Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.2.30 Pradyumna: (leads chanting, etc.) sa evedam sasarjagre bhagavan atma-mayaya sad-asad-rupaya casau gunamayaguno vibhuh Translation: “In the beginning of the material creation, the Absolute Lord, in His own transcendental position, created the energies of cause and effect by His own internal energy.” Prabhupada: sa evedam sasarjagre bhagavan atma-mayaya sad-asad-rupaya casau gunamayaguno vibhuh So here is the information of creation. The creation is from a person, not from the impersonal feature of the Absolute Truth. Creation, there must be brain; otherwise how there is question of creation? We are part and parcel of Krsna. We are…, we have also creative power. So as soon as there is question of creative power, there must be a brain behind the creation, and brain means a person. Creation cannot be possible from void or impersonal thing. We have several times discussed this point, that the government, this word, appears to be impersonal, but actually, behind the government there is a person—the president or the king, like that. So this creation, cosmic manifestation, is possible through the creative power of the Supreme Person; therefore God cannot be impersonal. Impersonal feature is one of the manifestation of God. God must be a person. This is the conclusion. Sa eva idam: this cosmic manifestation was created. In another place it is stated, aham evasam agre: before creation, there was God, Krsna. And when this material creation will be finished, He will remain. Therefore Krsna, or God, is not one of these created, material created things. That is admitted even by the staunchest impersonalist, Sankaracarya: narayanah parah avyaktat. Vyakta avyakta, this mahat-tattva, from which this material cosmic manifestation is there, but narayana-para, Narayana is above. That means above this creation. Narayana, or Krsna, is not one of the product of this creation. Just like our existence: we are one of the products of this creation. So Narayana, or Krsna, is not one of the products of this material creation; therefore it is to be understood that Krsna’s body is not material. But the Mayavadi philosophers, they think like that, that Krsna is God, but He has accepted a material body. This is Mayavadi philosophy. But how Krsna can accept a material body, because He existed before the material creation? Another consideration is that even if He accepts a material body, that is not material for Him. That is also spiritual. It appears to us as material, but that is spiritual. Parasya saktir vividhaiva sruyate. He has got multi-energies, and because He is spirit, complete spirit, therefore His energies are also spiritual. Sakti-saktimator abhedah. There cannot be any distinction between the powerful and the power. So here it is clearly said that sa evedam sasarjagre bhagavan atma-mayaya: “Bhagavan created by His energy.” It is not that Bhagavan is finished after this creation. The Mayavada philosophy is that everything is God; therefore there is no separate existence of God. That is impersonalism. But here it is said that bhagavan atma-mayaya: He created this cosmic manifestation by His energy. Purnasya purnam adaya purnam eva avasisyate. His full energy, even it is taken away from Him, still, He is full, He’s complete. He’s not exhausted. So sa evedam sasarjagre bhagavan atma-mayaya, sad-asad-rupaya. The maya is displayed… Maya means energy. That is displayed in two ways: material and spiritual. Material is asat, and spiritual is sat. Asat means which does not exist permanent, permanently. Bhutva bhutva praliyate. It is created, again it is annihilated. Therefore it is called sometimes asat. Asat means not false, but not permanent. So this material creation is also manifestation of Krsna’s energy, and there is another creation, but that is not creation. That is always existing. That is the spiritual world, sanatana. Paras tasmat tu bhavah anyah avyaktah avyaktat sanatanah [Bg. 8.20]. That, that manifestation, that is internal potency. This is external potency. This material world is manifestation of the external potency of Krsna, whereas the spiritual world is the manifestation of His internal potency. Unfortunately, the modern advancement of education has no information what is that spiritual world. He has… They have no information. They are concerned with this material world only. That is also not perfectly. But there is spiritual world. Yad gatva na nivartante tad dhama paramam mama [Bg. 15.6], Krsna says. There is another, another manifestation of His internal potency. That is eternal, blissful and full of knowledge. Here, in this material world, material world means it is not eternal, not blissful and not full of knowledge. This is material world. In the Visnu Purana it is said: avidya-karma-samjnanya trtiya saktir isyate. This manifestation of energy is full of ignorance. The nature of this world is called darkness, tamasi, tama. Tamasi ma jyotir gama. So sad-asad-rupaya casau guna, gunamaya agunah. Krsna, when He’s called aguna, or nirguna, that means He’s not affected by these material modes of nature. Above material nature. We are affected. We living entities, we are affected by the material modes of nature, sattva-guna, rajo-guna, tamo-guna. But Krsna is not affected. That is Krsna…, difference between Krsna and ourself. In the Bhagavad-gita there is another instance. When Arjuna asked Krsna, Krsna said, imam vivasvate yogam proktavan aham avyayam [Bg. 4.1] Krsna said that, “First of all, I narrated this yoga system of Bhagavad-gita to the sun-god.” So, in order to clear this matter, Arjuna inquired from Him: “My dear Krsna, we are born very recently. How is that You narrated this yoga system to the sun-god?” Arjuna, of course, knew everything, but in order to clear our doubts, he raised this question. And Krsna answered that “You were also present at that time, but you have forgotten. I have not forgotten.” So this is another proof that Krsna, Krsna’s body does not change. Krsna, when He comes, when He appears, He comes in His original spiritual body. Therefore Krsna has warned that avajananti mam mudhah. The Mayavadi philosophers who think that Krsna has accepted a material body, they are described as mudhas. They have no sufficient knowledge. Param bhavam ajanantah. They do not know what is the power behind Krsna. So Krsna creates. Before creation, aham adir hi devanam. In the Bhagavad-gita it is said, devanam. First of all, Brahma was created. Then other great sages were created. Then other demigods were created. But Krsna says, aham adir hi devanam. Therefore He’s not a created being of this material world. We have to consider in that way. Aham sarvasya prabhavo mattah sarvam pravartate [Bg. 10.8]. The Vedanta-sutra: janmady asya yatah [Bhag. 1.1.1]. So Krsna is the origin of everything. Aham sarvasya prabhavah. Iti matva bhajante mam budha bhava-samanvitah. One who knows Krsna, the Supreme, adi-purusam, adyam purana-purusam nava-yauvanam ca [Bs. 5.33], his knowledge is perfect. If one thinks Krsna as one of the products of this material word, then his knowledge is imperfect. He’s still in the darkness of this material creation. So those who are in the darkness of this material creation, they consider Krsna as one of the human beings. As a great scholar says, when Krsna says, man-mana bhava mad-bhakto mad-yaji mam namaskuru [Bg. 18.65], the scholar points out that “It is not to Krsna. It is the…, it is up to the inner soul which is within Krsna.” There is no “within” and “without” Krsna. Krsna…, as we have got difference between within and without, Krsna has no such difference. And those…, one who does not know, they think, such persons thinks Krsna as one of the products of material creation. That is not the fact. sa evedam sasarjagre bhagavan atma-mayaya sad-asad-rupaya casau gunamayaguno vibhuh Vibhu. He’s vibhu, we are anu. That is the difference. Krsna is vibhu, unlimited. We are limited. So we, we cannot be equal to Krsna. The Mayavada philosophy that there is no difference between jiva and Bhagavan… There is sufficient difference. He is vibhu; we are anu. Anor aniyan mahato mahiyan. He’s the greatest of the great, and He’s the smallest also. So Krsna cannot be equal…, or nobody can be equal to Krsna, or greater than Krsna. Krsna is asamordhva. Nobody can be equal or greater than Krsna. Everyone is below Krsna. That is explained in the Caitanya-caritamrta: ekale isvara krsna, ara saba bhrtya. Only Krsna is the supreme master. Ekale isvara krsna, ara saba bhrtya. Now… Siva-virinci-nutam. Even great demigods like Lord Brahma, Lord Siva, they also subordinate to Krsna. They offer their obeisances to Krsna. Siva-virinci-nutam. And in the Brahma-samhita it is confirmed by Brahma: isvarah paramah krsnah [Bs. 5.1]. Isvara. Everyone can be an isvara. Isvara means controller. So we are also controller of something. A business man is controller of his business; I am controller of my disciples. There are so many controllers. So in that sense, everyone is isvara, in the sense of controller. But Lord Brahma says, isvarah paramah krsnah [Bs. 5.1]: “The supreme controller, the supreme controller is Krsna.” What is the difference between supreme controller and ordinary controller? Ordinary controller means that he controls and he is controlled, both. We are controller, but nobody can say that “I am not controlled.” We are controlled. But Krsna, He’s controller, but not controlled. That is the difference between Krsna and ourself. So we cannot be equal with Krsna. We are controlled. I think in Glasgow, one boy, he was presenting himself as God. So I asked him, “Whether you are controlled or not controlled?” He admitted, “Yes, I am controlled.” “Then how you can be God?” God is never controlled. God is controller, but He’s not controlled. So if we take ourself as so many samples of God, that is all right, but we are controlled God, not controller God. So that statement of Caitanya-caritamrta, ekale isvara krsna ara saba bhrtya yare yaiche nacaya, sei taiche kare nrtya We are controlled in every moment. So Krsna is vibhu; we are anu. Never consider that we are equal to Krsna. That is a great offense. That is called maya. That is the last snare of maya. Actually, we have come to this material world to become one with Krsna. We thought that we shall become like Krsna. krsna-bahirmukha hana bhoga vancha kare nikata-stha maya tare japatiya dhare Because we wanted to become one with Krsna, to compete with Krsna, therefore we are put into this material world. Maya tare japatiya dhare. And here, in this material world, it is going on. Everyone is trying to become Krsna. That is maya. Everyone. “First of all, let me become a big, big man; then let me become the minister, let me become the president.” In this way, when everything fails, then “Let me merge into the existence of God.” That means, “Let me become God.” This is going on. This is material struggle for existence. Everyone is trying to become Krsna. But our philosophy is different. We do not want to become Krsna. We are trying to become Krsna’s servant. That is the difference between Mayavada philosophy and Vaisnava philosophy. Caitanya Mahaprabhu teaches us how to become the servant of the servant of the servant of the servant of Krsna. Gopi-bhartuh pada-kamalayor dasa-dasa-dasanudasah. The one, a person who is the lowest of the servant of Krsna, he’s first-class Vaisnava. He’s first-class Vaisnava. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu therefore teaches us: trnad api sunicena taror api sahisnuna amanina manadena kirtaniyah sada harih [Cc. adi 17.31] This is the Vaisnava philosophy. We are trying to be servant. We don’t identify with anything material. As soon as we identify with anything material, we become under the clutches of maya. Krsna-bhuliya. Because, as soon as I forget my relationship with Krsna… I am eternal servant of Krsna. Caitanya Mahaprabhu says, jivera svarupa haya nitya-krsna-dasa [Cc. Madhya 20.108-109] That is the eternal identification of the living entity, to remain servant of Krsna. As soon as we forget this, that is maya. As soon as I think that “I am Krsna,” that is maya. That maya means this maya, illusion, can be rejected by advancement of knowledge. That is jnani. Jnani means this is real knowledge, to understand his real position. This is not knowledge, that “I am equal to God. I am God.” This is not knowledge. I am God, but I am sample of God. But the Supreme God is Krsna. Isvarah paramah krsnah [Bs. 5.1]. Arjuna accepted Krsna like that: param brahma param dhama pavitram paramam bhavan [Bg. 10.12]. Param brahma. We may become Brahman… We are Brahman. There is no question of becoming. Aham brahmasmi. This is not very difficult to understand. Because I am spirit soul, so I am Brahman. That’s all right. But I am not Param Brahman. That is ignorance. I am not Param Brahman. If one, anyone thinks that he is Param Brahman, then it must be understood that he’s under the clutches of maya. That is the last snare of maya. Therefore Krsna says that when one actually becomes knowledgeable, cognizant, he surrenders. Bahunam janmanam ante jnanavan mam prapadyate [Bg. 7.19] That is real knowledge. So advancement of knowledge means to understand his real position and act accordingly. That is knowledge. That is perfection of knowledge. Simply to understand that “I am Brahman” is not perfection. You have to still go further. Simply to understand that “I am Brahman,” “I have now realized myself as Brahman,” that is not perfection of knowledge. Brahma-bhutah prasannatma [Bg. 18.54]. One who becomes realized souls, self-realized, he becomes immediately perfectly joyful. Because our all lamentation is due to our material identification. Socati kanksati. We are simply lamenting for our loss, and we are simply hankering for some gain. This is material activities. Everyone is struggling to gain something which he does not possess, and he’s lamenting for something which he has lost. But when he realizes himself that “I have nothing to gain and nothing to lose; I have nothing to do with this material world,” that is called brahma-bhutah. That is Brahman realization. Brahma-bhutah prasannatma na socati na kanksati, samah sarvesu bhutesu [Bg. 18.54] At that time, he realizes that all living entities, they are spirit soul, panditah sama-darsinah [Bg. 5.18]. That is equal vision— not the bodily vision. So long we have got bodily vision, there cannot be any equality. That is not possible. When one sees only to the spiritual existence of a living entity, there is question of seeing equally, equal vision, universal brotherhood. That is possible. Not on the bodily platform. That is not possible. So after acquiring this knowledge, the life of devotional service begins. brahma-bhutah prasannatma na socati na kanksati samah sarvesu bhutesu mad-bhaktim labhate param [Bg. 18.54] That is required. And in that stage of devotional life, one can understand what is Krsna. Bhaktya mam abhijanati yavan yas casmi tattvatah [Bg. 18.55] That is tattvatah understanding. In another place it is said, in the Bhagavad-gita, uh, Srimad-Bhagavatam: evam prasanna-manaso bhagavad-bhakti-yogatah [SB 1.2.20]. Unless one becomes jubilant, joyful, by executing devotional service, he cannot understand what is Krsna. It is not possible. To understand superficially Krsna, that “He…, He appeared in Mathura in His uncle’s prison house…,” that is also nice. But one should try to understand Krsna in fact. That fact can be revealed by devotional service. You cannot challenge Krsna. Krsna will reveal. Sevonmukhe hi jihvadau svayam eva sphuraty adah. If we become sevonmukha, if we try to serve Krsna as eternal servant of Krsna, then Krsna will reveal Himself, what He is. You cannot understand Krsna by speculation, by mental speculation. That is not possible. Atah sri-krsna-namadi na bhaved grahyam indriyaih [BRS. 1.2.234]. By sense perception, you cannot understand Krsna. That is not possible. There are many versions of the saintly persons. Just like Narottama dasa Thakura says, rupa-raghunatha-pade haibe akuti, kabe hama bhujabo se jugala-piriti. A saintly person, acarya, like Narottama dasa Thakura, he says that “When I shall be very much eager to understand the path of the Six Gosvamis?” Ei chay gosai janr mui tanr das. We cannot understand Krsna unless we have submitted ourself under the lotus feet of the Six Gosvamis, Caitanya Mahaprabhu. We have to understand Krsna in this way. It is very difficult to understand Krsna, but by the grace of the Gosvamis, by the grace of Lord Caitanya, we can understand Krsna. athapi te deva padambuja-dvaya-prasada-lesanugrhita eva hi janati tattvam bhagavan-mahimno na canya eko ’pi ciram vicinvan Panthas tu… There are many shastric evidences. Panthas tu koti-sata-vatsara-sampragamyo vayor athapi manaso muni-pungavanam [Bs 5.34] So by speculation, we cannot understand Krsna. That is not possible. By mental speculation, we cannot understand Krsna. We have to understand Krsna as Krsna says, or Krsna’s devotee says, the Gosvamis says, Caitanya Mahaprabhu says. Then we can understand how this cosmic manifestation is created, who created, how it is created. Everything will be clear. This is the beginning of such understanding. sa evedam sasarjagre bhagavan atma-mayaya sad-asad-rupaya casau gunamayaguno vibhuh So Krsna is transcendental, His position is always transcendental. Even though He appears before us, still, He’s transcendental. This is the understanding of Krsna. Thank you very much. Hare Krsna. (end)
by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Vrndavana, November 9, 1972