Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 21.49–60

Prabhupāda:

goloka-nāmni nija-dhāmni tale ca tasya devī-maheśa-hari-dhāmasu teṣu teṣu te te prabhāva-nicayā vihitāś ca yena govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi [Bs 5.43]

[Lowest of all is located Devī-dhāma [mundane world], next above it is Maheśa-dhāma [abode of Maheśa]; above Maheśa-dhāma is placed Hari-dhāma [abode of Hari] and above them all is located Kṛṣṅa's own realm named Goloka. I adore the primeval Lord Govinda, who has allotted their respective authorities to the rulers of those graded realms.]

The Brahma-saṁhitā, this Brahma-saṁhitā was compiled by Brahmā. 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 this book was..., two books were collected by Caitanya Mahāprabhu from South India.

One book is named Kṛṣṅa-karṅāmṛta. That book was written by one of the devotees, very great devotee, Bilvamaṅgala. His life is very interesting. He was too much prostitute-hunter. And 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 Kṛṣṅa, 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 Kṛṣṅa 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 Kṛṣṅa consciousness. Even if we do not perform the whole process of Kṛṣṅa consciousness, whatever we do, that remains in asset. That is never lost.

So this Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura, from that prostitute's house he became a saintly man. So he wrote a very nice book, Kṛṣṅa-karṅāmṛta. Kṛṣṅa-karṅāmṛta means "pleasing to the ear." Anything about Kṛṣṅa is pleasing to the ear. So he wrote a voluminous book, Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura. That book was collected by Lord Caitanya. And along with that book, this Brahma-saṁhitā was collected.

So in this Brahma-saṁhitā this verse appears. Goloka-nāmni nija-dhāmni tale ca tasya [Bs 5.43]. The supreme planet in the spiritual sky is called Goloka Vṛndāvana, 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-nāmni nija-dhāmni tale ca tasya [Bs 5.43]. Underneath that goloka-nāmni there are different planetary spheres, or system. Devī-maheśa-hari-dhāmasu teṣu teṣu. Devī-dhāma. This is called Devī-dhāma.

This material world called Devī-dhāma. Above this there is Maheśa-dhāma, Śivaloka. Devī-maheśa-hari-dhāma. Hari-dhāma means these Vaikuṅṭhas. Devī-maheśa-hari-dhāmasu teṣu teṣu. In all those systems of different kinds of planets, teṣu teṣu, te te prabhāva-nicayā vihitas ca yena [Bs 5.43].

[Lowest of all is located Devī-dhāma [mundane world], next above it is Maheśa-dhāma [abode of Maheśa]; above Maheśa-dhāma is placed Hari-dhāma [abode of Hari] and above them all is located Kṛṣṅa's own realm named Goloka. I adore the primeval Lord Govinda, who has allotted their respective authorities to the rulers of those graded realms.]

Every planet, every spiritual atmosphere or material atmosphere, they have got some particular, I mean, specially, every, every planet. So that is designed by Kṛṣṅa. Te te prabhāva-nicayā. 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 prabhāva-nicayā.

That speciality is designed by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṅa. Govinda: He is reservoir of pleasure. So everything designed by Him is full of pleasure, and it is full of perfection. Govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ. Ādi-puruṣam means the supreme, original personality. Tam ahaṁ bhajāmi: "I worship Him." Yes. That is the instruction. "I do not worship anyone; I worship Kṛṣṅa." That's all right. The Brahmā says.

So we also coming from the same disciplic succession, who worship Kṛṣṅa, Brahmā. Then from Brahmā, Nārada learned how to worship Kṛṣṅa. From Nārada learned Vyāsadeva how to worship Kṛṣṅa. From Vyāsadeva learned Madhvācārya how to worship Kṛṣṅa. Then from Madhvācārya learned Mādhavendra Purī.

Similarly, the disciplic succession is coming, Caitanya Mahāprabhu, then His disciplic succession—Svarūpa Dāmodara, Ṣaḍ-gosvāmī, Kṛṣṅadas Gosvāmī, Baladeva Vidyābhūṣana, Viśvanātha Cakravartī. In this way there is a disciplic succession beginning from Lord Brahmā.

But that Brahmā instructed, govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi: "I worship the Supreme, Original Personality of Godhead, Govindam." The govinda-bhajan is the prime factor for all worshiping endeavors. Even Śaṅkarācārya, who was impersonalist, at the last stage of his life he advised everyone,

bhaja govindaṁ bhaja govindaṁ bhaja govindaṁ mūḍha-mate prāpte sannihite kāle na hi na hi rakṣati ḍukṛñ-karaṅe [Śaṅkarācārya]

[You fools and rascals, all your grammatical word jugglery of suffixes, prefixes and philosophical speculation will not save you at the time of death. Just worship Govinda! Worship Govinda! Worship Govinda!]

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. Only Govinda can save you from falling down. So bhaja govindaṁ bhaja govindaṁ bhaja govindaṁ mūḍha-mate. You foolish persons, you just worship Govinda."

So there are from Śaṅkara...[?] Śaṅkarācārya is supposed to be the incarnation of Lord Śiva. So he also advised govinda-bhajan, Brahmā also advised govinda-bhajan, and we are also under the same principle, following the footprints of those ācāryas. 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 Kṛṣṅa consciousness, govinda-bhajan. In the Padma-Purāṅa also there is such references. It is said there,

pradhāna-parama-vyomnor antare virajā nadī vedāṅga-sveda-janitais toyaiḥ prasrāvitā śubhā [Cc Madhya 21.50]

[Between the spiritual and the material world is a body of water known as the river Virajā. This water is generated from the bodily perspiration of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is known as Vedāṅga. Thus the river flows.]

tasyāḥ pāre paravyoma tripād-bhūtaṁ sanātanam amṛtaṁ śāśvataṁ nityam anantaṁ paramaṁ padam [Cc Madhya 21.51]

[Beyond the river Virajā is the spiritual nature, which is indestructible, eternal, inexhaustible and unlimited. It is the supreme abode, consisting of three fourths of the Lord’s opulences. It is known as paravyoma, the spiritual sky.]

So, 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, tasyāḥ pāre paravyoma. Paravyoma means spiritual sky. And tripād-bhūtam. Tripād-bhūtaṁ sanātanam. Tripād-bhūtam 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 sanātanam. That is not subjected to creation and annihilation, as this material world is subjected to creation and annihilation. That is confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā. All Vedic literatures, they say the same thing. So we have to learn from authorized sources, and we can be informed perfectly about parāvara: para and avara. Avara means this inferior nature, and para means superior nature. Parāvaras te.

tāra tale 'bāhyāvāsa' virajāra pāra ananta brahmāṅḍa yāhāṅ koṭhari apāra [Cc Madhya 21.52]

[On the other side of the river Virajā is the external abode, which is full of unlimited universes, each containing unlimited atmospheres.]

Now, after this spiritual world, this material world, that is full of innumerable universes. 'Devī-dhāma' nāma tāra, jīva yāra vāsī [Cc Madhya 21.53].

Now, this material world is called Devī-dhāma. And jīva, jīva means conditioned souls. In this Devī-dhāma, 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 ever-liberated.

They never become conditioned. We are conditioned. We, I mean to say, we do not know from when, but we are conditioned. So jīva yāra vāsī. In this material world, we conditioned, we are residents. But in the spiritual world the residents are all liberated souls. Jagal-lakṣmī rakhi' rahe yāhāṅ māyā dāsī.

'devī-dhāma' nāma tāra, jīva yāra vāsī jagal-lakṣmī rakhi' rahe yāhāṅ māyā dāsī [Cc Madhya 21.53]

[The abode of the external energy is called Devī-dhāma, and its inhabitants are the conditioned souls. It is there that the material energy, Durgā, resides with many opulent maidservants.]

Ei tina dhāmera haya kṛṣṅa adhīśvara [Cc Madhya 21.54].

[Kṛṣṅa is the supreme proprietor of all dhāmas, including Goloka-dhāma, Vaikuṅṭha-dhāma and Devī-dhāma. The paravyoma and Goloka-dhāma are beyond Devī-dhāma, this material world.]

Ei tina dhāma. Tina dhāma, what is that three system? This Devī-dhāma, the Maheśa-dhāma and the Hari-dhāma. Hari-dhāma, the spiritual world; and Maheśa-dhāma, in between... This Maheśa-dhāma is the destination of nirvāṅa. Nirvāṅa. The nirvāṅa philosophy, the Buddha philosophy, that is between this Devī-dhāma and Hari-dhāma: Maheśa-dhāma, Maheśa-dhāma, in between. They are liberated also, but not in the spiritual world, in the marginal place, which is called nirvāṅa. 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 nirvāṅa 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 nirvāṅa. The fever is finished. That is called nirvāṅa.

So when material existence is finished, that is nirvāṅa. But you have to go farther. You have to develop farther. Then your real, constitutional life as spirit soul will be manifested. So that is bhakti-mārga. That activity is healthy life after nirvāṅa. So those who are in Kṛṣṅa consciousness, they have already passed this material existence and nirvāṅa stage. They are in healthy activities, provided he is actually engaged in Kṛṣṅa consciousness. So ei tina dhāmera haya kṛṣṅa adhīśvara.

Now, these tina dhāma, three systems of existence, the material world and the marginal place, Maheśa-dhāma, and the spiritual sky. So in the Bhagavad-gītā you have learned that yad gatvā na nivartante tad dhāma paramaṁ mama [Bg 15.6].

[That abode of Mine is not illumined by the sun or moon, nor by electricity. One who reaches it never returns to this material world.]

That dhāma word is used there. Dhāma means place. Everything, Kṛṣṅa is proprietor of all places. But that does not mean that we should remain in this because this is also Kṛṣṅa's place. No. In the Bhagavad-gītā, Tenth Chapter, you will find that Kṛṣṅa says that dyūtaṁ chalayatām asmi [Bg 10.36]:

[I am also the gambling of cheats, and of the splendid I am the splendor. I am victory, I am adventure, and I am the strength of the strong.]

"Amongst the all kinds of cheating professions, I am gambling." Kṛṣṅa 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 Kṛṣṅa. So we should not think, "Oh, because Kṛṣṅa is gambling also, so let us engage and devote in gambling." No. Kṛṣṅa is everything. Kṛṣṅa is everything, but we have to select favorably, not unfavorably.

Sarvam khalv idaṁ brahma [Chāndogya Upaniṣad 3.14.1].

[Everything, both matter and spirit, is non-different from the Supreme Personality of Godhead who is the Supreme Brahman.]

Without Brahman, without Kṛṣṅa, nothing can exist. Everything existing on His energy. The same example can be given..., just, 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. Kṛṣṅa is everything. So Kṛṣṅa says that every dhāma, every place, belongs to Him, but yad gatvā na nivartante tad dhāma paramaṁ mama [Bg 15.6]:

[That abode of Mine is not illumined by the sun or moon, nor by electricity. One who reaches it never returns to this material world.]

"There is an eternal dhāma, where going nobody comes back. That is My supreme dhāma." So we have to associate with the Supreme. Kṛṣṅa is everything, but we have to associate with the Supreme, the best. That is Kṛṣṅa consciousness. Goloka...

ei tina dhāmera haya kṛṣṅa adhīśvara goloka-paravyoma-prakṛtira para [Cc Madhya 21.54]

[Kṛṣṅa is the supreme proprietor of all dhāmas, including Goloka-dhāma, Vaikuṅṭha-dhāma and Devī-dhāma. The paravyoma and Goloka-dhāma are beyond Devī-dhāma, this material world.]

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

cic-chakti-vibhūti-dhāma-tripād-aiśvarya-nāma māyika vibhūti-eka-pāda abhidhāna [Cc Madhya 21.55]

[The spiritual world is considered to be three fourths of the energy and opulence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, whereas this material world is only one fourth of that energy. That is our understanding.]

tripād-vibhūter dhāmatvāt tripād-bhūtaṁ hi tat padam vibhūtir māyikī sarvā proktā pādātmikā yataḥ [Cc Madhya 21.56]

[Because it consists of three fourths of the Lord’s energy, the spiritual world is called tri-pād-bhūta. Being a manifestation of one fourth of the Lord’s energy, the material world is called eka-pāda.]

Because Kṛṣṅa's energy is manifested here, māyika... Māyika means like illusory, imitation, perverted. In the Bhagavad-gītā also it is stated, ūrdhva-mūlam adhah-śākham [Bg 15.1].

[The Blessed Lord said: There is a banyan tree which has its roots upward and its branches down and whose leaves are the Vedic hymns. One who knows this tree is the knower of the Vedas.]

Here the tree, the original tree, is presented also, but how it is presented? Now, ūrdhva-mūlam adhah-śākham: "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 this real tree is upwards, but the reflection is downward.

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; it is 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 that's all. Therefore it is called māyika. It is not the real thing.

The real thing is there in the spiritual world. Therefore Kṛṣṅa 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 dhāma gatva na nivartante tad dhāma paramaṁ mama. Na tad bhāsayate sūryo na candro na pāvakaḥ [Bg 15.6].

[That abode of Mine is not illumined by the sun or moon, nor by electricity. One who reaches it never returns to this material world.]

This is also stated in the Bhagavad-gītā, that "There is no need of sun. There is no need of moon. There is no need of electricity." These things are there.

tripāda-vibhūti kṛṣṅera-vākya-agocara eka-pāda vibhūtira śunaha vistāra [Cc Madhya 21.57]

[The three-fourths part of Lord Kṛṣṅa’s energy is beyond our speaking power. Let us therefore hear elaborately about the remaining one fourth of His energy.]

Now Lord Caitanya says that the whole energy of Kṛṣṅa 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 tripāda-vibhūti kṛṣṅera-vākya-agocara: "It is very difficult to describe the three-fourth energy. Let us try to understand one-fourth energy first of all." Eka-pāda vibhūtira śunaha vistāra. And what is that one-fourth energy?

ananta brahmāṅḍera yata brahmā-rudra-gaṅa cira-loka-pāla-śabde tāhāra gaṅana [Cc Madhya 21.58]

[Actually it is very difficult to ascertain the number of universes. Every universe has its separate Lord Brahmā and Lord Śiva, who are known as permanent governors. Therefore there is also no counting them.]

There are innumerable universes, and each universe there are..., each universe contains one Brahmā, one Śiva, one sun, one moon, one Indra, like that, officers just like. So there are innumerable universes, so innumerable Brahmā, innumerable Rudra, innumerable sun, innumerable moon, everything innumerable. But each brahmāṅḍa contains one each. So how it happened? It is explained in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. So Lord Caitanya is reciting that story.

eka-dina dvārakāte kṛṣṅa dekhibāre brahmā āilā—dvāra-pāla jānāila kṛṣṅere [Cc Madhya 21.59]

[Once, when Kṛṣṅa was ruling Dvārakā, Lord Brahmā came to see Him, and the doorman immediately informed Lord Kṛṣṅa of Brahmā’s arrival.]

One day, when Kṛṣṅa was king at Dvārakā, with sixteen thousand queens, so one day Brahmā of this universe came to see Him. Brahmā āilā—dvāra-pāla jānāila kṛṣṅere. And as... The same etiquette was there also. This is also coming by paramparā. 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 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 Brahmā came, he sent his card, informed the doorman, "Please inform Kṛṣṅa that I have come to see Him."

kṛṣṅa kahena-'kon brahmā, ki nāma tāhāra?' dvārī āsi' brahmāre puche āra bāra [Cc Madhya 21.59]

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

So,

vismita hañā brahmā dvārike kahilā 'kaha giyā sanaka-pitā caturmukha āilā' [Cc Madhya 21.60]

[When Kṛṣṅa was so informed, He immediately asked the doorman, ’Which Brahmā? What is his name?’ The doorman therefore returned and questioned Lord Brahmā.]

When the doorman inquired that "Which Brahmā you are, sir?" so he replied... He was astonished: "Which Brahmā? 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 Brahmā?' So all right, Kṛṣṅa has asked. Tell Him that...," kaha giyā sanaka-pitā caturmukha āilā, that "Tell Kṛṣṅa that I am four-headed Brahmā. I am the father of Sanaka-Sanātana."

Sanaka-Sanātana..., he is giving his identification as father of Sanaka-Sanātana, because this Sanaka-Sanātana appeared to be greater than Brahmā. Although these four Kumāras were sons of Brahmā—Sanaka, Sanat-kumāra, Sananda and Sanātana, these four Kumāras—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 are not going to marry. We are not going to entangle." So they remained kumāra. So they became very famous, great devotees of Lord from very childhood.

So therefore Brahmā is very intelligent. He is the first creature of this universe. So may Kṛṣṅa forget that who is catur-mukha Brahmā. So he is giving identification that "Tell Kṛṣṅa that the father of these Sanaka-Sanātana." Because Kṛṣṅa cannot forget His these, I mean to say, pure devotees like Sanaka-Sanātana. 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 question? [end]