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vibhusitam—well decorated; mekhalaya—with an ornamental wreath about the waist; anguliyakaih—by finger rings; maha-dhanaih—all highly valuable; nupura—ringing leglets; kankana-adibhih—also by bangles; snigdha—slick; amala—spotless; akuncita—curling; nila—bluish; kuntalaih—hair; virocamana—very pleasing; anana—face; hasa—smile; pesalam—beautiful.

He is well decorated with an ornamental wreath about His waist and rings studded with valuable jewels on His fingers. His leglets, His bangles, His oiled hair, curling with a bluish tint, and His beautiful smiling face are all very pleasing.

The Supreme Personality of Godhead is the most beautiful person amongst all others, and Srila Sukadeva Gosvami describes every part of His transcendental beauty, one after another, in order to teach the impersonalist that the Personality of Godhead is not an imagination by the devotee for facility of worship, but is the Supreme Person in fact and figure. The impersonal feature of the Absolute Truth is but His radiation, as the sun rays are but radiations from the sun.

SB2.2.12

TEXT 12

adina-lila-hasiteksanollasad-

bhru-bhanga-samsucita-bhury-anugraham

ikseta cintamayam enam isvaram

yavan mano dharanayavatisthate

adina—very magnanimous; lila—pastimes ; hasita—smiling; iksana—by glancing over; ullasat—glowing; bhru-bhanga—signals of the eyebrow; samsucita—indicated; bhuri—extensive; anugraham—benediction; ikseta—one must concentrate on; cintamayam—transcendental; enam—this particular; isvaram—the Supreme Lord; yavat—as long as; manah—the mind; dharanaya—by meditation; avatisthate—can be fixed.

The Lord’s magnanimous pastimes and the glowing glancing of His smiling face are all indications of His extensive benedictions. One must therefore concentrate on this transcendental form of the Lord, as long as the mind can be fixed on Him by meditation.

ekaikaso ’ngani dhiyanubhavayet

In Bhagavad-gita (12.5) it is said that the impersonalist undergoes a series of difficult programs on account of his impersonal meditation. But the devotee, due to the Lord’s personal service, progresses very easily. Impersonal meditation is therefore a source of suffering for the impersonalist. Here, the devotee has an advantage over the impersonalist philosopher. The impersonalist is doubtful about the personal feature of the Lord, and therefore he always tries to meditate upon something which is not objective. For this reason there is an authentic statement in the Bhagavatam regarding the positive concentration of the mind on the factual form of the Lord.

The process of meditation recommended herein is bhakti-yoga, or the process of devotional service after one is liberated from the material conditions. Jnana-yoga is the process of liberation from the material conditions. After one is liberated from the conditions of material existence, i.e., when one is nivrtta, as previously stated herein, or when one is freed from all material necessities, one becomes qualified to discharge the process of bhakti-yoga. Therefore bhakti-yoga includes jnana-yoga, or, in other words, the process of pure devotional service simultaneously serves the purpose of jnana-yoga; liberation from material conditions is automatically achieved by the gradual development of pure devotional service. These effects of bhakti-yoga are called anartha-nivrtti. Things which are artificially acquired gradually disappear along with the progress of bhakti-yoga. Meditation on the lotus feet of the personality of Godhead, the first processional step, must show its effect by anartha-nivrtti. The grossest type of anartha which binds the conditioned soul in material existence is sex desire, and this sex desire gradually develops in the union of the male and female. When the male and female are united, the sex desire is further aggravated by the accumulation of buildings, children, friends, relatives and wealth. When all these are acquired, the conditioned soul becomes overwhelmed by such entanglements, and the false sense of egoism, or the sense of “myself” and “mine,” becomes prominent, and the sex desire expands to various political, social, altruistic, philanthropic and many other unwanted engagements, resembling the foam of the sea waves, which becomes very prominent at one time and at the next moment vanishes as quickly as a cloud in the sky. The conditioned soul is encircled by such products, as well as products of sex desire, and therefore bhakti-yoga leads to gradual evaporation of the sex desire, which is summarized in three headings, namely profit, adoration and distinction. All conditioned souls are mad after these different forms of sex desire, and one shall see for himself how much he has been freed from such material hankerings based primarily on the sex desire. As a person feels his hunger satisfied after eating each morsel of foodstuff, he must similarly be able to see the degree to which he has been freed from sex desire. The sex desire is diminished along with its various forms by the process of bhakti-yoga because bhakti-yoga automatically, by the grace of the Lord, effectively results in knowledge and renunciation, even if the devotee is not materially very well educated. Knowledge means knowing things as they are, and if by deliberation it is found that there are things which are at all unnecessary, naturally the person who has acquired knowledge leaves aside such unwanted things. When the conditioned soul finds by culture of knowledge that material necessities are unwanted things, he becomes detached from such unwanted things. This stage of knowledge is called vairagya, or detachment from unwanted things. We have previously discussed that the transcendentalist is required to be self-sufficient and should not beg from the rich blind persons to fulfill the bare necessities of life. Sukadeva Gosvami has suggested some alternatives for the bare necessities of life, namely the problem of eating, sleeping and shelter, but he has not suggested any alternative for sex satisfaction. One who has the sex desire still with him should not at all try to accept the renounced order of life. For one who has not attained to this stage, there is no question of a renounced order of life. So by the gradual process of devotional service under the guidance of a proper spiritual master, and following the principles of the Bhagavatam, one must be able at least to control the gross sex desire before one accepts the renounced order of life factually.

So purification means getting free gradually from sex desire, and this is attained by meditation on the person of the Lord as described herein, beginning from the feet. One should not try to go upwards artificially without seeing for himself how much he has been released from the sex desire. The smiling face of the Lord is the Tenth Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam, and there are many upstarts who at once try to begin with the Tenth Canto and especially with the five chapters which delineate the rasa-lila of the Lord. This is certainly improper. By such improper study or hearing of Bhagavatam, the material opportunists have played havoc by indulgence in sex life in the name of Bhagavatam. This vilification of Bhagavatam is rendered by the acts of the so-called devotees; one should be free from all kinds of sex desire before he tries to make a show of recital of Bhagavatam. Sri Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura clearly defines the import of purification as cessation from sex indulgence. He says, yatha yatha dhis ca sudhyati visaya-lampatyam tyajati, tatha tatha dharayed iti citta-suddhi-taratamyenaiva dhyana-taratamyam uktam. And as one gets free from the intoxication of sex indulgence by purification of intelligence, one should step forward for the next meditation, or in other words, the progress of meditation on the different limbs of the transcendental body of the Lord should be enhanced in proportion to the progress of purification of the heart. The conclusion is that those who are still entrapped by sex indulgence should never progress to meditation above the feet of the Lord; therefore recital of Srimad-Bhagavatam by them should be restricted to the First and Second Cantos of the great literature. One must complete the purificatory process by assimilating the contents of the first nine cantos. Then one should be admitted into the realm of the Tenth Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam.

SB2.2.13

TEXT 13

padadi yavad dhasitam gadabhrtah

jitam jitam sthanam apohya dharayet

param param suddhyati dhir yatha yatha

eka-ekasah—one to one, or one after another; angani—limbs; dhiya—by attention; anubhavayet—meditate upon; pada-adi—legs, etc.; yavat—until; hasitam—smiling; gada-bhrtah—the personality of Godhead; jitam jitam—gradually controlling the mind; sthanam—place; apohya—leaving; dharayet—meditate upon; param param—higher and higher; suddhyati—purified; dhih—intelligence; yatha yatha—as much as.

The process of meditation should begin from the lotus feet of the Lord and progress to His smiling face. The meditation should be concentrated upon the lotus feet, then the calves, then the thighs, and in this way higher and higher. The more the mind becomes fixed upon the different parts of the limbs, one after another, the more the intelligence becomes purified.

yavan na jayeta paravare ’smin

The process of meditation recommended in the Srimad-Bhagavatam is not to fix one’s attention on something impersonal or void. The meditation should concentrate on the person of the Supreme Godhead, either in His virat-rupa, the gigantic universal form, or in His sac-cid-ananda-vigraha [Bs. 5.1], as described in the scriptures. There are authorized descriptions of Visnu forms, and there are authorized representations of Deities in the temples. Thus one can practice meditating upon the Deity, concentrating his mind on the lotus feet of the Lord and gradually rising higher and higher, up to His smiling face.

According to the Bhagavata school, the Lord’s rasa dancing is the smiling face of the Lord. Since it is recommended in this verse that one should gradually progress from the lotus feet up to the smiling face, we shall not jump at once to understand the Lord’s pastimes in the rasa dance. It is better to practice concentrating our attention by offering flowers and tulasi to the lotus feet of the Lord. In this way, we gradually become purified by the arcana process. We dress the Lord, bathe Him, etc., and all these transcendental activities help us purify our existence. When we reach the higher standard of purification, if we see the smiling face of the Lord or hear the rasa dance pastimes of the Lord, then we can relish His activities. In the Srimad-Bhagavatam, therefore, the rasa dance pastimes are delineated in the Tenth Canto (Chapters 29–34).

The more one concentrates on the transcendental form of the Lord, either on the lotus feet, the calves, the thighs or the chest, the more one becomes purified. In this verse it is clearly stated, “the more the intelligence becomes purified,” which means the more one becomes detached from sense gratification. Our intelligence in the present conditioned state of life is impure due to being engaged in sense gratification. The result of meditation on the transcendental form of the Lord will be manifested by one’s detachment from sense gratification. Therefore, the ultimate purpose of meditation is purification of one’s intelligence.

Those who are too engrossed in sense gratification cannot be allowed to participate in arcana or to touch the transcendental form of the Radha-Krsna or Visnu Deities. For them it is better to meditate upon the gigantic virat-rupa of the Lord, as recommended in the next verse. The impersonalists and the voidists are therefore recommended to meditate upon the universal form of the Lord, whereas the devotees are recommended to meditate on the Deity worship in the temple. Because the impersonalists and the voidists are not sufficiently purified in their spiritual activities, arcana is not meant for them.

SB2.2.14

TEXT 14

visvesvare drastari bhakti-yogah

tavat sthaviyah purusasya rupam

kriyavasane prayatah smareta

yavat—as long as; na—does not; jayeta—develop; para—transcendental; avare—mundane; asmin—in this form of; visva-isvare—the Lord of all worlds; drastari—unto the seer; bhakti-yogah—devotional service; tavat—so long; sthaviyah—the gross materialist; purusasya—of the virat-purusa; rupam—universal form; kriya-avasane—at the end of one’s prescribed duties; prayatah—with proper attention; smareta—one should remember.

Unless the gross materialist develops a sense of loving service unto the Supreme Lord, the seer of both the transcendental and material worlds, he should remember or meditate upon the universal form of the Lord at the end of his prescribed duties.

sthiram sukham casanam asthito yatir

The Supreme Lord is the seer of all worlds, both material and transcendental. In other words, the Supreme Lord is the ultimate beneficiary and enjoyer of all worlds, as confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita (5.29). The spiritual world is the manifestation of His internal potency, and the material world is the manifestation of His external potency. The living entities are also His marginal potency, and by their own choice they can live in either the transcendental or material worlds. The material world is not a fit place for living entities because they are spiritually one with the Lord and in the material world the living entities become conditioned by the laws of the material world. The Lord wants all living entities, who are His parts and parcels, to live with Him in the transcendental world, and for enlightening conditioned souls in the material world, all the Vedas and the revealed scriptures are there—expressly to recall the conditioned souls back home, back to Godhead. Unfortunately, the conditioned living entities, although suffering continually the threefold miseries of conditioned life, are not very serious about going back to Godhead. It is due to their misguided way of living, complicated by sins and virtues. Some of them who are virtuous by deeds begin to reestablish the lost relation with the Lord, but they are unable to understand the personal feature of the Lord. The real purpose of life is to make contact with the Lord and be engaged in His service. That is the natural position of living entities. But those who are impersonalists and are unable to render any loving service to the Lord have been advised to meditate upon His impersonal feature, the virat-rupa, or universal form. Some way or other, one must try to reestablish one’s forgotten relation with the Lord if one at all desires to gain real happiness in life, and to reclaim his natural unfettered condition. For the less intelligent beginners, meditation on the impersonal feature, the virat-rupa, or universal form of the Lord, will gradually qualify one to rise to personal contact. One is advised herewith to meditate upon the virat-rupa specified in the previous chapters in order to understand how the different planets, seas, mountains, rivers, birds, beasts, human beings, demigods and all that we can conceive are but different parts and limbs of the Lord’s virat form. This sort of thinking is also a type of meditation on the Absolute Truth, and as soon as such meditation begins, one develops one’s godly qualities, and the whole world appears to be a happy and peaceful residence for all the people of the world. Without such meditation on God, either personal or impersonal, all good qualities of the human being become covered with misconceptions regarding his constitutional position, and without such advanced knowledge, the whole world becomes a hell for the human being.

SB2.2.15

TEXT 15

yada jihasur imam anga lokam

kale ca dese ca mano na sajjayet

pranan niyacchen manasa jitasuh

sthiram—without being disturbed; sukham—comfortable; ca—also; asanam—sitting accommodation; asthitah—being situated; yatih—the sage; yada—whenever; jihasuh—desires to give up; imam—this; anga—O King; lokam—this body; kale—in time; ca—and; dese—in a proper place; ca—also; manah—the mind; na—not; sajjayet—may not be perplexed; pranan—the senses; niyacchet—must control; manasa—by the mind; jita-asuh—conquering the life air.

O King, whenever the yogi desires to leave this planet of human beings, he should not be perplexed about the proper time or place, but should comfortably sit without being disturbed and, regulating the life air, should control the senses by the mind.

manah sva-buddhyamalaya niyamya

In the Bhagavad-gita (8.14) it is clearly stated that a person who is totally engaged in the transcendental loving service of the Lord, and who constantly remembers Him at every step, easily obtains the mercy of the Lord by entering into His personal contact. Such devotees do not need to seek an opportune moment to leave the present body. But those who are mixed devotees, alloyed with fruitive action or empirical philosophical speculation, require an opportune moment for quitting this body. For them the opportune moments are stated in the Bhagavad-gita (8.23–26). But these opportune moments are not as important as one’s being a successful yogi who is able to quit his body as he likes. Such a yogi must be competent to control his senses by the mind. The mind is easily conquered simply by engaging it at the lotus feet of the Lord. Gradually, by such service, all the senses become automatically engaged in the service of the Lord. That is the way of merging into the Supreme Absolute.

SB2.2.16

TEXT 16

ksetra-jna etam ninayet tam atmani

atmanam atmany avarudhya dhiro

labdhopasantir virameta krtyat

manah—the mind; sva-buddhya—by his own intelligence; amalaya—unalloyed; niyamya—by regulating; ksetra-jne—unto the living entity; etam—all of them; ninayet—merge; tam—that; atmani—the self; atmanam—the self; atmani—in the Superself; avarudhya—being locked up; dhirah—the fully satisfied; labdha-upasantih—one who has attained full bliss; virameta—ceases from; krtyat—all other activities.

Thereafter, the yogi should merge his mind, by his unalloyed intelligence, into the living entity, and then merge the living entity into the Superself. And by doing this, the fully satisfied living entity becomes situated in the supreme stage of satisfaction, so that he ceases from all other activities.

The functions of the mind are thinking, feeling and willing. When the mind is materialistic, or absorbed in material contact, it acts for material advancement of knowledge, destructively ending in discovery of nuclear weapons. But when the mind acts under spiritual urge, it acts wonderfully for going back home, back to Godhead, for life in complete bliss and eternity. Therefore the mind has to be manipulated by good and unalloyed intelligence. Perfect intelligence is to render service unto the Lord. One should be intelligent enough to understand that the living being is, in all circumstances, a servant of the circumstances. Every living being is serving the dictates of desire, anger, lust, illusion, insanity and enviousness—all materially affected. But even while executing such dictations of different temperaments, he is perpetually unhappy. When one actually feels this and turns his intelligence to inquiring about it from the right sources, he gets information of the transcendental loving service of the Lord. Instead of serving materially for the abovementioned different humors of the body, the living entity’s intelligence then becomes freed from the unhappy illusion of materialistic temperament, and thus, by unalloyed intelligence, the mind is brought into the service of the Lord. The Lord and His service are identical, being on the absolute plane. Therefore the unalloyed intelligence and the mind are merged into the Lord, and thus the living entity does not remain a seer himself but becomes seen by the Lord transcendentally. When the living entity is directly seen by the Lord, the Lord dictates to him to act according to His desire, and when the living entity follows Him perfectly, the living entity ceases to discharge any other duty for his illusory satisfaction. In his pure unalloyed state, the living being attains the stage of full bliss, labdhopasanti, and ceases all material hankerings.

SB2.2.17

TEXT 17

na yatra kalo ’nimisam parah prabhuh

kuto nu deva jagatam ya isire

na yatra sattvam na rajas tamas ca

na vai vikaro na mahan pradhanam

na—not; yatra—wherein; kalah—destructive time; animisam—of the heavenly demigods; parah—superior; prabhuh—controller; kutah—where is there; nu—certainly; devah—the demigods; jagatam—the mundane creatures; ye—those; isire—rules; na—not; yatra—therein; sattvam—mundane goodness; na—nor; rajah—mundane passion; tamah—mundane ignorance; ca—also; na—nor; vai—certainly; vikarah—transformation; na—nor; mahan—the material Causal Ocean; pradhanam—material nature.

In that transcendental state of labdhopasanti, there is no supremacy of devastating time, which controls even the celestial demigods who are empowered to rule over mundane creatures. (And what to speak of the demigods themselves?) Nor is there the mode of material goodness, nor passion, nor ignorance, nor even the false ego, nor the material Causal Ocean, nor the material nature.

Devastating time, which controls even the celestial demigods by its manifestations of past, present and future, does not act on the transcendental plane. The influence of time is exhibited by the symptoms of birth, death, old age and disease, and these four principles of material conditions are present everywhere in any part of the material cosmos up to the planet Brahmaloka, where the duration of life of the inhabitants appears to us to be fabulous. Insurmountable time even brings about the death of Brahma, so what to speak of other demigods like Indra, Candra, Surya, Vayu and Varuna? The astronomical influence directed by the different demigods over mundane creatures is also conspicuous by its absence. In material existence, the living entities are afraid of Satanic influence, but for a devotee on the transcendental plane there is no such fear at all. The living entities change their material bodies in different shapes and forms under the influence of the different modes of material nature, but in the transcendental state the devotee is guna-tita, or above the material modes of goodness, passion and ignorance. Thus the false ego of “I am the lord of all I survey” does not arise there. In the material world the false ego of the living being trying to lord it over the material nature is something like the moth’s falling in a blazing fire. The moth is captivated by the glaring beauty of the fire, and when he comes to enjoy it, the blazing fire consumes him. In the transcendental state the living being is pure in his consciousness, and as such he has no false ego to lord it over the material nature. Rather, his pure consciousness directs him to surrender unto the Supreme Lord, as stated in the Bhagavad-gita (7.19): vasudevah sarvam iti sa mahatma sudurlabhah. All this indicates that in the transcendental state there is neither material creation nor the Causal Ocean for material nature.

The above-mentioned state of affairs is factual on the transcendental plane, but is factually revealed in a transcendentalist’s knowledge of the advanced state of pure consciousness. Such transcendentalists are of two types, namely the impersonalists and the devotees. For the impersonalist the ultimate goal or destination is the brahmajyoti of the spiritual sky, but for the devotees the ultimate goal is the Vaikuntha planets. The devotees experience the above-mentioned state of affairs by attainment of spiritual forms for activity in the transcendental loving service of the Lord. But the impersonalist, because of his neglecting the association of the Lord, does not develop a spiritual body for spiritual activity, but remains a spiritual spark only, merged in the effulgent spiritual rays of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Lord is the full-fledged form of eternity, bliss and knowledge, but the formless brahmajyoti is simply eternity and knowledge. The Vaikuntha planets are also forms of eternity, bliss and knowledge, and therefore the devotees of the Lord, who are admitted into the abode of the Lord, also get bodies of eternity, bliss and knowledge. As such there is no difference between one and another. The Lord’s abode, name, fame, entourage, etc., are of the same transcendental quality, and how this transcendental quality differs from the material world is explained herewith in this verse. In the Bhagavad-gita, three principal subjects have been explained by Lord Sri Krsna, namely karma-yoga, jnana-yoga and bhakti-yoga, but one can reach the Vaikuntha planets by the practice of bhakti-yoga only. The other two are incompetent in helping one reach the Vaikunthalokas, although they can, however, conveniently take one to the effulgent brahmajyoti, as described above.

SB2.2.18

TEXT 18

param padam vaisnavam amananti tad

yan neti netity atad utsisrksavah

visrjya dauratmyam ananya-sauhrda

hrdopaguhyarha-padam pade pade

param—the supreme; padam—situation; vaisnavam—in relation with the personality of Godhead; amananti—do they know; tat—that; yat—which; na iti—not this; na iti—not this; iti—thus; atat—godless; utsisrksavah—those who desire to avoid; visrjya—giving it up completely; dauratmyam—perplexities; ananya—absolutely; sauhrdah—in good will; hrda upaguhya—taking them into his heart; arha—that which is only worshipable; padam—lotus feet; pade pade—at every moment.

The transcendentalists desire to avoid everything godless, for they know that supreme situation in which everything is related with the Supreme Lord Visnu. Therefore a pure devotee who is in absolute harmony with the Lord does not create perplexities, but worships the lotus feet of the Lord at every moment, taking them into his heart.