Link to purport by A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada

Transcript of Bhakti-Shastri class on this verse by Chaitanya Charan

Bg 13.16

bahir antaś ca bhūtānām
acaraṁ caram eva ca
sūkṣmatvāt tad avijñeyaṁ
dūra-sthaṁ cāntike ca tat

Synonyms: 

bahiḥ — outside; antaḥ — inside; ca — also; bhūtānām — of all living entities; acaram — not moving; caram — moving; eva — also; ca — and; sūkṣmatvāt — on account of being subtle; tat — that; avijñeyam — unknowable; dūra–stham — far away; ca — also; antike — near; ca — and; tat — that.

Translation: 

The Supreme Truth exists outside and inside of all living beings, the moving and the nonmoving. Because He is subtle, He is beyond the power of the material senses to see or to know. Although far, far away, He is also near to all.

 

bahir antaś ca bhūtānām, He is situated inside and outside of all living beings

acaraṁ caram eva ca,  achara and chara living entities.

sūkṣmatvāt tad avijñeyaṁ, sūkṣmatvāt means because He is very-very subtle therefore avijñeyaṁ, we cannot know if properly  

It is interesting this section has started from Jneya to avijñeya, started with I will talk about Jneya now it is saying that Jneya is avijñeya. 

dūra-sthaṁ cāntike ca tat, He is far away but He is also close by.

For the non-devotees Krishna is far away for the devotees He is close. 

SP Purport: Āsīno dūraṁ vrajati śayāno yāti sarvataḥ (Kaṭha Upaniṣad 1.2.21). Although He is residing far away sarvataḥ He is also residing everywhere else. He is all pervading. 

How can these inconceivable attributes be understood? At one level we can say that Bhagvan is far away and parmatama is close to us, Super Soul is inside us and Kshirodakshayi Vishnu is outside us as Maha Vishnu or Garbhodakshayi Visnu, so like that we can understand these verses.

Another way to understanding is these are recognizing the glory of Supreme Being who has extra ordinary attributes. Both perspectives are true.

End of transcription.