Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 20.281–293

Prabhupāda:

yasyaika-niśvasita-kālam athāvalambya jīvanti loma-vilajā jagad-aṅḍa-nāthāḥ viṣṅur mahān sa iha yasya kalā-viśeṣo govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi [Bs 5.48]

[Brahmā and other lords of the mundane worlds, appearing from the pores of hair of Mahā-Viṣṅu, remain alive as long as the duration of one exhalation of the latter [Mahā-Viṣṅu]. I adore the primeval Lord Govinda of whose subjective personality Mahā-Viṣṅu is the portion of portion.]

Kṛṣṅa's first expansion, second expansion, the third expansion. The third expansion, Mahā-Viṣṅu. So Mahā-Viṣṅu's potency is described in the Brahma-saṁhitā: yasyaika-niśvasita-kālam athāvalambya. Niśvasita-kāla means the breathing period. Just abiding by the breathing period of that Mahā-Viṣṅu, jīvanti loma-vilajā jagad-aṅḍa-nāthāḥ. Jagad-aṅḍa-nāthāḥ means the supreme creature, created, supreme created creature, Brahmā. Brahmā is the principal supreme creature in each, every universe. There are innumerable universes, and there are innumerable Brahmās also.

You will find in Caitanya-caritāmṛta, it is quoted from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam that one sometimes... It is called līlā, pastime, that Brahmā, when Kṛṣṅa was here on this planet, so Brahmā was very much proud that "Kṛṣṅa is now in the earthly planet, and this earthly planet is one of the innumerable planets under my control." Brahmā is the controller, is the primal, principal living entity in this universe, so he was little proud that "Kṛṣṅa is within my control."

So therefore Kṛṣṅa, because He is Paramātmā, He knows everything, what one thinks, what one does. So Kṛṣṅa asked Brahmā to come and see Him. So Brahmā came. Brahmā came. His doorman informed Kṛṣṅa that... Doorman asked Brahmā, "Who are you, please?" "Now, you say Kṛṣṅa that I am Brahmā. I have come to see Him." So when the doorman informed Kṛṣṅa that—in Dvārakā, when Kṛṣṅa was there as king—so Kṛṣṅa asked, "Oh, which Brahmā? Which Brahmā?" The doorman came back again and informed that "Which Brahmā you are?"

So Brahmā became astonished: " 'Which Brahmā?' I am the Brahmā. I am the supreme creature within this universe, and 'Which Brahmā?' " He was surprised, and he said, "Tell Kṛṣṅa that four-headed Brahmā." Brahmā has four head. So Kṛṣṅa called him, "All right, come on." So he came, and he offered his obeisances, and Brahmā asked Him, "Kṛṣṅa, my Lord, may I ask You some question?" "What is that?" "Your doorman asked me, 'Which Brahmā?' So does it mean there are other Brahmās also?" Kṛṣṅa said, "Yes, there are innumerable Brahmās. You are only four-headed. There are eight-headed, there are sixteen-headed, thirty-two–headed, sixty-four–headed, hundred-twenty-eight–headed, and millions of headed. So all right, I am calling them all."

So Kṛṣṅa called all the Brahmās, and by His māyā, Brahmā could see them, but they could not see this four-headed Brahmā, and each of them came and offered obeisances to Kṛṣṅa, and they asked, "My Lord, what can I do for You? You have asked me?" "Yes. I have not seen you for so many times, so many days, so I have called you." So they came, thousands and millions of Brahmā came, and offered obeisances, and they went away. And this Brahmā, four-headed Brahmā, remained in the corner, "Oh, what is I am?" So this is Kṛṣṅa's creation.

So here it is stated that yasyaika-niśvasita-kālam athāvalambya: "Only just abiding by the breathing period of Mahā-Viṣṅu, there are millions of Brahmās, they are living." And each Brahmā's period... That you have read in the Bhagavad-gītā: sahasra-yuga-paryantam arhad yad brahmaṅo viduḥ [Bg 8.17].

[By human calculation, a thousand ages taken together is the duration of Brahmā's one day. And such also is the duration of his night.]

The Brahmā's one day means 4,300,000's into 1000. That is Brahmā's twelve hours. Similarly, twenty-four hours, one day. Now calculate one month, such one year, such hundred years. So that hundred years of Brahmā is only a breathing period of Mahā-Viṣṅu, just like we are breathing, our inhalation and exhalation is going on.

So during the breathing period, when the breathing is out, all these brahmāṅḍas become created, and when it is inhaled, all, they are closed, account closed. So this is going on. And such Mahā-Viṣṅu is the part, one of the fourth part of Kṛṣṅa's expansion. That is stated. Lord Caitanya is giving evidence from Brahma-saṁhitā:

yasyaika-niśvasita-kālam athāvalambya jīvanti loma-vilajā jagad-aṅḍa-nāthāḥ viṣṅur mahān sa iha yasya kalā-viśeṣo govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi [Bs 5.48]

"I worship that Kṛṣṅa, Govinda, whose fourth dimension, the four expansion, is Mahā-Viṣṅu, in whose breathing period all these Brahmās, or the principal head of each brahmāṅḍa, they live."

samasta brahmāṅḍa-gaṅera iṅho antaryāmi kāraṅābdhiśāyī—saba jagatera svāmī [Cc Madhya 20.282]

[Mahā-Viṣṅu is the Supersoul of all the universes. Lying on the Causal Ocean, He is the master of all material worlds.]

"Now, this Mahā-Viṣṅu, the puruṣāvatāra, incarnation of puruṣa, of Kṛṣṅa, is the principal Supreme Personality of Godhead of all the brahmāṅḍas, all the many thousands of brahmāṅḍas."

eita kahiluṅ prathama puruṣera tattva dvitīya puruṣera ebe śunaha mahattva [Cc Madhya 20.283]

[I have thus explained the truth of the first Personality of Godhead, Mahā-Viṣṅu. I shall now explain the glories of the second Personality of Godhead.]

Now, He said, "Now I have explained to you about the first incarnation, avatāra. Now just try to hear about the second, second Viṣṅu." First Viṣṅu is described. Now second Viṣṅu, what is that? Sei puruṣa [Cc Madhya 20.284]:

[After creating the total number of universes, which are unlimited, Mahā-Viṣṅu expanded Himself into unlimited forms and entered into each of them.]

"That Mahā-Viṣṅu," ananta-koṭi brahmāṅḍa sṛjiyā, ananta-koṭi, "innumerable universes came out of His breathing period by breathing." Sṛjiyā means "He created." Ekaika-mūrtye... Ekaika-mūrtye praveśilā bahu mūrti hañā: "Now, this Mahā-Viṣṅu again expanded Himself in millions and millions Viṣṅu form and entered in each brahmāṅḍa." The same Viṣṅu, Mahā-Viṣṅu, expanded Himself in millions other forms.

praveśa kariyā dekhe, saba-andhakāra rahite nāhika sthāna, karilā vicāra [Cc Madhya 20.285]

[When Mahā-Viṣṅu entered each of the limitless universes, He saw that there was darkness all around and that there was no place to stay. He therefore began to consider the situation.]

"When He entered in each universe, it was all dark. So He began to think."

nijāṅga-sveda-jale brahmāṅḍārdha bharila sei jale śeṣa-śayyāya śayana karila [Cc Madhya 20.286]

[With the perspiration produced from His own body, the Lord filled half the universe with water. He then lay down on that water, on the bed of Lord Śeṣa.]

Now, in each brahmāṅḍa... This universe what we are seeing, it is only half. The half is full with water. And where is that water, we cannot see. But there is water. Just like a ball, and half the ball, inside, is filled with water. So... And wherefrom this water came? The Mahā-..., this Viṣṅu, the Viṣṅu which entered each universe, from His perspiration He created this water. And He laid down on the water. This is called Śeṣaśāyī Viṣṅu or Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṅu.

Tāṅra nābhi-padma haite uṭhila eka padma [Cc Madhya 20.287]:

[A lotus flower then sprouted from the lotus navel of that Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṅu. That lotus flower became Lord Brahmā’s birthplace.]

"And then He created one lotus flower from His navel." You have seen that picture in the title page, title cover. Nābhi-padma. Sei padme ha-ila brahmāra janma-sadma: "And from that lotus flower, on that lotus flower, the Brahmā, the first created being, was manifested."

sei padma-nāle ha-ila caudda bhuvana teṅho 'brahmā' hañā sṛṣṭi karila sṛjana [Cc Madhya 20.288]

[In the stem of that lotus flower, the fourteen worlds were generated. Then He became Lord Brahmā and manifested the entire universe.]

And this Brahmā is a living being, jīva-tattva. He is not viṣṅu-tattva. Just see how much a living being can be powerful. "Now, Brahmā was created by this Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṅu, and Brahmā in his turn, he created all these planetary system." There are fourteen status of planetary system, caudda bhuvana: Bhūrloka, Bhuvarloka, Janaloka, Maharloka, Tapoloka and Brahmaloka, and down, Tala, Atala, Vitala, Talātala, Pātāla, and similarly, there are fourteen planetary systems all over this universe.

'viṣṅu'-rūpa hañā kare jagat pālane guṅātīta viṣṅu—sparśa nāhi māyā-sane [Cc Madhya 20.289]

[In this way, the Supreme Personality of Godhead in His form of Viṣṅu maintains the entire material world. Since He is always beyond the material qualities, the material nature cannot touch Him.]

"Now, this Viṣṅu has nothing to do. He is not affected by this material contamination." That is the power of Viṣṅu. Just like we are living entities. When we come into this material world, we become contaminated, we become affected by the influence of this material nature. But Viṣṅu, although He is looking after the management of creation of this brahmāṅḍa, He is not affected. He is not affected.

'viṣṅu'-rūpa hañā kare jagat pālane guṅātīta viṣṅu—sparśa nāhi māyā-sane [Cc Madhya 20.289]

'rudra'-rūpa dhari kare jagat saṁhāra [Cc Madhya 20.290]

[The Supreme Lord in His form of Rudra [Lord Śiva] brings about the dissolution of this material creation. In other words, only by His will are there creation, maintenance and dissolution of the whole cosmic manifestation.]

And when these material worlds or universes are to be annihilated, the same Viṣṅu in His form of Lord Śiva, rudra-rūpa, He annihilates. So Viṣṅu, Viṣṅu creates, and Lord Śiva annihilates, and Brahmā is in charge of this universe.

brahmā, viṣṅu, śiva—tāṅra guṅa-avatāra sṛṣṭi-sthiti-pralayera tinera adhikāra [Cc Madhya 20.291]

[Brahmā, Viṣṅu and Śiva are His three incarnations of the material qualities. Creation, maintenance and destruction respectively are under the charge of these three personalities.]

Now, this material world is created, it is..., it stays for some time, and it is again annihilated. Just we have seen in the Bhagavad-gītā, bhūtvā bhūtvā pralīyate. [Bg 8.19]

[Again and again the day comes, and this host of beings is active; and again the night falls, O Pārtha, and they are helplessly dissolved.]

This is the nature. This material nature is like that. Just like you have seen one lamp. It is..., once it is extinguished, once it is light. Similarly, there is creation, there is maintenance and there is annihilation of this material world.

Now, these three functions are controlled by three guṅāvatāra, qualitative incarnation of the Supreme Lord. What are they? Now, Viṣṅu... Viṣṅu is the incarnation of the modes of goodness, and Śiva is the incarnation of the modes of annihilation, and Brahmā is the in-charge. Brahmā is secondary. Brahmā is the secondary creator. First of all, the everything is, the principal, the material principal ingredients, and the guṅas and the everything is created by Viṣṅu. Then, the secondary creation, with those ingredients, all these planetary system, everything, is created by Brahmā. So Brahmā is also a secondary creator. And then Viṣṅu maintains.

Just like to a carpenter you give wood and planks and materials and screw and other things, and the carpenter makes a very good cabinet, and you maintain that, similarly, this brahmāṅḍa, the secondary creation, is Brahmā, and Viṣṅu is the maintainer, and when it is to be destroyed, it is destroyed by Lord Śiva. These three guṅāvatāra. Brahmā, viṣṅu, siva-tāṅra guṅa-avatāra. They are incarnations of Kṛṣṅa's guṅa. So in other words, it is to be understood that these three guṅas, they are also coming from Kṛṣṅa, three guṅas. So therefore, for Kṛṣṅa, there is no such distinction.

Several times just I have explained this thing, but this material, spiritual, or the qualitative differences, that is for us, not for Kṛṣṅa. How it is? Just like government has got different departments. There is criminal department, civil department, and this department, that department, so many departments. Now, for us the criminal department may not be so pleasing or civil department may be very much pleasing, but for the government both the departments are equal, because they have to maintain equally, either criminal department or the civil department. The government has no distinction that "This is criminal department; therefore this department should be neglected," or "It is inferior." No. Rather, in criminal department the government may spend more than civil department.

Similarly, these distinction, these qualitative distinction, matter, spirit, and the different kinds of modes, they are distinction for us, not for Kṛṣṅa. He is Absolute. He is Absolute. To the Absolute, there is no such distinction. Therefore when Kṛṣṅa comes, when Kṛṣṅa comes in this material, He is not affected by this. Suppose the minister, the secretary of the president, goes to the criminal department to see the prison house. He is not affected by the prison rules. It is simple to understand. If the prisoner thinks, "Oh, he is also one of the prisoner, because he has come here," this is nonsense. He is not prisoner. Similarly, when Kṛṣṅa comes in this material world, if a foolish man thinks that He is also one of us, he is foolish number one. Therefore in the Bhagavad-gītā it is stated, avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā mānuṣīṁ tanum āśritā [Bg 9.11]:

[Fools deride Me when I descend in the human form. They do not know My transcendental nature and My supreme dominion over all that be.]

"Foolish persons, they think that I am one of them." These examples are very nice. We can understand. So here it is stated that Viṣṅu...,

brahmā, viṣṅu, śiva—tāṅra guṅa-avatāra sṛṣṭi-sthiti-pralayera tinera adhikāra [Cc Madhya 20.291]

[Brahmā, Viṣṅu and Śiva are His three incarnations of the material qualities. Creation, maintenance and destruction respectively are under the charge of these three personalities.]

hiraṅyagarbha-antaryāmi—garbhodakaśāyī 'sahasra-śīrṣādi' kari' vede yāṅre gāi [Cc Madhya 20.292]

[Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṅu, known within the universe as Hiraṅyagarbha and the antaryāmī, or Supersoul, is glorified in the Vedic hymns, beginning with the hymn that starts with the word ’sahasra-śīrṣā.’]

In the Vedas there is a prayer, Sahasra-śīrṣā. That is very famous prayer. That prayer is offered to this Viṣṅu. Which Viṣṅu? The Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṅu, the Viṣṅu who has entered in every universe. That Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṅu.

ei ta' dvitīya-puruṣa—brahmāṅḍera īśvara māyāra 'āśraya' haya, tabu māyā-pāra [Cc Madhya 20.293]

[This second Personality of Godhead, known as Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṅu, is the master of each and every universe and the shelter of the external energy. Nonetheless, He remains beyond the touch of the external energy.]

Although this Viṣṅu is the shelter, shelter of the material energy, still, He has nothing to do with this material energy. He is free from the contamination of material energy. In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam there is a verse: apaśyat puruṣaṁ pūrṅaṁ māyāṁ ca yad apāśrayam [SB 1.7.4].

[Thus he fixed his mind, perfectly engaging it by linking it in devotional service [bhakti-yoga] without any tinge of materialism, and thus he saw the Absolute Personality of Godhead along with His external energy, which was under full control.]

When Vyāsadeva, he was just attempting to write Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam by bhakti-yoga, he saw two things: apaśyat puruṣaṁ pūrṅam. He saw the Supreme Personality and the material energy, apāśrayam, just far away from Him.

Because this māyā's task is very thankless task. Māyā's task is very thankless task because she is in charge of these conditioned souls, and her business is to give all the conditioned souls always miseries. Trisura. You have seen in the hand... You might not have seen, but there is a picture of Durgā, she has got three, trisura. Trisura means three kinds of miseries. So the māyā, this material nature, is inflicting upon the conditioned soul always three kinds of miseries so that they can come to their conscious, Kṛṣṅa consciousness.

But the conditioned souls are so foolish and so dull, they have accepted, "Oh, these miseries are very palatable." Yes. They have no sense that they are always in three kinds of miseries: adhyātmika, adhibhautika, adhidaivika. This is constantly going on. Just like in the prison house, when the prisoners are there, it is not meant that they should be comfortably situated there. The prison house [is] meant for giving them always some trouble so that they can come to their consciousness, that "We have broken... We are lawbreakers. Therefore we are punished here." But if the prisoner becomes so fool that "All right. Don't care for this prison. Let me finish this term and again commit nuisance and again come to the..." That is going on.

So gatāgataṁ kāma-kāmā labhante [Bg 9.21].

[When they have thus enjoyed heavenly sense pleasure, they return to this mortal planet again. Thus, through the Vedic principles, they achieve only flickering happiness.]

So the conditioned souls, they are not coming to the sense that what is their position. This position, by the grace of some special representative of the Supreme Lord or by the Supreme Lord, is offered to these conditioned souls, that "This is not your place. You are part and parcel of God. Your place is in the kingdom of God. Your place is there. You are..." Manaḥ-ṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṅi prakṛti-sthāni karṣati [Bg 15.7]:

[The living entities in this conditioned world are My eternal, fragmental parts. Due to conditioned life, they are struggling very hard with the six senses, which include the mind.]

"You are struggling very hard within this material nature. Just try to understand your position." So these things are described in scriptures, in the Vedas, so that these foolish conditioned souls may come to their senses and try to become Kṛṣṅa conscious and make their life successful so that they can go back to home, back to Godhead.

Thank you very much. Any question? [end]