philosophical concepts

7/29/2019 Philosophical Concepts

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Meanings of different names of LordVasudeva – One who lives everywhere in full consciousness and in full possession of His complete

energy.

Krishna – All attractive, one of the names of 24 forms of Lord situated as localized personality ofGodhead

Asamaurrdhva – No one is equal to or greater than Him.

Animisa – Who does not close His eyelids (name for Vishnu).

Madhava – Whose beauty is sweeter than Madhu (honey), .one of the names of 24 forms of Lord

situated as localized personality of Godhead]

Mā, mother Lakṣmī, the mother of all opulences, is always with the SupremePersonality of Godhead, and if a devotee is in touch with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, all

the opulences of the Lord are ready to help him.

Mukunda – One who gives liberation

Mukti-pada – the personality of godhead who can bestow upon us mukti.

Janardana – Lord of the general masses, one of the names of 24 forms of Lord situated as localized

personality of Godhead

Hari: One who vanquishes everything inauspicious and takes away the mind of pure devotee by

awarding pure transcendental love.

Gadagrajah-deliverer from all evils.

Yajna-Pati

Vibhu – One who can‘t be covered

Trikapala-Whose name can sanctify the 3 worlds

Sarangadhanava-One who relieves the distresses of His devotees

Yajna-purusa: enjoyer of all sacrifices

Śipiviṣa - the Lord, who is situated in the sacrificial fire

Dharādhara — He who holds the planet earth (This refers to pastimes of Varaha Deva)

Acyuta: One who never fails in His prime duty, to give protection to His devotees.

Muradvisa, Muraripu - enemy of a demon named Mura

Urukrama: Lord Vamanadeva, who performed the wonderful act of occupying the three worlds with

three footsteps

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Trivikrama - the incarnation who performed three heroic deeds (Lord Vaman)

tri -nayana — maintainer and seer of the three worlds; tri -loka-manohara-anubhāva— Who is perceived as the most beautiful within the threeworlds;

Giridhari

Madhusudana

Radhika Ramana

Agha-nisudana

Nanda-tanuja

Tridhama

Visvesvara

1) Achala – God without any change orthe immovable one2) Achyuta – Infallible Lord3) Adbhutah – Wonderful God4) Adidev – The Lord of the Lords5) Aditya – The Son of Aditi 6) Ajanma – One Who Is Limitless andEndless7) Ajaya – The Conqueror of Life andDeath Akshara – Indestructible Lord9) Amrit – Heavenly nectar or elixir 10) Anandsagar – Compassionate Lord 11) Ananta – The Endless Lord12) Anantajit – Ever Victorious Lord

13) Anaya –

One Who Has No Leader14) Aniruddha – One Who Cannot BeObstructed15) Aparajeet – The Lord Who Cannot Be Defeated16) Avyukta – One Who Is As Clear AsCrystal17) Balgopal – The Child Krishna, the All

Attractive18) Chaturbhuj – Four – Armed Lord 19) Danavendra – Granter of Boons20) Dayalu – Repository of Compassion 21) Dayanidhi – The CompassionateLord22) Devadidev – The God of the Gods

23) Devakinandan –

Son of MotherDevaki24) Devesh – Lord of the Lords 25) Dharmadhyaksha – The Lord OFDharma26) Dravin – The one who has noEnemies27) Dwarkapati – Lord of Dwarka28) Gopal – One Who Plays With the Cowherds, the Gopas29) Gopalpriya – Lover of Cowherds30) Govinda – One Who Pleases theCows, the Land and the Entire Nature 31) Gyaneshwar – The Lord ofKnowledge

32) Hari –

The Lord of Nature33) Hiranyagarbha – The All PowerfulCreator

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34) Hrishikesh – The Lord of All Senses 35) Jagadguru – Preceptor of theUniverse36) Jagadisha – Protector of All37) Jagannath – Lord of the Universe38) Janardhana – One Who BestowsBoons on One And All 39) Jayantah – Conqueror of All

Enemies40) Jyotiraaditya – The Resplendenceof the Sun 41) Kamalnath – The Lord of GoddessLakshmi42) Kamalnayan – The Lord with LotusShaped Eyes43) Kamsantak – Slayer of Kamsa44) Kanjalochana – The Lotus –Eyed God45) Keshava – One Who Has Long,Black Matted Locks46) Krishna – Dark –Complexioned Lord47) Lakshmikantam – The Lord ofGoddess Lakshmi 48) Lokadhyaksha – Lord of All the

Three Lokas (Worlds)49) Madan – The Lord of Love50) Madhava – Knowledge Filled God 51) Madhusudan – Slayer of DemonMadhu52) Mahendra – Lord of Indra53) Manmohan – All Pleasing Lord54) Manohar – Beautiful Lord55) Mayur – The Lord Who Has a Peacock Feathered –Crest56) Mohan – All Attractive God57) Murali – The Flute Playing Lord58) Murlidhar – One Who Holds theFlute

59) Murlimanohar –

The Flute Playing God60) Nandakumara – Son of Nanda 61) Nandgopala – The Son Of Nand62) Narayana – The Refuge Of Everyone63) Navaneethachora – makan (butter)chor64) Niranjana – The Unblemished Lord65) Nirguna – Without Any Properties 66) Padmahasta – One Who Has HandsLike Lotus67) Padmanabha – The Lord Who Has ALotus Shaped Navel68) Parabrahmana – The Supreme

Absolute Truth 69) Paramatma – Lord Of All Beings

70) Parampurush –

SupremePersonality 71) Parthasarthi – Charioteer of Parthaor Arjuna72) Prajapati – Lord Of All Creatures73) Punyah – Supremely Pure74) Purshottam – The Supreme Soul75) Ravilochana – One Who Eye Is the Sun76) Sahasraakash – Thousand –eyedgod created by Hindu devotional blog77) Sahasrajit – One Who VanquishesThousands78) Sakshi – All Witnessing Lord 79) Sanatana – The Eternal Lord80) Sarvajana – Omniscient Lord 81) Sarvapalaka – Protector of All82) Sarveshwar

– Lord of All Gods

83) Satyavachana – One Who Speaks



Only the Truth84) Satyavrata – The Truth DedicatedLord 85) Shantah – Peaceful Lord86) Shreshta – The Most Glorious Lord87) Shrikanta – Beautiful Lord88) Shyam – Dark –Complexioned Lord

89) Shyamsundara –

Lord of BeautifulEvenings 90) Sudarshana – Handsome Lord 91) Sumedha – Intelligent Lord92) Suresham – Lord of All Demi –Gods93) Swargapati – Lord of Heavens94) Trivikrama – Conqueror of All TheThree Worlds95) Upendra – Brother of Indra 96) Vaikunthanatha – Lord Of

Vaikuntha, The Heavenly Abode97) Vardhamaanah – The FormlessLord98) Vasudev – All Prevailing Lord99) Vishnu – All Prevailing Lord 100) Vishwadakshinah – Skilful andEfficient Lord 101) Vishwakarma – Creator of the

Universe102) Vishwamurti – Of the Form of theEntire Universe103) Vishwarupa – One Who Displaysthe Universal Form 104) Vishwatma – Soul of the Universe105) Vrishaparvaa – God of Dharma106) Yadavendra – King of the Yadav107) Yogi – The Supreme Master108) Yoginampati – God of Yogis

His activities are glorious, and therefore He is called Uruśravā

madhu-kai ṭ abha-hant ṛ : In the beginning of creation, Lord Brahmā was attacked by two demons — Madhu and Kaiabha — but Kṛṣṇa saved him.

Aravinda-locanam – Lord Rämacandra, whose eyes are like the petals of a lotus

Who is Mahatma: An intelligent man who surrenders unto the lotus feet of Krsna and knows

completely that Krsna is the cause of all causes.

Spiritual life – eternal, blissful and full of knowledge.

Material life-temporary, full of misery and illusory. Temporary cessation of miseries is falsely called

happiness.

Hence the path of progressive material enjoyment is inferior.

Argument against atheists1. If a man‘s brain can produce a space satellite, one can very easily imagine how brainshigher than man can produce similarly wonderful things which are far superior.

2. Can you create brain? SB1.1.1

3. Ok, God created this universe, so what, we also create so many things like watches,

etc. This can be refuted by saying God has created male & female beings which themselves

creates further beings. Have you ever produced male & female watches which can reproduce?

SB 1.1.14. Dog is also a living being, but he is not interested in what is mentioned in SB and BG.



Religion is the basic distinction between dog and man. So when human beings become

uninterested in religion, they are becoming animals. How can there be peace or happiness in

animal society. (SP replying to a questionnaire, ―Civilization and Transcendence, Chapter 1‖) 5. Religion might have been misused but that does not mean that religion should be

avoided. Real religion should be taken. If eye has cataract, that doesn‘t mean eye should beremoved, it should be treated. (SP replying to a questionnaire, ―Civilization andTranscendence, Chapter 1‖) 6. Religion means order of God, just as law means the order of the state. If there is no

state, where is the question of state‘s order? You simply manufacture your own order. Todaythat is going on in field of religion.

7. There is a charge that Hinduism makes people lazy. SP gives example of high court

judge and clerk. The judge is just sitting and listening while clerk is doing so many things.

Apparently it seems clerk is doing more work, but his salary is not even 1/10 of the judge. So

this argument of making people comes out of laziness. Real work and progress is self

realization, not running like karmis. Another example can be given is of ass. We‘re notstriving hard for material improvement, but for spiritual advancement-people travel

thousands of miles to attend kumbh mela.8. ―LK is in every living being along with the individual soul. This is proved by act of

seeing and taking help from the intelligence.‖ SB 2.2.35

9. If one does not accept the authority of the Lord in matters of religion and morality, one must

explain why two persons of the same moral standard achieve different results. Similarly, in

economic development it is seen that if two men work very hard day and night, still the

results are not the same. One person may enjoy great opulence without even working,

whereas another person, although working very hard, does not even get two sufficient meals a

day. Similarly, in the matter of sense gratification, sometimes one who has sufficient food is

still not happy in his family affairs or sometimes is not even married, whereas another person,

even though not economically well off, has the greatest opportunity for sense gratification.

Even an animal like a hog or a dog may have greater opportunities for sense gratification thana human being. Therefore it must be accepted that there is someone who determines the

different standards. In spite of having rich parents, children are sometimes not happy.

Similarly, in spite of valuable medicine administered by a competent physician, sometimes a

patient dies; or in spite of having a big safe boat, sometimes a man drowns. (SB4.21.30P)

Arguments for chanting1. Our present senses are all made of material elements, and therefore they are imperfect

in realizing the transcendental form of Lord Visnu. He is therefore worshipped by sound

representation via the transcendental method of chanting. Anything which is beyond thescope of experience by our imperfect senses can be realized fully by the sound representation.

A person transmitting sound from a far distant place can be factually experienced. If this is

materially possible, why not spiritually?

2. Vedanta sutra says ―anavrttih sabdat‖

3. BG says satatam kirtayanto mam yatantas ca drdha vratah: ―fully endeavoring withdetermination, the great souls always chant my glories‖

4. Harer naam harer naam harer naam eva kevalam-brahma naradiya puran

5. Lord‘s name is non-different from Him: SB 1.1.15 purport – even fear personified is

fearful of Krsna‘s name. This indicates that the name of Krsna is non-different from Krsna.

6. Oh, how glorious are they whose tongues are chanting Your holy name! Even if born

in the families of dog-eaters, such persons are worshipable. Persons who chant the holy nameof Your Lordship must have executed all kinds of austerities and fire sacrifices and achieved



all the good manners of the Aryans. To be chanting the holy name of Your Lordship, they

must have bathed at holy places of pilgrimage, studied the Vedas and fulfilled everything

required.

7. The holy name of the Lord is as powerful as the Lord Himself. Therefore, simply by

chanting and hearing the holy name of the Lord, many men can be fully protected from fierce

death without difficulty. Thus a devotee is saved. (SB 4.10.30)

8.

Arguments against Mayavada1. Some mayavadi say SB is not written by Vyasdeva but a modern work by Vopadev.

This is refuted by Sridhar Swami. There is reference to SB in the oldest purana called Matsya

Purana. Matsya Purana indicates the Gayatri mantra used in SB. Then there is reference of

history of Vrtrasur in that Purana. Some other Puranas indicate SB with 12 cantos and 18000

slokas. Padma Purana refers to talk between Gautama and Maharaja Ambarish in SBP 1.1.1.

Chandogya Upanishad (7.1.4) mentions the Puranas and Mahabharata as the fifth Veda.

2. Original sex life is in the absolute truth, and thus absolute truth can‘t be impersonal. Itis not possible to be impersonal and contain pure sex life. Consequently, impersonalists have

indirectly given impetus to mundane sex life because they have overstressed impersonalism

of God. SB1.1.1P

3. The so-called liberated persons are never satisfied by the repetition of the words aham

brahmasmi. Such artificial realization of the Brahman becomes hackneyed, and so to relish

real pleasure they turn to the narrations of Srimad Bhagvatam. This means Mayavada

philosophy is mundane, whereas the philosophy of BG and SB is transcendental.

4. Sankaracarya commented on Vedanta Sutras, but didn‘t touch SB because he knewthat the natural commentary will be difficult to surpass. – SB 1.2.3

5. If each of us is actually supreme, then why is this supreme suffering and struggling in

the material world? If supreme could be covered by illusion, then illusion would be greater

than God.

6. Even Sankara accepted in his commentary on BG, that the personality of Godhead,

Krsna or Narayana exists eternally beyond the material world. Therefore, He is

transcendental person- narayanah paro vyaktat. (SB1.2.30P)

7. Sankara said that one must take shelter at the lotus feet of LK, for there is no hope of

gain from debating. Indirectly, he admitted that what he had preached in the flowery

grammatical interpretations of Vedanta Sutras can‘t help him at time of death.8. SB 1.7.5 – ―Due to this external energy, the living entity, although transcendental tothe three modes of material nature, thinks of himself as a material product and thus

undergoes the reactions of material miseries.‖ Purport- due to unholy contact with externalenergy, the living entity misunderstands him to be a material product. This means that the

present perverted way of thinking, willing and feeling is not natural for him. But he has his

normal way of thinking, willing and feeling. The living being in his original state is not

without thinking, willing and feeling power. This is also confirmed in BG that the actual

knowledge of the conditioned soul is now covered by nescience. Thus the theory that a living

being is absolute impersonal Brahman is refuted herein. This cannot be, because the living

entity has his own way of thinking in his original unconditioned state also.

9. SB1.7.4&5 clearly mentions external energy to be subordinate to Lord. It can work

only on living beings. Therefore it is sheer imagination that the Supreme Lord is illusioned by

the illusory energy and thus becomes a living being. If the living being and the Lord were in

the same category, then it would have been quite possible for Vyasdeva to see it, and therewould have been no question of material distress on the part of the illusioned being, for the



Supreme Being is fully cognizant. Had the Lord and the living being been the same, then

Srila Sukadeva Goswami would not have taken trouble to describe the transcendental

pastimes of the Lord, for they would all be manifestation of illusory energy.

10. Mayavadis say as all jives merge into Brahman as rivulets merge into ocean-but ocean

water again evaporates and comes to rivulets again in form of rain water. (SP explains to a

boy in Harvard-quoted from Lilamrta Volume Seven-Chapter entitled ―A visit to Boston‖). 11. SG recommends meditating upon limbs of Visnu (SB 2.1.19)

12. SG describes each part of transcendental beauty of Parmatma (SB 2.2.8-11)

13. SG recommends meditating on the factual form of the Lord instead of meditating on

something non-factual (SB 2.2.12-13)

14. The illusory energy of the Lord cannot take precedence, being ashamed of her

position, but those who are bewildered by her always talk nonsense, being absorbed in

thoughts of ―It is I‖ and ―It is mine.‖(SB 2.5.13) 15. ―When Brahma came out of navel of Lord, He could see Mahavisnu only. He madeeverything using Lord‘s body. ―Earth worshipped by fruits and flowers that come from earth,Ganges worshipped by water from Ganges and similarly Lord is worshipped using

ingredients coming from Lord. Devotee does it out of gratitude and devotee gets benefit ofworshipping Lord. But, impersonalist wrongly concludes that since everything comes from

Lord, there is no use in worshipping Him and he himself is God. Hence an impersonalist

can‘t get benefit of devotional service. (SB 2.6.23 text and purport) 16. ―Brahma got all ingredients of sacrifice from the body of Lord.‖ Personal form ofLord is source of all supplies, not Brahmajyoti SB 2.6.27-28 text and purport

17. Lord can‘t be known as He is (SB 2.6.38)-Since He can‘t be known completely, thereare basic differences between Him and other living entities (2.6.40-41P)

18. ―The Personality of Godhead is pure, being free from all contamination of materialtinges.‖ SB 2.6.40-41

19. The Personality of Godhead has every sentiment of a sentient being, like all other

living beings, because He is the chief and original living entity, the supreme source of allother living beings. He is the nitya, or the chief eternal amongst all other eternals. He is the

chief one, and all others are the dependent many. The many eternals are supported by the one

eternal, and thus both the eternals are qualitatively one. Due to such oneness, both the

eternals constitutionally have a complete r ange of sentiments, but the difference is that the

sentiments of the chief eternal are different in quantity from the sentiments of the dependent

eternals. When Rāmacandra was angry and showed His red-hot eyes, the whole ocean

became heated with that energy, so much so that the aquatics within the great ocean felt the

heat, and the personified ocean trembled in fear and offered the Lord an easy path for

reaching the enemy‘s city. The impersonalists will see havoc in this red-hot sentiment of the

Lord because they want to see negation in perfection. Because the Lord is absolute, the

impersonalists imagine that in the Absolute the sentiment of anger, which resembles mundanesentiments, must be conspicuous by absence. Due to a poor fund of knowledge, they do not

realize that the sentiment of the Absolute Person is transcendental to all mundane concepts of

quality and quantity. Had Lord Rāmacandra‘s sentiment been of mundane origin, how couldit disturb the whole ocean and its inhabitants? Can any mundane red-hot eye generate heat in

the great ocean? These are factors to be distinguished in terms of the personal and impersonal

conceptions of the Absolute Truth. As it is said in the beginning of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,the Absolute Truth is the source of everything, so the Absolute Person cannot be devoid of the

sentiments that are reflected in the temporary mundane world. Rather, the different

sentiments found in the Absolute, either in anger or in mercy, have the same qualitative

influence, or, in other words, there is no mundane difference of value because these

sentiments are all on the absolute plane. Such sentiments are definitely not absent in the

Absolute, as the impersonalists think, making their mundane estimation of the transcendental

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world.(SB 2.7.25P)

20. In the Upanisads the description is more or less negation of the material conception of

things, but this is not denial of transcendental senses of the Supreme Lord. (SB2.7.47P)

21. Lord asks to surrender. If living beings were not subordinate, what was the need for

surrender? Had the living being been equal in all respects, then why was he put under the

influence of maya? (SB 2.9.3P)

22. Can a living entity who claims to be as good as God control the material nature? Why

in future, why is he under control of material nature now?(SB 2.9.3P)

23. Lord showed His eternal and transcendental form before Brahma. That is the

objective goal for purifying the conditioned soul.(SB2.9.4) SG explains this verse with the

aim of purifying the truth of both the Paramatma and the jivatma. Generally people have

wrong conception of them. Wrong conception of jivatma is to identify the material body with

pure soul and the wrong conception of Parmatama is being equal level with the living entity.

(SB2.9.4P)

24. Brahmaji didn‘t performed such severe penance just to see a form of material production. (SB2.9.4P)

25. Rope accepted as snake may be illusion to a particular person, but the rope is a fact,and the snake is also a fact. Illusion of water on the hot desert may be illusion for ignorant

animal, but desert and water are actual facts.(SB2.9.10P). So, illusory energy is not false.

26. The impersonal interpretation is completely refuted in this verse because it is clearly

stated here that the Supreme Lord has His qualities, form, pastimes and everything that a

person has (SB2.9.32)

27. SB 2.9.33: The creator ―I‖ and the created ―I‖ Lord existed before the creation, when

there was nothing else. Lord was present now before Brahma and after annihilation what

remains will be Lord.

28. Impersonalists argue for oneness in the sense that Brahma, is equal with the ―I‖ principle because he is emanation from same ―I‖ and that there is thus nothing more than the

principle of ―I‖. If we accept this argument Lord is the creator ―I‖ and Brahma is the created―I‖ and hence there is still difference. One is predominator ―I‖ and other is predominated ―I‖.Therefore there are still 2 ―I‘s‖. (2.9.33P) 29. The 2 I‘s are accepted in Kathopanisad in the sense of quality-nityo

nityanam......vidadhati kaman. Both I‘s are nityas and cetanas. But the singular ―I‖ is thecreator and the created ―I‘s‖ are of plural no. (2.9.33P) 30. Father begets a son and the son also creates many other sons, and all of them may be

one as human beings, but the same time from the father, the son and the grandson are

different. Son or grandson can‘t replace father. So they as relatives are one, but differentindividuals. So, they are one and different simultaneously. (2.9.33P)

31. Another feature of this verse – no one can deny the personalities of both the Lord

and Brahma. Hence, ultimately both are persons. It is stressed here that the predominator ―I‖is the Absolute Truth and that He is a person. The predominated ―I‖ is also a person but notthe Absolute. (2.9.33P)

32. Vedic hymns confirm eternity of Lord‘s form before, during and after creation isfinished – vasudevo va idam agra asin na brahma ca Sankara eko narayana asin na brahma

nesana, etc- before creation there was neither Brahma nor Sankara nor Isana, only Vasudeva

was there. (2.9.33P)

33. Sankaracarya confirms that Narayana is transcendental to all creation. Hence, there is

always a difference between creator and created-though they are of same quality. (2.9.33P)

34. Another feature of this verse- The supreme truth is Bhagavan-or the Personality of

Godhead. The kingdom of God is not void. They are full of transcendental variegatedness and

opulences.. Hence, the Vaikunthalokas, also accepted in BG as sanatana, existed before

creation and are not annihilated even after the annihilation of manifested cosmos. Existence



of Lord implies the existence of Vaikunthalokas, as the existence of a king implies the

existence of a kingdom. (2.9.33P)

35. Impersonalists adduce no activity in the Supreme, but in this discussion the Lord is

said to have activities also (this is mentioned in previous verse). Activities of demigods are to

be understood as activities of Lord, just like activities of state officers are seen as acts of

king. (2.9.33P)

36. Less intelligent people can‘t see the form of Lord and so they think Lord if formless.

If sun is not visible to a part of earth doesn‘t mean that the sun has no form. (2.9.33P) 37. Some of the Vedas say that in the beginning only the impersonal Brahman existed.

But this verse points out that Brahman may be called the immediate cause, but cause of all

causes is SPG. Impersonal feature exists because by material eyes Lord can’t be

perceived. One has to spiritualize his eyes before he can expect to see Lord. He is

eternally visible to residents of Vaikuntha. Hence He is materially impersonal, just as the

executive head of state may be impersonal in the government office, although he is not

impersonal in his house. (2.9.33P)

38. Example of sky within a pot and sky outside the pot – helpful for realization of the

all-pervading quality of the cosmic consciousness of the Absolute Truth. But it doesn‘t meanthe parts and parcels become Supreme. (2.9.33P)

39. MP (SB2.8.10), Vidura (3.7.37) and Brahma (SB2.7.50) accept the personal feature as

Supreme.

40. The impersonalists want to make jivas and Lord sense-less. Curing the defect is the

solution, plucking it out is not. When there is problem in eye, it is treated not plucked out.

(SB2.9.39P)

41. Impersonalist may squeeze out any interpretation of these 4 slokas-catursloki

Bhagvatam, but because they were spoken by the personality of Godhead, they have no

chance of entering into them. Lord has never revealed Himself to one who is proud of his

knowledge. (SB2.9.36P)

42. Earth, water, fire, air and ether all enter into the body of all manifested entities and atthe same time such elements are differently situated. By His internal and external energy

Lord is within everything in manifested cosmos and at the same time He is outside of

everything, situated in the Vaikunthaloka.BS 5.37 and 5.35.Impersonalists see God

everywhere and hence they conclude that God can‘t have a form. Herein lies the mystery of

His transcendental knowledge-transcendental love of Godhead. One surcharged with it

can see Personality of Godhead in every atom and at the same time in Goloka. This mystery

is the most confidential part of knowledge of Supreme, unknown to mental speculators.

(SB2.9.35P)

43. Superior energy can‘t be as good as the Lord although there is very little difference between the energy and the possessor of energy. Fire is possessed of heat, but heat is not fire.

This energy of fire is described here as reflection and not directly fire. So living beings arereflection of Lord, not the Lord Himself. (SB2.9.34P)

44. Brahma never claimed to be supreme, so this claim by foolish man is another display

of the illusory energy of the Lord. (SB2.9.34P)

45. In material world nothing is independent from Lord. Source of sun‘s and moon‘s lightis brahmajyoti. So thinking this world as unconnected with Lord is illusion and thinking

oneself to be supreme is also illusion.(SB2.9.34P)

46. Accepting rope as snake is illusory, But the rope is a fact. Only acceptance of it as

snake is illusory. Hence accepting this material manifestation as being divorced from the

energy of the Lord is illusion, but it is not false. (SB2.9.34P)

47. Accepting Lord as formless is illusion. Lord said in BG that He and Arjuna existed

before the battle, are present in the battle and will continue to be individual personalities in

future.(SB2.9.34P)



48. If the activities of the Supreme Brahman were material activities, then Nārada wouldnot have advised Vyāsadeva to meditate upon them. (SB2.9.45P) 49. Meditation on the impersonal Brahman is a troublesome business for the meditator, as

confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā (12.5) 50. Lord has genitals (SB2.10.26)

51. Neither of the above forms of the Lord, as just described unto you from the material

angle of vision, is accepted by the pure devotees of the Lord who know Him

well.(SB2.10.35)

52. He, the Personality of Godhead, manifests Himself in a transcendental form, being the

subject of His transcendental name, quality, pastimes, entourage and transcendental

variegatedness. Although He is unaffected by all such activities, He appears to be so engaged.

(SB 2.10.36)

53. There is no direct engineering by the Lord for the creation and destruction of the

material world. What is described in the Vedas about His direct interference is simply to

counteract the idea that material nature is the creator. (SBZ2.10.45) The Vedic direction for

the creation, maintenance and destruction of the material world is this: yato vā imāni bhūtāni

jāyante. yena jātāni j ī vanti. yat prayanty abhisaviśanti, i.e., everything is created byBrahman, af ter creation everything is maintained by Brahman, and after annihilation

everything is conserved in Brahman. Gross materialists without any knowledge of Brahman,

Paramātmā or Bhagavān conclude material nature to be the ultimate cause of the material

manifestation, and the modern scientist also shares this view that the material nature is the

ultimate cause of all the manifestations of the mater ial wor ld. This view is refuted by all

Vedic literature. The Vedānta philosophy mentions that Brahman is the fountainhead of all

creation, maintenance and destruction, and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the natural commentation onthe Vedānta philosophy, says, janmādy asya yato ‗nvayād itarataś cārtheṣv abhijña svarā[SB 1.1.1], etc. (SB2.10.45P)

54. Even demons get impersonal liberation. The impersonalists, therefore, are no more

favored than the enemies of the Lord; rather, they are both on the same level of spiritualsalvation. (SB3.2.24P).

55. SB3.4.13 – At the beginning of the creation, I spoke to Brahma about My

transcendental glories known as Srimad Bhagavatam. Purport: Lord said that the concise

form of SB was meant to elucidate His personality. So the impersonal explanation of those 4

verses is nullified here. Sridhara Swami explains that the 4 verses concerned the pastimes of

Lord Krsna and was never meant for impersonal indulgence.

56. O Lord, persons who, because of their serious attitude, attain the stage of enlighteneddevotional service achieve the complete meaning of renunciation and knowledge and attainthe Vaikuṇhaloka in the spiritual sky simply by drinking the nectar of Your topics. Others,

who are pacified by means of transcendental self-realization and have conquered over the

modes of nature by dint of strong power and knowledge, also enter into You, but for themthere is much pain, whereas the devotee simply discharges devotional service and thus feels

no such pain. (SB3.5.46-47)

57. Some people put forward the theory that the Supreme Brahman is overcome by

illusion and at the same time they maintain that He is unconditioned. This is against all logic.

(SB3.7.9)

58. These activities of trying to Lord it over or becoming one with Lord are performed

under the dictation of the illusory energy. The experience is compared to the experience of

one‘s having his head cut off in a dream. The man whose head has been cut off also sees that

his head has been cut off. If a person‘s head is severed he loses his power to see. Therefore ifa man sees that his head has been cut off, it means that he thinks like that in hallucination.

Similarly a living entity is eternally subordinate to the Lord, and he has this knowledge with

him, but, artificially, he thinks that he is God himself and that although he is God he has lost

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his knowledge to maya. This conception has no meaning. (SB3.7.10P)

59. Vidura inquires that who remains to serve the Lord after the dissolution. So, the

impersonalist‘s explanation of the word aham in the 4 verse of original Bhagavatam is refutedhere. The Lord and His eternal associates remain after the dissolution. Vidura‘s inquiry aboutsuch persons is a clear indication of the existence of all paraphernalia of the Lord. This is also

confirmed in Kasi-khanda, - na cyavante hi yad- bhakta, mahatyam pralayapadi, ato ‗cyuto‗khile loke, sa ekah sarva-go ‗vyayah – The devotees of the Lord never annihilate their

individual existences after the dissolution of the entire cosmic manifestation. Lord and

devotees are both eternal, in both the material and spiritual world. (SB3.7.37P).

60. Lord‘s forms are all auspicious. Those who are destined to be dispatched to the path

of hell neglect Your personal form because of speculating on material topics. (SB3.9.4)

61. Krishna is directly mentioned in the Atharva Vedas as the dispenser of Vedic wisdom

to Lord Brahma at the beginning of this universe:

yo brahmāṇa vidadhāti pūrva yo vai vedāś ca gāpayati sma kṛṣṇah

―It was Krishna who in the beginning instructed Brahmā in Vedic knowledge and whodisseminated Vedic knowledge in the past.‖

Therefore according to the authority of the Atharva Veda, Krishna‘s teachings are accepted as

Vedic truth and thus naturally Bhagavad-gita being the words of Krishna is also accepted as

Vedic truth.

62. Even great sages, if they are against Your transcendental topics, must rotate in this

world. SB3.9.10

63. Persons who are falsely under the impression of being liberated, without devotional

service to the Lord, may reach the goal of the brahmajyoti, but because of their impure

consciousness and for want of shelter in the Vaikunthalokas, such so-called liberated persons

again fall down into material existence SB 10.2.3264. Lord is the prime root of the tree of the planetary systems. It has grown by penetrating

the material nature in 3 trunks – Brahma, Siva and Almighty Visnu – from creation,

maintenance and dissolution. (SB3.9.16) Impersonalists do not believe in the personal

management of things as they are. But in this verse, it is clearly explained that everything is

personal. Impersonalists‘ theory that Brahman is void of all variegatedness is false becausethe shadow-tree described in BG can‘t exist without being the reflection of a real tree.

(SB3.9.16P)Here the word gunamayam is significant because it indicated the Lord‘s possessing the transcendental qualities. (SB3.9.39P)

65. This cosmic manifestation is as it is now, it was the same in the past, and it will

continue in the same way in the future. (SB3.10.13) The systematic activities of the time

factor are perpetual and eternal and can‘t be state to be false. The manifestation is temporaryand occasional, but it is not false as claimed by the Mayavadi philosophers.(SB3.10.13P)

66. In those Vaikuntha planets there are many forests which are very auspicious. In those

forests the trees are desire trees, and in all seasons they are filled with flowers and fruits

because everything in the Vaikuntha planets is spiritual and personal.(SB3.15.16)

67. It is very much regrettable that unfortunate people do not discuss the description of

the Vaikuntha planets but engage in topics which are unworthy to hear and which bewilder

one‘s intelligence. Such persons are thrown into the darkest region of ignorance.(SB3.15.23)

The most important persons are the impersonalists, who cannot understand the transcendental

variegatedness of the spiritual world. Their mentality is described here as ku-katha mati-

ghnih, ―intelligence bewildered by unworthy words.‖ How can they think of material world,which is full of variegatedness and say that there is no variegatedness in the spiritual world?

It is said that this material world is the perverted reflection of the spiritual worlds, so



unless there is variegatedness in the spiritual world, how can there be temporary

variegatedness in the material world? (SB3.15.23P)

68. Impersonalists may argue that the form of Narayana is so nicely decorated, He is

therefore no the Absolute Truth. But here it is confirmed that all the variegatedness of the

absolute platform is constituted of sudda-sattva. (SB3.15.47P)

69. Kumaras, who were impersonalists in the beginning of their spiritual lives, felt

completely satisfied by seeing the form of the Lord. (SB3.15.50P)

70. Lord assumed the form of boar by His own potency (SB 3.20.8).

71. There was no point for Kardama to see an imagined form of Lord after practicing

yoga for 10,000 years. (SB3.21.11P)

72. 2 points here refute mayavada theory that everything is God. (1) Kardama says ―OLord, You are alone, but You have various energies.‖ (2) When the cobweb is manufactured

by the saliva of the spider, the spider doesn‘t become impersonal. (SB 3.21.20P) 73. Lord manifests the 3 modes of material nature, but is beyond those 3 modes.

(SB3.24.43) – in other words, although the material energy is an emanation of the Supreme

Lord, He is not affected, as we are, by the modes of material nature.

74. SB 3.25.34 - A pure devotee, who is attached to the activities of devotional serviceand who always engages in the service of My lotus feet, never desires to become one with

Me. Such a devotee, who is unflinchingly engaged, always glorifies My pastimes and

activities.

75. SB3.26.3P-Māyāvādī philosophers cannot understand that beyond this material world

there can be a person; therefore they are impersonalists. But it is explained very nicely here

that the Personality of Godhead is beyond material existence.

76. SB3.26.7-8P-Māyāvādī s says that the conditional existence of the living entity is his

līlā. But the word ―pastime‖ implies employment in the activities of the Lord. They misuse

the word & say that even if the living entity has become a stool-eating hog, he is also

enjoying his pastimes. The word ―pastime‖ implies voluntary acceptance for enjoyment.

Therefore this interpretation is most misleading. Actually the Supreme Lord is the leader andmaintainer of all living entities. His pastimes are transcendental to any material activity. Such

pastimes of the Lord cannot be dragged to the level of the conditional activities of the living

entities. Whatever the material energy dictates, the conditioned soul does. He has no

responsibility; he is simply the witness of the action, but he is forced to act in that way due to

his offense in his eternal relationship with K ṛṣṇa.In Bhagavad-gītā it is said that when theLord descends to this material world, He comes as a person by His own energy, ātma-māyā.He is not forced by any superior energy. He comes by His own will, but jivas are forced to

take birth in a womb

77. SB3.28.6-Fixing the vital air and the mind in one of the six circles of vital air

circulation within the body, thus concentrating one’s mind on the transcendental pastimes

of the Supreme Personality of Godhead (Vaikuntha Lila), is called samādhi, or samādhāna,of the mind.

78. Mayavadis say: sama-darsanat means a devotee should see himself as one with SPG.

This is foolishness. Here it is clearly mentioned that he who dedicates his everything for the

satisfaction of the Supreme Lord, is considered to be the greatest person. If servant sees one

same as the master where is the question of service? (SB3.29.33P)

79. Thinking that since SPG has entered every living entity, every living entity has

become SPG is foolishness. If a man enters a room that doesn‘t mean the room has becomethat person. (SB3.29.34P)

80. Why Brahma comes back from Maha Visnu‘s body? Because he sometimes thinks heis independent of Lord. That means he thinks he is equal to Lord. Although Brahmā reaches

the SPG as the first puruṣa incarnation, Mahā-Viṣṇu, who is full with transcendental qualities,

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he cannot stay in the spiritual world. So persons who think they are equal to Lord even

though entering transcendental body of Maha-Visnu again fall down. (SB3.32.12-15P)

81. Brahma-darsanam: realize the Transcendence. If Brahman is impersonal, what is the

question of darsanam: face to face. (SB3.32.23P)

82. Those who are averse to the Transcendence realize the Supreme Absolute Truth

differently through speculative sense perception, and therefore, because of mistaken

speculation, everything appears to them to be relative. (SB3.32.28)

83. Everything is sustained by Lord, but that doesn‘t mean everything is Lord. Mayavadi philosophers declare diversity of sense perception to be false, but Vaisnavas accept them as a

display of His diverse energies. Brahma satya jagat mithya is not acceptable – all that

glitters is not gold doesn’t mean that the glittering object doesn’t exist. E.g. oyster shell

appears golden due to sense perception of eyes, but that doesn’t mean oyster has not

existence. Similarly, Lord Krishna’s form can’t be understood as He is, but that doesn’ t

mean that He is false. To know about Lord‘s form one has to understand from authorizedscriptures like Brahma Samhita and BG. Mental speculation leads to illusion that Lord is

formless. (SB3.32.28P)84. There are some philosophers, called nondualists, who because of their impersonalconception think that varieties are false. In this verse it is specifically stated, yo mayaya

viracitam. This indicates that the varieties are a manifestation of the energy of the SPG. Thus

because the energy is non-different from the Godhead, the varieties are also factual. The

material varieties may be temporary, but they are not false. (SB4.1.56P)

85. Daksa began with great pleasure to offer respectful prayers unto Him: You are

transcendental to all speculative positions. You are completely spiritual, devoid of all fear,

and You are always in control of the material energy. Even though You appear in the material

energy, You are situated transcendentally. You are always free from material contamination

because You are self-sufficient. (SB4.7.25-26)

86. We offer our respectful obeisances unto the Supreme, who has created varieties ofmanifestations and put them under the spell of the 3 qualities of the material world in order to

create, maintain and annihilate them. He Himself is not under the control of the external

energy; in His personal feature He is completely devoid of the variegated manifestation of

material qualities, and He is under no illusion of false identification. (SB 4.7.39)

87. Here the word vigraham, ―having specific form,‖ is very significant, for it indicates

that the Absolute Truth is ultimately the SPG. His form is not material (my observation: and

hence beyond material sensory perception). Devotional service cannot be rendered to the

impersonal Brahman feature of the SPG. Whenever the word bhajasva appears, meaning

―engage yourself in devotional service,‖ there must be the servant, service and the served.The SPG is served, the mode of activities to please Him is called service, and one who

renders such service is called the servant.SB4.12.5P88. The impersonalist may ask why one should bother chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-

mantra continually for so many years instead of stopping and trying for kaivalya, liberation,

or merging into the existence of the Lord. In answer, Mahārāja Pṛthu maintains that the

attraction of this chanting is so great that one cannot give up the process unless he is an

animal. (4.20.26P)

89. SD: ―many people give up devotional service to search to material benefit and liberation. So

they are greater than devotional service. What is the proof the devotional service is greater‖Example of Laxmi Ji is quoted as a reply. Another example can be of Sukadeva Goswami

who became devotee from an impersonalist. Yogis are like cows who can chew only grass not

sugarcane, karmis are like camels who can only savor thorns, not mangoes.

90. guṇālayam - refers to Viṣṇu as the reservoir of all transcendental qualities. The Māyāvādī philosophers take the Absolute Truth to be nirguṇa ("without qualities"), in accordance with

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the impersonalistic view, but actually the Lord is the reservoir of all good qualities. (SB

4.20.27P)

91. Text 38: SPG manifests Himself as one with the cause and effect within this body, but one

who has transcended the illusory energy by deliberate consideration, which clears the

misconception of a snake for a rope, can understand that the Paramātmā is eternallytranscendental to the material creation and situated in pure internal energy. Thus the Lord is

transcendental to all material contamination. Unto Him only must one surrender. (SB 4.22.38)

92. This verse is specifically stated to defy the Māyāvāda. The individual soul, when surrendered,can understand that the SPG, although situated within the heart of the individual soul, is

superior to the individual soul. The material energy is a manifestation of His external

potency, and since the potency is identical with the potent, it appears that the Lord and

individual soul are one; but actually the individual soul is under the influence of material

energy, and the Lord is always transcendental to it. Unless the Lord is superior to the

individual soul, there is no question of prapadye, or surrender unto Him. devotional service is

stressed as more important than deliberation or mental speculation to understand the Absolute

Truth. (SB 4.22.38P)

93. In BG (2.12), all living entities assembled in the battlefield, as well as Kṛṣṇa Himself, werealso present in the past as individuals and would continue to be present in the future asindividuals also. Therefore the two puruṣas, the living ent ity and the SPG, never lose their

respective identities. (SB4.23.9P)

94. Prthu and Arci went to Vaikuntha in 2 different planes, indicating even after liberation they

were 2 different individuals. They did not become 0 or merge into brahman. (SB4.23.26P)

95. The place where the Pracetās arrived was the abode of Lord Śiva. Impersonalists are

generally worshipers of Lord Śiva, but Lord Śiva is never without variety in his abode.

(SB4.24.23P)

96. Śiva wanted to remain a fixed devotee of the SPG, Vāsudeva. As explained in the following

verses, Śiva never desires to merge into the existence of the Lord like the impersonalists.

Rather, he thinks that it would be good fortune for him to continue to be fixed in theunderstanding of the Lord as the Supreme Being. (SB4.24.33P)

97. The words śāntāya kūa-sthāya sva-rociṣe are very significant. Although the Lord is within

this material world, He is not disturbed by the waves of material existence. SB4.24.34P

98. Although the impersonalists are always engaged in the worship of Lord Śiva, they are unable

to understand the prayers offered by Lord Śiva to the bodily features of Lord Viṣṇu.

SB4.24.50P

99. The impersonalists, who generally worship Lord Śiva, should learn of the transcendental sac-

cid-ānanda-vigraha [Bs. 5.1] of the Lord. Here Lord Śiva kindly describes the details of the

Lord's bodily features. Thus the impersonalists' argument that the Lord has no form cannot be

accepted under any circumstance. SB4.24.51P

100. My dear Lord, the king in charge of the heavenly kingdom is also desirous ofobtaining the ultimate goal of life — devotional service. Similarly, You are the ultimate

destination of those who identify themselves with You [aha brahmāsmi]. However, it isvery difficult for them to attain You, whereas a devotee can very easily attain Your Lordship.

SB 4.24.54

101. My dear Lord, the impersonal Brahman spreads everywhere, like the sunshine or the

sky. And that impersonal Brahman, which spreads throughout the universe and in which the

entire universe is manifested, is You.SB4.24.60

102. King Malayadhvaja attained perfect knowledge by being able to distinguish the

Supersoul from the individual soul. The individual soul is localized, whereas the Supersoul is

all-pervasive. He became perfect in knowledge that the material body is not the soul but that

the soul is the witness of the material body. Sb4.28.40

103. There is special significance in the words tat-samyatam agat. The King attained the




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position of possessing the same status or the same form as that of the Lord. This definitely

proves that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is always a person. In His impersonal

feature, He is the rays of His transcendental body. When a living entity attains spiritual

perfection, he also attains the same type of body, known as sac-cidananda-vigraha.

104. A king is always accompanied by his ministers, secretaries and commanders, and

Lord Visnu is also accompanied by His followers — the demigods, great sages, saintly persons

and so on. He is never alone. Consequently there is no question of the Lord's being

impersonal. He is always Himself, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and His associates

are also persons. SB4.30.6

105. The seven great sages [Marīci, Vasiṣha, Atri and so on] reside on planets beneath

Dhruvaloka. Well aware of the influence of the water of the Ganges, to this day they keep

Ganges water on the tufts of hair on their heads. They have concluded that this is the ultimate

wealth, the perfection of all austerities, and the best means of prosecuting transcendental life.

Having obtained uninterrupted devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead,

they neglect all other beneficial processes like religion, economic development, sense

gratification and even merging into the Supreme. Just as jñānīs think that merging into the

existence of the Lord is the highest truth, these seven exalted personalities accept devotionalservice as the perfection of life.SB5.17.3

106. We cannot control the force of our anger. Therefore when we look at materialthings, we cannot avoid feeling attraction or repulsion for them. But the SupremeLord is never affected in this way. Although He glances over the material world forthe purpose of creating, maintaining and destroying it, He is not affected, even to theslightest degree. Therefore, one who desires to conquer the force of the sensesmust take shelter of the lotus feet of the Lord. Then he will be victorious. SB 5.17.19

107. O Lord, although You are completely detached from the creation, maintenanceand annihilation of this material world and are not directly affected by these activities,they are all attributed to You. We do not wonder at this, for Your inconceivable

energies perfectly qualify You to be the cause of all causes. You are the activeprinciple in everything, although You are separate from everything. Thus we canrealize that everything is happening because of Your inconceivable energy. SB5.18.5

108. SB 5.18.30 — O my Lord, I offer my respectful obeisances unto You, who haveassumed the form of a tortoise. You are the reservoir of all transcendental qualities,and being entirely untinged by matter, You are perfectly situated in pure goodness.You move here and there in the water, but no one can discern Your position.Therefore I offer my respectful obeisances unto You. Because of Your transcendentalposition, You are not limited by past, present and future. You are present everywhereas the shelter of all things, and therefore I offer my respectful obeisances unto You

again and again. Although the Lord is present everywhere, He cannot be seen with ordinary eyes. As Aryamā

says, the Lord is anupalakṣita-sthāna: no one can locate Him. This is the greatness of the

Supreme Personality of Godhead.

109. SB 5.18.31 — My dear Lord, this visible cosmic manifestation is a demonstrationof Your own creative energy. Since the countless varieties of forms within this cosmicmanifestation are simply a display of Your external energy, this vir ā-r ūpa [universalbody] is not Your real form. Except for a devotee in transcendental consciousness,no one can perceive Your actual form. Therefore I offer my respectful obeisancesunto You.

A fire consists of three elements: heat and light, which are the energy of the fire, and the fire

itself. Anyone can understand that the original fire is the reality and that the heat and light are

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simply the fire’s energy. Heat and light are the formless energies of fire, and in that sense they

are unreal. Only the fire has form, and therefore it is the real form of the heat and light. the

impersonal conception of the Lord is like the expansion of heat and light from a fire.

The entire material creation is rest ing on Kṛṣṇa’s energy, either material, spiritual or marginal,but because His form is absent from the expansion of His energy, He is not personally present.

This inconceivable expansion of the Supreme Lord’s energy is called acintya-śakti. Therefore noone can understand the real form of the Lord without becoming His devotee.

110. SB 5.18.32 — My dear Lord, You manifest Your different energies in countlessforms: as living entities born from wombs, from eggs and from perspiration; as plantsand trees that grow out of the earth; as all living entities, both moving and standing,including the demigods, the learned sages and the pitās; as outer space, as thehigher planetary system containing the heavenly planets, and as the planet earthwith its hills, rivers, seas, oceans and islands. Indeed, all the stars and planets aresimply manifestations of Your different energies, but originally You are one without asecond. Therefore there is nothing beyond You. This entire cosmic manifestation is

therefore not false but is simply a temporary manifestation of Your inconceivableenergy.

This verse completely rejects the theory of brahma satyaṁ jagan mithyā. One thing may be

permanent and another temporary, but both the permanent and the temporary are facts. For

example, if someone becomes angry for a certain period, no one can say that his anger is false. It

is simply temporary.

No one will accept the argument that since a person’s material body is false, murder has norepercussions.

111. The Lord, whose pure form [sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha] is uncontaminated by the modes

of material nature, can be perceived by pure consciousness. In the Vedānta He is described as being one without a second. Because of His spiritual potency, He is untouched by thecontamination of material nature, and because He is not subjected to material vision, He is

known as transcendental. He has no material activities, nor has He a material form or name.

Only in pure consciousness, K ṛṣṇa consciousness, can one perceive the transcendental form

of the Lord. Let us be firmly fixed at the lotus feet of Lord Rāmacandra, and let us offer ourrespectful obeisances unto those transcendental lotus feet. SB 5.19.4

112. The Lord, whose pure form [sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha] is uncontaminated by the modes

of material nature, can be perceived by pure consciousness. In the Vedānta He is described as being one without a second. Because of His spiritual potency, He is untouched by the

contamination of material nature, and because He is not subjected to material vision, He is

known as transcendental. He has no material activities, nor has He a material form or name.Only in pure consciousness, K ṛṣṇa consciousness, can one perceive the transcendental form

of the Lord. Let us be firmly f ixed at the lotus feet of Lord Rāmacandra, and let us offer ourrespectful obeisances unto those transcendental lotus feet.SB5.19.4 Purport

113. Nārada, the most powerful saintly sage, also worships Nara- Nārāyaṇa by chanting the

following mantra: The Supreme Personality of Godhead is the master of the creation,

maintenance and annihilation of this visible cosmic manifestation, yet He is completely free

from false prestige. Although to the foolish He appears to have accepted a material body like

us, He is unaffected by bodily tribulations like hunger, thirst and fatigue. Although He is the

witness who sees everything, His senses are unpolluted by the objects He sees. Let me offer

my respectful obeisances unto that unattached, pure witness of the world, the Supreme Soul,

the Personality of Godhead. Sb5.19.12114. SB 6.4.23 — Prajāpati Dakṣa said: The Supreme Personality of Godhead is









transcendental to the illusory energy and the physical categories it produces. Hepossesses the potency for unfailing knowledge and supreme willpower, and He is thecontroller of the living entities and the illusory energy. The conditioned souls whohave accepted this material manifestation as everything cannot see Him, for He isabove the evidence of experimental knowledge. Self-evident and self-sufficient, He isnot caused by any superior cause. Let me offer my respectful obeisances unto Him.

115. SD: The Lord has all knowledge and the jiva has limited knowledge. This isexpressed in verses 24 and 25. It has also been shown in verses 26 and 27 that theone Lord has a personal and impersonal form which can be realized as suchaccording to one’s preference. It has also been stated in verse 28-30 that though thematerial forms are also the Lord, they do not arise from His svarupa. Verse 31 and32 show that the statements of bhakti and jnana shastra are not contradictory. NowDaksa shows that those who claim that the difference between the jiva and the Lordis illusory and not real are not following the path of real jnana. He then prays forfulfillment of his desire. (Sarartha Darsini 6.4.34 purport).

116. The example given in this connection is that when an earthen pot is broken, the

small portion of the sky within the pot is united with the large sky outside the pot.Māyāvād ī philosophers misunderstand this description of Ś r ī mad-Bhāgavatam. Therefore Śr ī Rāmānuja Svām ī , in his book Ved ānta-tattva-sāra, hasdescribed that this merging of the soul means that after separating himself from thematerial body made of eight elements — earth, water, fire, air, ether, false ego, mindand intelligence — the individual soul engages himself in devotional service to theSupreme Personality of Godhead in His eternal form. The material cause of thematerial elements absorbs the material body, and the spiritual soul assumes itsoriginal position. As described by Śr ī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, j ī vera ‘ svar ū pa’ haya-k ṛṣṇera ‘ nitya-d āsa’ . SB 6.10.11 purport.

117. The words sātvata- śāstra-vigrahamindicate that the sac-cid-ānanda body of

the Lord can never be accepted to be made of māy ā. Devotees do not offer prayersto the Lord in an imaginary form. The existence of the Lord’s form is supported by allVedic literature. SB 6.16.33 purport

118. SB 7.1.7 — My dear King Par ī kṣit, the material qualities — sattva-guṇa, rajo-

guṇa and tamo-guṇa — all belong to the material world and do not even touch the

Supreme Personality of Godhead. These three guṇas cannot act by increasing or

decreasing simultaneously.

119. SB 7.1.19 — Although these two men — Śiśupāla and Dantavakra — repeatedly

blasphemed the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Viṣṇu [Kṛṣṇa], the

Supreme Brahman, they were quite healthy. Indeed, their tongues were not

attacked by white leprosy, nor did they enter the darkest region of hellish life. We are

certainly most surprised by this.

120. SB 7.8.40 — Lord Brahmā prayed: My Lord, You are unlimited, and You possess

unending potencies. No one can estimate or calculate Your prowess and wonderful

influence, for Your actions are never polluted by the material energy. Throughthe material qualities, You very easily create the universe, maintain it and again












annihilate it, yet You remain the same, without deterioration. I therefore offer my

respectful obeisances unto You.

121. SB 7.10.49 — The impersonal Brahman is Kṛṣṇa Himself because Kṛṣṇa is the

source of the impersonal Brahman. He is the origin of the transcendental bliss

sought by great saintly persons, yet He, the Supreme Person, is your most dear

friend and constant well-wisher and is intimately related to you as the son of your

maternal uncle. Indeed, He is always like your body and soul. He is worshipable, yet

He acts as your servant and sometimes as your spiritual master.

122. The reflection of the sun from a mirror is nothing but light within darkness. Thus although

it is not exactly sunlight, without the sunlight the reflection would be impossible. Similarly, the

varieties of this world would be impossible unless there were a real prototype in the spiritual

world. The Mayavadi philosopher cannot understand this, but a real philosopher must be

convinced that light is not possible at all without a background of sunlight.

123. SB 8.3.16 — My Lord, as the fire in araṇi wood is covered, You and Your unlimited

knowledge are covered by the material modes of nature. Your mind, however, is not

attentive to the activities of the modes of nature. Those who are advanced in spiritual

knowledge are not subject to the regulative principles directed in the Vedic literatures.

Because such advanced souls are transcendental, You personally appear in their pure

minds. Therefore I offer my respectful obeisances unto You. (Sloka complete here, now

purport starts). tesam evanukampartham, aham ajnana-jam tamah, nasayamy atma-bhava

stho, jnana-dipena bhasvata. For a devotee who has taken the lotus feet of the Lord within

his heart, the Lord gives spiritual enlightenment, known as jnana-dipa, by special mercy from

within. BG 10.11. Although a devotee may externally not be very well educated, because of

his devotional service the Supreme Personality of Godhead gives him enlightenment from

within. If the Lord gives enlightenment from within, how can one be in ignorance? Therefore

the allegation of the Mayavadis that the devotional path is for the unintelligent or uneducated

is untrue.

124. SB 8.5.45 — O Supreme Personality of Godhead, we are surrendered unto You, yet we

wish to see You. Please make Your original form and smiling lotus face visible to our eyes

and appreciable to our other senses. Purport: The Lord has both impersonal and personal

features. The impersonalists have no idea of the personal feature of the Lord, but Lord












Brahma and the members of his disciplic succession want to see the Lord in His personal

form. Without a personal form there can be no question of a smiling face.

125. Māyāvādī philosophers think that since the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Absolute

Truth, has become everything, He has no separate existence. Their philosophy is called advaita-

v āda. Actually, however, their philosophy is not correct. Here, Bali Mahārāja was the seer of the

Personality of Godhead’s universal body, and that body was that which was seen. Thus there

is dvaita-v āda; there are always two entities — the seer and the seen. The seer is a part of the

whole, but he is not equal to the whole. The part of the whole, the seer, is also one with the

whole, but since he is but a part, he cannot be the complete whole at any time. This acintya-

bhed ābheda — simultaneous oneness and difference — is the perfect philosophy propounded

by Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. SB8.20.22 purport.

126. SB 9.8.24 — O completely peaceful Lord, although material nature, fruitive activities

and their consequent material names and forms are Your creation, You are unaffected by

them. Therefore, Your transcendental name is different from material names, and Your form

is different from material forms. You assume a form resembling a material body just to give

us instructions like those of Bhagavad-gītā, but actually You are the supreme original person.

I therefore offer my respectful obeisances unto You.

127. SB 9.9.49 — The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vāsudeva, K ṛṣṇa, is extremely

difficult to understand for unintelligent men who accept Him as impersonal or void, which

He is not. The Lord is therefore understood and sung about by pure devotees.

128. SB 9.11.19 — After completing the sacrifice, Lord R āmacandra, whose lotus feet were

sometimes pierced by thorns when He lived in Daṇḍak āraṇya, placed those lotus feet in the

hearts of those who always think of Him. Then He entered His own abode, the Vaikuṇṭ ha

planet beyond the brahmajyoti.

129. To understand clearly why Lord Rāmacandra returned, it is mentioned herewith

that the Lord went to that particular place where the bhakti-yog ī s go. The

impersonalists misunderstand the statements of Ś r ī mad-Bhāgavatam to mean that

the Lord entered His own effulgence and therefore become impersonal. But the Lord

is a person, and His devotees are persons. Indeed, the living entities, like the Lord,

were persons in the past, they are persons in the present, and they will continue to

be persons even after giving up the body. SB 9.11.22 Purport












130. The words nṛ lokaṁ ramay ām āsa mūrty ā sarv āṅga-ramyay ā are significant.

Kṛṣṇa is the original form. Bhagavān, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is

therefore described here by the word mūrty ā. The word mūrti means ―form.‖ Kṛṣṇa, or

God, is never impersonal; the impersonal feature is but a manifestation of His

transcendental body (yasya prabhā prabhavato jagad-aṇḍ a-koṭ i ). SB9.24.63-64

purport

131. Here also we find the words utpādya teṣu puruṣaḥ. Therefore it is to be concluded

that the Absolute Truth is puruṣa, a person. The impersonal feature is but one of the

features of His personality. Ultimately, He is a person; He is not impersonal. And not

only is He puruṣa, a person, but He is the l ī l ā-puruṣottama, the best of all persons.SB

9.24.66 purport

132. When two birds enter a tree, one may foolishly think that the birds become one or merge with the tree,

but actually they do not. Rather, each bird keeps its individual identity. Similarly, the individual soul

and the Supersoul do not become one, nor do they merge with matter. Purport SB 10.2.27Kṛṣṇa is

described in this verse as māyā-manuṣya because He descends exactly like a human being.

He is not obliged to come here, like karmīs, or ordinary living beings; rather, He appears by

His own internal energy ( sambhavāmy ātma-māyayā) just to show favor to the fallen

conditioned souls. Purport SB 10.1.5-7

133. In many places the Supreme Personality of Godhead is described as sac-cid-ānanda-

vigraha, possessing a spiritual, blissful body. His bodily feature is narākṛti (SD: refer Gopāla-

tāpanī Upaniṣad) , that is, exactly like that of a human being. Here the same idea is repeated in

the words mānuṣam āśritya, which indicate that He accepts a body exactly like that of a man.

SD: These śāstric statements show that the human-like form of Kṛṣṇa is His svarūpa. Hence the

phrase deha mānuṣam cannot mean that Kṛṣna has a material body. Purport SB 10.1.11

134. If the individual living being were equal to the Supreme Lord both qualitatively and

quantitatively, there would be no question of his being under the influence of the material

energy. Iso, Purport, Mantra 7

135. Other living beings are described here as beggars who ask goods from the Lord. The

Lord supplies the things the living entities desire. If the entities were equal to the Lord in

potency — if they were omnipotent and omniscient — there would be no question of their

begging from the Lord, even for so-called liberation. Iso, Purport, Mantra 8



136. If God were ever entrapped by māyā, māyā would be more powerful than God. Such men

say that God is all-powerful, but they do not consider that if He is all-powerful there is no

possibility of His being overpowered by māyā. Iso, Purport, Mantra 9

Arguments against bogus incarnations1. All incarnations of Lord are mentioned in the revealed scriptures. There is no scope

for an imposter to become an incarnation, for an incarnation must be mentioned in the sastras.

An incarnation doesn‘t disclose Him to be so, but great sages agree by the symptomsmentioned in the sastras.

Arguments against caste Brahmanas

1. The Kumaras went underwent severe type of disciplinary action as bachelors to become qualified Brahmanas and then for realization of absolute.

2. Krsna says catur varnam maya srstam, gunah karma vibhagasah-one must be

qualified. Qualifications of each caste is described in BG. E.g. one quality of Brahman is he

should be truthful. Does anyone say – he is truthful because his father was truthful. He might

or might not be.

3. In 3.7.29 Vidura asks Maitreya to describe the Varnasrama system based on

symptoms, behavior and the characteristics of the mental equilibrium and sense control.

There is no mention of birth in this verse. Vidura was born of sudrani mother, yet he is more

than a brahmana by qualification because he is seen here to be disciple of a great sage. Unless

one achieves at least the brahminical qualifications, one can‘t understand the Vedic hymns.4. Ravana, Hiranaykasyipu, Hiranyaksa are not accepted as brahmana, even though theywere born of brahmana fathers. Hence there is a clear indication that a son of a brahmana is

not always brahmana.

5. Suta Goswami was of mixed caste.

6. To say nothing of the spiritual advancement of persons who see the Supreme Person

face to face, even a person born in a family of dog-eaters immediately becomes eligible to

perform Vedic sacrifices if he once utters the holy name of the SPG or chants about Him,

hears about His pastimes, offers Him obeisances or even remembers Him. (SB 3.33.6)

7. DM referred as ksatra-bandhu. He was not fully trained as a ksatriya because he was

only 5 years old. A ksatriya or brahmana has to take training. A boy born in the family of a

brahmana is not immediately brahmana; he has to take the training and the purificatory

process. (SB4.12.43P)

8. My dear King, a devotee who has taken shelter of the dust from the lotus feet of the

Lord can transcend the influence of the six material waves — namely hunger, thirst,

lamentation, illusion, old age and death — and he can conquer the mind and five senses.

However, this is not very wonderful for a pure devotee of the Lord because even a person

beyond the jurisdiction of the four castes — in other words, an untouchable — is immediately

relieved of bondage to material existence if he utters the holy name of the Lord even once.

Sb5.1.35

9. From this verse we have good information of how the castes are qualified according

to quality and work. Rsabhadeva, a king, was certainly a ksatriya. He had a hundred sons,

and out of these, ten were engaged as ksatriyas and ruled the planet. Nine sons became good preachers of Srimad-Bhagavatam (maha-bhagavatas), and this indicates that they were above



the position of brahmanas. The other eighty-one sons became highly qualified brahmanas.

These are some practical examples of how one can become fit for a certain type of activity by

qualification, not by birth. All the sons of Maharaja Rsabhadeva were ksatriyas by birth, but

by quality some of them became ksatriyas, and some became brahmanas. Nine became

preachers of Srimad-Bhagavatam (bhagavata-dharma-darsanah), which means that they

were above the categories of ksatriya and brahmana. SB5.4.13

10. Sometimes brahmanas protest against our Krsna consciousness movement for creating

brahmanas from Europeans, or, in other words, from mlecchas and yavanas. This

movement, however, is here supported in Srimad-Bhagavatam. At the present moment,

society is in a chaotic condition, and everyone has given up the cultivation of spiritual life,

which is especially meant for the brahmanas. Because spiritual culture has been stopped all

over the world,there is now an emergency, and therefore it is now time to train those who are

considered lower and condemned, so that they may become br āhmaṇas and take up the

work of spiritual progress. SB 7.11.17 purport.

11.SB 7.11.35 — If one shows the symptoms of being a br āhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya or

śūdra, as described above, even if he has appeared in a different class, he should be

accepted according to those symptoms of classification.

12. SB 9.2.17 - From the son of Manu named Dhṛṣṭ a came a kṣatriya caste called

Dhār ṣṭ a, whose members achieved the position of br āhmaṇas in this world.

13.SB 9.2.23-24 — Diṣṭ a had a son by the name Nābhāga. This Nābhāga, who was different from the

Nābhāga described later, became a vaiśya by occupational duty. – Purport From Manu, one

son became a k ṣatriya, another a br āhmaṇa, and another a vai ś ya. So one is

a br āhmaṇa, k ṣatriya or vai ś ya never by birth, but by quality.

14. SB 9.20.1 — Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: O Mahār ā ja Par īk ṣit, descendant of Mahār ā ja Bharata,

I shall now describe the dynasty of Pūru, in which you were born, in which many saintly

kings appeared, and from which many dynasties of br āhmaṇas began.

15. SB 9.21.19-20 — From Garga came a son named Śini, and his son was Gārgya. Although

Gārgya was a k ṣatriya, there came from him a generation of brahmaṇas. From Mahāvīrya

came a son named Duritak ṣaya, whose sons were Trayyāruṇi, Kavi and Puṣkar āruṇi.

Although these sons of Duritak ṣaya took birth in a dynasty of k ṣatriyas, they too attained the

position of br āhmaṇas. Bṛhatk ṣatra had a son named Hastī, who established the city of

Hastinā pura [now New Delhi].

16. SB 9.21.21 — From King Hastī came three sons, named Ajamīḍha, Dvimīḍha and

Purumīḍha. The descendants of Ajamīḍha, headed by Priyamedha, all achieved the position




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of br āhmaṇas.

17. NOI Text 6 Text and Purport

18.

Symptoms of devotee1. They are not only free from envy but well wishers of everyone.

2. He is free from vices of illicit sex, meat eating, intoxication, gambling.

3. He is well versed with Vedic literatures.

4. He is eager to hear about Lord.

5. He harms nobody for he is always in mode of shuddha sattva – unalloyed goodness.

6. Free from all mundane desires, fruitive activities and dry speculation about the nature

of Lord.

26 qualities of devotee1. Kind

2. Peaceful

3. Truthful

4. Equable

5. Faultless

6. Magnanimous

7. Mild

8. Clean

9. Nonpossessive10. Well-wisher to all

11. Satisfied

12. Surrendered to Krsna

13. Without hankering14. Simple

15. Fixed

16. Self-controlled

17. Balanced eater

18. Sane

19. Mannerly

20. Prideless21. Grave

22. Sympathetic

23. Friendly

24. Poetic

25. Expert

26. silent

Importance of Naimisarnya1. Vayaviya Tantra mentions that here Brahma fixed the hub of the great wheel that

enclose the universe.



2. Varaha Purana state that by performance of sacrifice at this place, the strength of

demoniac people is curtailed.

Guru disciple relationship

The sincere disciple of the pure devotee considers the spiritual master equal to the Lord, but alwaysconsiders himself to be a humble servant of the servant of the Lord.

The spiritual master must know everything about God (SB2.4.6)

The bona fide spiritual master, as the representative of the Lord, is the eternal father because the

spiritual master has the responsibility to lead the disciple to spiritual salvation. (SB 3.5.7P)

By serving the feet of the spiritual master, one is enabled to develop transcendental ecstasy in the

service of the Personality of Godhead. (SB3.7.19)

The spiritual master outside and the spiritual master within are both representations of the Lord.Unless one has contact with such bona fide representations, one cannot claim to be a spiritual master.

(SB3.9.26P)

SB3.24.12-13: Since you have completely accepted my instructions without duplicity, showing them

proper respect, you have worshiped me properly. Sons ought to render service to their father exactly

to this extent. One should obey the command of his father or spiritual master with due

reference, saying, ―Yes, sir.‖ Conditioned soul has tendency to 4 defects. But if one carries out the order of the

spiritual master in parampara, he overcomes the 4 defects.

To honor the spiritual master means to carry out his instructions word for word.

Whatever the father and the spiritual master order should be taken without

argument. The disciple or the son cannot say ―This is not correct. I can’t carry it out.‖

When he says that, he is fallen.

Spiritual master is on the same level as father. First birth is from father and second

birth in the life is from spiritual master.

VCT – order of spiritual master is the life and soul of disciple. As life can‘t beseparated from body, instruction of spiritual master can‘t be separated from disciple. Import of vedic instructions is automatically revealed to those who have an implicit

faith in SPG and the spiritual master. One may be illiterate, but if he has faith in God, the

meaning of scriptures is revealed to him.

SB3.28.2P-Unless one is self-realized and knows what his relationship with the Supersoul is, he

cannot be a bona fide spiritual master.

SB4.12.32P: DM had a feeling of obligation to his mother. She was the one who gave him clue to

Lord Visnu. She was his patha-pradarsaka-guru, sometime also called siksa guru. According to

sastric injunctions, there is no difference between diksa and siksa guru. Generally siksa guru later

become diksa guru. Suniti being a woman and specifically his mother could not become DM's diksa

guru.

SB 4.12.33P: Siksa or diksa guru who has a disciple or a father or mother who has an offspring who

strongly executes devotional service can be carried by the disciple/offspring even though theinstructor is not as advanced. Prahlad was also able to deliver his father.



If a man who does not factually possess the attributes of a great personality engages his followers in

praising him with the expectation that such attributes will develop in the future, that sort of praise is

actually an insult. (SB4.15.23P)

SB 4.20.13P

One has to execute the order of Lord Visnu, whether receiving it directly from Him or from a

bona fide spiritual master.

Here Prthu is being directly instructed by Lord.

VCT-one should not care very much whether he is going to be liberated or not, but he should

simply execute the orders of the spiritual master. If one executes such he will always remain

liberated. One has simply execute his duty as per varnasrama dharma.

One can execute such instructions when one keeps aloof from the activities of body.

Lord instructs from within as parmatma and without as spiritual master. So on should not

consider spiritual master to be an ordinary person. Neither he should be considered equal to

SPG.

4.22.4 Purport

Spiritual master or parampara acarya should be respected exactly like SPG.

One should receive Guru according to Sastric injunctions.

Whenever an äcärya is seen, one should immediately bow down before him.

Unless one is a prabhu, or controller of the senses, he cannot act as spiritual master, who is

authorized by the supreme prabhu, or Lord Kṛṣṇa. (SB4.23.18P)

SB 4.22.18P

Even if a person is very exalted and knows everything, before his superior he should

present questions.

Questions by exalted persons put before Lord or devotees are meant for benefit of thegeneral people.

Great soul’s question are inspired by humility and compassion.

SB 10.2.31 — O Lord, who resemble the shining sun, You are always ready to fulfill the desire of

Your devotee, and therefore You are known as a desire tree [vāñchā-kalpataru]. When ācāryas

completely take shelter under Your lotus feet in order to cross the fierce ocean of nescience, they

leave behind on earth the method by which they cross, and because You are very merciful to Your

other devotees, You accept this method to help them.

Main Point: This statement reveals how the merciful ācāryas and the merciful Supreme Personality

of Godhead together help the serious devotee who wants to return home, back to Godhead.

o One can achieve the seed of bhakti-latā, devotional service, by the mercy of guru and

Kṛṣṇa.

o The duty of the guru is to find the means, according to the time, the circumstances

and the candidate, by which one can be induced to render devotional service,

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o which Kṛṣṇa accepts from a candidate who wants to be successful in going back

home, back to Godhead.

o This makes it easier for the candidate to reach the ultimate destination.

o The ācārya’s duty, therefore, is to find the means by which devotees may render

service according to references from śāstra.

Rūpa Gosvāmī, for example, in order to help subsequent devotees, published

such devotional books as Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu.

Thus it is the duty of the ācārya to publish books that will help future

candidates take up the method of service and become eligible to return

home, back to Godhead, by the mercy of the Lord.

Relation to ISKCON: In our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, this same path is being

prescribed and followed (i.e. instructions are given according to time, place and candidate).

o Thus the devotees have been advised to refrain from four sinful activities —

illicit sex, intoxication, meat-eating and gambling — and to chant sixteen rounds

a day.

o Because in the Western countries constant chanting is not possible, one should

not artificially imitate Haridāsa Ṭhākura, but should follow this method.

o Kṛṣṇa will accept a devotee who strictly follows the regulative principles and the

method prescribed in the various books and literatures published by the authorities.

ācārya sampradāya

o The ācārya gives the suitable method for crossing the ocean of nescience by

accepting the boat of the Lord’s lotus feet, and if this method is strictly followed,

the followers will ultimately reach the destination, by the grace of the Lord. This

method is called ācārya sampradāya.

o One must accept the ācārya sampradāya; otherwise one’s endeavor will be futile.

Śrīla Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura therefore sings:

tāṅdera caraṇa sevi bhakta sane vāsa

janame janame haya, ei abhilāṣa

o One must worship the lotus feet of the ācārya and live within the society of

devotees. Then one’s endeavor to cross over nescience will surely be successful.

SB 10.2.31



Why Krsna is God1. He was Supreme Lord since beginning – He showed divinity even in lap of His

mother and lifted the whole Govardhan Hill when He was just seven.

2. There are hundreds and thousands of evidences from revealed scriptures and there arehundreds and thousands of evidences from personal experiences of devotees in various places

like Vrndavana, Navadvipa and Puri. Even in the kaumudi dictionary the synonyms of Krsna

are given as the son of Yasoda and the Supreme Personality of Godhead Parabrahman.

A person by sacred thread ceremony becomes dvija. A dvija after being well versed in Vedas is called

a Vipra and a Vipra after great qualification is called a Vaisnava.

Samadhi – Through assimilation of messages from Vedic literatures, seeing the all-pervading

localized aspect of the personality of Godhead within his own self constantly.

DemigodsHighly qualified Brahmanas situated in the mode of goodness have no grudges against the mode of

worship of others. They have all respect for other demigods, even though they may look ghastly, like

Kala-bhairav or Mahakali. They know very well that those horrible features of the Supreme Lord are

all different servitors of the Lord under different conditions, yet they reject the worship of both

horrible and attractive features of the demigods, and they concentrate only on the forms of Visnu

because they are serious about liberation from the material conditions. Demigods can‘t provide

liberation to anyone. It is for this reason only that candidates for liberation deliberately reject the

worship of the demigods, although they have no disrespect for any one of them. (SB 1.2.26P)

BG 7.20: Those whose intelligence has been stolen by material desires surrender unto demigods and

follow the particular rules and regulations of worship according to their own natures.

BG 7.23: Men of small intelligence worship the demigods, and their fruits are limited and temporary.

Those who worship the demigods go to the planets of the demigods, but My devotees ultimately

reach My supreme planet.

BG 9.23: Those who are devotees of other gods and who worship them with faith actually worship

only Me, O son of Kuntī, but they do so in a wrong way.

There is no need to worship demigods of whatsoever category if one is serious about going back toGodhead. (SB1.2.27P)

Worshiping demigods for material gain is called kaitava dharma. (SB1.2.27P)

Demigods are arms of the universal form. Since demigods are included in gigantic universal form,

there is no need to worship them separately. One can worship them in universal form or original

transcendental form of Krsna. (SB 2.1.29P)

All the shippable demigods are also overtaken by Him, and it is the duty of everyone to perform

sacrifices with feasible goods to appease the Lord. (SB2.1.37)

Visnu takes charge of mode of goodness so is He in equal footing with Brahma or Shiva?

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This can be understood by this example – The prison there are prisoners & managers of prison. Both

of them are bound by the laws of king. But even though the king sometimes comes in the prison, he

is not bound by the laws of the prison house.

SB 2.3.10-A person who has broader intelligence, whether he be full of all material desire, without

any material desire, or desiring liberation, must by all means worship the supreme whole, the

Personality of Godhead.

BG 9.10 – Durga is subservient to Krsna

SB 2.5.12: Brahma Ji says: ―I offer my obeisances and meditate upon Lord Krsna, the Personality ofGodhead, whose invincible potency influences the less intelligent class of men to call me the

supreme controller‖

SB 2.5.15: the demigods are also meant for serving the Lord as parts of His body,

Brahma Ji says ―Inspired by Him only, I discover what is already created by Him under His vision asthe all- pervading Supersoul, and I also am created by Him only.‖ (SB 2.5.17)

SB2.6.32: ―By Lord‘s will Brahma create, Siva destroys and Lord Himself maintains. He is the

powerful controller of these 3 energies-satva, rajas, tamas‖ This verse clearly proves that Lord is

one without a second.

SB2.6.43-45: ―Up from Brahma down to evil spirits, many have a very specific power due to which

they seem to be God, but factually they display a very small fragment of Lord‘s potencies.‖

SB 2.7.11 and purport: Lord Hayagriva is Supersoul of demigods. He is personified Vedas and

sacrifices. Since Vedic Hymns are chanted at sacrifices meant to please demigods and Lord is personification of both of them, a devotee of Lord pleases demigods and serves the purpose of

sacrifices.

he demigods are amongst the conditioned souls who have developed this pure consciousness of

service to the Lord but who at the same time continue to desire to lord it over the material energy.

Such mixed consciousness puts a conditioned soul in the position of managing the affairs of this

creation. The demigods are entrusted leaders of the conditioned souls. As some of the old prisoners

in government jails are entrusted with some responsible work of prison management, so the

demigods are improved conditioned souls acting as representatives of the Lord in the material

creation. Such demigods are devotees of the Lord in the material world, and when completely free

from all material desire to lord it over the material energy they become pure devotees and have nodesire but to serve the Lord. Therefore any living entity who desires a position in the material world

may desire so in the service of the Lord and may seek power and intelligence from the Lord, as

exemplified by the demigods in this particular verse. (SB3.5.51P)

SB Text 4.7.42: Demigods said: Formerly when there was a devastation, You conserved all the

different energies of material manifestation. At that time, all the inhabitants of the higher planets,

represented by such liberated souls as Sanaka, were meditating on You by philosophical speculation.

You are therefore the original person, and You rest in the water of devastation on the bed of the Sesa

snake. Now, today, You are visible to us, who are all Your servants. Please give us protection.

Demigods say they are Lord‘s servant and depend on His protection. BG thereforecondemns demigod worship



SB 4.12.51: Those who out of transcendental kindness take on the responsibility of becoming

master-protectors of the poor living entities automatically gain the interest and blessings of the

demigods.

The karmīs sometimes offer the results of their activities to Lord Vāsudeva, and this offering iscalled karmārpaṇam. These are considered to be fruitive activities, for the karmīs consider LordViṣṇu to be one of the demigods like Lord Śiva and Lord Brahmā. Because they consider Lord Viṣṇu

to be on the same level with the demigods, they contend that surrendering to the demigods is as good

as surrendering unto Vāsudeva. This contention is denied herein because if it were true, Lord Śiva

would have said that surrender unto him, Lord Vāsudeva, Viṣṇu or Brahmā is the same. However,

Lord Śiva does not say this because he himself surrenders unto Vāsudeva, and whoever else

surrenders unto Vāsudeva is very, very dear to him. SB 4.24.28P

Lord Brahmā, the supreme person within this universe, said: My dear Priyavrata, kindly hearattentively what I shall say to you. Do not be jealous of the Supreme Lord, who is beyond our

experimental measurements. All of us, including Lord Śiva, your father and the great sage Mahārṣ i Nārada, must carry out the order of the Supreme. We cannot deviate from His order. Sb5.1.11

Karma YogaOne should work hard and worship the Supreme Lord by the fruits of one‘s hard labor for existence,and that should be the motto of life. One should be careful to execute occupational service with faith

in the proper way, and that will lead one gradually on the progressive march back to Godhead.

Vedanta SutrasBoth Vedanta Sutra and SB are compiled by Srila Vyasdeva. By his own admission each of them is

the essence of all Vedic literatures. Hence, SB is natural commentary on Vedanta Sutra. In SB 1.2.3

Suta G. states that SB is cream of all Vedic literature. Vedanta Sutras were also written as cream of

all Vedic literature. Hence SB is the natural commentary of VS.

The compiler of Vedanta Darsana is Vyasdeva himself. Yet he was despondent after compiling it,

although he is the author. So what sort of transcendental bliss can be derived by the readers and

listeners of Vedanta which is not explained directly by Vyasdeva? Herein arise the necessity of

explaining Vedanta Sutra in the form of SB by the self-same author.-SB 1.5.9 purport

Importance of service of Maha Bhagvatas1. By serving those devotees who are completely freed from all vice, great service is

done. By such service, one gains affinity for hearing the messages of Vasudeva.

2. By rendering service to pure devotees, all that is troublesome to heart is almost

completely destroyed and loving service to SPG is irrevocable established. As soon as this

loving service is established effects of tamoguna & rajoguna like Kama, krodh & lobha

disappear from heart & the person becomes completely happy.

3. By sincere association of the Bhagvatas one is sure to receive transcendental

knowledge very easily, with the result that he becomes fixed in devotional service of the

Lord.4. Serving brahamans and Vaisnavas is essential to get self satisfaction. Spiritual atmosphere can be

















































maintained only in association of devotees serving orders of acaryas. Spiritual master is best brahmana. (SB4.21.40p)

What is devotional service?

1. It is not inactivity, but unalloyed activity of the soul.

SB 1.4.16 Purport – Normally the 4 yugas appear in this order Satya, Dvapara, Treta and Kali. But

during the reign the Vaivasta manu, in the 28th round of the 4 millenium, Treta came before Dvapara.

IN this millennium only Lord Krsna appears.

SB 1.4.19 Purport – Chandogaya Upanishad (7.1.4) mentions the Puranas and Mahabharata as the

fifth Veda.

SB 1.4.28-29 Purport – In this age, the Mahabharata is more essential than the original Vedas.

Subject matter of the Vedas (SB 1.5.24P)1. To establish the relation of the living entities with the Personality of Godhead.

2. Perform the relative duties in devotional service

3. Achieve the ultimate goal, back to Godhead.

Support for acintyabhedabhedatattavaThe Supreme Lord is one, and His expansions are various. He is therefore the Supersoul of

everything. When a man sees anything, he must know that his seeing is secondary and the Lord‘s

seeing is primary. One cannot see anything without the Lord‘s having first seen it. That is theinstruction of the Vedas and the Upaniṣads. So whatever we see or do, the Supersoul of all acts of seeing or doing is the Lord. This theory of simultaneous oneness and difference between the

individual soul and the Supersoul is propounded by Lord Śr ī Caitanya Mahāprabhu as the philosophy

of acintya- bhedābheda-tattva. The virā-rūpa, or the gigantic feature of the Supreme Lord, includes

everything materially manifested, and therefore the virā or gigantic feature of the Lord is theSuper soul of all living and nonliving entities. But the virā-rūpa is also the manifestation of Nārāyaṇa

or Vis ṇ̣u, and going further on and on one will eventually see that Lord Kṛṣṇa is the ultimateSupersoul of everything that be. The conclusion is that one should unhesitatingly become aworshiper of Lord Kṛṣṇa, or, for that matter, His plenary ex pansion Nārāyaṇa, and none else. In theVedic hymns, it is clearly said that fir st of all Nārāyaṇa cast a glance over matter and thus there was

creation. Before creation, there was neither Brahmā nor Śiva, and what to speak of others. ŚrīpādaŚańkarācārya has definitely accepted this, that Nārāyaṇa is beyond the mater ial creation and that all

others are within the material creation. The whole material creation, therefore, is one with and

different from Nārāyaṇa, simultaneously, and this supports the acintya- bhedābheda-tattva philosophy

of Lor d Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Being an emanation from the glancing potency of Nārāyaṇa, thewhole material creation is non-different from Him. But because it is the effect of His external energy

(bahirańgā māyā) and is aloof from the internal potency (ātma -māyā), the whole material creation isdifferent from Him at the same time. The example given in this verse very nicely is that of the

dreaming man. The dreaming man creates many things in his dream, and thus he himself becomes

the entangled seer of the dream and is also affected by the consequences. This material creation is

also exactly a dreamlike creation of the Lord, but He, being the transcendental Supersoul, is neither

entangled nor affected by the reactions of such a dreamlike creation. He is always in His

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transcendental position, but essentially He is everything, and nothing is apart from Him.

(SB2.1.39P)

SB 6.16.9 — The living entity is eternal and imperishable because he actually has nobeginning and no end. He never takes birth or dies. He is the basic principle of all types ofbodies, yet he does not belong to the bodily category. The living being is so sublime that he

is equal in quality to the Supreme Lord. Nonetheless, because he is extremely small, he isprone to be illusioned by the external energy, and thus he creates various bodies for himselfaccording to his different desires.

My dear Lord, O Supreme Personality of Godhead, the entire cosmic creation is caused by You,and the cosmic manifestation is an effect of Your energy. Although the entire cosmos is but Youalone, You keep Yourself aloof from it. The conception of "mine and yours," is certainly a type ofillusion [maya] because everything is an emanation from You and is therefore not different fromYou. Indeed, the cosmic manifestation is nondifferent from You, and the annihilation is also causedby You. This relationship between Your Lordship and the cosmos is illustrated by the example of theseed and the tree, or the subtle cause and the gross manifestation.PURPORTIn Bhagavad-gita (7.10) the Lord says: bijam mam sarva-bhutanam viddhi partha sanatanam. "Oson of Prtha, know that I am the original seed of all existences." In the Vedic literature it is said,isavasyam idam sarvam, yato va imani bhutani jayante and sarvam khalv idam brahma. All thisVedic information indicates that there is only one God and that there is nothing else but Him. TheMayavadi philosophers explain this in their own way, but the Supreme Personality of Godheadasserts the truth that He is everything and yet is separate from everything. This is the philosophy ofSri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, which is called acintya-bhedabheda-tattva. Everything is one, theSupreme Lord, yet everything is separate from the Lord. This is the understanding of oneness anddifference. The example given in this regard--vasukalavad asti-tarvoh--is very easy to understand.Everything exists in time, yet there are different phases of the time factor--present, past and future.Present, past and future are one. Every day we can experience the time factor as morning, noon

and evening, and although morning is different from noon, which is different from evening, all ofthem taken together are one. The time factor is the energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead,but the Lord is separate from the time factor. Everything is created, maintained and annihilated bytime, but the Supreme Lord, the Personality of Godhead, has no beginning and no end. He is nityahsasvatah--eternal, permanent. Everything passes through time's phases of present, past and future,yet the Lord is always the same. Thus there is undoubtedly a difference between the Lord and thecosmic manifestation, but actually they are not different. Accepting them to be different is calledavidya, ignorance. True oneness, however, is not equivalent to the conception of the Mayavadis.The true understanding is that the differences are manifested by the energy of the SupremePersonality of Godhead. The seed is manifested as a tree, which displays varieties in its trunk,branches, leaves, flowers and fruits. Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura has therefore sung, kesava tuya jagata vicitra: "My dear Lord, Your creation is full of varieties." The varieties are one and at the

same time different. This is the philosophy of acintya-bhedabheda-tattva. The conclusion given inBrahma-samhita is this: isvarah paramah krsnah sac-cid-ananda-vigrahah anadir adir govindahsarva-karana-karanam "Krsna, known as Govinda, is the supreme controller. He has an eternal,blissful, spiritual body. He is the origin of all. He has no other origin, for He is the prime cause of allcauses." Because the Lord is the supreme cause, everything is one with Him, but when we considervarieties, we find that one thing is different from another. We may conclude, therefore, that there isno difference between one thing and another, yet in varieties there are differences. In this regard,Madhvacarya gives an example concerning a tree and a tree in fire. Both trees are the same, butthey look different because of the time factor. The time factor is under the control of the SupremeLord, and therefore the Supreme Lord is different from time. An advanced devotee consequentlydoes not distinguish between happiness and distress. As stated in Srimad-Bhagavatam (10.14.8):tat te 'nukampam susamiksamano bhunjana evatma-krtam vipakam When a devotee is in a

condition of so-called distress, he considers it a gift or blessing from the Supreme Personality ofGodhead. When a devotee is always thus situated in Krsna consciousness in any condition of life,






he is described as mukti-pade sa daya-bhak, a perfect candidate for returning home, back toGodhead. The word daya-bhak means "inheritance." A son inherits the property of his father.Similarly, when the devotee is fully Krsna conscious, undisturbed by dualities, he is sure that he willreturn home, back to Godhead, just as one inherits his father's property.

Atheistic men sometimes criticize a devotee by saying, "If you do not want to take any benediction

from the Lord and if the servant of the Lord is as opulent as the Lord Himself, why do you ask forthe benediction of being engaged as the Lord's servant?" Sridhara Svami comments, bhagavattvayabhagavat-saman aisvaryaya. Bhagavattva, becoming as good as the Supreme Personality ofGodhead, does not mean becoming one with Him or equal to Him, although in the spiritual world theservant is equally as opulent as the master. The servant of the Lord is engaged in the service of theLord as a servant, friend, father, mother or conjugal lover, all of whom are equally as opulent as theLord. This is acintyabhedabheda-tattva. The master and servant are different yet equal in opulence.This is the meaning of simultaneous difference from the Supreme Lord and oneness with Him.(SB7.10.9 purport)

SB 8.1.9 — Lord Manu said: The supreme living being has created this material world of

animation; it is not that He was created by this material world. When everything is silent, the

Supreme Being stays awake as a witness. The living entity does not know Him, but He

knows everything.

SB 8.1.10 — Within this universe, the Supreme Personality of Godhead in His Supersoul

feature is present everywhere, wherever there are animate or inanimate beings. Therefore,

one should accept only that which is allotted to him; one should not desire to infringe upon

the property of others.

SB 8.1.12 — The Supreme Personality of Godhead has no beginning, no end and no

middle. Nor does He belong to a particular person or nation. He has no inside or outside.

The dualities found within this material world, such as beginning and end, mine and theirs,

are all absent from the personality of the Supreme Lord. The universe, which emanates

from Him, is another feature of the Lord. Therefore the Supreme Lord is the ultimate truth,

and He is complete in greatness.

For the Lord’s existence there is no cause, for He is the cause of everything. He is in

everything (may ā tatam idaṁ sarvam), He is expanded in everything, but He is not

everything. He is acintya-bhed ābheda, simultaneously one and different. That is explained in

this verse.

SB 8.3.3 — The Supreme Godhead is the supreme platform on which everything

rests, the ingredient by which everything has been produced, and the person who

has created and is the only cause of this cosmic manifestation. Nonetheless, He is

different from the cause and the result. I surrender unto Him, the Supreme















Personality of Godhead, who is self-sufficient in everything.

SB 8.3.8-9 — The Supreme Personality of Godhead has no material birth, activities,

name, form, qualities or faults. To fulfill the purpose for which this material world is

created and destroyed, He comes in the form of a human being like Lord Rāma or

Lord Kṛṣṇa by His original internal potency. He has immense potency, and in various

forms, all free from material contamination, He acts wonderfully. He is therefore the

Supreme Brahman. I offer my respects to Him. BP: Isopanisad Mantra 6 shows difference and mantra 7 shows similarity. So acintya bheda abheda

tattva is there is a strict Vedic literature.

Arguments against Sahajiyas/professional reciters1. In 2nd canto 2nd chapter of SB, SG starts describing Lord from feet and goes up to

face, hair, etc. One should not go meditating above feet without artificially seeing for himself

how much he has been released from the sex desire. The smiling face of the Lord is the Tenth

Canto and there are many upstarts who at once try to begin with 10 th canto and especially

with the five chapters which delineate rasa Lila of Lord. This is improper. By such improper

study or hearing, the material opportunists have played havoc by indulgence in sex life in the

name of SB. Those who are still entrapped by sex indulgence should never progress to

meditation above the feet of the Lord; therefore recital of SB 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 10th canto. According to Bhagavata School, Lord‘s Rasa dance is the smiling

face of the Lord. (SB 2.2.12&13P)2. Verse 12: Suta Ji starts description of pastimes of Pandavas‘ retirement and birth,activities and death of Pariksit M. This specifically instructs the devotees who directly

want to read Lord’s most confidential pastimes in 10th

canto to understand the 9 cantos

first and then only proceed to 10th

Canto. Pastimes of Lord and His devotees are

interlinked and can‘t be separated. 3. MP asked about creation, not Lord‘s pastimes in Vrndavana first. MP didn‘t ask for ashortcut as done by professional reciters.

4. Narada was never advised to preach the principles of Bhagavatam to earn a

livelihood; he was ordered by his spiritual master to take the matter very seriously in a

missionary spirit.SB2.7.52P

5. Lord awarded it to Brahma, Brahma to Narada, Narada to Vyasa, Vyasa to Sukadeva,,Suka to Suta. So, one should hear this in parampara only. Never from professional reciters.

SB 2.7.51P

6. SB2.7.53 Lord‘s activities in association with His different energies should bedescribed, appreciated and heard in accordance with the teachings of Lord. If this is done

regularly with devotion and respect, one is sure to get out of the illusory energy of the Lord.

Science of learning a subject matter seriously is different from the sentimentsof fanatics.

fanatics or fools – professional reciters and pseudo-devotees. Though they are

absorbed in material sense enjoyment, they falsely jump to the stage of liberated souls

and thus fall down deeply into the clutches of external energy.

Lord’s activities in relation with both external energy and internal energy

are equally good.






Nonetheless, those who are not completely free from the clutches of the Lord‘sexternal energy should devoutly hear regularly about the activities of the Lord in

relation with the external energy. The description of activities of purusavataras are

specifically meant for persons who are in the clutches of the external energy. Hearing

this is as good as hearing rasa lila in liberated stage. Rasa Lila is for liberated souls.

Lord Caitanya never discussed Rasa Lila in presence of ordinary men. SP refrained from taking 10th canto immediately, because it is a science not

sentiment.

7. SB2.8.17P Those who are of the opinion that the devotees of the Lord are satisfied

with mere sentiments can find in the inquiries of Mahārāja Parīkṣit good lessons as to howinquisitive a pure devotee is to know things in their true perfection.

8. Persons who have completely taken shelter of the lotus feet of the Lord should recite this

narration of DM without taking remuneration. Specifically, recitation is recommended on the

full moon or dark moon day, on the day after Ekādaśī , on the appearance of the Śravaṇa star,

at the end of a particular tithi, or the occasion of Vyatīpāta, at the end of the month, or onSunday. Such recitation should of course be performed before a favorable audience. When

recitation is performed this way, without professional motive, the reciter and audience become perfect. (SB4.12.49-50)

9. I therefore do not wish to have the benediction of merging into Your existence, a benediction

in which there is no existence of the nectarean beverage of Your lotus feet. I want the

benediction of at least one million ears, for thus I may be able to hear about the glories of

Your lotus feet from the mouths of Your pure devotees. (4.20.24) - One might think that these

glories of the Lord can be heard from anywhere, from the mouths of either devotees or

nondevotees, but here it is specifically mentioned that the glories of the Lord must emanate

from the mouths of pure devotees. (professional reciters are useless – glorification from them

is just material sound). (Purport)

10. A pure devotee who is executing the different processes of devotional service may be situated

in the transcendental position, being completely absorbed in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, but evenhe, while discharging devotional service, must hear, read and induce others to hear about the

character and life of Pṛthu Mahārāja. (SB4.23.37)

11. There is a type of neophyte devotee who is very anxious to hear about the pastimes of the

Lord, especially the rāsa-līlā chapters in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Such a devotee should know

by this instruction that the pastimes of Pṛthu Mahārāja are nondifferent from the pastimes of

the Supreme Personality of Godhead. An ideal king, Pṛthu Mahārāja exhibited all talents in

showing how to rule the citizens, how to educate them, how to develop the state

economically, how to fight enemies, how to perform great sacrifices (yajñas), etc. Thus it is

recommended for the sahajiyā, or the neophyte devotee, to hear, chant and get others to hearabout the activities of Pṛthu Mahārāja, even though one may think himself to be in the

transcendental position of advanced devotional service. (SB4.23.37P)12. Lord Śiva has described the bodily features of the Lord authoritatively. Now he wants to

see the lotus feet of the Lord. When a devotee wants to see the transcendental form of the

Lord, he begins his meditation on the Lord's body by first looking at the feet of the Lord. ŚB

is considered to be the transcendental sound form of the Lord, and the twelve cantos are

divided in accordance with the transcendental form of the Lord. The First and Second Cantos

of ŚB are called the two lotus feet of the Lord. This also means that if one is serious about

reading Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, he must begin by seriously studying the First and Second

Cantos. SB4.24.52 p13. A sannyās ī must not present allurements of material benefits to gather many disciples, nor

should he unnecessarily read many books or give discourses as a means of livelihood. Hemust never attempt to increase material opulences unnecessarily. SB7.13.8





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14. Recitation of Bhagavad- gītā and Śrīmad - Bhāgavatam must be done by persons completely freed

from material desires (nivṛtta- tarṣaiḥ). Why? When one is engaged in sense gratification, he

cannot fully understand the value of Kṛṣṇa-kathā. Therefore, hearing Śrīmad -

Bhāgavatam spoken by a professional reciter cannot actually help us achieve liberation. On the

other hand, if we hear the glories of the Supreme Personality of Godhead from liberated

persons, this hearing will certainly free us from the bondage of material activities. Purport SB

10.1.4

15.

Vedic Cosmology

The entire universes are clustered together up and down, and each and every one of them isseparately 7-fold covered. The watery portion is beyond the 7-fold coverings. The Personality of

Godhead who creates all such universes by His breathing period lies above the cluster of the

universes. The water of covering is material while the water of Causal Ocean is spiritual. The cosmic

manifestation is calculated to be diametrically four billion miles. Then the coverings of the universe

begin. The first stratum if the covering is calculated to extend eighty million miles. Fire to be 800

million mile, effulgence-8 billion miles, air-80 billion miles, ether-800 billion miles. Then the

Vaikuntha planets start. (SB 2.2.28P)

Jiva’s fall down The original Personality of Godhead expands Himself by innumerable forms. Such expansion of

forms is made possible by His various energies. His energies are also multifarious, and His internal

energies are superior and external energies inferior in quality. So His expansions of various forms

which take place via the internal energies are superior forms, whereas the expansions which take

place via the external energy are inferior forms. The living entities who are expanded by His internal

potency are eternally liberated persons, whereas those who are expanded in terms of the material

energies are eternally conditioned souls. Therefore, all culture of knowledge, austerities, sacrifice

and activities should be aimed at changing the quality of the influence that is acting upon us.

Nitya siddhas-souls liberated from birth. E.g. MP

Sadhana siddha-not liberated from birth, but develop tendency for devotional service by association.E.g. Narada Ji

There is no difference between the two in ultimate issue. (SB2.3.15P)

The living entity is an offshoot of internal potency, with freedom to remain either in the material

world or in spiritual world. (SB2.5.15P)

Because they are between the internal and external potencies, the eternally transcendental living

entities are called the marginal potency of the Lord. Factually, the living entities are not meant to be

so conditioned by material energy, but due to their being affected by the false sense of lording it over

the material energy, they come under the influence of such potency and thus become conditioned by

the three modes of material nature. This external energy of the Lord covers up the pure



knowledge of the living entity’s eternally existing with Him, but the covering is so constant that

it appears that the conditioned soul is eternally ignorant. (SB2.5.19P)

This material manifestation is necessary to give a chance to the conditioned souls who are unwilling

to associate with the Lord in the relationship of loving transcendental service. Such unwilling

conditioned souls are not allowed to enter into the liberated life of spiritual existence because at heart

they are not willing to serve. Instead, they want to enjoy themselves as imitation Gods. The living

entities are constitutionally eternal servitors of the Lord, but some of them, because of misusing their

independence, do not wish to serve; therefore they are allowed to enjoy the material nature, which is

called māyā, or illusion. Such illusioned living entities are given a chance at intervals to rectify their

perverted mentality of becoming false masters of the material nature (SB2.6.42)

The nitya-siddha devotees never fall down to the region of the material atmosphere, even though

they sometimes come onto the material plane to execute the mission of the Lord. The sādhana-siddha

devotees are chosen from the conditioned souls. Out of the sādhana devotees, there are mixed and pure devotees. The mixed devotees are sometimes enthusiastic about fruitive activities and are

habituated to philosophical speculation. The pure devotees are free from all these mixtures and arecompletely absorbed in the service of the Lord, regardless of how and where they are situated. Pure

devotees of the Lord are not enthusiastic to put aside their service to the Lord in order to go visit holy

places of pilgrimage.

The Lord is one without a second, and He expands Himself into many for His transcendental

pleasure. All the expansions — the viṣṇu-tattvas, the jīva-tattvas and the śakti-tattvas (the

Personalities of Godhead, the living entities and the different potential energies) — are different

offshoots from the same one Su preme Lord. The jīva-tattvas are separated expansions of the viṣṇu-

tattvas, and although there are potential differences between them, they are all meant for the

transcendental sense gratification of the Supreme Lord. Some of the jīvas, however, wanted to lord it

over material nature in imitation of the lordship of the Personality of Godhead. Regarding when andwhy such propensities overcame the pure living entities, it can only be explained that the jīva-tattvas

have infinitesimal independence and that due to misuse of this independence some of the living

entities have become implicated in the conditions of cosmic creation and are therefore called nitya-

baddhas, or eternally conditioned souls. (SB3.5.51P)

SB3.25.29- Devahuti asks: The mystic yoga system, as You have explained, aims at the Supreme

Personality of Godhead and is meant for completely ending material existence. Please let me know

the nature of that yoga system. How many ways are there by which one can understand in truth that

sublime yoga?

Sometimes it is asked how the living entity falls down from the spiritual world to the material world.

Here is the answer. Unless one is elevated to the Vaikuṇha planets, directly in touch with theSupreme Personality of Godhead, he is prone to fall down, either from the impersonal Brahman

realization or from an ecstatic trance of meditation.

From the status of pure consciousness, the false ego is born because of misuse of independence. We

cannot argue about why false ego arises from pure consciousness. Factually, there is always the

chance that this will happen, and therefore one has to be very careful. (SB3.26.23P)

The living entities are originally parts of the Lord, like sparks of a fire, but they have dropped to this

material world, attracted by a desire to lord is over nature. That is a fact. (SB4.11.22P)

The conception of independent existence is therefore like a dream. One has to be in Kṛṣṇaconsciousness, his original position (SB4.12.4P)

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There are two kinds of living entities — nitya-mukta and nitya- baddha. A nitya-mukta never forgets

his position as the eternal servant of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. One who does not forget

this position and knows that he is part and parcel of the Supreme Lord is nitya-mukta. Such a nitya-

mukta living entity represents the Supersoul as His expansion. As stated in the Vedas, nityo

nityānām. Thus the nitya-mukta living entity knows that he is an expansion of the supreme nitya, or

the eternal Supreme Personality of Godhead. Being in such a position, he sees the material world

with a different vision. The living entity who is nitya- baddha, or eternally conditioned, sees the

material varieties as being actually different from one another. (SB4.16.19P)

The word mukta refers to the living entities who never come within this material world. The baddhas

are those living entities who are ALMOST eternally living within this material world. (4.20.27P)

When a living entity falls down to the material world, however, he has to accept a material body, and

therefore, in his material embodiment, he cannot be called acyuta. Because he falls down from his

real engagement in the service of the Lord, the living entity gets a material body to suffer or try to

enjoy in the miserable material conditions of life. Therefore the fallen living entity is cyuta, whereasthe Lord is called acyuta. (SB4.20.37P)

Acyuta refers to one who does not fall because He is never influenced by the modes of material

nature. When a living entity falls down to the material world from his original position, he becomes

cyuta, which means that he forgets his relationship with Acyuta. Actually every living entity is a part

and parcel, or a son, of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. When influenced by the modes of

material nature, a living entity forgets this relationship and thinks in terms of different species of life;

but when he again comes to his original consciousness, he does not observe such bodily

designations. (SB4.21.12P)

Forgetfulness of real constitutional position-->desire to enjoy-->association with material nature--

>lust or eagerness to enjoy-->unhappy-->anger-->forgetfulness of relationship with Krsna-->realintelligence defeated-->entanglement (SB 4.22.14P)

Actually the living being has no connection with this material enjoyment nor with lusty desires. He is

simply imagining or dreaming while asleep. But by the association of pure devotees, he is awakened,

and immediately the spirit soul is situated in his own glory by understanding his constitutional

position as the eternal servant of the Lord. (SB4.22.20P)

This verse explains how our original KC becomes polluted and we gradually become almost

completely forgetful of our relationship with Supreme Lord. (SB4.22.30P)

If our mind is simply filled with sense gratification, even though we want KC, by continuous practice

we cannot forget the subject matter of sense gratification. In this way, gradually one's intelligence

will be affected. When intelligence is affected, one loses his original taste for KC. (SB4.22.30P)

Our original consciousness is K ṛṣṇa consciousness because we are part and parcel of K ṛṣṇa. When

this consciousness is misguided and one is put into the material atmosphere, which pollutes the

original consciousness, one thinks that he is a product of the material elements. Thus one loses his

real remembrance of his position as part and parcel of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, just as a

man who sleeps forgets himself. (SB4.22.31P)

SD: Jiva's association with ignorance is without beginning. It has been accomplished in past

spontaneously. (SB4.22.32P)

The jīva, or the individual living entity, becomes entrapped by the material energy by the supreme

will of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. (SB4.23.18P)Actually there is no material world, but when one forgets the service of the Lord and engages himself



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in the service of his senses, he is said to be living in the material world. (SB4.23.29P)

There are two kinds of living entities: one is called kṣara, and the other is akṣara. Kṣara refers to

those who have fallen down and become conditioned, and akṣara refers to those who are not

conditioned. The vast majority of living entities live in the spiritual world and are called akṣara. They

are in the position of Brahman, pure spiritual existence. They are different from those who have been

conditioned by the three modes of material nature. (SB4.24.28P)

Some living entities are conditioned, and others are eternally free. The eternally free living entities

are called nitya-mukta, for they never come in contact with the material energy. However, some

living entities are conditioned in this material world, and thus they think themselves separated from

the Supreme Lord. Due to their contact with the material energy, their existence is always

troublesome. Being always in distress, the conditioned soul considers the material energy to be very

much disturbing. This fact is explained by a Vaiṣṇava kavi, or poet:

kṛṣṇa bhuli' sei jīva anādi- bahirmukha

ataeva māyā

tāre

deya sasāra

-dukha

When the living entity forgets the Supreme Lord and wants to enjoy himself independently, imitating

the Supreme Lord, he is captured by the false notion that he is the enjoyer and is separated from the

Supreme Lord. (SB 4.24.61P)

Brahmana (Supersoul) said to queen (jiva) – You wandered with me before the creation. This means

―You remained along with me experiencing happiness in my association.‖ - SB4.28.52 purport in

Sararth Darsini

After falling from the association of the Supreme Lord, the living entity thus transmigrates fromone bodily form to another according to nature's course, until he finally attains the human form.

(SB4.28.28 purport)

iccha-dvesa-samutthena

dvandva-mohena bharata

sarva-bhutani sammoham

sarge yanti parantapa

"O scion of Bharata [Arjuna], O conqueror of the foe, all living entities are born into delusion,

overcome by the dualities of desire and hate." This is an explanation of how the living entity falls

down into this material world. In the spiritual world there is no duality, nor is there hate. The

Supreme Personality of Godhead expands Himself into many. In order to enjoy bliss more and more,the Supreme Lord expands Himself in different categories. As mentioned in the Varaha purana, He

expands Himself in visnu-tattva (the svamsa expansion) and in His marginal potency (the

vibhinnamsa, or the living entity). These expanded living entities are innumerable, just as the minute

molecules of sunshine are innumerable expansions of the sun. The vibhinnamsa expansions, the

marginal potencies of the Lord, are the living entities. When the living entities desire to enjoy

themselves, they develop a consciousness of duality and come to hate the service of the Lord. In this

way the living entities fall into the material world. In the prema-vivarta it is said: krsna-bahirmukha

hana bhoga-vancha kare nikata-stha maya tare japatiya dhare The natural position of the living entity

is to serve the Lord in a transcendental loving attitude. When the living entity wants to become Krsna

Himself or imitate Krsna, he falls down into the material world. Since Krsna is the supreme father,

His affection for the living entity is eternal. When the living entity falls down into the material world,

the Supreme Lord, through His svamsa expansion (Paramatma), keeps company with the living

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entity. In this way the living entity may some day return home, back to Godhead.

By misusing his independence, the living entity falls down from the service of the Lord and takes a

position in this material world as an enjoyer. That is to say, the living entity takes his position within

a material body. Wanting to take a very exalted position, the living entity instead becomes entangled

in a repetition of birth and death. SB4.28.53 P

The original home of the living entity and the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the spiritual world.

In the spiritual world both the Lord and the living entities live together very peacefully. Since the

living entity remains engaged in the service of the Lord, they both share a blissful life in the spiritual

world. However, when the living entity wants to enjoy himself, he falls down into the material world.

Even while he is in that position, the Lord remains with him as the Supersoul, his intimate friend.

Because of his forgetfulness, the living entity does not know that the Supreme Lord is accompanying

him as the Supersoul. In this way the living entity remains conditioned in each and every

millennium. Although the Lord follows him as a friend, the living entity, because of forgetful

material existence, does not recognize Him. SB4.28.54P

Originally the living entity is a spiritual being, but when he actually desires to enjoy this materialworld, he comes down. From this verse we can understand that the living entity first accepts a body

that is human in form, but gradually, due to his degraded activities, he falls into lower forms of life — into the animal, plant and aquatic forms. By the gradual process of evolution, the living entity again

attains the body of a human being and is given another chance to get out of the process of

transmigration. If he again misses his chance in the human form to understand his position, he is

again placed in the cycle of birth and death in various types of bodies. SB4.29.4 P

This material world is created by the dreaming of Maha-Visnu. The real, factual platform is the

spiritual world, but when the spirit soul wants to imitate the SPG, he is put into this dreamland of

material creation. After being in contact with the material modes of nature, the living entity develops

the subtle and gross bodies. SB4.29.83 P

Just as by executing various pious activities one achieves different positions in heavenly life, by

acting impiously one achieves different positions in hellish life. Those who are activated by the

material mode of ignorance engage in impious activities, and according to the extent of their

ignorance, they are placed in different grades of hellish life. If one acts in the mode of ignorance

because of madness, his resulting misery is the least severe. One who acts impiously but knows the

distinction between pious and impious activities is placed in a hell of intermediate severity. And for

one who acts impiously and ignorantly because of atheism, the resultant hellish life is the worst.

Because of ignorance, every living entity has been carried by various desires into thousands of

different hellish planets since time immemorial. I shall try to describe them as far as possible.

SB5.26.3

anādi karama- phale, paḍi’ bhavārṇava-jale,

taribāre nā dekhi upāya

―My dear Lord, I cannot remember when I somehow or other fell into this ocean of nescience, and

now I can find no way to rescue myself.‖ SB6.1.50 Purport

the living entity is an eternal servant of God, but he comes to the material world and is bound by

material conditions because of his desire to lord it over matter. Liberation means giving up this false



consciousness and reviving one‘s original service to the Lord. This return to one‘s original life iscalled mukti, as confirmed in Śrīmad - Bhāgavatam (muktir hitvānyathā rūpaṁ svarūpeṇavyavasthitiḥ) SB6.1.55 purport

Originally everyone is a servant of Krsna, but in ignorance one forgets this, and thus one is engagedin the service of maya through lusty desires, anger, greed, illusion, madness and jealousy. SB7.8.10

purport.

Brahmaloka is also transcendental, above the three modes of material nature. SB9.3.29 purport

The brahmana (Supersoul) continued: My dear friend, even though you cannot immediatelyrecognize Me, can't you remember that in the past you had a very intimate friend?Unfortunately, you gave up My company and accepted a position as enjoyer of this materialworld. SB4.28.53

Both the Lord and the living entity, being qualitatively spirit soul, have the tendency forpeaceful enjoyment, but when the part of the Supreme Personality of Godheadunfortunately wants to enjoy independently, without Kṛṣṇa, he is put into the material world,where he begins his life as Brahmā and is gradually degraded to the status of an ant or aworm in stool. The real dharma is to surrender unto Kṛṣṇa, but the rebellious living entity,instead of surrendering to Kṛṣṇa, engages in adharma, in a struggle for existence to

become like Kṛṣṇa. Therefore out of compassion Kṛṣṇa creates this material world to givethe living entity a chance to understand his real position. Atheistic rascals think that there isno God and that the creation has taken place by chance, just as a man and woman meet bychance and the woman becomes pregnant and gives birth to a child. Actually, however, thisis not the fact. The fact is that there is a purpose for this creation: to give the conditionedsoul a chance to return to his original consciousness, Kṛṣṇa consciousness, and then return

home, back to Godhead, and be completely happy in the spiritual world. In the materialworld the conditioned soul is given a chance to satisfy his senses, but at the same time heis informed by Vedic knowledge that this material world is not his actual place forhappiness. Janma-mṛ tyu-jar ā-vy ādhi-duḥkha-doṣānudar ś anam (Bg. 13.9). One must stopthe repetition of birth and death. Every human being, therefore, should take advantage ofthis creation by understanding Kṛṣṇa and his relationship with Kṛṣṇa and in this way returnhome, back to Godhead. SB9.24.58

When a man in the material world takes more interest in the materialistic way of life than in K ṛṣṇa

consciousness, he is considered to be in a diseased condition. The normal condition is to remain an

eternal servant of the Lord ( jīvera ‘svarūpa’ haya – k ṛṣṇera ‘nitya-d āsa‘). This healthy condition is

lost when the living entity forgets K ṛṣṇa due to being attracted by the external features ofK ṛṣṇa‘s māyā energy. NOI Text 7 Purport

Arguments against voidismPhilosophers who support stopping all activities are called śūnyavādī. By nature's own way, our

activities are to be gradually diverted to devotional service. But there are philosophers who, instead

of purifying their activities, try to make everything zero, or void of all activities. This lack of activity

is represented by the trees and the hills. This is a kind of punishment inflicted by the laws of nature.

(SB4.22.33P)



Rasa LilaHe partially displayed His transcendental potency in His rasa-Lila just to attract the conditioned

souls, who are all after the illusory happiness of sex enjoyment. SB 2.4.20P

The gopīs are predominated expansions of the internal potency, and therefore the Lord‘s participation

in the r āsa-l īlā dance is never to be considered like the mundane relationship of man and woman. Itis, rather, the highest perfectional stage of the exchange of feelings between the Lord and the living

entities.SB3.9.25P

RadharaniShe is the principal head of all goddesses of fortune and therefore She is the pleasure counterpart of

the Lord and is nondifferent from Krsna. SB2.4.20P

Attitude for overcoming failures in KCDetermined

Decisive

Diligent

Destiny

Diplomacy

Science of deity worship

In each and every place of pilgrimage, the Lord is present in His various transcendental forms. Theseforms are called arcā-mūrtis, or forms of the Lord which can be easily appreciated by the commonman. The Lord is transcendental to our mundane senses. He cannot be seen with our present eyes,

nor can He be heard with our present ears. To the degree that we have entered into the service of the

Lord or to the proportion to which our lives are freed from sins, we can perceive the Lord. But even

though we are not free from sins, the Lord is kind enough to allow us the facility of seeing Him in

His arcā-mūrtis in the temple. The Lord is all-powerful, and therefore He is able to accept our service

by presentation of His arcā form. No one, therefore, should foolishly think the arcā in the temple to be an idol. Such an arcā-mūrti is not an idol but the Lord Himself, and to the proportion to which oneis free from sins, he is able to know the significance of the arcā-mūrti. The guidance of a puredevotee is therefore always required.

These arcā forms of the Lord may be considered idols by the atheists, but that does not matter for

persons like Vidura or His many other servants. The forms of the Lord are mentioned here as ananta-

lińga. Such forms of the Lord have unlimited potency, the same as that of the Lord Himself. There isno difference between the potencies of the arcā and those of the personal forms of the Lord. The

example of the postbox and post office may be applied here. The little postboxes distributed all over

the city have the same potency as the postal system in general. The duty of the post office is to carry

letters from one place to another. If one puts letters in postboxes authorized by the general post

office, the function of carrying letters is performed without a dou bt. Similarly, the arcā-mūrti canalso deliver the same unlimited potency of the Lord as when He is personally present.

SB 2.25.35 P Kapila Muni is explaining how the devotees see the decorated body and face of the






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Deity and how they speak with Him in devotional service.

Māyāvādīs and atheists accept the forms of the Deities in the temple of the Lord as idols, but devotees do not worship idols. They directly worship the Personality of Godhead in His

arcā incarnation.

Arcā refers to the form which we can worship in our present condition.

In our present state it is not possible to see God in His spiritual form because our material

eyes and senses cannot conceive of a spiritual form.

In order to be seen by our material senses, the Supreme Personality of Godhead accepts a

favorable form which is called arcā-vigraha. This arcā-vigraha, sometimes called the arcāincarnation, is not different from Him.

There are many śāstric injunctions which give instructions for carving forms of the Lord.These forms are not material. If God is all-pervading, then He is also in the material

elements. There is no doubt about it.

According to atheists‘ theory, everything is God. Then why is the Deity not God?

It is the duty of the spiritual master to teach how to decorate the Deity in the temple, how

to cleanse the temple and how to worship the Deity.

The devotees express their minds before the Deity, and in many instances the Deity alsogives answers.

Sometimes Lord informs through dreams.

SB3.26.46- The characteristics of the functions of earth can be perceived by modeling forms of the

Supreme Brahman. Purport - By manipulation of earth and its products, such as stone, wood and

jewels, these forms of the Supreme Lord can be present before our eyes. When a form of Lord K r ṣ̣ṇaor Lord Viṣṇu is manifested by presentation of a statue made of earth, it is not imaginary. The earthgives shape to the Lord‘s forms as described in the scriptures.

SB3.29.16P-Temple worship is one of the duties of a devotee. It is especially recommended for

neophytes, but those who are advanced should not refrain from temple worship. There is a distinctionin the manner a neophyte and an advanced devotee appreciate the Lord‘s presence in the temple. Aneophyte considers the arcā-vigr aha (the statue of the Lord) to be different from the original

Personality of Godhead; he considers it a representation of the Supreme Lord in the form of a Deity.

But an advanced devotee accepts the Deity in the temple as the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

SB 4.12.17P-arca vigraha is not idol worship. Arca is made of sthula (material) objects – stone,

metal, wood, jewels or paint. Since devotee follows the regulative principles of worship, even

thought the Lord is there is His physical form, He is non-different from His original, spiritual form.

SB 4.22.51P: In one's home or in a temple, the Deity is considered the proprietor of everything, and

everyone is considered the Deity's eternal servant.

The demigods worship the Supreme Lord in His various Deity forms (arcā-vigraha) because except

in the spiritual world, the Supreme Personality of Godhead cannot be directly worshiped in person.

In the material world, the Lord is always worshiped as the arcā-vigraha, or Deity in the temple.

There is no difference between the arcā-vigraha and the original person, and therefore those who are

engaged in worshiping the Deity in the temple in full opulence, even on this planet, should be

understood to be directly in touch with the Supreme Personality of Godhead without a doubt. As

enjoined in the śāstras, arcye viṣṇau śilā-dhīr guruṣu nara-matiḥ: ―No one should treat the Deity inthe temple as stone or metal, nor should one think that the spiritual master is an ordinary human

being.‖ One should strictly follow this śāstric injunction and worship the Deity, the Supreme



































Personality of Godhead, without offenses.SB5.17.14Purport

Deity worship, even in the absence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, awakens the

transcendental nature of the devotee, who thus becomes increasingly attached to the Lord‘s lotus feet.SB 10.2.35 purport

Visiting places of pilgrimage

For pure devotees of the Lord who are completely satisfied with the transcendental loving service of

the Lord, there is hardly any necessity to visit the various places of pilgrimage. But those who are not

so advanced have the prescribed duties of visiting pilgrimage sites and regularly performing the

rituals. The part of the princely order of the Yadu dynasty who went to Prabhāsa performed all dutiesto be done in a place of pilgrimage and offered their pious actions to their forefathers and others.

As a rule, every human being is indebted to God, the demigods, great sages, other living entities, people in general, forefathers, etc., for various contributions received from them. Thus everyone is

obliged to repay the debt of gratitude.

Varnasrama

Generally people think that simply by executing the occupational duties of a brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya,

vaiśya or śūdra or the duty of a brahmacārī , gṛhastha, vānaprastha or sannyāsī one becomes fearless

or securely attains liberation, but factually unless all these occupational duties are accompanied by

bhakti-yoga, one cannot become fearless. We find this conclusion also in Caitanya-caritāmṛta in a

discussion between Lord Caitanya and Rāmānanda Rāya regarding a human being's liberation from

this material world. In that discussion Rāmānanda Rāya referred to the execution of varṇāśrama-

dharma, and Lord Caitanya indicated that the varṇāśrama-dharma was simply external (eho bāhya).

Lord Caitanya wanted to impress upon Rāmānanda Rāya that simply by executing the duties of

varṇāśrama-dharma one is not guaranteed liberation. Finally Rāmānanda Rāya referred to the process

of bhakti-yoga: sthāne sthitā śruti-gatā tanu-vāń-manobhi (Bhāg. 10.14.3). Regardless of one's

condition of life, if he practices bhakti-yoga, which begins with hearing (śruti-gatām) the

transcendental messages of the Lord through the mouths of devotees, he gradually conquers the

unconquerable God. The conclusion is that if one is serious about liberation, he not only should

execute the occupational duties of varṇāśrama-dharma but should also engage in bhakti-yoga by beginning hearing from a realized soul. This process will help the devotee conquer the

unconquerable Supreme Personality of Godhead and become His associate after giving up the

material body. SB4.24.53 purport

In this material world everyone is engaged in some particular occupational duty which is prescribed

in the varṇāśrama-dharma. Brāhmaṇas, kṣatriyas, vaiśyas, śūdras and everyone are engaged in theiroccupational duty, but if one remembers his first duty — keeping in constant contact with the

Supreme Personality of Godhead — everything will be successful. If one simply executes the rules

and regulations of the varṇāśrama-dharma in the role of a brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya or śūdra and

keeps busy and does not remember one's eternal relationship with the Lord, one's business and

activities as well as occupational duties will simply be a waste of time. This is confirmed in the FirstCanto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.2.8):

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dharma svanuṣhita pusā

viṣvaksena-kathāsu ya

notpādayed yadi rati

śrama eva hi kevalam

The conclusion is that even if one is busy executing his occupational duty, his business in Kṛṣṇa consciousness need not be hampered. He has simply to execute the devotional service of śravaṇa

kīrtanam — hearing, chanting and remembering. One need not abandon his occupational duty. As

stated in Bhagavad-gītā (18.46):

yata pravṛttir bhūtānā

yena sarvam ida tatam

sva-karmaṇā tam abhyarcya

siddhi vindati mānava

"By worship of the Lord — who is the source of all beings and who is all-pervading — man can, inthe performance of his own duty, attain perfection."

Thus one can continue with his occupational duty, but if he worships the Supreme Personality of

Godhead as Lord Śiva herein prescribes, he attains his perfection of life. Svanuṣhitasya dharmasya sasiddhir hari-toṣaṇam (Bhāg. 1.2.13). We should continue executing our occupational duties, but

if we try to satisfy the Supreme Personality of Godhead by our duties, then our lives will be

perfected.

SB4.24.72 purport

If a man has a good mother or a good wife, there is no need of his taking sannyasa that is, unless it is

absolutely necessary, as it was for Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu. SB 4.26.15 purport

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