Śāstrīya Śraddhā
Śrīla Prabhupāda
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Lectures1973.10.07BombayBhagavad-gītā As It Is13.1435:50
Bhagavad-gītā As It Is

Bhagavad-gītā 13.14

Pradyumna: [leads chanting of verse, etc.] [Prabhupāda and devotees repeat]

sarvataḥ pāṅi-pādaṁ tat sarvato 'kṣi-śiro-mukham sarvataḥ śrutimal loke sarvam āvṛtya tiṣṭhati [Bg 13.14]

[break]

Prabhupāda: Word meaning. Word meaning. [break]

[00:24]

Pradyumna: Translation: "Everywhere are His hands and legs, His eyes and faces, and He hears everything. In this way the Supersoul exists."

Prabhupāda: So, we are now discussing jñeyam, the object of knowledge. Previously we discussed the process of knowledge, amānitvam adambhitvam ahiṁsā kṣāntir ārjavam, ācāryopāsanam... [Bg 13.8]. Twenty items we have discussed. The chief is, mayi cānanya-yogena bhaktir avyabhicāriṅī [Bg 13.11].

[Humility, pridelessness, nonviolence, tolerance, simplicity, approaching a bona fide spiritual master, cleanliness, steadiness and self-control; renunciation of the objects of sense gratification, absence of false ego, the perception of the evil of birth, death, old age and disease; nonattachment to children, wife, home and the rest, and evenmindedness amid pleasant and unpleasant events; constant and unalloyed devotion to Me, resorting to solitary places, detachment from the general mass of people; accepting the importance of self-realization, and philosophical search for the Absolute Truth—all these I thus declare to be knowledge, and what is contrary to these is ignorance.]

The chief of them is bhakti, mayi ca ananya-yogena, without any diversion. Ananya-yogena bhakti-yoga. That is the chief point.

Then other qualities of knowledge will develop automatically. Yasyāsti bhaktir bhagavaty akiñcanā sarvair guṅais tatra samāsate surāḥ [SB 5.18.12].

[All the demigods and their exalted qualities, such as religion, knowledge and renunciation, become manifest in the body of one who has developed unalloyed devotion for the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vāsudeva. On the other hand, a person devoid of devotional service and engaged in material activities has no good qualities. Even if he is adept at the practice of mystic yoga or the honest endeavor of maintaining his family and relatives, he must be driven by his own mental speculations and must engage in the service of the Lord's external energy. How can there be any good qualities in such a man?]

As soon as you become a pure devotee of the Lord, all the good qualities of the demigods, surāḥ... There are two classes of men: sura and asura. Sura means devotees, and asura means nondevotees. So good qualities can be found in the suras. Ahiṁsā amānitvam adambhitvam ahiṁsā kṣāntir ārjavam [Bg 13.8]. There are many instances that the devotees are all qualified.

Just like Prahlāda Mahārāja, he was only five-years-old boy, and his father was always chastising him, because his only fault was he was chanting Hare Kṛṣṅa mantra. So the world is so made, full of demons, that simply for your fault of chanting Hare Kṛṣṅa mantra you'll have so many enemies, even your father. This is the position. Simply for this fault, that because we are chanting Hare Kṛṣṅa mantra, we have got so many enemies. This is the world. Sura and asura. Because the more asuras... They'll never tolerate. The glorifying the Lord, they cannot tolerate. It is very difficult for them. So there are two classes of men, suras and asuras. Sura means viṣṅu-bhakto bhaved daivaḥ. Sura means devatā, or the demigods, and asura means—viṣṅu-bhakto bhaved daiva asuras tad-viparyayaḥ [Bg 16.6]

[O son of Pṛthā, in this world there are two kinds of created beings. One is called the divine and the other demonic. I have already explained to you at length the divine qualities. Now hear from Me of the demoniac.]

—and asuras means just the opposite number of viṣṅu-bhakta. They are asuras.

So if you develop Kṛṣṅa consciousness, if you develop love for Kṛṣṅa, then automatically the qualities of the suras, or the demigods, will develop. You haven't got to endeavor separately for becoming qualified in good qualities. Automatically. Yasyāsti bhaktir bhagavaty akiñcanā sarvair guṅais tatra samāsate surāḥ, harāv abhaktasya kuto mahad-guṅāḥ [SB 5.18.12].

[All the demigods and their exalted qualities, such as religion, knowledge and renunciation, become manifest in the body of one who has developed unalloyed devotion for the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vāsudeva. On the other hand, a person devoid of devotional service and engaged in material activities has no good qualities. Even if he is adept at the practice of mystic yoga or the honest endeavor of maintaining his family and relatives, he must be driven by his own mental speculations and must engage in the service of the Lord's external energy. How can there be any good qualities in such a man?]

But if one is nondevotee, he cannot have any good quality. Why? Now, mano-rathenāsati dhāvato bahiḥ. Because he is on the mental platform. Devotee means one who is acting on the spiritual platform, and nondevotee means those who are acting on the material platform, either bodily platform or mental platform. These are material platform.

Bodily platform, they are called karmīs. They are working for their personal benefit. Generally, everyone in the Bombay city, they are working very hard, but what is the aim? For their personal profit. That is called karmī. Either in this life... Even those who are performing yajñas for being elevated to the heavenly planet, that is also karma, karma-kāṅḍīya. They are also karmīs. Either for becoming happy in this life or becoming happy... Happy nobody can become; it is illusion. But by sense gratification we think that we are happy. That is the karmī life, on the bodily platform. And the mental platform is little subtle—the philosophers, the poets, the scientists, like that.

So both the bodily platform and mental platform, they are material. Because the body is also matter and mind is also matter. That is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā: bhūmir āpo 'nalo vāyuḥ khaṁ mano buddhir eva ca, apareyam, prakṛtir me bhinnā aṣṭadhā [Bg 7.4].

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

This body is made of five elements: earth, water, fire, air, sky; and mind is there, subtle body, mind, intelligence and egotism. So both platform are material platform. Therefore it is said, harāv abhaktasya. Those who are devotees of the Lord, they are not acting on the mental or the gross material platform. They are not working on that platform. They are working on the spiritual platform.

So good qualities can be attained automatically when you work on spiritual platform. But if you work on material platform, means the gross body and the mind, then good qualities cannot be attained. Harāv abhaktasya kuto mahad-guṅā mano-rathenāsati dhāvato bahiḥ [SB 5.18.12].

[All the demigods and their exalted qualities, such as religion, knowledge and renunciation, become manifest in the body of one who has developed unalloyed devotion for the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vāsudeva. On the other hand, a person devoid of devotional service and engaged in material activities has no good qualities. Even if he is adept at the practice of mystic yoga or the honest endeavor of maintaining his family and relatives, he must be driven by his own mental speculations and must engage in the service of the Lord's external energy. How can there be any good qualities in such a man?]

Therefore we find that educated persons, so-called educated... They are not educated, because in the Bhagavad-gītā it is said the so-called educated persons are bereft of real knowledge, māyayāpahṛta-jñānāḥ [Bg 7.15].

[Those miscreants who are grossly foolish, lowest among mankind, whose knowledge is stolen by illusion, and who partake of the atheistic nature of demons, do not surrender unto Me.]

Apahṛta-jñānāḥ. Why? Āsuraṁ bhāvam āśritāḥ. Because they have taken the position of becoming an atheist, no faith in God. They are asura. So any asura, māyayāpahṛta-jñānāḥ... He may be M.A., Ph.D., from academic career, but his real knowledge is taken away. Therefore he is atheist. Actual knowledge is to know God. Therefore Kṛṣṅa is explaining what is knowledge, jñeyam. Because as soon as you become actually wise, then you become liberated. But if you are not liberated, that means your knowledge is imperfect. Your knowledge is imperfect.

So Kṛṣṅa says jñeyam. Jñeyam means mat-paraṁ brahma. In a previous verse it has been explained, anādi mat-paraṁ brahma [Bg 13.13]. Brahman means bṛhatya bṛhanatyād iti brahma.[?] Nothing is great than Brahman. That is being explained, how Brahman, what is the meaning of Brahman. Brahman means sarvataḥ pāṅi-pādaṁ tat: "Brahman has got His hands and legs everywhere." Just like I have got my hands and legs, this is limited. I have got my hands. Why I cannot stretch five feet, only three feet? That is also with great difficulty. But the Brahman's hand, sarvataḥ, sarvataḥ, everywhere.

Just like Kṛṣṅa said that 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.]

Now Kṛṣṅa says that "Either a little flower, a little fruit or little leaf..." Anyone can collect these things. Even if he is the poorest of the poor, then he can also collect a little flower, a little fruit, little water and offer Kṛṣṅa, "My dear Kṛṣṅa, I wanted to offer You something, but I am so poor, I have nothing to offer. I have collected these three things as You have prescribed in the Bhagavad-gītā, patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ yo me bhaktyā prayacchati." The real thing is bhakti. Kṛṣṅa, He has appeared here in His form to accept your offerings, not that He is poor.

So Kṛṣṅa comes here to accept your offering, but the demons want to break it. This is demon. He does not think that "Kṛṣṅa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, has so kindly come here in Juhu and accepting our offerings." But the demons will not tolerate: "No. Kṛṣṅa cannot..." This is called āsuraṁ bhāvam āśritāḥ. Asura, rākṣasa. Rāvaṅa. "Bring Rāma's wife, Lakṣmījī, Sītā." This is demonic. He was a great devotee of Lord Śiva, but a demon, first-class demon, rākṣasa. Therefore it is said, harāv abhaktasya kuto mahad-guṅāḥ. Even though he was a devotee of Lord Śiva, because he was not a Vaiṣṅava, therefore he had no good qualification. He had no good qualification. Harāv abhaktasya kuto mahad-guṅā mano-rathenāsati dhāvato bahiḥ [SB 5.18.12].

[All the demigods and their exalted qualities, such as religion, knowledge and renunciation, become manifest in the body of one who has developed unalloyed devotion for the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vāsudeva. On the other hand, a person devoid of devotional service and engaged in material activities has no good qualities. Even if he is adept at the practice of mystic yoga or the honest endeavor of maintaining his family and relatives, he must be driven by his own mental speculations and must engage in the service of the Lord's external energy. How can there be any good qualities in such a man?]

Mano-rathena, by mental platform. Rāvaṅa thought that "I shall enjoy the Lakṣmījī of Nārāyaṅa." But that is not possible. You can think like that.

So everyone is after Lakṣmījī. The Rāvaṅa's philosophy. The whole world is after material acquisition, lakṣmī. Money is called lakṣmī. Everyone is after money, but nobody knows that money can be properly utilized when there is Nārāyaṅa. Lakṣmī can stay when there is Nārāyaṅa, Lakṣmī-Nārāyaṅa. You cannot keep Lakṣmī alone without Nārāyaṅa. That is not possible. Then you'll be finished, just like Rāvaṅa. He wanted to keep Sītā without Rāma; therefore he was finished with his whole family.

That is awaiting. The whole world is awaiting that disaster. The America has got atom bomb and the Russia has got atom bomb. As soon as there is another war, the whole world will be finished. So this is the ajñāna. Māyayā-apahṛta-jñānāḥ. They do not know that we cannot keep Lakṣmī without Nārāyaṅa. That is not possible. Lakṣmī can be kept at home with Nārāyaṅa, but she cannot leave Nārāyaṅa. So if you want to false... If you want to enjoy false lakṣmī, that is different thing.

Therefore a person who is devoid of knowledge, who is not devotee, Kṛṣṅa conscious, he has no value. Harāv abhaktasya kuto mahad-guṅāḥ. He cannot have any good qualities. This is our test. We are not very learned, but we can test, because we have got the testing tube. Just like a scientist test chemically, analytically test, how pure one chemical is within the test tube, similarly, we have got a test tube. What is that? That test tube, it is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā:

na māṁ duṣkṛtino mūḍhāḥ prapadyante narādhamāḥ māyayāpahṛta-jñānā āsuraṁ bhāvam āśritāḥ [Bg 7.15]

[Those miscreants who are grossly foolish, lowest among mankind, whose knowledge is stolen by illusion, and who partake of the atheistic nature of demons, do not surrender unto Me.]

As soon as we see that one is not surrendered soul to Kṛṣṅa, he is māyayāpahṛta-jñānā. Then what is the category? Duṣkṛtina, always sinful. Must be. Because he is sinful, he cannot surrender to Kṛṣṅa. Na māṁ duṣkṛtino mūḍhāḥ.

And another class: mūḍha, rascal, without any knowledge. He cannot also surrender to Kṛṣṅa. Na māṁ duṣkṛtino mūḍhāḥ narādhamāḥ, and the lowest of the mankind. Why lowest of the mankind? Because this human body, this man's body, not the dog's body, cat's body, but the man's body, that is meant for understanding Kṛṣṅa. Athāto brahma jijñāsā. That is not meant for spoiling like cats and dogs, jumping from here and there. So therefore he's not taking the opportunity of understanding Kṛṣṅa. Therefore narādhama. Adhama. Adhama means the lowest. First-class man utilizes life for proper benefit. But one who cannot... They are called kṛpaṅa also, miser.

Just like if you have got millions of dollars, you don't use it, you keep it only in the bank or in the treasury to see, "Oh, I have got millions of dollars." But utilize it. That is intelligence. Utilize, make it millions to ten times millions by doing a business or something like that. That is intelligence. Similarly, this body, this human form of body, athāto brahma jijñāsā, to understand Brahman. That Brahman is being explained to understand, how Brahman. Sarvataḥ pāṅi-pādaṁ tat. Brahman means the greatest. So greatest means not limited. We are limited. Our hands and legs are limited. But Kṛṣṅa's hands and legs are not limited. Sarvataḥ pāṅi-pādam.

Brahman means Kṛṣṅa. You'll find in the Bhagavad-gītā Kṛṣṅa is addressed as paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān [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.]

When Arjuna understood Kṛṣṅa, in the Tenth Chapter we'll find, he's addressing Kṛṣṅa that "You are Paraṁ Brahman." Brahman, all of us are Brahman, ahaṁ brahmāsmi. It is not very difficult to understand. "I am not this body, matter, but I am spirit soul." Therefore anyone can understand that he is Brahman. Spirit soul is Brahman, not the Paraṁ Brahman. Paraṁ Brahman is Kṛṣṅa. We are Brahman, but part and parcel of the Brahman. Mamaivāṁśo jīva-bhūtaḥ [Bg 15.7]. We are part and parcel of the Paraṁ Brahman. Therefore we are Brahman.

Therefore a part and particle of gold is also gold. A particle of the seawater is also seawater, salty seawater. That is oneness. So far the quality is concerned, that is oneness. A drop of seawater and the whole seawater, in quality they are one. Because the taste of a drop of seawater is also salty, therefore you can understand the whole water is salty. Ciklena[?]. So you can understand Paraṁ Brahman if you understand yourself. That is called self-realization. Simply the difference is Paraṁ Brahman is the greatest, and you are the smallest. He is vibhu, you are aṅu. But māyā is so strong, because we are qualitatively one, we are thinking we are the Supreme Brahman. That is another nonsense. "Because I am salty, therefore I am the seawater," this is not very good logic. A part cannot be equal to the whole.

So here jñāna means, to understand the Paraṁ Brahman means, sarvataḥ pāṅi-pādam: "Paraṁ Brahman has got pāṅi, means hands, and pāda, and legs, everywhere." How it is possible? That is knowledge. That is knowledge. It is possible. Because we are part and parcels of Kṛṣṅa, we have got our hands and legs, therefore Kṛṣṅa has got His hands and legs everywhere. But our hands and legs are now engaged otherwise. It is not for Kṛṣṅa. That is called illusion. Actually, the hands and legs belong to Kṛṣṅa. My hands, it is not my hand, it is Kṛṣṅa's hand. My leg, it is Kṛṣṅa's leg, but in māyā, in illusion, it is covered, upādhi. "My hand means it is Indian hand." "My leg means Indian leg." "My hand means American hand." "My leg means American leg." No. It is neither American leg, neither Indian leg, neither Indian hand nor American hand. It is all Kṛṣṅa's hands and legs. That you have to realize. That is real knowledge. That is jñeyam. You have to understand that you are not the proprietor of these hands and legs. Kṛṣṅa is the proprietor.

Therefore Kṛṣṅa's another name is Hṛṣīkeśa. Hṛṣīka means senses, and īśa means the master. Hṛṣīkeśa. Senayor ubhayor madhye rathaṁ sthāpaya me acyuta [Bg 1.21].

[Arjuna said: O infallible one, please draw my chariot between the two armies so that I may see who is present here, who is desirous of fighting, and with whom I must contend in this great battle attempt.]

Another place Arjuna has addressed Kṛṣṅa as Hṛṣīkeśa. No, I mean to say Sañjaya said "Hṛṣīkeśa." So Kṛṣṅa's another name is Hṛṣīkeśa. So hṛṣīka means indriya, senses, and hṛṣīkeśa means the master of the senses. We have got our hands and legs, we have got our mouth, we have got our tongue, we have..., everything we have got. That's all right. But the real knowledge means to realize that these hands, legs, tongue, eyes, ears, everything belongs to Kṛṣṅa. That is knowledge.

Therefore bhakti means to become liberated from the false understanding that "This is my leg, my head." No. It is Kṛṣṅa's. Sarvopādhi-vinirmuktaṁ tat-paratvena nirmalam [Cc Madhya 19.170]. When we become purified... Purified means at the present moment we have got this false knowledge, "This is my hand," "This is my leg." When we become purified, we understand that "This is Kṛṣṅa's leg, Kṛṣṅa's hand, Kṛṣṅa's eyes." That is wanted. Sarvopādhi-vinirmuktaṁ tat-paratvena nirmalam [Cc Madhya 19.170].

[Bhakti, or devotional service, means engaging all our senses in the service of the Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the master of all the senses. When the spirit soul renders service unto the Supreme, there are two side effects. One is freed from all material designations, and one’s senses are purified simply by being employed in the service of the Lord.]

Nirmalam, this is liberation. So long we are materially attached, it is mala. Mala means dirty things. But when we are purified of the dirty things, we can understand. Just like Arjuna. Arjuna was in the beginning thinking that "My hand, my leg, it is meant for my family." Therefore he was hesitating to kill, that "This hand, it belongs to my family, to my kinsmen, to my country, to my nation, to my society. How I can use these hands and legs against them? Kṛṣṅa, I'll not fight." This is ignorance. He did not know that his hands and legs belong to Kṛṣṅa. And when he understood... After reading, after hearing Bhagavad-gītā from Kṛṣṅa, he understood, "Well, I was thinking the hands and legs belong to my family, to me. No. It belongs to Kṛṣṅa. It must be used for Kṛṣṅa." Then he decided, "Kṛṣṅa," kariṣye vacanaṁ tava [Bg 18.73],

[Arjuna said, My dear Kṛṣṅa, O infallible one, my illusion is now gone. I have regained my memory by Your mercy, and I am now firm and free from doubt and am prepared to act according to Your instructions.]

"now You want me... Because this is Your hand, Your leg, so You want to use these hands and legs for fighting. I must use it." This is knowledge. This is knowledge. Otherwise how?

Of course, Kṛṣṅa is all-pervading; still, we are also part and... Everything. All-pervading means everything belongs to Kṛṣṅa, everything Kṛṣṅa's energy. Just like the sun is all-pervading. How it is all-pervading? By the light and the heat. Light and heat is all-pervading. Although sun is localized, sun is situated in one place, how it is all-pervading? Because it is supplying the heat and light throughout the universe. Therefore it is all-pervading. And what is the heat and light? The energy of the sun. Similarly, the original sun is Kṛṣṅa, and He has got two energies: the material energy and the spiritual energy. So therefore everything is Kṛṣṅa's. Parasya brahmaṅaḥ śaktiḥ sarvedam akhilaṁ jagat [Viṣṅu Purāṅa].

[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.]

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.]

That is realization, when you understand that everything belongs to Kṛṣṅa because everything is manifestation of Kṛṣṅa's energies.

Just like this whole material world. What is this? This is only expansion of the energy of the sun—heat and light. Those who are scientists, they can understand. Physics, heat and light. Similarly, the whole creation, that is Kṛṣṅa's energy, heat and light, material energy and the spiritual energy. Bhūmir āpo 'nalo vāyuḥ khaṁ mano buddhir eva ca, bhinnā me prakṛtir aṣṭadhā [Bg 7.4].

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

apareyam itas tu viddhi me prakṛtiṁ parām, jīva-bhūtāṁ mahā-bāho yayedaṁ dhāryate jagat [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.]

That is the superior energy, living entity.

So we are living entity. We are superior energy of Kṛṣṅa, but we have become inferior on account of this material covering. We have become inferior, but we are not inferior; we are superior energy. When we act for Kṛṣṅa, then we are situated in our own position. That is called mukti. In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is said, mukti means hitvā anyathā-rūpaṁ svarūpeṅa vyavasthitiḥ [SB 2.10.6].

[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.]

That is mukti. Mukti does not mean that you have got now two hands, and as soon as you become mukta, you'll have three thousand hands. No. Not that. Mukti means svarūpeṅa vyavasthitiḥ.

When we understand that "I am utilizing hands and legs and eyes for my sense gratification—no, this is wrong. It should be utilized for Kṛṣṅa's service. My hands should be engaged for Kṛṣṅa's service. My hands should be engaged for cleansing this temple. My hands should be engaged for cooking Kṛṣṅa's food," in this way. "My hands should be utilized for writing for Kṛṣṅa, glorifying Kṛṣṅa. My legs should be used for going to the temple of Kṛṣṅa. My eyes should be used for seeing beauty of Kṛṣṅa. My ears should be used for hearing glories of Kṛṣṅa. My tongue should be used for chanting Kṛṣṅa's holy name." That is mukti.

Mukti is not a very difficult thing. You can attain mukti in a second simply if you agree, as Kṛṣṅa says,

sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṅaṁ vraja ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo mokṣayiṣyāmi... [Bg 18.66]

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

That ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo mokṣayiṣyāmi, this is mukti, mokṣayiṣyāmi. So Kṛṣṅa is offering you this mukti. Muktiḥ pareśānubhavo viraktir anyatra syāt [SB 11.2.42].

[Devotion, direct experience of the Supreme Lord, and detachment from other things—these three occur simultaneously for one who has taken shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, in the same way that pleasure, nourishment and relief from hunger come simultaneously and increasingly, with each bite, for a person engaged in eating.]

Viraktir anyatra syāt. When you understand that "These hands and legs belong to Kṛṣṅa, so I am misusing them. So long I have misused them. I have used for my personal sense gratification or expanded sense gratification." The so-called socialism, nationalism, this "ism," that..., that is also sense gratification, but it is expanded sense gratification. First of all you...

[break] Another meaning of this verse is that if He has got, sarvataḥ pāṅi-pādam, He has got His legs and hands, eyes, head, then how He becomes impersonal, void? Where is this conception comes from Bhagavad-gītā? The rascals say that "God is impersonal, no form." How it is possible, if He has got hands and legs, head and ears, how He has become formless? Tell me. Who is there? How He becomes formless? He is not formless. But the difference is His form is different from our form. Our hands and legs are limited, but He has got His hands and legs... That is not limited; that is unlimited. That is the difference. When we say, when there is such thing as formless, formless means He hasn't got a form like us, which is limited. Sac-cid...

īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṅaḥ sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ anādir ādir govindaḥ sarva-kāraṅa-kāraṅam [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.]

He has got His form, He has got His hands. Just like Kṛṣṅa says,

patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ yo me bhaktyā prayacchati tad ahaṁ bhakty-upahṛtam aśnāmi... [Bg 9.26]

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

Now if you say, "Kṛṣṅa is in the Goloka Vṛndāvana, far, far away from here. How He accepts?" that is the answer is here, that sarvataḥ pāṅi-pādam. He has got hands. That is the Vedic injunction. Apāṅi-pādo javana-gṛhītaḥ. The Absolute Brahman has no hands and legs, but He can accept anything, He can walk everywhere. Just contradictory. Paśyaty acakṣuḥ. He has no eyes, but He can see everything. This is the difference. He has got His form. That is spiritual form. That is not this material, limited form, but He has got His form. One who does not understand His unlimited form, Brahman form, sarvataḥ... Everywhere He can go, everywhere He can see, everywhere He can accept whatever you offer. Everywhere He can walk. That is His form. But He is not formless.

Therefore He is called omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent. These are the adjectives given to God. Omnipresent. He is present everywhere. That's a fact. Īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-deśe arjuna 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.]

He's sitting within your heart; He's seeing everything, what you are acting. Īśvaraḥ sarva... Sarvasya cāhaṁ hṛdi sanniviṣṭo mattaḥ smṛtir jñānam apohanaṁ ca [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.]

This is knowledge. This is knowledge. Not that to make Kṛṣṅa formless, "He does not eat. He does not speak. He does not walk. He has no hand. He has no head." That is not knowledge. That is ignorance, foolishness, mūḍha. Avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā mānuṣīṁ tanum āśritam, paraṁ bhāvam ajānantaḥ [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 he does not know the paraṁ bhāvam. This is paraṁ bhāvam. Kṛṣṅa has form, but a form not like us. That is paraṁ bhāvam. He is present everywhere. He can accept anything, wherever you offer. That Kṛṣṅa says, tad ahaṁ bhakty-upahṛtam aśnāmi. Kṛṣṅa says, "I take." Who are you to say that Kṛṣṅa does not accept? Kṛṣṅa accepts, provided it is given with devotion. That is wanted. Tad ahaṁ bhakty-upahṛtam. Anyone brings something to offer Kṛṣṅa with bhakti, Kṛṣṅa is not hungry, but He accepts... [break] These are the Vedic injunctions. He takes whole foodstuff, still He remains full. Pūrṅasya pūrṅam ādāya pūrṅam evāvaśiṣyate [Īśo Invocation].

[The Personality of Godhead is perfect and complete, and because He is completely perfect, all emanations from Him, such as this phenomenal world, are perfectly equipped as complete wholes. Whatever is produced of the Complete Whole is also complete in itself. Because He is the Complete Whole, even though so many complete units emanate from Him, He remains the complete balance.]

These are the Vedic injunctions.

So that is, Kṛṣṅa is teaching, sarvataḥ śrutimal loke. He can hear. It is not that Kṛṣṅa is in the Goloka Vṛndāvana, far, far away, therefore we are chanting His glory here, He cannot... [break] ...sarvataḥ śrutimal loke. He can hear everywhere. Sarvataḥ śrutimal loke. Sarvam āvṛtya tiṣṭhati. Because He is Brahman, He is covering everything. He is everywhere. Bṛhatyad bṛhanatvat[?]. Therefore He is Paraṁ Brahman. This is knowledge. You have to understand... Don't think Kṛṣṅa is limited because He appeared before us, He has appeared here in the form of a stone. He's not stone. Stone is His energy. [break] He can appear before...

[break] Then don't think that "Here these people are worshiping a stone," as the atheist will speak. [break] Arcye śilā-dhīr guruṣu vaiṣṅave jāti-buddhiḥ nārakī... [break] ...in the śāstra that "Don't think the worshipable Deity is made of stone, made of metal." Because in the wood there is Kṛṣṅa, and because Kṛṣṅa is omnipotent He can accept.

[break] ...apāṅi-pādo javana-gṛhītaḥ. So in this way try to understand... [break] ...anyathā ajñānam. Then you are in ignorance, ajñāna. [break] ...Kṛṣṅa, then you are liberated.

Thank you very much. Hare Kṛṣṅa. [end]

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Referenced verses

[Bg 9.26][Bg 7.15][Bg 18.66][Bs 5.1][Bg 7.5][Bg 13.14][Bg 13.13][Bg 10.12][SB 5.18.12][Bg 1.21][SB 11.2.42][Bg 15.15][Cc Madhya 19.170][Bg 13.8][Bg 18.61][Bg 7.4][Bg 9.11][SB 2.10.6][Bg 15.7][Bg 16.6][Bg 18.73][Bg 13.8][Bg 13.11][Bg 10.12][Bg 1.21][Chāndogya Upaniṣad 3.14.1]
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