Shloka

अव्यक्तं व्यक्तिमापन्नं मन्यन्ते मामबुद्धयः |
परं भावमजानन्तो ममाव्ययमनुत्तमम् ||७-२४||

Transliteration

avyaktaṃ vyaktimāpannaṃ manyante māmabuddhayaḥ .
paraṃ bhāvamajānanto mamāvyayamanuttamam ||7-24||

Translations

Dr.S.Sankaranarayan

7.24. The men of poor intellect, are not conscious of the higher, changeless and supreme nature of Mine; and hence, they regard Me, the Unmanifest, to be a manifest one.

Shri Purohit Swami

7.24 The ignorant think of Me, who am the Unmanifested Spirit, as if I were really in human form. They do not understand that My Superior Nature is changeless and most excellent.

Sri Abhinav Gupta

7.24 Avyaktam etc. Becuase of their poor intellect, these [worshippers of other deities] do not at all recognise the unmanifest and ultimately true nature of Mine. On the contrary, they conceive Me merely as one, possessing only a manifest form with a particular knowledge and a particular innage nature, all suitable to their own desires. [They think] not otherwise. That is why, no name or form [of a deity] is insisted upon [by the Lord].

However, this is the established view [of the teachers of the school] in this regard : If a person holds fast to a specific form of a deity in order to get rid of desires, that [itself] results in his becoming pure and emancipated. If the case is reversed, [the result] would be a contrary one.

Sri Ramanuja

7.24 Ignorant people do not know My higher nature, immutable and unsurpassed. They do not know that it is I, who is worshipped through all rites, who is the Lord of all, and whose nature is beyond speech and mind, that has incarnated as the son of Vasudeva, without abandoning My divine nature, out of My supreme compassion and parental love for those who resort to Me and in order that I may be the refuge of all. They consider Me as only a worldly prince who was not manifest before and who has now become manifest by Karma and has secured a special form. Therefore, they do not resort to Me, nor do they worship Me.

Why is He not manifest (to them)? Sri Krsna says:

Sri Shankaracharya

7.24 Abuddhayah, the unintelligent, the non-discriminating ones; ajanantah, unaware; mama, of My; param, supreme; bhavam, state, My reality as the supreme Self; which is avyayam, immutable, undecaying; and anuttanam, unsurpassable; manyante, think; mam, of Me; as avyaktam, the unmanifest, the invisible; apannam, that has become; vyaktim, manifest, visible, at present [At present, after being embodied as an Incarnation.]-though I am the ever well-known God. They think so because they are unaware of My reality. This is the idea. What is the reason for their ignorance? This is being stated:

Swami Adidevananda

7.24 Not knowing My higher nature, immutable and unsurpassed, the ignorant think of Me as an unmanifest entity who has now become manifest.

Swami Gambirananda

7.24 The unintelligent, unaware of My supreme state which is immutable and unsurpassable, think of Me as the unmanifest that has become manifest.

Swami Sivananda

7.24 The foolish think of Me, the Unmanifest, as having manifestation, knowing not My higher, immutable and most excellent nature.

Commentaries

Swami Sivananda

7.24 अव्यक्तम् the unmanifested? व्यक्तिम् to manifestation? आपन्नम् come to? मन्यन्ते think? माम् Me? अबुद्धयः the foolish? परम् the highest? भावम् nature? अजानन्तः not knowing? मम My? अव्ययम् immutable? अनुत्तमम् most excellent.Commentary The ignorant take Lord Krishna as a common mortal. They think that He has taken a body like ordinary human beings from the unmanifested state on account of the force of Karma of the previous birth. They have no knowledge of His higher? imperishable and selfluminous nature as the Highest Self. They think that He has just now come into manifestation? though He is selfexistent? eternal? beginningless? endless? birthless? deathless? changeless? infinite and unmanifest.