19810318 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 3.7.1-2

The following is a class given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on March 18, 1981. The class begins with a reading from the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Canto 3, Chapter 7, Texts 1 and 2.

śrī-śuka uvāca
evaṁ bruvāṇaṁ maitreyaṁ 
dvaipāyana-suto budhaḥ 
prīṇayann iva bhāratyā 
viduraḥ pratyabhāṣata

brahman kathaṁ bhagavataś 
cin-mātrasyāvikāriṇaḥ 
līlayā cāpi yujyeran 
nirguṇasya guṇāḥ kriyāḥ
(ŚB 3.7.1-2)

Translation : Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: O King, while Maitreya, the great sage, was thus speaking, Vidura, the learned son of Dvaipāyana Vyāsa, expressed a request in a pleasing manner by asking this question.

(Translation with repetition)

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 3.7.2

vidura uvāca
brahman kathaṁ bhagavataś 
cin-mātrasyāvikāriṇaḥ 
līlayā cāpi yujyeran 
nirguṇasya guṇāḥ kriyāḥ

Translation by His Divine Grace Śrīla A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda: Śrī Vidura said: O great brāhmaṇa, since the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the complete spiritual whole and is unchangeable, how is He connected with the material modes of nature and their activities? If this is His pastime, how do the activities of the unchangeable take place and exhibit qualities without the modes of nature?

(Translation with repetition)

As described in the previous chapter, the difference between the Supersoul, the Supreme Lord, and the living entities is that the activities of the Lord in creating the cosmic manifestation are performed by the Lord through the agency of His multifarious energies, but this manifestation is bewildering to the living entities. The Lord is therefore the master of the energies, whereas the living entities are subjugated by them. By asking various questions about transcendental activities, Vidura is clearing the misconception that when the Lord either descends to the earth in His incarnation or appears Himself with all His potencies, He too is subjected to the influence of māyā, just like an ordinary living entity. This is generally the calculation of less intelligent philosophers who consider the position of the Lord and that of the living entities to be on the same level. Vidura is hearing the great sage Maitreya refute these arguments. The Lord is described in this verse as cin-mātra, or completely spiritual. The Personality of Godhead has unlimited potencies to create and manifest many wonderful things, both temporary and permanent. Because this material world is the creation of His external energy, it thus appears to be temporary; it is manifested at certain intervals, maintained for some time, and again dissolved and conserved in His own energy. As described in Bhagavad-gītā (8.19), bhūtvā bhūtvā pralīyate.  But the creation of His internal potency, the spiritual world, is not a temporary manifestation like the material world, but is eternal and full of transcendental knowledge, opulence, energy, strength, beauties and glories. Such manifestations of the Lord’s potencies are eternal and are therefore called nirguṇa, or free from all tinges of the modes of material nature, even up to the mode of material goodness. The spiritual world is transcendental even to material goodness and thus is unchangeable. Since the Supreme Lord of such eternal and unchangeable qualities is never subjugated by anything like material influence, how can His activities and form be conceived to be under the influence of illusory māyā, as is the case with the living entities?

A juggler or magician displays many wonders with his acts and arts. He can become a cow by his magical tactics, and yet he is not that cow; but at the same time, the cow displayed by the magician is not different from him. Similarly, the material potency is not different from the Lord because it is an emanation from Him, but at the same time, that manifestation of potency is not the Supreme Lord. The Lord’s transcendental knowledge and potency always remain the same; they do not change, even when displayed in the material world. As stated in Bhagavad-gītā, the Lord descends to the earth by His own internal potency, and therefore there is no question of His becoming materially contaminated, changed or otherwise affected by the modes of material nature. The Lord is saguṇa by His own internal potency, but at the same time He is nirguṇa, since He is not in touch with the material energy. The restrictions of the prison house are applicable to prisoners who are condemned by the king’s law, but the king is never affected by such implications, although he may visit the prison house out of his good will. In the Viṣṇu Purāṇa the six opulences of the Lord are stated to be nondifferent from Him. The opulences of transcendental knowledge, strength, opulence, potency, beauty and renunciation are all identical with the Personality of Godhead. When He personally displays such opulences in the material world, they have no connection with the modes of material nature. The very word cin-mātratva is the guarantee that the Lord’s activities are always transcendental, even when displayed in the material world. His activities are as good as the Supreme Personality Himself; otherwise, liberated devotees like Śukadeva Gosvāmī would not have been attracted by them. Vidura inquired how the Lord’s activities can be in the modes of material nature, as is sometimes miscalculated by persons with a poor fund of knowledge. The inebriety of the material qualities is due to the difference between the material body and the spirit soul. The conditioned soul’s activities are displayed through the medium of the modes of material nature and are therefore perverted in appearance. However, the Lord’s body and the Lord Himself are one and the same, and when the Lord’s activities are displayed, they are certainly nondifferent from the Lord in all respects. The conclusion is that persons who consider the Lord’s activities material are certainly mistaken.

Thus, end the purport… the Bhaktivedanta purport of Text 2, Chapter 7, Canto 3 of the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Śrī Vidura has asked such a poignant question. So exact. The question is given in such exact terminology that no one can help but admire how clear and how clear is the question and how pure is the understanding of Vidura.

Since the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the complete spiritual whole and is unchangeable, first of all Vidura defines Kṛṣṇa, defines the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He has no doubt that Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, He is the complete whole, there is nothing outside of Kṛṣṇa. Complete whole means there is nothing outside of Kṛṣṇa, that means there is nothing independent of Kṛṣṇa and is unchangeable.

Kṛṣṇa, He is not a product of material energy. Products of material energy are always changing their shape. This temple room was at one time colored, now it is white, you see. But everyday due to the pigeon’s influence, it is changing its shade and therefore it has to always be cleaned and maintained. And not only in this temple, but we see even ancient temples thousands of years old due to the wind, due to the rain, due to the elements, due to time passing, they change their shape. Because they are material energy. But Kṛṣṇa, He doesn’t change His shape. He does not decay or grow old in the material sense. He doesn’t go through any of these changes. He is permanent. He is eternal— nava yauvanam ca—He is always youthful. Avyaya, Acyuta - He is indestructible, infallible.

So Vidura understood that. So, he is just to make very clear, he asked straight. He knows that Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme whole, nothing is independent of Him and He has got transcendental form which is unchangeable, which is fully spiritual. But his question, “So considering that Kṛṣṇa is completely different from the material nature, that He is completely transcendental, at the same time we know that this is Vṛndāvana, He comes here, He comes in and performs His pastimes within the purview of the vision of the people of this world sometimes, so how is He connected with the material nature, when He comes here? How is He connected, and how are His activities connected with the activities of the material nature, if at all?” This is Vidura’s doubt or his question just to clarify the point, actually for our benefit he is asking.

So then, if this is His pastime, in other words he already knows the answer that if you are going to reply that this is His pastime, that actually it is not material activity, His activities are spiritual. He has already answered the question. So, he knows what the materialists ask. He wants to hear from the real authority, what is the best answer. So, we can see Vidura, he was under, he actually didn’t know that Kṛṣṇa’s activities are transcendental, He is transcendental, but just to get the answer from Maitreya, just to hear it from such a great authority, he is asking this question.

“If this is His pastime, how do the activities of the unchangeable take place? So then, if these are all Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes but they appear to always be changeable, changing to always be new and fresh, yet He is unchangeable, so how is this happening? How can He exhibit qualities since He doesn’t have any material connect, any connection with the material qualities?”

It is a very high question. Bits and pieces of this question are always asked to devotees. This is the basic understanding of our Kṛṣṇa conscious movement is based on understanding the tattvas, the truths contained within this śloka, in this question.

And Prabhupāda so kindly he answered to us that, “Yes, Kṛṣṇa comes to this material world as described in Bhagavad-gītā in His own internal potency. He is not dependent on the material nature. It’s not that He had to be born by mother and father. That was His wish that He chose to be accepted as the son of Devakī and Vasudeva. When He appeared, He was in full knowledge, in His full opulences. It was not that He was forced to take, His own sweet will, and when He came right from birth He had full knowledge, full opulence, full all the qualities. Then He said, ‘Alright I will take a child form. You take me over to Nanda-grāma, you take me to the house of Yaśodā and Nanda Mahārāja.’ So, Kṛṣṇa has form, but that form is not material form. He has spiritual form, that there is spiritual quality. This people who are less intelligent don’t understand.” So, all these things are cleared up by this question.

That Kṛṣṇa like a magician, He is appearing to the materialists, to be material. But to the spiritualists, they understand that He is not material, actually, He is completely spiritual. This is the difference.

Actually, Kṛṣṇa has nothing to do with the material energy. But since… some… when He comes here, He has to interact with the pure devotees and with others. So even the others can see Him, but they don’t see Him, clearly, as He is.

They see Him like a magician showing. They can see Kṛṣṇa, but they can’t understand His real position. Because they don’t have the vision of love. Unless one is a devotee and has the eyes of love, Kṛṣṇa covers Himself from their vision by the clouds of māyā. Just like the sun covers it’s… it is covered from our vision by the cloud. Actually, the sun creates those clouds. Because by the sun’s radiation the evaporation causes the … of the water vapor from the earth comes up into the atmosphere, creates clouds and those clouds are covering our vision from the sun. So, in the same way, Kṛṣṇa, in a similar way, Kṛṣṇa, He creates His energies called mahā-māyā, yoga-māyā. And these energies depending on whether we are spiritually or materially situated, they keep us under their shelter. Under the shelter of mahā-māyā, illusory energy means to be in ignorance of Kṛṣṇa. And to be under the shelter of yoga-māyā or the spiritual energy means to be under Kṛṣṇa’s direct loving shelter.

So, Vṛndāvana, this is a holy dhāma. Kṛṣṇa appears here. He performs His pastimes, so many devotees come with Him, and they enjoy these transcendental activities. Devotional service is very simple, yet it is very deep.

Lord Caitanya told Rūpa Gosvāmī,

parapara-sunya gabhira bhakti-rasa-sindhu 
tomāyā cakhaite tara kahi eka bindu
(Cc Madhya 19.137)

That the ocean of transcendental devotional service is so deep, is so long and so wide that there is no limit to its length, breadth or depth—it’s unlimited. So how is it possible for me to describe the length, breadth and depth, the limits of this devotional service?” Lord Caitanya expresses His incapability, “It is not possible for Me to fully express everything about devotional service, because it is unlimited, just like Kṛṣṇa is unlimited. But I am giving you this one drop from that ocean Rūpa Gosvāmī and by that one drop you will be able to experience, a realization which will give you a grasp, an understanding of the nature of the whole ocean.”

Just as when the Lord comes, personally performing His activities with His devotees is all transcendental, similarly when we are chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, following the instructions of Caitanya Mahāprabhu through the guru-paramparā, we should know that those activities are all transcendental.

(Aside: Actually, this is a strict 7:30? Devotee: No.)

Śrīla Prabhupāda wrote a nice poem which is very long, I wouldn’t be able to finish it today, maybe even more than one or two verses which he entitled Vṛndāvane Bhajana, performing the bhajana in Vṛndāvana. The worship of Kṛṣṇa in Vṛndāvana. So, I was feeling that if the Vaiṣṇavas wanted I would like to get permission to start discussing that maybe in the future even to translate and write it for their benefit.

Devotee: Jaya.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, the first verse is

vrndavana dhame ami bose’achi eka 
e bhavana madhye madhye deya more dekha

Dekha. Śrīla Prabhupāda is saying. Actually, he is taking, using the first person. But he is describing someone else. He is describing a person sitting in Vṛndāvana all alone. And he is thinking that, “Kṛṣṇa, You should give me Your darśana.”

Actually, Vṛndāvana-dhāma is the holy dhāma. And in Vṛndāvana we can see Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is visible, just like Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s followers have described:

adya ‘pi akāri līlā gaura-rāya 
kona kona bhagyavāne dekhibāre pāya
(Caitanya-bhāgavata)

That even today one can see the pastimes of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, those who are very very fortunate. So similarly, in Vṛndāvana one can see Kṛṣṇa, no doubt. His pastimes are still going on. But they are invisible to the materialist, they are invisible to those who are in material consciousness. They are only visible to those who are very fortunate.

What is that fortune and what is that materialism? The materialism are those attitudes and mentalities which keep us from seeing Kṛṣṇa. Material means, “That which is not. That which is not letting us see Kṛṣṇa.” And spiritualism, transcendentalism means, “That which is giving us the association and the vision, and the service, the connection with Kṛṣṇa, with the Supreme Personality of Godhead.”

So sitting in Vṛndāvana alone, avoiding, alone means what? Avoiding association of other Vaiṣṇavas. That means alone. Thinking that, “Now am gonna break away from the path. I’m gonna go and see Kṛṣṇa.”

Just like the spiritual master is leading the birds, you see, just like a bird is leading so many other birds, when they are going in migration, like that the spiritual master, he is leading so many other birds. If one bird thinks, “Now am gonna go and fly out by myself and beat everyone to it.” He’ll get lost. You can’t do that. He has to go on following the lead bird, because the lead bird is already in touch with Kṛṣ… you see, with the goal. Similarly, the spiritual master is already in touch with Kṛṣṇa, and he is leading us to Kṛṣṇa. So, we have to follow.

So subtly, grossly there are mentalities which put us apart from Vaiṣṇavas. Gross bhukti.. someone who are, we see that someone desires material sense gratification, immediately puts him separate from the Vaiṣṇavas. “I have to have very big apartment, I have to have nice facilities.” Immediately he is isolated from other Vaiṣṇavas, because then he has to work hard to maintain his material facilities, rather than accepting whatever comes easily on its own accord. So, bhukti, that is one materialistic attitude, to desire so many materialistic amenities and niceties, comfortable living.

Sometimes gṛhasthas or the household devotees in our movement, they give up the attitude of preaching spirit and think that, “First I have to make a very very nice comfortable situation for my gṛhastha life otherwise I can’t be happy, this is my duty.” And we see that as the result they put themselves isolated from the other Vaiṣṇavas. At the same time they keep the spirit, “I’m a devotee, I want to see Kṛṣṇa, I want to do everything.” But because of their material desires, they actually, because they’ve given up the preaching spirit of helping with compassion those who are in misery, those who are the fallen souls in this material world, by giving them the gift of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, and they have taken that off of the central obj… as the central objective of their life and instead they have put on their life, “First comfortable living, first. Then I will preach. Then I will do my service.” what happens they get involved in fruitive activities, they are isolated from devotees, they get misled.

Bhukti, mukti, to want to see Kṛṣṇa, itself is like a desire for liberation. Five types of liberation are there, the Vaiṣṇava, the devotee he never wants merging. That’s a spiritual suicide, only the most, uh… less intelligent of transcendentalists, they want this type of merging. For the spiritualist, personalist, devotee, the Vaiṣṇava, this type of desire for material liberation, or for, liberation for material energy is complete death.

But even for them, for the pure devotee to desire, the other four types of liberation is considered a type of disease, like a spiritual disease, as compared to material disease. It’s very subtle. It takes away the most finest essence of pure devotional spirit. That takes away the finer, higher taste of spontaneous devotional service which gives relishment for pure love of Kṛṣṇa, which is the summum bonum of spiritual realization.

So, someone who is sitting alone that means, “Now instead of being with the association of devotees, chanting in the saṅkīrtana, or engaging in the joint classes, engaging in the joint activities, cooperating with other Godbrothers and other devotees for preaching. In other words, engaging in the saṅkīrtana movement with full heart, soul, and instead thinking, ‘Now, I’m going to achieve Kṛṣṇa, now am going to taste Kṛṣṇa.’”

So Caitanya Mahāprabhu, His followers, our Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, they have advised us to always stay in the association of devotees, preaching, tasting the nectar of the saṅkīrtana movement, the saṅkīrtana-rasa, the nectar of the saṅkīrtana congregational chanting, and preaching the glories of the holy name through book distribution as well as through preaching and singing the glories.

So, when someone desires instead of serving the Lord, spreading His glories, delivering out of compassion the fallen souls, that now I will achieve Kṛṣṇa, it’s an impediment. Those who have already achieved Kṛṣṇa, they are sitting in Vṛndāvana, chanting in perfect perfection, no incongruity, no mistake.

But those who haven’t achieved Kṛṣṇa, they shouldn’t be sitting in Vṛndāvana thinking, “How I will achieve Kṛṣṇa? I will go by myself, I will stay by myself, and I will observe myself in different type of bhajana, worship or even chanting or whatever.” That’s not the means for achieving Kṛṣṇa, that is to be performed when one has already achieved Kṛṣṇa. Then you can sit in Vṛndāvana and serve Kṛṣṇa in the pure consciousness, because you have already achieved Kṛṣṇa.

But to achieve Kṛṣṇa, one should engage in saṅkīrtana. One should engage in the congregational, congregational means with so many devotees not eka, not alone, with so many devotees, chanting, hearing, remembering, serving, all the practices of devotional service can be performed. And that joint cooperative spirit of preaching, this Kṛṣṇa conscious movement, or the saṅkīrtana movement of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, that is real nectar.

So, this person that Śrīla Prabhupāda is portraying, he is not in that mood, he is sitting in Vṛndāvana, or in other words, he is sitting in some spiritual atmosphere, but instead of being in the spirit of devotional service, the congregational devotional movement of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, he has got off into some different mood, but he is thinking that, “Now I have to see Kṛṣṇa. Now I have to achieve Kṛṣṇa.” and that chanting, that single purpose, that is his activity. Not that, “Now I have to serve Kṛṣṇa. Now that Kṛṣṇa see me, now that Kṛṣṇa notice my devotional service through my sincere effort.” [Bell Rings]

So, the second verse is,

ache mora strī putra kanyā nāti saba 
kintu artha nāi boli viphala vaibhava

“I’ve got wife, kids, daughters, granddaughters, sons everyone, all type of relatives, but, because I don’t have any money, it’s all fruitless, it’s all useless.”

The… Prabhupāda goes on to describe that this person is, he has all type of connections, wife, children and it’s not that he has actually lost his attachment for these things and is actually attached to Kṛṣṇa. But because there is so much difficulty due to lack of finance, due to material problems, he has given them up in the negative aspect, now he has come and now he wants to see Kṛṣṇa, but the whole thing is from a material, bhogaiśvarya-prasaktānāṁ. bhoga-tyāga syndrome as we call it, that first he was enjoying, he didn’t like it, now he has given up.

Now instead of going for liberation in the ordinary sense, because he is a kaniṣṭha-adhikārī, obviously, he is a devotee, and the first… the third that means the lowest status of devotional service, so instead of desiring gross liberation by merging, he wants to see Kṛṣṇa, he wants to achieve Kṛṣṇa’s association. But he is obviously not qualified. Because he is still completely attached to wife, children, family in the material sense, he is only giving them up because it was difficult, materially difficult. Not because he is been drawn to Kṛṣṇa out of his spontaneous devotional service. But because it was his duty, it was difficult, somehow or other he has given up attachment to family and relatives, and now he’s come to Vṛndāvana to achieve Kṛṣṇa.

Rather he should be trying to achieve the association of Kṛṣṇa’s devotees. Those who are practicing bhakti-yogīs, and along with them engage in the saṅkīrtana practice of chanting

Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa
Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare 
Hare Rāma Hare Rāma
Rāma Rāma Hare Hare

and working together with those Vaiṣṇavas, with those dedicated devotees for preaching the glories of holy name.

So, he is not on that platform, instead he has gone simply to desire Kṛṣṇa directly, which is offensive, because this is uh, rash to jump up so quickly to such a high position, when one can automatically achieve Kṛṣṇa very easily by associating with the Vaiṣṇavas and serving with them, following in the footsteps of the great souls.

So, these are the first two verses of the performing worship in Vṛndāvana poem by Śrīla Prabhupāda, this we have to continue some other time.