Hare Krsna,

This topic about the Vraja-vasis loving Krsna more than their own children is a philosophically deep subject matter. It needs a proper understanding of the body, soul, Supersoul and the Supreme Lord Krsna. We also need a proper understanding of the constitutional position of the living entity with respect to the Supreme Lord.

The basic and lowest level of consciousness is identification with the body. There are people who are extremely undiscriminating, thinking the body to be the self. They take the self (body) as most dear. By identifying the self with the body, the body becomes dearest. The attachment of such people for their own body is more than for their sons, wealth and house. We see people who are so addicted to drinking that they will resort to doing anything to satisfy their urge to drink. They will neglect their family and try to siphon off money from family budget to satisfy their needs.

SB 10.14.52: Indeed, for persons who think the body is the self, O best of kings, those things whose importance lies only in their relationship to the body are never as dear as the body itself.

The wise person sees the body as the possession of the self, and not as dear. The body does not last long. It dies. When one becomes afflicted by disease, the desire to love in the body becomes weaker. By discriminating a person understands that the body is not the self and thus it is no longer dear.

When a little knowledge has developed, one can understand that he is not the body but the spirit soul. For those who understand that they are atma, not the body, there is affection for the atma.

“When a person who thinks “I am this body” becomes a little wise, he begins to understand, “I am not this body. Rather, this body is mine.” At that time the soul becomes dear to him. Then the material body is not as dear as the soul to him. This means the body is only dear because it has a relationship with the soul.” (SVT commentary on SB 10.14.53)

SB 10.14.53-54: If a person comes to the stage of considering the body “mine” instead of “me,” he will certainly not consider the body as dear as his own self. After all, even as the body is growing old and useless, one’s desire to continue living remains strong. Therefore it is his own self that is most dear to every embodied living being, and it is simply for the satisfaction of this self that the whole material creation of moving and nonmoving entities exists.

The highest understanding is that Krsna is the soul of all living entities; He is the Paramatma. He is the only object of our love.

“When one sees the truth, he realizes that the individual spirit soul is only an intermediate object of love. The final, highest object of love is Sri Kṛṣṇa alone.” (SVT commentary on SB 10.14.55)

Thus, there are different degrees of love. First a person loves his body as he sees the self as the body. Accordingly, he loves his children and other persons because they bring pleasure to his own material body. Next degree is when a person loves his material body because it brings pleasure to himself, the spirit soul. A higher degree is when a person loves his true self, his spiritual identity, because he brings pleasure to the Supersoul. The highest degree is when loves Krsna directly. He is directly realized as the highest cause in which all things reside. He is the reservoir of all pleasure; the active principle in everything (movable and immovable).” (Excerpts from SVT commentary on SB 10.14.55)

A logical question would be how we can love the Supreme Lord when He is not directly visible to our mundane senses.

“How can the conditioned souls, who have no love and devotion for Kṛṣṇa, and whose knowledge is covered by māyā, directly perceive Lord Kṛṣṇa, who is revealed only by bhakti?” (SVT commentary on SB 10.14.55)

The answer is that Kṛṣṇa appears by His causeless and inconceivable mercy to be an ordinary conditioned soul and to benefit the living entities in the material world. Though Kṛṣṇa is eternally unmanifest, He becomes visible by His own desire. He has appeared in this world as Krsna to destroy the suffering of the world and give it the highest bliss. There is no difference between His body and soul. Due to the covering of maya, conditioned living entities are not able to perceive the Lord. Without the covering, one will have affection for the Lord. That covering, however, is completely destroyed by bhakti. By the intensity of bhakti, one develops intensity of prema. The people of Vraja have the most intense prema because of their special intense mode of worship. This shows they are completely on the liberated platform and beyond the mundane conception of “I” and “mine”. All they know is Krsna and how to serve Him for His complete pleasure.

SB 10.14.55: You should know Kṛṣṇa to be the original Soul of all living entities. For the benefit of the whole universe, He has, out of His causeless mercy, appeared as an ordinary human being. He has done this by the strength of His internal potency.

Therefore, we should try to chant the Holy Name with intensity and love so that the covering of ignorance is completely destroyed, and we can safely progress on our journey to attain Krsna prema.

“In essence, those who think the body is the self are not good. Those who understand the atma (soul) are good. Those who understand the Lord are better. Those who have affection for Krsna alone are the best. Thus you are the best king (Pariksit Maharaja)” (Sanatana Goswami’s commentary on SB 10.14.52 in Brhad Vaisnava Tosani)

All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

[Note: I have tried to put together another simple chart to better understand the concepts discussed in this lesson]

Hare Krsna,

Silence is golden. Lord Krsna’s silence to Lord Brahma’s prayers in Krsna-lila leads to a golden benediction for Brahma in the Caitanya-lila.

I was about to ask in one of the forum posts the connection between Lord Brahma’s prayers and his appearance as Haridas Thakura. I knew I had heard it before; just wasn’t sure in which scripture the mystery was revealed. Thank you, dear teachers, for sharing the section from Sri Navadvipa Mahatmya.

My first thought after studying this lesson is one of amazement. Why is Krsna not reciprocating to Lord Brahma’s beautiful prayers of glorification? Why is Krsna silent? Thankfully Srila Visvanath Chakravarti Thakura revealed the mystery. He writes, “Kṛṣṇa remained silent through the entirety of Brahmā’s prayers. Seeing the Lord’s silence, Brahma took that as His permission to depart. Kṛṣṇa could not break His silence because He was playing exactly like an innocent young cowherd boy, the son of the king of Vraja, in the pastime of bewildering Brahma. Thus, Kṛṣṇa’s silence here was deliberate.” (Srila VCT commentary to 10.14.42)

Krsna did not want to be disturbed from His effort to find His lost cowherd friends and calves. This is the special arrangement of yoga-maya to keep Krsna ignorant of His own powers and opulences. Just as children are least concerned with anything other than their absorption in their games with their playmates, Krsna too didn’t have time to ponder on Brahma’s prayers. He remained busy looking for His lost friends/. When Brahma, seeing Krsna remaining silent throughout his prayers, decided to leave, Krsna remained silent indicating He gave Brahma permission to leave.

My second thought is one of hope. Krsna’s silence inspired Lord Brahma to perform intense austerities to gain the Lord’s mercy – if not in this yuga, in another yuga – and eventually to taste Krsna-prema. He knew that Mahaprabhu would appear in the future to bestow what no incarnation of the Lord has ever bestowed before – pure love of Godhead.

CC Adi 1.4: May the Supreme Lord who is known as the son of Śrīmatī Śacī-devī be transcendentally situated in the innermost chambers of your heart. Resplendent with the radiance of molten gold, He has appeared in the Age of Kali by His causeless mercy to bestow what no incarnation has ever offered before: the most sublime and radiant mellow of devotional service, the mellow of conjugal love.

When Gauracandra mercifully appeared to him, Brahma prayed that he be allowed to become the Lord’s associate when He manifests His pastimes. And what benediction that Lord Gauracandra bestow upon Brahma: pure taste for the Holy Name.

“When my pastimes become visible on earth, you will take birth in a yavana’s house. Your name will be Haridāsa Ṭhākura, and you will be famous for your humility and will be completely free from all pride. You will chant three hundred thousand names a day, and when you pass from this world you will be seeing me. And at the end of the second one hundred trillion years of your life, you will attain Navadvīpa‑dhāma and be absorbed in eternal rasa.” (Excerpts from Sri Navadvipa-dhama mahatmya)

This blessing by the Lord includes every benediction a devotee can hope for. Humility, pridelessness, engaging in kirtaniya-sada-harih, seeing the Lord at the time of leaving the body, attainment of Krsna-prema, and the Lord’s eternal abode of Navavdipa-dhama.

Wow! I am so inspired! What more can a devotee ask for! No wonder, Gauranga Mahaprabhu is considered the most munificent and charitably disposed according to Srila Rupa Goswami.

namo mahā-vadānyāya
kṛṣṇa-prema-pradāya te
kṛṣṇāya kṛṣṇa-caitanya-
nāmne gaura-tviṣe namaḥ

O most munificent incarnation! You are Kṛṣṇa Himself appearing as Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahāprabhu. You have assumed the golden color of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, and You are widely distributing pure love of Kṛṣṇa. We offer our respectful obeisances unto You. (CC Madhya 19.53)

We offer our respectful obeisances unto that merciful Supreme Personality of Godhead who has converted all three worlds, which were maddened by ignorance, and saved them from their diseased condition by making them mad with the nectar from the treasure-house of love of God. Let us take full shelter of that Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya, whose activities are wonderful. (Govinda-līlāmṛta (1.2))

Therefore, I consider this pastime one of hope-giving. It inspires me to think that no matter what a big offender I may be, there is hope that the Lord will ignore my offenses and bestow His merciful glance one day. It inspires me to think that even though the Lord may not reciprocate immediately to my chanting, hearing and service, He will definitely reciprocate one day. And even if everything seems hopeless, my ultimate hope will always be Lord Caitanya. And even if Lord Caitanya does not reciprocate, I can always take shelter of Lord Nityananda who doesn’t turn away anyone – no matter how fallen one is. And the personality who has appeared in Lord Nityananda’s mood is HDG and our beloved acarya – Srila Prabhupada who will always remain our well-wisher.

It is nice to conclude this forum post with remembrance of Srila Prabhupada whose disappearance we observed yesterday.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

Hare Krsna,

This pastime of Lord Brahma stealing Krsna’s cowherd friends and calves is one of the most beautiful demonstrations of bringing someone under full humility and surrender to the Supreme Lord, Krsna. The Lord has given every living entity free-will by which one can exercise it to either surrender to Him or revolt against Him. The Lord does not enforce subjugation to Him by force. The Lord convinces us through His various lilas to make us sincerely humble and surrender unto Him. Brahma Vimohana lila is one such pastime.

It is fair to say that Brahma had no power to steal Krsna’s friends. Even though Brahma is the ultimate person in this world, he has a material body but the residents of Vraja had pure spiritual bodies. The Lord, by the arrangement of yoga-maya, made the cowherd boys and calves disappear.

If we have any tinge of pride left in us, the Lord will take them away through some means. I somehow think that Brahma had some pride left in him. He is the creator of the universe and has a very exalted position. It is expected that some pride may have developed in him for being the first created being. Or he may have thought that He knows the Supreme Lord, his Master, closely. However, after seeing Krsna’s mystic opulence, Brahma finally acknowledges that it is beyond his words, body and mind to understand Krsna’s opulences. His mind has no power to understand the Lord’s opulences, his eyes cannot grasp the Lord’s transcendental form, and his words cannot describe the Lord. And what to speak of the happiness the Lord feels within Himself? He realizes that just because he created this universe does not mean that he is its master. The Lord is the master, not only of this one universe but of all universes.

All these realizations made Lord Brahma so humble that he has no hesitation to accept that he is a greatest fool. His speaking too much is simply a sign of his foolishness. Brahma had developed enough humility to realize that he had become an offender by interrupting Krsna’s lunch-pastime with His friends on the bank of the Yamuna. He wants to return immediately to resume his administrative duties.

However humbled Brahma had enough intelligence to realize that Krsna’s Vrindaban pastimes are the sweetest and highest. And so, he beseeched the Lord to accept him as his surrendered servant and give him eternal residence in Vrindavana.

There are excellent lessons for us to learn from Brahma’s conduct and prayers. Firstly, there should be no tinge place of pride in us when we perform our bhakti. Being Kali yuga jivas, we may tend to become proud to be a devotee of the Lord. We may become proud with knowledge of the philosophy of Krsna, or we may become proud with our services. We may think we are indispensable; no one can do better service than us. But when we compare ourselves to Lord Brahma who is the master of the universe, we can see how insignificant we are in every respect. Our intelligence and power are no match to Lord Brahma’s. So, if Brahma could realize his insignificance in front of the Lord, who are we as compared to him?

Therefore, surrendering to the Lord is the most intelligent thing to do. Whether we do it now or later, we will have to surrender at some point. As they say, by hook or by crook. If we want to enter into Krsna’s Vrindavan pastimes, we must be very humble as Brahma realized. The door to the gate to the Lord’s abode is very small like the eye of a needed. We must make ourselves very small to be able to pass through that gate. We must be humble enough and ready to apologize for many offenses we have committed against the Lord and His devotees through many lifetimes. Our humility must touch the Lord’s heart to attract His mercy. Our humility must beg the Lord to forgive us and make us qualified to accept us as His insignificant surrendered servants.

I love where it says “the word kṛṣṇa means “O Lord, please attract my mind and heart to Vrndavana.”” This is another inspiration to chant the Lord’s Holy Name with humility and pray to Him to attract our mind and heart to Vrindavana.

Brahmā says, “Everything in Vraja, including even Your ornaments and even the lowly ārka tree are objects of my worship. O Lord who can be merciful or merciless, who can grant me auspiciousness or trouble, I offer my respectful obeisances to You.” (SVT commentary on SB 10.14.40)

Finally,

“Thus, it is understood that after fulfilling his responsibilities in the post of Brahma, Brahma would attain his desired goal of residence in Vrndavana.”

I am extremely anxious to know how Lord Brahma’s desire is eventually fulfilled.

Meanwhile Lord Brahma’s prayers have enough inspiration for me to meditate upon and get deeper into my sadhana.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Viswanath Chakravarti Thakura!

Hare Krsna,

The individual spirit soul is part and parcel of the Supreme Soul. The Supreme Soul is sac-cid-ananda – full of eternity, knowledge and bliss. But due to its contact with material energy since time immemorial, the living entity thinks he is the material body and forgets that He is spiritually same as the Supreme Lord. Because the living entity wanted to forget his relationship with Krsna, he has been cast into this material ocean of avidya (ignorance). The conditioned souls or living entities who come to the material world to enjoy sense gratification, are covered in the beginning by five different conditions.

SB 3.20.18: First of all, Brahmā created from his shadow the coverings of ignorance of the conditioned souls. They are five in number and are called tāmisra, andha-tāmisra, tamas, moha and mahā-moha.

These five types of ignorance are anger (tāmisra), considering death to be the ultimate end (andha-tāmisra), ignorance of the spirit soul (tamas), illusion that one is the body (moha), and mad after material enjoyment (mahā-moha). In short, avidya (ignorance) is to regard – (a) a temporary entity as permanent, (b) an impure object as pure, (c) misery as happiness, and (d) what is not the self as self. (Yoga-sutram 2.5)

And when one is deeply conditioned by these multiple layers of ignorance, one loses the ability to distinguish reality from illusion. If one is not aware of what reality is, he would also not know what to search for or where to find reality. Lord Brahma’s prayers elucidate this point.

“Just see the foolishness of those ignorant persons who consider You to be some separated manifestation of illusion and who consider the self, which is actually You, to be something else, the material body. Such fools conclude that the supreme soul is to be searched for somewhere outside Your supreme personality.” (SB 10.14.27)

The common example given is mistaking a rope for a snake.

“Actually, when one mistakes a rope for a snake, the existence of the snake is only within the mind. The existence of māyā, similarly, is only within the mind. Māyā is nothing but ignorance of Your personality. When one forgets Your personality, that is the conditioned state of māyā. Therefore one who is fixed upon You both internally and externally is not illusioned.” (Krsna book, Chapter 14 Text 27-28)

What is the remedy to come out of this ignorance? Only bhakti or devotional service unto the Supreme Lord. This is obtained by the mercy of a pure devotee of the Lord.

“If, by the association of Your devotees, a person comes to the knowledge that Lord Kṛṣṇa is the original Supersoul, then it is possible for him to cross over the ocean of material ignorance… If one understands You, therefore, through Your personal teachings, as stated in the Bhagavad-gītā, or through the teachings of Your pure devotees, as stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and all other Vedic literatures – if one realizes that You are the ultimate goal of understanding – he need no longer fear this material existence.” (Krsna book, Chapter 14 Text 24-25)

So-called liberation and bondage have no meaning for a person who is already engaged in Your devotional service, just as a rope is not fearful to a person who knows that it is not a snake. A devotee knows that this material world belongs to You, and he therefore engages everything in Your transcendental loving service. Thus there is no bondage for him. (Krsna book, Chapter 14 Text 26)

Therefore, scriptures like Srimad Bhagavatam are extremely important literature that can bestow the light of truth and true knowledge to drive away ignorance.

SB 1.1.2: Completely rejecting all religious activities which are materially motivated, this Bhāgavata Purāṇa propounds the highest truth, which is understandable by those devotees who are fully pure in heart. The highest truth is reality distinguished from illusion for the welfare of all. Such truth uproots the threefold miseries. This beautiful Bhāgavatam, compiled by the great sage Vyāsadeva [in his maturity], is sufficient in itself for God realization. What is the need of any other scripture? As soon as one attentively and submissively hears the message of Bhāgavatam, by this culture of knowledge the Supreme Lord is established within his heart.

Speaking about the search for reality, it also reminds me of the Catuh-sloki verses that Lord Krsna spoke to Lord Brahma at the beginning of creation. We discussed these verses in detail during our study of 2^nd Canto.

SB 2.9.33: Brahmā, it is I, the Personality of Godhead, who was existing before the creation, when there was nothing but Myself. Nor was there the material nature, the cause of this creation. That which you see now is also I, the Personality of Godhead, and after annihilation what remains will also be I, the Personality of Godhead.

SB 2.9.34: O Brahmā, whatever appears to be of any value, if it is without relation to Me, has no reality. Know it as My illusory energy, that reflection which appears to be in darkness.

SB 2.9.35: O Brahmā, please know that the universal elements enter into the cosmos and at the same time do not enter into the cosmos; similarly, I Myself also exist within everything created, and at the same time I am outside of everything.

SB 2.9.36: A person who is searching after the Supreme Absolute Truth, the Personality of Godhead, must certainly search for it up to this, in all circumstances, in all space and time, and both directly and indirectly.

This is why we pray –

om ajnana-timirandhasya jnananjana-salakaya
caksur unmilitam yena tasmai sri-gurave namah

I was born in the darkest ignorance, and my spiritual master opened my eyes with the torch of knowledge. I offer my respectful obeisances unto him.

By taking shelter of Lord Caitanya, Lord Nityananda and Their gifts of the Holy Name, the five kinds of ignorance can be eradicated, thus giving us the ability and knowledge to search for reality.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

Hare Krsna,

Lord Krsna famously declared in BG 4.9, “One who knows the transcendental nature of My appearance and activities does not, upon leaving the body, take his birth again in this material world, but attains My eternal abode, O Arjuna.”

I very much relished the beautiful conversation between Lord Krsna and Lord Brahma in Srila Visvanath Chakravarti Thakura’s commentary on SB 10.14.23. If we can understand and internalize this philosophical discussion, we can humbly state that we know, to some extent, the Supreme Lord’s transcendental appearance and activities. This will make us eligible to cross the ocean of birth and death as Krsna promised in BG 4.9.

For the sake of my own purification and understanding, I would like to reproduce the conversation in a tabular format for ease of reading.

Lord Krsna’s Question	Lord Brahma’s Response	Philosophical Conclusion
	Although You do have infinite forms, You are also present in one transcendental form by Your inconceivable energy. You are the one Supreme Soul, and at the same You expand Yourself as the Supersoul to enter every living being.	The Supreme Lord and His energies are inconceivable. Acintya bheda-abedha tattva: the Supreme Lord is simultaneously one with and different from His creation.
But the Supersoul has no form. He is not a person. After all, the word ‘person’ generally refers to a being that has a form. You say I am a person. Am I a young person?	No, You are the oldest.	BG 8.9: One should meditate upon the Supreme Person as the one who knows everything, as He who is the oldest, who is the controller, who is smaller than the smallest, who is the maintainer of everything, who is beyond all material conception, who is inconceivable, and who is always a person. He is luminous like the sun, and He is transcendental, beyond this material nature.
I am the son of Nanda Baba and I am a young boy of Vraja. It is not right to say that I am the oldest.	“It is true that You are the son of Nanda, but it is also true that You exist eternally in all three phases of time. Therefore You are the oldest person.	aradhyo bhagavan vrajesa-tanayas tad-dhama vrndavanam   It is the conclusive opinion of Lord Chaitanya that the most worshipable form of the Lord is that of Sri Krishna, the son of Nanda Maharaja. Vrindavan-dhäma is the topmost worshipable abode.
The supreme person you describe is the creator of time, karma and everything else. How is it possible that I am He?	Please do not argue. You are self-effulgent.	SB 3.26.3: The Supreme Personality of Godhead is the Supreme Soul, and He has no beginning. He is transcendental to the material modes of nature and beyond the existence of this material world. He is perceivable everywhere because He is self-effulgent, and by His self-effulgent luster the entire creation is maintained.
Am I like the sun, limited within a certain area of space?	No, You are limitless, not restricted by time and space. Your other avataras are also the same.	BG 7.26: O Arjuna, as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, I know everything that has happened in the past, all that is happening in the present, and all things that are yet to come. I also know all living entities; but Me no one knows.
The Supreme has many incarnations, so am I just one of them?	You are the source of all avataras; the root of all incarnations.	SB 1.3.28: All of the above-mentioned incarnations are either plenary portions or portions of the plenary portions of the Lord, but Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the original Personality of Godhead.
In the next lifetime of Brahmā will I again incarnate in this form?	No, You are nitya, eternal. Although the universe is ancient, real and eternal, at the end of my lifetime it is no longer manifested in the same form. Because it will disappear, therefore it is anitya, temporary. On the other hand, You will remain eternally in this form as the son of Nanda. Therefore Your form is eternal and unchanging because You are the original Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Vedic literatures confirm this by saying: “Lord Kṛṣṇa is the same Supreme Personality Personality of Godhead who formerly appeared in the Sūrya-vaṁśa [as Lord Rama].” The Gopāla-tāpanī Upaniṣad states: “Lord Kṛṣṇa, whose form is eternal and full of knowledge and bliss, and who sits under a kalpa-vṛkṣa tree in Vṛndāvana forest, is the original Supreme Personality of Godhead.” You Yourself affirm in the Bhagavad-gītā (14.27): ‘I am the basis of the impersonal Brahman.	Brahma Samhita 5.1: Kṛṣṇa who is known as Govinda is the Supreme Godhead. He has an eternal blissful spiritual body. He is the origin of all. He has no other origin and He is the prime cause of all causes.
But those who have bodies are subject to the six transformations,  and are therefore disintegrating at every moment. How is it possible that I am like that?	No, You are not like that. You are unchanging and indestructible.	CC Madhya 21.51: Beyond the river Virajā is the spiritual nature, which is indestructible, eternal, inexhaustible and unlimited. It is the supreme abode, consisting of three fourths of the Lord’s opulences. It is known as paravyoma, the spiritual sky.
Those who have bodies also are subject to happiness and distress.	You are always full of bliss.	Brahma Samhita 5.1: Kṛṣṇa who is known as Govinda is the Supreme Godhead. He has an eternal blissful spiritual body. He is the origin of all. He has no other origin and He is the prime cause of all causes.
But as a child I was greedy to drink My mother’s breast milk and steal the gopīs’ butter and yogurt. As a boy I showed anger toward Kāliya and a host of others. In My teenage years I was lusty to enjoy with the gopīs. Therefore I am impure, and contaminated by lust and a host of other vices.	That is not true. You are spotless. Your so-called lust and other qualities are all pure and spiritual.	SB 1.7.34 Purport: The Lord is Transcendence, and thus He is absolute in any stage. His anger is not like the anger of a conditioned living being within the modes of qualitative material nature.
Still, I am dependent on the gopīs and many others. Because I need them, therefore I am not perfect and complete.	You are perfect and complete. Your being controlled by the prema of Your devotees does not negate Your perfection and completeness.	Sri Isopanisad Invocation: The Personality of Godhead is perfect and complete, and because He is completely perfect, all emanations from Him, such as this phenomenal world, are perfectly equipped as complete wholes. Whatever is produced of the Complete Whole is also complete in itself. Because He is the Complete Whole, even though so many complete units emanate from Him, He remains the complete balance.
Is there someone else like Me?	No one else is like You; You are beyond comparison.
Very well then, because there is no one else like Me, I am therefore the original Supreme Personality of Godhead. Still, many people think I am simply a transformation of transcendental knowledge.	You are not a transformation of transcendental knowledge. The Gopāla-tāpanī Upaniṣad (2.24) states: ‘The Supreme Personality of Godhead is beyond both knowledge and ignorance.’ This is so because You are beyond all limiting designations.	In the Śruti-śāstra it is said: amṛtaṁ śāśvataṁ brahma, ‘The Supreme Personality of Godhead is eternal. He is far beyond any limiting designation.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

Hare Krsna,

Srila Prabhupada mentioned in one of his lectures that according to Srila Jiva Goswami unless we accept the principle that Kṛṣṇa, or God, has got inconceivable power, acintya-śakti, we cannot understand. If we put Kṛṣṇa within the jurisdiction of our limited understanding, that is not understanding of Kṛṣṇa. Manuṣyāṇāṁ sahasreṣu kaścid yatati siddhaye (BG 7.3). That inconceivable power is also within us. We do not know. So many things are happening. (SP Lecture – BG 2.23-24, London)

Lord Brahma has come to realize Krsna’s inconceivable energy in a painstaking way through the stealing of Krsna’s calves and friends. I must say this is another Krsna’s inconceivable display of His energy – making Lord Brahma an instrument to display His inconceivable for our benefit. He instructs us now to waste our valuable human life to understand Krsna and His various energies scientifically. It is simply impossible for a limited and conditioned living entity to understand the unlimited.

Mother Yasoda say the universe within Krsna’s transcendental mouth while simultaneously they were both outside that universe.

“In order to establish the oneness of the universe within the Lord and that outside the Lord, Brahma speaks this verse. “O supreme controller of illusion! In order to show that the external universe also exists within Your abdomen, You produced an illusion for mother Yasoda. By the influence of Your yogamaya potency You appeared within this universe and simultaneously exhibited all the universes within Your body. Similarly though I am within Your abdomen, I arose from Your abdomen and am situated here. Thus You are still my mother.” (Srila VCT commentary of SB 10.14.16)

Lord Brahma is bewildered that just as the entire universe, including the Supreme Lord, was exhibited within His abdomen, so it is now manifested here externally in the same exact form. How could such things happen unless arranged by His inconceivable energy?

Even if we look around us, we will see countless inconceivable energy of the Supreme Lord. Natural phenomena such as the law of gravity or weightlessness are acintya-śakti, inconceivable energies. How can innumerable universes float in the outer space whereas a mere object falls down to earth due to the gravitational force? Just inconceivable!

Best recourse is to simply surrender to the Supreme Lord after developing sufficient faith in His inconceivable energies. Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead because His energies are inconceivable. Otherwise, how could someone be considered God if each and every aspect of His energy could be conceived and deciphered by mere mortals? The concept of unlimitedness and inconceivability is inherent in the Absolute Truth. These qualities make Him the Absolute Truth.  

Talking about the Lord’s inconceivable energy, there is a beautiful story about Narada Muni and his encounter with a cobbler and a brahmana. The link is here for anyone wanting to revisit the story. This pastime illustrates the essence of true faith. It’s not about blindly believing but having a reasonable trust in the divine, which also includes trust in His inconceivable energies.

Faith story: Narada Muni, The Cobbler and The Brahmana

All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

Hare Krsna,

In the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, the word dainya (humility) is explained as follows: “When unhappiness, fearfulness and the sense of having offended combine, one feels condemned. This sense of condemnation is described as dīnatā, humility. When one is subjected to such humility, he feels physically inactive, he apologizes, and his consciousness is disturbed. His mind is also restless, and many other symptoms are visible.” (Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 2.35)

We can see the same symptoms in Lord Brahma. Because he stole Krsna’s calves and cowherd friends to rest whether Krsna in His boyhood form is truly the Supreme Personality of Godhead and after realizing Krsna is Himself the Absolute Truth, Brahma felt ashamed and apologetic. A humble soul automatically begs forgiveness for his mistakes or offenses.

We may also have observed this phenomenon in us at times. If we have offended a devotee, even unintentionally, we feel a sense of restlessness and anxiety within us. We lose taste in bhakti. And then we introspect. What did I do wrong? Why am I not getting a taste in chanting or hearing? If we are sincere, the Paramatma within us reminds us what mistake we committed. If we have too much of false ego, we will overlook these subtle signs and will continue as if it is just another bad day. However, if we are truly humble, we will seek forgiveness from the person who may have felt offended by our words or actions. Once forgiven, our taste in bhakti immediately returns. I have experienced this firsthand.

Lord Brahma seeking forgiveness from Lord Krsna is the ideal mood of a humble devotee.

I am especially touched by the way Lord Brahma seeks forgiveness. He tries to invoke the Lord’s vatsalya mood by praying:

“With great pride I think I am Your son (arising from Your navel), but I am blind in all eight eyes. But my pride will be destroyed when the moon of Your mercy shines upon me.” (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura on Text 10)

Lord Brahmā therefore compared himself to a little child within the womb of his mother. If the child within the womb plays with his hands and legs, and while playing touches the body of the mother, is the mother offended with the child? (Krsna Book 12)

“O Lord Adhokṣaja, does a mother take offense when the child within her womb kicks with his legs? And is there anything in existence—whether designated by various philosophers as real or as unreal—that is actually outside Your abdomen?” (SB 10.14.12)

My dear Lord, it is said that when the three planetary systems are merged into the water at the time of dissolution, Your plenary portion, Nārāyaṇa, lies down on the water, gradually a lotus flower grows from His navel, and Brahmā takes birth upon that lotus flower. Certainly, these words are not false. Thus am I not born from You? (SB 10.14.13)

This set of Lord Brahma’s beautiful prayers teaches us the ACT and ART of seeking forgiveness from a superior.

“The Lord can be pleased only by a humble attitude in the service spirit. The more we render service unto the Lord under the direction of the spiritual master, the more we make advancement on the path approaching the Lord. We cannot demand any grace or mercy from the Lord because of our service rendered to Him. He may accept or not accept our service, but the only means to satisfy the Lord is through the service attitude, and nothing else.” (Krsna Book 58)

Humility is the most precious ornament of a Vaisnava. To remind this to ourselves, we write “Please accept my humble obeisances!” and/or “Your humble servant…”

There are numerous letters of Srila Prabhupada where he repeatedly advised his disciples to be always humble.

“You keep this humble attitude always, and your example will be a source of spiritual inspiration for everyone.” (Letter to Anuttama — Sydney, Australia 12 April, 1972)

“Anyway one quality of a devotee is that he is always very much tolerant of other people, so I request you simply to tolerate the faults of others and always think that I am myself the most faulty. In this way your humble attitude will qualify you to advance very quickly in Krishna Consciousness.“(Letter to Jayarge, Lindon Lomese — Los Angeles 25 May, 1972)

“Your humble attitude is very much appreciated by me. Always chant Hare Krsna and as far as possible help me push on this movement by preaching this philosophy and distributing our books.” (Letter to Karnamrta — Los Angeles 3 December, 1973)

All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

Hare Krsna,

It is a well-established fact that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is not perceivable through the gross material senses. According to Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.2.234, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s name, fame, pastimes, etc., cannot be understood by material senses. Only to one who is engaged in pure devotional service under proper guidance is He revealed.

There are various grades of bhakti. With respect to the context we are discussing in this lesson, two of the varieties of bhakti are Jnana-sunya-bhakti (bhakti free from all speculative knowledge) and Jnana-misra-bhakti (bhakti mixed with speculative knowledge). Out of this two, Jnana-sunya-bhakti is superior to Jnana-misra-bhakti.

This is verified by Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī in his Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu (1.1.11):

anyābhilāṣitā–śūnyaṁ jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam
ānukūlyena kṛṣṇānu- śīlanaṁ bhaktir uttamā

“One should render transcendental loving service to the Supreme Lord Kṛṣṇa favorably and without desire for material profit or gain through fruitive activities or philosophical speculation. That is called pure devotional service.”

Therefore, one should discard jnana-misra-bhakti and take to jnana-sunya-bhakti. The former cannot lead one to pure love of Godhead. In jnana-sunya-bhakti, there is a complete manifestation of

sambandha-jïäna, or knowledge of one’s relationship with Bhagavän. However, in the path of jnana-misra-bhakti, the jiva simply becomes a dry speculator. Upon the awakening of good fortune, by the influence of the association of pure devotees, one very quickly achieves prema–bhakti. In such a position all obstacles are gradually destroyed.

In relation to jnana-sunya-bhakti, Sri Ramananda Raya quoted the prayer of Lord Brahma (SB 10.14.3)

“My dear Lord, those devotees who have thrown away the impersonal conception of the Absolute Truth and have therefore abandoned discussing empiric philosophical truths should hear from self-realized devotees about Your holy name, form, pastimes and qualities. They should completely follow the principles of devotional service and remain free from illicit sex, gambling, intoxication and animal slaughter. Surrendering themselves fully with body, words and mind, they can live in any āśrama or social status. Indeed, You are conquered by such persons, although You are always unconquerable.”

By presenting this verse from Çrémad-Bhägavatam, Çré Rämänanda Räya has made it totally clear that the sädhaka is able to achieve everything by only hearing hari-kathä from the mouths of the unalloyed devotees. To obtain sambandha, abhidheya, and prayojana (knowledge of the relationship, process, and ultimate goal) rests on the basis of this hari-kathä, which is both the sädhya (goal) and the sadhana (process).

Therefore the key message is that in this Age of Kali Yuga, the best means to attain self-realization is through the process of bhakti beginning with hearing and chanting.

“This age of Kali is not at all suitable for self-realization by the methods practiced in Satya-yuga, the golden age, or Tretā– or Dvāpara-yugas, the silver and copper ages. For self-realization, the people in Satya-yuga, living a lifetime of a hundred thousand years, were able to perform prolonged meditation. And in Tretā-yuga, when the duration of life was ten thousand years, self-realization was attained by performance of great sacrifice. And in the Dvāpara-yuga, when the duration of life was one thousand years, self-realization was attained by worship of the Lord. But in the Kali-yuga, the maximum duration of life being one hundred years only and that combined with various difficulties, the recommended process of self-realization is that of hearing and chanting of the holy name, fame, and pastimes of the Lord.” (SB 1.1.21, Purport)

Just by thirstily endeavoring to hear the topics of Sré Kåñëa (hari-kathä), a person is not merely liberated, but he subjugates the Supreme Lord. If someone tries to obtain jnana alone, then just like a person threshing empty husks of rice, he achieves nothing.

“My dear Lord, devotional service unto You is the best path for self-realization. If someone gives up that path and engages in the cultivation of speculative knowledge, he will simply undergo a troublesome process and will not achieve his desired result. As a person who beats an empty husk of wheat cannot get grain, one who simply speculates cannot achieve self-realization. His only gain is trouble.” (SB 10.14.4)

I think it may be fair to say that say that this jïäna-çünyä-bhakti is one of the milestone on the path to attain prema-bhakti (as elucidated by Sri Ramananda Raya in his conversation with Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu). Real success lies in hearing and chanting the sweet name, form, qualities and pastimes of the Supreme Lord in the association of like-minded and serious devotees – as we are engaging here in this Sadhu Sanga course.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

Hare Krsna,

This is such a sweet pastime for meditation on Krsna’s sweetness and opulence. One may be tempted to think that Krsna is upset with Lord Brahma for having stolen His cowherd friends and calves. But here we see a sweet exchange of love between the two. It takes lots of mercy, good fortune, and bhakti to be able to see Ktsna’s original two-handed form as a young boy – His svayam-rupa sac-cid-ananda form – the source of all forms of eternity, knowledge and bliss. That Lord Brahma could see such a form reveals Krsna being pleased with Brahma’s devotion.

Brahma said, “My dear Vasudeva! You are the source of countless forms, and are the only worshipable Lord. You are glorified by everyone in the universe from me down to the grass. In order to attain You, I offer these praises unto You. Or, simply to please You, I glorify You in verse. Your transcendental body, dark blue like a fresh rain cloud, is wrapped in a garment more brilliant than lightning.” (SVT commentary)

This pastime between Lord Krsna and Lord Brahma is so special that even Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu quotes this prayer of Lord Brahma in His conversation with Srila Sanatana Goswami (CC Madhya Chapter 21). The chapter is titled – The Opulence and Sweetness of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa. As described by Mahaprabhu in that chapter, Kṛṣṇa had unlimited calves and cowherd boys with Him. No one could count their actual number. Each of the cowherd boys was tending calves to the extent of a koṭi, arbuda, śaṅkha and padma. That is the way of counting. All the cowherd boys had unlimited calves. Similarly, their canes, flutes, lotus flowers, horns, garments and ornaments were all unlimited. They cannot be limited by writing about them. The cowherd boys then became four-handed Nārāyaṇas, predominating Deities of Vaikuṇṭha planets. All the separate Brahmās from different universes began to offer their prayers unto the Lords. All these transcendental bodies emanated from the body of Kṛṣṇa, and within a second They all entered again into His body. When the Lord Brahmā from this universe saw this pastime, he was astonished and struck with wonder. After offering his prayers, he gave the following conclusion.”

Lord Brahma prayed: “If someone says that he knows everything about Kṛṣṇa’s opulence, let him think that way. But as far as I am concerned, with my body and mind I consider it in this way. My Lord, Your opulence is like an unlimited ocean of nectar, and it is verbally and mentally impossible for me to realize even a drop of that ocean. There are people who say, “I know everything about Kṛṣṇa.” Let them think that way. As far as I am concerned, I do not wish to speak very much about this matter. O my Lord, let me say this much. As far as Your opulences are concerned, they are all beyond the reach of my mind, body and words.” (CC Madhya 21.25-27)

These prayers of Lord Brahma’s will appear later in this chapter of Srimad Bhagavatam.

The key lesson I take away from this study is that it is almost impossible to understand Krsna’s personal form – as experienced by Lord Brahma himself. Lord Brahma says that his mind is completely withdrawn from material affairs, but still, he cannot understand the Lord’s personal form. What to speak of understanding the happiness He experiences within Himself?

[Side note: I can see this realization of Lord Brahma about Krsna’s experiencing His own happiness leads to the appearance of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu in the next yuga.]

Krsna’s name, form, pastimes, abode, paraphernalia and even His devotees can be understood only by pure devotional service.

“One can understand the Supreme Personality as He is only by devotional service. And when one is in full consciousness of the Supreme Lord by such devotion, he can enter into the kingdom of God.” (BG 18.55)

I can only endeavor to engage in pure devotional service unto sweet Lord Ktsna. And it is upto Him to mercifully reveal His name, form, pastimes, etc. as he revealed to Lord Brahma. We just have to offer prayers of surrender to the Lord as Lord Brahma did.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

Hare Krsna,

The Absolute Truth always remains the Absolute Truth irrespective of form, place, time, and circumstances. When Krsna appeared as a child with four arms to Devaki and Vasudeva, He was still the same Absolute Truth. When Krsna was caught stealing butter and bound up by Mother Yasoda, He was still the same Absolute Truth. When Krsna appeared in lower forms such as tortoise and hog, He was still the same Absolute Truth. When Krsna became a charioteer of Arjuna, He was still the same Absolute Truth. When Krsna appeared as Lord Rama and associated with monkey soldiers, He was still the same Absolute Truth. When Krsna appeared as a devotee (Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu), He was still the same Absolute Truth. Similarly, when Krsna assumed the role of a child in a family of cowherd men and standing all alone, just as before, with a morsel of food in His hand, searching everywhere for the calves and His cowherd friends., He was still the same Absolute Truth.

The Absolute Truth taking up any other form still remains the Absolute Truth without a second. Why? It is the oṁ pūrṇam adaḥ pūrṇam idaṁ principle.

Sri Isopanisad Invocation: “The Personality of Godhead is perfect and complete, and because He is completely perfect, all emanations from Him, such as this phenomenal world, are perfectly equipped as complete wholes. Whatever is produced of the Complete Whole is also complete in itself. Because He is the Complete Whole, even though so many complete units emanate from Him, He remains the complete balance.”

The Supreme Personality of Godhead remains as He is, never changing. He is complete.  Even if a complete manifestation is taken away from Him, He continues to be complete. The material creation is manifested by the energy of the Lord, but He is still the same person. His form, entourage, qualities and so on never deteriorate.

Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī, in his Paramātma-sandarbha, comments regarding the vivarta-vāda as follows: “Under the spell of vivarta-vāda one imagines the separate entities, namely the cosmic manifestation and the living entities, to be one with Brahman. This is due to complete ignorance regarding the actual fact. The Absolute Truth, or Parabrahman, is always one and always the same. He is completely free from all other conceptions of existence. He is completely free from false ego, for He is the full spiritual identity. It is absolutely impossible for Him to be subjected to ignorance and fall under the spell of a misconception (vivarta-vāda). The Absolute Truth is beyond our conception. One must admit that He has unblemished qualities that He does not share with every living entity. He is never tainted in the slightest degree by the flaws of ordinary living beings. Everyone must therefore understand the Absolute Truth to possess inconceivable potencies.” (CC Adi 7.122 Purport)

Brahma could understand that although Kṛṣṇa was not demonstrating His power, He was the same Supreme Person. Although Kṛṣṇa did not manifest anything wonderful, Brahmā could understand that the same wonderful person was present like an ordinary child, although He was the master of the whole creation.

Srila Prabhupada tries to tell us that we should not act like material scientists and try to understand the Absolute Truth with our limited intelligence. Brahma tried to test Krsna and failed miserably. Kṛṣṇa’s intelligence resembles the ocean, for one cannot imagine how vast it is. The best course, therefore, is to surrender to Kṛṣṇa.

On another note, I was reflecting on the govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ prayer. Srila Prabhupada mentions in the purport: “Thus Brahmā prayed, govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi: “You are the original person, the cause of everything. I bow down to You.” This was his realization. Tam ahaṁ bhajāmi. This is what is wanted.”

For a second, I was wondering whether Brahma composed the Brahma-samhita prayers in that specific pastime with Krsna in Vrndavana. Then I realized that he actually composed them at the beginning of creation. Srila Prabhupada was mentioning it here as a case in point to highlight Brahma’s realization about the Absolute Truth.

The key takeaway is that instead of getting into all technicalities about the Absolute Truth, it is better to simply surrender unto Him. That would be the most intelligent thing to do.

śrutim apare smṛtim itare

bhāratam anye bhajantu bhava-bhītāḥ

aham iha nandaṁ vande

yasyālinde paraṁ brahma

“Let others study the Vedas, smṛti and Mahābhārata, fearing material existence, but I shall worship Nanda Mahārāja, in whose courtyard is crawling the Supreme Brahman. Nanda Mahārāja is so great that the Parabrahman is crawling in his yard, and therefore I shall worship him.” (Padyāvalī 126)

What a beautiful prayer!

Let us also try to offer prayers to that beautiful son of Nanda Maharaja with great humility, respect, attention and love.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada!