Prabhupada:

goloka-namni nija-dhamni tale ca tasya
devi-mahesa-hari-dhamasu teṣu teṣu
te te prabhava-nicaya vihitas ca yena
govindam adi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajami
[Bs. 5.43]

The Brahma-saṁhita, this Brahma-saṁhita was compiled by Brahma. It is very old book. It was picked up by Lord Caitanya from South India. When He was traveling in South India, in a temple He found this book, handwritten, very old. Formerly there was no press. If anyone wanted some book, he would have to copy it from others. That was the system. The books were not available just like nowadays we have got printed, thousands and thousands copies. That was not available. So two books were collected by Caitanya Mahaprabhu from South India.

One book is named Krṣṇa-karṇamrta. That book was written by one of the devotees, very great devotee, Bilvamaṅgala. His life is very interesting. He was too much prostitute-hunter. In one incidence his kept prostitute gave him instruction, "Oh, you have got so much attraction for this skinny body. If you would have such attraction for Krṣṇa, I do not know what you have done." Oh, at once he became, "Yes." This is called reference to the context. Because he, that gentleman, in his previous life he cultivated Krṣṇa consciousness to the highest degree, but somehow or other, it was stopped. And as soon as the same thing was pointed out, he began again from that point. That is the process of Krṣṇa consciousness. Even if we do not perform the whole process of Krṣṇa consciousness, whatever we do, that remains in asset. That is never lost. So this Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhakura, from that prostitute's house he became a saintly man. So he wrote a very nice book, Krṣṇa-karṇamrta. Krṣṇa-karṇamrta means "pleasing to the ear." Anything about Krṣṇa is pleasing to the ear. So he wrote a voluminous book, Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhakura. That book was collected by Lord Caitanya. And along with that book, this Brahma-saṁhita was collected.

So in this Brahma-saṁhita this verse appears. Goloka-namni nija-dhamni tale ca tasya [Bs. 5.43]. The supreme planet in the spiritual sky is called Goloka Vrndavana, and all other planets, either in the spiritual world or in the material world... All the universes, they are all in just like strata. So goloka-namni nija-dhamni tale ca tasya [Bs. 5.43]. Underneath that goloka-namni there are different planetary spheres or systems. Devi-mahesa-hari-dhamasu teṣu teṣu. Devi-dhama. This is called Devi-dhama. This material world called Devi-dhama. Above this there is Mahesa-dhama, Sivaloka. Devi-mahesa-hari-dhama. Hari-dhama means these Vaikuṇṭhas. Devi-mahesa-hari-dhamasu teṣu teṣu. In all those systems of different kinds of planets, teṣu teṣu, te te prabhava-nicaya vihitas ca yena [Bs. 5.43]. Every planet, every spiritual atmosphere or material atmosphere, they have got some particular specially, every, every planet. So that is designed by Krṣṇa. Te te prabhava-nicaya. Every planet has specific influence or specific... Just like in the moon planet the specific feature is that it gives you cold light. Moon planet is never hot. Similarly, in sun planet, it supplies you heat. You cannot expect from any other planet heat or any other planet this coolness. They are designed by the Supreme Lord, everything nicely. Te te prabhava-nicaya. That speciality is designed by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krṣṇa. Govinda: He is reservoir of pleasure. So everything designed by Him is full of pleasure, and it is full of perfection. Govindam adi-puruṣaṁ. Adi-puruṣam means the supreme, original personality. Tam ahaṁ bhajami: "I worship Him." Yes. That is the instruction. "I do not worship anyone; I worship Krṣṇa." That's all right. The Brahma says.

So we also coming from the same disciplic succession, to worship Krṣṇa, Brahma. Then from Brahma, Narada learned how to worship Krṣṇa. From Narada learned Vyasadeva how to worship Krṣṇa. From Vyasadeva learned Madhvacarya how to worship Krṣṇa. Then from Madhvacarya learned Madhavendra Puri. Similarly, the disciplic succession is coming, Caitanya Mahaprabhu, then His disciplic succession—Svarupa Damodara, Ṣaḍ-gosvami, Sanatana Gosvami, Baladeva Vidyabhuṣana, Visvanatha Cakravarti. In this way there is a disciplic succession beginning from Lord Brahma. But that Brahma instructed, govindam adi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajami **: "I worship the Supreme Original Personality of Godhead, Govindam." The Govinda-bhajan is the prime factor for all worshiping endeavors. Even Saṅkaracarya, who was impersonalist, at the last stage of his life he advised everyone,

bhaja govindaṁ bhaja govindaṁ bhaja govindaṁ muḍha-mate
prapte sannihite kale na hi na hi rakṣati ḍukrñ-karaṇe

He advised, "You fools, you are talking about philosophical speculation, grammatical meaning, and eschewing. Oh, these are all nonsense. You cannot save yourself by doing this. When there will be death, Govinda can save you. The Govinda can save you from falling down. So bhaja govindaṁ bhaja govindaṁ bhaja govindaṁ muḍha-mate. You foolish persons, you just worship Govinda." So there are from Saṅkara...(?) Saṅkaracarya is supposed to be the incarnation of Lord Siva. So he also advised Govinda-bhajan, Brahma also advised Govinda-bhajan, and we are also under the same principle, following the footprints of those acaryas. We are also advising the Govinda-bhajan. So Govinda-bhajan, it is coming from time immemorial. It is not a new thing. So one should profit if he engages himself in the Krṣṇa consciousness, Govinda-bhajan.

In the Padma-Puraṇa also there is such references. It is said there,

pradhana-parama-vyomnor
antare viraja nadi
vedaṅga-sveda-janitais
toyaiḥ; prasravita subha

tasyaḥ; pare paravyoma
tripad-bhutaṁ sanatanam
amrtaṁ sasvataṁ nityam
anantaṁ paramaṁ padam

Now, there is material world, this material world is within the mahat-tattva compass. You have seen the picture, mahat-tattva compass. And that mahat-tattva is full with water. This is called Causal Ocean. And beyond that Causal Ocean, there is spiritual world. It is stated, tasyaḥ; pare paravyoma. Paravyoma means spiritual sky. And tripad-bhutam. Tripad-bhutaṁ sanatanam. Tripad-bhutam means this material manifestation is only one-fourth energy of the Supreme Lord. This inferior energy is only one-fourth manifestation of the energy. The three-fourths manifestation of energy (is) in the spiritual world, and that is sanatanam. That is not subjected to creation and annihilation as this material world is subjected to that creation and annihilation. That is confirmed in Bhagavad-gita. All Vedic literatures, they say the same thing. So we have to learn from authorized sources, and we can be informed perfectly about paravara, para and avara. Avara means this inferior nature, and para means superior nature. Paravaras te.

tara tale 'bahyavasa' virajara para
ananta brahmaṇḍa yahaṅ koṭhari apara

Now, after this spiritual world, this material world, that is full of innumerable universes. 'Devi-dhama' nama tara, jiva yara vasi. Now, this material world is called Devi-dhama. And jiva, jiva means conditioned soul. In this Devi-dhama, the conditioned soul... There are two kinds of souls: conditioned and liberated, nitya-baddha, nitya-mukta. Just like we are, similarly, there are living entities in the spiritual sky also, but they are liberated. They never become conditioned. We are conditioned. We do not know from when, but we are conditioned. So jiva yara vasi. In this material world, we conditioned, we are residents. But in the spiritual world the residents are all liberated souls. Jagal-lakṣmi rakhi' rahe yahaṅ maya dasi.

'devi-dhama' nama tara, jiva yara vasi
jagal-lakṣmi rakhi' rahe yahaṅ maya dasi

Ei tina dhamera haya krṣṇa adhisvara. Ei tina dhama. Tina dhama, what is that three systems? This Devi-dhama, the Mahesa-dhama and Hari-dhama. Hari-dhama, the spiritual world, and Mahesa-dhama, in between... This Mahesa-dhama is the destination of nirvaṇa. The nirvaṇa philosophy, the Buddha philosophy, that is between this Devi-dhama and Hari-dhama, Mahesa-dhama, in between. They are liberated also, but not in the spiritual world, in the marginal place, which is called nirvaṇa. Their material existence is finished, but their spiritual development is not there. So finishing material existence is not all. Just like one man is suffering from fever, and the fever subsides. That is not health. Fever subsides. That's all right. Fever has subsided. But healthy life is when he will work as a healthy man. Simply saying, "No, no more fever," no more fever, lying down on the bed, is the nirvaṇa stage. No more fever. There is no fever, but he is not competent to get up from the bed and work. So that is called nirvaṇa. The fever is finished. That is called nirvaṇa. So when material existence is finished, that is nirvaṇa. But you have to go further. You have to develop further. Then your real, constitutional life as spirit soul will be manifested. So that is bhakti-marga. That activity is healthy life after nirvaṇa. So those who are in Krṣṇa consciousness, they have already passed this material existence and nirvaṇa stage. They are in healthy activities, provided he is actually engaged in Krṣṇa consciousness. So ei tina dhamera haya krṣṇa adhisvara.

Now, these tina dhama, three systems of existence, the material world and the marginal place, Mahesa-dhama and the spiritual sky... So in the Bhagavad-gita you have learned that yad gatva na nivartante tad dhama paramaṁ mama [Bg. 15.6]. That dhama word is used there. Dhama means place. Everything, Krṣṇa is proprietor of all places. But that does not mean that we should remain in this because this is also Krṣṇa's place. No. In the Bhagavad-gita, Tenth Chapter, you will find that Krṣṇa says, dyutaṁ chalayatam asmi: "Amongst the all kinds of cheating professions, I am gambling." Krṣṇa says that "Amongst all kinds of cheating business, I am gambling." Gambling... There is in gambling... It requires some expert brain, how to play gamble. So that expertness, that part of expert endeavor, is Krṣṇa. So we should not think, "Oh, because Krṣṇa is gambling also, so let us engage and devote in gambling." No. Krṣṇa is everything. Krṣṇa is everything, but we have to select favorably, not unfavorably. Svalpaṁ khalv idaṁ brahma. Without Brahman, without Krṣṇa, nothing can exist. Everything existing on His energy. The same example can be given that every department is government department. Therefore, if a prisoner says, "Yes, I am in government department," that sort of knowledge is not very good. "Because prison department is also criminal department, is also government department, so instead of becoming in the university department, let me go to the criminal department." That is not congenial. We have to select. Krṣṇa is everything. So Krṣṇa says that every dhama, every place, belongs to Him, but yad gatva na nivartante tad dhama paramaṁ mama: [Bg. 15.6] "There is an eternal dhama, where going nobody comes back. That is My supreme dhama."

So we have to associate with the Supreme. Krṣṇa is everything, but we have to associate with the Supreme, the best. That is Krṣṇa consciousness. Goloka...

ei tina dhamera haya krṣṇa adhisvara
goloka-paravyoma-prakrtira para

So that Goloka, that spiritual sky, is beyond this material manifestation.

cic-chakti-vibhuti-dhama-tripad-aisvarya-nama
mayika vibhuti-eka-pada abhidhana

tripad-vibhuter dhamatvat
tripad-bhutaṁ hi tat padam
vibhutir mayiki sarva
prokta padatmika yataḥ;

Because Krṣṇa's energy is manifested here, mayika... Mayika means like illusory, imitation, perverted. In the Bhagavad-gita also it is stated, urdhva-mulam adhah-sakham [Bg. 15.1]. Here the tree, the original tree, is presented also, but how it is presented? Ūrdhva-mulam adhah-sakham: "The root is upward, and the branches are downward." I think you may remember. Several times we have discussed. So how the root is upward and branches are downward? Have you seen any tree? Yes. We have seen. Where? In the reservoir of water or in a reflection you see the real tree is upwards, but the reflection is downwards. Therefore this material world is reflection. It is not real. Just day before yesterday I was pointing out the reflection of the sun from this side. So that reflection is playing. It is giving light, everything. But it is reflection, imitation. It has no value. Similarly, all this material world, it appears very nice, as if everything is all right, but nothing is all right. It is simply a temporary illusion. Therefore it is called mayika. It is not the real thing. The real thing is there in the spiritual world. Therefore Krṣṇa says if you return to that real, I mean to say, abode, then you will have..., you haven't got to come back again to take birth in this material body. Yad dhama gatva na nivartante tad dhama paramaṁ mama. Na tad bhasayate suryo na candro na pavakaḥ; [Bg. 15.6]. This is also stated in the Bhagavad-gita, that "There is no need of sun. There is no need of moon. There is no need of electricity." These things are there.

tripada-vibhuti krṣṇera-vakya-agocara
eka-pada vibhutira sunaha vistara

Now Lord Caitanya says that the whole energy of Krṣṇa is divided into two. The inferior energy is manifested. That is one-fourth energy. And the superior energy manifested in the spiritual world, that is three-fourths. Now, just try to understand one-fourth first; then you will understand three-fourths. Lord Caitanya says that tripada-vibhuti krṣṇera-vakya-agocara: "It is very difficult to describe the three-fourth energy. Let us try to understand one-fourth energy first of all." Eka-pada vibhutira sunaha vistara. And what is that one-fourth energy?

ananta brahmaṇḍera yata brahma-rudra-gaṇa
cira-loka-pala-sabde tahara gaṇana

There are innumerable universes, and each universe contains one Brahma, one Siva, one sun, one moon, one Indra, like that, officers just like. So there are innumerable universes, so innumerable Brahma, innumerable Rudra, innumerable suns, innumerable moons, everything innumerable. But each brahmaṇḍa contains one each. So how it happens? It is explained in the Srimad-Bhagavatam. So Lord Caitanya is reciting that story.

eka-dina dvarakate krṣṇa dekhibare
brahma aila—dvara-pala janaila krṣṇere

One day, when Krṣṇa was king at Dvaraka, with sixteen thousand queens, so one day Brahma of this universe came to see Him. Brahma aila—dvara-pala janaila krṣṇere. And as... The same etiquette was there also. This is also coming by parampara. Just like a big man or a big officer, he has got his doorman; you have to present your card. I do not know what is the system here, but in India that is the system. You have to send your card, and the if doorman takes away that card and the permission comes, then you can go in and see. Similarly, when Brahma came, he sent his card, informed the doorman, "Please inform Krṣṇa that I have come to see Him."

krṣṇa kahena-'kon brahma, ki nama tahara?'
dvari asi' brahmare puche ara bara

As soon as the doorman told Krṣṇa that "Brahma has come to see You," Krṣṇa at once replied, "Oh, which Brahma? Which Brahma has come to see Me?" So,

vismita haña brahma dvarike kahila
'kaha giya sanaka-pita caturmukha aila'

When the doorman inquired that "Which Brahma you are, sir?" so he replied... He was astonished: "Which Brahma? Oh, I am so powerful. I have got four heads. I have created this gorgeous universe, and under me there are so many demigods. How is that? 'Which Brahma?' So all right, Krṣṇa has asked. Tell Him that...," kaha giya sanaka-pita caturmukha aila, that "Tell Krṣṇa that I am four-headed Brahma. I am the father of Sanaka-Sanatana." Sanaka-Sanatana, he is giving his identification as father of Sanaka-Sanatana because this Sanaka-Sanatana appeared to be greater than Brahma. Although these four Kumaras were sons of Brahma-Sanaka, Sanat-kumara, Sananda and Sanatana, these four Kumaras—they were so elevated that when their father requested—at that time there was no population—so, that "You get yourself married and increase population. I want population now to fill up this vacant position of this material world, universe." So they refused: "Father, we ere not going to marry. We are going to be entangled." So they remained kumara. So they became very famous, great devotees of Lord from very childhood. So therefore Brahma is very intelligent. He is the first creature of this universe. So maybe Krṣṇa forget that who is catur-mukha Brahma. So he is giving identification that "Tell Krṣṇa that the father of these Sanaka-Sanatana." Because Krṣṇa cannot forget His these pure devotees like Sanaka-Sanatana. So this is the example, that the father is giving identification with the credit of the son. The sons were more creditable than the father because they were great devotees.

We shall explain tomorrow. Any questions? Hare Krṣṇa. (end)

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