Prabhupada: Govindam adi-purusam tam
aham bhajami. (devotees respond)
cintamani-prakara-sadmasu kalpa-vrksa-
laksavrtesu surabhir abhipalayantam
laksmi-sahasra-sata-sambhrama-
govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami
[Bs. 5.29]
(devotees respond)
venum kvanantam aravinda-dalayataksam
barhavatamsam asitambuda-sundarangam
kandarpa-koti-kamaniya visesa-sobham
govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami
[Bs. 5.30]
(devotees respond)
alola-candraka-lasad-
ratnangadam pranaya-keli-kala-vilasam
syamam tribhanga-lalitam niyata-prakasam
govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami
[Bs. 5.31]
(devotees respond) Thank you very much.
tasmad aham vigata-viklava isvarasya
sarvatmana mahi grnami yatha manisam
nico 'jaya guna-visargam anupravistah
puyeta yena hi puman anuvarnitena
[SB 7.9.12]
So the prayer... For offering prayer to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, you do not require any high qualification. It doesn't matter. You can offer your prayer from any standard of life. Not that you have to become a very learned man, very scholarly man, and you have to present your prayers in a very nicely selected words so that poetry, rhetoric, prosody, everything is there, metaphor. Nothing required. Simply you have to express your feelings.
So what is that real feeling? One must be aware of his position; then one can express his feeling. Feeling should be very sincere and automatic. And what is our position? That has been taught by Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Caitanya Mahaprabhu teaches us how to pray. He says in His prayer, na dhanam na janam na sundarim kavitam va jagadisa kamaye [Cc. Antya 20.29, Siksastaka 4]. Jagadisa: "O My Lord of the universe." Jagat-isa. Jagat means universe and isa means Lord. So it does not matter whether you are Hindu or Muslim or Christian or anyone. It does not matter. But you must know that there is a supreme controller of this universe. How can you deny it? Therefore this word has been used very nicely by Caitanya Mahaprabhu: Jagadisa. Jaya jagadisa hare. It is universal. Now if you think that "My father is jagadisa," that is your conviction, but jagadisa is meaning the Supreme -- no controller there. Everyone is controlled. As soon as you see that somebody is controlled, he cannot be the Supreme. So to find out the jagadisa... The Brahma-samhita gives us information who is Jagadisa. And who is that Jagadisa, or the Supreme? The Brahma says, isvarah paramah krsnah [Bs. 5.1]. Jagadisa, isa, the same word, isvara. Isa means controller. So every one of us is controller to some extent. If somebody has nothing to control, he keeps one cat or dog to control: "My dear cat, please come here." He is thinking, "I am controller." And sometimes we find the dog controls the master. Actually, nobody is controller. Everyone is controlled. But we forget the situation. This is called maya. Therefore we refuse to accept any controller of this universe, because as soon as we accept some controller, then we'll have to account for our sinful activities. As soon as there is a government, then we shall be responsible for our unlawful activities. But our position is that we want to continue our sinful activities. As such it is very good to deny any controller. That is the basic principle of godlessness. Why these rascals, they deny there is no God, God is dead? Because they want to continue their rascaldom without any restriction. That is the basic principle, they deny. But do you mean to say that denying the God, the God will die or God will..., there will be no God? No. There is a nice Bengali proverb, sakuni svape garu more na. Sakuni means the vulture. The vulture wants some dead carcass of animal, a cow especially. So for days together they do not get it, so it is cursing some cow, "You die." So does it mean that by his cursing the cow will die? Similarly, these vultures, sakuni, they want to see God is dead. At least, they take pleasure, "Oh, now God is dead. I can do anything nonsense I like." This is going on. Sakuni is cursing, the vulture is cursing the cow.
So this sort of knowledge will not do. One must know that there is a controller. That is the beginning of knowledge. Why should you deny? In every field of activity we find some controller. How can I deny that there is no controller of this creation? There is. Therefore Caitanya Mahaprabhu particularly uses this word. He's not manufacturing that word. This jagadisa, this word, is there in the Vedic language in many verses. Jaya jagadisa hare. Kesava dhrta-buddha-sarira jaya jagadisa hare. The Jagannatha is Jagadisa, the same word. Jagat-natha, Jagannatha. Jagat-isa, Jagadisa. So... And who is that Jagadisa? That is being defined by Brahma, the first living creature of this universe, in the Brahma-samhita, isvarah paramah krsnah [Bs. 5.1]. The Supreme Lord... Parama means supreme. Parama means the best, the supreme, the superior. Just like we manufacture... We not manufacture; we prepare sometimes paramanna. Anna, anna means foodstuff, and paramanna means that sweet rice. It is called paramanna. Amongst all sorts of rice preparation, that sweet rice preparation is considered to be the best. So param is used when it is the best or the supermost. So isvarah, controller. There are many controllers. "Might is right." But nobody is supreme controller. That is not possible. Nobody. Everyone is trying to become the supreme controller, but that is not being possible. By individual effort, by national effort, by communal effort, any way, every community, every nation, every individual person is trying to be the supreme. Therefore there is competition. Everyone is trying to be the supreme, but that is not possible. This world, this creation is so made that nobody is supreme. Any position you place yourself, you'll find somebody inferior to you and somebody superior to you. Nobody can say that "I am superior" or "I am inferior." If you think that you are inferior, you'll find somebody immediately less inferior than you. And if you think you are superior, you'll find immediately somebody is more superior than you.
So this is our position. And what is God's position? That is described in the Vedic literature, in Bhagavad-gita: asamordhva. Asamaurdhva means nobody is superior, nobody is equal. Two things. If you somebody, if you find somebody who has no competitor, equal, and who has no superior, then He is God. The definition of God can be given in two words: one who has no superior and has no equal. Asamaurdhva. This is the Vedic version. In the Upanisads, it is said, na tasya sama adhikasya drsyate. Nobody is found equal to Him or greater than Him. Na tasya sama adhikasya drsyate. Parasya saktir vividhaiva sruyate [Cc. Madhya 13.65, purport]. And His energies are manifested in so many ways. Na tasya karyam karanam ca vidyate. And He has nothing to do. Everyone... Take any important man. Take your president. Just like the president of United States of America, he is considered to be the supreme man in the States, but as soon as there was some disturbance in Central Europe, immediately he had to call meetings of his Cabinet and to consider how to deal with the situation. So he has to do something always. If he does not do anything, then he's no more the supreme man. But in the Vedic literature we find, na tasya karyam karanam ca vidyate. He has nothing to do. That is superiority. If he has to do something, then he's not supreme. He cannot be. He's acting.
You'll be interested to know that one European gentleman, he went to Calcutta, and he visited several temples in Calcutta. And he visited our temple also. Our temple is Radha-Krsna. Just the picture, Radha-Krsna. So he went to the temple of Goddess Kali. He saw the Goddess Kali's very ferocious feature, and he (she) has got one, what is called, chopper in her hand, and it is, she's chopping the heads of the demons, and she has the garland of the heads of the demons, and engaged in fighting. So he's supposed to be intelligent man. He said that "I find in this temple there is God." "Why? Why you conclude like that?" "That in every temple I saw, that the god, deity, is doing something. But here I see the God is enjoying. He has nothing to do." Very nice conclusion. This is Vedic conclusion. Why, if he's God...? Nowadays the nonsense are becoming God by meditation. But does it mean by meditation one can become God? Do you think a dog meditates and becomes God? This is all nonsense. (shouting:) God is God! Always God! Just like Krsna. He's God in the lap of His mother. The Putana, the demonic woman, came to poison the child. She came in a very beautiful girl's dress and asked Yasoda, "Oh, Yasodamayi, you have got very nice baby. Will you kindly give me? I can offer my breast." Yasodamayi was very simple village woman. "Oh, yes, you can take my child." But her intention was, she smeared poison on her breast, as soon as Krsna will suck, then the child will die. So this is the demonic spirit. They want to kill Krsna always. That's all. "God is dead." They want to see how Krsna can be killed, how Krsna is dead. That is their business. "There is no God" or "God is impersonal" or "God is dead" or... So many things. That means they want to see there is no God. Or to kill God. Kamsa, always thinking, "As soon as Krsna will take His birth, I'll take the baby and kill." But God is always God. The Putana raksasi took the child and allowed to suck her breast, and God is so kind, He sucked the breast and sucked her life. Everything finished. And she appeared, oh, a great giantlike demon. You know the story, Putana.
So this God, this child God in the lap of His mother, He's God. He did not become God by meditation, by penance, or by austerity or by following the rules and regulations. Why? He's substantially God. The God's manifestation is always there. That is God. Na tasya karyam karanam ca vidyate. He has nothing to do. If anyone has to do something to become God, he's a dog. He's not God. Immediately. Immediately understand. If somebody advertises that by meditation he has become God, by worshiping such and such deity he has become God, immediately take that he is dog. Because the Vedic definition says, na tasya karyam karanam ca vidyate. Why God has to do something to become God? If you manufacture something gold, that is chemical gold, that is not gold. Gold is natural. Similarly, God is natural. In the womb of His mother He is God, in the lap of His mother He is God, while He's playing with His boyfriends as cowherds boy He's God, while He's dancing with His girlfriends He's God, while He's fighting in Kuruksetra He's God, while He's marrying He's God, while He's speaking He's God. That is God. To understand God there is no difficulty. If you try to understand Krsna, then God is there.
Therefore Brahma recommends, isvarah paramah krsnah [Bs. 5.1]. The Supreme Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is Krsna. And Krsna says in the Bhagavad-gita Himself that mattah parataram nanyat asti kincid dhananjaya: [Bg. 7.7] "My dear Arjuna, Dhananjaya, oh, there is no better object than Me." Kincid asti. Nothing. Many places. Aham sarvasya prabhavah: [Bg. 10.8] "I am the origin, I am the fountainhead of everything." "Everything" means He's the fountainhead of Lord Siva, He's fountainhead, the origin of Visnu, He's the origin of Brahma, He's the origin of Lord Siva, and what to speak of other demigods, and what to speak of other living creatures. Mamaivamso jiva bhutah: [Bg. 15.7] "All these living creatures, they are all My parts and parcels." Therefore He is the origin. And in the Brahma-samhita, the Brahma in his samhita-Samhita means Vedic literature -- so he explains that "You are finding out cause. Here is cause." Everywhere you'll find. But the rascal demons are so obstinate that although Krsna is confirmed the Supreme God by Brahma, by Siva, by Vyasa, Narada, Devala, and many, many devotees, Bhisma... There are twelve standard acaryas. They are svayambhur narada sambhu... Svayambhur means Brahma; Narada, Narada Muni; and Sambhu means Lord Siva. Kapila, Vyasa, Kumara -- everyone has accepted. And in the recent years Lord Caitanya, He said. And the Bhagavata says, krsnas tu bhagavan svayam [SB 1.3.28]. Bhagavata gives list of all incarnations of God, and at the last he concludes that in this list the name "Krsna," He is the Supreme Personality. Krsnas tu bhagavan svayam. And all other manifestations, they are incarnations. Ete ca amsa-kalah. All these different names of God, they are either parts or part of the parts. The part of parts is called kala, and part is called amsa. We are also amsa, but we are very fragmental amsa. We are not as big as Visnu. We are very fragmental. We are also amsa. So amsa kala. So all others, they are either amsa or kala, but Krsna, krsnas tu... Tu means "but." Krsnas tu bhagavan svayam. He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
So our prayers should be to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore we pray, govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami **. We worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the original person. We are all persons. Just like your father is person; therefore you are person. Your son is person. Similarly, your father's father is a person, his father person, his father person. So to Brahma, his, he's also person. His father, Visnu, is person. His father, his father, everywhere -- Krsna, the Supreme Person. God cannot be without being person. He must be person. This impersonal understanding of God, nirakaravadi, that nirakar... Of course, in the Vedic language, when we speak nirakara, ni, ni means negative, and akara, akara means form. So negative form. Negative form means not that He has no form but He has no form like you and me. That is negative. Form means just like we have got form. So what is the value of this form? This form will be changed after few years. As soon as I give up this body this form is changed. Just like we change our dress. Therefore He hasn't got a form like this to be changed. Therefore He's sometimes called nirakara. Akara is there, and that is also explained in the Brahma-samhita that isvarah paramah krsnah [Bs. 5.1]. "Oh, Krsna has got a form, sir? How you say that He is the Supreme? Brahman is the Supreme." No. He has form certainly. Sac-cid-ananda-vigrahah [Bs. 5.1]. His form is not like you and me. Sac-cid-ananda. His form is eternal, full of bliss, and full of knowledge. Sac-cid-ananda-vigrahah. Isvarah paramah krsnah sac-cid-ananda-vigrahah anadir [Bs. 5.1]. He has no source. He has no source. He is original. He is the source of everything, anadir adir, and He is the original Govindam. Govindam means He gives pleasure. How do you perceive pleasure? Through your senses. So therefore go means senses and vinda means pleasure. So if you serve Krsna in your purified senses, then you really become happy. Therefore His name is Govinda. Isvarah paramah krsnah sac-cid-ananda-vigrahah, anadir adir govinda sarva-karana-karanam [Bs. 5.1]. The cause of all causes. So He is therefore Jagadisa. Jagadisa.
Here Prahlada Maharaja is trying to offer his prayer to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Tasmad aham vigata-viklava isvarasya mahi grnami. Mahi. Mahi means glorious. His glorious activities. Don't you think His activities are glorious? If... A modern scientist has manufactured one what is called sputnik, and we are advertising in the paper, "So nice sputnik. It is flying in the air and it's going..." And the Supreme Personality has created not only a childish sputnik, but millions and trillions of planets, they are flying in the air. So is not it glorious? But the rascals will say, jagan mithya: "This world is false." Why it is false? There are so much brain in manufacturing this world, and is it false? Suppose if you decorate this temple and invite some friend, if he says, "Oh, this is all false," is it not decrying or insulting you? You decorate this temple so nicely, you prepare very nice foodstuff, and he says, "Oh, this is all false." Why? That means he has no appreciation. He's prosaic, he's dull, he's a rascal. So therefore devotees, they appreciate, "O God, O Krsna, how nice You are. How nicely You have manufactured these trees, these flowers, the sky, the planets, the sun, the moon." And he becomes overwhelmed with joy: "Oh, my God is so great." And the rascal says it is false. (chuckles) You see how much rascaldom? False. Is it false? If you want to construct one building, you have to work hard your whole life, and if I say "It is false," how much insulted you are. So they do not know, they have no idea what is God. Yes.
So here Prahlada Maharaja says, isvarasya mahi grnami: "I shall glorify the Lord." "Oh, you are a child, sir. You are five years old. How you can glorify?" Yatha manisam! "It doesn't matter I am child! Whatever I have got, I shall express my feelings, 'O God, O Lord, oh, You have..., You are so great.' " That's all right. How you can describe or understand His glories? That is not possible. He's unlimited. But whatever limitation you have got, if you express feelingly, "My God, My Lord," that will be accepted. That will be accepted. So Caitanya Mahaprabhu therefore teaches us how to pray. This prayer is na dhanam na janam na sundarim kavitam va jagadisa kamaye [Cc. Antya 20.29, Siksastaka 4]. Everyone is praying to God with some interest. That is also good. If you go and pray to God, "Give me some money" or "Give me some relief," "Give me a nice house, nice wife, nice foodstuff," that is also good. But not so good as one is praying to God that "I don't want any money. I don't want any number of followers. I don't want any good wife, nice beautiful wife." "Then what do you want?" "I want to serve You. That's all." Finish your prayer. That is the best prayer. "You are so good, You are so nice, You are so great that I want to be engaged in Your service. I am serving these rascals. They are not satisfied, I am not satisfied. Now I have come to You. Please engage me in Your service." That is the last word of prayer.
Thank you very much. [break] Any...? [break] Where is Jayapataka?
Devotee: He's working.
Himavati: If Prahlada Maharaja is such a great devotee, and a devotee will always say(?) "Nothing is mine," then why does he say, "O my God"? Why does God become his? Why he questions like that?
Prabhupada: Do you mean to say nothing, God is nothing?
Himavati: No. I mean why does he say "my God." Why "my God"?
Prabhupada: Then what shall he say?
Himavati: I don't understand then how can he say it? If you understand nothing belongs to you, then how can you say "mine," anything "mine"?
Prabhupada: Anything mine?
Himavati: How can you say that "God is mine"?
Prabhupada: So? What is your idea? He should be addressed? He should not say "my Lord"?
Himavati: I don't know.
Prabhupada: No. You know it. He's Lord of everyone. Therefore everyone can say "my Lord." That does not mean if somebody says "my Lord," He becomes monopolized. (chuckles) It does not mean. You are speaking on the platform of monopolizing, "mine." But God is never monopolized. He's everyone's, so everyone has the right to say "my God," "my Lord." It does not mean... Generally, in the material sense, when I say, "This is my spectacle," it does not belong to you. Is it not? So this "my" is not that "my." When I say "my God," that does not mean He's not your God. That is the difference. In the material sense, when I say "It is my wife," then it is not any other's wife. But God is not like that. If I say "my God," so you can say "my God," he can say "my God," everyone can say "my God." This is spiritual "my," absolute "my." Try to understand this way, that in the material sense, when I saying something "my," that is different from when I say "my God." That is different. That is not exactly... As we think in the material way, "my thing," "my God," "my home," "my wife," "my wealth," "my bank," it is not like that. But the relationship... Just like I say "my hand." So how can I express? Just like Krsna says mamaivamso [Bg. 15.7]. Mama means "Mine." "These, all these living creatures, they are My part and parcels." So why the living creatures shall not say "my God"? Do you follow? Krsna says "You are Mine." Why shall you not say, "Krsna, You are mine." Your husband says, "You are mine." Why shall you not say, "You are mine"? But don't take it in the material sense. In material sense, as soon as I say it is mine, it is nobody else's. It is my property. Law of identity or something like that. So Krsna is not like that. So you can say Krsna, "my," there is no harm. Rather, if anyone wants to possess something as his, then that should be, that possession should be Krsna. That is the ultimate conception of "mine." That is the perfection of the word "mine." So it is quite nice, quite fit to... Tesu te mayi, in the Bhagavad-gita. "He is Mine and I am his," Krsna says. So this is not wrong. And what is your idea, that because everything belongs to Krsna, therefore I shall not say "my"? That's your idea?
Himavati: No, I didn't understand it like this, that Krsna is the Lord. So my Lord is everyone else's Lord, and He's the controller, and that's why He's mine.
Prabhupada: He's mine, He's your, everyone's. That's all.
Himavati: I can understand it now.
Prabhupada: That's all. Yes?
Rukmini: How does (one) feel so far away from you when you're not here?
Prabhupada: Hm? What is that? I did not follow.
Rukmini: I feel so far away...
Prabhupada: Janardana?
Rukmini: I feel so far away from you, you know, when you're not here.
Janardana: She's saying she feels so far away from you when you are not here.
Prabhupada: Oh, that you should not think. If... The words... There are two conceptions: the physical conception and the vibration conception. So physical conception is temporary. The vibration conception is eternal. Just like we are enjoying or we are relishing the vibration of Krsna's teachings. So by vibration He is present. As soon as we chant Hare Krsna or chant Bhagavad-gita or Bhagavata, so He is present immediately by His vibration. He's absolute. Therefore try to remember His words of instruction; you'll not feel separation. You'll feel that He is with you. So we should associate by the vibration, and not by the physical presence. That is real association. Sabdad anavrtti. By sound. Just like we are touching Krsna immediately by sound. Sound vibration. So we should give more stress on the sound vibration, either of Krsna or of the spiritual master. Then we'll feel happy and no separation. When Krsna departed from this world, at that time Arjuna was overwhelmed with sorrow and he began to remember the instruction of Bhagavad-gita. You'll find in the Srimad-Bhagavatam. Then he was pacified. He immediately began to remember the teachings which was taught to him in the Battlefield of Kuruksetra, and he was pacified. He was his constant friend, so when Krsna went to His abode he was feeling overwhelmed, but he began to remember His teaching. So whenever we shall feel separation, the best thing is to remember the teachings. Then it will be very nice. Is that clear? Yes. So you can chant Hare Krsna. Janardana, you can play mrdanga. Yes. (kirtana) (end)
© 2001 The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International.
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