Fire, Heat, Light, and the Sun
A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada · Bombay · 1975
Chapters
Relationship between energy and the energetic
CC Madhya 20.110একদেশস্থিতস্যাগ্নের্জ্যোৎস্না বিস্তারিণী যথা ।পরস্য ব্রহ্মণঃ শক্তিস্তথেদমখিলং জগৎ ॥ ১১০ ॥eka-deśa-sthitasyāgnerjyotsnā vistāriṇī yathāparasya brahmaṇaḥ śaktistathedam akhilaṁ jagat“ ‘Just as the illumination of a fire, which is situated in one place, is spread all over, the energies of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Parabrahman, are spread all over this universe.’
Prabhupāda: We were discussing this verse last Sunday night. So the example is given = just like fire is localized in a place but the heat and light is expanded. The vivid example we can see, the sun.
The sun globe is situated in one place—every one of us, we can see—and the heat and light is distributed throughout the whole universe.
According to our Vedic conception, the sun is moving round, not the sun is the center. It is in the center of the universe, but it is going round. Kāla-cakra. It is called kāla-cakra. In Brahma-saṁhitā it is said,
BS 5.52यत् चक्षुरेष सविता सकल ग्रहाणांराजा समस्त सुर मूर्तिः अशेष तेजाः |यस्य आज्ञया भ्रमति संभृत काल चक्रोगोविन्दम् आदि पुरुषं तमहं भजामि ॥ ५२ ॥yac-cakṣur eṣa savitā sakala-grahāṇāṁrājā samasta-sura-mūrtir aśeṣa-tejāḥyasyājñayā bhramati sambhṛta-kāla-cakrogovindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmiThe sun who is the king of all the planets, full of infinite effulgence, the image of the good soul, is as the eye of this world. I adore the primeval Lord Govinda in pursuance of whose order the sun performs his journey mounting the wheel of time.
From Bhāgavatam we understand sun is not fixed up in one place but it is going round. And the whole universal planetary system, they are also moving, making the polestar..., so, making the polestar as the pivot.
So we can see that sun is in the center of the universe, but it is illuminating and heating the whole universe.
Similarly, Kṛṣṇa is situated in His own abode, Goloka Vṛndāvana, but by distribution of His different energies He is all-pervading. This is idea. When you speak God "all-pervading"—His energy.
But He is not different from His energy. Śakti-śaktimatayor abheda. Śaktimān, the energetic, and the energy, they are not different.
In the Bhagavad-gītā also it is said—Kṛṣṇa says—mayā tatam idaṁ sarvaṁ jagat avyakta-mūrtinā = "I am situated all over the universe in My avyakta form, nonmanifested form." The manifested form is Kṛṣṇa.
That is in Goloka Vṛndāvana. Parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate purport]. He is distributed all over the universe, everywhere.
Aṇḍāntara-stha-paramāṇu-cayāntara-stham. He is within the universe, aṇḍāntara-stham, and paramāṇu-cayāntara-stham, within the atom also. That is all-pervading. Sarvaṁ khalv idaṁ brahma. So this is to be understood.
The God is simultaneously localized and all-pervading.
Refuting impersonalism through divine energy
The Māyāvādī philosophers, they think materially, that "If God is all-pervading, why He should be localized?" Why He should not be? That is answer. God is not under your dictation. He is all-powerful. He can do so.
Remaining in His own place, He can be distributed. He can distribute Himself everywhere. Aṇḍāntara-stha-paramāṇu-cayāntara-stham. Advaitam acyutam anādim ananta-rūpam
BS 5.35एकः अपि असौ रचयितुं जगदण्ड कोटियत् शक्तिः अस्ति जगदण्ड् चया यत् अन्तः |अण्ड अन्तरस्थ परमाणु च अन्तरस्थंगोविन्दम् आदि पुरुषं तमहं भजामि ॥ ३५ ॥eko 'py asau racayituṁ jagad-aṇḍa-koṭiṁyac-chaktir asti jagad-aṇḍa-cayā yad-antaḥaṇḍāntara-stha-paramāṇu-cayāntara-stham-govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmiHe is an undifferentiated entity as there is no distinction between potency and the possessor thereof. In His work of creation of millions of worlds, His potency remains inseparable. All the universes exist in Him and He is present in His fullness in every one of the atoms that are scattered throughout the universe, at one and the same time. Such is the primeval Lord whom I adore.
This is the conception of all-pervading. So, eka-deśa-sthitasyāgner jyotsnā vistāriṇī yathā, parasya brahmaṇaḥ śaktiḥ. So we should understand presence of God everywhere by His energy.
Parasya brahmaṇaḥ śakti tathedam akhilaṁ jagat. There are many places... In Bhagavad-gītā it is also said, BG 10.42अथवा बहुनैतेन किं ज्ञातेन तवार्जुन ।विष्टभ्याहमिदं कृत्स्नमेकांशेन स्थितो जगत् ॥ ४२॥atha vā bahunaitenakiṁ jñātena tavārjunaviṣṭabhyāham idaṁ kṛtsnamekāmśena sthito jagatBut what need is there, Arjuna, for all this detailed knowledge? With a single fragment of Myself I pervade and support this entire universe.
Ekāṁśena sthito. As Paramātmā, He is situated everywhere. Then Caitanya Mahāprabhu says, CC Madhya 20.111কৃষ্ণের স্বাভাবিক তিনশক্তি-পরিণতি ।চিচ্ছক্তি, জীবশক্তি, আর মায়াশক্তি ॥ ১১১ ॥kṛṣṇera svābhāvika tina-śakti-pariṇaticic-chakti, jīva-śakti, āra māyā-śakti“Lord Kṛṣṇa naturally has three energetic transformations, and these are known as the spiritual potency, the living entity potency and the illusory potency.
So everything is parasya brahmaṇaḥ śakti. Whatever we see, that is manifestation of the Supreme Lord's different energy. The example is the fire and the heat and light. That's all.
The heat is the material energy, and light is the spiritual energy. Just like when you feel some heat, you can immediately understand there is some fire. And if there is light, you can immediately understand there is fire.
The light you can see, and heat we can feel. By feeling or seeing, we can understand the existence of God everywhere. This is intelligence, not that... They challenge foolishly, "I can... Can you show me God?
I cannot see God; therefore..." No. Why you cannot see God? You can feel the presence of God by heat and light. Light. Light you can see. When there is sunshine, you can see both the light and the heat.
So as it is confirmed in the Vedic literature, we should appreciate the presence of God everywhere by His different energies, exactly like heat and light.
Automatic function of natural laws
So this energy of Kṛṣṇa... He has got multi-energies. na tasya kāryaṁ karaṇaṁ ca vidyatena tat-samaś cābhyadhikaś ca dṛśyateparāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyatesvābhāviki jñāna-bala-kriyā ca purport]
This is Vedic injunction. Na tasya kāryaṁ karaṇaṁ ca vidyate. Kṛṣṇa... Here He is playing on His flute, but His energies are working.
Just like a big man, a big business magnate = he is sitting in his room, but his energy is working—big, big factory is going on; large amount of profit is coming automatically.
So if it is possible for ordinary human being that he is sitting in one place, and still, things are going on by management of his energy, so why not Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Lord? He is sitting in one place.
Goloka eva nivasaty akhilātma-bhūtaḥ. Ānanda-cinmaya-rasa-pratibhāvitābhis tābhir ya eva nija-rūpatayā kalābhiḥ, goloka eva nivasaty akhilātma-bhūtaḥ
He is situated in His planet, Goloka Vṛndāvana; still His energies are going on. The material energy is working, this material world. Kṛṣṇa says, mayādhyakṣeṇa prakṛtiḥ sūyate sa-carācaram
Under His vigilance all the laws of material nature is going on. Exactly in time the sun is rising, the moon is rising. Everything is going on minutely, very nicely.
Parāsya śaktiḥ. Svābhāvikī jñāna-bala-kriyā ca. It is going so nicely that Kṛṣṇa hasn't got to learn how to do it. The machine is so perfect, it is going on perfectly. The flower is coming by His energy.
Puṇyo gandhaḥ pṛthivyāṁ ca The special seed you sow on the ground, and a particular type of plant will come out, then rose will come out, a particular flavor will come out. Svābhāvikī jñāna-bala-kriyā ca.
We do not see how Kṛṣṇa's energies are working, but it is working. Don't think that "It is automatically... There was a chunk and there was..." No. Not like that. Everything. But His energy is so perfect.
Just like if you want to paint one nice flower, you have to arrange so many things—color, and the brush and the painting cloth—and you have to apply your energies and... But still, it will not come so perfect.
But Kṛṣṇa's energies are so perfect that we see automatically. But there is supervision of Kṛṣṇa. There is no question of accident. Everything is supervised.
Svābhāvikī jñāna-bala-kriyā ca. We have to do it with our hand, to paint a picture of a nice rose flower, but in the nature the flower is coming out. We see "automatically." No.
The Kṛṣṇa's energy is working there, but it is going on so swiftly, so, I mean to say, accurately, that He hasn't got to exact His energy, but it is working automatically.
Svābhāvikī jñāna-bala-kriyā ca. Whatever knowledge is required... If you have studied, you will find in the petals of the flower the color exactly symmetrical, everything. Whatever color is required, it is coming out.
We say "automatically." No automatically. Svābhāvikī jñāna-bala-kriyā. The knowledge and the action of Kṛṣṇa is so perfect, it is coming out.
So Caitanya Mahāprabhu says that kṛṣṇera svābhāvika tina... Svābhāvika. Natural, automatically, inconceivable. We cannot conceive that how it is working. So,
CC Madhya 20.111কৃষ্ণের স্বাভাবিক তিনশক্তি-পরিণতি ।চিচ্ছক্তি, জীবশক্তি, আর মায়াশক্তি ॥ ১১১ ॥kṛṣṇera svābhāvika tina-śakti-pariṇaticic-chakti, jīva-śakti, āra māyā-śakti“Lord Kṛṣṇa naturally has three energetic transformations, and these are known as the spiritual potency, the living entity potency and the illusory potency.
Categories of spiritual and material energy
So there are many energies, and all the energies now aggregated divide into three. One is cit-śakti, the spiritual energy; another is jīva-śakti, the marginal energy. Jīva-śakti... We are marginal energy.
We are śakti; we are not śaktimān. You must always remember.
Jīva-bhūtaḥ mahā-bāho yayedaṁ dhārya... Parā prakṛti. Apareyam itas tu viddhi me prakṛtiṁ parām, jīva-bhūta. Jīva is parā prakṛti. It is prakṛti. The other day I have already explained.
It is not puruṣa. Puruṣa is enjoyer, and prakṛti is enjoyed, predominated. Prakṛti is predominated and God is predominator.
So all these śaktis are under..., fully under control of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Mayādhyakṣeṇa prakṛtiḥ sūyate sa-carācaram In another place:
BS 5.44सृष्टि स्थिति प्रलय साधन शक्ति एकाःछायेव यस्य भुवनानि बिभर्त्ति दुर्गा |इच्छा अनुरूपम् अपि यस्य च चेष्टते सागोविन्दम् आदि पुरुषं तमहं भजामि ॥ ४४ ॥sṛṣṭi-sthiti-pralaya-sādhana-śaktir ekāchāyeva yasya bhuvanāni bibharti durgāicchānurūpam api yasya ca ceṣṭate sāgovindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmiThe external potency Māyā who is of the nature of the shadow of the cit potency, is worshiped by all people as Durgā, the creating, preserving and destroying agency of this mundane world. I adore the primeval Lord Govinda in accordance with whose will Durgā conducts herself.
Every śakti is working under His direction. That is Kṛṣṇa. CC Madhya 20.111কৃষ্ণের স্বাভাবিক তিনশক্তি-পরিণতি ।চিচ্ছক্তি, জীবশক্তি, আর মায়াশক্তি ॥ ১১১ ॥kṛṣṇera svābhāvika tina-śakti-pariṇaticic-chakti, jīva-śakti, āra māyā-śakti“Lord Kṛṣṇa naturally has three energetic transformations, and these are known as the spiritual potency, the living entity potency and the illusory potency.So Caitanya Mahāprabhu... That is the ācārya process.
Ācārya. Acinoti śāstra, śāstrārtha. One who knows the śāstra-artha, one who has assimilated the śāstrārtha, he is ācārya. So immediately He is giving evidence from śāstra.
CC Madhya 6.154বিষ্ণুশক্তিঃ পরা প্রোক্তা ক্ষেত্রজ্ঞাখ্যা তথাপরা ।অবিদ্যাকর্মসংজ্ঞান্যা তৃতীয়া শক্তিরিষ্যতে ॥ ১৫৪ ॥viṣṇu-śaktiḥ parā proktākṣetra-jñākhyā tathā parāavidyā-karma-saṁjñānyātṛtīyā śaktir iṣyate“ ‘The internal potency of the Supreme Lord, Viṣṇu, is spiritual, as verified by the śāstras. There is another spiritual potency, known as kṣetra-jña, or the living entity. The third potency, which is known as nescience, makes the living entity godless and fills him with fruitive activity.
The...
He has divided the whole energy of Kṛṣṇa into three = cit-śakti, jīva-śakti and māyā-śakti. So the evidence is quoted from śāstra, Viṣṇu-Purāṇa, that viṣṇu-śaktiḥ parā proktā. Originally the Kṛṣṇa's energy is cit-śakti. Cit-śakti means spiritual energy, originally.
Everything... Just like the sun and the sunshine. The sunshine originally shining, but when it is covered by cloud it is not shining. Within the cloud the real sunshine is there.
So this material energy means it is covered by ignorance. This is the difference between spiritual energy and material energy. There is no two energies.
Energy is one = viṣṇu-śakti parā proktā. That is parā, spiritual energy. Kṣetrajñākhyā tathā parā. Kṣetrajñākhyā tathā parā
Consciousness and the bodily concept
Kṣetrajña means jīva-śakti, one who knows kṣetra and kṣetrajña. This subject matter is there in the Thirteenth Chapter of Bhagavad-gītā. Kṣetra-kṣetrajñayor jñānam. So when Arjuna inquired, kṣetra-jñam, Kṛṣṇa replied, idaṁ śarīraṁ kṣetram abhidhīyate
= "This body is kṣetra, and one who knows this body..." Just like I say, "It is my body," so I am kṣetrajña. So here the same kṣetrajña. Kṣetrajñākhyā tathā parā. The jīva-śakti, that is also spiritual.
We are all spiritual, and this is our mistake, that I am thinking "I am this body." This is ignorance.
The whole world is going on under this ignorance, that "I am this body." "I am this body." Yasyātma-buddhiḥ kuṇape tri-dhātuke, sa eva go-kharaḥ
If we study this verse, that anyone who is under the conception of..., bodily conception—"I am this body"—then he is no better than the animal. Sa eva go-kharaḥ. Go means cow, and khara means ass. But this is going on.
The whole, the so-called nationalism, nations... So what is this idea of nation? "I am American," "I am Indian," "I am Hindustani," "I am Pakistani." Bodily concept of life. But śāstra rejects immediately.
If anyone is under the bodily conception of life, he is...
Sa eva go-kharaḥ: "He is no better than the animal." This is the challenge of the śāstra. So all these so-called nationality, big, big nations, big, big races, caste and so on, so on, what is their position?
The position is that all of them are animals. That's all. This is the verdict of the śāstra. Sa eva go-kharaḥ.
Actually this morning we were talking, one dog sees another dog = "Oh, he is coming from another neighborhood." He immediately begins to bark. Immigration department = "Why you are coming in this neighborhood?
All right, you can stay here for three days, then you must have to go out." The dog barking. So we have opened so many branches, but the basic principle is sa eva go-kharaḥ
All of them are on the platform of animal conscious. This is the modern civilization. India was never meant for that. Paṇḍitāḥ sama-darśinaḥ. This high culture we have lost now.
Paṇḍitāḥ sama-darśinaḥ. They never distin... Vidyā-vinaya-sampanne brāhmaṇe gavi hastini, śuni caiva śva-pāke... Because there was no bodily concept of life. This is India's prerogative.
But now we are also developing the bodily concept of life and becoming one of the animals. There is no distinction. If one is in bodily concept of life he is no better than animal. It may be...
The dogs are fighting that "I am dog, and you are a different dog." If the man also fights on that same principle, then where is the difference between dog and man? So this can be understood when actually...
Overcoming material suffering and karma
Prahlāda Mahārāja was surprised when his teacher was teaching him how to deal with enemies. He was surprised = "Who is enemy?" So a Vaiṣṇava has no enemy. Vaiṣṇava is friend. Patitānāṁ pāvanebhyo.
vāñchā-kalpatarubhyaś cakṛpā-sindhubhya eva capatitānāṁ pāvanebhyovaiṣṇavebhyo namo namaḥ
Vaiṣṇava is meant for delivering the patita, the fallen. Fallen means fallen in the bodily conception of life.
That is patita. So patitānāṁ pāvanebhyo. Kṛṣṇa's also business is to deliver these fools and rascals in the bodily concept of life, that dehino 'smin yathā dehe kaumāraṁ yauvanaṁ jarā
first pointing out that "You are not this body." Then knowledge begins. And otherwise, where is knowledge if one is under the bodily concept of life? He has no knowledge.
And he is parā-śakti. But not aparā-śakti. The aparā-śakti... What is that aparā-śakti? Now, avidyā-karma-saṁjñā anyā tṛtīyā śaktir iṣyate. This material world means full of avidyā and karma-saṁjñā, and working hard like hogs and dogs day and night.
This is material world. Material world means based on ignorance that "I am this body," and working day and night like hogs and dogs. That is material life.
But human life, although we have got this material life, body, we should not be, I mean to say, bewildered. Ahaṅkāra-vimūḍhātmā kartāham iti manyate
Ahaṅkāra, taking this body in the concept of ahaṅkāra, false ahaṅkāra, egotism—"I am Indian," "I am American," "I am this," "I am that"—this is called ahaṅkāra. Vimudhātmā kartāham iti manyate. And the whole world is going on.
So if we want to become out of this ignorance, then we have to take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Otherwise there is no possibility.
And if we remain in ignorance, then we shall go on committing sinful activities and entangle ourselves in the karma-cakra. Asann api kleśada āsa dehaḥ
If you don't give up this ignorance of bodily concept of life, and if you go on continuing this bodily concept of life, then we are becoming entangled in the laws of nature. Karmaṇā daiva-netreṇa jantor deha upapatti
And then we'll create another situation for another body. And another body means another period of suffering. This is going on.
Asann api kleśada āsa dehaḥ, na sādhu manye yato ātmano 'yam. Atma is sac-cid-ānanda, but on account of being bodily covered, encaged in this body, we are suffering. We are suffering.
Therefore Kṛṣṇa says that tāṁs titikṣasva bhārata: "Bhārata, O the son of Bharata dynasty, Bhārata..." So in the material world the suffering is there. But what is that suffering?
Mātrā-sparśās tu kaunteya śītoṣṇa sukha-duḥkha-dāḥ On account of this body... Now, in this season, we are feeling heat. Therefore the fan is there. But another season the body is the same, but season has changed.
Therefore I will have to cover with hot coat and pant. So this feeling of heat and cold is due to this body. And what is this body, this material body?
Therefore all our feelings of happiness and distress, it is due to this body. That we do not know. So therefore the best solution of miserable condition of life is to stop this material body.
Then you become spiritually situated, and there is no more contradiction. BG 2.14मात्रास्पर्शास्तु कौन्तेय शीतोष्णसुखदुःखदाः ।आगमापायिनोऽनित्यास्तांस्तितिक्षस्व भारत ॥१४॥mātrā-sparśās tu kaunteyaśītoṣṇa-sukha-duḥkha-dāḥāgamāpāyino 'nityāstāṁs titikṣasva bhārataO son of Kuntī, the nonpermanent appearance of happiness and distress, and their disappearance in due course, are like the appearance and disappearance of winter and summer seasons. They arise from sense perception, O scion of Bharata, and one must learn to tolerate them without being disturbed.That is the advice.
Purifying existence through spiritual practice
We have to do our own business, self-realization. That is tapasya. Tapo divyaṁ putrakā yena śuddhyet sattvam Existence...
To purify the existence we have to practice tapasya, not running like cats and dogs here and there. This will not make solution of life.
Human life is meant for tapo divyaṁ putrakā yena śuddhyet sattvaṁ yasmād brahma-saukhyam anantam. This is the process. Mahat-sevāṁ dvāram āhur vimukteḥ
If you want to get out of this entanglement of distressed condition of material body, then mahat-sevām: you associate with mahātmās and serve him.
Mahat-sevāṁ dvāram āhur vimuktes tamo-dvāraṁ yoṣitāṁ saṅgi-saṅgam. And if you want to enjoy senses, then the path of darkness is there = tamo-dvāram. Then you do not know where you are going.
Today you are human being. Tomorrow, after this body, you may become a plant or tree or something else. That is tamo-dvāram. We are pushing through darkness. But we should not remain in darkness.
Jyotir gamaḥ, tamasi mā: "Don't remain in darkness. Come to the light."
So we have got so many books of knowledge giving us light, especially in this age, Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Take advantage of this and come into the light and make your life successful.
This is Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. Thank you very much.
Devotees: Jaya Prabhupāda. [end]