670223 - Lecture CC Adi 07.113-17 - San Francisco

Lectures by Date, 1967

His Divine Grace
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

 Listen to a 'Nectar Drop' created from this lecture

670223CC-SAN FRANCISCO - February 23, 1967 - 25:37 Minutes

Prabhupāda: (chants maṅgalācaraṇa prayers)

oṁ ajñāna-timirāndhasya jñānāñjana-śalākayā

cakṣur unmīlitaṁ yena tasmai śrī-gurave-namaḥ

śrī-caitanya-mano-'bhīṣṭaṁ sthāpitaṁ yena bhū-tale

svayaṁ rūpaḥ kadā mahyaṁ dadāti sva-padāntikam

vande 'haṁ śrī-guroḥ śrī-yuta-pada-kamalaṁ śrī-gurūn vaiṣṇavāṁś ca

śrī-rūpaṁ sāgrajātaṁ saha-gaṇa-raghunāthānvitaṁ taṁ sa-jīvam

sādvaitaṁ sāvadhūtaṁ parijana-sahitaṁ kṛṣṇa-caitanya-devaṁ

śrī-rādhā-kṛṣṇa-pādān saha-gaṇa-lalitā-śrī-viśākhānvitāṁś ca

he kṛṣṇa karuṇā-sindho dīna-bandho jagat-pate

gopeśa gopikā-kānta rādhā-kānta namo 'stu te

tapta-kāñcana-gaurāṅgi

rādhe vṛndāvaneśvari

vṛṣabhānu-sute devi

praṇamāmi hari-priye

vāñchā-kalpa-tarubhyaś ca

kṛpā-sindhubhya eva ca

patitānāṁ pāvanebhyo

vaiṣṇavebhyo namo namaḥ

śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya

prabhu-nityānanda

śrī-advaita gadādhara

śrīvās adi-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda

hare kṛṣṇa hare kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa hare hare

hare rāma hare rāma rāma rāma hare hare

So there are so many statements in the Upaniṣads about the Absolute Truth being the Supreme Person. Patiṁ patīnāṁ paramaṁ parastāt mahān prabhur vai puruṣaḥ parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 6.8) this . . . this, up to this we discussed yesterday.

So parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate. This is from Bṛhad-āraṇyaka Upaniṣad. So the commentator said that in the Bṛhad-āraṇyaka Upaniṣad it is stated, parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate: "That Supreme Personality of Godhead's energies are variously manifested." Parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate na tasya kāryaṁ kāraṇaṁ ca vidyate.

Just like a very . . . in your country it is very easy to understand that a man is sitting as controller in the control room, the subway trains. He, in his table, he has got everything ready—which train is running on which line, where it is, in which station it is now. So he has got switches and he's controlling everything. Not only here; in India also they have now managed. So they can say which train is where it is now.

The light also moves according to the train moving. Similarly, if you can manufacture, if you can invent your own energies in different ways, as the modern material civilization they are discovering different manifestation of energy by machine, by electronics, and they are managing from one place, similarly, if it is . . . materially it is possible, why not spiritually? Spiritual is still finer.

So parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate. He has got so many energies, subtle energies, that He appears to be doing nothing. Just like Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is at Vṛndāvana. He is playing as cowherds boy or He is dancing with the cowherd girls or He is going to the pasturing ground with the cows as if He has nothing to do. He is free. Why He is free? Because He has got so many energies to act that He hasn't got to see personally whether things are being done or not done. This is the Absolute Truth qualification.

Parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate, na tasya kāryaṁ kāraṇaṁ ca vidyate, na tat-samaś cābhyadhikaś ca dṛśyate. There is another qualification: that Supreme Personality of Godhead is so that nobody is equal or higher than Him in opulences. Na tasya samaḥ. Samaḥ means equal, and adhikasya, adhikasya means higher. He has no equal; neither anybody is more than Him. Therefore everybody is under Him, subordinate to Him.

Tad viṣṇoḥ paramaṁ padam. Similarly, in the Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad there is another statement that, tad viṣṇoḥ paramaṁ padaṁ sadā paśyanti sūrayaḥ (Ṛg Veda 1.22.20). Viṣṇuṁ padam. Viṣṇu is the highest, Supreme Personality of Godhead. In this material world, which is being conducted by three modes of material nature, so Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Maheśvara. Brahmā is in charge of the creation, Viṣṇu is in charge of maintenance, and Lord Śiva is in charge of destruction, dissolution.

Janma . . . janma-sthiti-pralaya. Everything material, it has got a fixed date of its birth, its duration and its dissolution. So the Viṣṇu, in the Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad, out of these three Deities, viṣṇoḥ tat-paramaṁ padam, that He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Tad viṣṇuṁ paramaṁ padaṁ . . . viṣṇuṁ paramaṁ padam, Viṣṇu.

Those who are sūrayaḥ . . . sūrayaḥ. Sūrayaḥ means those who are demigods. There are two kinds of people: sura and asura. Asura means demons, and sura means godly. So sūrayaḥ tad viṣṇuṁ paramaṁ padaṁ sadā paśyanti. Those who are demigods, those who are godly, they are simply searching after the Supreme Absolute Truth. They are focusing their concentration, their meditation, on the lotus feet of Viṣṇu. This is the statement of Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad.

Sa īkṣāñcakre. In the Praśna Upaniṣad . . . in the . . . this is in the Ṛg-veda; I am sorry. This version, tad viṣṇoḥ paramaṁ padaṁ sadā paśyanti sūrayaḥ, this version is from Ṛg-veda. Then again, in the Praśna Upaniṣad, there is another statement, sa īkṣāñcakre: "He glanced over. Glanced over." "Glanced over" means when He glanced over, then the creation began, this material creation.

Therefore it should be understanding . . . it should be understood that this glancing is not material, because before His glancing there was no material creation. So our glancing and His glancing is different. Our glancing—we are seeing with these material eyes. As soon as these material eyes will be taken away, we cannot see; you are blind. But He . . . here is the statement, īkṣāñcakre: "He saw." "He saw" means He saw with His spiritual eyes. Otherwise where is the material creation, that He can have material eyes? So these things are to be considered.

Similarly, if He has got spiritual eyes, then He has got spiritual ear, He has got spiritual nose, He has got spiritual head, body, everything spiritual. And it is confirmed in the Brahma-saṁhitā:

aṅgāni yasya sakalendriya-vṛttimanti

paśyanti pānti kalayanti ciraṁ jaganti

(Bs. 5.32)

The Supreme Lord, Kṛṣṇa, Govinda, His bodily, different, I mean to say, limbs of His body, or different senses, they are so perfect that every sense organ can act the, I mean to say, work of the other senses. Just like we can see with our eyes. Simply we can see. But if I close my eyes, I cannot see. But my . . . I can hear only by my ears, but I cannot see.

If I close my eyes, I cannot see with my ears. But about the Supreme Personality of Godhead it is said that He can see with His ears, He can see with His hand and He can hear with His hand. He can do anything from any part of His body. That is spiritual. He can do any part of His body. Just like . . . this is the philosophy.

Now, we offer something to Kṛṣṇa. That Kṛṣṇa, I mean to say, Deity is not different from original Kṛṣṇa, because absolute. Everything is Kṛṣṇa. Why this Deity should not be Kṛṣṇa? This is quite reasonable. If Kṛṣṇa is everything, why not this Deity Kṛṣṇa? This is also Kṛṣṇa. He can do. He has . . . His power is just like . . .

If you take my photograph and if you put it in my seat, and I am not here, that photograph cannot act, because it is material. But for Kṛṣṇa, His photograph, His statue, His everything can act because He is spiritual. So we should always know that as soon as we chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa is immediately there. Immediately. Kṛṣṇa is already there. But we should know that He has, by sound vibration, Kṛṣṇa is there. So aṅgāni yasya. Sa īkṣāñcakre.

So His vision, His presence, His activities, they are all spiritual. In the Bhagavad-gītā it is said, janma karma me divyaṁ yo jānāti tattvataḥ (BG 4.9): "Anyone who understands the absolute nature of My birth, of My appearance, disappearance and activities," tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti, "he becomes immediately liberated." Sa aikṣata. Sa imāl̐ lokān asṛjata (Aitareya Upaniṣad 1.1.1-2). This is Aitareya, Aitareya Upaniṣad. What is that? Sa aikṣata. The same thing: "He saw. He put His glance." Sa aikṣata. Sa imāl̐ lokān asṛjata: "He has created all this material manifestation, cosmic manifestation." So tad vā īśan vijato tebhya ha prabhur babhūva. In this way, there are so many instances, so many quotations.

Apāṇi-pādaḥ (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 3.19). In the Śvetāśvatara, apāṇi-pādaḥ. He has no, I mean to say, hands and legs. If He has no hands and legs, then how can He see? Is there any instance in your experience that something which has no hands and legs, he can see? No. He has no . . . whenever . . . this is impersonal. The impersonalists quotes these authorities that, "He has no hands and . . . therefore He's impersonal."

No, it is not . . . if He sees, sa aikṣata, if He sees, if He hears, if He creates, then there is hand, there is eyes. But another place, if it is said, apāṇi-pādaḥ: "He has no hands and legs," that means He has no hands and legs like us. Because we have got material hands and legs, but the . . . "He saw, therefore there was creation." Therefore His seeing power existed before this material creation.

So it is natural that He has no material hands and legs. So when it is denied that, "He has no hands and legs," it is to be understood that He has no material limited hands and legs, but He has spiritual. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu concludes, therefore, that cid-ānanda-teṅho, tāṅra sthāna, parivāra (CC Adi 7.113). Therefore anything of Kṛṣṇa, or anything of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is spiritual. Spiritual. Deha. Deha means body. His body is spiritual, His abode is spiritual, and His paraphernalia, parivāra—His friends, His mother, His father, His beloved—everything spiritual.

ānanda-cinmaya-rasa-pratibhāvitābhis

tābhir ya eva nija-rūpatayā kalābhiḥ

(Bs. 5.37)

He's expansion of all spiritual. Tāṅre kahe-prākṛta-sattvera vikāra (CC Adi 7.113). And Śaṅkarācārya says that, "The Absolute is imperson, but when He comes, appears, He assumes a form which is in the modes of goodness." He does not say, of course, in the modes of ignorance. Modes of goodness. No. When Kṛṣṇa comes, He has nothing to do with modes of goodness even. What is this goodness here in this material world? This is also matter. So there is no value, even goodness. One has to transcend the modes of goodness. That is transcendental, or aprakṛta.

tāṅra doṣa nāhi, teṅho ājñā-kārī dās

āra yei śune tāra haya sarva-nāśa

(CC Adi 7.114)

So again He supports Śaṅkarācārya that, "It is not his fault. He had to do it under the superior order to explain the Vedic literature in an impersonalist way. But those who are not expert, if they hear the commentary of Śaṅkarācārya, Śārīraka-bhāṣya, then he is doomed." In other words, those who are actually aspiring for being elevated in spiritual science, they should avoid to hear any commentary which is impersonal. Any commentary. Then he is doomed. If we follow Caitanya Mahāprabhu's instruction, then any impersonal commentary means, if we hear . . .

Because we are not expert. We are not expert. Kaniṣṭha-adhikārī. Kaniṣṭha-adhikārī means neophytes, neophytes who are not conversant with the conclusion of the Vedas. They have got some, I mean to say, faith. That's all. But faith can be changed. Any . . . if a person, strong in arguments and strong in presenting things in jugglery of words, oh, the neophyte, his idea can be changed. But Caitanya Mahāprabhu warns, therefore, in the Vaiṣṇava philosophy that, "You should not worship any other demigods." It does not mean that you should show disrespect to demigods. No. That is not.

But because he is in the lower stage, if he is allowed to worship or to show respect to the demigod, he will think that he is also like Kṛṣṇa. "Kṛṣṇa is another demigod, and this Candra is another demigod, the Śiva is another demigod." Just like some foolish person, they propagate that "Whatever deity you worship, oh, that is God." Even, they say, if you worship a cat or a dog, that is also God. So therefore there is stricture.

And in the Bhagavad-gītā also, mām ekam, "Simply unto Me, one," Kṛṣṇa says. Because one is a neophyte, he can be turned, his faith can be disturbed at any moment—therefore in the beginning one has to, I mean to say, pin his faith only in Kṛṣṇa, mām ekam. Otherwise, he cannot make progress. And when one understands Kṛṣṇa, janma karma me divyam (BG 4.9), in truth, then he can understand other things also. Āra yei śune tāra haya sarva-nāśa. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu warns that "Anyone who hears Śaṅkara's bhāṣya, Śārīraka-bhāṣya, he is doomed."

prākṛta kariyā māne viṣṇu-kalevara

viṣṇu-nindā āra nāhi ihāra upara

(CC Adi 7.115)

Prākṛta kariyā māne. Prakṛta means material. "If somebody thinks that the Supreme Personality of Godhead, His body is material, that is the greatest offense." The greatest offense is that . . . to accept a material thing as God, that is the greatest offense, and God . . . and to accept a material thing as God or to accept God as material.

Just try to understand. Just like they are preaching that "Anything you worship, that is God," or "God is also material. When He comes, when He appears, He is also material." So these kinds of conclusion is the greatest offense. Viṣṇu-nindā āra nāhi ihāra upara nindā. Blasphemy. So this should be avoided.

īśvarera tattva-yena jvalita jvalana

jīvera svarūpa-yaiche sphuliṅgera kaṇa

(CC Adi 7.116)

Now, tattva, the Absolute Truth, He is comparing just like blazing fire. Absolute Truth is blazing fire and, jīvera svarūpa-yaiche sphuliṅgera kaṇa, and the living entities, they are just like sparks, sparks of the fire. We have seen fire, blazing fire, and when fire is blazing, we can see the sparks and the original fire.

jīva-tattva—śakti, kṛṣṇa-tattva—śaktimān

gītā-viṣṇupurāṇAdi tāhāte pramāṇa

(CC Adi 7.117)

Now, Caitanya Mahāprabhu says that "Jīva-tattva, the living entities, they are never the energetic; they are energy." Energetic and energy. So how it is so? The evidence is from Bhāgavata, Viṣṇu Purāṇa and Bhagavad-gītā. Because one has to give evidence. How do you say that jīva-tattva, the living entities, they are not the Supreme? Caitanya Mahāprabhu says . . . they are not su . . .

Not to, I mean to say, speak of Supreme, they are not even of the same category. Because there are different categories. Viṣṇu-tattva, jīva-tattva and śakti-tattva—there are so many categories. So He says that, "Jīva, the living entities, they are in the categories of energy. They are not energetic."

Energetic and energy, you should try to understand. Just like the fire, fire and its heat. Heat is the energy, and the fire is the energetic. Similarly, the Supreme Lord, He is the energetic, Supreme Person, and we, the living entities, we are energy. But as you cannot separate energy and energetic separately . . . wherever there is energy . . . wherever there is fire, there is heat also.

You cannot separate the fire . . . so as soon as we are separated, that is our conditional state. How we are separated? Just like the sparks of the fire, as soon as it's come out of the fire and falls down on the ground, it loses its illumination immediately. Immediately. That illuminating spark which was dancing with the fire, as soon as falls down, it becomes black, charcoal; it is just like carbon. So, so long with the fire, it is just like, as good as fire, illuminating.

So our position is like that. We are sparks, energy. As from the energy of the fire there are so many sparks dancing, similarly, we are all sparks of the Supreme Lord. But as soon as we come out of the fire, as soon as we want to become independent of the Supreme Absolute Truth, our that spiritual energy becomes almost extinguished. It is never to be extinguished, but it appears. It appears.

Just like fire covered with ashes. So again, when ashes are removed, the fire comes. So our position is like that. We are now covered by the ash of this material energy and, as soon as this will be removed . . . the removal process is Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa—ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanam (CC Antya 20.12), cleansing process. As soon as we are completely cleansed, we are as good, I mean, as illuminating as Kṛṣṇa. So this is the process. We shall study again tomorrow.

Thank you very much. (break) (end)