Saturday, March 3, 2012

"The Whole Thing In One Word"

Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.8.33
Mayapura, October 13, 1974


Srila A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada


Nitai: "Others say that since both Vasudeva and Devaki prayed for You, You have taken Your birth as their son. Undoubtedly You are unborn, yet You take Your birth for their welfare and to kill those who are envious of the demigods."

Prabhupada:

apare vasudevasya
devakyam yacito 'bhyagat
ajas tvam asya ksemaya
vadhaya ca sura-dvisam

There are... Actually Krsna is unborn, aja, but Aja is taking birth. That is already explained. This is the bewilderment, vidambanam. It is already explained. So this vidambanam, speculation or bewilderment, how many types of speculation are there, that is being described by Kuntidevi. Somebody says that Krsna is Yadava. Yadava. Yadavaya madhavaya kesavaya namah. Yadava means born in the Yadu dynasty. And somebody says Krsna is Vasudeva, son of Vasudeva, Devaki. And Krsna... And some of them, they say, nanda-kumaraya, now, son of Nanda Maharaja. So Krsna has many speculations, but actually He is aja. Ajas tvam asya ksemaya.

Krsna... This is to be understood, that everyone thinking that He is born in the Yadu family, He is born of Vasudeva, or He is the son of mother Yasoda and Nanda Maharaja. This is Krsna's pastime. When the impersonalist says, or there are many philosophers, that "God has no name," actually that is a fact. God has no name. But He has name according to His activities. Just like when He acts as the chariot driver of Arjuna, His name is Partha-sarathi. When He plays as the child of mother Yasoda, He is called Yasoda-nandana. When people say that He is born of Nanda Maharaja, He is called Nanda-nandana. When people say that He came to protect Vasudeva and Devaki, He is called Vasudeva, or Devaki-nandana. Or when He is in the Yadu dynasty, He's said as Yadava. In this way, Krsna has unlimited pastimes and unlimited names. Advaitam acyutam anadim ananta-rupam [Bs 5.33]. Ananta. Ananta means unlimited. He has got unlimited because so many devotees, not one devotees, and He has to satisfy everyone, as Nanda-kumara, as Yasoda-nandana, as Vasudeva, as Yadava, as Partha-sarathi. So in this way, when one becomes bewildered that how many names He has got, so one should understand He has unlimited names or no name, but because He has to act unlimitedly, therefore He has got unlimited names.

So whole thing is summarized in one word: "Krsna," means all-attractive. He draws the attraction of Vasudeva. He draws the attraction of Yadu-kula. He draws the attraction of Arjuna. He draws attraction of everyone, all devotees. Mama vartmanuvartante partha sarvasah. The whole world, civilized world, they have got some religion -- Christian religion, Muhammadan religion, Hindu religion, Buddhist religion, and many other subordinate religions. Under the groups of Christian, there are so many churches -- Protestant, Catholic. In the Muhammadans, they have got Shiya, Suni, Sek,(?) so many. In Hindus also, Vaisnavas and Saktas and Sauras, Ganapatyas, so many. But Krsna says that "All of them, seeking after Me." Mama vartmanuvartante partha sarvasah: "Everyone, they may go on under different religious systems, but the aim is how to approach Me." Vedais ca sarvair aham eva vedyah [Bg. 15.15].

If you take... Veda means knowledge, scripture. Veda does not mean any particular scripture. Any scripture which gives knowledge of God, you can call it as Veda. Vedais ca sarvaih. If any book or any scripture or any book of knowledge does not give the information of God, that is not scripture because it cannot be called scripture, or Veda, because it does not search after the Supreme Being. Therefore Krsna says, vedais ca sarvair aham eva vedyah [Bg. 15.15]. Bahunam janmanam ante jnanavan mam prapadyate, vasudevah sarvam iti [Bg. 7.19]. This is the ultimate goal of knowledge.

So you can call the Supreme Lord Krsna or something else. Just like Muhammadans, they say "Allah." Allah means "the Supreme Being." Allah akbar. And the Christian says "God is great." And we say param brahma param dhama [Bg. 10.12], or Krsna, all-attractive. But the aim is to understand Krsna, that Krsna personally appears so that your misgivings, misunderstandings may be mitigated immediately -- "Here I am." The Krsna consciousness movement is for this purpose, that "You religionists, you philosophers, you scientists, you speculators, you are all... theosophists, so many, you are searching after God, and here is God, Krsna." But they are so unfortunate, they'll not accept it. "No, why shall I accept Krsna as God?" Then why you shall not? That is our question. If you do not accept Krsna as God, then you must know what is God. That, if I ask him, "Do you know what is God?" "That I do not know."

The same... Just like the scientist. He would propose that life is made by combination of chemicals, but when another scientist says, "Suppose I give you the chemicals. Can you produce life?" he will, the rascal will say, "That I cannot say." Similarly, they are rascals. We are presenting herewith, "Here is Krsna. Take His address. Take His name. Take His father's name, mother's name, all identification, His activities, His glories, everything." Krsna proves that He's the Supreme Personality of Godhead:

aisvaryasya samagrasya
viryasya yasasah sriyah
jnana-vairagyayos caiva
sannam bhaga itingana

Bhagavan. Bhagavan means the proprietor of all wealth, aisvarya, samagrasya. Not any limited amount, but samagra, everything. Krsna says that. Bhoktaram yajna..., sarva-loka-mahesvaram: "I am the proprietor of all the planets." Krsna says that. So you check Him, that "How He is the proprietor of all the planets?" Therefore He showed Visvarupa, the universal form, how everything is within Him.

Everything is there. Arjuna wanted, requested Krsna, that "How I can understand that You are the proprietor, You are the everything in the universe?" So He showed His universal form. Krsna showed in every way to fulfill the proper definition of God, aisvaryasya samagrasya, proprietor of everything, and viryasya, the powerful. Nobody could kill Krsna, but He killed so many demons, big, big demons. Therefore He's powerful. And His reputation? Still continuing, Krsna. We are selling Krsna book like anything. Why people are interested with Krsna? Because He is reputed. People are seeing. The Krsna consciousness movement is going on all over the world. This is yasah.

So when Krsna was present, who could compete Him with His opulence? He had 16,108 wives, not loitering in the street, but each and every wife had big, big marble palaces, all marble palaces. Furniture with ivory, ivory and silk, and frames, all golden, garden with parijata, so many things. The... And not one palace, two palace. Sixteen thousand palaces. And Narada was surprised: "What Krsna is doing with sixteen thousand wives?" In each and every palace he entered, and he saw Krsna is engaged in different way. Somebody is taking care of the children; somebody... Somewhere He is arranging for the marriage of His son and daughter. Somewhere He is engaged in other sixteen thousand..., in the sixteen thousand palaces, in sixteen thousand engagements, and queens. So this is called opulence, aisvarya. Who can show this? And Krsna showed it personally.

So in every way Krsna proved the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Still, these rascals, they are searching after God. What is this nonsense? Here is God. You see that He is God in every respect according to the definition, and still, you say that "Where is God?" How much rascal they are, just imagine. Here is God, and still, they are enquiring, "What is God? Can you show me God?" What is this? Is it not rascaldom? What is this? If everything, proof is there, why they are searching after God? What is the answer? Where is the question of searching after God? Just answer this question. God is present here, and still, you are wasting your time. Therefore Krsna says, mudha. Mudha. Na mam duskrtino mudhah [Bg. 7.15]. Simply rascal. They cannot be given any other title except this one title, mudhah. Why they remain mudhah? Why are they are not intelligent? They are being educated in the universities, getting so many degrees. Still, they remain mudhah. Why? Duskrtinah, sinful, engaged in sinful activities, these sinful activities. Yatra papas catur-vidha. Every one of them, all these rascals, are... They're engaged in four kinds of sinful activities. They'll search after illicit sex, they will eat meat, and they will drink and they will play gambling. Just one after a... You just study. They cannot understand God because they are mudhah.

Why they are mudhah? Because they are sinful. Why they are sinful? Because naradhamah, lowest of the mankind. Human form of life was given to him to become purified, but they are engaged in sinful activities so that next life they'll be cats and dogs and hogs and trees. Why trees? Trees stands naked. And now this nudie movement is there, how to remain naked. That means next life they are preparing for becoming tree: "Thousand years, stand up here, naked. Nobody will object." Yes, this is the law of nature. Prakrteh kriyamanani gunaih karmani sarvasah [Bg. 3.27]. These rascals... Because the rascals, they do not know. And even the information is there, still, they'll not accept. This is their position.

So don't remain mudhah. This is Krsna consciousness movement. Krsna consciousness movement is to educate people not to remain mudhah. Be intelligent. It is a very nice cultural movement that it is trying to awaken people to their God consciousness. "Here is God." This is the sum and substance of Krsna consciousness. And the process is also bona fide because Krsna Himself is teaching the process. Krsna, first of all, generally He told, sarva-dharman parityajya [Bg. 18.66], because this is the process. But because they are mudhas, rascals and sinful, they could not understand. They could not understand. Therefore Krsna came personally to teach people how to surrender. That is Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Apani acari prabhu jivere sikhaya.

namo maha-vadanyaya
krsna-prema-pradaya te
krsnaya krsna-caitanya-
namne gaura-tvise namah
[Madhya 19.53]

Rupa Gosvami could understand that "Here is Krsna, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu." Krsnaya. Now He is acting as Krsna-caitanya. Krsnaya krsna-caitanya-namne: "He has assumed the name of Krsna-caitanya, but He is Krsna Himself." And what He is doing? Because previously, as Krsna, He simply ordered that "You surrender. Then you'll be purified and you'll be promoted." Now here, as Krsna-caitanya, He is giving krsna-prema. Krsna-prema. Unless I understand you very thoroughly, how there can be love for you? Love is not so easy that simply by meeting, or one day's transaction, one becomes lover of other. No. It takes time. So in the Krsna form, Krsna, the Supreme Lord, He simply wanted that "You surrender; then you'll understand Me." But in the Caitanya Mahaprabhu, not only understanding Him, but one gets love of Krsna, the highest stage. Therefore He is addressed as namo maha-vadanyaya, the topmost charitable personality. He is giving krsna-prema.

So the process is there. And actually it is so happening all over the world. How the Christian priests are surprised that "These boys, these Christian boys or these Jewish boys, they never came to the church. They did not inquire even what is God. Now they have left everything and they are mad after God. How it is po... How it is?" Because we have adopted the process enunciated by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu; therefore it has become easier. Otherwise, to understand Krsna only, it will take millions of years, simply to understand Krsna. And what to speak of becoming lover of Krsna? If I do not understand you, I cannot become your lover. You... We cannot love an unknown person. Is it possible? You must know him. You must behave with him. You must study him. He will study you. Then there is question of love. But Krsna-caitanya Mahaprabhu has given us such a nice process: ceto-darpana-marjanam [Cc. Antya 20.12]. By chanting Hare Krsna mantra, immediately...

Because we do not love Krsna... We have got intimate relationship with Krsna as part and parcel. It cannot be separated. It cannot be separated. But any way, some way or other, we have lost or forgotten that intimate relationship with Krsna. Nitya-siddha krsna-bhakti. That is nitya-siddha, eternally fact, that Krsna loves us and we love. Krsna loves. Therefore He comes personally. He comes as devotee to deliver us back to home, back to Godhead. Unless He loves, how it is possible? Krsna is coming in so many ways. He is sending His devotee. He is leaving Bhagavad-gita for study to understand Krsna. That is... Krsna loves. Simply teaches that... Therefore Caitanya-caritamrta says that nitya-siddha krsna-bhakti. This krsna-bhakti, love of Krsna, it is not something that artificially trained up. Artificial things...

Now these American and the European boys, they are after me. They are after this for the last six, seven years. Had it been an artificial thing, they could not stay. That is not possible. It is not artificial. It is already there, Krsna. Krsna-bhakti nitya-siddha. It is already there. By the process of Caitanya Mahaprabhu, I am simply trying to awaken that krsna-bhakti. That's all. That is the duty of guru. Caksur unmilitam yena. He opens the eyes, that "Why you have forgotten Krsna? Here is Krsna. You love Him. You'll be happy." This is guru's business. Not that he is giving artificially something which is known as krsna-bhakti. Krsna-bhakti's already there. Nitya-siddha krsna-bhakti sadhya kabhu naya, sravanadi-suddha-citte. Simply by this process, hear about Krsna. That we have introduced. In our so many centers this process is going on: hear about Krsna, chant about Krsna. Simply "Krsna, Krsna, Krsna, Krsna." Srnvatam sva-kathah krsnah [SB 1.2.17]. Then Krsna will help you.

So this is Krsna. So the highest devotees, they..., Krsna, they, Krsna accepts because He is playing the part of human being. Avajananti mam mudhah. Those who are mudhas, they cannot understand, but those who are intelligent, they know that Krsna is perfectly playing as a human being. As a human being takes birth in the womb of his father and mother by the father and mother, similarly, Krsna also appeared, accepting Vasudeva as His father, Devaki as mother. But actually Krsna is not born. That is being repeatedly explained by Kuntidevi, that apare, apare vasudevasya devakyam: "They say like that." What is that? Devaki-nandana... There is a verse, that "It is a saying only. Nobody can become Krsna's father or mother, but they get the reputation as father and mother. That is a concession to the devotee." Therefore, Kuntidevi says, apare: "Others say like that." Somebody says like this; somebody says like that; somebody says like this. This is going on. But actually, Krsna remains aja always. Because if we do not understand that Krsna, what is Krsna, then we'll misunderstand Him, that "He is also born. He is also born, so how He can become?" The Mayavadis say that "Krsna is also having a body of the material body, maya. Therefore real spiritual identity (is) impersonal. As soon as He assumes the body, it is material." That is called Mayavada. "Maya. The Krsna's body is maya. The ultimate Absolute is no body, impersonal." That is their theory. Therefore we call them Mayavadi.

But they do not actually know that ultimately the Absolute Truth is a person, the Supreme Person, Bhagavan. Brahmeti paramatmeti bhagavan iti sabdyate. Vadanti tat tattva-vidas, tattva-vidah [SB 1.2.11]. Tattva means one who knows tattva. They know that ultimately the Absolute Truth is person, not imperson. Therefore Bhagavata says, vadanti tat tattva-vidas tattvam [SB 1.2.11]. What is the Absolute Truth? Absolute Truth means tattvam. So Bhagavata says, vadanti tat tattva-vidah: "Those who are aware of the Absolute Truth, they say like this." What is that? Brahmeti... Yad, yaj jnanam advayam. Advayam: "He is without any duality, but the Absolute Truth is known as in three features: by somebody as Brahman, by somebody as Paramatma, and somebody as Bhagavan."

Actually He is Bhagavan. Paramatma is His universal feature.

eko 'py asau racayitum jagad-anda-kotim
yac-chaktir asti jagad-anda-caya yad-antah
andantara-stha-paramanu-cayantara-stham
govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami
[Bs. 5.35]

Eko 'py asau, only one portion. That is also confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita, athava bahunaitena kim jnatena tavarjuna, vistabhyaham... [break] ...this universe is only one only. That also, we cannot estimate what is the length and breadth, how many planets are there, and still, we are proud of becoming God. But God creates such millions of universes. Eko 'py asau racayitum jagad-anda-kotim. Koti, million. Yac-chaktir asti jagad-anda-caya yad-antah. He is creating, and everywhere He is present. How He is present? Andantara-stha. He's present within the universe and within the heart of all living entities, even within the atom. Andantara-stha-paramanu-cayantara... That is Krsna. That is only by His one part. Govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami **.

So such Govinda has become the son of Vasudeva and Devaki. So how it is possible? And therefore the devotee is so great that although Krsna, or God, is so great that by His one portion He can create the innumerable universes, He enters into the womb of Devaki and comes out as her son. This is Krsna's grace. You see. He can make His devotee so great that the greater than the greatest is coming out of the womb of Devaki. So apare vasudevasya devakyam. And why He agreed? Yacitah, yacitah: "requested." Requested as Sutapa and Prsni. Vasudeva was Prsni in his former life, and Devaki was Sutapa. Sutapa. Sutapa means one who can perform austerities and penance very nicely. Su means nicely, and tapah. So they underwent austerities and penance to get a son like Krsna.

So when Krsna was pleased with their tapasya, they wanted: "My Lord, we want a, a son like You." "So where is like Me?" Krsna is asamordhva. There is nobody equal to Krsna; nobody is greater than... Otherwise, how He can be great? If somebody is greater than Him, then how He can be great? Nobody can be greater than Him. That is greatness, either you say in English language or Muhammadan language. Allah akbar: "Allah, the Supreme Being, is the great." We also say, param brahma. So nobody can be greater than Him or equal. Asamordhva. So they wanted "a son like You." That means somebody must be equal to Him. "Like You" means equal to Him. So who can be equal to Krsna? But He can expand Himself with many equals. Advaitam acyutam anadim ananta-rupam [Bs 5.33]. Krsna can expand Himself in millions' and millions' forms. Goloka eva nivasaty akhilatma-bhutah [Bs. 5.37]. Everything is there. Although He is living in Goloka, still, by His omnipotency, omnipresence, He can be everywhere. Andantara-stha-paramanu-ca... So that Paramatma, or the Supersoul, is equal with Krsna. Not anything else equal with Krsna, but the Paramatma is equal with Krsna. Therefore by His expansion, He agreed to become son of Devaki, and there may be hundreds and thousands of Devaki, devotees. He is unlimited. His devotees are unlimited. Their demands are unlimited.

So everything is Krsna's unlimited. So therefore all-unlimited means Krsna, all-attractive. That is the real name of God, if God can be given one name. Because God has no name, but His names are given according to His activities. Then how to concentrate in one name? That one name is Krsna, all-attractive. That is the real name of Krsna.

Thank you very much. Hare Krsna. (end)
>>> Ref. VedaBase => Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.8.33 -- Mayapura, October 13, 1974

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