Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 20.110-111

Prabhupāda:

eka-deśa-sthitasyāgner jyotsnā vistāriṅī yathā parasya brahmaṅaḥ śaktis tathedam akhilaṁ jagat [Cc Madhya 20.110]

[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.]

We were discussing this verse last Sunday night. So the example is given: just like fire is localized in a place but the heat and light is expanded. The vivid example we can see, the sun. The sun globe is situated in one place—every one of us, we can see—and the heat and light is distributed throughout the whole universe. According to our Vedic conception, the sun is moving round, not the sun is the center. It is in the center of the universe, but it is going round. Kāla-cakra. It is called kāla-cakra. In Brahma-saṁhitā it is said,

yac-cakṣur eṣa savitā sakala-grahāṅāṁ rājā samasta-sura-mūrtir aśeṣa-tejāḥ yasyājñayā bhramati sambhṛta-kāla-cakro govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi [Bs 5.52]

[The sun who is the king of all the planets, full of infinite effulgence, the image of the good soul, is as the eye of this world. I adore the primeval Lord Govinda in pursuance of whose order the sun performs his journey mounting the wheel of time.]

From Bhāgavatam we understand sun is not fixed up in one place but it is going round. And the whole universal planetary system, they are also moving, making the polestar..., so, making the polestar as the pivot.

So we can see that sun is in the center of the universe, but it is illuminating and heating the whole universe. Similarly, Kṛṣṅa is situated in His own abode, Goloka Vṛndāvana, but by distribution of His different energies He is all-pervading. This is idea. When you speak God "all-pervading"—His energy. But He is not different from His energy. Śakti-śaktimatayor abheda. Śaktimān, the energetic, and the energy, they are not different. In the Bhagavad-gītā also it is said—Kṛṣṅa says—mayā tatam idaṁ sarvaṁ jagat 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.]

"I am situated all over the universe in My avyakta form, nonmanifested form." The manifested form is Kṛṣṅa. That is in Goloka Vṛndāvana. Parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate [Cc Madhya 13.65, purport]. He is distributed all over the universe, everywhere. Aṅḍāntara-stha-paramāṅu-cayāntara-stham. He is within the universe, aṅḍāntara-stham, and paramāṅu-cayāntara-stham, within the atom also. That is all-pervading. 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.]

So this is to be understood. The God is simultaneously localized and all-pervading. The Māyāvādī philosophers, they think materially, that "If God is all-pervading, why He should be localized?" Why He should not be? That is answer. God is not under your dictation. He is all-powerful. He can do so. Remaining in His own place, He can be distributed. He can distribute Himself everywhere. Aṅḍāntara-stha-paramāṅu-cayāntara-stham. 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.]

eko 'py asau racayituṁ jagad-aṅḍa-koṭiṁ yac-caktir asti jagad-aṅḍa-cayā yad-antaḥ aṅḍāntara-stha-paramāṅu-cayāntara-sthaṁ govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi [Bs 5.35]

[He is an undifferentiated entity as there is no distinction between potency and the possessor thereof. In His work of creation of millions of worlds, His potency remains inseparable. All the universes exist in Him and He is present in His fullness in every one of the atoms that are scattered throughout the universe, at one and the same time. Such is the primeval Lord whom I adore.]

This is the conception of all-pervading.

So, eka-deśa-sthitasyāgner jyotsnā vistāriṅī yathā, parasya brahmaṅaḥ śaktiḥ. So we should understand presence of God everywhere by His energy. Parasya brahmaṅaḥ śakti tathedam akhilaṁ jagat. There are many places... In Bhagavad-gītā it is also said,

atha vā bahunaitena kiṁ jñātena tavārjuna viṣṭabhyāham idaṁ kṛtsnam ekāṁśena sthito jagat [Bg 10.42]

[But what need is there, Arjuna, for all this detailed knowledge? With a single fragment of Myself I pervade and support this entire universe.]

Ekāṁśena sthito. As Paramātmā, He is situated everywhere. Then Caitanya Mahāprabhu says,

kṛṣṅera svābhāvika tina-śakti-pariṅati cic-chakti jīva-śakti aṛa māyā-śakti [Cc Madhya 20.111]

So everything is parasya brahmaṅaḥ śakti. Whatever we see, that is manifestation of the Supreme Lord's different energy. The example is the fire and the heat and light. That's all. The heat is the material energy, and light is the spiritual energy. Just like when you feel some heat, you can immediately understand there is some fire. And if there is light, you can immediately understand there is fire. The light you can see, and heat we can feel. By feeling or seeing, we can understand the existence of God everywhere. This is intelligence, not that... They challenge foolishly, "I can... Can you show me God? I cannot see God; therefore..." No. Why you cannot see God? You can feel the presence of God by heat and light. Light. Light you can see. When there is sunshine, you can see both the light and the heat. So as it is confirmed in the Vedic literature, we should appreciate the presence of God everywhere by His different energies, exactly like heat and light.

So this energy of Kṛṣṅa... He has got multi-energies.

na tasya kāryaṁ karaṅaṁ ca vidyate na tat-samaś cābhyadhikaś ca dṛśyate parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate svābhāviki jñāna-bala-kriyā ca [Cc Madhya 13.65, purport]

This is Vedic injunction. Na tasya kāryaṁ karaṅaṁ ca vidyate. Kṛṣṅa... Here He is playing on His flute, but His energies are working. Just like a big man, a big business magnate: he is sitting in his room, but his energy is working—big, big factory is going on; large amount of profit is coming automatically. So if it is possible for ordinary human being that he is sitting in one place, and still, things are going on by management of his energy, so why not Kṛṣṅa, the Supreme Lord? He is sitting in one place. Goloka eva nivasaty akhilātma-bhūtaḥ. Ānanda-cinmaya-rasa-pratibhāvitābhis tābhir ya eva nija-rūpatayā kalābhiḥ, goloka eva nivasaty akhilātma-bhūtaḥ [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.]

He is situated in His planet, Goloka Vṛndāvana; still His energies are going on. The material energy is working, this material world. Kṛṣṅa says, 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.]

Under His vigilance all the laws of material nature is going on. Exactly in time the sun is rising, the moon is rising. Everything is going on minutely, very nicely. Parāsya śaktiḥ. Svābhāvikī jñāna-bala-kriyā ca. It is going so nicely that Kṛṣṅa hasn't got to learn how to do it. The machine is so perfect, it is going on perfectly. The flower is coming by His energy. Puṅyo gandhaḥ pṛthivyāṁ ca [Bg 7.9].

[I am the original fragrance of the earth, and I am the heat in fire. I am the life of all that lives, and I am the penances of all ascetics.]

The special seed you sow on the ground, and a particular type of plant will come out, then rose will come out, a particular flavor will come out. Svābhāvikī jñāna-bala-kriyā ca.

We do not see how Kṛṣṅa's energies are working, but it is working. Don't think that "It is automatically... There was a chunk and there was..." No. Not like that. Everything. But His energy is so perfect. Just like if you want to paint one nice flower, you have to arrange so many things—color, and the brush and the painting cloth—and you have to apply your energies and... But still, it will not come so perfect. But Kṛṣṅa's energies are so perfect that we see automatically. But there is supervision of Kṛṣṅa. There is no question of accident. Everything is supervised. Svābhāvikī jñāna-bala-kriyā ca. We have to do it with our hand, to paint a picture of a nice rose flower, but in the nature the flower is coming out. We see "automatically." No. The Kṛṣṅa's energy is working there, but it is going on so swiftly, so, I mean to say, accurately, that He hasn't got to exact His energy, but it is working automatically. Svābhāvikī jñāna-bala-kriyā ca. Whatever knowledge is required... If you have studied, you will find in the petals of the flower the color exactly symmetrical, everything. Whatever color is required, it is coming out. We say "automatically." No automatically. Svābhāvikī jñāna-bala-kriyā. The knowledge and the action of Kṛṣṅa is so perfect, it is coming out.

So Caitanya Mahāprabhu says that kṛṣṅera svābhāvika tina... Svābhāvika. Natural, automatically, inconceivable. We cannot conceive that how it is working. So,

kṛṣṅera svābhāvika tina-śakti-pariṅati cic-chakti jīva-śakti āra māyā-śakti [Cc Madhya 20.111]

So there are many energies, and all the energies now aggregated divide into three. One is cit-śakti, the spiritual energy; another is jīva-śakti, the marginal energy. Jīva-śakti... We are marginal energy. We are śakti; we are not śaktimān. You must always remember. Jīva-bhūtaḥ mahā-bāho yayedaṁ dhārya... Parā prakṛti. Apareyam itas tu viddhi me prakṛtiṁ parām, jīva-bhūta. Jīva is parā prakṛti. It is prakṛti. The other day I have already explained. It is not puruṣa. Puruṣa is enjoyer, and prakṛti is enjoyed, predominated. Prakṛti is predominated and God is predominator. So all these śaktis are under..., fully under control of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. 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.]

In another place:

sṛṣṭi-sthiti-pralaya-sādhana-śaktir eka chāyeva yasya bhuvanāni bibharti durgā yasya ca..., icchānurūpam api yasya ca ceṣṭate sā govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi [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.]

Every śakti is working under His direction. That is Kṛṣṅa.

kṛṣṅera svābhāvika tina-śakti-pariṅati cic-chakti jīva-śakti āra māyā-śakti [Cc Madhya 20.111]

So Caitanya Mahāprabhu... That is the ācārya process. Ācārya. Acinoti śāstra, śāstrārtha. One who knows the śāstra-artha, one who has assimilated the śāstrārtha, he is ācārya. So immediately He is giving evidence from śāstra.

viṣṅu-śaktiḥ parā proktā kṣetrajñākhyā tathā parā avidyā-karma-saṁjñānyā tṛtīyā śaktir iṣyate [Cc Madhya 6.154]

[The internal potency of the Supreme Lord, Viṣṅu, is spiritual, as verified by the śāstras. There is another spiritual potency, known as kṣetra-jña, or the living entity. The third potency, which is known as nescience, makes the living entity godless and fills him with fruitive activity.]

The... He has divided the whole energy of Kṛṣṅa into three: cit-śakti, jīva-śakti and māyā-śakti. So the evidence is quoted from śāstra, Viṣṅu-Purāṅa, that viṣṅu-śaktiḥ parā proktā. Originally the Kṛṣṅa's energy is cit-śakti. Cit-śakti means spiritual energy, originally. Everything... Just like the sun and the sunshine. The sunshine originally shining, but when it is covered by cloud it is not shining. Within the cloud the real sunshine is there. So this material energy means it is covered by ignorance. This is the difference between spiritual energy and material energy. There is no two energies. Energy is one: viṣṅu-śakti parā proktā. That is parā, spiritual energy. Kṣetrajñākhyā tathā parā. Kṣetrajñākhyā tathā parā [Cc Madhya 8.153]. Kṣetrajña means jīva-śakti, one who knows kṣetra and kṣetrajña. This subject matter is there in the Thirteenth Chapter of Bhagavad-gītā. Kṣetra-kṣetrajñayor jñānam. So when Arjuna inquired, kṣetra-jñam, Kṛṣṅa replied, idaṁ śarīraṁ kṣetram abhidhīyate [Bg 13.2]: "This body is kṣetra, and one who knows this body..." Just like I say, "It is my body," so I am kṣetrajña. So here the same kṣetrajña. Kṣetrajñākhyā tathā parā.

The jīva-śakti, that is also spiritual. We are all spiritual, and this is our mistake, that I am thinking "I am this body." This is ignorance. The whole world is going on under this ignorance, that "I am this body." "I am this body." Yasyātma-buddhiḥ kuṅape tri-dhātuke, sa eva go-kharaḥ [SB 10.84.13].

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

If we study this verse, that anyone who is under the conception of..., bodily conception—"I am this body"—then he is no better than the animal. Sa eva go-kharaḥ. Go means cow, and khara means ass. But this is going on. The whole, the so-called nationalism, nations... So what is this idea of nation? "I am American," "I am Indian," "I am Hindustani," "I am Pakistani." Bodily concept of life. But śāstra rejects immediately. If anyone is under the bodily conception of life, he is... Sa eva go-kharaḥ: "He is no better than the animal." This is the challenge of the śāstra. So all these so-called nationality, big, big nations, big, big races, caste and so on, so on, what is their position? The position is that all of them are animals. That's all. This is the verdict of the śāstra. Sa eva go-kharaḥ.

Actually this morning we were talking, one dog sees another dog: "Oh, he is coming from another neighborhood." He immediately begins to bark. Immigration department: "Why you are coming in this neighborhood? All right, you can stay here for three days, then you must have to go out." The dog barking. So we have opened so many branches, but the basic principle is sa eva go-kharaḥ [SB 10.84.13]. All of them are on the platform of animal conscious. This is the modern civilization. India was never meant for that. Paṅḍitāḥ sama-darśinaḥ. This high culture we have lost now. Paṅḍitāḥ sama-darśinaḥ. They never distin... Vidyā-vinaya-sampanne brāhmaṅe gavi hastini, śuni caiva śva-pāke... [Bg 5.18].

[The humble sage, by virtue of true knowledge, sees with equal vision a learned and gentle brāhmaṅa, a cow, an elephant, a dog and a dog-eater [outcaste]]

Because there was no bodily concept of life. This is India's prerogative. But now we are also developing the bodily concept of life and becoming one of the animals. There is no distinction. If one is in bodily concept of life he is no better than animal. It may be... The dogs are fighting that "I am dog, and you are a different dog." If the man also fights on that same principle, then where is the difference between dog and man?

So this can be understood when actually... Prahlāda Mahārāja was surprised when his teacher was teaching him how to deal with enemies. He was surprised: "Who is enemy?" So a Vaiṣṅava has no enemy. Vaiṣṅava is friend. Patitānāṁ pāvanebhyo.

vāñchā-kalpatarubhyaś ca kṛpā-sindhubhya eva ca patitānāṁ pāvanebhyo vaiṣṅavebhyo namo namaḥ

[I offer my respectful obeisances unto all the Vaiṣṅava devotees of the Lord. They are just like desire trees who can fulfill the desires of everyone, and they are full of compassion for the fallen conditioned souls.]

Vaiṣṅava is meant for delivering the patita, the fallen. Fallen means fallen in the bodily conception of life. That is patita. So patitānāṁ pāvanebhyo. Kṛṣṅa's also business is to deliver these fools and rascals in the bodily concept of life, that dehino 'smin yathā dehe kaumāraṁ yauvanaṁ jarā [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.]

first pointing out that "You are not this body." Then knowledge begins. And otherwise, where is knowledge if one is under the bodily concept of life? He has no knowledge. And he is parā-śakti. But not aparā-śakti. The aparā-śakti... What is that aparā-śakti? Now, avidyā-karma-saṁjñā anyā tṛtīyā śaktir iṣyate. This material world means full of avidyā and karma-saṁjñā, and working hard like hogs and dogs day and night. This is material world. Material world means based on ignorance that "I am this body," and working day and night like hogs and dogs. That is material life. But human life, although we have got this material life, body, we should not be, I mean to say, bewildered. Ahaṅkāra-vimūḍhātmā kartāham iti manyate [Bg 3.27].

[The bewildered spirit soul, under the influence of the three modes of material nature, thinks himself to be the doer of activities, which are in actuality carried out by nature.]

Ahaṅkāra, taking this body in the concept of ahaṅkāra, false ahaṅkāra, egotism—"I am Indian," "I am American," "I am this," "I am that"—this is called ahaṅkāra. Vimudhātmā kartāham iti manyate. And the whole world is going on.

So if we want to become out of this ignorance, then we have to take to Kṛṣṅa consciousness. Otherwise there is no possibility. And if we remain in ignorance, then we shall go on committing sinful activities and entangle ourselves in the karma-cakra. Asann api kleśada āsa dehaḥ [SB 5.5.4]. If you don't give up this ignorance of bodily concept of life, and if you go on continuing this bodily concept of life, then we are becoming entangled in the laws of nature. Karmaṅā daiva-netreṅa jantor deha upapatti [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.]

And then we'll create another situation for another body. And another body means another period of suffering. This is going on. Asann api kleśada āsa dehaḥ, na sādhu manye yato ātmano 'yam. Atma is sac-cid-ānanda, but on account of being bodily covered, encaged in this body, we are suffering. We are suffering.

Therefore Kṛṣṅa says that tāṁs titikṣasva bhārata: "Bhārata, O the son of Bharata dynasty, Bhārata..." So in the material world the suffering is there. But what is that suffering? Mātrā-sparśās tu kaunteya śītoṣṅa sukha-duḥkha-dāḥ [Bg 2.14]. On account of this body... Now, in this season, we are feeling heat. Therefore the fan is there. But another season the body is the same, but season has changed. Therefore I will have to cover with hot coat and pant. So this feeling of heat and cold is due to this body. And what is this body, this material body? Therefore all our feelings of happiness and distress, it is due to this body. That we do not know. So therefore the best solution of miserable condition of life is to stop this material body. Then you become spiritually situated, and there is no more contradiction.

mātrā-sparśās tu kaunteya śītoṣṅa-sukha-duḥkha-dāḥ āgamāpāyino anityāḥ tāṁs titikṣasva bhārata [Bg 2.14]

That is the advice. We have to do our own business, self-realization. That is tapasya. Tapo divyaṁ putrakā yena śuddhyet sattvam [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.]

Existence... To purify the existence we have to practice tapasya, not running like cats and dogs here and there. This will not make solution of life. Human life is meant for tapo divyaṁ putrakā yena śuddhyet sattvaṁ yasmād brahma-saukhyam anantam. This is the process. Mahat-sevāṁ dvāram āhur vimukteḥ [SB 5.5.2]. If you want to get out of this entanglement of distressed condition of material body, then mahat-sevām: you associate with mahātmās and serve him. Mahat-sevāṁ dvāram āhur vimuktes tamo-dvāraṁ yoṣitāṁ saṅgi-saṅgam. And if you want to enjoy senses, then the path of darkness is there: tamo-dvāram. Then you do not know where you are going. Today you are human being. Tomorrow, after this body, you may become a plant or tree or something else. That is tamo-dvāram. We are pushing through darkness. But we should not remain in darkness. Jyotir gamaḥ, tamasi mā: "Don't remain in darkness. Come to the light."

So we have got so many books of knowledge giving us light, especially in this age, Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Take advantage of this and come into the light and make your life successful. This is Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement.

Thank you very much.

Devotees: Jaya Prabhupāda. [end]