Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.7.10

Pradyumna: Translation: "All different varieties of ātmārāmas [those who take pleasure in ātmā, or spirit self], especially those established on the path of self-realization, though freed from all kinds of material bondage, desire to render unalloyed devotional service unto the Personality of Godhead. This means that the Lord possesses transcendental qualities and therefore can attract everyone, including liberated souls."

Prabhupāda: Read the purport also.

Pradyumna: "Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu explained this ātmārāma śloka very vividly before His chief devotee Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī. He points out eleven factors in the śloka, namely (1) ātmārāma, (2) munayaḥ, (3) nirgrantha, (4) api, (5) ca, (6) urukrama, (7) kurvanti, (8) ahaitukīm, (9) bhaktim, (10) ittham-bhūta-guṅaḥ and (11) hariḥ. According to the Viśva-prakāśa Sanskrit dictionary, there are seven synonyms for the word ātmārāma, which are as follows: (1) Brahman [the Absolute Truth], (2) body, (3) mind, (4) endeavor, (5) endurance, (6) intelligence and (7) personal habits.

"The word munayaḥ refers to (1) those who are thoughtful, (2) those who are grave and silent, (3) ascetics, (4) the persistent, (5) mendicants, (6) sages and (7) saints.

"The word nirgrantha conveys these ideas: (1) one who is liberated from nescience, (2) one who has no connection with scriptural injunction, that is, who is freed from the obligation of the rules and regulations mentioned in the revealed scriptures like ethics, Vedas, philosophy, psychology and metaphysics, etc. [in other words the fools, illiterate, urchins, etc., who have no connection with regulative principles], (3) a capitalist, and also (4) one who is penniless.

"According to the Śabda-kośa dictionary, the affix ni is used in the sense of (1) certainty, (2) counting, (3) building and (4) forbiddance, and the word grantha is used in the sense of wealth, thesis, vocabulary, etc.

"The word urukrama means 'the one whose activities are glorious.' Krama means 'step.' This word urukrama specifically indicates the Lord's incarnation as Vāmana, who covered the whole universe by immeasurable steps. Lord Viṣṅu is powerful, and His activities are all-glorious, and He has created the spiritual world by His internal potency and the material world by His external potency. By His all-pervading features He is everywhere present as the Supreme Truth, and in His personal feature He is always present in His transcendental abode of Goloka Vṛndāvana, where He displays His transcendental pastimes in all variegatedness. His activities cannot be compared with anyone else's, and therefore the word urukrama is just applicable to Him only.

"According to Sanskrit verbal arrangement, kurvanti means to doing things for someone else. Therefore, it means that the ātmārāmas render devotional service unto the Lord not for personal interest but for the pleasure of the Lord, Urukrama.

"Hetu means 'causal.' There are many causes for one's sense satisfaction, and they can be chiefly classified as material enjoyment, mystic powers and liberation, which are generally desired by progressive persons. As far as material enjoyments are concerned, they are innumerable, and the materialists are eager to increase them more and more because they are under the illusory energy. There is no end to the list of material enjoyments, nor can anyone in the material universe have all of them. As far as the mystic powers are concerned, they are eight in all [such as to become the minutest in form, to become weightless, to have anything one desires, to lord it over the material nature, to control other living beings, to throw earthly globes in outer space, etc.]."

Prabhupāda: So this śloka is still more elaborately explained in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta. This is the summary. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu explained this verse in sixty-four ways, each word explained—and how many ways each word can be explained—and from all angles of vision He has proved that Kṛṣṅa is all-attractive. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu's scholarship... Of course, He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead; there is no comparison to His excellence in every respect. Six opulences. Na caitanyāt para-tattvaṁ param iha [Cc Ādi 1.3]. That is explained by Kavirāja Gosvāmī. Ṣaḍ-aiśvaryaiḥ pūrṅo ya bhagavān iha sa svayam ayam [Cc Ādi 1.3], Śrī Caitanya-candra. He has explained like that. Ṣaḍ-aiśvaryaiḥ pūrṅaḥ—all knowledge, all beauty, all strength—everything in full. Pūrṅam. Pūrṅam idam. Pūrṅāt pūrṅam udacyate [Īśopaniṣad, Invocation]. He is pūrṅa, and whatever He does, that is also pūrṅa. You cannot find any defect in the creation of the Lord. In the arrangement of maintenance and in the arrangement of annihilation you cannot find out any flaw. Perfection. Pūrṅa.

So Kṛṣṅa is pūrṅa in every respect, and if we take to Kṛṣṅa consciousness, shelter of the lotus feet of Kṛṣṅa—sa vai manaḥ kṛṣṅa-padāravindayoḥ [SB 9.4.18]

[Mahārāja Ambarīṣa always engaged his mind in meditating upon the lotus feet of Kṛṣṅa, his words in describing the glories of the Lord, his hands in cleansing the Lord's temple, and his ears in hearing the words spoken by Kṛṣṅa or about Kṛṣṅa. He engaged his eyes in seeing the Deity of Kṛṣṅa, Kṛṣṅa's temples and Kṛṣṅa's places like Mathurā and Vṛndāvana, he engaged his sense of touch in touching the bodies of the Lord's devotees, he engaged his sense of smell in smelling the fragrance of tulasī offered to the Lord, and he engaged his tongue in tasting the Lord's prasāda. He engaged his legs in walking to the holy places and temples of the Lord, his head in bowing down before the Lord, and all his desires in serving the Lord, twenty-four hours a day. Indeed, Mahārāja Ambarīṣa never desired anything for his own sense gratification. He engaged all his senses in devotional service, in various engagements related to the Lord. This is the way to increase attachment for the Lord and be completely free from all material desires.]

—if we fix up our mind always at the lotus feet of Kṛṣṅa, then everything will follow very perfectly. That is promised by Kṛṣṅa. Teṣāṁ satata-yuktānāṁ bhajatāṁ prīti-pūrvakam [Bg 10.10].

[To those who are constantly devoted and worship Me with love, I give the understanding by which they can come to Me.]

If one is engaged always in love and affection... Not as official love. Ecstatic love, spontaneous, that is wanted. That example is here in Vṛndāvana. At least, as we get information of Vṛndāvana from the śāstras, from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, how spontaneously the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana—the gopīs and the cowherds boys and the birds, beasts, the calves, the animals, the trees—everyone, even the flies, the bees, the insect, even the dust, the grass—everyone is..., they are all cinmaya, spiritual. They are not material. But they are attracted to Kṛṣṅa in different varieties. Ittham-bhūta-guṅo hariḥ.

[break] ...varieties are not of matter. Here in this material world the varieties are of material, external energy, bahiraṅga, bahiraṅga-śakti. There are three manifestations of Kṛṣṅa's energy. Parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate [Cc Madhya 13.65, purport]. That is the Vedic injunction, that the Lord's energy is manifested in varieties—not impersonal. If we study very intelligently, then we can understand how Kṛṣṅa's energy is working in varieties. You study even one flower, you'll see how varieties of color and arrangement of the petals, everything. Don't think as the rascals, they say "nature." What is nature? Nature is an instrument, just like typewriter. You're typewriting... You are typewriting, not that the typewriter typewriting. That is a mistake. Those who are less intelligence, poor fund of knowledge, they see that the typewriter is working. No. The typewriter means the person who is using the machine, he is... Just like this microphone. Microphone is not talking; I am talking. It is an instrument. Similarly, what we call nature, that is an instrument only, not that nature is working. Nature is dull. What is this microphone? It is made of dull matter. It cannot work. But a human being has arranged these material things in such a way...

The material elements means earth, water, air, fire. A scientist means or a craftsman means he can utilize the ingredients in such a way. Just like this temple: it is a composition of earth, water and fire. Tejo-vāri-mṛd vinimayaḥ. Tejo means fire, and vāri means water, and mṛt means earth. So what is this building? It is... You have collected earth and shaped it into a brick, and then put it with water, and then put into the fire—it becomes brick. Then you smash it, powder it, it becomes mortar. Then you set up. In this way... The, originally, tejo-vāri-mṛt: fire, water and earth. So the fire, water, earth has not made this nice temple. It is the person, the brain, the engineer, the architect—they have made.

So this is a wrong idea, that matter is doing independently. That is not possible. Therefore it is clearly said in the Bhagavad-gītā, 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.]

Matter does not work. The Supreme Personality of Godhead, by His different energies, He is working. That is Kṛṣṅa. You have to understand like that. Kṛṣṅa is in the background. In another place in the Bhagavad-gītā it is said, aham ādir hi devānām [Bg 10.2]. If you say that Lord Brahmā has created, because he is the creator of this universe... Deva, there are three principle devas: Brahmā, Viṣṅu, Maheśvara. Kṛṣṅa says, aham ādir hi devānām. Actually that is the fact. Even Brahmā is originated from Viṣṅu's navel; therefore Brahmā's name is Padma-yoni. And he, when he was created, he saw everything dark, so he was instructed to undergo tapa—these are explained in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam—then he was given the intelligence how to work. So even a person like Brahmā is also instructed by Kṛṣṅa how to create. So any person, any ingredient, any matter, everything is working under the direction of Kṛṣṅa. Therefore His name is Kṛṣṅa.

So Caitanya-caritāmṛta kaj advises, Kavirāja Gosvāmī, that,

siddhānta baliyā citte nā kara alasa ihā haite kṛṣṅe lāge sudṛḍha mānasa [Cc Ādi 2.117]

Siddhānta. How Kṛṣṅa is great. Ittham-bhūta-guṅo hariḥ. Therefore it is said how Kṛṣṅa is great. God is great. In the Western world, they say "God is great," but one does not know how He is great. That you will find in the Vedic literature. Just like in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, ittham-bhūta-guṅo-hariḥ: He's so great. That you have to learn from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Simply to know God is great, it is good. But how He is great, how He is working, that we have to take lessons from the Vedic literature. You cannot find such information anywhere, in any book throughout the whole world. So there is no question of studying Vedas from a sectarian point of view. For the sake of knowledge, everyone should study this Vedic literature. And it is summarized in Vedānta-sūtra. Therefore it is called Vedānta-sūtra. Sūtra means summarized. Athāto brahma jijñāsā.

Now these two words, atha ataḥ brahma jijñāsā—four words—it contains volumes of knowledge. Therefore it is called sūtra. Janmādy asya yataḥ [SB 1.1.1]. They are Brahma-sūtra. Brahma-sūtra padaiś caiva. Kṛṣṅa says in the Bhagavad-gītā that brahma-sūtra padaiś caiva hetumadbhir viniścitam [Bg 13.5]. The truth, Absolute Truth, is fixed up by Brahma-sūtra. So Brahma-sūtra explained in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Brahma-sūtra is the summary of the whole Vedic literature. Because in future people will misinterpret. Therefore the author of Brahma-sūtra, Vyāsadeva, made a natural comment, and that comment is Brahma-sūtra bhāṣya, the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Don't be misguided by rascals, that "Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is written by somebody else. It is not written by Vyāsadeva." These are rascals' proposition. This is given by Śrī Vyāsadeva, and he is the author of Brahma-sūtra. Lokasyājānato vidvāṁś cakre sātvata-saṁhitām [SB 1.7.6]. This is sātvata-saṁhitām. So we have tried to explain this sātvata-saṁhitām in English for study of the whole world, because English can be understood, or it can be translated easily.

So these activities are going on. And we are very much thankful to you that you are cooperating. So in India you may find some difficulty. Still, your valuable cooperation is required for the benefit of the whole world. Lokasyājānato vidvāṁś cakre sātvata-saṁhitām.

ātmārāmāś ca munayo kurvanty ahaitukīṁ bhaktim ittham-bhūta-guṅo hariḥ

We have to spread the transcendental qualities of Kṛṣṅa. Kṛṣṅe parama-pūruṣe. Yasyāṁ vai śrūyamāṅāyāṁ kṛṣṅe parama-pūruṣe, bhaktir utpadyate [SB 1.7.7]. That is the life's mission. So as far as possible, try to understand. As advised by Kṛṣṅadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī, siddhānta baliyā citte nā kara alasa, don't be lazy. Always try to understand Kṛṣṅa, siddhānta, by siddhānta, by Vedic conclusion, not by manufacturing ideas. Siddhānta. Don't be lazy. That is the instruction of Kavirāja Gosvāmī.

siddhānta baliyā citte nā kara alasa ihā haite kṛṣṅe lāge sudṛḍha mānasa [Cc Ādi 2.117]

If you study according to the Vedic conclusion, don't manufacture ideas and whims and sentiments... If you go through siddhānta, then you'll be more and more firmly fixed up. Ihā haite kṛṣṅe lāge sudṛḍha mānasa. Then your life is successful.

Thank you very much.

Devotees: Jaya Prabhupāda. [end]