The Ultimate Source of All Creation
A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada · London · 1972
Chapters
Prabhupāda: Come on. Hmm. What is that?
Devotee: The Sanskrit. It's the Sanskrit.
Recitation and pronunciation of Sanskrit verses
Prabhupāda: Bhāgavata? So from the very beginning, oṁ namo bhagavate, janmādy asya yataḥ
Devotee: Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. [Prabhupāda and devotees repeat]
Prabhupāda: Janmādy asya. [begins leading chanting of verse]
Devotee: Janmādy asya yato 'nvayād itarataś cārtheṣv abhijñaḥ... [interrupts and leads chanting one word at a time]
SB 1.1.1जन्माद्यस्य यथोऽन्वयाद् इतरतश्चार्थेषु अभिज्ञः स्वराट्तेने ब्रह्म हृदा य आदिकवये मुह्यन्ति यत्सूरय: ।तेजोवारिमृदां यथा विनिमयो यत्र त्रिसर्गोऽमृषाधाम्ना स्वेन सदा निरस्तकुहकं सत्यं परम् धीमहि ॥ १ ॥oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāyajanmādy asya yato 'nvayād itarataś cārtheṣv abhijñaḥ svarāṭtene brahma hṛdā ya ādi-kavaye muhyanti yat sūrayaḥtejo-vāri-mṛdāṁ yathā vinimayo yatra tri-sargo 'mṛṣādhāmnā svena sadā nirasta-kuhakaṁ satyaṁ paraṁ dhīmahiO my Lord, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, son of Vasudeva, O all-pervading Personality of Godhead, I offer my respectful obeisances unto You. I meditate upon Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa because He is the Absolute Truth and the primeval cause of all causes of the creation, sustenance and destruction of the manifested universes. He is directly and indirectly conscious of all manifestations, and He is independent because there is no other cause beyond Him. It is He only who first imparted the Vedic knowledge unto the heart of Brahmājī, the original living being. By Him even the great sages and demigods are placed into illusion, as one is bewildered by the illusory representations of water seen in fire, or land seen on water. Only because of Him do the material universes, temporarily manifested by the reactions of the three modes of nature, appear factual, although they are unreal. I therefore meditate upon Him, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, who is eternally existent in the transcendental abode, which is forever free from the illusory representations of the material world. I meditate upon Him, for He is the Absolute Truth.
Prabhupāda: Like that. [indistinct]
Devotee: line?
Prabhupāda: Yes.
Devotee: Janmādy asya yato 'nvayād...
Prabhupāda: No, first of all let them practice. [again chants whole verse one word at a time]
CC Madhya 8.266জন্মাদ্যস্য যতোঽন্বয়াদিতরতশ্চার্থেষ্বভিজ্ঞঃ স্বরাট্তেনে ব্রহ্ম হৃদা য আদিকবয়ে মুহ্যন্তি যৎ সূরয়ঃ ।তেজোবারিমৃদাং যথা বিনিময়ো যত্র ত্রিসর্গোঽমৃষাধাম্না স্বেন সদা নিরস্তকুহকং সত্যং পরং ধীমহি ॥ ২৬৬ ॥janmādy asya yato 'nvayād itarataś cārtheṣv abhijñaḥ sva-rāṭtene brahma hṛdā ya ādi-kavaye muhyanti yat sūrayaḥtejo-vāri-mṛdāṁ yathā vinimayo yatra tri-sargo 'mṛṣādhāmnā svena sadā nirasta-kuhakaṁ satyaṁ paraṁ dhīmahi“ ‘O my Lord, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, son of Vasudeva, O all-pervading Personality of Godhead, I offer my respectful obeisances unto You. I meditate upon Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa because He is the Absolute Truth and the primeval cause of all causes of the creation, sustenance and destruction of the manifested universes. He is directly and indirectly conscious of all manifestations, and He is independent because there is no other cause beyond Him. It is He only who first imparted the Vedic knowledge unto the heart of Brahmājī, the original living being. By Him even the great sages and demigods are placed into illusion, as one is bewildered by the illusory representations of water seen in fire, or land seen on water. Only because of Him do the material universes, temporarily manifested by the reactions of the three modes of nature, appear factual, although they are unreal. I therefore meditate upon Him, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, who is eternally existent in the transcendental abode, which is forever free from the illusory representations of the material world. I meditate upon Him, for He is the Absolute Truth.’ ”
Read like that. [chants whole verse one word at a time with devotees and Prabhupāda repeating] Again. [devotee repeats verse] Next, you. [another devotee recites verse] Hmm. Kīrtanānanda Mahārāja. Janmādy. [Kīrtanānanda recites, Prabhupāda interrupts] This, this word abhijñaḥ or abhijñaḥ, both ways you can pronounce. So it is easier for you, as it is spelling abhijñaḥ, or abhijñaḥ, as you like.
Yes. [Kīrtanānanda continues] Thank you. Viṣṇujana Mahārāja. [Viṣṇujana recites, Prabhupāda corrects pronunciation] Karandhara Prabhu. [Karandhara recites] You. [another devotee recites] Any more? Anyone else? Hmm.
Preserving and sharing Vedic culture globally
[Prabhupāda sings verse twice, one line at a time]
So if you chant these mantras, at least one in one day, your life will be glorious. These mantra, bhāgavata-mantra... Not only Bhāgavata; every Vedic literature is a mantra, transcendental sound.
So practice resounding this mantra. So we have taken so much labor to put in diacritic mark, all the words, word meaning. Utilize it. Don't think that these books are only for sale.
If you go to sell these books and if some customer says, "You pronounce it," then what you will do? Then he will understand, "Oh, you are for selling, not for understanding." What do you think? Eh?
So therefore it is necessary now, you have got nice books, each and every śloka, verse, should be pronounced.
Therefore we have given this original verse in Sanskrit, its transliteration with diacritic mark—these marks are universally accepted amongst the scholars.
So all the scholars of Sanskrit, they agreed to use this mark for pronouncing Sanskrit language. Sanskrit language is very important, honored all over the world.
Especially in Germany, they are very much fond of this Sanskrit. There are many German scholar who can speak in Sanskrit language for hours, they are so serious student of Sanskrit.
One of my Godbrother, he is now in Sweden, he used to speak that "When one Indian student used to come to our country from London..."
In British days Indians would go to London, and he would take a degree there, and he would become a big man. That was the system. So while coming back home, naturally they used to visit other European countries.
So in Germany they used to test the Indian student, how far he knew about his own culture.
So this my Godbrother, his name was Ansulye[?], now he's Sadānanda Swami, so he said that as soon as we saw that the student did not know anything of his Indian culture, immediately rejected him, "That is useless."
So if, those who are Indians, especially present in this meeting, that if you want to glorify your country, then you present this Vedic literature.
You cannot excel the Western countries by so-called technological knowledge. That is not possible. They are far advanced, hundred years advanced.
Whatever machine you may discover, that machine was discovered one hundred years ago in Western countries. So you cannot. Anything.
So if you want, Indians, to glorify your country, then present this Vedic culture heart and soul, and... Just like I am trying to do it. So how people are accepting it? There is substance.
Before me, so many svāmīs came in this country; they could not present the real thing. They wanted some money and went away. That's all.
Spiritual study and cleansing the heart
Our this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is not that. We want to give something to the Western countries. That is our purpose. Not we have come to beg; we have to give him something. That is my mission.
They come here to beg, "Give me rice," "Give me ḍāl," "Give me wheat," "Give me money," but I have come here to give something of Indian culture. That is the difference.
So you European, American students, you take full advantage of this Vedic culture. I am therefore so much laboring hard that we..., before my leaving this body, I may give you some books who you can enjoy after my death.
So utilize it. Utilize it. Read every śloka nicely, try to understand the meaning, discuss amongst yourself. Nityaṁ bhagavata-sevayā. That is our mission. Naṣṭa-prāyeṣv abhadreṣu nityaṁ bhagavata-sevayā
Abhadra. We have got so many dirty things within our heart. So these dirty things can be cleansed simply by Kṛṣṇa consciousness. There is no other method.
SB 1.2.17श्रुण्वतां स्वकथां कृष्ण: पुण्यश्रवणकीर्तन: ।ह्रुद्यन्त: स्थो ह्यभद्राणि विधुनोति सुहृत्सताम् ॥ १७ ॥śṛṇvatāṁ sva-kathāḥ kṛṣṇaḥpuṇya-śravaṇa-kīrtanaḥhṛdy antaḥ stho hy abhadrāṇividhunoti suhṛt satāmŚrī Kṛṣṇa, the Personality of Godhead, who is the Paramātmā [Supersoul] in everyone’s heart and the benefactor of the truthful devotee, cleanses desire for material enjoyment from the heart of the devotee who has developed the urge to hear His messages, which are in themselves virtuous when properly heard and chanted.SB 1.2.18नष्टप्रायेष्वभद्रेषु नित्यं भागवतसेवया ।भगवत्युत्तमश्लोके भक्तिर्भवति नैष्ठिकी ॥ १८ ॥naṣṭa-prāyeṣv abhadreṣunityaṁ bhāgavata-sevayābhagavaty uttama-ślokebhaktir bhavati naiṣṭhikīBy regular attendance in classes on the Bhāgavatam and by rendering of service to the pure devotee, all that is troublesome to the heart is almost completely destroyed, and loving service unto the Personality of Godhead, who is praised with transcendental songs, is established as an irrevocable fact.
This is the process.
Divine assistance in the purification process
Śṛṇvatāṁ sva-kathāḥ kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is within your heart. Kṛṣṇa is trying to help you from within and from without. From without, He is presenting His form in this temple. You can take the advantage of serving Him.
He is sending His representative, spiritual master, to speak you directly about Kṛṣṇa, and He is ready to help you from within as Paramātmā. Kṛṣṇa is so kind.
He wants that you are all suffering in this material existence, Kṛṣṇa comes as He is, and He canvasses, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja So bhāgavata-sevayā, nityaṁ bhāgavata-sevayā cleansing the heart.
Ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanam This is the process. We are part and parcel of God, Kṛṣṇa, so we are pure. We have become impure on account of material contamination.
So we have to purify ourself, and the process is to hear about Kṛṣṇa. That's all. SB 1.2.17श्रुण्वतां स्वकथां कृष्ण: पुण्यश्रवणकीर्तन: ।ह्रुद्यन्त: स्थो ह्यभद्राणि विधुनोति सुहृत्सताम् ॥ १७ ॥śṛṇvatāṁ sva-kathāḥ kṛṣṇaḥpuṇya-śravaṇa-kīrtanaḥhṛdy antaḥ stho hy abhadrāṇividhunoti suhṛt satāmŚrī Kṛṣṇa, the Personality of Godhead, who is the Paramātmā [Supersoul] in everyone’s heart and the benefactor of the truthful devotee, cleanses desire for material enjoyment from the heart of the devotee who has developed the urge to hear His messages, which are in themselves virtuous when properly heard and chanted.
This temple, these ISKCON centers, are open just to give everyone the chance of hearing about Kṛṣṇa so that his dirty heart may be cleansed. This is the purpose. We have no other purpose.
We are not opening these centers for some material benefit. No. We want to give to the whole world the spiritual enlightenment, without which they are suffering.
Human purpose and spiritual enlightenment
And this human form of body is especially meant for this purpose, to understand our spiritual position.
Janmādy asya yataḥ, that is the first Vedānta-sūtra. The Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the natural commentary on Vedānta-sūtra. Vedānta-sūtra philosophy was expounded by Vyāsadeva, mahāmuni. And thinking that in future so many fools and rascals will misuse the Vedānta-sūtra as so-called Vedāntists, and send all people to hell, therefore he personally wrote this commentary on Vedānta-sūtra, the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
Bhāṣyaṁ brahma-sūtrāṇāṁ vedārtha paribhṛṁhitaḥ. This is bhāṣya. Bhāṣya means commentary.
Therefore he begins from the first aphorism of Vedānta-sūtra, janmādy asya yataḥ, athāto brahma jijñāsā, jīvasya tattva-jijñāsā
Jīvasya tattva-jijñāsā. Jīva, those who are conditioned souls, their only business is to enquire about self-realization. The piling of woods and stone is not advanced civilization.
My Guru Mahārāja used to say, kāṭh pāthare mistri. If you are simply engaged how to have a skyscraper building, then we become craftsmen only, how to handle woods and stones. That's all; so much success.
But what we'll do with this woods and stones? You are spirit soul. Woods and stone will not give you any pleasure. That is not possible. You are not wood and stone, you are spirit soul; you must have spiritual food.
Therefore in America especially, despite all material opulences there, you are becoming confused and frustrated and disappointed. Because woods and stone will not satisfy you. You must have spiritual food.
That is Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Thank you very much. Hare Kṛṣṇa. [end]