Devotional Strength Transforms the Soul
A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Chapters
Vision and realization of the Supreme
I am the road. Do you use the two women to number that? We getting... uh, everyone is getting... uh, living in heart and mām bhajanti. Plenary expansion of the Supreme, passage of one who has got realization.
And dṛṣṭvā and bhaja are yogī. Yogīnām api sarveṣām, amongst all the yogīs, the bhakti-yogī is always seeing the Supreme Personality of Godhead within his heart. Premāñjana-cchurita-bhakti... How he
says, premāñjana-cchurita... It is not very difficult to see. If you have got an intense love for somebody, you will always find within your heart. You cannot forget.
Similarly, we also can see, uh, the Supreme Personality of Godhead if you have developed that excessive love for Kṛṣṇa. Premāñjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena santaḥ sadaiva hṛdayeṣu vilokayanti.
Mission and nature of liberated souls
So such devotees, stated in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, that wherever he goes, he makes that place a tīrtha. Bhavad-vidhāḥ... Sanātana Gosvāmī is accepted by Caitanya.
Although he was in government service, he was first approaching Him after retirement, but still Caitanya Mahāprabhu understands his position.
Actually, Sanātana Gosvāmī is amongst the gopīs, and Caitanya Mahāprabhu is, uh, personal. So they are eternal associates. But in this incarnation, they appear in different stages of life, again combine the mission.
Caitanya Mahāprabhu's mission and their constant companions. They are called nitya- siddha. Nitya-siddha. Nitya- siddha means any circumstances, a living entity cannot forget Kṛṣṇa. Nitya-siddha.
There are nitya-baddha and nitya-siddhas. Nitya-baddhas, conditioned souls, they are within this material world. And nitya-siddhas, they are in the spiritual world.
So it's nitya-siddha, and it is accepted by Caitanya Mahāprabhu. That wherever I am touching you, because just to feel fine, if you touch the lotus feet of a pure devotee, then immediately we can be purified.
Caitanya Mahāprabhu says like that. So, I'm touching you just to purify myself. This is an example. Bhakti-balāt paratvam hi brāhmaṇasya ādi.
In a society, in a country, in a place, he can do tremendous service to humanity by transforming them into Krishna consciousness. Bhakti-balāt. What is the strength? The strength is devotional strength. Bhakti-balāt.
Not by material strength. Not by bodily strength, not by mental speculation, but by the strength of devotional service. Bhakti-balāt paratvam hi brāhmaṇasya ādi.
Nārada Muni means he is traveling all over the universe, and his business is to turn them into devotees. Then another example is cited here.
Devotional service versus Vedic scholarship
Na me 'bhaktaś catur-vedī. You know that brāhmaṇas who are called Vedī, Dvivedī, Trivedī, Caturvedī. A brāhmaṇa who is expert in one of the Vedas— there are four Vedas: Sāma, Yajur...
Just like one scholar takes a particular subject matter especially. Similarly, a brāhmaṇa is expert in this side. One Veda is called Vedī, two Vedas, Dvivedī, three Vedas, Trivedī, and four Vedas, Caturvedī.
For them, in the modern age, they are simply names. Nobody has any connection with the Vedas. But actually that is the meaning. And here Caitanya Mahāprabhu says: Na me, a-bhaktaś... Even if one has studied
all the Vedas, but if he is not a devotee... Na me 'bhaktaś catur- vedī. Mad-bhaktaḥ śva-pacaḥ priyaḥ. Krishna says this, this is a recitation from Hari-bhakti-vilāsa. Hari-bhakti-vilāsa from Sanātana Gosvāmī.
Later on, after hearing from Caitanya Mahāprabhu, Rūpa Gosvāmī and Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī actually compiled very direct. That is called Vaiṣṇava-smṛti. Śruti, Smṛti. There is, uh, Vaiṣṇava-smṛti also and Smārta-smṛti.
Smārta-smṛti, uh, means, uh, they're not Māyāvādī. But, uh, you may know that in the, uh, um, the Amarakoṣa is there, Gosvāmī-mata. There is Smārta-mata opinion, Smārta opinion and Gosvāmī opinion.
When something is recited and it goes having mata, sometimes it adds two different points. This master says śuddha-vithi. According to Gosvāmī-mata, next. Smārtas, each is Ekādaśī-tithi is whole day, they accept of that.
But, uh, Gosvāmī-mata says if the Ekādaśī is not exactly on the sunrise point, they will not observe. Similarly, there are different opinions.
So this Gosvāmī attribute, this religious attribute is under the direction of uh, Hari-bhakti-vilāsa, is called Gosvāmī.
Principles of worship and divine opulence
So this, uh, verse is cited from Hari-bhakti- vilāsa, namely: "na me 'bhaktaś catur-vedī mad-bhaktaḥ śvapaca-priyaḥ tasmāi deyaṁ tato grāhyaṁ sa ca pūjyo yathā hy aham."
So this is spoken by Kṛṣṇa, that if a person is total, very, twelve words, then all these very, but not a devotee, he's not mine. He's not very dear to me, na priyaḥ. Mad-bhaktaḥ śvapaca-priyaḥ.
And if a person born of a family, dog- eater, śvapaca, dog-eaters, this is my devotee, this is very dear to me, tasmai deyaṁ tato grāhyam. So I accept from my devotees, not from, uh, uh, non-devotee.
This is the Bhagavad-gītā siddhānta. Asmi. Krishna does not, uh, taste anything which is offered by a non-devotee.
That proper regulation is, unless one is, uh, advanced in devotional service, twice initiated, uh, first of all with nāma and then with sacred thread, he is not allowed to worship the Deity. That is the case.
Everything depends on advancement of devotion. Patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ yo me bhaktyā prayacchati. Krishna is not hungry. That daridra-nārāyaṇa. Krishna is the most opulent. Sarva-loka-maheśvaram.
He does not come to you for food. He has got thousands and thousands, goddesses of fortune are serving. Lakṣmī-sahasra-śata-sambhrama-sevyamānaṁ govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi. Krishna has no want.
He is ātmārāma, but He is so kind that He accepts even the smallest thing. That is Krishna's mercy. Svayam-bhagavān. Krishna, He is being served by hundreds and thousands of Lakṣmīs, just like in Dvārakā.
He has sixteen thousand one hundred and eight. And that is in one Dvārakā; there are innumerable, innumerable such as innumerable Dvārakās and innumerable gopīs and innumerable goddesses of fortune, as.
So He is not hungry. But He is so kind that when a bhakta, devotee, offers a little patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalam, uh, a little flower, little fruit, little water, bhaktyā — but the real ingredient is bhakti.
It is not that Krishna has to be given, uh, ghī-pūrīs, kachorīs and rasagullā, very nice things. No. Krishna is accepting your bhakti. Even a little flower, little fruit. Anyone.
Either he is in India or in Czechoslovakia or in any part, everywhere in His creation. Everywhere. You can collect a little flower, a little fruit.
It doesn't matter that if you are not rich; even if you are the poorest of the poor, you can serve Krishna. Krishna is so kind. Many part of the party. And it doesn't matter.
Whether he is a brahmin, chatush-pathi, or a chandala, dog-eater. It doesn't matter. Simply disqualification: none. Whether he is a devotee whose heart is always crying for Krishna. And then Krishna is, "Yes, I love him."
The gopis, they are not so-called ladies. They were village girls and also not from very good families, only cowherds. So what quality is in there? No quality. From the materialistic point of view.
Simply there, they're still... Krishna says that he doesn't require. That one has to be done with total ways, one is done Krishna.
Understanding the Lord through purification
Bhaktyā mām abhijānāti, Krishna says, and your bhakti. To understand me. The only way: bhakti. It is not that anyone can understand anyway. Only bhakti. Simply, bhaktyā mām abhijānāti yāvān yaś cāsmi tattvataḥ.
So you can know Krishna. But if you want to know Krishna as He is, then you have to take to this devotion. You have to surrender. Oh. You have to surrender. You have to purify yourself of all material contamination.
Pure devotion. Anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyam. No other desire. Anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyam. Save and accept Krishna's service. There's not any other desire. Anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam.
By knowledge, by speculation, by philosophical research, understanding Krishna—that attempt to be given up. Krishna is so nice, Krishna is so lovely, Krishna is so kind.
Simply be very fast, realize we should not be fast, is every chance to understand, not by philosophical research. Well, philosophical research. What philosophical research you can do? But Krishna... He is too unlimited.
What is that? Krishna's only partial representation is Mahā-Viṣṇu.
That is explained: yasyaika-niśvasita-kālam athāvalambya, jīvanti loma-vilajā jagad-aṇḍa-nāthāḥ, viṣṇur mahān sa iha yasya kalā-viśeṣo, govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi.
Expansions and energy of the Lord
Mahā-Viṣṇu is lying in the Causal Ocean, just between the margin of the spiritual world and the material world. And in that Causal Ocean, Mahā-Viṣṇu is lying down, yoga-nidrā.
And innumerable universes are coming out from the holes of His body. And their existence is only niśvasita-kālam athāvalambya. Lamba. The breathing period, exhaling.
So long as there is exhaling, all these universes exist, and as soon as they are all gone again... bhūtvā bhūtvā pralīyate. This Mahā-Viṣṇu is described as kalā-viśeṣaḥ.
But I mean, this means a plenary expansion, part of a plenary expansion, part of this... there are so many expansions. Mahā-Viṣṇu is a plenary expansion of Saṅkarṣaṇa. This is the catur-vyūha Saṅkarṣaṇa.
That this catur-vyūha Saṅkarṣaṇa is a plenary expansion of Nārāyaṇa.
Nārāyaṇa is a plenary expansion of the first catur-vyūha expansion, and Balarāma... in this way, in the śāstra there is distribution: ete cāṁśa-kalāḥ puṁsaḥ kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam.
There are innumerable incarnations, Viṣṇu-tattva expansions. And some of them are directly part by plenary expansion, and some of them plenary expansion of the plenary expansion. They are called kalā.
So viṣṇur mahān sa iha yasya kalā-viśeṣo.
Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā, when Arjuna was asking Kṛṣṇa how Your opulence and energies are expanded, Kṛṣṇa says so many things we have read: "Among this I am this, among this I am this, among this I am this."
But He concludes: atha vā bahunaitena kiṁ jñātena tavārjuna, viṣṭabhyāham idaṁ kṛtsnam ekāṁśena sthito jagat. "How much I shall go on describing about My beauty? Simply try to
understand that this material creation is only one part manifestation of My energy." how you can understand Krishna? But the only way: bhaktyā mām abhijānāti... yāvān yaś cāsmi tattvataḥ.
Simply, if a pure devotee, uh, a pure devotee, how you can understand, Krishna reveals Himself. Teṣām evānukampārtham aham ajñāna-jaṁ tamaḥ / nāśayāmy ātma-bhāva-stho jñāna- dīpena bhāsvatā. So this is the process.
You cannot understand Krishna by speculation. Krishna... panthās tu... panthās tu koṭi-śata-vatsara-sampragamyo to understand Krishna. If one, and uh, makes progress, uh, on the path of understanding Krishna, one path.
How many years? Koṭi-śata-vatsara. Koṭi years. And hundreds of times, thousands of times of koṭi years. Panthās tu koṭi-śata-vatsara-sampragamyo, traveling very nicely. And what is the speed? Vāyor athāpi.
By the speed of the air, by the speed of the mind. Panthās tu koṭi-śata-vatsara-sampragamyo vāyor athāpi manaso muni-puṅgavānām.
Even if one makes further travels in this way, he still remains avicintya-tattva, beyond reach. So we cannot, uh, understand Krishna. Although He's so long, long distance away, still He's near to us.
That is what... He's everywhere, He's here. Sarvataḥ pāṇi-pādas tat, everywhere He has got His legs and hands. Uh, so immediately you offer something with devotion, yes, He accepts.
Uh, the only thing that you require to be qualified as a pure devotee. Then Krishna is available. Otherwise, Krishna is not available. We cannot approach. He is far, far away.
Role of the spiritual master
If one offers Me, uh, easily offers, then I accept it, and he is worshipable as I am. A devotee, a pure devotee, he is worshipable as Krishna.
Therefore, the guru is sākṣād-dharitvena because he is a pure devotee of Krishna, he is carrying Him in his heart. Sākṣād-dharitvena samasta-śāstrair. We offer prayers to our guru that a guru is sākṣād-dharitvena.
Krishna says, and Krishna says, Krishna says: “Sākṣād-dharitvena... aham,” he is as good as I am. This is what he says: “As good as I am.” And the śāstra says also there. So sākṣād-dharitvena.
Guru, whom we accepted as directly Krishna. Sākṣād-dharitvena samasta-śāstrair. Not only in one śāstra, in all the Vedic literature: guru brahma, guru viṣṇu, guru deva maheśvara. Tathā bhāvyata eva sadbhiḥ. It is said.
Sākṣād-dharitvena samasta-śāstrair tathā bhāvyata eva sadbhiḥ was not only said, but it is carried in total by sad-guru, those who are experts in devotional service. But does it mean that guru is Krishna?
No. No guru will say that “I am Krishna, I am God,” “I am better than Krishna.” This is not a guru. Guru is always a servant of Krishna. Kintu prabhor yaḥ priya eva tasya. Kintu prabhor yaḥ priya eva tasya.
Kintu prabhor yaḥ priya eva tasya. And because he is a very confidential servant of Krishna, therefore he is to be worshiped as such. And then Viśvanātha says: yasya prasādād bhagavat-prasādo.
That pure devotee, if he is pleased, then Krishna is pleased. Because he's the most confidential representative. He is doing the same work as Krishna is very much eager to act.
Krishna is very much eager to reclaim all these conditioned souls again back to home, back to Godhead.
Reclaiming souls through divine legacy
Because all of them are sons of Krishna. As the father is always anxious to get back his mad son who is bewildered and loitering in the street and suffering all kinds of trouble.
The father, the rich father, is always anxious to see his mad son who is rotting in this way in the street as a madman. If he comes back, he is always... any father, he is eager. So Krishna is the father.
He's not happy that these conditioned souls are loitering within this universe simply for sense gratification and suffering different types of miserable conditions. Then what? He comes.
Krishna says, "My dear child, you give up all your nonsense wisdom." Please, sadness. Well, no, I tell we can be hard. And it's true. Regularly go with it. This obstinate. Obstinate. Krishna failed, Krishna's devotee failed.
Yes, so obviously, no man becomes a devotee of Krishna. That's like a person ghostly haunted. He speaks all nonsense. Similarly, all these persons who talk of becoming God, they are most narādhama, lost.
Na māṁ prapadyante mūḍhāḥ duṣkṛtino narādhamāḥ. Men so much, uh, entrapped by these most amateur leaders, falsely claiming something nonsense, speculative something nonsense, there's never a useful method.
The description of narādhama, that says these languages used, it is not that we have used. This language is used in the Bhagavad-gītā. So Krishna leaves behind Him Bhagavad-gītā. Krishna leaves behind Him His pure devotee.
Krishna comes Himself as a devotee.