Bhagavad-gītā As It Is

Bhagavad-gītā 9.4–6

Prabhupāda:

mayā tatam idaṁ sarvaṁ jagad avyakta-mūrtinā mat-sthāni sarva-bhūtāni na cāhaṁ teṣv avasthitaḥ [Bg 9.4]

[By Me, in My unmanifested form, this entire universe is pervaded. All beings are in Me, but I am not in them.]

This verse, we have been discussing last night, this is distinct explanation of impersonalism and personalism. Actually, there cannot be any impersonal idea. Here Kṛṣṅa says, avyakta-mūrtinā. Even avyakta, nonmanifested, it has also a mūrti, a form. Generally, we conceive impersonalism, voidism, voidism, compared with the sky. Sky is called zero, void, but sky has also a form. We see daily, a big, round form. So there cannot be anything without form. That is not possible.

Therefore Kṛṣṅa particularly says avyakta-mūrtinā. Although it is nonmanifested, but it has got a form. But one who does not take to the real form and takes to the imaginary form, that has been explained in the Bhagavad-gītā, kleśo 'dhikataras 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.]

Those who are attached to the impersonal form, they unnecessarily take some trouble always, kleśaḥ adhika-taraḥ.

Of course, to understand the form of the Lord, that is not very easy thing. It requires much intelligence. Intelligence, that is also a kind of tapasya. Without tapasya, nobody can understand the form of the Lord, sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha [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.]

Because generally we take it for granted "form" means a form like me. Kṛṣṅa says that patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ yo me bhaktyā prayacchati, tad aham aśnāmi [Bg 9.26].

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

Now, we offer eatables to the Lord. Kṛṣṅa says tad aham aśnāmi, "I eat." But the atheists cannot see. They cannot see that how Kṛṣṅa is eating. They say that "You offered something to Kṛṣṅa, but He has not eaten. It is lying there; you are eating." But no, Kṛṣṅa has eaten. They do not know how they eat..., how Kṛṣṅa eats. That is their fault. Poor fund of knowledge.

One has to learn how Kṛṣṅa can eat. Kṛṣṅa can eat simply by seeing. Simply, Kṛṣṅa's all parts, all the indriyas, different parts of the body, limbs, they're as good as Kṛṣṅa. Kṛṣṅa can eat, just like we eat through our mouth, but Kṛṣṅa can eat with His eyes. That is absolute. We have, because we are not absolute, we have got distinction between my our eyes and our hands, our mouth. There are distinction, which is called sagata viveḥ.

We have got difference of body between yourself and myself, and in the body also there are differences. My eyes are different from my hands, my hands are different from my legs. But Kṛṣṅa, being Absolute, He has no such distinction. That they do not understand. Therefore they cannot imagine how God, Kṛṣṅa, can have a form. "If He has a form, then the form is like this, our," the Māyāvādīs, they say. They believe that when Brahman comes, He accepts a material body.

That is defied by Kṛṣṅa: 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 come as a human being, these rascals take Me as one of the human being." This is the beginning. Mūḍhā, this word is used, very word. Mūḍhā means rascal. Because Kṛṣṅa comes as this child of Yaśodā-mā or as the son of Vāsudeva, therefore these Māyāvādīs, they mistake that Kṛṣṅa or Brahman has taken the form, accepting the body from māyā. But that's not the fact. Kṛṣṅa is not under māyā. Kṛṣṅa says, sambhavāmy ātma-māyayā: not accepting this material energy. He's ordering, sambhavāmi yuge yuge, 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.]

So the so-called rascal scholars, they think Kṛṣṅa and Kṛṣṅa's body are different. As we, we spirit soul, we are different from this body, similarly these Māyāvādīs, they also think that Kṛṣṅa is different from His body. We have several times discussed, a big scholar, when Kṛṣṅa says in this Ninth Chapter man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru [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.]

he translates nice, but comments that "It is not to Kṛṣṅa, the person. It is unto the Supreme Brahman who is within Kṛṣṅa." He does not know Kṛṣṅa, that Kṛṣṅa has no such difference. He is Para-brahman. He has no difference as between the soul and the body. He is complete spiritual body, sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha [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.]

Kṛṣṅa is sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha, sac-cid-ānanda. So there cannot be any difference between Kṛṣṅa and His soul. There is no such thing.

But these people, the so-called scholars, they do not understand Kṛṣṅa, but they have the audacity to write comments on Bhagavad-gītā. They do not know what is Kṛṣṅa, but they have the impudency to write comments on Bhagavad-gītā. Kṛṣṅa says, "It is meant for you, Arjuna, because you are My devotee," 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.]

Nobody can understand Bhagavad-gītā unless one is very dear to Kṛṣṅa and bhakta of Kṛṣṅa. Nobody can understand. That is the first step.

One must be very dear to Kṛṣṅa and one must be a devotee of Kṛṣṅa, then he can touch Bhagavad-gītā. Of course, there are so many things, jñāna-yoga, bhakti-yoga, dhyāna-yoga, haṭha-yoga, karma-yoga. So many yogas are there. But Kṛṣṅa says, "The most confidential part of knowledge, My dear Arjuna, I am giving you, because you are so My dear friend," sarva guhyatamam, the Eighteenth Chapter, that, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṅaṁ [Bg 18.66],

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

man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namas...

So God, Kṛṣṅa, is not imperson at the ultimate end. Brahmeti paramātmeti bhagavān iti śabdyate [SB 1.2.11].

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

Absolute Truth is realized in three phases: Brahman, Paramātmā and Bhagavān. So Paramātmā is subordinate to the Supreme Person, Kṛṣṅa, and Brahman is also subordinate to the Supreme Person, Kṛṣṅa. Brahmaṅo ahaṁ pratiṣṭhā. Brahman, the impersonal Brahman feature, brahma-jyoti, that is resting on Kṛṣṅa. It is very easy to understand. We can see that the sunshine is resting on the sun globe. Sun globe is localized, but sunshine is very big. It is distributed all over the universe. But that does not mean that sunshine is more important than the sun globe. The sun globe is important, and the still more important is the sun-god. Within the sun globe there is sun-god, Vivasvān. He is a person. And there is also other living entities, their, all their bodies are made of fire.

Here in the material science, they sterilize. They, they are under the impression that when there is too strong temperature, the microbes die, or when there is too cold, the microbes die. There are two kinds of sterilization: either by increasing the heat or decreasing the heat, below zero. But Bhagavad-gītā, from Bhagavad-gītā we understand, adāhyo 'yam: soul is never killed in fire, neither it is killed by extreme coldness. Nityaḥ śāśvato 'yam. Spirit cannot be counteracted by any material reaction. That is spirit.

So therefore, the theory that in the fire the living entity dies, it is not; otherwise how these ślokas are there in the Second Chapter? Adāhyo 'yam, akledyo 'yam, aśoṣya 'yam [Bg 2.24].

[This individual soul is unbreakable and insoluble, and can be neither burned nor dried. He is everlasting, all-pervading, unchangeable, immovable and eternally the same.]

That means anything material, that can be cut into pieces, but the soul cannot be cut into pieces. Acchedyo 'yam. It cannot be cut into pieces. Acchedyo' yam. Adāhyo 'yam: it cannot be burned into ashes in the fire.

Akledyo 'yam aśoṣya 'yam: by the reaction of the five elements, earth, water, fire, air, that is not applicable in the soul. So if they're not applicable to the soul, which is minute particle of the Supreme Soul, how it is applicable to the Supreme Soul? Therefore it is a miscalculation that Kṛṣṅa, the Supreme Soul, is affected by this material nature. That is not possible. Therefore Kṛṣṅa says that 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.]

Besides that, Kṛṣṅa says that material nature works under His direction, mayādhyakṣeṅa prakṛtiḥ sūyate sa-carācaram [Bg 9.10].

[This material nature is working under My direction, O son of Kuntī, and it is producing all moving and unmoving beings. By its rule this manifestation is created and annihilated again and again.]

There are other evidences. In Brahmā-samhita:

sṛṣṭi-sthiti-pralaya-sādhana-śaktir ekā chāyeva yasya bhuvanāni bibharti durgā icchānurūpam api yasya ca ceṣṭate sā... [Bs 5.44]

[The external potency Māyā who is of the nature of the shadow of the cit potency, is worshiped by all people as Durgā, the creating, preserving and destroying agency of this mundane world. I adore the primeval Lord Govinda in accordance with whose will Durgā conducts herself.]

Sa durgā, icchānurūpam. Yasya icchānurūpam api ceṣṭate. Sa durgā. Sṛṣṭi-sthiti-pralaya-sādhana-śaktiḥ. Durgā is so powerful that it can create..., she can create, she maintains and she can annihilate everything; still, she is working as maidservant under the direction of Govinda. Govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi. And it is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā, mayādhyakṣeṅa prakṛtiḥ sūyate sa-carācaram [Bg 9.10].

So Kṛṣṅa is the origin of everything.

ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavo mattaḥ sarvaṁ pravartate iti matvā bhajante māṁ budhā bhāva-samanvitāḥ [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.]

Vasudevaḥ sarvam iti sa mahātmā su-durlabhaḥ [Bg 7.19].

[After many births and deaths, he who is actually in knowledge surrenders unto Me, knowing Me to be the cause of all causes and all that is. Such a great soul is very rare.]

One who understands Kṛṣṅa perfectly... We cannot understand Kṛṣṅa perfectly; that is not possible. But as far as our knowledge is concerned, as far as we can study Vedas, if we simply can understand that Kṛṣṅa is the origin of everything, 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.]

Paramaḥ kṛṣṅaḥ. Every one of us, somehow or other, we are īśvaraḥ. Īśvaraḥ means controller. So we have got some controlling capacity, according to our capacity, but we are not the supreme controller. That is not possible.

Supreme controller is Kṛṣṅa. You may be controller. I am controller, but above me there is another controller, above him there is another controller, above him there is another controller. In this way, within this material world, the supreme controller is Brahmā—within this material world, not beyond this material world. Only on the..., on this universe, in each and every universe, there are many Brahmās, many Rudras, and many other demigods—many suns, many moons, many, many, millions.

yasya prabhā prabhavato jagad-aṅḍa-koṭi- koṭiṣv [aśeṣa]-vasudhādi-vibhūti-bhinnam tad brahma niṣkalam anantam aśeṣa-bhūtaṁ govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi [Bs 5.40]

[I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, whose effulgence is the source of the nondifferentiated Brahman mentioned in the Upaniṣads, being differentiated from the infinity of glories of the mundane universe appears as the indivisible, infinite, limitless, truth.]

So everything is Kṛṣṅa's energy; therefore Kṛṣṅa says, mayā tatam idaṁ sarvam [Bg 9.4].

[By Me, in My unmanifested form, this entire universe is pervaded. All beings are in Me, but I am not in them.]

Sarvaṁ 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.]

means Kṛṣṅa's energy is spread everywhere, everything. Parasya brahmaṅaḥ śaktiḥ.

That expansion, in the Viṣṅu Purāṅa it is said,

eka-sthāni [deśa]-sthitasyāgner jyotsnā vistāriṅī yathā parasya brahmaṅaḥ śaktis sarvaiva [tathedam] akhilaṁ jagat [Viṣṅu Purāṅa 1.22.53]

[Just as the illumination of a fire, which is situated in one place, is spread all over, the energies of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Para-brahman, are spread all over this universe.]

Sarvedam akhilaṁ jagat. Idaṁ sarvam. Whatever we are seeing, they are simply expansion of Kṛṣṅa's energy. Just like a big merchant, a big industrialist, he has got big, big factories. So these factories, he..., one can say that this is Mr. Birla's factory or Mr. such-and-such gentleman's factory, Tata's factory. But still, although the factory belongs to Tata, the factory is running on by the energy of Tata, but you cannot find, if you want to see where is Tata here, Mr. Tata, that you cannot see. Tata is seeing..., sitting in his room and is pulling button and everything is going on.

Similarly, goloka eva nivasaty akhilātma-bhūto [Bs 5.37].

[I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, residing in His own realm, Goloka, with Rādhā, resembling His own spiritual figure, the embodiment of the ecstatic potency possessed of the sixty-four artistic activities, in the company of Her confidantes [sakhīs], embodiments of the extensions of Her bodily form, permeated and vitalized by His ever-blissful spiritual rasa.]

Kṛṣṅa in His place, He is with Rādhārāṅī. He is enjoying playing on His flute. Why He has to do anything? Parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate [Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 6.8].

[The Supreme Lord has nothing to do. Nothing is equal to Him or greater than Him. He acts in different phases by manifesting His parts and parcels, which are all simultaneously differently situated by His unlimited, variegated potencies. Each potency acts quite naturally in sequences, providing Him full knowledge, power and pastimes.]

This is Vedic injunction. Na tasya kāryaṁ karaṅaṁ ca vidyate. He has nothing to do. If we can see ordinary, a Mr. Tata or Mr. Birla, has nothing to do, everything is being done by his energy, so how great energy has got the Supreme Personality of Godhead, just we can imagine.

So His energy is acting, working. Parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate svābhāvikī jñāna-bala-kriyā ca. His energy is acting in such a perfect way that as we see that it is automatically working. Automatically. An electronic machine, just by putting here a button, it is immediately responding five thousand miles away, the same button working. That..., this scientific method we have discovered. And we have discovered. The law is there. You have simply learned to push one button, but there are vividhaiva button.

Parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate. So simply by His willing, everything is being done. That is Kṛṣṅa. Simply by His willing. Vicamati. Just like in the Bible it is said, "Let there be creation, and there was creation." Simply by this will, "Let there be creation," there is creation. But there is action of the energy of Kṛṣṅa, but the energy is so subtle that immediately it performs: svābhāvikī jñāna-bala-kriyā ca.

You see, study one flower, how finely it is constructed, how... The botanist can study that it is running in this way, the veins are running in this way, the system is like this. But who has made the system, that is to be studied, not only simply studying the superficial nature. A flower is coming out. It is not coming automatically. Exactly the same energy. Just like if we want to paint one flower, we have to apply our energy.

We have to collect a color and the brush and apply our attention. Similarly, Kṛṣṅa is doing, but His energy is so perfect, it becomes quickly done, immediately. Immediately. Parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate. The same example: Just like now in the electronic days. Formerly we have to connect so many things before doing telegraphic transfer, but by electronic, immediately, simply by pushing one button.

So if in the material world such subtle things can be performed, so spiritually, still fine, finely it can be done. Therefore Kṛṣṅa says that "Whatever you see," mayā tatam idaṁ sarvam [Bg 9.4], "it is My expansion of energy." "It is My expansion of energy."

[By Me, in My unmanifested form, this entire universe is pervaded. All beings are in Me, but I am not in them.]

The same example as it is given in the Viṣṅu Purāṅa, just as a fire is there in one place. The another example is just like sunshine. Sun is fixed up. You can see, everyone can see that it is lying, stationed, in one insignificant corner of the sky, but his sunshine is distributed all over the universe, and everything, all planets, all vegetation, all seasonal changes, they are depending on the sunshine.

Similarly, Kṛṣṅa has got His rays of the body, brahma-jyoti, yasya prabhā [Bs 5.40], prabhā.

Brahmajyoti is described as prabhā. Yasya prabhā prabhavato. As soon as there is brahma-jyoti... Brahmajyoti is always there. Yasya prabhā prabhavato jagad-aṅḍa-koṭi. In the brahma-jyoti, innumerable universes are coming out, anywhere. In another place it is said, yasyaika-niśvasita-kālam athāvalambya jīvanti loma-vila-jā jagad-aṅḍa-nāthāḥ [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.]

Jagad-aṅḍa-nāthāḥ means Brahmā. So everything is coming from Him. But the same thing, that is the Vedic injunction. Yato vā imāni bhūtāni jāyante [Taittirīya Upaniṣad 3.1.1].

[The Supreme Absolute Truth is that from which everything is born.]

These are the Vedic injunction. Yato vā imāni, sa aikṣata, sa asṛjata. [Aitareya-Upaniṣad 1.1.1–2] So, sa vai..., raso vai saḥ: everything, all, reservoir of all rasas. So same, same thing is explained here, mayā tatam idaṁ sarvam [Bg 9.4].

[By Me, in My unmanifested form, this entire universe is pervaded. All beings are in Me, but I am not in them.]

But these Māyāvādī, they think that "I am the same. I am... I am distributed everywhere. I am moving the sun, I am moving..." They mediate like this. This is nonsense. How you are moving? It is said, mayā tatam idaṁ sarvam: "I am expanded all over this body." That you can say. My limitation. Kṣetra, kṣetra-jña, that is described in the Bhagavad-gītā. Idaṁ śarīraṁ kṣetram iti abhidhīyate [Bg 13.2]. I am not exactly controller; still, suppose I am the proprietor of this body.

Actually, I am not proprietor of the body. Actually proprietor is, of this body, Kṛṣṅa, Paramātmā, but I have given a place. That is explained in the Bhagavad-gītā: kṣetra-jñaṁ cāpi māṁ viddhi sarva-kṣetreṣu bhārata [Bg 13.3]. Jīvātmā is the proprietor of this body. He has been given this body to act, just like this human body is given by nature to us. Now we can act. If we act just like human being, then your life is successful; the chance given by nature is fruitful.

What is that chance? This body is given for inquiring about Brahman: athāto brahma jijñāsā. Atha, now we have got this human form of body. Now inquire about Brahman. Why you are going to the share market: "What is the price of this share?" But we are wasting in that way. [Hindi?] Bās. Not inquiring about Brahman. [Hindi?] The dogs and cats, they are all, "Where is some food? Where is some stool?" They are inquiring. Not that inquiry.

Just like the hog is inquiring whole day, "Where is stool? Where is stool?" Not, not that inquiry. The human body is meant for inquiring about Brahman: athāto brahma jijñāsā. This is Vedānta-sūtra. But they're not interested in inquiring about Brahman. Nāyaṁ deho deha-bhājāṁ nṛloke kaṣṭān kāmān arhate viḍ-bhujāṁ ye [SB 5.5.1].

[Lord Ṛṣabhadeva told His sons: My dear boys, of all the living entities who have accepted material bodies in this world, one who has been awarded this human form should not work hard day and night simply for sense gratification, which is available even for dogs and hogs that eat stool. One should engage in penance and austerity to attain the divine position of devotional service. By such activity, one's heart is purified, and when one attains this position, he attains eternal, blissful life, which is transcendental to material happiness and which continues forever.]

Viḍ-bhujām, hogs, viḍ-bhujām. Viḍ-bhujām means stool-eater. They are working very hard. But this human body is not meant for that purpose. Kaṣṭān kāmān. Kāmān means the necessities to fulfill, to satisfy the senses, āhāra-nidrā bhaya mithuna—where to eat, where to sleep, where to have sexual intercourse, where..., how to defend. These are kāmān. These are bodily necessities. But for fulfilling simply the bodily necessities if we work so hard, then where is the difference between us and the hogs? They're doing same thing.

Therefore śāstra says, nāyaṁ deho deha-bhājāṁ nṛloke [SB 5.5.1]. They are all, all the bodies, they have got, cats and dogs and hogs, they have also got body. Trees, they have got their body. But nṛloke: in the human society when you have got a body, it is not meant for working hard like hogs and dogs. This is human civilization. This is human civilization. Then what it is meant for? Tapo, tapasya. That is Vedic civilization. That is Vedic civilization. But we have made program for economic development, working hard day and night like hogs and dogs. This is going on. This is going on under the name of civilization. And to satisfy me after hard labor, there is wine and women and flesh. That's all.

This is not civilization. This is hog civilization. Real civilization is for tapasya. Everything, God has given us everything. You eat. For human being, Kṛṣṅa has given you nice fruits, nice flowers, nice grains, nice milk, nice sugar. Why don't you eat them nicely? That is Vedic civilization. Take the grains, take the fruits, take milk, take sugar, make varieties of preparation, offer Kṛṣṅa, and take the prasāda and chant Hare Kṛṣṅa. This is civilization. This is civilization. Otherwise, simply working hard for sense gratification without any discrimination whether it is mother or sister or any..., that is hog civilization. That the hog has no discrimination you'll find.

So therefore śāstra says, nāyaṁ deho deha-bhājāṁ nṛloke kaṣṭān kāmān arhate. They do not understand what is civilization. Here Kṛṣṅa said, now, aprāpya māṁ nivartante mṛtyu-saṁsāra-vartmani [Bg 9.3].

[Those who are not faithful in this devotional service cannot attain Me, O conqueror of enemies. Therefore they return to the path of birth and death in this material world.]

But they do not know what is mṛtyu-saṁsāra-vartmani. Is there any university where this education is given, what is mṛtyu-saṁsāra-vartmani? Can any big philosopher can say what is this mṛtyu-saṁsāra-vartmani? They do not know. Kṛṣṅa said that "If you do not get Me, here is a chance, human form of body."

Aprāpya mām. "If you don't get Me, if you come..., do not come to Kṛṣṅa consciousness, then what is the result? Nivartante, mṛtyu-saṁsāra-vartmani." If you do not take chance... Just like sometimes you have seen somebody takes his bird in the field and let him loose, out of the cage, and the bird goes and he also goes behind. But if the bird takes chance, "Now I am..., now let loose, let me fly away..." But that, that he does not do. He again comes within the cage, again. Again he comes. So this human form of body is just like a let loose. Now you get the freedom of flying away from this mṛtyu-saṁsāra-vartmani. But that we'll not do. We'll enter again. We'll enter. Everything is clear.

So we are not interested how to get out of the cage of mṛtyu-saṁsāra-vartmani. We are again and again coming back to the cage. This is called ajñāna. This is called ajñāna. Jñāna means that I am eternal, na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre [Bg 2.20]. I do not..., I am not annihilated after the killing, after the annihilation of this body. Nityaḥ śāśvatayam, na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre. Then why I am entering this body, which is annihilated? That is the problem. That is mṛtyu-saṁsāra-vartmani. If you enter again into this material body, then again mṛtyu. Again enter, again die, again mṛtyu. Bhūtvā bhūtvā pralīyate [Bg 8.19].

This is the problem, mṛtyu-saṁsāra-vartmani. But nobody is interested how to get out of this problem. They do not know, they do not feel. They think that "After death I am annihilated." But that is not the fact. The fact is that you have to enter another body, and any material body you accept, either king's body or dog's body or hog's body or tree's body, it will be finished. It will. That is called mṛtyu, mṛtyu-saṁsāra-vartmani.

So we are accepting similar bodies; 8,400,000 forms of bodies are there, and one after another we are entering and leaving and entering and leaving. This is called mṛtyu-saṁsāra-vartmani. But we have no such brain that how to get out this mṛtyu-saṁsāra-vartmani. We can get out. That is..., that will be, that is explained, mām eva ye prapadyante māyām etāṁ taranti. This is māyā. Māyā means actually I am not under this mṛtyu-saṁsāra-vartmani. Ātma māyām ṛte rājan [SB 2.9.1]. It is māyā. Just like in dream, I enter some kind of body.

At night, every night we can experience, that when you sleep we dream that "I have taken another body. I have gone to another place. I am working in a different way, forgetting this body." This is daily experience. And when that dream is over, then again I come to this body. I remember, "Oh, I have to go there, I have to do this," another action, other activities. This is going on. I am accepting this gross dream and this subtle dream, but what is my actual position? That I do not know. This is called ignorance.

That actual position we can understand if we become Kṛṣṅa conscious. If we simply become Kṛṣṅa conscious, then we can understand our actual position. Then we can be saved, and that is stated here, aśraddhadhānāḥ puruṣā dharmasyāsya parantapa [Bg 9.3].

[Those who are not faithful in this devotional service cannot attain Me, O conqueror of enemies. Therefore they return to the path of birth and death in this material world.]

Aśraddhadhānāḥ. If one is not interested in Kṛṣṅa consciousness, aśraddhadhānāḥ, no faith—"I have no faith"—but it is for your interest, sir. Why you say that "I have no interest"? That is the.... Na te viduḥ svārtha-gatiṁ hi viṣṅum [SB 7.5.31].

[Persons who are strongly entrapped by the consciousness of enjoying material life, and who have therefore accepted as their leader or guru a similar blind man attached to external sense objects, cannot understand that the goal of life is to return home, back to Godhead, and engage in the service of Lord Viṣṅu. As blind men guided by another blind man miss the right path and fall into a ditch, materially attached men led by another materially attached man are bound by the ropes of fruitive labor, which are made of very strong cords, and they continue again and again in materialistic life, suffering the threefold miseries.]

They, the rascal, they do not know what is his interest.

He does not know. Bahir-artha-māninaḥ, durāśayā. Bahir-artha-māninaḥ. He has got this material body, and he's thinking, "Satisfaction of my senses, that is my interest," bahir-artha-māninaḥ. And andhā yathāndhair upanīyamānās. And another rascal leader who gives him impetus, "Yes, you do this, you do that, you will be very much satisfied. You do..." So many materialists, they engage them. That is very nice. They like to abide by such leaders. But what are those leaders? Andhā. They do not know what is the ultimate goal of life. They are themselves blind, and they are leading other blind followers. This is going on. Na te viduḥ svārtha-gatim.

But actually leading, actually leader is Kṛṣṅa. Kṛṣṅa says, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṅam [Bg 18.66].

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

He is actual leader. So don't follow all these nonsense things. Don't follow all these "isms"; you'll spoil your life, because you are not this body, that is the first... Tathā dehāntaraṁ prāpti, dehino 'smin yathā dehe [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 everything clearly explained in the Bhagavad-gītā. So instead of accepting these blind leaders, we should know who is actual leader. Kṛṣṅa is the leader. We'll, if we take leadership of Kṛṣṅa, then our life is perfect; we could properly utilize the utility of human life. Otherwise we have been mislead.

Now Kṛṣṅa is therefore explaining that the, whatever you are seeing in this material world... What is this material world? This material world is combination of the spiritual and material energy of Kṛṣṅa. Parasya brahmaṅaḥ śaktiḥ. There are two different energies of Brahman. Sarvedam akhilaṁ jagat. What is this Calcutta city? Calcutta city means the earth, water, air, fire, sky. These are material elements, gross elements. Mind, intelligence and ego, these are the subtle elements. These eight elements, Kṛṣṅa's energy, and beyond this energy, aparayam, these are inferior energy. Beyond this inferior, super..., inferior energy there is a superior energy. Apareyam itas tu viddhi me prakṛtiṁ parā [Bg 7.5].

[Besides this inferior nature, O mighty-armed Arjuna, there is a superior energy of Mine, which are all living entities who are struggling with material nature and are sustaining the universe.]

Another superior. What is that superior energy? Jīva-bhūta, the living force, the living entity.

So what is this world? This world, or take this Calcutta, what is it? It is a combination of material energy and spiritual energy. The spiritual energies are the living entities. He has got this material body; therefore it is a combination. So they are working. But who is working? Actually working these living entities, and he is utilizing this material energy. This is going on. Yayedaṁ dharyate..., the whole world is going on like this: a combination of material energy and spiritual energy. The spiritual energy is superior and the material energy is inferior. Therefore whatever we are seeing, they are simply display, manifestation of two energies of Kṛṣṅa. Parasya brahmaṅaḥ śaktiḥ sarvedam akhilaṁ jagat [Viṣṅu Purāṅa 1.22.53].

[Just as the illumination of a fire, which is situated in one place, is spread all over, the energies of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Para-brahman, are spread all over this universe.]

This is jagat. So although energy and the energetic, they are nondifferent, still, energy is not the energetic. This is called acintya-bhedābheda,

[It is the living entity's constitutional position to be an eternal servant of Kṛṣṅa because he is the marginal energy of Kṛṣṅa and a manifestation simultaneously one and different from the Lord.]

simultaneously one and different. The energy is not different. Just like the fire and the heat and the light. The heat and light is from the fire. Wherever there is fire, there is heat and light, but still heat and light is not fire. Try to understand it. This is acintya-bhedābheda. Heat is not different from fire, light is not different from fire, but still heat and light is not fire. Similarly, the everything, whatever we see, they are simply manifestation of the two energies of God, Brahman. So they are not different from Brahman, at the same time different from Brahman. This is called acintya-bhedābheda-tattva.

Therefore Kṛṣṅa says here that mat-sthāni sarva-bhūtāni [Bg 9.4]:

[By Me, in My unmanifested form, this entire universe is pervaded. All beings are in Me, but I am not in them.]

"Everything is resting on My energy, but I am not them." The Māyāvādī philosophers, they are mistaken, mistaking that when everything is expanded as God's energy, then why there is separate God? This is material conception. God is always separate from His energy. That is distinctly said here: mayā tatam idaṁ sarvam. Everything is emanation of God's energy, but still God is not there. If you worship the energy of God, that is not God-worshiping. Indirectly it is, but directly it is not.

That is explained in Bhagavad-gītā, the kāmais tais tair hṛta-jñānāḥ prapadyante 'nya-devatāḥ [Bg 7.20]. Anya devatāḥ: they are energies of Kṛṣṅa. But there is no need..., if you approach directly to the energetic, the energy is automatically touched and worshiped. Sarvārhaṅam acyutejyā. Just like if you pour water in the root. Root is the cause of the tree. So the tree, the, I mean, the branches, the twigs, the leaves, the flowers, everything, they are also expansion of the root. So if you water on the root, the service expands to other parts of the root.

yathā taror mūla-niṣecanena tṛpyanti tat-skandha-bhujopaśākhāḥ prāṅopahārāc ca yathendriyāṅāṁ tathaiva sarvārhaṅam acyutejyā [SB 4.31.14]

[As pouring water on the root of a tree energizes the trunk, branches, twigs and everything else, and as supplying food to the stomach enlivens the senses and limbs of the body, simply worshiping the Supreme Personality of Godhead through devotional service automatically satisfies the demigods, who are parts of that Supreme Personality.]

So it you simply worship Acyuta.... Acyuta means the Supreme Lord who never falls, who never falls down. We are cyuta. Although we are qualitatively one with God, but we have got the tendency of falldown. Therefore we have fallen down in this material world. But Kṛṣṅa does not fall down. When Kṛṣṅa comes, He is not like us. And if we consider Him as one of us, then we must be rascal number one. Avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā mānuṣīṁ tanum... [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.]

paraṁ bhāvam ajananto.

So that is Kṛṣṅa. Kṛṣṅa is expanding by His energy everywhere. Sarvedam akhilaṁ jagat, parasya brahmaṅaḥ śaktiḥ. But in the śakti, although there is relationship, that is also in different way indirectly Kṛṣṅa, but there is no Kṛṣṅa. That is not Kṛṣṅa. If you have... [break] Mayā tatam idaṁ sarvaṁ jagad avyakta-mūrtinā mat-sthani sarva-bhutani [Bg 9.4].

[By Me, in My unmanifested form, this entire universe is pervaded. All beings are in Me, but I am not in them.]

Everything is resting in His energy, mat-sthāni sarva-bhūtāni. Na cāhaṁ teṣv avasthitaḥ: "But I am not there." And if you, instead of Kṛṣṅa, if you worship the energy...

The material scientist, he is also worshiping Kṛṣṅa, but He is worshiping the Kṛṣṅa's material energy, not Kṛṣṅa. Therefore, if one says that "I am worshiping the energy of Kṛṣṅa, therefore there is no need of worshiping Kṛṣṅa," that is not good. That is not good. Ye yathā māṁ prapadyante [Bg 4.11].

[All of them—as they surrender unto Me—I reward accordingly. Everyone follows My path in all respects, O son of Pṛthā.]

If you stick to the worshipment of the energy, you'll get that success, but not as much success as Kṛṣṅa worshiping.

Therefore it is clearly said,

mayā tatam idaṁ sarvaṁ jagad avyakta-mūrtinā mat-sthāni sarva-bhūtāni na cāhaṁ teṣv avasthitaḥ [Bg 9.4]

[By Me, in My unmanifested form, this entire universe is pervaded. All beings are in Me, but I am not in them.]

In another place it is said that, just like He says that "The worshiping the other demigod, that is also worshiping Me, but avidhi bhur bhavam." Yajanty avidhi-pūrvakam: that is not vidhi. Vidhi is sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṅam [Bg 18.66],

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

to worship Kṛṣṅa. It is very simple. Patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ yo me bhaktyā prayacchati [Bg 9.26].

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

But people will not accept this simple thing which will give him complete perfection.

But māyayāpahṛta-jñānā āsuri bhāvam āśritāḥ, because they have taken the atheistic view, āsuri bhāvam āśritāḥ, therefore māyā has taken his knowledge. They..., everything is explained in the Bhagavad-gītā. Mayaiva vihitān hi tān [Bg 7.22].

[Endowed with such a faith, he seeks favors of a particular demigod and obtains his desires. But in actuality these benefits are bestowed by Me alone.]

If we worship other demigod, they cannot independently offer you any benediction. Kṛṣṅa said, mayaiva vihitān hi tān. They have to take sanction from the Supreme Personality of Godhead before giving you the benediction. But still such benediction is temporary, antavat tu phalaṁ teṣāṁ tad bhavaty alpa-medhasām [Bg 7.23].

[Men of small intelligence worship the demigods, and their fruits are limited and temporary. Those who worship the demigods go to the planets of the demigods, but My devotees ultimately reach My supreme planet.]

They are temporary.

So such temporary benediction is meant for the alpa-medhasā, one whose brain substance is very small, or the brain substance, instead of brain substance, it's cow dung. They attempt, they accept in this way; otherwise every śāstra says, vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ [Bg 15.15].

[I am seated in everyone's heart, and from Me come remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness. By all the Vedas am I to be known; indeed I am the compiler of Vedānta, and I am the knower of the Vedas.]

One..., all the Vedic literatures, they aim at understanding Kṛṣṅa, and Kṛṣṅa says, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṅaṁ vraja [Bg 18.66]: "Give up all these things. Simply surrender unto Me." It is so easy. Patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalam... Any, any part of the world, any poor man can offer Kṛṣṅa. This is the poorest, not that who are rich, for them it is prescribed. Anyone can offer Kṛṣṅa according to his capacity. Kṛṣṅa is not hankering after your offering, but if you offer Kṛṣṅa, that is for your own interest, own benefit. Mayā tatam idaṁ sarvaṁ jagad avyakta-mūrtinā [Bg 9.4].

[By Me, in My unmanifested form, this entire universe is pervaded. All beings are in Me, but I am not in them.]

na ca mat-sthāni bhūtāni paśya me yogam aiśvaram bhūta-bhṛn na ca bhūta-stho bhūtātmā bhūta-bhāvanaḥ [Bg 9.5]

[And yet everything that is created does not rest in Me. Behold My mystic opulence! Although I am the maintainer of all living entities, and although I am everywhere, still My Self is the very source of creation.]

This is acintya-bheda. The same thing as I have already explained, that the heat and light is not different from the fire, but still the fire is not there. Similarly, although Kṛṣṅa is not there, but everything is there in Kṛṣṅa, and everywhere you can find Kṛṣṅa also at the same time, because everything is Kṛṣṅa's energy.

Just like here we are worshiping Deity made of stone. Everyone knows that the Deity is made of stone. That atheist class will say, "How is this? These foolish people are worshiping a stone statue." But no, that is not same stone statue. Stone is also Kṛṣṅa, because bhūmir āpo 'nalo vāyuḥ [Bg 7.4].

[Earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence and false ego—altogether these eight comprise My separated material energies.]

So one who knows the art, by worshiping stone also, he can worship Kṛṣṅa. By worshiping stone also. It is Kṛṣṅa's mercy.

Because at the present moment, 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.]

By your blunt senses, you can not understand what is Kṛṣṅa, what is Kṛṣṅa's name, what is Kṛṣṅa's form, what is Kṛṣṅa's activity. Therefore Kṛṣṅa, by His causeless mercy, has come before us in the form of stone so that we can see Him. Because we cannot see beyond stone. We cannot see beyond wood. And wood and stone is also not beyond Kṛṣṅa. That is also Kṛṣṅa.

So Kṛṣṅa has given us the facility to worship Him in the way as we can understand. It is not that Kṛṣṅa.... Kṛṣṅa is stone, because Kṛṣṅa says bhūmir āpo 'nalo vāyuḥ. He can take service from this, any form. There are eight kinds of forms. Either you paint, either you make a form from wood, from stone, from jewels, and according to Vedic system there are so many different types of Deities. So Kṛṣṅa can accept your service in any way. That is Kṛṣṅa's omnipotency. He has got omnipotency. But we can handle. If we simply, if we want to worship the gigantic virāṭ-rūpa of Kṛṣṅa, if you want to dress Him with cloth, where is such..., where is there such amount of cloth? How you can do it?

So it is Kṛṣṅa's kindness that He has appeared before you in a small form, so according to your capacity, you can make very nice dress, and Kṛṣṅa, you can dress Him. And by dressing Him, Kṛṣṅa will understand that "Here is my devotee. He is giving Me some service." This is the position. Therefore temple worship, the Deity worship is necessity for the kaniṣṭha-adhikārī. Simply if you think that "Kṛṣṅa is everywhere.

I shall think of Kṛṣṅa, meditate on Him," that is not possible. Meditation, that is also regu..., requires good qualification. Dhyānāvasthita-tad-gatena manasā paśyanti yaṁ yoginaḥ [SB 12.13.1].

[Sūta Gosvāmī said: Unto that personality whom Brahmā, Varuṅa, Indra, Rudra and the Maruts praise by chanting transcendental hymns and reciting the Vedas with all their corollaries, pada-kramas and Upaniṣads, to whom the chanters of the Sāma Veda always sing, whom the perfected yogīs see within their minds after fixing themselves in trance and becoming fully absorbed in thoughts of Him, and whose limit can never be found by any demigod or demon—unto that Supreme Personality of Godhead I offer my humble obeisances.]

But Kṛṣṅa, by His kindness, arca-mūrti, a child can see also Kṛṣṅa. Any innocent, any illiterate man can see, any man can see—a brāhmaṅa can see, śūdra can see. Therefore the Deity worship so important.

na ca mat-sthāni bhūtāni paśya me yogam aiśvaram bhūta-bhṛn na ca bhūta-stho mamātmā bhūta-bhāvanaḥ [Bg 9.5]

Mamātmā bhūta-bhāvanaḥ: "Everything is coming from Me; therefore everything is in Me. Still I am not there." This is called acintya-bhedābheda.

yathākāśa-sthito nityaṁ vāyuḥ sarvatra-go mahān tathā sarvāṅi bhūtāni mat-sthānīty upadhāraya [Bg 9.6]

Just like in the sky there are so many things. Yathākāśa. Yathākāśa-sthito nityaṁ vāyuḥ. The vāyuḥ, vāyuḥ is everywhere, but it is within the sky. It is nityo, nityam. Nityaṁ vāyuḥ sarvatra-go mahān tathā sarvāṅi bhūtāni mat-sthānī. "Everything is in Me, and still I am not there."

So Kṛṣṅa is outside, Kṛṣṅa is inside. Īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-deśe 'rjuna tiṣṭhati [Bg 18.61].

[The Supreme Lord is situated in everyone's heart, O Arjuna, and is directing the wanderings of all living entities, who are seated as on a machine, made of the material energy.]

Kṛṣṅa is so kind. Kṛṣṅa is outside. Kṛṣṅa is inside. Kṛṣṅa is outside... Brahmā satyaṁ jagan mithyā—no. Jagan not, not mithyā, because these elements, jagat means these five elements. That is also Kṛṣṅa. Kṛṣṅa in everything. Kṛṣṅa's energy, how we can say it is mithyā? It is not mithyā; it is fact, but we do not know it is Kṛṣṅa. We are claiming, "This is our land," but we do not know it is, it is whose land. That is our mistake. Land is not mithyā; land is fact. But we do not know whose land, to whom this land belongs. That we do not know.

But a devotee knows that īśāvāsyam idaṁ sarvam [Īśo mantra 1],

[Everything animate or inanimate that is within the universe is controlled and owned by the Lord. One should therefore accept only those things necessary for himself, which are set aside as his quota, and one should not accept other things, knowing well to whom they belong.]

everything belongs to Kṛṣṅa. Kṛṣṅa also says, sarva-loka-maheśvaram [Bg 5.29]:

[The sages, knowing Me as the ultimate purpose of all sacrifices and austerities, the Supreme Lord of all planets and demigods and the benefactor and well-wisher of all living entities, attain peace from the pangs of material miseries.]

"I am the proprietor of all lokas." But we are claiming, "This is Indian land, it is our land," "This is Chinese land," "This is American land," and you are fighting. This is due to want of Kṛṣṅa consciousness. Actually everything belongs to Kṛṣṅa. We belong to Kṛṣṅa. My body belongs to Kṛṣṅa. I am part and parcel of Kṛṣṅa; therefore my only duty is to serve Kṛṣṅa. This is perfect knowledge. Otherwise all nonsense. This is the...

yathākāśa-sthito nityaṁ vāyuḥ sarvatra-go mahān tathā sarvāṅi bhūtāni mat-sthānī... [Bg 9.6]

Sarva-bhūtāni, "Everything," mat-sthānī, "they are My part and parcel." Therefore the part and parcel duty is to serve the whole. Just like this finger, part and parcel of this body, its duty is to serve the whole body. When it is..., there is some defect, then it cannot serve. Then anyone, any living entity who is not engaged in Kṛṣṅa's service, he is in abnormal condition of his life. That is not...

That is called conditional life. And as soon as he gives up this conditional life, he takes to Kṛṣṅa consciousness and begins serving Kṛṣṅa, that is mukti. That is mukti. Svarūpeṅa vyavasthitiḥ hitvānyathā-rūpaṁ [SB 2.10.6], mukti.

[The merging of the living entity, along with his conditional living tendency, with the mystic lying down of the Mahā-Viṣṅu is called the winding up of the cosmic manifestation. Liberation is the permanent situation of the form of the living entity after he gives up the changeable gross and subtle material bodies.]

This is the definition of mukti. Muktir hitvānyathā-rūpaṁ svarūpeṅa vyavasthitiḥ. Mukti means you give up your abnormal condition of life and you be situated in your own constitutional life. That is mukti.

So we are spreading this mukti. Kṛṣṅa consciousness means mukti consciousness. Take it very seriously. Try to understand and take advantage of it and be happy. That is our request.

Thank you very much.

Devotees: Jaya Prabhupāda! [end]

Bhagavad-gītā 9.4–6

Referenced verses