ūdho!, tumahiṁ shabda ko gyāna

English meaning

Maidens of Braja, addressing Uddhava, state, “Oh Uddhava! You are only a theoretical man; you don’t understand the real, practical meaning hidden behind the words of scriptures. We admit that you have studied great Vedāntic scriptures, but as is in the case of a parrot, you remained ignorant of their connotation. You consider God to be attribute-less and so do we, but you are unintelligent about the actual implication of the word – ‘attribute-less’. According to the Vedas, the entity which is devoid of the three attributes of māyā - sattva, raja and tama is called attribute-less Brahma. Similarly, we accept that God is ‘Saguṇa,’ i.e. He possesses attributes, but again you are unenlightened about the true purport of the word - Saguṇa.” Jagadguru Shrī Kripālu Jī explains that the Brahma who is endowed with innumerable such attributes as mercy etc. alone is regarded as Saguṇa Brahma or the God with attributes.

Complete whole-pad meaning transcribed from the supplied English edition. The source provides no separate line-by-line or word-by-word meaning.

Prem Ras Madira (English), Part 2 · PDF pages 251, 252 · printed pages 586, 587.

Meanings: Smt. Padmā Devī. English translation and transliteration: Sushrī Braj Parikarī Devī. Source details.