verse the phrase 'This I' occurs thrice and determines the dwelling of the full-power divine incarnation (vigraha). He has (clearly) pronounced on this point in order to rebuke those (philosophers) who do not admit incarnations (vigraha). The term 'this' indicates jnán, vijnán, and vivek. Illusion is God's work, therefore God's self ('I') is different from illusion, just as a faint glow shines in the sky where the Sun was, but it cannot appear of itself without aid of the Sun. It is only by going beyond illusion that we can perceive. Here the truth of Connection [with God] has been unfolded.
"(3) Next in Bhágabat, II. ix. 33, God tells Brahmá,—
'Know that to be my illusion which being unreal appears to the (human) mind as real, or being real is not recognized by the mind; just as the reflection in the water of the moon of the sky, though unreal, seems to be a second moon indeed; or as the Rahu of darkness, though real, escapes man's perception.'
"Listen to an exposition of faith as a means of devotion. In religious rites we have to observe distinctions according to person, locality, time and condition. But in the practice of bhakti no such difference has to be made; it is the duty of all in every place, condition and time. Ask a guru about faith, and learn its nature from him. (Bhágabat, II. ix. 35).
'The man who seeks spiritual truth will admit that that substance alone is the Soul (átmá) which dwells at all times and within everything by acting as the anwaya (necessary) and byatireka (non-necessary) causes [of things].'
"Attachment to 'I' is love, the Needful thing. I shall describe its marks by means of actions. As the five spirits (pancha-bhut) dwell within and without all creation, similarly I inspire my bhaktas within and without. (Bhágabat, II. ix. 34),—
'As the Great Spirits (mahá-bhutáni) enter material objects after their creation, but remained outside them as causes before their creation, so I too remain at once within and without all created things.'
'My bhakta has confined me to his lotus-like heart. Wherever he glances he beholds me.' (Bhágabat, XI. ii. 50 and 43, X. xxx. 4).
"Thus does the Bhágabat explain three things, Connection, Means, and Need. (Bhágabat, I. ii. 1).