11.54 – Krishna is beyond the range of the head, but not beyond the reach of the heart
Krishna is infinite, whereas we are finite. The finiteness of our head prevents us from intellectually grasping Krishna completely.
No doubt, Gita wisdom helps us understand the fundamental truths about Krishna and our relationship with him. Still, the Bhagavad-gita (11.53: naham vedair) categorically asserts that Krishna is forever beyond the range of the head. The next verse (11.54) states that he can be known by the path of love, indicating thereby that he is not beyond the reach of the heart. Let’s see how.
Though we can’t know Krishna fully, we can love him fully. That is, we can love him wholeheartedly, starting, of course, with the baby-steps of devotion.
Gita wisdom gives us adequate, even abundant, knowledge about Krishna – his glory, his beauty, his mercy. This knowledge inspires us to begin offering a little of our love to him by taking baby-steps towards him. He, being pleased by our desire for devotion, reveals more of his greatness and sweetness. This revelation may sometimes be in the form of a clarified intellectual comprehension, but more often it takes the form of a profound experiential confirmation. The more we relish the presence, the power and the pleasure that Krishna reveals in our heart, the more we naturally feel motivated to offer more of our heart to him. And he reciprocates by an even greater and deeper self-revelation, thus triggering a glorious reciprocal cycle of devotion and revelation. This cycle culminates in our falling completely in love with him. Being freed from all head-induced doubts by Krishna’s self-revelation, we see him as the supremely loving and lovable person – the best object for our love.
In that stage of pure love, our heart doesn’t just reach Krishna; it lives in Krishna.
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My dear Arjuna, only by undivided devotional service can I be understood as I am, standing before you, and can thus be seen directly. Only in this way can you enter into the mysteries of My understanding.