The soul eternally transmigrates through bodies; only by devotional service can we truly understand God beyond our limited senses.Listen — Srila Prabhupada Uvaca
Bhagavad-gītā 2.13 — November 18, 1972, Hyderabad 721118BG-HYDERABAD [44:43 Minutes] Bg-02.13_721118BG-HYDERABAD Pradyumna: Chapter Two, text number 13. dehino 'smin Prabhupāda: Page number. Give them page number. Pradyumna: dehino 'smin Page number 88.
Prabhupāda: [aside:] Give me one. Pradyumna: [break] [leads chanting of verse, etc.] dehino 'smin yathā dehe kaumāraṁ yauvanaṁ jarā... Prabhupāda: [aside:] Spectacle? Spectacle? Pradyumna: ...tathā dehāntara-prāptir dhīras tatra na muhyati [Bg. 2.13] dehino 'smin yathā dehe kaumāraṁ yauvanaṁ jarā tathā dehāntara-prāptir [01:56]
Prabhupāda: dhīras tatra na muhyati [Bg. 2.13] dehino 'smin yathā dehe kaumāraṁ yauvanaṁ jarā tathā dehāntara-prāptir dhīras tatra na muhyati [Bg. 2.13] The Second Chapter is the summary study of the Bhagavad-gītā. The First Chapter is the preparatory study of Bhagavad-gītā, and the Second Chapter is the summary study of the contents of Bhagavad-gītā. Bhagavad-gītā means the song sung by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Bhagavata. From the word bhagavata, we speak Bhagavān.
Bhagavān, here, in the Bhagavad-gītā you'll find everywhere: śrī bhagavān uvāca. So it is the science of understanding God. Yad vijñāna-samanvitam. Jñānaṁ te pravakṣyāmi yad vijñāna-samanvitam. It is a vijñāna.
Vijñāna means science. As everything is understood thoroughly through a scientific process, similarly, if you want to know the science of God, then you have to adopt the process by which one can understand God. That process is described in the Bhagavad-gītā: bhaktyā mām abhijānāti [Bg. 18.55]. Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, He says, "If anyone wants to understand Me, then he has to take the process of devotional service," not by the speculative process or by fruitive activities or by yogic process, mystic yogic process. It is clearly stated, not only in Bhagavad-gītā, in all other Vedic scripture. athāpi te deva padāmbuja-dvayaprasāda-leśānugṛhīta eva hi jānāti tattvaṁ bhagavan-mahimno na cānya eko 'pi ciraṁ vicinvan [SB 10.14.29] One can understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead by His mercy only. athāpi te deva padāmbuja-dvayaprasāda-leśānugṛhīta eva hi Anyone who has received a small particle of the prasādam, mercy, of the Lord, he can understand the Lord. Nobody can understand the Lord perfectly.
It is not possible, because the Lord is unlimited. We have got our senses very limited. Our senses are not only limited, but also imperfect. We commit illusion.
We try to cheat. So many defects are there. Therefore simply by exercising our senses it is not possible to understand God. So to know God, "God is very good. God is great," that is another thing.