The Supreme Lord's Eternal Dharma

0:00[leads chanting of verse, etc.] [break] SB 5.5.19इदं शरीरं मम दुर्विभाव्यंसत्त्वं हि मे हृदयं यत्र धर्मः ।पृष्ठे कृतो मे यदधर्म आरादअतो हि मामृषभं प्राहुरार्याः ॥१९॥idaṁ śarīraṁ mama durvibhāvyaṁsattvaṁ hi me hṛdayaṁ yatra dharmaḥpṛṣṭhe kṛto me yad adharma ārādato hi mām ṛṣabhaṁ prāhur āryāḥMy transcendental body [sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha] looks exactly like a human form, but it is not a material human body. It is inconceivable. I am not forced by nature to accept a particular type of body; I take on a body by My own sweet will. My heart is also spiritual, and I always think of the welfare of My devotees. Therefore within My heart can be found the process of devotional service, which is meant for the devotees. Far from My heart have I abandoned irreligion [adharma] and nondevotional activities. They do not appeal to Me. Due to all these transcendental qualities, people generally pray to Me as Ṛṣabhadeva, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the best of all living entities.

Transcendental nature of the divine form

0:57Pradyumna: **Translation = "My transcendental body, sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha, looks exactly like a human form, but it is not a material human body. It is inconceivable.

1:10I am not forced by nature to accept a particular type of body; I take on a body by My own sweet will. My heart is also spiritual, and I always think of the welfare of My devotees.

1:23Therefore within My heart can be found the process of devotional service, which is meant for the devotees. Far from My heart have I abandoned irreligion, or adharma, and nondevotional activities.

1:36They do not appeal to Me. Due to all these transcendental qualities, people generally pray to Me as Ṛṣabhādeva, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the best of all living entities." [break]**

1:51SB 5.5.19इदं शरीरं मम दुर्विभाव्यंसत्त्वं हि मे हृदयं यत्र धर्मः ।पृष्ठे कृतो मे यदधर्म आरादअतो हि मामृषभं प्राहुरार्याः ॥१९॥idaṁ śarīraṁ mama durvibhāvyaṁsattvaṁ hi me hṛdayaṁ yatra dharmaḥpṛṣṭhe kṛto me yad adharma ārādato hi mām ṛṣabhaṁ prāhur āryāḥMy transcendental body [sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha] looks exactly like a human form, but it is not a material human body. It is inconceivable. I am not forced by nature to accept a particular type of body; I take on a body by My own sweet will. My heart is also spiritual, and I always think of the welfare of My devotees. Therefore within My heart can be found the process of devotional service, which is meant for the devotees. Far from My heart have I abandoned irreligion [adharma] and nondevotional activities. They do not appeal to Me. Due to all these transcendental qualities, people generally pray to Me as Ṛṣabhadeva, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the best of all living entities.

2:13Prabhupāda: So God, whether impersonal or personal, that we cannot conclude by our speculation. It is not possible. Durvibhāvyam. Durvibhāvyam means beyond your conception, beyond your speculation.

2:49But He says that idaṁ śarīram. He has got His body; He is not impersonal. He comes sometimes as incarnation. We can see Kṛṣṇa with two hands, two legs, one head.

3:16Veṇuṁ kvaṇantam aravinda dalāyatākṣaṁbarhāvataṁsam asitāmbuda-sundarāṅgam[Bs. 5.30].

3:22This is described in the Vedic literature. He has two hands and He is playing on flute. He has got the peacock feather on His head. It is not imagination.

Spiritual perception and deity worship

3:45The Kṛṣṇa arcā-mūrti, it is not imagination, as rascals think, that they have imaginated an idol. This is not idol worship. This is actually... I have several times explained that here is Kṛṣṇa, personally present.

4:09We should always think like that, not that it is idol worship.

4:16But durvibhāvyam means although He is present, the less intelligent class of men, they will think that "They are worshiping one statue." But that is not possible.

4:40You do not know what is the form of the Lord because your present senses are imperfect. Ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi na bhaved grāhyam idriyaiḥ CC Madhya 17.136

4:58—the Lord's name, His form, His pastimes—na bhaved grāhyam indriyaiḥ—our present senses are unable to conceive. Just like the soul is there within the body but nobody can see where is that soul.

5:27Similarly, God is also within this body, but nobody can see. It is specifically mentioned, īśvaraḥ sarva bhūtānām hṛd deśe arjuna tiṣṭhati BG 18.61The Lord is situated in everyone's heart, but find out the heart, where is God.

5:51There is, but you cannot see. Ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi na bhaved grāhyam indriyaiḥ CC Madhya 17.136Present senses are unable to see. You have to prepare your eyes. Just like with cataract you cannot see anything.

6:12You have to undergo surgical operation. Then you will see. That surgical operation process is bhakti. CC Madhya 19.170সর্বোপাধিবিনির্মুক্তং তৎপরত্বেন নির্মলম্ ।হৃষীকেণ হৃষীকেশ-সেবনং ভক্তিরুচ্যতে ॥ ১৭০ ॥sarvopādhi-vinirmuktaṁtat-paratvena nirmalamhṛṣīkeṇa hṛṣīkeśa-sevanaṁ bhaktir ucyate“ ‘Bhakti, or devotional service, means engaging all our senses in the service of the Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the master of all the senses. When the spirit soul renders service unto the Supreme, there are two side effects. One is freed from all material designations, and one’s senses are purified simply by being employed in the service of the Lord.’

6:42Hṛṣīkena hṛṣīkeśa sevanam. If God has no form, how He is Hṛṣīkeśa, and how we can serve with our senses? Hṛṣīkena hṛṣīkeśa sevanam. That is bhakti. So God has form, but it is inconceivable by us.

7:08But from the śāstra we can understand what kind of body God has. Just like in the Brahma-saṁhitā it is explained,

7:31BS 5.32अंगानि यस्य सकल इन्द्रिय वृत्तिमंतिपश्यन्ति पाँति कलयन्ति चिरम जगन्ति ।आनंद चिन्मय सत उज्जवल विग्रहस्यगोविन्दम् आदि पुरुषं तमहं भजामि ॥ ३२ ॥aṅgāni yasya sakalendriya-vṛtti-mantipaśyanti pānti kalayanti ciraṁ jagantiānanda-cinmaya-sad-ujjvala-vigrahasyagovindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmiI worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, whose transcendental form is full of bliss, truth, substantiality and is thus full of the most dazzling splendor. Each of the limbs of that transcendental figure possesses in Himself, the full-fledged functions of all the organs, and eternally sees, maintains and manifests the infinite universes, both spiritual and mundane.

7:41Now, it is inconceivable. Aṅgāni yasya sakalendriya vṛtti-manti. Now we have got this understanding that we can see with our eyes, but God can not only see with His eyes, He can eat with His eyes. This is inconceivable.

8:06We shall think, "How it is possible that one can eat with His eyes?" Therefore śāstra says, aṅgāni yasya sakalendriya vṛtti-manti BS 5.32Just like we offer foodstuff to the Deity.

8:27The atheist will say, "Oh, you have offered this, so many nice foodstuff, but He has not eaten.

8:39It is there, lying there." But he does not know that God has His indriyas, sakalendriya vṛtti-manti. As soon as sees the foodstuff is offered, He has eaten. That they do not know. This is inconceivable.

8:58Unless we accept the inconceivable energy of the Lord, there is no question of God. So He can eat by seeing. Aggāni yasya sakalendriya vṛtti-manti paśyanti pānti kalayanti ciraṁ jaganti BS 5.32

9:24He can offer you blessing, everything, by one aṅga. By one part of the body He can do everything. This is inconceivable.

Bhakti as the process of realization

9:38Adhokṣaja. Therefore another name of God is called Adhokṣaja. Akṣaja jñānam adhaḥ kṛta. Our knowledge is sense perception. Sense perception, akṣaja jñānam. That will not act there.

10:02Acintya. Therefore we have to accept in that way. Idaṁ śarīram, but He has His body. He has His body, and because we cannot conceive, He, out of His causeless mercy, He presents Himself in a form which we can see.

10:25That is arcā-vigraha, arcā-mūrti. A vigraha. Arcā means the form which we can worship. If God is impersonal... Avyaktāsakta-cetasām. Kleśo adhikataras teṣām. If we accept God as impersonal... He is not impersonal.

10:52He says idaṁ śarīram. He is personal. But our present senses cannot perceive. That is the difficulty.

11:04Therefore out of His causeless mercy He has appeared in a form which you can see, you can touch, you can dress, you can offer garland, you can offer food—to accept your service. That is God's mercy.

11:24Don't think that "Because God mercifully has come before Me in a form which we can perceive, which we can see, with which we can serve," not that "He is not God." That is rascaldom. God is there.

11:45Otherwise Caitanya Mahāprabhu, as soon as He entered the Jagannātha's temple, immediately He fainted. Does it mean He made a fun? No. He saw the Supreme Personality of Godhead present there. So it requires eyes to see God.

12:13That eyes you have to prepare. What is that eyes? Premāñjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena BS 5.38You have to apply eyes' ointment.

12:29Just like there is some medicine, eye ointment, which you apply—you can see very distinctly—similarly, that ointment is premāñjana. If you develop love for God... Just like Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

12:51He is in ecstasy, always in love. He can see. Similarly, if you develop your love for God, then you can see. Premāñjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena BS 5.38

13:10This premāñjana, this ointment of love, is bhakti. In the Bhagavad-gītā also it is said, bhaktyā mām abhijānāti yāvān yaś cāsmi tattvataḥ BG 18.55Tattvataḥ, not superficially—actually what He is.

13:28That you can understand through bhakti, not any other process. Kṛṣṇa does not say that you can..., bhakta..., not bhakta but jñānam. There are jñānīs. There are yogīs. No.

13:48They cannot understand bhagavān tattvataḥ. Therefore Bhagavān says, BG 7.3मनुष्याणां सहस्रेषु कश्चिद्यतति सिद्धये ।यततामपि सिद्धानां कश्चिन्मां वेत्ति तत्त्वतः ॥३॥manuṣyāṇāṁ sahasreṣukaścid yatati siddhayeyatatām api siddhānāṁkaścin māṁ vetti tattvataḥOut of many thousands among men, one may endeavor for perfection, and of those who have achieved perfection, hardly one knows Me in truth.

14:07"Even persons who are already siddha, perfect jñānīs, yogīs, they are also unable to see Me." If one, however, by good fortune—the yogīs, the jñānīs—come in contact with a bhakta, then, by the mercy of the bhakta, by the mercy of Kṛṣṇa, he can see.

14:36Otherwise durvibhāvya, idaṁ śarīraṁ mama. The Supreme Personality says, mama: "My. My body. I have got My body," but durvibhāvyam. So we have to understand God as He says. Don't imagine. Don't speculate. That is useless.

15:04BS 5.34पन्थाः तु कोटि शत वत्सर सम प्रगम्योवायोः अथ अपि मनसो मुनि पुंगवानाम् |सः अपि अस्ति यत् प्रपद् सीम्नि अविचिन्त्य तत्त्वेगोविन्दम् आदि पुरुषं तमहं भजामि ॥ ३४ ॥panthās tu koṭi-śata-vatsara-sampragamyovāyor athāpi manaso muni-puṅgavānāmso 'py asti yat-prapada-sīmny avicintya-tattvegovindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmiI worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, only the tip of the toe of whose lotus feet is approached by the yogīs who aspire after the transcendental and betake themselves to prāṇāyāma by drilling the respiration; or by the jñānīs who try to find out the nondifferentiated Brahman by the process of elimination of the mundane, extending over thousands of millions of years.

Acquiring knowledge through aural reception

15:19Avicintya or durvibhāvyam, the same thing. Even if you try to understand God or want to go to God vāyor athāpi, by your airplane at the speed of the mind, not ordinary speed... Mind's speed you can imagine.

15:49You are sitting here, and fifteen thousand miles away, New York, you can immediately see your room there. This is mind's speed. Immediately, within a second. Just imagine how much the mind is speedy. Mind is subtle.

16:09Everyone, you have got mind, I have got mind, but I cannot see your mind; you cannot see my mind. Subtle. This is a material thing. Bhūmir āpo'nalo vāyuḥ khaṁ mano BG 7.4

16:25Khaṁ mano, mano. The sky, ether, we cannot see but we can perceive. When you press the sky [claps] like this, there is sound. You can understand, "Here is sky." But mind you cannot see, still subtle.

16:44BG 3.42इन्द्रियाणि पराण्याहुरिन्द्रियेभ्यः परं मनः ।मनसस्तु परा बुद्धिर्यो बुद्धेः परतस्तु सः ॥४२॥indriyāṇi parāṇy āhurindriyebhyaḥ paraṁ manaḥmanasas tu parā buddhiryo buddheḥ paratas tu saḥThe working senses are superior to dull matter; mind is higher than the senses; intelligence is still higher than the mind; and he [the soul] is even higher than the intelligence.

16:53So the soul is so subtle, you cannot see. You cannot see sky, and still finer is the mind, still finer is intelligence, and still finer, the soul. So how can you see? With your gross eyes it is not possible.

17:12Therefore they are bewildered, how the soul is being transferred from one body to another. They see the gross body. Kṛṣṇa says, na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre BG 2.20tathā dehāntara prāptiḥ BG 2.13

17:24But doctors, medical men, scientists, they cannot see that where is the soul, how the soul is transmigrating. These are all durvibhāvya, inconceivable.

17:45Therefore we have to hear from the authorities, from Kṛṣṇa, that there is soul; there is ātmā; there is transmigration. And everything, what is spoken in the śāstra, they are fact.

18:02But we do not consult śāstra. We become scientists. We become philosophers. With gross understanding, dull understanding, poor understanding, how you can understand yourself and God?

18:19So there is no question of self-realization by your gross understanding. You have to understand by hearing. Therefore to get real knowledge is not by the eyes and senses but by the ear.

18:44Therefore Vedic knowledge is called śruti. You have to receive knowledge—śruti. Tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum evābhigacchet Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad 1.2.12Why?

18:58The guru means who is fully aware of the śruti, śrotriyam, one who has perfectly listened to his guru. Śrotriyaṁ brahma-niṣṭham. And by hearing only, he has become brahma-niṣṭham, without any doubt = "Yes, there is God.

19:24Yes." We have to approach such person who has perfectly listened to his... Evaṁ paramparā-prāptam imaṁ rājarṣayo viduḥ BG 4.2So by śruti, by hearing oral reception.

19:43Just like there is practical example = Suppose you are sleeping, and somebody is coming to do you some harm, to kill you, but another person is warning you, "Please get up! Get up!

20:02Somebody is coming to kill you, somebody." But it will act, because while other senses are practically dead, the ear is working. By hearing, you can get up. This is practical.

20:25So at the present moment we are sleeping, sleeping in the darkness. Therefore to get knowledge we have to use our ears.

20:38Śravaṇam. Therefore to enter into the devotional service one has to use this ear, śravaṇam. Śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ smaraṇaṁ pāda... And śravaṇam about whom?

20:54Śravaṇam about Viṣṇu, śravaṇaṁ kīrta... Not of others. Śravaṇam. They say that "You can hear anything." No.

21:05SB 7.5.23श्रीप्रह्राद उवाचश्रवणं कीर्तनं विष्णो: स्मरणं पादसेवनम् ।अर्चनं वन्दनं दास्यं सख्यमात्मनिवेदनम् ॥ २३ ॥इति पुंसार्पिता विष्णौ भक्तिश्चेन्नवलक्षणा ।क्रियेत भगवत्यद्धा तन्मन्येऽधीतमुत्तमम् ॥ २४ ॥śrī-prahrāda uvācaśravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥsmaraṇaṁ pāda-sevanamarcanaṁ vandanaṁ dāsyaṁsakhyam ātma-nivedanamiti puṁsārpitā viṣṇaubhaktiś cen nava-lakṣaṇākriyeta bhagavaty addhātan manye ’dhītam uttamamPrahlāda Mahārāja said: Hearing and chanting about the transcendental holy name, form, qualities, paraphernalia and pastimes of Lord Viṣṇu, remembering them, serving the lotus feet of the Lord, offering the Lord respectful worship with sixteen types of paraphernalia, offering prayers to the Lord, becoming His servant, considering the Lord one’s best friend, and surrendering everything unto Him (in other words, serving Him with the body, mind and words) — these nine processes are accepted as pure devotional service. One who has dedicated his life to the service of Kṛṣṇa through these nine methods should be understood to be the most learned person, for he has acquired complete knowledge.

21:32This is the process. Tad vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum evābhigacchet, śrotriyaṁ brahma-niṣṭham Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad 1.2.12These are the injunction. Ādau gurvāśrayaṁ sad dharma pṛcchat sādhu mārganu gamanam. These are the process.

Refuting impersonalism and material logic

21:35So Ṛṣabhadeva said that "I have got My body," idaṁ śarīram, when He appears to solve our problem whether God is personal or impersonal. Impersonal is there, there is no doubt, but what is that impersonal?

22:03Mayā tatam idaṁ sarvaṁ jagat avyakta-mūrtinā BG 9.4That is impersonal. No, He's mayā: "By Me." That means His energy. His energy is distributed throughout the whole creation, cosmic manifestation. But He is still there.

22:27Mayā. Unless He is there... Not that because He is spread everywhere—vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti BG 7.19—it does not mean He is finished. That is material understanding.

22:42In the materially, if you take a piece of paper and make it a small pieces and throw it, then the original paper is no longer existing. That is material conception. But spiritual conception?

23:02Pūrṇasya pūrṇam ādāya pūrṇam evāvaśiṣyate [Īśo Invocation]. That is spiritual idea. If you take cent percent God from God, still He is cent percent.

23:18That is pūrṇasya pūrṇam ādāya pūrṇam evāvaśiṣyate. Īśāvāsyam idam. So Kṛṣṇa says that mayā, "In My another feature, vasudeva feature," mayā tatam idaṁ sarvam. Everything is God, but everything is not God.

23:34That is explained by God. BG 9.4मया ततमिदं सर्वं जगदव्यक्तमूर्तिना ।मत्स्थानि सर्वभूतानि न चाहं तेष्ववस्थितः ॥४॥mayā tatam idaṁ sarvaṁjagad avyakta-mūrtināmat-sthāni sarva-bhūtānina cāhaṁ teṣv avasthitaḥBy Me, in My unmanifested form, this entire universe is pervaded. All beings are in Me, but I am not in them.The Māyāvādīs, the poor fund knowledge, they say, "Why you are worshiping God here?

23:54He is everywhere." "He is everywhere? He is in the temple also." "No," they will say, "not in the temple. He is everywhere except in the temple. Don't go to the temple." This is rascaldom.

24:07If God is everywhere, why He is not in the temple? So this is their knowledge, poor fund of knowledge. Alpa-medhasā. Alpa-medhasā. Avajānanti māṁ mūḍhāḥ BG 9.11So God has form, but He is sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha. He is not...

24:37When it is said, the nirākāra, "no form," that does not mean that He has no ākāra. The ākāra, or the form which we understand, He hasn't got that form. He is sac-cid-ānanda vigrahaḥ BS 5.1

24:53Otherwise how He can accept your offerings? Kṛṣṇa says that patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ yo me bhaktyā prayacchati, tad aham aśnāmi BG 9.26He says, "I eat." So if He has no mouth, how He can eat?

25:16And therefore the Vedic literature informs us that paśyati acakṣuḥ: "He sees, but He has no eyes." When the Vedic literature says that He has no eyes, that means He has no eyes like us.

25:36But He has got eyes; otherwise how He sees? Paśyati acakṣuḥ śṛṇoti akarṇaḥ. He can hear; otherwise what is the use of offering prayer? Yes, He hears, but akarṇa, not that He has got ears like you.

25:56He is in the Vaikuṇṭha, many, many millions' and trillions' miles away, but still, you are offering here, "Govindam ādi puruṣam." He is hearing. He is here. Sarvatra pāṇi pādas tat. This thing should be understood.

26:18And because we do not understand—everything we try to test with our limited understanding—therefore we do not believe in the activities of the Lord, and we are deceived in that way.

Accepting the authority of absolute truth

26:35God is all-powerful, but when we hear that God at the age of seven years age, old, He lifted the Govardhana Hill, immediately we dismiss, "Oh, this is all mythology." Why?

26:55If He has got inconceivable power—He is all-powerful—is it very difficult for Him to lift the Govardhana Hill? "No, we don't believe in God.

27:09Even if we believe, we want to believe in our own way." That is bhāvyam, conceivable. But He is durvibhāvyam. You cannot conceive. Two contradict things.

27:39Just like here Kṛṣṇa said, Ṛṣabhadeva, that sattvaṁ hi me hṛdayaṁ yatra dharmaḥ. The dharma and adharma, they are two contradictory thought. But He is the source of dharma and adharma both. Janmādy asya yataḥ SB 1.1.1

27:47Adharma, which we hate, that is also coming from God. Janmādya asya yataḥ. Otherwise... That is explained here. Pṛṣṭhe. Pṛṣṭhe kṛto me yad adharma ārāt. So adharma is also there in God—on the back side.

28:12So is there any difference between back side and front side? Advaya-jñāna, absolute. No. So these things have to be understood, that both dharma and adharma, they are coming from... He is the original soul.

28:29Yato vā imāni bhūtāni jāyante [Taittirīya Upaniṣad 3.1]. Everything is coming from Him. So dharma and adharma, that is duality, duality understanding within this material world.

28:44In the spiritual world there is no such thing. The dharma and adharma is the same thing because the same source. This to be understood from right sources, right person. Then we can understand.

29:05But He comes, Kṛṣṇa comes, out of His causeless mercy to inform us. Not only Kṛṣṇa—many other incarnation of Kṛṣṇa. Just like Ṛṣabhadeva, He is also incarnation of Kṛṣṇa. He is explaining Himself.

29:27So we should take advantage of understanding the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Absolute Truth, from the Absolute Truth. Don't speculate. Speculation has no meaning.

29:43So we have got this instruction of the Supreme Personality of Godhead in the Bhagavad-gītā. So if we are serious about understanding about God, then we can hear from Him.

30:04And whatever He says, whatever He instructs, you take it. Then our life will be successful. And if we speculate, panthās tu koṭi-śata-vatsara-sampra...

30:15CC Madhya 17.136অতঃ শ্রীকৃষ্ণনামাদি ন ভবেদ্‌গ্রাহ্যমিন্দ্রিয়ৈঃ ।সেবোন্মুখে হি জিহ্বাদৌ স্বয়মেব স্ফুরত্যদঃ ॥ ১৩৬ ॥ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādina bhaved grāhyam indriyaiḥsevonmukhe hi jihvādausvayam eva sphuraty adaḥ“ ‘Therefore material senses cannot appreciate Kṛṣṇa’s holy name, form, qualities and pastimes. When a conditioned soul is awakened to Kṛṣṇa consciousness and renders service by using his tongue to chant the Lord’s holy name and taste the remnants of the Lord’s food, the tongue is purified, and one gradually comes to understand who Kṛṣṇa really is.’

30:16So this is the process. We must be ready to surrender to Him. We must be ready to render service unto Him. Then our spiritual life will be revived.

30:39At the present moment we are covered by the material conception of life = "I am this body," "I am Indian," "I am American," "I am brāhmaṇa," "I am kṣatriya." These are all designations, sarvopādhi-vinirmuktam CC Madhya 19.170

30:57When you become free from these all these designation—you become purified—then you can develop your love for God. Hṛṣīkena hṛṣīkeśa sevanaṁ bhaktir ucyate. Thank you very much.

31:14Devotees: Jaya Prabhupāda. [end]