Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 3.26.4

Nitāi: Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. [devotees repeat] [leads chanting of verse, etc.]

sa eṣa prakṛtiṁ sūkṣmāṁ daivīṁ guṅamayīṁ vibhuḥ yadṛcchayaivopagatām abhyapadyata līlayā [SB 3.26.4]

[break] [03:40]

"As His pastime, that Supreme Personality of Godhead, the greatest of the great, accepted the subtle material energy, which is invested with the three material modes of nature and which is related with Viṣṅu."

Prabhupāda:

sa eṣa prakṛtiṁ sūkṣmāṁ daivīṁ guṅamayīṁ vibhuḥ yadṛcchayaivopagatām abhyapadyata līlayā [SB 3.26.4]

So Kṛṣṅa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, as He 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.]

Sambhavāmy ātma-māyayā. Kṛṣṅa and the living entities, both of them are the same quality, but when the living entities come in this material world, he is forced by the prakṛti, by the material nature. But when Kṛṣṅa comes, He is not forced, but by His free will, yadṛcchayā upagatām... Yadṛcchayaivopagatām abhyapadyata līlayā.

Sometimes the Māyāvādī philosophers, they also take the living entities within this material world as līlā. That is not līlā. Līlā refers to the pastimes of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Never... Nobody says that the living entity has come in this material world for līlā. At least, the Vaiṣṅava philosophers do not agree that. It is contradictory. Kṛṣṅa said that "When I come..."

yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānir bhavati bhārata abhyutthānam adharmasya... [Bg 4.7]

We should not accept Kṛṣṅa's coming within this material world and our coming in this material in the same process. Kṛṣṅa comes as He is. He does not change. And because He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Almighty, even if He comes within this material world, the material qualities do not affect Him. That is īśanam. Īśanam.

Just like a physician, a doctor, a medical man, he goes to the hospital to treat the infected patients. So he is not affected by the infection. He has got such precautionary measures, or he is so equipped with, that he is not infected with the disease. Those who are weak... That is stated in the Bhāgavatam: etad īśanam īśasya [SB 1.11.38]. That is īśa. Īśa means the controller. Rather, if something infectious come in touch with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, it becomes purified. Tejīyasāṁ na doṣāya [SB 10.33.29], it is said. Another example can be given: just like the sun. The sunshine absorbs water even from urine or any infectious place. Any filthy place, the sun absorbs the water. But the sun is not infected, because it is very powerful. Similarly, if you try to absorb water from the urine, then you will be infected. That is called etad īśasya īśanam. Even those who are devotees, they are not infected by the three modes of material nature. We have many times repeated this verse of Bhagavad-gītā:

māṁ ca 'vyabhicāreṅa bhakti-yogena yah sevate sa guṅān samatītyaitān brahma-bhūyāya kalpate [Bg 14.26]

[One who engages in full devotional service, who does not fall down in any circumstance, at once transcends the modes of material nature and thus comes to the level of Brahman.]

So even ordinary living entities, those who are devotees, they are not infected by the three modes of material nature. How we can expect the Supreme Lord can be infected by the three modes of material nature? That is not possible. This is not... Even from ordinary argument, it cannot be accepted.

Kṛṣṅa or Kṛṣṅa's incarnation... There are hundred and thousands of incarnation:

rāmādi-mūrtiṣu kalā-niyamena tiṣṭhan nānāvatāram akarod bhuvaneṣu kintu kṛṣṅaḥ svayaṁ samabhavat paramaḥ pumān yo govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi [Bs 5.39]

[I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who manifested Himself personally as Kṛṣṅa and the different avatāras in the world in the forms of Rāma, Nṛsiṁha, Vāmana, etc., as His subjective portions.]

Kṛṣṅa has innumerable expansions—rāmādi. Rāma, Lord Rāmacandra, is also Kṛṣṅa's expansion. Rāmādi-mūrtiṣu kalā. Kalā means expansion of the expansion. Just like... I have given this example many times: the original candle, and you ignite another candle. That is second candle, and from the second, from the third..., the third; from the third, the fourth. In this way, all the candles, although you say, "This is first candle, second candle, third candle, fourth candle," but they are all equally powerful. So far candlepower is concerned, they are equally the same. Similarly, Kṛṣṅa's incarnation, Kṛṣṅa is the origin, kṛṣṅas tu bhagavān svayam [SB 1.3.28], the origin person, ādi-puruṣa.

[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.]

Govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi. Still, the expansion of Kṛṣṅa... Just like the first expansion is Balarāma, then Saṅkarṣaṅa, Pradyumna, Aniruddha. Then Nārāyaṅa. Then again Saṅkarṣaṅa, Pradyumna, Aniruddha. Then Mahā-Viṣṅu. Then, from Mahā-Viṣṅu, Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṅu. From Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṅu to Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṅu. From Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṅu there are innumerable expansions, Paramātmā expansion. 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.]

So in this way there is... The Śrīmad-Bhāgavata says, "Expansion of Kṛṣṅa are so many, just like incessant waves in the river or in the ocean."

So that is one status of expansion. And another expansion is the jīva-tattva. We are also expansion. In the Varāha Purāṅa it is said, svāṁśa and vibhinnāṁśa. The vibhinnāṁśa expansion, they are also innumerable, jīvas. We are also expansion of Kṛṣṅa. But svāṁśa and vibhinnāṁśa. So the vibhinnāṁśa expansion, they are minute, and the svāṁśa expansion, they are vibhu, unlimited. So in this way we have to understand the distinction between svāṁśa and vibhinnāṁśa. When svāṁśa expansion comes within this material world, He remains vibhu, or prabhu, and the vibhinnāṁśa expansion is always aṅu, very small, or servant. One is prabhu, and the other is servant. One is vibhu and the other is aṅu.

So the aṅu, vibhinnāṁśa jīva, when he comes within this material world, he becomes entrapped, or his that jyoti... In the previous verse you have studied jyoti. Vibhinnāṁśa living entity, we are also jyoti. Just like spark. The original fire is also fire, and the spark fire, that is also fire. Quality the same, but a spark, when falls down on your cloth, it can burn a little portion. Similarly, if the whole fire comes, then you become burned into pieces. The same example again: the sun and the sunshine. Sunshine is combination small particle of shining molecules. Similarly, we are also the same spark. Dīpārcir eva hi daśāntaram abhyupetya dīpāyate [Bs 5.46]. So Kṛṣṅa and His expansion, They are all the same. And we, vibhinnāṁśa jīva, we are very small. Therefore our condition is different from Kṛṣṅa. Kṛṣṅa is not infected by the material qualities, but we become infected. Na māṁ karmāṅi limpanti na me karma-phale spṛhā [Bg 4.14],

[There is no work that affects Me; nor do I aspire for the fruits of action. One who understands this truth about Me also does not become entangled in the fruitive reactions of work.]

it is said in the Bhagavad-gītā. The activities in this material world, Kṛṣṅa remains unaffected, but we, being a small particle, we become infected by the qualities: tribhir guṅamayair bhāvaiḥ.

So those who are too much infected by these material qualities, they cannot understand Kṛṣṅa. Nāhaṁ prakāśaḥ sarvasya yoga-māyā-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.]

They think that "Kṛṣṅa and we are the same." But that is not the fact. 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 Kṛṣṅa comes as human being, we may think that "Kṛṣṅa is as good as I am." No. That should not be. Kṛṣṅa is vibhu, and we are aṅu. Kṛṣṅa is master, and we are servant. That is our eternal relationship. We should not forget that. And sa eva prakṛtiṁ sūkṣmāṁ daivīṁ guṅamayīṁ vibhuḥ. Prakṛti, prakṛti, this prakṛti is also Kṛṣṅa's. Kṛṣṅa, the supreme powerful, He can utilize the prakṛti as He likes. He is not controlled by prakṛti. But we are controlled by prakṛti. Because He is vibhu... Vibhu means the great. So you cannot say great..., māyā, or prakṛti is greater than Kṛṣṅa. You cannot say. Then your God is not great. If something is greater than God, then you cannot say "God is great." If you accept this, that there is no more greater identity than Kṛṣṅa, then you can say, "Kṛṣṅa is great, or..." Kṛṣṅa cannot be entrapped. Nūnaṁ mahatān tatra. If you are smaller, then you can be overpowered by the great. If your strength is lesser than another man... Say, two wrestler. If one wrestler is more powerful, he can defeat the other wrestler.

So therefore, here it is said that vibhuḥ... Kṛṣṅa is vibhuḥ, and if He is covered by māyā, as the Māyāvādī philosopher thinks, that "When God comes within this material world, He is also covered by māyā..." He is not covered by māyā. If māyā is greater than Kṛṣṅa, then māyā can cover Kṛṣṅa. But that is not the fact. Kṛṣṅa says, mama māyā. That means... Mām eva ye prapadyante māyām etāṁ taranti te [Bg 7.14].

[This divine energy of Mine, consisting of the three modes of material nature, is difficult to overcome. But those who have surrendered unto Me can easily cross beyond it.]

If one surrenders to Kṛṣṅa, then he becomes free from the clutches of māyā. So how Kṛṣṅa can be caught by māyā? This is contradictory. If anyone surrenders to Kṛṣṅa, he becomes free from the influence of māyā, simply by surrendering. Then how Kṛṣṅa can be influenced by māyā? It is common sense. By surrendering to Kṛṣṅa, by becoming a devotee of Kṛṣṅa, you become free from the clutches of māyā. Mām eva ye prapadyante. Simply by surrendering. Māyām etāṁ taranti te. So never think that Kṛṣṅa... The Māyāvādī thinks like that, that "We are one, Kṛṣṅa and we. We are one." Yes, we are one—in quality. The same thing: just like the fire and the spark, one in burning capacity. Even a small spark of the fire, it can burn. So we are one in the spiritual quality, but in quantity, we are different. Same example: vibhu and aṅu. This is very nice verse in the Bhagavad-gītā, mām eva ye prapadyante māyām etāṁ taranti te.

In another verse is there,

apaśyat puruṣaṁ pūrṅaṁ māyāṁ ca tad-apāśrayam bhakti-yogena manasi samyak praṅihite 'male [SB 1.7.4]

Vyāsadeva was, when he was instructed by his spiritual master Nārada Muni to write Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, at that time, by bhakti-yoga meditation, he could see the Supreme Personality of Godhead and this māyā also. But it is said, māyāṁ ca tad-apāśrayam. Māyā is situated in the back side, back side, without any influence upon Kṛṣṅa, apāśrayam, under the control. So māyā is always controlled. Kṛṣṅa is the controller of māyā.

In another place, in the Brahma-saṁhitā, it is said, sṛṣṭi-sthiti-pralaya-sādhana-śaktir ekā chāyeva yasya bhuvanāni bibharti durgā [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.]

Durgā is the material energy, and she has got immense power. Sṛṣṭi-sthiti-pralaya-sādhana-śaktiḥ. She is controlling this creation, or this whole universe, sṛṣṭi, and sthiti, its maintenance, and pralaya. Three things she is controlling. She is so powerful. Sṛṣṭi-sthiti-pralaya-sādhana-śaktir ekā chāyeva yasya bhuvanāni bibharti durgā. The durgā-śakti, material energy, she is so powerful, but it is working chāyeva, just like shadow. Shadow has no independent capacity; it is dependent on the substance. Substance and shadow. So Kṛṣṅa is the substance, and the power derived from Kṛṣṅa, partially exhibited by the durgā-śakti. In the Upaniṣad also it is said, na tasya kāryaṁ karaṅaṁ ca vidyate na tat-samaś cābhyadhikaś ca dṛśyate [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.]

Kṛṣṅa, the Supreme Personality of God, He has nothing to do. Na tasya kāryaṁ karaṅaṁ ca vidyate na tat-samaḥ. Nobody is equal to Him. Kṛṣṅa also says in the Bhagavad-gītā, mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat kascit [Bg 7.7]:

[O conqueror of wealth [Arjuna], there is no Truth superior to Me. Everything rests upon Me, as pearls are strung on a thread.]

"There is nothing superior than Me, the Supreme." In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam also it is said, oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya, satyaṁ paraṁ dhīmahi [SB 1.1.1]. That is the Supreme Truth.

So all the śāstras will say that Kṛṣṅa, or the Supreme Personality of Godhead, He has got different expansions unlimited. Although Kṛṣṅa is one, but He can expand Himself into many, many millions. Advaitam acyutam anādim ananta-rūpam [Bs 5.33].

[I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who is inaccessible to the Vedas, but obtainable by pure unalloyed devotion of the soul, who is without a second, who is not subject to decay, is without a beginning, whose form is endless, who is the beginning, and the eternal puruṣa; yet He is a person possessing the beauty of blooming youth.]

Ananta-rūpam. And each rūpam is acting in some universe. Just like at this time, here, you find darkness in Bombay, but the sun is present in all his different phases all over the world. Sun rises in the morning at, say, seven o'clock. So this seven o'clock to next seven o'clock, in the evening seven o'clock, you will find, if you immediately take information, somewhere it is seven o'clock, somewhere it is twelve o'clock, somewhere it is six o'clock, somewhere it is... All the time formula of the sun is present, although we are seeing there is no sun. Similarly, Kṛṣṅa is present throughout the whole universe in some feature. In one universe you will find Kṛṣṅa is taking birth, janmāṣṭamī. In some universe you will see Kṛṣṅa is playing with the cowherd boys. Somewhere it is... In this way. Therefore it is called nitya-līlā. Nitya-līlā means the janmāṣṭamī-līlā is going on permanently somewhere or other. Therefore it is called līlayā, yadṛcchayā.

So this is a great science, Kṛṣṅa science, kṛṣṅa-tattva. So we have to learn from the authorized Vedic literature about Kṛṣṅa. And that is required in human life. Because if we simply understand the truth about Kṛṣṅa, janma karma ca me divyam [Bg 4.9],

[One who knows the transcendental nature of My appearance and activities does not, upon leaving the body, take his birth again in this material world, but attains My eternal abode, O Arjuna.]

which are divine, transcendental, yo jānāti tattvataḥ, if you try to understand and if you become fortunate to understand the divine nature of Kṛṣṅa's līlā, then you become liberated, immediately: tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti kaunteya [Bg 4.9]. The Sāṅkhya philosophy of Kapiladeva is explained in this way to understand Kṛṣṅa.

So Kṛṣṅa, yadṛcchayaivopagatām abhyapadyata līlayā. Kṛṣṅa is līlā, and our coming here is not līlā. We are forced. We are forced. Karmaṅā daiva-netreṅa dehopapattaye [SB 3.31.1].

[The Personality of Godhead said: Under the supervision of the Supreme Lord and according to the result of his work, the living entity, the soul, is made to enter into the womb of a woman through the particle of male semen to assume a particular type of body.]

Kṛṣṅa's body is 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's body is not material. Even if we think it is material, still, it is sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha. Just like one can argue that "Here is Kṛṣṅa's form. It is made of stone. How it is sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha?" But if you know the nature of Kṛṣṅa, even He appears as stone, still He is sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha. How? Because the stone is also energy of Kṛṣṅa.

That is said in the Upaniṣad:

na tasya kāryaṁ karaṅaṁ ca vidyate na tat-samaś cābhyadhikaś ca dṛśyate 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.]

So the stone is also another energy of Kṛṣṅa. Another energy of Kṛṣṅa. As Kṛṣṅa is all-powerful, He can utilize His energy in anyway. He can utilize His energy in any way. Just like an electrician—he knows how to utilize electricity for the refrigerator and the heater, although the heating process is just opposite of the cooling process. We see opposite. Similarly, material nature and spiritual nature, just opposite, but the same way: the electricity utilized for heating and electricity utilized for cooling, the energy is the same, but it is the manipulation of the engineer which can turn heat into cold and cold into heat. So therefore, for Kṛṣṅa there is no material nature. Everything is spiritual nature. Even Kṛṣṅa appears as material form, as stone, as matter, still, one who knows Kṛṣṅa, he can derive Kṛṣṅa's favor from any form. Otherwise, the devotees are recommended to worship the Deity in the temple.

So do you think that the ācāryas and the śāstra have advised them to waste their time by worshiping a stone? It is all recommended by the ācāryas, big, big ācāryas. Just like Rāmānujācārya: he established hundreds of temples all over India, Lakṣmī-Nārāyaṅa temple especially, the Rāmānuja-sampradāya. Similarly, Caitanya Mahāprabhu's sampradāya established hundreds of temples Rādhā-Kṛṣṅa. Big, big ācārya. Do you mean to say they did mistake? As some people of our India, they say, "There is no need of worshiping in the temple." No. Why not need? Ācāryopāsanam, that is recommended, jñāna. Ācārya... Ācāryas, they have established temples, many hundreds of thousands of temples, of Viṣṅu mandira.

So this should be worshiped. Otherwise you cannot... Mahājano yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ [Cc Madhya 17.186].

[Dry arguments are inconclusive. A great personality whose opinion does not differ from others is not considered a great sage. Simply by studying the Vedas, which are variegated, one cannot come to the right path by which religious principles are understood. The solid truth of religious principles is hidden in the heart of an unadulterated self-realized person. Consequently, as the śāstras confirm, one should accept whatever progressive path the mahājanas advocate.]

If you do not follow ācāryas, then...

tad viddhi praṅipātena paripraśnena sevayā upadekṣyanti te jñānaṁ jñāninas tattva-darśinaḥ [Bg 4.34]

[Just try to learn the truth by approaching a spiritual master. Inquire from him submissively and render service unto him. The self-realized soul can impart knowledge unto you because he has seen the truth.]

The ācāryas are tattva-darśī. They know how to make you devotee. Therefore they have prescribed, and Kṛṣṅa in His any condition, life, He is sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha.

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.]

Unless Kṛṣṅa becomes available to your service, then how you can serve? We have, at the present moment, no eyes to see Kṛṣṅa. Therefore Kṛṣṅa, out of His causeless mercy, He has appeared in His original form just to receive or accept service from you. You cannot serve Kṛṣṅa in His virāḍ-rūpa. Therefore Kṛṣṅa has come to you to accept your service in this metal or stone form. But He is not metal or stone. This is called kṛṣṅa-tattva-jñāna.

Arcye viṣṅau śilā-dhīr guruṣu nara-matir vaiṣṅave jāti-buddhiḥ [Padma Purāṅa]. These things are forbidden. You cannot... Arcye viṣṅau śilā-dhīḥ. Kṛṣṅa or Viṣṅu—the same thing—if you think that this mūrti is made of stone, śilā-dhīḥ, or Śālagrāma-śilā, if you think it is śilā, or stone, this is nārakī-buddhiḥ. This is not recommended. It is... Don't think. Arcye viṣṅau śilā-dhīr guruṣu nara-matiḥ. And those who are guru, spiritual master, Vaiṣṅava, if you think of them that he is ordinary human being, that is forbidden. Gāṅga-jala or caraṅāmṛta, if you think ordinary water, that is forbidden. Vaiṣṅave jāti-buddhiḥ: Vaiṣṅava, who has become devotee of Kṛṣṅa, if you think that he belongs to this caste, he belongs to that caste, that is also forbidden. Nārakī-buddhiḥ. These things are nārakī-buddhiḥ. At least, those who do not know how Kṛṣṅa can be transcendental in all His features... Therefore we are forbidden, "Don't take like that." It is a fact that this Kṛṣṅa in this temple is the same origin Kṛṣṅa who is in the Vaikuṅṭha, but because we have no eyes to see, because we are not mature to see Kṛṣṅa, therefore we should accept this, I mean to say, negation, that "Don't think like that." Then we will be able to understand.

So that janma karma me divyam [Bg 4.9].

[One who knows the transcendental nature of My appearance and activities does not, upon leaving the body, take his birth again in this material world, but attains My eternal abode, O Arjuna.]

Nothing is Kṛṣṅa's anything material. Everything is spiritual. But by His līlayā, to manifest different līlā, He accepts different types of body. But they are all Kṛṣṅa, the same original person. Advaitam acyutam... Acyuta, He does not fall down. Therefore His name is Acyuta. Acyuta means never falls down, never deviates. He is always in His 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.]

Not that because He has appeared for my convenience to accept my service in this form which I am seeing or the atheist is seeing, that it is stone. No. He is not stone. Advaitam acyutam. He doesn't fall. He does not deviate. Otherwise, there are many stories. That, in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta, the Sākṣi-gopāla. Sākṣi-gopāla temple is there in Jagannātha Purī. Just one station before Purī there is Sākṣi-gopāla station. And there is a temple, Sākṣi. Sākṣi means the witness. That vigraha, that Deity, was in Vṛndāvana. He came to give evidence for His devotee. Therefore He is known as Sākṣi-gopāla. So devotee talks. Even if you think, "This is stone" or "This is metal," but devotee can talk, and Kṛṣṅa talks with him. There are many instances. That requires advancement of spiritual life.

So this is called tattva, to know about Kṛṣṅa perfectly. And the informations are there in the śāstras. And simply to understand it, we require a little qualification. We require little qualification. Otherwise, everything is there. That qualification is to increase the, I mean to say, temper of your devotion, or increase the quality of your love for Kṛṣṅa. Premāñjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena santaḥ sadaiva hṛdayeṣu vilo... [Bs 5.38].

[I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who is Śyāmasundara, Kṛṣṅa Himself with inconceivable innumerable attributes, whom the pure devotees see in their heart of hearts with the eye of devotion tinged with the salve of love.]

And that love can be increased by the process:

ādau śraddhā tataḥ sādhu-saṅgo 'tha bhajana-kriyā tato 'nartha-nivṛttiḥ syāt tato niṣṭhā tato rucis tato athāsaktis tato bhāvas... sādhakānām ayaṁ premṅaḥ prādurbhāve bhavet kramaḥ [Cc Madhya 23.14-15]

[In the beginning there must be faith. Then one becomes interested in associating with pure devotees. Thereafter one is initiated by the spiritual master and executes the regulative principles under his orders. Thus one is freed from all unwanted habits and becomes firmly fixed in devotional service. Thereafter, one develops taste and attachment. This is the way of sādhana-bhakti, the execution of devotional service according to the regulative principles. Gradually emotions intensify, and finally there is an awakening of love. This is the gradual development of love of Godhead for the devotee interested in Kṛṣṅa consciousness.]

ādau śraddhā tataḥ sādhu-saṅgo ’tha bhajana-kriyā tato ’nartha-nivṛttiḥ syāt tato niṣṭhā rucis tataḥ athāsaktis tato bhāvas tataḥ premābhyudañcati sādhakānām ayaṁ premṅaḥ prādurbhāve bhavet kramaḥ

This is step by step.

So our this Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement is giving, educating people how to become Kṛṣṅa conscious, how to know the science of Kṛṣṅa. Kṛṣṅa-tattva-vettā. And anyone who knows Kṛṣṅa perfectly well... That is... Caitanya Mahāprabhu approves that it doesn't matter what he is, a scientist. Yei kṛṣṅa-tattva-vettā, sei 'guru' haya [Cc Madhya 8.128]:

[Whether one is a brāhmaṅa, a sannyāsī or a śūdra—regardless of what he is—he can become a spiritual master if he knows the science of Kṛṣṅa.]

"Anyone who knows perfectly well the science of Kṛṣṅa," kṛṣṅa-tattva-vettā, "in truth, he is guru." Nobody can become guru unless he knows the science of Kṛṣṅa. Therefore it is said in the śāstra that ṣaṭ-karma-nipuṅo vipraḥ. Vipra means brāhmaṅa.

Brāhmaṅa, he is supposed to know six kind of activities, ṣaṭ-karma. Ṣaṭ means six. What is that six kinds of? Paṭhana pāṭhana. Brāhmaṅa must be very learned, very expert, expertly learned in Vedic knowledge. That is called paṭhana. And pāṭhana: and he must teach others. He must be teacher, not that "I know, and keep all the knowledge in my belly." No. Therefore formerly all the brāhmaṅas, they had catuṣpāṭhī. The brāhmaṅa will sit down anywhere and begin teaching others. The student will come. That is brāhmaṅa's business. Paṭhana... But unless he is himself learned, how he can teach? So therefore, first of all he must be learned, paṭhana, and then pāṭhana, then he can teach others. Paṭhana pāṭhana yajana yājana. He must worship the Supreme Lord, and he must teach others how to worship the Supreme.

That... What is this, Viśvanātha Cakravartī's verse? Niyuñjato 'pi. Śrī-vigrahārādhana-nitya-nānā. One of the symptoms of guru is described by Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura, śrī-vigraha ārādhana: "He knows how to worship the Deity." Śrī-vigrahārādhana-nitya-nānā-śṛṅgāra-tan-mandira-mārjanādau. Dressing the Deity and tan-mandira-mārjanādau, and cleansing the temple, keeping everything fit in the temple. So the guru knows it, how to do it, and he teaches his disciple.

śrī-vigrahārādhana-nitya-nānā- śṛṅgāra-tan-mandira-mārjanādau yuktasya bhaktāṁś ca niyuñjato 'pi...

He is personally engaged, and he engages his disciples. Not that you make a disciple and you keep him aside, "You cannot touch." This is going on. How? Then how he has become your disciple? If you have accepted him as disciple, how you can keep him aloof? No. "You are śūdra. You are mleccha." Therefore vaiṣṅave jāti-buddhiḥ. You cannot make Vaiṣṅava... As soon as he becomes Vaiṣṅava, no more jāti. He is transcendental. Sa guṅān sama...

Jāti—brāhmaṅa, kṣatriya, vaiśya, śūdra—that is within this material world, not in the spiritual world. Spiritual world, everyone is eternal servant of Kṛṣṅa. There is no more jāti, no more distinction. Everything serving. That one. The master is also spiritual, and the servant is also spiritual, and there is no other relationship. Here in the material world we artificially want to become..., we want to become God. But in the spiritual world there is no such conception. In the spiritual world there are also living entities. They are called nitya-siddha. Nitya-siddha means eternally perfect. There are two kinds of living entities: nitya-siddha and nitya-baddha, eternally conditioned. Yesterday we were reading that nitya-supta-buddhiḥ. Here in this material world, however we may be acting, we are sleeping. Yā niśā sarva-bhūtānām [Bg 2.69].

[What is night for all beings is the time of awakening for the self-controlled; and the time of awakening for all beings is night for the introspective sage.]

They are sleeping. We may show very good activities everywhere, but a saintly person will see that "All these rascals are sleeping." And these rascals will see the devotee is sleeping. Because they will see that "These rascals, they have taken to Kṛṣṅa consciousness, doing nothing for their bodily comfort and sense gratification. They are sleeping. They are misusing this life." And the devotees are seeing that "These rascal, those who are not Kṛṣṅa conscious, they are sleeping." So yā niśā sarva-bhūtānāṁ tasmin jāgarti saṁyamī.

So this is going on, opposite of... Actually, the conditioned soul in this material world, they are sleeping. Therefore Vedas says, uttiṣṭhata jāgrata prāpya varān nibodhata [Kaṭha Upaniṣad 1.3.14],

[Please wake up and try to understand the boon that you now have in this human form of life. The path of spiritual realization is very difficult; it is sharp like a razor's edge. That is the opinion of learned transcendental scholars.]

that "You rascal, you are why sleeping?" They are not sleeping. They are thinking, "I'm so busy." But that busy-ness is also dream, just like a man sleeping and dreaming that he is very busy. So this kind of life is condemned. Therefore the Veda says, "Get up! Get up! Now you have got this..." Prāpya varān nibodhata: "You have got this human form of life. You try to understand Kṛṣṅa. You try to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Try to understand your relationship and act accordingly. Then your life will be successful. Otherwise you are wasting your time."

Thank you very much.

Devotees: Jaya Śrīla Prabhupāda. [end]