Do BG 18.20 and 18.21 support a Brahmavad conception of God?

Question from Tanmay Dele Prabhu Does the Bhagavad Gita chapter 18 verse 20 support an impersonal conception of God Not exactly The Bhagavad Gita 18.20 states that a person who has knowledge in the mode of goodness perceives the impersonal aspect of God So that is not exactly the same as saying supporting an impersonal conception of God There are two issues One is the objective reality and the other is the subjective perception So depending on the modes that we are influenced by our perception changes And in the mode of goodness a person is able to go beyond matter to see something deeper Among all living beings the avyaya bhava, the imperishable nature that is common to all of them Although that imperishable spiritual nature is undivided it appears divided That knowledge by which one can see this nature is said to be knowledge in the mode of goodness Now the Bhagavad Gita is quite clear that one has to go beyond the mode of goodness As Krishna himself is asked by Arjuna at towards the end of the chapter Three Modes of Material Nature, 14th chapter So there Arjuna asks Krishna three questions What are the symptoms of a person who has transcended the three modes External symptoms? What are the internal symptoms? And what is the process by which one can transcend the modes? And in the response to that in 1426 Krishna clearly describes that one can attain the Brahman platform which is beyond the Satva guna platform by practicing bhakti yoga unbreakable bhakti yoga So that means that the transcendental platform that is attained by bhakti is higher than the platform of goodness And it is at that transcendental platform that we have the possibility of perceiving the absolute truth in its proper nature So till that time our perception of the absolute truth is tainted So when we are in goodness we can at least see beyond matter to spirit But we cannot see the variety within spirit We can see beyond material variety to spiritual unity But we cannot see the spiritual diversity that is the essence of spiritual love and that is the basis of spiritual ecstasy in the spiritual realm of existence That comes only by going beyond goodness to transcendence And that transcendental knowledge in the same 18th chapter Krishna will explain can be got only by devotion bhaktyā mām yānāti yāvānyāś cāsmit-tattvata 18.55 will say that As I am, I can be known only by bhakti So the previous verse does say, or the next verse, 18.21 says that pruthaktyena tyaj jñāna nānā bhāvān pruthak vidhān vetti sarvesu bhūteṣu tad jñānam viddhi rājasam So that jñāna by which one sees different living beings to be different nānā bhāvān pruthak vidhān So when one sees the bodies and one sees that every living being is different that is knowledge in the mode of passion So at the level of passion one sees only the material exteriors and if the material externals are different one thinks that these are different living entities So certainly from passion to goodness is the elevation because in passion one is practically not able to see spirit at all but in goodness one is able to see spirit but still one does not get complete perception of spirit So 18.20 talks about how the impersonal the perception of the impersonal spiritual nature is characteristic of knowledge in the mode of goodness Now we do accept the point that God has an impersonal feature but that is by no means the supreme feature of God and there is no truth higher than what Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita in 7.7 So Krishna is very clear about what is the highest truth and he also accepts that absolute truth also has a partial revelation at the mode of goodness as an impersonal imperishable nature that pervades all of existence beyond the material diversity that we see in this world.