Prabhupada:
srutir mata prᚣáša disati bhavad-aradhana-vidhiáš
yatha matur vaáši smrtir api tatha vakti bhagini
puraášadya ye va sahaja nivahas te tad anuga
ataḼ; satyaáš jĂąataáš murahara bhavan eva saraášam
So this learned sage, by his experience he is saying that after studying all Vedic literature, and all Upaniᚣads, Vedanta, Puraášam, four Vedas, Ramayaáša, Mahabharata, volumes of literature, so the conclusion is that, "O my dear Lord," bhavan eva saraášam, "You are the only ultimate shelter." This is the last stage of knowledge, as it is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita. Bahunaáš janmanam ante [Bg. 7.19]. "After struggling for many, many births to acquire knowledge..." So when one comes to this pointâbhavan eva saraášam, "You are the ultimate shelter"âthat is the perfection of knowledge. Our editor has written very nice article, "Krᚣáša, the End of Knowledge." Yes. When you come to Krᚣáša point, then everything is knowledge, knowable. Of course, so far our knowledge is concerned... But so far Krᚣáša is concerned, He is unlimited. Nobody can know Him. But at least to that point, if we can reach... That is also very difficult. Simply to reach to that point, there are the struggle. So many scholars, so many still, coming to the nearest point, still, they say, "Oh, not Krᚣáša, not Krᚣáša. It is impersonal. It is impersonal." So this knowledge is acquired by the grace of the Supreme Lord, by the association of pure devotees. Sataáš prasaáš gat mama virya-saášvidaḼ;, one can attain this qualification. And if some way or other, either by faith or by knowledge or by association or by accident, if one comes to this point, that "Krᚣáša, the Supreme, is the ultimate goal," then his life is perfect.
advaya-jĂąana-tattva krᚣáša-svayaáš bhagavan
'svarupa-sakti' rupe taáš
ra haya avasthana
Now, Lord Caitanya says that Krᚣáša, the Absolute Truth, advaya-jĂąana-tattva, who is Absolute Truth, Krᚣáša, svayaáš bhagavan, the Supreme Personality... The Absolute Truth in the ultimate is a person. In the Bhagavad-gita you will see in the Eleventh Chapter that Krᚣáša was requested by Arjuna to show His universal form, because for ordinary persons, that universal form is..., the gigantic universal form is supposed to be... That is God. But they do not know. Paraáš bhavam ajananto [Bg. 9.11]. They do not know that this universal form is only an offshoot of Krᚣáša. They do not know. Less intelligent class of men, they think impersonal form or the universal form or even the four-handed Viᚣášu form... They consider that they are greater. But in the Eleventh Chapter of Bhagavad-gita you will find that Krᚣáša, by the request of Arjuna, assumed His universal form, visvarupa. Now, after seeing the visvarupa Arjuna was afraid. He was in friendly relationship with Krᚣáša, and when he saw His visvarupa, he became too much perturbed in his mind: "Oh, what mistake I have done. I took Krᚣáša as my friend, and I do not know how much offenses I have committed. Friendly relation, there are sometimes very slackened languages and used sometimes calling, 'You, Krᚣáša,' sometimes..., so many things. Friendly relations are very relaxation relation." So he thought that "I have committed so much offenses to Krᚣáša," and he begged pardon. "Out of my impudence, out of my ignorance, I have done so many things. Please excuse just like a father excuses his son, just like a friend excuses his friend, just like husband excuses wife or the wife excuses." These things are there.
Then again he asked Krᚣáša to assume His four-handed Narayaáša-rupa. So Krᚣáša also showed him the Narayaáša four-handed rupa. And then again Krᚣáša transformed Himself again into that two-handed Syamasundara with flute, and as it is, He transformed Himself. Now, the question is: If Krᚣáša is ordinary person, just like some foolish commentators say, "Not to Krᚣáša," then how could He assume this visvarupa and the Narayaáša-rupa? Can an ordinary person assume that rupa, that form? It is not possible. Therefore the answer in the Bhagavad-gita is avajananti maáš muá¸ha [Bg. 9.11]. There is stated, paraáš bhavam ajanantaḼ;: "They do not know." Now, Arjuna wanted to confirm this paraáš bhavam, that the less intelligent class of men who are fond of the universal form or the Viᚣášu, Narayaáša form, and there are so many innumerable forms... Advaita acyuta anadi ananta-rupam. Krᚣáša has ananta-rupa. But the ultimate, supreme form is Krᚣáša. They do not know. Paraáš bhavam ajanantaḼ;. AjanantaḼ; means they do not know that paraáš bhava. So here the same thing is confirmed by Lord Caitanya, that He says, advaya-jĂąana-tattva krᚣáša-svayaáš bhagavan.
So the Absolute Truth, the ultimate stage of realizing Absolute Truth, is to understand Krᚣáša. Brahman realization, Paramatma realization, they are not perfect realization of the Absolute Truth. Partial realization. Brahman realization means realization of the Absolute Truth in eternity. That's all. Paramatma realization of the Absolute Truth is realization of eternity and knowledge. And Krᚣáša realization means full realization of the Absolute Truth, means eternity, knowledge, and bliss. Without Krᚣáša knowledge we cannot be blissful. But by nature we are blissful. In the Brahma-sutra, in the Vedanta-sutra, it is stated, anandamayo abhyasat. Every living entity, Brahman... Living entities, they are Brahman, and Krᚣáša is also Parabrahman. So Brahman and Parabrahman, both of them are by nature joyful. They want joy, enjoyment. So our joyfulness is in connection with Krᚣáša, just like fire and the sparks of fire. The sparks of fire, so long manifested with the fire, it is beautiful. And as soon as the sparks of fire falls down from the original fire, oh, it is extinguished, no more beautiful. So we are in the same relationship with Krᚣáša. He is the complete whole; we are parts and parcels. Just like the complete whole fire and the sparks of fire. When the fire and the sparks are displayed, it looks very nice. Both of them enjoy. And when the spark... Of course, fire has unlimited potency to produce sparks. But the sparks, when is out of the fire, fireplace, then it loses its identity, and this is called conditioned life. We are in that conditioned life. We are fire, sparks of fire. But because we are in material contamination, therefore we have become conditioned.
So knowledge means to understand... Beginning of knowledge is to understand one's constitutional position. That knowledge is imparted in the beginning of the Bhagavad-gita, that "You are not this body. You are spirit spark."
dehino 'smin yatha dehe
kaumaraáš yauvanaáš jara
tatha dehantara-praptir
dhiras tatra na muhyati
[Bg. 2.13]
So you are spark, spiritual spark. You are simply changing dress. That is your conditioned stage. So Lord Caitanya says, advaya-jĂąana-tattva krᚣáša-svayaáš bhagavan. Svayaáš bhagavan, the Absolute Truth... 'Svarupa sakti' rupe taáš ra haya avasthana: "He is situated in His internal potency." Just like in the Bhagavad-gita the Lord says,
yada yada hi dharmasya
glanir bhavati bharata
abhyutthanam adharmasya...
[Bg. 4.7]
paritraášaya sadhunaáš
vinasaya ca duᚣkrtam
sambhavamy atma-mayaya
[Bg. 4.8]
Atma-mayaya, internal potency. He is situated in the spiritual world by internal potency. And this is, this material world, His external potency. Therefore, although external potency is also Krᚣáša's potencyâit is not different from Krᚣášaâbut Krᚣáša is not here in the external potency. Krᚣáša is in the internal potency, although this potency is not different. Therefore it is inferior. It is inferior energy, it is called. And this, this is explained very nicely in the Bhagavad-gita. Maya tatam idaáš sarvaáš jagat avyakta-murtina: [Bg. 9.4] "By Me the whole spiritual and material world is manifested." Tatam idam. How it is manifested? Just like the sun and sunshine. Sunshine is manifested all over the universe, and sun is the central point. Similarly, Krᚣáša is the central point, and His shining brahmajyoti is diffused all over. And the part of that brahmajyoti, when it is, I mean to say, covered by the cloud of mahat-tattva, that is called material existence. So we are in this darkness. So Krᚣáša says, Lord Cai... So his place is in the internal potency. 'Svarupa-sakti' rupe taáš ra haya avasthana. He is situated there in His internal potency.
svaášsa-vibhinnaášsa-rupe haĂąa vistara
ananta vaikuášášha-brahmaášá¸e karena vihara
Now, then Krᚣáša, He expands Himself. Eko bahu syama. That is the Vedic version: "One is expanding into many." And how that many is manifested? That is explained here, that svaášsa, vibhinnaášsa. He expands Himself as person, Himself, and as parts. As person, Himself, that expansion is called Viᚣášu-tattva. And the vibhinnaášsa, separated expansion, we are, living entities. We are also expansion. The expansion of Viᚣášu-tattva is just like Rama, Nrsiášha, Varaha, all the incarnation, all Viᚣášu-tattva, Rama, Nrsiášha. There are so many thousands and millions of expansions, svaášsa, personal self and separated self. We are also Krᚣáša's part and parcel expansion; therefore we have got intimate relationship with Krᚣáša.
svaášsa-vibhinnaášsa-rupe haĂąa vistara
ananta vaikuášášha-brahmaášá¸e karena vihara
So Krᚣáša is both in the spiritual world and the material world. Because we represent Krᚣáša, we are in this brahmaášá¸a conditioned. But there are many living entities who are eternally liberated. They never come to this. How it is, that? Just like the ocean and the rivers. In river, in the river, you will find fishes, and in the ocean you will find fishes. But the... Sometimes it may be that the fishes of the river may go to the ocean, but the fishes of the ocean never comes to the river. Never comes to the river. There is no place for them. This is a crude example. Similarly... And as the ocean is far, far greater than the river-thousands of rivers cannot be compared with the, I mean to say, measurement of the oceanâsimilarly, thousands and millions of this material world cannot be compared with the spiritual world. The spiritual world is so great that millions of material world taken together, it can be dropped into the spiritual world. It is such great. Therefore material world is called one-fourth manifestation of Krᚣáša's energy. And the spiritual world is called three-fourth manifestation of Krᚣáša's energy.
svaášsa-vibhinnaášsa-rupe haĂąa vistara
ananta vaikuášášha-brahmaášá¸e karena vihara
svaášsa-vistara-catur-vyuha avatara-gaáša
vibhinnaášsa jiva-taáš
ra saktite gaášana
Now, svaášsa, His personal expansion, is catur-vyuha. The first expansion is catur-vyuha. Svayaáš rupa, svayaáš prakasa. Svayam rupa, the personal self, Krᚣáša. And when He begins to expand, the next immediate expansion is Balarama, Baladeva. And from Baladeva, catur-vyuha, four expansion. Kaya-vyuha. He is guarding, vyuha, guarding. What are those expansion? Saáš karᚣaáša, Pradyumna, Aniruddha and Vasudeva, these expansion, catur-vyuha. And from Saáš karᚣaáša, all kinds of incarnations... From Saáš karᚣaáša, all kinds of incarnation comes. In this way we have already discussed to some extent in the previous chapter. Vibhinnaášsa jiva-taáš ra saktite gaášana. And the separated expansions, the living entities, they are counted as a different energy of the Supreme Lord. Just like there is difference between the heat and the fire. Fire is with heat, but heat is, although has got the fire's qualification, it is not fire. Heat you can touch, but fire you cannot touch. Just like there is some distinction. But there is no distinction also because fire is also hot and heat is also hot. But still, there is distinction between fire and heat. So heat, what is the position of heat? Heat is energy of fire. Similarly, although we are expansion of the Supreme Lord, we jivas, living entities, we are just like heat, not fire. Fire is Krᚣáša.
So,
sei vibhinnaášsa jiva-dui ta' prakara
eka-'nitya-mukta', eka-'nitya saášsara'
Now, this energy manifested as the living entities, they are also two kinds. What are they? Eka-nitya-mukta. One class of living entities, they are eternally liberated. Just like the fishes in the ocean. Take the ocean as the place of liberation. Sometimes the example is given that as the rivers glide down to the ocean and the water is become one... That's all right. That oneness... This is impersonal conception. Everyone goes and mixes as every river goes down to the ocean, and there is no more distinction which is the river water and which is the ocean water. They become one. That is the monistic philosophy. But Vaiᚣášava philosophy goes farther, that "Why you are satisfied with the water? Why don't you see within the water?" Within the water you will find there are big, big fishes and aquatic animals. They keep their separate identity, and they enjoy in the ocean. The foolish persons, they are satisfied that "I am in the ocean now." That is the less intelligence. Go deep into the ocean and see what is going there. Similarly, those who are satisfied simply by merging into the spiritual existence, impersonalists, they are less intelligent. They have no intelligence to see that within the ocean there is individual expansion, individual life, and they are enjoying. Similarly, in the spiritual sky there is individuality. That individuality is there. And that individuality is reciprocated between Krᚣáša and the individual souls. They are called nitya-mukta, eternally liberated. And the other class, who are just like in the river fishes, they are called nitya-baddha. Their, I mean to say, limited sphere in the river or in the pond or in the well... The frog philosophy. They are expanding themselves, frogs: "How much great is Atlantic Ocean?" So they are called conditioned soul. Those who are in this material world, although they are part and parcel of the Supreme Lord energy, but because they are conditioned in this material contamination, they are called, I mean to say, conditioned, conditioned by the laws of nature.
So the whole process is... To understand these thing means that why should we remain conditioned under the laws of material nature? Let us try to go back to the ocean and become as big. That should be the philosophy of your life.
Thank you very much. Any question? (end)
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