Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 6.149–50

[kīrtana]

Devotee: [introducing recording]

Caitanya-caritāmṛta lecture, evening, 12th January [sic], '71. [break]

Prabhupāda:

aho bhāgyam aho bhāgyaṁ nanda-gopa-vrajaukasām yan-mitraṁ paramānandaṁ pūrṅaṁ brahma sanātanam [SB 10.14.32]

[How greatly fortunate are Nanda Mahārāja, the cowherd men and all the other inhabitants of Vrajabhūmi! There is no limit to theirgood fortune, because the Absolute Truth, the source of transcendental bliss, the eternal Supreme Brahman, has become their friend.]

I think I shall speak in Hindi. [indistinct comments by others] What is that? I shall speak in English? Then they will take advantage of. That is... [indistinct comments by others] Why you have gone?

Yamunā: [indistinct]

Prabhupāda: Oh, I see. So this was a part of the prayer offered by Brahmājī when he offended on the lotus feet of Kṛṣṅa. The incident... Perhaps you know that Kṛṣṅa was a cowherd boy in Vṛndāvana.

[speaks in Hindi with Indians]

Why you are back side? You can come this side. So Brahmājī is praising the fortune of the residents of Vṛndāvana, vrajaukasām, headed by...

Vrajaukasām means the residents of the Vrajabhūmi, headed by Nanda Mahārāja. Aho bhāgyam aho bhāgyaṁ nanda-gopa-vrajaukasām, yan mitraṁ paramānandaṁ brahma. Kṛṣṅa was there. So Brahmā is admitting that this Kṛṣṅa is parabrahman sanātanam.

So we have to take evidence from the authorities. There are twelve authorities according to śāstra. Brahmā is one of the authorities. Twelve authorities means,

svayambhūr nāradaḥ śambhuḥ kapilaḥ kumāro manuḥ prahlādo janako bhīṣmo [balir] vaiyāsakir vayam [SB 6.3.20]

[Lord Brahmā, Bhagavān Nārada, Lord Śiva, the four Kumāras, Lord Kapila [the son of Devahūti], Svāyambhuva Manu, Prahlāda Mahārāja, Janaka Mahārāja, Grandfather Bhīṣma, Bali Mahārāja, Śukadeva Gosvāmī and I myself know the real religious principle. My dear servants, this transcendental religious principle, which is known as bhāgavata-dharma, or surrender unto the Supreme Lord and love for Him, is uncontaminated by the material modes of nature. It is very confidential and difficult for ordinary human beings to understand, but if by chance one fortunately understands it, he is immediately liberated, and thus he returns home, back to Godhead.]

Svayambhūr nāradaḥ. Svayambhūḥ is Brahmā; Nārada; then Śambhu, Lord Śiva. Svayambhūr nāradaḥ śambhuḥ kapilaḥ. Kapila. Kapila is incarnation of God, Kapiladeva, the propounder of the Sāṅkhya philosophy. Kumāra, the four Kumāras, ever brahmacārī. And Manu, Vaivasvata Manu, the father of Mahārāja Ikṣvāku.

And Prahlāda, the son of Hiraṅyakaśipu. The father was atheist and the son was a devotee, great devotee of Lord Kṛṣṅa. Then Janaka Mahārāja, the father of Sītādevī. And Bhīṣma, the grandfather of the Pāṅḍavas. Prahlādo janako bhīṣmaḥ. Then Vaiyāsaki, Śukadeva Gosvāmī; and Yamarāja, they are authorities.

Now, here the Brahmā, the first authority, he is admitting Kṛṣṅa as Brahman, pūrṅa-brahma sanātanam. Pūrṅa-brahma. Bhagavān. Brahman realization, there are stages, three stages of Brahman realization: first, impersonal Brahman, then localized Brahman, then full Brahman. Localized Brahman is Paramātmā, 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-gītā you have to admit,

imaṁ vivasvate yogaṁ proktavān aham avyayam vivasvān manave prāha manu ikṣvākave 'bravīt [Bg 4.1]

[The Blessed Lord said: I instructed this imperishable science of yoga to the sun-god, Vivasvān, and Vivasvān instructed it to Manu, the father of mankind, and Manu in turn instructed it to Ikṣvāku.]

So this Vivasvān, the sun-god, he heard from Kṛṣṅa for the first time about the yoga system stated in the Bhagavad-gītā. Therefore Kṛṣṅa 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, Paramātmā and Bhagavān—tattva-vastu, the Absolute Truth. That is stated in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. 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 Paramātmā, antaryāmī, and the ultimate realization is the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

vadanti tat tattva-vidas tattvaṁ yaj jñānam advayam brahmeti paramātmeti bhagavān iti śabdyate [SB 1.2.11]

[Learned transcendentalists who know the Absolute Truth call this nondual substance Brahman, Paramātmā or Bhagavān.]

This is Absolute Truth in three phases.

So here the Absolute Truth, when He is realized as the Supreme Person, as Brahmā is realizing, yan-mitram... He is realizing that Kṛṣṅa, who is playing as a cowherd boy in Vṛndāvana, and He has become the most intimate friend of the residents of Vṛndāvana, headed by Nanda Mahārāja... Nanda Mahārāja was the zamindar rāja. He was vaiśya. He had 900,000's of cows, and he was the head of Vṛndāvana. All other cowherds men were his tenants or friends or family members. So Kṛṣṅa automatically became their very, very dear friend.

That is the significance of the residents of Vṛndāvana. They... Their love for Kṛṣṅa was so ecstatic that they did not know anything except Kṛṣṅa. Therefore Brahmā says, aho bhāgyam aho bhāgyam [SB 10.14.32]:

[How greatly fortunate are Nanda Mahārāja, the cowherd men and all the other inhabitants of Vrajabhūmi! There is no limit to their good fortune, because the Absolute Truth, the source of transcendental bliss, the eternal Supreme Brahman, has become their friend.]

"How fortunate these residents of Vṛndāvana are that Kṛṣṅa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, has become their friend." And Kṛṣṅa is pūrṅa-brahma sanātanam. Not that He has assumed a body like a human being and He is imperson. No.

Just like Māyāvādī 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 Brahmā, and he says that Kṛṣṅa is pūrṅa-brahma sanātanam.

Then Caitanya Mahāprabhu says,

apāṅi-pāda-śruti varje prākṛta pāṅi-caraṅa punaḥ kahe śīghra cale kare sarva grahaṅa [Cc Madhya 6.150]

[The Vedic ’apāṅi-pāda’ mantra rejects material hands and legs, yet it states that the Lord goes very fast and accepts everything offered to Him.]

This is the process of describing a spiritual understanding, with reference to the Vedic injunction. Now, Śrī Kṛṣṅa Caitanya Mahāprabhu is giving Vedic reference. He says, apāṅi-pāda. This is a reference from the Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad. In the Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad there is statement, impersonally, but referring to the person, transcendental person. The mantra is like this:

apāṅi-pādo javano grahītā paśyaty acakṣuḥ sa śṛnoty akarṅaḥ sa vetti vedyaṁ na ca tasyāsti vettā tam āhur agryaṁ puruṣaṁ mahāntam [Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 3.19]

[The Supreme Lord has no material hands and feet but accepts whatever is offered to Him and moves very quickly. The Supreme Person has no material ears and eyes but sees and hears everything. He is the knower of everything, and He is all that is to be known. It is said that He is the best and the greatest of all persons.]

Puruṣam. Puruṣam means person, but the Vedic mantra begins, apāṅi-pāda: "Person, but has no leg and no hand." There are two kinds of statements: that He is person, puruṣa, mahānta, the greatest person, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, He is a person; but apāṅi-pāda, 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 Kṛṣṅa says, tad aham aśnāmi, bhaktyā upahṛtam aśnāmi: "Anyone who offers Me anything," patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyam [Bg 9.26],

[If one offers Me with love and devotion a leaf, a flower, fruit or water, I will accept it.]

"with devotion," bhaktyā... The very word is bhaktyā. That means Kṛṣṅa is transcendental person, and the Vedic mantra confirms. When the Vedic mantra says apāṅi-pāda, "no hands, no legs," that is not imperson. "Person, but His hands and legs are not like us," that is apāṅi-pāda.

Caitanya Mahāprabhu explains that. Apāṅi-pāda śruti varje prākṛta pāṅi-caraṅa [Cc Madhya 6.150]: "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 Mahāprabhu's explanation.

apāṅi-pāda śruti, veda-mantra, varje prakṛta pāṅi-caraṅa na kahe śīghra cale kare sarva grahaṅa [Cc Madhya 6.150]

[The Vedic ’apāṅi-pāda’ mantra rejects material hands and legs, yet it states that the Lord goes very fast and accepts everything offered to Him.]

"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 mantra. "Nobody can capture Him, He is walking so speedily." But if He has no leg, how He is walking? But that, Caitanya Mahāprabhu explains that varje prākṛta pāṅi-caraṅa: "This means that the Supreme Personality of Godhead has no material body."

In the Kūrma Purāṅa it is said that the Supreme Personality, the Para-brahman, 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 śāstra says, yasyātma-buddhiḥ kuṅape tri-dhātuke [SB 10.84.13]:

[One who identifies his self as the inert body composed of mucus, bile and air, who assumes his wife and family are permanently his own, who thinks an earthen image or the land of his birth is worshipable, or who sees a place of pilgrimage as merely the water there, but who never identifies himself with, feels kinship with, worships or even visits those who are wise in spiritual truth—such a person is no better than a cow or an ass.]

"If anyone accepts this body as self..." This body is made of three dhātus: kapha, pitta, vāyu. I am not this. And Bhagavad-gītā also says,

dehino 'smin yathā dehe kaumāraṁ yauvanaṁ jarā tathā dehāntara-prāptiḥ... [Bg 2.13]

[As the embodied soul continually passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. The self-realized soul is not bewildered by such a change.]

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 Kṛṣṅa or viṣṅu-tattva, there is no such difference. The self and the body, no difference. That is confirmed in the Kūrma Purāṅa.

Unfortunately the Māyāvādīs, they, either due to their poor fund of knowledge of the śāstras or by their whims, they say that "Kṛṣṅa or Viṣṅu, when comes, or the Absolute Truth when He descends, He assumes, He accepts, a material body." That is not a fact. Kṛṣṅa says, sambhavāmy ātma-māyayā [Bg 4.6].

[Although I am unborn and My transcendental body never deteriorates, and although I am the Lord of all sentient beings, I still appear in every millennium in My original transcendental form.]

It is not that Kṛṣṅa accepts a material body. No. Kṛṣṅa has no such distinction, material [indistinct]. Therefore Kṛṣṅa says, avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā mānuṣīṁ tanum āśritam [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.]

"Because I present Myself, descend Myself as a human being, the mūḍhas, or the rascals, they think of Me or deride at Me."

The Māyāvādīs, they will never worship the transcendental form of the Lord. They'll not worship. They will worship the imperson. And Kṛṣṅa has said, kleśo adhikataras teṣām avyaktāsakta-cetasām [Bg 12.5].

[For those whose minds are attached to the unmanifested, impersonal feature of the Supreme, advancement is very troublesome. To make progrese in that discipline is always difficult for those who are embodied.]

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 jñānīs, those who want to understand the Absolute Truth by their material, imperfect knowledge, how... Ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṅa-nāmādi na bhaved grāhyam indriyaiḥ [Cc Madhya 17.136].

[Therefore material senses cannot appreciate Kṛṣṅa’s holy name, form, qualities and pastimes. When a conditioned soul is awakened to Kṛṣṅa consciousness and renders service by using his tongue to chant the Lord’s holy name and taste the remnants of the Lord’s food, the tongue is purified, and one gradually comes to understand who Kṛṣṅa really is.]

Our manipulation of the senses is not possible to understand what is Kṛṣṅa.

The Vedic mantra also it is said, nayam ātmā pravacanena labhyaḥ [Muṅḍaka Upaniṣad 3.2.3]:

[The Supreme Lord is not attained by expert explanations, by vast intelligence, nor even by much hearing. He is attained only by one who He Himself chooses. To such a person He manifests His own form.]

"You cannot realize the ātmā, 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 ātmā pravacanena labhya na medhayā: "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 Kṛṣṅa, it is not material process. Therefore Kṛṣṅa said, bhaktyā mām abhijānāti yāvān yaś cāsmi tattvataḥ [Bg 18.55]:

[One can understand the Supreme Personality as He is only by devotional service. And when one is in full consciousness of the Supreme Lord by such devotion, he can enter into the kingdom of God.]

only through devotional service He can be known. Nāhaṁ prakāśaḥ sarvasya yogamāyā-samāvṛtaḥ [Bg 7.25].

[I am never manifest to the foolish and unintelligent. For them I am covered by My eternal creative potency [yoga-māyā]; and so the deluded world knows Me not, who am unborn and infallible.]

Kṛṣṅa is covered by the curtain drawn by yogamāyā; therefore Kṛṣṅa cannot be understood by everyone, neither His teaching, Bhagavad-gītā, can be understood without becoming a devotee of Kṛṣṅa. This is not possible.

Therefore Kṛṣṅa says to Arjuna that bhakto 'si priyo 'si me [Bg 4.3]:

[That very ancient science of the relationship with the Supreme is today told by Me to you because you are My devotee as well as My friend; therefore you can understand the transcendental mystery of this science.]

"Because you are My very dear friend, therefore I shall speak to you." Rahasyaṁ hy etad uttamam: "Without you, nobody can understand." Kṛṣṅa [Arjuna] was a military man. He was not a brāhmaṅa, neither a Vedāntist. You cannot expect a military man, a kṣatriya, to be highly learned in Vedic scriptures. That is not possible.

They hear from the brāhmaṅas. The brāhmaṅas, they are expected to be highly learned scholars in Vedas, because that is their department. Jñānaṁ vijñānam āstikyaṁ brahma-karma svabhāva-jam [Bg 18.42].

[Peacefulness, self-control, austerity, purity, tolerance, honesty, wisdom, knowledge, and religiousness—these are the qualities by which the brāhmaṅas work.]

Brahma jānātīti brāhmaṅaḥ. Brāhmaṅa... Therefore we call brāhmaṅa, "paṅḍita," "paṅḍitajī." Paṅḍitajī has never seen the pages of Vedas, but still, he is going on under the name of paṅḍitajī.

So that kind of paṅḍitajī not wanted. Actually a brāhmaṅa means he is truthful. And one of the greatest commentator of Bhagavad-gītā, Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṅa, 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 Vidyābhūṣaṅa says, "A brāhmaṅa should be so truthful that he will disclose everything to his enemy also." Satyam. Titikṣa ārjavam śuci śama dama—these are the qualification. Jñānaṁ vijñānam āstikyaṁ brahma-karma svabhāva-jam [Bg 18.42].

So without this brahminical qualification one cannot understand the Vedic knowledge. Therefore it is stated sometimes that a śūdra 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 brāhmaṅa. 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-gītā without becoming a devotee of Kṛṣṅa is useless. It has no meaning, because Kṛṣṅa says that bhaktyā mām abhijānāti [Bg 18.55]:

[One can understand the Supreme Personality as He is only by devotional service. And when one is in full consciousness of the Supreme Lord by such devotion, he can enter into the kingdom of God.]

"Only through devotional service one can understand Me." And how a nondevotee can understand Him? He has no scope to enter into the knowledge of Bhagavad-gītā. So first qualification is that he must be a pure devotee of Kṛṣṅa. Then it will be revealed.

In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavata there is a verse,

athāpi te deva padāmbuja-dvayam- prasāda-leśānugṛhīta eva hi jānāti tattvaṁ [bhagavan-mahimno] na cānya eko 'pi ciraṁ vicinvan [SB 10.14.29]

[My Lord, if one is favored by even a slight trace of the mercy of Your lotus feet, he can understand the greatness of Your personality. But those who speculate to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead are unable to know You, even though they continue to study the Vedas for many years.]

"My dear Lord, one who has a little," I mean to say, "favorable connection with Your lotus feet, he can understand You." Athāpi te deva padāmbuja-dvaya-prasāda: "One who has got a little prasāda from Your lotus feet, such person can understand You." Prasāda-leśānu..., jānāti tattvam: "He can understand what You are."

Kṛṣṅa says that,

manuṣyāṅāṁ sahasreṣu kaścid yatati siddhaye yatatām api siddhānāṁ kaścid vetti māṁ tattvataḥ [Bg 7.3]

[Out of many thousands among men, one may endeavor for perfection, and of those who have achieved perfection, hardly one knows Me in truth.]

To understand Kṛṣṅa is not very easy job. Kṛṣṅa 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 brāhmaṅa or acquire the brahminical qualification. That is the platform of sattva-guṅa. Unless one comes to the platform of sattva-guṅa, there is no question of perfection.

Nobody can understand, nobody can achieve perfection on the platform of rajo-guṅa and tamo-guṅa, because one who is addicted with rajo-guṅa and tamo-guṅa, he is always very greedy and lusty. Tato rajas-tamo-bhāvāḥ kāma-lobhādayaś ca ye [SB 1.2.19].

[As soon as irrevocable loving service is established in the heart, the effects of nature's modes of passion and ignorance, such as lust, desire and hankering, disappear from the heart. Then the devotee is established in goodness, and he becomes completely happy.]

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. Vaiśya means passion and ignorance, kṣatriya means passion and brāhmaṅa 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-viśuddham, sattva-guṅa. In this material world, sattva-guṅa is also sometimes mixed with rajo-guṅa and tamo-guṅa. That is the nature. So one has to transcend the platform of sattva-guṅa. Śuddha-sattva. Sattvaṁ viśuddhaṁ vasudeva-śabditam. That is the vasudeva platform, when Kṛṣṅa appears.

So manuṣyāṅāṁ sahasreṣu [Bg 7.3].

[Out of many thousands among men, one may endeavor for perfection, and of those who have achieved perfection, hardly one knows Me in truth.]

So generally people are addicted, infected with the qualities of ignorance and passion. How he can understand Kṛṣṅa? 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 bhāgavata-dharma. Nityaṁ bhāgavata-sevayā [SB 1.2.18].

[By regular attendance in classes on the Bhāgavatam and by rendering of service to the pure devotee, all that is troublesome to the heart is almost completely destroyed, and loving service unto the Personality of Godhead, who is praised with transcendental songs, is established as an irrevocable fact.]

Tato rajas-tamo bhāvāḥ.

There is a..., are verses in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam that śṛṅvatāṁ sva-kathāḥ kṛṣṅaḥ puṅya-śravaṅa-kīrtanaḥ [SB 1.2.17].

[Śrī Kṛṣṅa, the Personality of Godhead, who is the Paramātmā [Supersoul] in everyone's heart and the benefactor of the truthful devotee, cleanses desire for material enjoyment from the heart of the devotee who has developed the urge to hear His messages, which are in themselves virtuous when properly heard and chanted.]

One has to hear. Therefore śravaṅa and kīrtana, hearing and chanting, is very important. Śṛṅvatāṁ sva-kathāḥ kṛṣṅaḥ, especially hearing and chanting of Kṛṣṅa. Kīrtanād eva kṛṣṅasya mukta-saṅgaḥ paraṁ vrajet [SB 12.3.51].

[My dear King, although Kali-yuga is an ocean of faults, there is still one good quality about this age: Simply by chanting the Hare Kṛṣṅa mahā-mantra, one can become free from material bondage and be promoted to the transcendental kingdom.]

Simply by discussing and hearing and reciting Bhagavad-gītā purely, not by interpreting wrongly... As it is. As Kṛṣṅa says, man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī mām [Bg 18.65],

[Always think of Me and become My devotee. Worship Me and offer your homage unto Me. Thus you will come to Me without fail. I promise you this because you are My very dear friend.]

you have to accept that. You cannot change that. You cannot say, "It is not to Kṛṣṅa; it is the Kṛṣṅa's self and this and that."

So śṛṅvatāṁ sva-kathāḥ kṛṣṅaḥ. One who hears Bhagavad-gītā as it is or Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam from devotees... Śṛṅvatāṁ sva-kathāḥ kṛṣṅaḥ puṅya-śravaṅa-kīrtanaḥ. Because simply by hearing he achieves the result of pious activities... And Kṛṣṅa says also in the Bhagavad-gītā that "One can be engaged in My service, in devotional service, who is freed from all contamination of sinful life."

yeṣāṁ anta-gataṁ pāpaṁ janānāṁ puṅya-karmāṅam te dvanda-moha-nirmuktā bhajante māṁ dṛḍha-vratāḥ [Bg 7.28]

[Persons who have acted piously in previous lives and in this life, whose sinful actions are completely eradicated and who are freed from the duality of delusion, engage themselves in My service with determination.]

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

So the process is, as it is recommended in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, śṛṅvatāṁ sva-kathāḥ: simply you sit down and hear what Kṛṣṅa says. Don't comment wrongly, whimsically. Don't gratify your senses. Submissively, namanta... As Caitanya Mahāprabhu also recommends from Bhāgavata, jñāne prayāsam udapāsya namanta eva [SB 10.14.3].

[Those who, even while remaining situated in their established social positions, throw away the process of speculative knowledge and with their body, words and mind offer all respects to descriptions of Your personality and activities, dedicating their lives to these narrations, which are vibrated by You personally and by Your pure devotees, certainly conquer Your Lordship, although You are otherwise unconquerable by anyone within the three worlds.]

Just be submissive, bhavadīya-vārtām, and try to hear Kṛṣṅa submissively. Then you'll benefit. If you make your own commentation, then you will be wrongly directed. You have to...

Therefore Kṛṣṅa said,

evaṁ paramparā-prāptam imaṁ rājarṣayo viduḥ sa kālena... yogo naṣṭaḥ parantapa [Bg 4.2]

[This supreme science was thus received through the chain of disciplic succession, and the saintly kings understood it in that way. But in course of time the succession was broken, and therefore the science as it is appears to be lost.]

Because the paramparā system was lost, therefore Kṛṣṅa 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-gītā by the paramparā system. Just like Arjuna. Arjuna heard Bhagavad-gītā. And how he understood Bhagavad-gītā? He understood Kṛṣṅa as a person. Paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān, puruṣaṁ śāśvatam ādyam [Bg 10.12].

[Arjuna said: You are the Supreme Brahman, the ultimate, the supreme abode and purifier, the Absolute Truth and the eternal divine person. You are the primal God, transcendental and original, and You are the unborn and all-pervading beauty. All the great sages such as Nārada, Asita, Devala, and Vyāsa proclaim this of You, and now You Yourself are declaring it to me.]

That is real Bhagavad-gītā understanding.

And Arjuna said, sarvam etam ṛtaṁ manye yan māṁ vadasi keśava [Bg 10.14].

[O Kṛṣṅa, I totally accept as truth all that You have told me. Neither the gods nor demons, O Lord, know Thy personality.]

As Kṛṣṅa says that sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṅaṁ vraja [Bg 18.66],

[Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reaction. Do not fear.]

so he accepted that. That is Bhagavad-gītā reading, not that "It is not to person Kṛṣṅa; it is to His self," and this and that. No. Therefore we are presenting Bhagavad-gītā as it is.

So it is very unfortunate that the Supreme Personality of Godhead, accepted by all the ācāryas—not only at the present age; previously also—Vyāsadeva, Nārada, Asita, Devala, they are all great ācāryas. And in the recent years, Śaṅkarācārya, he also admitted. Rāmānujācārya, Madhvācārya, Viṣṅu Svāmī, Lord Caitanya—all these authorities, they are accepting Kṛṣṅa 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 imperson'? God is person." Kṛṣṅa came. Kṛṣṅa exhibited His godly potencies, energies, when He was present. There is no... In the history you won't find another second person like Kṛṣṅa in the whole history of the world. Apart from other points of view, Bhagavad-gītā, that is admitted, spoken by Kṛṣṅa, such deep, profound knowledge—there is no second imitation or second copy like Bhagavad-gītā in the whole world. That is admitted by all scholars, all religionists.

Therefore He is pūrṅa-jñāna, pūrṅa-brahma. Bhagavad-gītā is pūrṅa-jñāna. The Bhagavān's one qualification: He is fully wise. Nobody is wiser than Him. That is one of the qualification. 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-aiśvarya. That will be explained.

So Kṛṣṅa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, admitted by all ācāryas. And on the basis of that authority, we are preaching all over the world that "You are searching after God? Here is God: kṛṣṅas tu bhagavān svayam." Kṛṣṅas tu bhagavān svayam. In the Bhāgavata has given different list of different incarnation of God, but ultimately concludes that ete cāṁśa-kalāḥ puṁsaḥ kṛṣṅas tu bhagavān svayam [SB 1.3.28]:

[All of the above-mentioned incarnations are either plenary portions or portions of the plenary portions of the Lord, but Lord Śrī Kṛṣṅa is the original Personality of Godhead. All of them appear on planets whenever there is a disturbance created by the atheists. The Lord incarnates to protect the theists.]

"All the incarnations, they are parts or parts of the parts." Aṁśa means part, and kalāḥ means part of the part. "But svayaṁ pūrṅa-bhagavān, ṣoḍaśa-kala pūrṅa, ṣaḍ-aiśvarya-pūrṅa-bhagavān [Cc Madhya 25.33] is Kṛṣṅa."

[The word ’Brahman’ [’the greatest] indicates the Supreme Personality of Godhead, full in all six opulences. But if we take the onesided impersonalist view, His fullness is diminished.]

That is the verdict all Vedas, all śāstras.

So we should also accept in that light, kṛṣṅas tu bhagavān svayam. Īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṅaḥ [Bs 5.1].

[Kṛṣṅa who is known as Govinda is the Supreme Godhead. He has an eternal blissful spiritual body. He is the origin of all. He has no other origin and He is the prime cause of all causes.]

And Kṛṣṅa also says personally, ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavaḥ [Bg 10.8]:

[I am the source of all spiritual and material worlds. Everything emanates from Me. The wise who know this perfectly engage in My devotional service and worship Me with all their hearts.]

"I am the origin of even Brahma, Śiva and Viṣṅu also." Ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavaḥ mattaḥ sarvaṁ pravartate.

So from any... Now, here Caitanya Mahāprabhu says that Kṛṣṅa 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 Kṛṣṅa, 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, apāṅi-pāda javano grahītā [Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 3.19]:

[The Supreme Lord has no material hands and feet but accepts whatever is offered to Him and moves very quickly. The Supreme Person has no material ears and eyes but sees and hears everything. He is the knower of everything, and He is all that is to be known. It is said that He is the best and the greatest of all persons.]

"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 Mahāprabhu is trying to explain before Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya that the Absolute Truth is a person, a person like you and me. Cetana... Nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām [Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2.2.13].

[The Supreme Lord is eternal and the living beings are eternal. The Supreme Lord is cognizant and the living beings are cognizant. The difference is that the Supreme Lord is supplying all the necessities of life for the many other living entities.]

He is the Supreme Person, the chief person. We are all also individuals, Kṛṣṅa is also individual, but He is the chief and we are subordinate. That is the difference.

Thank you very much. Hare Kṛṣṅa.

[break] God is not poor man, but you are mismanaging. [Hindi] [indistinct] [end]