kasmac ca te na nameran mahatman
gariyase brahmano ’py adi-kartre
ananta devesa jagan-nivasa
tvam aksharam sad-asat tat param yat

"O great one, greater even than Brahma, You are the original creator. Why then should they not offer their respectful obeisances unto You? O limitless one, God of gods, refuge of the universe! You are the invincible source, the cause of all causes, transcendental to this material manifestation."

This sloka has to be understood carefully. Devesa = Lord of Devas, jagan-nivasa = having Universe as His abode or Universe residing in Him, pervading in and around Universe, ananta = without an end in space or by time or by substance. This is called trivida parichhedarahityam [त्रिविदपरिच्छेदरहित्यम ]. That is He cannot be limited by time or by place. He also can not be identified in certain materials only. Kasma = who, na nameran = will not worship, te = You [Sri Krishna]?, Mahatman = superior to all atman. Gariyase = greater than, brahmana = lord Brahma, api = even, adi-kartre = prime cause. The Lord only created lord Brahma. We saw that since He was the Creator of lord Brahma, He appeared here with Eight arms to eliminate Brahma's distress. Karta indicates nimitta [result] cause. Adi indicates the Lord is also the upadhana [raw material] cause. That is He is the cause for Brahma in all respects. Tvam = You [Sri Krishna] are, aksharam = undestroyable or everlasting atman. Here, atman indicates the bhaddha atman [भद्धात्मा]or all those still in this samsara, struggling and not yet liberated. The Lord is the Possessor of all these everlasting atmans. That is the Lord is pervading all atman, sustains all of them and has all atman as His body. We have heard of chit and achit in Chapter 2. All materials without gyana are achit. Our Jeevatman is chit. Moolaprakruti is achit. All matter we see like stone, building, etc., are achit. Moola prakruti is karana [कारण காரண] or primordial cause. What we see is the result or in karya [ कार्य கார்யம்] stage. If mud is karana, pot is karya. We can compare this to moola prakruti and achit. We see in the entire Universe the perceptible matter as the karya. This relation is meant in the words sad(t)-asat [सत-असत ஸத்- அஸத்]. Both are without gyana. Moola prakruti in karana stage has no gyana; nor, all the materials we see in karya stage have gyana. The difference is that in karana stage no name or form is there. But in karya level, it will have a form and name. By the word asat, formless and nameless karana stage is meant. Sat indicates all achit with form and name. All are mud in karana stage; they assume name and form as toy or pot or plate, in the karya stage. Sat is the resultant material occupying the Universe. Asat is moola prakruti. Thus Arjuna tells that the Lord is both sat and asat. That is the Lord is both achit - in karana stage and in karya stage. Aksharam is the atman entangled in the karana, karya achit. These atmans are in the human bodies or in insect bodies, etc. That is why it is called bhaddha jeevatman [bound soul]. So, the Lord is [bhaddha] atman and He is achit in karana and karya stages. Tat param = superior to that. That is souls which have been liberated from the entanglement in achit and which are enjoying eternal bliss and so superior to bhaddha atman. That is Muktatman [मुक्तात्मा]. That is the Lord is,
  1. Param, that is Muktatman,
  2. Aksharam, that is the bonded souls,
  3. Asat, achit of Moolaprakruti in karana stage and
  4. Sat, achit of all perceptible materials in karya stage.
Arjuna says that the Lord has all these Four entities as His body and commands them. So, He is the cause of Brahma, cause of all, without a cause for Himself, Leader of Devas, pervading entire Universe, Unlimited or Infinite, having Bhaddha, Mukta atman and achit as His body. Hence, why should not anyone worship the Lord? Asks Arjuna. Who will not worship Sri Ashtabhuja Perumal? We ask.
                                                                                                 (continued)