20211113 Three Principal Forms of Bhagavān -2.tad-ekātma-rūpa – b.svāṁsa (Personal Expansions) – 1. puruṣa-avatāra - Part 2.1

Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book Compilation

By His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on 13^th November 2021 in

Śrīdhāma Māyāpur, India

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-guruṁ dīna-tāraṇam
paramānandaṁ mādhavaṁ śrī caitanya iśvaram

hariḥ oṁ tat sat

Introduction: Today is the compilation of Caitanya līlā book, the chapter today is entitled:

Three Principal Forms of Bhagavān -2.tad-ekātma-rūpa – b.svāṁsa (Personal Expansions) – 1. puruṣa-avatāra - Part 2

Under the section: Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu Instructs Sanātana Gosvāmī in the Science of the Absolute Truth

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 20.268

(1) svīya vaikuṇṭhe śeṣa-paryaṅke kāraṇārṇava vā virajāśāyī—

prakṛtira antaryāmī brahmāṇḍa-kāraṇa-sraṣṭā –

sei puruṣa virajāte karena śayana
‘kāraṇodakaśāyī’ nāma jagat-kāraṇa

Translation: “That original Personality of Godhead, named Saṅkarṣaṇa, first lies down in the river Virajā, which serves as a border between the material and the spiritual world. As Kāraṇābdhiśāyī Viṣṇu, He is the original cause of the material creation.

Jayapatākā Swami: Kāraṇābdhiśāyī Viṣṇu or Māha-Viṣṇu creates tunlimited millions of universes and the elements.

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 20.269

virajā o kāraṇābdhira ekapāre turīya paravyoma vā cidvaibhava vaikuṇṭha, aparapāre māyāvilāsa vā acidvaibhava prākṛta devīdhāma–

kāraṇābdhi-pāre māyāra nitya avasthiti
virajāra pāre paravyome nāhi gati

Translation: “The Virajā, or Causal Ocean, is the border between the spiritual and the material world. The material energy is situated on one shore of that ocean, and it cannot enter onto the other shore, which is the spiritual sky.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, here we understand the Virajā river is the border between the material and spiritual world. But here also it describes that the Virajā river is actually the Causal Ocean. Māha-Viṣṇu or Kāraṇābdhiśāyī Viṣṇu lies down in the Causal Ocean.

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 20.270

vaikuṇṭhera māhātmya – Śrīmad-Bhāgavate (2.9.10)—

pravartate yatra rajas tamas tayoḥ
sattvaṁ ca miśraṁ na ca kāla-vikramaḥ
na yatra māyā kim utāpare harer
anuvratā yatra surāsurārcitāḥ

Translation: “‘In the spiritual world, there is neither the mode of passion, the mode of ignorance nor a mixture of both, nor is there adulterated goodness, the influence of time or māyā herself. Only the pure devotees of the Lord, who are worshiped both by demigods and by demons, reside in the spiritual world as the Lord’s associates.’

Purport: This verse from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (2.9.10) was spoken by Śrīla Śukadeva Gosvāmī. He was answering the questions of Parīkṣit Mahārāja, who asked how the living entity falls down into the material world. Śukadeva Gosvāmī explained the cream of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam in four verses, which had been explained to Lord Brahmā at the end of the severe austerities he performed for one thousand celestial years. At that time, Brahmā was shown the spiritual world and its transcendental nature.

Jayapatākā Swami: This is a very important question, ‘how we fall down to the material world from the spiritual world’ this is a question that many people have. So, the answer is given in Śrīmad-bhāgavatam.

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 20.271

māyāra duirūpe dvividhā vṛtti—

(a) prakṛti o (b) pradhānera kārya –

māyāra ye dui vṛtti—‘māyā’ āra ‘pradhāna’
‘māyā’ nimitta-hetu, viśvera upādāna ‘pradhāna’

Translation: “Māyā has two functions. One is called māyā, and the other is called pradhāna. Māyā refers to the efficient cause, and pradhāna refers to the ingredients that create the cosmic manifestation.

Purport: For a further explanation, see Ādi-līlā, chapter five, verse 58.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, the material world is created by Māyā, pradhāna refers to all the ingredients that Brahmā takes to construct, the secondary creation of the planets and the bodies.

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 20.272

prakṛtira prati kāraṇodaśāyīra īkṣaṇa –

sei puruṣa māyā-pāne kare avadhāna
prakṛti kṣobhita kari’ kare vīryera ādhāna

Translation: “When the Supreme Personality of Godhead glances over the material energy, she becomes agitated. At that time, the Lord injects the original semen of the living entities.

Purport: In the Bhagavad-gītā (7.10), Kṛṣṇa says, bījaṁ māṁ sarva-bhūtānām: “I am the original seed of all existences.” This is also confirmed in another verse in the Bhagavad-gītā (14.4):

sarva-yoniṣu kaunteya
mūrtayaḥ sambhavanti yāḥ
tāsāṁ brahma mahad yonir
ahaṁ bīja-pradaḥ pitā

“It should be understood that all species of life, O son of Kuntī, are made possible by birth in this material nature, and that I am the seed-giving father.”

For a further explanation, one may refer to the Brahma-saṁhitā (chapter five, verses 10-13).

The Brahma-saṁhitā also states (5.51):

agnir mahī gaganam ambu marud diśaś ca
kālas tathātma-manasīti jagat-trayāṇi
yasmād bhavanti vibhavanti viśanti yaṁ ca
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi

All material elements, as well as the spiritual sparks (individual souls), are emanating from the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

This is confirmed by the Vedānta-sūtra (1.1): janmādy asya yataḥ. “The Absolute Truth is He from whom everything emanates.”

He is the Supreme Truth: satyaṁ paraṁ dhīmahi (Bhāg. 1.1.1). The absolute ultimate truth is Kṛṣṇa.

Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya
janmādy asya yato ’nvayād itarataś cārtheṣv abhijñaḥ sva-rāṭ:

“The Absolute Truth is a person who is directly and indirectly cognizant of the entire cosmic manifestation.” (Bhāg. 1.1.1)

The Absolute Truth, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, educated Lord Brahmā from the heart (Bhāg. 1.1.1): tene brahma hṛdā ya ādi-kavaye. Therefore, the Absolute Truth cannot be dull matter; the Absolute Truth must be the Supreme Person Himself. Sei puruṣa māyā-pāne kare avadhāna. Simply by His glance, material nature is impregnated with all living entities. According to their karma and fruitive activity, they emerge in different bodies.

That is the explanation given by the Bhagavad-gītā (2.13):

dehino ’smin yathā dehe
kaumāraṁ yauvanaṁ jarā
tathā dehāntara-prāptir
dhīras tatra na muhyati

“As the embodied soul continuously passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. A sober person is not bewildered by such a change.”

Jayapatākā Swami: The jīva śaktī is needed for bringing the material elements to life and that jīva-śaktī is expanded from Māha-Viṣṇu and thus the material energy is agitated and it come to life. So, the original cause of all causes is the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 20.273

svayaṁ śuddha haiyāo aśuddhera nyāya pratīta; saṅkalpamātrei prakṛtisparśa o prakṛti-yonite lomakūpastha ananta citparamāṇu jīvaśakti-nidhāna —

svāṅga-viśeṣābhāsa-rūpe prakṛti-sparśana
jīva-rūpa ’bīja’ tāte kailā samarpaṇa

Translation: “To impregnate with the seeds of the living entities, the Lord Himself does not directly touch the material energy, but by His specific functional expansion He touches the material energy, and thus the living entities, who are His parts and parcels, are impregnated into material nature.

Purport: According to Lord Kṛṣṇa in the Bhagavad-gītā (15.7):

mamaivāṁśo jīva-loke
jīva-bhūtaḥ sanātanaḥ
manaḥ-ṣaṣṭhānīndriyāni
prakṛti-sthāni karṣati

“The living entities in this conditioned world are My eternal fragmental parts. Due to conditioned life, they are struggling very hard with the six senses, which include the mind.”

In the present verse of the Caitanya-caritāmṛta, the word prakṛti-sparśana refers to the Lord’s glancing over material nature and placing the living entities in contact with dull matter.

The glancing is performed by Mahā-Viṣṇu: sa aikṣata lokān nu sṛjā iti. (Aitareya Upaniṣad 1.1.1) In the conditioned stage we impregnate according to the bodily conception — that is, by sexual intercourse — but the Supreme Lord does not need sexual intercourse to impregnate. The impregnation is performed simply by His glance.

This is also explained in the Brahma-saṁhitā (5.32):

aṅgāni yasya sakalendriya-vṛttimanti
paśyanti pānti kalayanti ciraṁ jaganti
ānanda-cinmaya-sad-ujjvala-vigrahasya
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi

Govinda can impregnate simply by glancing. In other words, His eyes can work as His genitals. He does not need genitals to beget a child. Indeed, Kṛṣṇa can beget any one of the living entities with any part of His body.

The word svāṅga-viśeṣābhāsa-rūpe, indicating the form by which the Lord begets living entities in the material world, is explained herein. He is Lord Śiva. In the Brahma-saṁhitā it is stated that Lord Śiva, who is another form of Mahā-Viṣṇu, is like yogurt. Yogurt is nothing but milk, yet it is not milk. Similarly, Lord Śiva is considered the father of this universe, and material nature is considered the mother. The father and mother are known as Lord Śiva and goddess Durgā. Together, Lord Śiva’s genitals and the vagina of goddess Durgā are worshiped as the śiva-liṅga. This is the origin of the material creation. Thus Lord Śiva’s position is between that of the living entity and that of the Supreme Lord. In other words, Lord Śiva is neither the Supreme Personality of Godhead nor a living entity. He is the form through which the Supreme Lord works to beget living entities within this material world. As yogurt is prepared when milk is mixed with a culture, the form of Lord Śiva expands when the Supreme Personality of Godhead is in touch with material nature. The impregnation of material nature by the father, Lord Śiva, is wonderful because at one time innumerable living entities are conceived.

Bhāgo jīvaḥ sa vijñeyaḥ sa cānantyāya kalpate (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 5.9).

These living entities are very, very small:

keśāgra-śata-bhāgasya
śatāṁśa-sadṛśātmakaḥ
jīvaḥ sūkṣma-svarūpo ’yaṁ
saṅkhyātīto hi cit-kaṇaḥ

“If we divide the tip of a hair into a hundred parts and then take one of these parts and divide it again into a hundred parts, that very fine division is the size of but one of the numberless living entities. They are all cit-kaṇa, particles of spirit, not matter.”

The innumerable brahmāṇḍas, or universes, come from the pores of the Lord’s body, and innumerable living entities also come from the pores of the transcendental body of the Lord. This is the process of material creation. Without the living entities, this material nature has no value. Both emanate from the pores of the transcendental body of Lord Mahā-Viṣṇu. They are different energies.

The material nature is explained as follows by Lord Kṛṣṇa in the Bhagavad-gītā (7.4):

bhūmir āpo ’nalo vāyuḥ
khaṁ mano buddhir eva ca
ahaṅkāra itīyaṁ me
bhinnā prakṛtir aṣṭadhā

“Earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence and false ego — all together these eight constitute My separated material energies.” Thus the material elements also come from the body of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but they are a different type of energy from the living entities.

Although the living entities also come from the Lord’s body, they are categorized as a superior energy:

apareyam itas tv anyāṁ
prakṛtiṁ viddhi me parām
jīva-bhūtāṁ mahā-bāho
yayedaṁ dhāryate jagat

“Besides this inferior nature, O mighty-armed Arjuna, there is another, superior energy of Mine, which comprises the living entities who are exploiting the resources of this material, inferior nature.” (Bg. 7.5)

The inferior energy, matter, cannot act without the superior energy. All these things are very clearly explained in the Vedas. The materialistic theory that life develops from matter is incorrect. Life and matter come from the supreme living entity; therefore, being the source of both, that supreme living entity, Kṛṣṇa, is described in the Vedānta-sūtra as janmādy asya yataḥ (1.1), or the original source of everything, sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam. This is further explained in the following verse.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, the external energy of earth, water, fire, air and ether, mind intelligence and false ego is considered as inferior inert energies. The jīvas are conscious living entities and they are impregnated within the material nature, and they are given different bodies according to their karma. So, they live forever, but they change from one body to another, so as long as they are in this material world they go through this evolution. So, the idea that matter produces life is erroneous, ‘Life Comes Life’ because the spirit soul is alive, it can  the make the material energy appear alive.

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 20.274

jīva o tāhāra bhogāyatana 27ṭī tattvera utpattira itivṛtta; prakṛtira ādi pariṇāma o viśvāṅkura cittarūpī ‘mahattattve’ra utpattira kāraṇa —

Śrīmad-Bhāgavate (3.26.19)

daivāt kṣubhita-dharmiṇyāṁ
svasyāṁ yonau paraḥ pumān
ādhatta vīryaṁ sāsūta
mahat-tattvaṁ hiraṇmayam

Translation: “‘At a time beyond memory, after agitating the material nature into three qualities, the Supreme Personality of Godhead placed the semen of innumerable living entities within the womb of that material nature. Thus material nature gave birth to the total material energy, known as the hiraṇmaya-mahat-tattva, the original symbolic representation of the cosmic manifestation.’

Purport: This is a quotation from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (3.26.19). Lord Kapila is explaining to His mother the relationship between the Supreme Personality of Godhead and material nature. He is informing her how the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the original cause of the living entities who are conditioned by material nature. Over and above the twenty-eight elements of the material creation is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the cause of all causes. Life comes not from matter but from life itself. As explained in the Vedas: nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām (Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2.2.13). The Supreme Lord is the original source of life.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, it is very important to understand that the superior energy which is the minute jīva-śaktī has consciousness and matter does not. When the living entity is put inside the material energy, material energy appears to have consciousness which is spread throughout this body through the soul.

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 20.275

jīva-śaktira prākaṭya-itihāsa –
Śrīmad-Bhāgavate (3.5.26)—

kāla-vṛttyā tu māyāyāṁ
guṇa-mayyām adhokṣajaḥ
puruṣeṇātma-bhūtena
vīryam ādhatta vīryavān

Translation: “‘In due course of time, the Supreme Personality of Godhead [Mahā-Vaikuṇṭhanātha], by the agency of an expansion of His personal self [Mahā-Viṣṇu], placed the seed of the living entities entities within the womb of material nature.’

Purport: This is a quotation from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (3.5.26). This verse tells how the living entities come in contact with material nature. Just as a woman cannot beget children without uniting with a man, material nature cannot beget living entities without being in union with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. There is a history of how the Absolute Lord becomes the father of all living entities. In every system of religion, it is accepted that God is the supreme father of all living entities. According to Christianity, the supreme father, God, provides the living entities with all of life’s necessities. Therefore they pray, “Give us this day our daily bread.” Any religion that does not accept the Supreme Lord as the absolute father is called kaitava-dharma, or a cheating religion. Such religious systems are rejected in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.1.2): dharmaḥ projjhita-kaitavo ’tra. Only an atheist does not accept the omnipotent supreme father. If one accepts the omnipotent supreme father, he abides by His orders and becomes a religious person.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, practically the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the father of all living entities in the material world, the material energy is the mother and the Supreme Lord simply has to glance over the material nature and all the living entities enter into each universe of the millions of unlimited universes, and in this way Kṛṣṇa through His expansions is the seed giving Father.

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 20.276

brahmāṇḍera upādāna-caya—mahat-tattva haite ‘ahaṅkāratraya’—

tabe mahat-tattva haite trividha ahaṅkāra
yāhā haite devatendriya-bhūtera pracāra

Translation: “First the total material energy is manifested, and from this arise the three types of egotism, which are the original sources from which all demigods [controlling deities], senses and material elements expand.

Purport: The three types of egotism (ahaṅkāra) are technically known as vaikārika, taijasa and tāmasa. The mahat-tattva is situated within the heart, or citta, and the predominating Deity of the mahat-tattva is Lord Vāsudeva (Bhāg. 3.26.21). The mahat-tattva is transformed into three divisions: (1) vaikārika, egotism in goodness (sāttvika-ahaṅkāra), from which is manifested the eleventh sense organ, the mind, whose predominating Deity is Aniruddha (Bhāg. 3.26.27-28); (2) taijasa, or egotism in passion (rājasa-ahaṅkāra), from which are manifested the active and knowledge-acquiring senses, along with the intelligence, whose predominating Deity is Lord Pradyumna (Bhāg. 3.26.29-31); and (3) tāmasa, or egotism in ignorance, from which sound vibration (śabda-tanmātra) expands. From sound vibration, the sky (ākāśa) is manifested, and then the senses, beginning with the sense of hearing, are also manifested (Bhāg. 3.26.32). Of these three types of egotism, Lord Saṅkarṣaṇa is the predominating Deity. In the philosophical discourse known as the Sāṅkhya-kārikā, it is stated, sāttvika ekādaśakaḥ pravartate vaikṛtād ahaṅkārāt — bhūtādes tan-mātraṁ tāmasa-taijasādy-ubhayam.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, when object of sense is created, with that there is a controlling deity of the activity and the sense is able to perceive the different elements like to hear something, a ear would be produced. First the sound is transmitted through the air, the deva or demigod incharge of this aspect, and then the sense which receives it are all created and that’s why every living entity has a certain range that they can see, hear and smell. Human beings cannot smell as fine as a dog may be the human being can see better than some animals, like this every living creature has an area of seeing, hearing, or living etc., and all these things are created by the Lord.

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 20.277

28ṭī tattva-yukta ananta-brahmāṇḍa-sṛṣṭi—

sarva tattva mili’ sṛjila brahmāṇḍera gaṇa
ananta brahmāṇḍa, tāra nāhika gaṇana

Translation: “Combining all the different elements, the Supreme Lord created all the universes. Those universes are unlimited in number; there is no possibility of counting them.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, the Lord creates unlimited millions of universes which are combined combination of all the different elements, and all these universes are created by the Supreme Lord.

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 20.278

inii mahat-tattva-sraṣṭā mahā-viṣṇu; iṅhāra lomakūpei ananta citparamāṇu-jīva—

iṅho mahat-sraṣṭā puruṣa—‘mahā-viṣṇu’ nāma
ananta brahmāṇḍa tāṅra loma-kūpe dhāma

Translation: “The first form of Lord Viṣṇu is called Mahā-Viṣṇu. He is the original creator of the total material energy. The innumerable universes emanate from the pores of His body.

Jayapatākā Swami: These details of Creation may be explained very detailed or very simply, this is the simple explanation.

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 20.279-280

tāṅhāra niśvāse brahmāṇḍera ‘sṛṣṭi’, praśvāse ‘pralaya’ –

gavākṣe uḍiyā yaiche reṇu āse yāya
puruṣa-niśvāsa-saha brahmāṇḍa bāhirāya
punarapi niśvāsa-saha yāya abhyantara
ananta aiśvarya tāṅra, saba—māyā-pāra

Translation: “These universes are understood to be floating in the air that Mahā-Viṣṇu exhales. They are like atomic particles that float in sunshine and pass through the holes of a screen. All these universes are thus created by the exhalation of Mahā-Viṣṇu, and when Mahā-Viṣṇu inhales, they re-enter His body. The unlimited opulences of Mahā-Viṣṇu are completely beyond material conception.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, one breath of Māha-Viṣṇu is equal to the life of Lord Brahmā in each universe, so this is totally beyond the calculation, by any material means. And the material scientists can never discover the truth, and these things are beyond their scope of observation.

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 20.281

Brahma-saṁhitāya (5/48)—

asyaika-niśvasita-kālam athāvalambya
jīvanti loma-vila-jā jagad-aṇḍa-nāthāḥ
viṣṇur mahān sa iha yasya kalā-viśeṣo
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi

Translation: “‘The Brahmās and other lords of the mundane worlds appear from the pores of Mahā-Viṣṇu and remain alive for the duration of His one exhalation. I adore the primeval Lord, Govinda, of whom Mahā-Viṣṇu is a portion of a plenary portion.’

Purport: This is a quotation from the Brahma-saṁhitā (5.48). For an explanation, refer to Ādi-līlā, chapter five, verse 71.

Thus ends the chapter entitled, Three Principal Forms of Bhagavān -2.tad-ekātma-rūpa – b.svāṁsa (Personal Expansions) – 1. puruṣa-avatāra - Part 2.1

Under the section: Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu Instructs Sanātana Gosvāmī in the Science of the Absolute Truth

Transcribed and Verified by JPS Archives 13^th November 2021