731007 - Lecture BG 13.14 - Bombay

Lectures by Date, 1973

His Divine Grace
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

731007BG-BOMBAY - October 07, 1973 - 35:40 Minutes

Pradyumna: (leads chanting of verse etc.) (Prabhupāda and devotees repeat)

sarvataḥ pāṇi-pādaṁ tat

sarvato 'kṣi-śiro-mukham

sarvataḥ śrutimal loke

sarvam āvṛtya tiṣṭhati

(BG 13.14)

(break)

Prabhupāda: Word meaning. Word meaning. (break)

Pradyumna: Translation: "Everywhere are His hands and legs, His eyes and faces, and He hears everything. In this way the Supersoul exists."

Prabhupāda: So, we are now discussing jñeyam, the object of knowledge. Previously we discussed the process of knowledge, amānitvam adambhitvam ahiṁsā kṣāntir ārjavam, ācāryopāsanam . . . (BG 13.8). Twenty items we have discussed. The chief is, mayi cānanya-yogena bhaktir avyabhicāriṇī (BG 13.11). The chief of them is bhakti, mayi ca ananya-yogena, without any diversion. Ananya-yogena bhakti-yoga. That is the chief point.

Then other qualities of knowledge will develop automatically. Yasyāsti bhaktir bhagavaty akiñcanā sarvair guṇais tatra samāsate surāḥ (SB 5.18.12). As soon as you become a pure devotee of the Lord, all the good qualities of the demigods, surāḥ . . . there are two classes of men: sura and asura. Sura means devotees, and asura means nondevotees. So good qualities can be found in the suras. Ahiṁsā amānitvam adambhitvam ahiṁsā kṣāntir ārjavam (BG 13.8). There are many instances that the devotees are all qualified.

Just like Prahlāda Mahārāja, he was only five-years-old boy, and his father was always chastising him, because his only fault was he was chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra. So the world is so made, full of demons, that simply for your fault of chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra you'll have so many enemies, even your father. This is the position. Simply for this fault, that because we are chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, we have got so many enemies. This is the world. Sura and asura. Because the more asuras . . . they'll never tolerate. The glorifying the Lord, they cannot tolerate. It is very difficult for them. So there are two classes of men, suras and asuras. Sura means viṣṇu-bhakto bhaved daivaḥ. Sura means devatā, or the demigods, and asura means—viṣṇu-bhakto bhaved daiva asuras tad-viparyayaḥ—and asuras means just the opposite number of viṣṇu-bhakta. They are asuras.

So if you develop Kṛṣṇa consciousness, if you develop love for Kṛṣṇa, then automatically the qualities of the suras, or the demigods, will develop. You haven't got to endeavor separately for becoming qualified in good qualities. Automatically. Yasyāsti bhaktir bhagavaty akiñcanā sarvair guṇais tatra samāsate surāḥ, harāv abhaktasya kuto mahad-guṇāḥ (SB 5.18.12). But if one is nondevotee, he cannot have any good quality. Why? Now, mano-rathenāsati dhāvato bahiḥ. Because he is on the mental platform. Devotee means one who is acting on the spiritual platform, and nondevotee means those who are acting on the material platform, either bodily platform or mental platform. These are material platform.

Bodily platform, they are called karmīs. They are working for their personal benefit. Generally, everyone in the Bombay city, they are working very hard, but what is the aim? For their personal profit. That is called karmī. Either in this life . . . even those who are performing yajñas for being elevated to the heavenly planet, that is also karma, karma-kāṇḍīya. They are also karmīs. Either for becoming happy in this life or becoming happy . . . happy nobody can become; it is illusion. But by sense gratification we think that we are happy. That is the karmī life, on the bodily platform. And the mental platform is little subtle—the philosophers, the poets, the scientists, like that.

So both the bodily platform and mental platform, they are material. Because the body is also matter and mind is also matter. That is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā: bhūmir āpo 'nalo vāyuḥ khaṁ mano buddhir eva ca, apareyam, prakṛtir me bhinnā aṣṭadhā (BG 7.4). This body is made of five elements: earth, water, fire, air, sky; and mind is there, subtle body, mind, intelligence and egotism. So both platform are material platform. Therefore it is said, harāv abhaktasya. Those who are devotees of the Lord, they are not acting on the mental or the gross material platform. They are not working on that platform. They are working on the spiritual platform.

So good qualities can be attained automatically when you work on spiritual platform. But if you work on material platform, means the gross body and the mind, then good qualities cannot be attained. Harāv abhaktasya kuto mahad-guṇā mano-rathenāsati dhāvato bahiḥ (SB 5.18.12). Therefore we find that educated persons, so-called educated . . . they are not educated, because in the Bhagavad-gītā it is said the so-called educated persons are bereft of real knowledge, māyayāpahṛta-jñānāḥ (BG 7.15). Apahṛta-jñānāḥ. Why? Āsuraṁ bhāvam āśritāḥ. Because they have taken the position of becoming an atheist, no faith in God. They are asura. So any asura, māyayāpahṛta-jñānāḥ . . . he may be M.A., Ph.D., from academic career, but his real knowledge is taken away. Therefore he is atheist. Actual knowledge is to know God. Therefore Kṛṣṇa is explaining what is knowledge, jñeyam. Because as soon as you become actually wise, then you become liberated. But if you are not liberated, that means your knowledge is imperfect. Your knowledge is imperfect.

So Kṛṣṇa says jñeyam. Jñeyam means mat-paraṁ brahma. In a previous verse it has been explained, anādi mat-paraṁ brahma (BG 13.13). Brahman means bṛhatya bṛhanatyād iti brahma. Nothing is great than Brahman. That is being explained, how Brahman, what is the meaning of Brahman. Brahman means sarvataḥ pāṇi-pādaṁ tat: "Brahman has got His hands and legs everywhere." Just like I have got my hands and legs, this is limited. I have got my hands. Why I cannot stretch five feet, only three feet? That is also with great difficulty. But the Brahman's hand, sarvataḥ, sarvataḥ, everywhere.

Just like Kṛṣṇa said that patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ yo me bhaktyā prayacchati (BG 9.26). Now Kṛṣṇa says that "Either a little flower, a little fruit or little leaf . . ." Anyone can collect these things. Even if he is the poorest of the poor, then he can also collect a little flower, a little fruit, little water and offer Kṛṣṇa, "My dear Kṛṣṇa, I wanted to offer You something, but I am so poor, I have nothing to offer. I have collected these three things as You have prescribed in the Bhagavad-gītā, patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ yo me bhaktyā prayacchati." The real thing is bhakti. Kṛṣṇa, He has appeared here in His form to accept your offerings, not that He is poor.

So Kṛṣṇa comes here to accept your offering, but the demons want to break it. This is demon. He does not think that "Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, has so kindly come here in Juhu and accepting our offerings." But the demons will not tolerate: "No. Kṛṣṇa cannot . . ." This is called āsuraṁ bhāvam āśritāḥ. Asura, rākṣasa. Rāvaṇa. "Bring Rāma's wife, Lakṣmījī, Sītā." This is demonic. He was a great devotee of Lord Śiva, but a demon, first-class demon, rākṣasa. Therefore it is said, harāv abhaktasya kuto mahad-guṇāḥ. Even though he was a devotee of Lord Śiva, because he was not a Vaiṣṇava, therefore he had no good qualification. He had no good qualification. Harāv abhaktasya kuto mahad-guṇā mano-rathenāsati dhāvato bahiḥ (SB 5.18.12). Mano-rathena, by mental platform. Rāvaṇa thought that "I shall enjoy the Lakṣmījī of Nārāyaṇa." But that is not possible. You can think like that.

So everyone is after Lakṣmījī. The Rāvaṇa's philosophy. The whole world is after material acquisition, lakṣmī. Money is called lakṣmī. Everyone is after money, but nobody knows that money can be properly utilized when there is Nārāyaṇa. Lakṣmī can stay when there is Nārāyaṇa, Lakṣmī-Nārāyaṇa. You cannot keep Lakṣmī alone without Nārāyaṇa. That is not possible. Then you'll be finished, just like Rāvaṇa. He wanted to keep Sītā without Rāma; therefore he was finished with his whole family.

That is awaiting. The whole world is awaiting that disaster. The America has got atom bomb and the Russia has got atom bomb. As soon as there is another war, the whole world will be finished. So this is the ajñāna. Māyayā-apahṛta-jñānāḥ. They do not know that we cannot keep Lakṣmī without Nārāyaṇa. That is not possible. Lakṣmī can be kept at home with Nārāyaṇa, but she cannot leave Nārāyaṇa. So if you want to false . . . if you want to enjoy false lakṣmī, that is different thing.

Therefore a person who is devoid of knowledge, who is not devotee, Kṛṣṇa conscious, he has no value. Harāv abhaktasya kuto mahad-guṇāḥ. He cannot have any good qualities. This is our test. We are not very learned, but we can test, because we have got the testing tube. Just like a scientist test chemically, analytically test, how pure one chemical is within the test tube, similarly, we have got a test tube. What is that? That test tube, it is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā:

na māṁ duṣkṛtino mūḍhāḥ

prapadyante narādhamāḥ

māyayāpahṛta-jñānā

āsuraṁ bhāvam āśritāḥ

(BG 7.15)

As soon as we see that one is not surrendered soul to Kṛṣṇa, he is māyayāpahṛta-jñānā. Then what is the category? Duṣkṛtina, always sinful. Must be. Because he is sinful, he cannot surrender to Kṛṣṇa. Na māṁ duṣkṛtino mūḍhāḥ.

And another class: mūḍha, rascal, without any knowledge. He cannot also surrender to Kṛṣṇa. Na māṁ duṣkṛtino mūḍhāḥ narādhamāḥ, and the lowest of the mankind. Why lowest of the mankind? Because this human body, this man's body, not the dog's body, cat's body, but the man's body, that is meant for understanding Kṛṣṇa. Athāto brahma jijñāsā. That is not meant for spoiling like cats and dogs, jumping from here and there. So therefore he's not taking the opportunity of understanding Kṛṣṇa. Therefore narādhama. Adhama. Adhama means the lowest. First-class man utilizes his life for proper benefit. But one who cannot . . . they are called kṛpaṇa also, miser.

Just like if you have got millions of dollars, you don't use it, you keep it only in the bank or in the treasury to see, "Oh, I have got millions of dollars." But utilize it. That is intelligence. Utilize, make it millions to ten times millions by doing a business or something like that. That is intelligence. Similarly, this body, this human form of body, athāto brahma jijñāsā, to understand Brahman. That Brahman is being explained to understand, how Brahman. Sarvataḥ pāṇi-pādaṁ tat. Brahman means the greatest. So greatest means not limited. We are limited. Our hands and legs are limited. But Kṛṣṇa's hands and legs are not limited. Sarvataḥ pāṇi-pādam.

Brahman means Kṛṣṇa. You'll find in the Bhagavad-gītā Kṛṣṇa is addressed as paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān (BG 10.12). When Arjuna understood Kṛṣṇa, in the Tenth Chapter we'll find, he's addressing Kṛṣṇa that, "You are Paraṁ Brahman." Brahman, all of us are Brahman, ahaṁ brahmāsmi. It is not very difficult to understand. "I am not this body, matter, but I am spirit soul." Therefore anyone can understand that he is Brahman. Spirit soul is Brahman, not the Paraṁ Brahman. Paraṁ Brahman is Kṛṣṇa. We are Brahman, but part and parcel of the Brahman. Mamaivāṁśo jīva-bhūtaḥ (BG 15.7). We are part and parcel of the Paraṁ Brahman. Therefore we are Brahman.

Therefore a part and particle of gold is also gold. A particle of the seawater is also seawater, salty seawater. That is oneness. So far the quality is concerned, that is oneness. A drop of seawater and the whole seawater, in quality they are one. Because the taste of a drop of seawater is also salty, therefore you can understand the whole water is salty. Ciklena. So you can understand Paraṁ Brahman if you understand yourself. That is called self-realization. Simply the difference is Paraṁ Brahman is the greatest, and you are the smallest. He is vibhu, you are aṇu. But māyā is so strong, because we are qualitatively one, we are thinking we are the Supreme Brahman. That is another nonsense. "Because I am salty, therefore I am the seawater," this is not very good logic. A part cannot be equal to the whole.

So here jñāna means, to understand the Paraṁ Brahman means, sarvataḥ pāṇi-pādam: "Paraṁ Brahman has got pāṇi, means hands, and pāda, and legs, everywhere." How it is possible? That is knowledge. That is knowledge. It is possible. Because we are part and parcels of Kṛṣṇa, we have got our hands and legs, therefore Kṛṣṇa has got His hands and legs everywhere. But our hands and legs are now engaged otherwise. It is not for Kṛṣṇa. That is called illusion. Actually, the hands and legs belong to Kṛṣṇa. My hands, it is not my hand, it is Kṛṣṇa's hand. My leg, it is Kṛṣṇa's leg, but in māyā, in illusion, it is covered, upādhi. "My hand means it is Indian hand." "My leg means Indian leg." "My hand means American hand." "My leg means American leg." No. It is neither American leg, neither Indian leg, neither Indian hand nor American hand. It is all Kṛṣṇa's hands and legs. That you have to realize. That is real knowledge. That is jñeyam. You have to understand that you are not the proprietor of these hands and legs. Kṛṣṇa is the proprietor.

Therefore Kṛṣṇa's another name is Hṛṣīkeśa. Hṛṣīka means senses, and īśa means the master. Hṛṣīkeśa. Senayor ubhayor madhye rathaṁ sthāpaya me acyuta (BG 1.21). Another place Arjuna has addressed Kṛṣṇa as Hṛṣīkeśa. No, I mean to say Sañjaya said "Hṛṣīkeśa." So Kṛṣṇa's another name is Hṛṣīkeśa. So hṛṣīka means indriya, senses, and hṛṣīkeśa means the master of the senses. We have got our hands and legs, we have got our mouth, we have got our tongue, we have . . . everything we have got. That's all right. But the real knowledge means to realize that these hands, legs, tongue, eyes, ears, everything belongs to Kṛṣṇa. That is knowledge.

Therefore bhakti means to become liberated from the false understanding that "This is my leg, my head." No. It is Kṛṣṇa's. Sarvopādhi-vinirmuktaṁ tat-paratvena nirmalam (CC Madhya 19.170). When we become purified . . . purified means at the present moment we have got this false knowledge, "This is my hand," "This is my leg." When we become purified, we understand that "This is Kṛṣṇa's leg, Kṛṣṇa's hand, Kṛṣṇa's eyes." That is wanted. Sarvopādhi-vinirmuktaṁ tat-paratvena nirmalam (CC Madhya 19.170).

Nirmalam, this is liberation. So long we are materially attached, it is mala. Mala means dirty things. But when we are purified of the dirty things, we can understand. Just like Arjuna. Arjuna was in the beginning thinking that, "My hand, my leg, it is meant for my family." Therefore he was hesitating to kill, that "This hand, it belongs to my family, to my kinsmen, to my country, to my nation, to my society. How I can use these hands and legs against them? Kṛṣṇa, I'll not fight." This is ignorance. He did not know that his hands and legs belong to Kṛṣṇa. And when he understood . . . after reading, after hearing Bhagavad-gītā from Kṛṣṇa, he understood, "Well, I was thinking the hands and legs belong to my family, to me. No. It belongs to Kṛṣṇa. It must be used for Kṛṣṇa." Then he decided, "Kṛṣṇa," kariṣye vacanaṁ tava (BG 18.73), "now You want me . . . because this is Your hand, Your leg, so You want to use these hands and legs for fighting. I must use it." This is knowledge. This is knowledge. Otherwise how?

Of course, Kṛṣṇa is all-pervading; still, we are also part and . . . everything. All-pervading means everything belongs to Kṛṣṇa, everything Kṛṣṇa's energy. Just like the sun is all-pervading. How it is all-pervading? By the light and the heat. Light and heat is all-pervading. Although sun is localized, sun is situated in one place, how it is all-pervading? Because it is supplying the heat and light throughout the universe. Therefore it is all-pervading. And what is the heat and light? The energy of the sun. Similarly, the original sun is Kṛṣṇa, and He has got two energies: the material energy and the spiritual energy. So therefore everything is Kṛṣṇa's. Parasya brahmaṇaḥ śaktiḥ sarvedam akhilaṁ jagat (Viṣṇu Purāṇa). Sarvaṁ khalv idaṁ brahma (Chāndogya Upaniṣad 3.14.1). That is realization, when you understand that everything belongs to Kṛṣṇa because everything is manifestation of Kṛṣṇa's energies.

Just like this whole material world. What is this? This is only expansion of the energy of the sun—heat and light. Those who are scientists, they can understand. Physics, heat and light. Similarly, the whole creation, that is Kṛṣṇa's energy, heat and light, material energy and the spiritual energy. Bhūmir āpo 'nalo vāyuḥ khaṁ mano buddhir eva ca, bhinnā me prakṛtir aṣṭadhā (BG 7.4).

apareyam itas tu

viddhi me prakṛtiṁ parām,

jīva-bhūtāṁ mahā-bāho

yayedaṁ dhāryate jagat

(BG 7.5)

That is the superior energy, living entity.

So we are living entity. We are superior energy of Kṛṣṇa, but we have become inferior on account of this material covering. We have become inferior, but we are not inferior; we are superior energy. When we act for Kṛṣṇa, then we are situated in our own position. That is called mukti. In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is said, mukti means hitvā anyathā-rūpaṁ svarūpeṇa vyavasthitiḥ (SB 2.10.6). That is mukti. Mukti does not mean that you have got now two hands, and as soon as you become mukta, you'll have three thousand hands. No. Not that. Mukti means svarūpeṇa vyavasthitiḥ.

When we understand that, "I am utilizing hands and legs and eyes for my sense gratification—no, this is wrong. It should be utilized for Kṛṣṇa's service. My hands should be engaged for Kṛṣṇa's service. My hands should be engaged for cleansing this temple. My hands should be engaged for cooking Kṛṣṇa's food," in this way. "My hands should be utilized for writing for Kṛṣṇa, glorifying Kṛṣṇa. My legs should be used for going to the temple of Kṛṣṇa. My eyes should be used for seeing beauty of Kṛṣṇa. My ears should be used for hearing glories of Kṛṣṇa. My tongue should be used for chanting Kṛṣṇa's holy name." That is mukti.

Mukti is not a very difficult thing. You can attain mukti in a second simply if you agree, as Kṛṣṇa says:

sarva-dharmān parityajya

mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja

ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo

mokṣayiṣyāmi . . .

(BG 18.66)

That ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo mokṣayiṣyāmi, this is mukti, mokṣayiṣyāmi. So Kṛṣṇa is offering you this mukti. Muktiḥ pareśānubhavo viraktir anyatra syāt (SB 11.2.42). Viraktir anyatra syāt. When you understand that, "These hands and legs belong to Kṛṣṇa, so I am misusing them. So long I have misused them. I have used for my personal sense gratification or expanded sense gratification." The so-called socialism, nationalism, this "ism," that . . . that is also sense gratification, but it is expanded sense gratification. First of all you . . .

(break) Another meaning of this verse is that if He has got, sarvataḥ pāṇi-pādam, He has got His legs and hands, eyes, head, then how He becomes impersonal, void? Where is this conception comes from Bhagavad-gītā? The rascals say that "God is impersonal, no form." How it is possible, if He has got hands and legs, head and ears, how He has become formless? Tell me. Who is there? How He becomes formless? He is not formless. But the difference is His form is different from our form. Our hands and legs are limited, but He has got His hands and legs . . . that is not limited, that is unlimited. That is the difference. When we say, when there is such thing as formless, formless means He hasn't got a form like us, which is limited. Sac-cid . . .

īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ

sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ

anādir ādir govindaḥ

sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam

(Bs. 5.1)

He has got His form, He has got His hands. Just like Kṛṣṇa says:

patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ

yo me bhaktyā prayacchati

tad ahaṁ bhakty-upahṛtam

aśnāmi . . .

(BG 9.26)

Now if you say, "Kṛṣṇa is in the Goloka Vṛndāvana, far, far away from here. How He accepts?" that is the answer is here, that sarvataḥ pāṇi-pādam. He has got hands. That is the Vedic injunction. Apāṇi-pādo javana-gṛhītaḥ. The Absolute Brahman has no hands and legs, but He can accept anything, He can walk everywhere. Just contradictory. Paśyaty acakṣuḥ. He has no eyes, but He can see everything. This is the difference. He has got His form. That is spiritual form. That is not this material, limited form, but He has got His form. One who does not understand His unlimited form, Brahman form, sarvataḥ . . . everywhere He can go, everywhere He can see, everywhere He can accept whatever you offer. Everywhere He can walk. That is His form. But He is not formless.

Therefore He is called omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent. These are the adjectives given to God. Omnipresent. He is present everywhere. That's a fact. Īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-deśe arjuna tiṣṭhati (BG 18.61). He's sitting within your heart; He's seeing everything, what you are acting. Īśvaraḥ sarva . . . sarvasya cāhaṁ hṛdi sanniviṣṭo mattaḥ smṛtir jñānam apohanaṁ ca (BG 15.15). This is knowledge. This is knowledge. Not that to make Kṛṣṇa formless, "He does not eat. He does not speak. He does not walk. He has no hand. He has no head." That is not knowledge. That is ignorance, foolishness, mūḍha. Avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā mānuṣīṁ tanum āśritam, paraṁ bhāvam ajānantaḥ (BG 9.11).

Because he does not know the paraṁ bhāvam. This is paraṁ bhāvam. Kṛṣṇa has form, but a form not like us. That is paraṁ bhāvam. He is present everywhere. He can accept anything, wherever you offer. That Kṛṣṇa says, tad ahaṁ bhakty-upahṛtam aśnāmi. Kṛṣṇa says, "I take." Who are you to say that Kṛṣṇa does not accept? Kṛṣṇa accepts, provided it is given with devotion. That is wanted. Tad ahaṁ bhakty-upahṛtam. Anyone brings something to offer Kṛṣṇa with bhakti, Kṛṣṇa is not hungry, but He accepts . . . (break) These are the Vedic injunctions. He takes whole foodstuff, still He remains full. Pūrṇasya pūrṇam ādāya pūrṇam evāvaśiṣyate (Īśo Invocation). These are the Vedic injunctions.

So that is, Kṛṣṇa is teaching, sarvataḥ śrutimal loke. He can hear. It is not that Kṛṣṇa is in the Goloka Vṛndāvana, far, far away, therefore we are chanting His glory here, He cannot . . . (break) . . . sarvataḥ śrutimal loke. He can hear everywhere. Sarvataḥ śrutimal loke. Sarvam āvṛtya tiṣṭhati. Because He is Brahman, He is covering everything. He is everywhere. Bṛhatyad bṛhanatvat. Therefore He is Paraṁ Brahman. This is knowledge. You have to understand . . . don't think Kṛṣṇa is limited because He appeared before us, He has appeared here in the form of a stone. He's not stone. Stone is His energy. (break) He can appear before . . .

(break) Then don't think that "Here these people are worshiping a stone," as the atheist will speak. (break) Arcye śilā-dhīr guruṣu vaiṣṇave jāti-buddhiḥ nārakī . . . (break) . . . in the śāstra that, "Don't think the worshipable Deity is made of stone, made of metal." Because in the wood there is Kṛṣṇa, and because Kṛṣṇa is omnipotent He can accept.

(break) . . . apāṇi-pādo javana-gṛhītaḥ. So in this way try to understand . . . (break) . . . anyathā ajñānam. Then you are in ignorance, ajñāna. (break) . . . Kṛṣṇa, then you are liberated.

Thank you very much. Hare Kṛṣṇa. (end)