On this picture, probably in Vrndavan, besides Srila Prabhupada, we see Pusta Krishna Swami, who was Prabhupada secretary at the time, on the right we see Tripurari Swami, a big book distrtributor in the USA, so big was he that Srila Prabhupada hesitated to award him sannyasa as He was concerned that his book distribution would suffer. Behind Srila Prabhupada there is Pancadravida Swami to whom Prabhupada told once something like “Lucky you are a swami because no woman would ever accept you.” And behind Pusta Krishna we discern Aksoyananda Swami from New Zealand. He was Vrndavan temple president for a while and I became his temple commander in JAN 1977. But that arrangement did not last as I rapidly contracted jaundice. It was a wild time. Usually some one would just come up to you, look into your eyes and give a jaundice diagnosis because jaundice makes eyes yellow.

arjuna uvaca

param brahma param dhama pavitram paramam bhavan
purusam sasvatam divyam adi-devam ajam vibhum

ahus tvam rsayah sarve devarsir naradas tatha
asito devalo vyasah svayam caiva bravisi me

Word for word translation

arjunah uvaca — Arjuna said; param — supreme; brahma — truth; param — supreme; dhama — sustenance; pavitram — pure; paramam — supreme; bhavan — You; purusam — personality; sasvatam — eternal; divyam — transcendental; adi-devam — the original Lord; ajam — unborn; vibhum — greatest; ahuh — say; tvam — of You; rsayah — sages; sarve — all; deva-rsih — the sage among the demigods; naradah — Narada; tatha — also; asitah — Asita; devalah — Devala; vyasah — Vyasa; svayam — personally; ca — also; eva — certainly; bravisi — You are explaining; me — unto me.

TRANSLATION

Text 10.12-13 Arjuna said: My dear Krishna, I understand that You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Ultimate, the Purest and the Absolute Truth. You are a person from time immemorial, transcendental, original, without birth, beautiful and the greatest. All the great sages like Narada, Asita, Devala, Vyasa, everyone, confirms this truth and You Yourself also explained it to me.

Purport.

In these two verses of the tenth chapter undoubtedly the Supreme Lord gives a chance to the modern philosophers, expressing that the Supreme is different from the individual soul. So Arjuna, after hearing the four essential verses of the Bhagavad Gita in this chapter, became completely free from all doubts about Krishna being the Supreme Personality of Godhead and he at once boldly declared that: “You are Parambrahma, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.” The previous statements of Krishna that He is the originator of everything and everyone, every demigod, every human being establishes that all are dependent on Him. In the Gitopanishad it is confirmed as follows: men or demigods out of ignorance think that they are absolute, without any dependence on the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That ignorance is removed perfectly by discharge of devotional service. This is already explained in the previous verse by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Now by His grace, Arjuna is accepting Krishna as the Supreme Truth in concordance with the Vedic injunction. It is not because Krishna is the intimate friend of Arjuna that he is flattering Him by calling Him the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Absolute Truth. But whatever he says in these two verses is a confirmation of the Vedic truth. The Vedic injunction affirms that only one who takes shelter of devotional service for understanding the Supreme Lord, he only can understand, whereas others cannot. Each and every word of this verse spoken by Arjuna is corroborated by the Vedic injunction.

And it will be very good to discuss some of the mantras from the Kena Upanishad in this connection. The Kena Upanishad states as follows: The Supreme Brahman is the rest of everything. The Lord has already explained that everything is resting on Him. The Kena Upanishad confirms that the Supreme Personality of Godhead in Whom everything is resting can be realized only by such persons who are engaged in constantly thinking of Him. This constant thinking of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is smaranam, one of the different methods of devotional service. Only such persons who are engaged in devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead can understand and get rid of this material body. In the Vedas, the Supreme Lord is accepted as the Supreme, the purest of the pure. One who can understand this Supreme Personality of Godhead as the purest of the pure, he alone becomes purified from all sinful activities. Nobody can be disinfected from sinful activities without being a surrendered soul to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore Arjuna’s acceptance of Krishna as the Supreme Pure is according to the version of the Vedic literature. This is also confirmed by great personalities of whom Narada is the chief.

Therefore Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and one should always meditate upon Him and then he enjoys the transcendental relationship and this devotional service is recommended in the Vedic literature. He is the only Supreme Existence. He is free from bodily needs, birth and death. So Arjuna confirms this Vedic injunction. Not only Arjuna confirms this, but all Vedic literature, the Puranas and histories and everything, everywhere Krishna is described as follows. And the Supreme Lord also says in the fourth chapter: “ Although I am unborn, I appear on the earth for establishing the religious principles.” Anyone who understand Him as the Supreme Origin, without any cause, as the cause of all causes, and that everything emanates from Him has perfect knowledge. This perfect knowledge can be obtained by the grace of the Supreme Lord, as Arjuna expresses himself through the grace of Krishna. 

If we therefore want to understand Bhagavad Gita, we should follow the statements in these two verses. This is called the parampara system or acceptance of the disciplic succession. And without being in the disciplic succession nobody can understand the Bhagavad Gita simply by so-called academic education. Unfortunately the atheistic persons, in spite of so many evidences of Vedic literature and confirmation by great personalities, being proud of their academic education, will stick to their only obstinate conviction that Krishna is an ordinary person.