Prabhupada:

aho bhagyam aho bhagyaṁ
nanda-gopa-vrajaukasam
yan-mitraṁ paramanandaṁ
purṇaṁ brahma sanatanam

I think I shall speak in Hindi? What is that? I shall speak in English? Then they will take advantage of. That is... Why you have gone?

Yamuna: (indistinct)

Prabhupada: Oh, I see. So this was a part of the prayer offered by Brahmaji when he offended on the lotus feet of Krṣṇa. The incident... Perhaps you know that Krṣṇa was a cowherd boy in Vrndavana. (speaks in Hindi with some Indians) Why you are back side? You can come this side. So Brahmaji is praising the fortune of the residents of Vrndavana, vrajaukasam, headed by... Vrajaukasam means the residents of the Vrajabhumi, headed by Nanda Maharaja. Aho bhagyam aho bhagyaṁ nanda-gopa-vrajaukasam, yan mitraṁ paramanandaṁ brahma. Krṣṇa was there.

So Brahma is admitting that this Krṣṇa is parabrahman sanatanam. So we have to take evidence from the authorities. There are twelve authorities according to sastra. Brahma is one of the authorities. Twelve authorities means,

svayambhur naradaḥ; sambhuḥ;
kapilaḥ; kumaro manuḥ;
prahlado janako bhiṣmo
(balir) vaiyasakir vayam
[SB 6.3.20]

Svayambhur naradaḥ;. Svayambhuḥ; is Brahma; Narada; then Sambhu, Lord Siva. Svayambhur naradaḥ; sambhuḥ; kapilaḥ; [SB 6.3.20]. Kapila. Kapila is incarnation of God, Kapiladeva, the propounder of the Saṅkhya philosophy. Kumara, the four Kumaras, ever brahmacari. And Manu, Vaivasvata Manu, the father of Maharaja Ikṣvaku. And Prahlada, the son of Hiraṇyakasipu. The father was atheist and the son was a devotee, great devotee of Lord Krṣṇa. Then Janaka Maharaja, the father of Sitadevi. And Bhiṣma, the grandfather of the Paṇḍavas. Prahlado janako bhiṣmaḥ;. Then Vaiyasaki, Sukadeva Gosvami; and Yamaraja, they are authorities.

Now, here the Brahma, the first authority, he is admitting Krṣṇa as Brahman, purṇa-brahma sanatanam, purṇa-brahma, bhagavan. Brahman realization, there are stages, three stages of Brahman realization: first, impersonal Brahman, then localized Brahman, then full Brahman. Localized Brahman is Paramatma, who is situated in everyone's heart. The example is given: just like the sun. The sun is one and the sun is the abode of the sun-god, Vaivasvata. In the Bhagavad-gita you have to admit,

imaṁ vivasvate yogaṁ
proktavan aham avyayam
vivasvan manave praha
manu ikṣvakave 'bravit
[Bg. 4.1]

So this Vivasvan, the sun-god, he heard from Krṣṇa for the first time about the yoga system stated in the Bhagavad-gita. Therefore Krṣṇa spoke and the sun-god heard; therefore he is a person. And the sun-god's abode is the sun planet. And from the sun planet, the effulgence, the sunshine, is coming. By this example one can understand what is Brahman, Paramatma, and Bhagavan—tattva-vastu, the Absolute Truth. That is stated in the Srimad-Bhagavatam. The Absolute Truth... (aside:) Not like that. Don't sit... Not like that. Why don't you tell him? The Absolute Truth is realized in three phases. The first realization is impersonal Brahman, the next, higher realization is the Paramatma, antaryami, and the ultimate realization is the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

vadanti tat tattva-vidas
tattvaṁ yaj jñanam advayam
brahmeti paramatmeti
bhagavan iti sabdyate
[SB 1.2.11]

This is Absolute Truth in three phases.

So here the Absolute Truth, when He is realized as the Supreme Person, as Brahma is realizing, yan-mitram... He is realizing that Krṣṇa, who is playing as a cowherd boy in Vrndavana, and He has become the most intimate friend of the residents of Vrndavana, headed by Nanda Maharaja... Nanda Maharaja was the zamindar raja. He was vaisya. He had 900,000's of cows, and he was the head of Vrndavana. All other cowherds men were his tenants or friends or family members. So Krṣṇa automatically became their very, very dear friend. That is the significance of the residents of Vrndavana. They... Their love for Krṣṇa was so ecstatic that they did not know anything except Krṣṇa. Therefore Brahma says, aho bhagyam aho bhagyam: "How fortunate these residents of Vrndavana are that Krṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, has become their friend." And Krṣṇa is purṇa-brahma sanatanam, not that He has assumed a body like a human being and He is imperson. No. Just like Mayavadi philosophers, they take it, they concoct like that, that "Ultimately the Absolute Truth is impersonal, but when He descends..." I do not know how the impersonal can be "He." So that theory is refuted hereby because it is the statement of Brahma, and he says that Krṣṇa is purṇa-brahma sanatanam.

Then Caitanya Mahaprabhu says,

apaṇi-pada-sruti varje prakrta paṇi-caraṇa
punaḥ; kahe sighra cale kare sarva grahaṇa

This is the process is describing a spiritual understanding, with reference to the Vedic injunction. Now, Sri Krṣṇa Caitanya Mahaprabhu is giving Vedic reference. He says, apaṇi-pada. This is a reference from the Svetasvatara Upaniṣad. In the Svetasvatara Upaniṣad there is statement, impersonally, but referring to the person, transcendental person. The mantra is like this:

apaṇi-pado javano grahita
pasyaty acakṣuḥ; sa srnoty akarṇaḥ;
sa vetti vedyaṁ na ca tasyasti vetta
tam ahur agryaṁ puruṣaṁ mahantam

Puruṣam. Puruṣam means person, but the Vedic mantra begins, apaṇi-pada: "Person, but has no leg and no hand." There are two kinds of statements: that He is person, puruṣa, mahanta, the greatest person, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, He is a person; but apaṇi-pada, but He has no legs and no hands. So how is that? A person has no legs and no hands, and still, He accepts whatever we offer? Just like Krṣṇa says, tad aham asnami, bhaktya upahrtam asnami: "Anyone who offers Me anything," patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyam [Bg. 9.26], "with devotion," bhaktya... The very word is bhaktya. That means Krṣṇa is transcendental person, and the Vedic mantra confirms. When the Vedic mantra says, apaṇi-pada, "no hands, no legs," that is not imperson. "Person, but His hands and legs are not like us," that is apaṇi-pada. Caitanya Mahaprabhu explains that. Apaṇi-pada sruti varje prakrta paṇi-caraṇa: "When the Vedic mantra says that 'The Absolute Truth has no legs and no hands,' that means that the Personality of Godhead's hands and legs are not material." That is Caitanya Mahaprabhu's explanation.

apaṇi-pada sruti, veda-mantra, varje prakrta paṇi-caraṇa
na kahe sighra cale kare sarva grahaṇa

"And although the Vedic mantra says that 'The Absolute Truth has no legs, no hands,' still, it confirms that 'He can accept whatever you offer, and He can walk more speedily than anyone.' Then He walks; at the same time, He has no legs. And He accepts your offering; He has no hands." What does it mean? Apparently it is contradictory. If He has no leg, then how He can walk more speedily than anyone? These are Vedic mantras. "Nobody can capture Him, He is walking so speedily." But if He has no leg, how He is walking? But that, Caitanya Mahaprabhu explains that varje prakrta paṇi-caraṇa: "This means that the Supreme Personality of Godhead has no material body."

In the Kurma Puraṇa it is said that the Supreme Personality, the Parabrahman, has no distinction between His body and self. There is no... Absolute means there is no duality as we have got duality—"I am," the soul, and this body, they are different. Therefore sastra says, yasyatma-buddhiḥ; kuṇape tri-dhatuke: [SB 10.84.13] "If anyone accepts this body as self..." This body is made of three dhatus: kapha, pitta, vayu. I am not this. And Bhagavad-gita also says,

dehino 'smin yatha dehe
kaumaraṁ yauvanaṁ jara
tatha dehantara-praptiḥ;...
[Bg. 2.13]

So dehi. Dehi means possessor of this body, the owner of this body. So owner of this body is different from this body. But in case of Krṣṇa or Viṣṇu-tattva, there is no such difference, the self and the body, no difference. That is confirmed in the Kurma Puraṇa. Unfortunately the Mayavadis, they, either due to their poor fund of knowledge of the sastras or by their whims, they say that "Krṣṇa or Viṣṇu, when comes, or the Absolute Truth when He descends, He assumes, He accepts, a material body." That is not the fact. Krṣṇa says, sambhavamy atma-mayaya [Bg. 4.6]. It is not that Krṣṇa accepts a material body. No. Krṣṇa has no such distinction, material world. Therefore Krṣṇa says, avajananti maṁ muḍha manuṣiṁ tanum asritam: [Bg. 9.11] "Because I present myself, descend Myself as a human being, the muḍhas, or the rascals, they think of Me or deride at Me." The Mayavadis, they will never worship the transcendental form of the Lord. They'll not worship. They will worship the imperson. And Krṣṇa has said, kleso adhikataras teṣam avyaktasakta-cetasam. Of course, impersonal, personal, is the same Absolute Truth. But if you try to reach the Absolute Truth through His impersonal attachment, then it will be more troublesome. The jñanis, those who want to understand the Absolute Truth by their material, imperfect knowledge, how... Ataḥ; sri-krṣṇa-namadi na bhaved grahyam indriyaiḥ; [Cc. Madhya 17.136]. Our manipulation of the senses is not possible to understand what is Krṣṇa.

The Vedic mantra also it is said, nayam atma pravacanena labhyaḥ;: "You cannot realize the atma, you cannot be self-realized, simply by talking. You may be very big speaker, nice speaker, but that is not the process—simply by speaking very nicely you can understand the Absolute Truth." Nayam atma pravacanena labhya na medhaya: "Neither you can understand the Absolute Truth because you have got a very nice brain, a great scientist." Then Sir Isaac Newton would have discovered what is God, or Professor Einstein or Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose, they could have understand. No, they cannot. Because they have very nice, finer tissues of the brain, it does not mean. It is a different process. It is a... To understand God or Krṣṇa, it is not material process. Therefore Krṣṇa said, bhaktya mam abhijanati yavan yas casmi tattvataḥ; [Bg. 18.55]. Only through devotional service He can be known. Nahaṁ prakasaḥ; sarvasya yogamaya-samavrtaḥ; [Bg. 7.25]. Krṣṇa is covered by the curtain drawn by yogamaya; therefore Krṣṇa cannot be understood by everyone, neither His teaching, Bhagavad-gita, can be understood without becoming a devotee of Krṣṇa. This is not possible. Therefore Krṣṇa says to Arjuna that bhakto 'si priyo 'si me: [Bg. 4.3] "Because you are My very dear friend, therefore I shall speak to you." Rahasyaṁ hy etad uttamam: "Without you, nobody can understand." Krṣṇa was a military man. He was not a brahmaṇa, neither a Vedantist. You cannot expect a military man, a kṣatriya, to be highly learned in Vedic scriptures. That is not possible. They hear from the brahmaṇas. The brahmaṇas, they are expected to be highly learned scholars in Vedas because that is their department. Jñanaṁ vijñanam astikyaṁ brahma-karma svabhava-jam [Bg. 18.42]. Brahma janatiti brahmaṇaḥ;. Brahmaṇa... Therefore we call brahmaṇa, "paṇḍita, paṇḍitaji." Paṇḍitaji has never seen the pages of Vedas, but still, he is going on under the name of paṇḍitaji. So that kind of paṇḍitaji not wanted. Actually a brahmaṇa means he is truthful. And one of the greatest commentator of Bhagavad-gita, Baladeva Vidyabhuṣaṇa, he says truthful means one should be truthful even to his enemies. Sometimes we have to hide something from the enemies. That is diplomacy. But Baladeva Vidyabhuṣaṇa says, "A brahmaṇa should be so truthful that he will disclose everything to his enemy also." Satyam. Titikṣa arjavam suci sama dama—these are the qualifications. Jñanaṁ vijñanam astikyaṁ brahma-karma svabhava-jam [Bg. 18.42].

So without this brahminical qualification one cannot understand the Vedic knowledge. Therefore it is stated sometimes that a sudra is prohibited from reading Vedas. That does not mean that reading of Vedic culture or Vedic knowledge is monopolized by a certain class of men. Not that. The idea is... Just like in our ordinary educational system, there is some prohibition that unless one is graduate, he cannot be admitted in the law college. That is not a prohibition; that is the necessary qualification to understand. Similarly, to understand the Vedas, the necessary qualification is that one must be a qualified brahmaṇa. Not that Mr. Max Muller, he has got little knowledge of Sanskrit and he translates. That kind of translation is no use, just like so many commentaries on the Bhagavad-gita without becoming a devotee of Krṣṇa is useless. It has no meaning, because Krṣṇa says that bhaktya mam abhijanati: [Bg. 18.55] "Only through devotional service one can understand Me." How a nondevotee can understand Him? He has no scope to enter into the knowledge of Bhagavad-gita. So first qualification is that he must be a pure devotee of Krṣṇa. Then it will be revealed.

In the Srimad-Bhagavata there is a verse,

athapi te deva padambuja-dvaya-
prasada-lesanugrhita eva hi
janati tattvaṁ (bhagavan-mahimno)
na canya eko 'pi ciraṁ vicinvan
[SB 10.14.29]

"My dear Lord, one who has a little, I mean to say, favorable connection with Your lotus feet, he can understand You." Athapi te deva padambuja-dvaya-prasada: "One who has got a little prasada from Your lotus feet, such person can understand You." Prasada-lesanu..., janati tattvam: "He can understand what You are." Krṣṇa says that,

manuṣyaṇaṁ sahasreṣu
kascid yatati siddhaye
yatatam api siddhanaṁ
kascid vetti maṁ tattvataḥ;
[Bg. 7.3]

To understand Krṣṇa is not very easy job. Krṣṇa says, "Out of many millions of men, one is trying to become perfect in this human form of life." Not everyone is trying. First of all one has to become brahmaṇa or acquire the brahminical qualification. That is the platform of sattva-guṇa. Unless one comes to the platform of sattva-guṇa, there is no question of perfection. Nobody can understand, nobody can achieve perfection on the platform of rajo-guṇa and tamo-guṇa, because one who is addicted with rajo-guṇa and tamo-guṇa, he is always very greedy and lusty. Tato rajas-tamo-bhavaḥ; kama-lobhadayas ca ye [SB 1.2.19]. One who is infected with the material qualities of ignorance and passion, he is lusty and greedy. That's all. Therefore you will see, generally people are very much lusty and greedy. They are accumulating money, crores and crores; still, they are not satisfied. In Western country we see very usually. There are many, many workers, working very hard from very poor state. Just like Henry Ford, Mr. Rockefeller, they started life from a very humble state, but they accumulated immense wealth, and still, they were not satisfied. In our country also there are many Birlas and such, accumulating money, money, money. They are greedy because infected with the quality, modes of nature, ignorance and passion. Vaisya means passion and ignorance, kṣatriya means passion, and brahmaṇa means goodness. These are the different qualities. So one has to come to the platform of goodness. Then he has to transcend the platform of goodness, come to the pure transcendental platform, vasudeva, sattvaṁ-visuddham, sattva-guṇa. In this material world, sattva-guṇa is also sometimes mixed with rajo-guṇa and tamo-guṇa. That is the nature. So one has to transcend the platform of sattva-guṇa. Suddha-sattva. Sattvaṁ visuddhaṁ vasudeva-sabditam. That is the vasudeva platform, when Krṣṇa appears.

So manuṣyaṇaṁ sahasreṣu [Bg. 7.3]. So generally people are addicted, infected with the qualities of ignorance and passion. How he can understand Krṣṇa? It is not possible. So one has to engage himself this devotional service. Then you can... You may argue that "How these Europeans and Americans...? They are supposed to be in ignorance and passion. How they are coming to the platform of transcendental platform of pure goodness?" That is possible. That is possible by the execution of Bhagavata-dharma. Nityaṁ bhagavata-sevaya [SB 1.2.18]. Tato rajas-tamo bhavaḥ;. There are verses in the Srimad-Bhagavatam that srṇvataṁ sva-kathaḥ; krṣṇaḥ; puṇya-sravaṇa-kirtanaḥ; [SB 1.2.17]. One has to hear. Therefore sravaṇa and kirtana, hearing and chanting, is very important, srṇvataṁ sva-kathaḥ; krṣṇaḥ;, especially hearing and chanting of Krṣṇa. Kirtanad eva krṣṇasya mukta-saṅgaḥ; paraṁ vrajet [SB 12.3.51]. Simply by discussing and hearing and reciting Bhagavad-gita purely, not by interpreting wrongly... As it is. As Krṣṇa says, man-mana bhava mad-bhakto mad-yaji mam [Bg. 18.65], you have to accept that. You cannot change that. You cannot say, "It is not to Krṣṇa; it is the Krṣṇa's self and this and that." So srṇvataṁ sva-kathaḥ; krṣṇaḥ;. One who hears Bhagavad-gita as it is or Srimad-Bhagavatam from devotees... Srṇvataṁ sva-kathaḥ; krṣṇaḥ; puṇya-sravaṇa-kirtanaḥ;. Because simply by hearing he achieves the result of pious activities... And Krṣṇa says also in the Bhagavad-gita that "One can be engaged in My service, in devotional service, who is freed from all contamination of sinful life."

yeṣaṁ (tv) anta-gataṁ papaṁ
jananaṁ puṇya-karmaṇam
te dvanda-moha-nirmukta
bhajante maṁ drḍha-vrataḥ;

Unless one is freed from all contamination of sinful life, one cannot concentrate in the devotional service of Krṣṇa, Krṣṇa says.

So the process is, as it is recommended in the Srimad-Bhagavatam, srṇvataṁ sva-kathaḥ;: simply you sit down and hear what Krṣṇa says. Don't comment wrongly, whimsically. Don't gratify your senses. Submissively, namanta... As Caitanya Mahaprabhu also recommends from Bhagavata, jñane prayasam udapasya namanta eva. Just be submissive, bhavadiya-vartam, and try to hear Krṣṇa submissively. Then you'll benefit. If you make your own commentation, then you will be wrongly directed. You have too... Therefore Krṣṇa said,

evaṁ parampara-praptam
imaṁ rajarṣayo viduḥ;
sa kalena
yogo naṣṭaḥ; parantapa
[Bg. 4.2]

Because the parampara system was lost, therefore Krṣṇa said that "The system recommended in the Bhagavad..., is lost off. Therefore I am speaking again to you the same yoga system." So one has to receive the knowledge of Bhagavad-gita by the parampara system. Just like Arjuna. Arjuna heard Bhagavad-gita. And how he understood Bhagavad-gita? He understood Krṣṇa as a person. Paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhama pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavan, puruṣaṁ sasvatam adyam [Bg. 10.12]. That is real Bhagavad-gita understanding. And Arjuna said, sarvam etam rtaṁ manye yan maṁ vadasi kesava. As Krṣṇa says that sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekaṁ saraṇaṁ vraja [Bg. 18.66], so he accepted that. That is Bhagavad-gita reading, not that "It is not to person Krṣṇa; it is to His self," and this and that. No. Therefore we are presenting Bhagavad-gita As It Is.

So it is very unfortunate that the Supreme Personality of Godhead, accepted by all the acaryas, not only at the present age, previously also... Vyasadeva, Narada, Asita, Devala, they are all great acaryas. And in the recent years, Saṅkaracarya, he also admitted. Ramanujacarya, Madhvacarya, Viṣṇu Svami, Lord Caitanya—all these authorities, they are accepting Krṣṇa as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Then how is that—a less intelligent class of men, they are commenting differently? That is not good. They may comment, they go on talking all nonsense, but no sane man will accept them. That is a different thing. But those who are sane, they should judge over this, that "Why we should deny, that 'God is impersonal'? God is person. Krṣṇa came." Krṣṇa exhibited His godly potencies, energies, when He was present. There is no... In the history you won't find another second person like Krṣṇa in the whole history of the world. Apart from other points of view, Bhagavad-gita, that is admitted, spoken by Krṣṇa, such deep, profound knowledge—there is no second imitation or second copy like Bhagavad-gita in the whole world. That is admitted by all scholars, all religionists. Therefore He is purṇa-jñana, purṇa-brahma. Bhagavad-gita is purṇa-jñana. The Bhagavan's one qualification—He is fully wise. Nobody is wiser than Him. That is one of the qualifications. Nobody is richer than Him, nobody is powerful than Him, nobody is influential than Him, nobody is beautiful than Him, and nobody is renouncer than Him. Ṣaḍ-aisvarya. That will be explained.

So Krṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, admitted by all acaryas. And on the basis of that authority, we are preaching all over the world that "You are searching after God? Here is God." Krṣṇas tu bhagavan svayam. Krṣṇas tu bhagavan svayam. In the Bhagavata has given different list of different incarnation of God but ultimately concludes that ete caṁsa-kalaḥ; puṁsaḥ; krṣṇas tu bhagavan svayam: [SB 1.3.28] "All the incarnations, they are parts or parts of the parts." Aṁsa means part, and kalaḥ; means part of the part. "But svayaṁ purṇa-bhagavan, ṣoḍasa-kala purṇa, ṣaḍ-aisvarya-purṇa-bhagavan is Krṣṇa." That is the verdict all Vedas, all sastras. So we should also accept in that light. Krṣṇas tu bhagavan svayam [SB 1.3.28]. Isvaraḥ; paramaḥ; krṣṇaḥ; [Bs. 5.1]. And Krṣṇa also says personally, ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavaḥ;: [Bg. 10.8] "I am the origin of even Brahma, Siva, and Viṣṇu also." Ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavaḥ; mattaḥ; sarvaṁ pravartate. So from any...

Now, here Caitanya Mahaprabhu says that Krṣṇa is person, the Supreme Personality of Godhead is person, but He is not a person like us. That is difference. But less intelligent persons, they think Krṣṇa, as soon as He is a person, "He is a person like us." That is a mistake. He is not a person like any one of us. Therefore He is confirmed by the Vedas, apaṇi-pada javano grahita: "This Absolute Truth has no leg or hand; still, He can walk very swiftly and He can accept anything you offer." That means His hands and legs are not like ours. That is transcendental. So Caitanya Mahaprabhu is trying to explain before Sarvabhauma Bhaṭṭacarya that the Absolute Truth is a person, a person like you and me. Cetana... Nityo nityanaṁ cetanas cetananam (Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2.2.13). He is the Supreme Person, the chief person. We are all also individuals, Krṣṇa is also individual, but He is the chief and we are subordinate. That is the way.

Thank you very much. Hare Krṣṇa. [break] God is not poor man, but you are mismanaging. (Hindi) (end)

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