True understanding of Krishna requires not casual belief but rigorous study, pure association, and transcendental elevation beyond material perception.Listen — Srila Prabhupada Uvaca
Bhagavad-gītā 7.3 — August 9, 1974, Vṛndāvana 740809BG-VRNDAVAN [26:28 Minutes] Bg-07.03_740809BG-VRNDAVAN Pradyumna: [leads chanting of verse, etc.] [devotees repeat] manuṣyāṇāṁ sahasreṣu kaścid yatati siddhaye yatatām api siddhānāṁ kaścin māṁ vetti tattvataḥ [Bg. 7.3] [break] [01:38] Translation: "Out of many thousands among men, one may endeavor for perfection, and of those who have achieved perfection, hardly one knows Me in truth." Prabhupāda: manuṣyāṇāṁ sahasreṣu kaścid yatati siddhaye yatatām api siddhānāṁ kaścin māṁ vetti tattvataḥ [Bg. 7.3] To understand Kṛṣṇa in truth, not superficially, but in fact, that we can understand, as Kṛṣṇa says in the beginning of this chapter, mayy āsakta-manāḥ pārtha yogaṁ yuñjan mad-āśrayaḥ asaṁśayaṁ samagraṁ māṁ yathā jñāsyasi tac chṛṇu [Bg. 7.1] How Kṛṣṇa is truth, the Absolute Truth, although the Absolute Truth is described in three phases in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam... Just like vadanti tat tattva-vidas tattvaṁ [SB 1.2.11]. This tattva. Here it is said, tattvataḥ.
The truth, Absolute Truth, is called tattva. So vadanti tat tattva-vidas tattvaṁ. Tattva-vid. Vid means knowledge.
Vetti veda vido jñāne. One who has got complete knowledge, he is called vid, tattva-vid. So tattva-vid, they ascertain the tattva, the truth, in three ways. Vadanti tat tattva-vidas tattvaṁ yaj jñānam advayam.
So knowledge of the truth is nondual. Absolute means nondual—no relative—absolute, advaya-jñāna. So what is that advaya-jñāna? Brahmeti paramātmeti bhagavān iti śabdyate.
So to approach Kṛṣṇa, to understand, one has to go through the brahma-jñāna, brahmeti; then Paramātmā, paramātma-jñāna; then kṛṣṇa-jñāna. Brahmeti paramātmeti bhagavān iti śabdyate. So generally, those who are inquiring about the Absolute Truth, they come to the point of brahma-jñāna. Brahma-jñāna. Then, if one makes further advance, then he can understand paramātma-jñāna.
Paramātma-jñāna means the all-pervasive Personality of Godhead, localized aspect. Īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-deśe arjuna tiṣṭhati [Bg. 18.61]. That is paramātma-jñāna. First of all, brahma-jñāna, then paramātma-jñāna, then bhagavad-jñāna. Bhagavān iti śabdyate.
That bhagavān is Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam [SB 1.3.28]. Bhagavān means opulent. aiśvaryasya samagrasya vīryasya yaśasaḥ śriyaḥ jñāna-vairāgyayoś caiva bhaga itī ṣaṇṇāṁ ganā [Viṣṇu Purāṇa 6.5.47] One who has complete, in possession, all wealth, aiśvarya; samagrasya, all, samagrasya... So that is the one of the items of becoming Bhagavān.