Krsna Book Audio Dictation - Chapter 14
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Next heading, Fourteenth Chapter: "Prayers Offered by Lord Brahmā to Lord Kṛṣṇa."
Brahmā said as follows (within quotation), "My dear Lord, You are the only worshipable Supreme Lord, Personality of Godhead; therefore, my dear Lord, I am offering my humble obeisances and prayers just to please You. Your bodily feature is just like color of the clouds full with water and glittering with silver lines of electric crossing(?), on account of Your yellow garments over the (indistinct). Repeatedly my respectful obeisances unto the son of Mahārāja Nanda, who is standing before me with conchshell, earring and with peacock feather on the head, beautiful face with helmet, garlanded by the forest flowers, and standing with morsel of food on the hand, decorated with a cane and bugle of buffalo horn, a flute, standing before me with small lotus feet.
"My dear Lord, people may say that I am the master of all Vedic knowledge; not only master of the Vedic knowledge, but also I am supposed to be creator of this universe. Still, it has been proved now that I cannot understand Your personality, who is present before me just like a child. You are playing with Your cowherds boyfriends, calves and cows, which means that You have no sufficient education even, still, for You are appearing just like a village boy, carrying Your foodstuff in Your hand and searching after Your calves. Still, although there is so much difference between Your body and my body, I cannot estimate the potency of Your this body. This means that, as I already stated in the Brahma-saṁhitā, that Your body is not material body."
In the Brahma-saṁhitā it is stated that the body of the Lord is all-spiritual; there is no difference between the Lord's body and His self. Each part and parcel or limb of the body can act for the other. The L ord can see with hands, the Lord can hear with eyes, the Lord can accept offerings by His legs and the Lord can create by His mouth.
"Therefore Your appearance like these cowherds boy child is for the benefit of the devotees, and although I am offender on Your lotus feet by stealing away Your cows and cowherds boys and calves, still I can understand that You have mercy upon me. That is Your transcendental quality of becoming very much affectionate towards Your devotees. But in spite of Your so much affection for me, I could not estimate the potency of Your bodily activity. As such, it is to be understood that when myself, the Brahmā, the supreme personality of this universe, cannot make any estimation of the childlike body of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, then what to speak of others. For me also, when I could not estimate the spiritual potential value of Your this childlike body, what I can understand about Your transcendental pastimes?
"Therefore, as it is said in the Bhagavad-gītā, that anyone who can understand a little bit about the transcendental pastimes, appearance and disappearance of the Lord, he becomes immediately eligible to enter into the kingdom of God after quitting this material body. This statement is also confirmed in the Vedas, wherein it is stated, ‘Simply by understanding the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one can overcome the chain of birth and death repeatedly.’ I therefore recommend herewith that people should not try to understand by his own speculative knowledge.
"The best process of understanding You is to submissively give up the speculative process but try to hear about You, either from Yourself, as You have given statement in the Bhagavad-gītā or many similar Vedic literature, or from a realized devotee who has the shelter of Your lotus feet. One has to hear from him without any speculative attempt. One does not even require to change his worldly position. One has simply to give oral reception to Your message. And then, although You are not understandable by the material senses, still, gradually, simply by hearing about You, one can conquer over the nescience of misunderstanding You. Your Lordship, by Your own grace only, You become revealed to such devotee, although You are unconquerable by any other means.
Next paragraph.
"Speculative knowledge without any trace of devotional service is simply useless waste of time by dint of searching You. Devotional service is so important that a little attempt in the execution of devotional service can raise one to the highest perfectional platform. One should not, therefore, give up this auspicious process of devotional service and simply take to speculative method. Such speculative method may award somebody a partial knowledge of Your cosmic manifestation, but it is not possible to understand You, the origin of everything. Therefore persons who are simply interested in speculative knowledge, their attempt is simply labor of love, as much as a person who attempts to gain something by beating the husk of the paddy. A little quantity of paddy when attempted to be husked by the grinding wheel, one can gain some grains of rice, but a huge quantity of skin of the paddy if they beaten by the grinding wheel, there is no gain except simply laboring after it.
"My dear Lord, there are many instances in the history of the human society that a person, after failing to achieve the transcendental platform, engaged themself in devotional service by his body, mind and words and thus attained the highest perfectional state of entering into Your abode. In other words, speculative process of understanding You or attainment of mystic power to understand You are all useless without devotional service. One should therefore engage himself in Your devotional service even by his worldly activities and should always keep himself near You by the process of hearing and chanting about Your transcendental glories. Simply by the attachment of hearing and chanting about Your glories, one can attain the highest perfectional stage of entering in Your kingdom.
"If a person, therefore, always keeps in touch with You simply by hearing and chanting about Your glories and offers the result of his work for Your satisfaction only, such person, without any speculative knowledge or mystic power, very easily and happily attains the highest perfection of entering in the supreme abode of your Lordship. You are, however, realizable by person who have cleansed their heart from all material contamination. This cleansing of the heart of a conditioned soul is made possible simply by chanting and hearing about the glories of Your Lordship."
The Lord is all-pervading. As it is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā, Lord Kṛṣṇa says that "By Me everything is sustained. Everything is sustained by Me, but at the same time I am not in everything." Therefore the Lord, being pervaded everywhere, there is nothing existing without the knowledge of the Supreme Lord. The all-pervasive nature of the Supreme Personality of Godhead can never be within the limited knowledge of a living entity. Therefore a person who has attained the steadiness of the mind, fixing the mind on the lotus feet of the Lord, is able to understand the Supreme Lord to some extent. It is the business of the mind to be scattered on many subject matter of sense gratification. Therefore, a person who engages the senses always in the service of the Lord are only control over the mind and thus fixed up on the lotus feet of the Lord.
This fixing up of the mind unto the lotus feet of the Lord is called samādhi. So without this stage of samādhi, or trance, nobody can understand what is the nature of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. There may be some philosophers or scientists who can study over the cosmic nature from atom to atom. They may be sometimes so much advanced that they can count the atomic composition of the cosmic atmosphere, or they can count all the planets and stars in the sky, or they can count even the shining molecular parts of the sun or other illuminating stars and luminaries in the sky. But still it will be not possible to count the qualities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
The Supreme Personality of Godhead, as it is described in the beginning of the Vedānta-sūtra, is the origin of all qualities. He is generally called nirguṇa. Nirguṇa means without any estimation of the qualities. Guṇa means quality, and nir means without any estimation. But impersonalist, they interpret this word nirguṇa as "having no quality." Because they are unable to estimate the qualities of the Lord in transcendental realization, they reject the attempt as the Supreme Lord having no qualities. But actually that is not the position. The real position is that He is the original source of all qualities. All qualities are emanating constantly from Him. Therefore a limited person, how they can count the qualities of the Lord? One may estimate the qualities of the Lord just now as it is, but the next moment the qualities are increased. So therefore it is not possible to make an estimation of the transcendental qualities of the Lord. He is therefore called nirguṇa, or His qualities cannot be estimated at any length.
Next paragraph.
One should therefore not uselessly labor in mental speculation to estimate the qualities of the Lord. There is no need of adopting the speculative method or exercising the body for attainment of mystic yogic perfection. One should simply be satisfied with the sense that distress and happiness of this bodies are predestined. There is no need of trying to move away the distress of this bodily existence or attempting to achieve happiness by different types of exercises. The best thing is to surrender unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead with body, mind and words and always be engaged in His service. This transcendental labor is fruitful. Other attempts to understand the Absolute Truth are never to be successful.
Therefore an intelligent man, without trying to understand the Supreme Absolute Truth by such speculative or mystic power, may be engaged in devotional service depending on the Supreme Personality of Godhead, whatever may happen upon this body due to one's past fruitive activities. If one lives such simple life for devotional service, then automatically he becomes the legal partner in the matter of inheriting the transcendental abode of the Lord.
Actually, every living entity is part and parcel of the Supreme Lord and son of Godhead. They have got natural right to inherit and share the transcendental pleasure of the Lord, but due to the contact of matter, they have been practically disinherited from their position. And if somebody adopts the simple method of engaging one's self in devotional service, automatically he becomes eligible to be freed from this material contamination and elevated to the transcendental position of associating with the Supreme Lord.
Next paragraph.
Lord Brahmā presented himself before Lord Kṛṣṇa as the most uncivilized living creature, because he wanted to examine the wonderfulness of his personal power, and thus he stole away the cowherds boy and calves of the Lord in order to test how the Lord can recoup these cowherds boy and calves after such maneuver by Brahmā. And Brahmā admitted that such attempts was a most uncivilized way, because he wanted to test his energy in the person of original energy.
Lord Brahmā came to his senses that he might be a very powerful living creature in the estimation of all other living creatures within this material world, but in comparison to the power and energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he's nothing. The scientists of the material world might have discovered wonderful things like the atomic weapons, and such powerful weapons may be tested in a city or in a insignificant place on this planet and may create so-called havoc. But if such atomic weapons are tested in the sun planet, what is its value? It has no value. Similarly, Brahmā's mystic power of moving away the calves and cowherds boy from Śrī Kṛṣṇa may be a wonderful act, but when Śrī Kṛṣṇa manifested Himself by exhibiting His expansive power in so many calves and cows and maintained them without any change, Brahmā could understand that his test of his power on Kṛṣṇa was as much as testing atomic energy or nuclear weapons in the sun globe.
Lord Brahmā therefore addressed Lord Kṛṣṇa as Acyuta, because the Lord is never forgetful of a little service rendered by His devotee. He is so much kind and affectionate towards His devotees that a little service by the devotees is accepted by Him as a great deal. Brahmā has had certainly rendered so much service to the Lord. He is the supreme personality in charge of this particular university (universe). He is a faithful servant of Kṛṣṇa, there is no doubt about it. Therefore he appeals to Kṛṣṇa that understanding him as a subordinate servant, his little mistake and impudency might be excused. He admitted that he was puffed up by his powerful position as Lord Brahmā, and because he is a qualitative incarnation of the modes of passion within this material world, such puffed-up mentality was natural for him. Therefore, he committed the mistake to test his powerful position. But after all, he being subordinate to Lord Kṛṣṇa, He would kindly take compassion upon him and excuse him for his gross mistake.
Next paragraph.
Lord Brahmā realized his actual position. He might be the supreme teacher of this universe—which production of the material nature covered by the complete material elements, false ego, the sky, the air, the fire, the water, the earth—and such universe may be a gigantic body. But after all, it is nothing but exactly like the personal body of seven cubits. Everyone's bodily measurement is calculated to be seven cubits of his hand. Generally, this particular universe may appear as a very gigantic body, but it is nothing but of the measurement of seven cubits in the power of Lord Brahmā. But this universe is only one of the unlimited universes outside the jurisdiction of this particular Lord Brahmā. Such millions and trillions of universes are coming out just like atomic infinitesimal fragments are coming out through the hole of a window. Similarly, all these universes in their seedling form are coming out from the bodily pores of Mahā-Viṣṇu. That Mahā-Viṣṇu is a part of the part plenary expansion of Kṛṣṇa. Under the circumstances, even Lord Brahmā is the supreme teacher within this universe, what is his importance in the presence of Lord Kṛṣṇa?
Next paragraph.
Lord Brahmā therefore presented a comparison of his position as a little child within the womb of his mother. If the child within the womb of his mother plays with his hands and legs, and while playing, the leg touches the body of the mother, does it mean the mother takes any offence of the child? Certainly she does not. Similarly, one Brahmā may be a very great personality, but not only Brahmā; everything that be, they are all existing within the womb of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
The Lord's energy is all-pervading; there is no place within the creation where Lord's energy is not acting. Therefore everything is existing within the energy of the Lord, so Brahmā or this universe or many other millions and trillions of universes, they are existing within the energy of the Lord. Therefore the Lord is considered to be the mother, and everything existing within the womb of the mother is considered as the little baby within the womb of the mother. So the mother never takes any offence of the child, even it touches the body of the mother by playing his legs.
Next paragraph.
Lord Brahmā then submitted that his birth is from the lotus flower which generated from the abdomen of Nārāyaṇa. After the dissolution of the three worlds, namely the three planetary system known as Bhurloka, the Bhuvarloka and Svarloka, all the universe is divided into three divisions, namely Svarga, Martya and Pātāla. All these three planetary systems within the universe become merged into the water at the time of dissolution. At that time, Nārāyaṇa, the plenary portion of Kṛṣṇa, lies down on the water, and gradually a lotus stem grows from the abdomen of Nārāyaṇa, and in that lotus flower Brahmā is born. Naturally it is concluded that the mother of Brahmā is Nārāyaṇa. The aggregate sum total of all living entities is technically called nāra, and because the Lord is the resting place of all the living entities after dissolution of the universe, He is called Nārāyaṇa. The word nāra means the aggregate total of all living entities, and ayana, ayana means the resting place. Therefore the form of Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu is called Nārāyaṇa because He rests Himself on the water, as well as He is the resting place of all living creatures.
Besides that, Nārāyaṇa is also present in everyone's heart, as it is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā that the Supreme Lord is present in everyone's heart. In that sense, He is Nārāyaṇa. Ayana means the source of knowledge. This is also confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā that remembrance of the living entity is due to the presence of the Supersoul within the heart of the living creature. After changing the body, a living creature forgets everything of his past life, but because Nārāyaṇa, the Supersoul, is present within his heart, he is reminded by Him to act according to his past desire.
So Lord Brahmā wanted to prove it that Kṛṣṇa is the original Nārāyaṇa. He is the source of Nārāyaṇa, and such expansion is not exhibition of the external energy, māyā, but they are all expansion of spiritual energy. The activities of the external energy, or māyā, is exhibited after the creation of this cosmic world, and therefore the original spiritual energy of Nārāyaṇa was acting before the creation. So the expansion of Nārāyaṇa, from Kṛṣṇa to Kāraṇodakaśāyī Viṣṇu and from Kāraṇodakaśāyī Viṣṇu to Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu and from Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu to Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, and from Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu to everyone's heart, in this way expansion of Kṛṣṇa, They are manifestation of His spiritual energy. They are not conducted by the material energy; therefore They are not temporary. Anything conducted by the material energy are temporary, but everything executed by the spiritual energy, they are eternal.
Next paragraph.
Lord Brahmā then reconfirmed his statement of establishing Kṛṣṇa as the original Nārāyaṇa. He said that the gigantic universal body is still resting on the water known as Garbhodaka. "This gigantic body of the universe is another manifestation of Your energy. On account of His resting on the water, Your this universal form is also Nārāyaṇa, and we are all within the womb of this Nārāyaṇa form. As such, I see in Nārāyaṇa Your different Nārāyaṇa forms in everywhere. You cannot be, without becoming the original Nārāyaṇa. I can see You on the water, I can feel You within my heart, and also I see You in my personal view. So You are the original Nārāyaṇa."
Lord Brahmā continued to say, "My dear Lord, in this incarnation You have proved that You are the supreme controller of māyā, so that You remain within the present cosmic manifestation, still You are out of this; or, on the other words, the whole creation is within Yourself, but at the same time You appear to be within the creation. This fact is already been proved by Yourself when You exhibited the whole universal creation within Your mouth before Your mother, Yaśodā. By Your inconceivable potency of yogamāyā exhibition, You can make such things effective without any external help.
Kṛṣṇa, sixteen, Year 1969 Day 11 Month 7 July 11th, 1969.
"My dear Lord Kṛṣṇa, the whole cosmic manifestation that we are visualizing at present, they are all within Your body. Still, I am seeing You outside, and You are also seeing me outside. So although everything is within You, still, how such thing can happen without being influenced by Your inconceivable energies?"
Lord Brahmā stressed herein that without accepting inconceivable energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, nothing can be explained as they are. He continued to say, "My dear Lord, leaving aside all other things, just today's happening, what I have seen, are they not due to Your inconceivable energy? First of all, I saw You alone; thereafter You expanded Yourself as Your cowherds boyfriends, the calves and all the extensional existence of Vṛndāvana. Then I saw You in all of them as four-handed Viṣṇu, and They were being worshiped by all elements, all demigods, including myself. Then again, all of them being holed-up, You remained alone as You were before. Does this not mean that You are the Supreme Lord Nārāyaṇa, origin of everything? From You everything emanates and again everything enters unto You, and You remain the same as before.
Next paragraph.
"Persons who are unaware of Your inconceivable energy cannot understand that You alone expand Yourself as the creator Brahmā and maintainer Viṣṇu and annihilator Lord Śiva. Persons who are not in awareness of things as they are contemplate that Brahmā, or myself, is the creator, Viṣṇu is the maintainer, and Lord Śiva is the annihilator. Actually, You are alone everything—creator, maintainer and annihilator. Similarly, You expand Yourself in different incarnation, such as amongst the demigods You incarnate as Vāmanadeva, amongst the great sages You incarnate as Paraśurāma, amongst the human being You appear as Yourself, Lord Kṛṣṇa, or Lord Rāma. Amongst the animals You appear as the boar incarnation, amongst the aquatics You appear as the incarnation of fish. Although You have no appearance or disappearance—You are always eternal—such appearance and disappearance are made possible by Your inconceivable energy just to give protection to the faithful devotees and to annihilate the unfaithful demons.
"O my Lord, the all-pervading Supreme Personality of Godhead and the Supersoul, the controller of all mystic powers, nobody can appreciate Your transcendental pastimes exhibited within these three worlds. Nobody can estimate how You have expanded Your yogamāyā and Your incarnations and how You act by Your transcendental energy. My dear Lord, this whole creation of cosmic manifestation is just like a flashing dream, and its temporary existence simply disturbs the mind into full of anxiety. As a result of such anxious existence, to live within this material world means simply suffering, full of all miseries. Still, this temporary existence of material world appears to be pleasing and dear(?) on account of its being evolved from Your body, which is eternal and full of bliss and knowledge.
Next paragraph.
"My conclusion is, therefore, that You are the Supreme Soul, Absolute Truth and the supreme original person. Although You have expanded Yourself in so many Viṣṇu forms or in living entities and energies, by Your inconceivable transcendental potencies, You are the supreme one without a second. You are the supreme Supersoul. Although there are innumerable living entities, they are simply just like sparks of the original fire: Your Lordship. The conception of the Supersoul as impersonal is wrongly accepted, because I see that You are the original person. A person with a poor fund of knowledge may accept You that You are the son of Mahārāja Nanda, therefore You are not the original person—You are born just like a human being. They are mistaken. You are the actual original person; that is my conclusion. And in spite of Your being the son of Nanda, You are the original person; there is no doubt about it. As such, You are Absolute Truth. And because You are the original person Absolute Truth, You are not anything of this material darkness. You are the source of the original brahmajyoti. In that, you should be accepted as the material luminaries: the sun, moon or stars. Your transcendental effulgence is identical with brahmajyoti, as it is described in the Brahma-saṁhitā that brahmajyoti is nothing but Your personal bodily effulgence.
"Although there are many Viṣṇu incarnations and incarnations of Your different qualities, all those incarnations are not on the same level. You are the original lamp. Other incarnations may be as good as possessing the same candlepower, like the original lamp; still, the original lamp is the beginning of all light. And because You are not one of the illusions of this material world, even after the annihilation of this material world Your existence as You are will continue.
"Because You are the original person, You are therefore described in the Gopāla-tāpanī (Vedic Upaniṣad), as well as in the Brahma-saṁhitā, as the govinda ādi-puruṣam. Govinda is the original person, the cause of all causes. In the Bhagavad-gītā also it is stated that You are the source of the Brahma effulgence. Nobody should conclude that Your body is just like ordinary material body, but Your body is akṣara, indestructible. The material body is always full of threefold miseries, but Your body is sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha. Your body is full of bliss, knowledge and eternal. You are also niraṣjana, because Your pastimes, just like the little son of mother Yaśodā or the lover of the gopīs, such pastimes are never contaminated by the material qualities. And because You exhibited Yourself in so many cowherds boys, calves and cows, it does not mean that Your transcendental potency was reduced. You are always complete, as it is described in the Vedic literature that even complete is taken away from the complete, still the Supreme Absolute Truth remains complete. And although many expansions are visible from the complete, still, the complete is one without the second.
"All Your pastimes being spiritual, there is no possibility of their being contaminated by material modes of nature. When You place Yourself as subordinate to Your father and mother, Yaśodā, it does not mean that You are reduced in Your potency, but that is an expression of Your loving attitude for Your devotees. There is no other competitor or second identity than Yourself. A person with a poor fund of knowledge conclude that Your pastimes and appearance like this are simply material designations. You are transcendental to both nescience and knowledge, as it is confirmed in the Gopāla-tāpanī (Vedic literature). You are the original amṛta, not destructible, as it is confirmed in the Vedas, amṛtaṁśāśvataṁ brahma: Brahma is eternal and the supreme origin of everything, who has no birth or death.
Next paragraph.
"In the Upaniṣads it is stated that the Supreme Brahma is as effulgent as the sun and the origin of everything, and anyone who can understand that original person becomes liberated from the material conditional life. Therefore anyone who can simply be attached to You by devotional service, he can know Your actual position—Your birth, appearance and disappearance and activities. And as it is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā, simply by understanding Your constitutional position, appearance and disappearance, one can immediately be elevated to the spiritual kingdom after quitting this present body. Therefore to cross over the ocean of material nescience, an intelligent person takes shelter of Your lotus feet and easily is transferred to the spiritual world.
Next paragraph.
"There are so many so-called meditators who do not know that You are the Supreme Soul. And as it is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā, the Supreme Soul is present in everyone's heart. So You are present in everyone's heart; therefore, there is no necessity of one's meditating something beyond Yourself. In other words, one who is always absorbed in meditation of Your this original form of Kṛṣṇa, such person easily cross over the ocean of material nescience. But persons who do not know that You are the Supreme Soul, they, in spite of their so-called meditation, they remain within this material world.
"However if such person, by the association of Your devotees, come to the knowledge that Yourself, Lord Kṛṣṇa, is the original Supersoul, then it is possible for them to cross over the ocean of material ignorance, as much as when a person becomes transcendental to the mistaken knowledge of accepting a rope as a snake. So long a person is under misconception of accepting a rope as a snake, the fearfulness is there. But as soon as one understands that the rope is not a snake, at that time he is liberated from the fearfulness. One who understands You, therefore, through Your personal teachings, as it is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā, or through Your pure devotees, as they are stated in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and all Vedic literatures, because You are the ultimate goal of understanding all Vedas, then there is no more fearfulness of this material existence.
Next paragraph.
"The so-called liberation and bondage has no meaning for a person who is already engaged in Your devotional service, exactly like a person who has known the rope as not snake has no question of being afraid of. Similarly, a devotee knows that this material world belongs to You, and he therefore engages everything in Your transcendental loving service. And for them, for such pure devotees, there is no question of bondage. In other words, a person who is already situated in the sun planet, there is no question of appearance or disappearance of the sun in the name of day and night. It is said also that You, Kṛṣṇa, is just like the sun and māyā is just like darkness. Therefore, as when the sun is present there is no question of darkness, similarly, those who are always engaged in Your service, or those who are always in Your presence, for them there is no question of bondage or liberation; they are already liberated. On the other hand, persons who falsely think themselves as liberated without taking shelter of Your lotus feet, they fall down, because their intelligence is not pure.
Next paragraph.
"If somebody therefore thinks that the Supersoul is something different from Your personality and thus search out the Supersoul somewhere else—sometimes not at home but in the forest or in the caves of Himālaya—their condition is very lamentable. One should not therefore make attempt to search out the Supreme Brahman or Paramātmā elsewhere.
"Your teachings in the Bhagavad-gītā that one should give up all other processes of self-realization and simply should surrender unto You is complete, because You are supreme everything. Anyone who is searching after the Brahma effulgence, that is You. One who is searching after Supersoul realization, that is in You. You have stated in the Bhagavad-gītā that You Yourself, or by Your partial representation as the Supersoul, entered within this material cosmic manifestation. You are present in everyone’s heart; therefore there is no need of searching out the Supersoul anywhere else. If somebody does so, their condition is simply in ignorance.
"One who is transcendental to such position, however, understands that You are unlimited; You are both within and without. Your presence is everywhere. Therefore instead of searching out the Supersoul anywhere else, a devotee only concentrates his mind upon You, because You are present within also. Actually, one who is liberated from the material concept of life can search out You; not others. The comparison of accepting the rope as a snake is applicable only to those who are still in ignorance about Yourself. Actually, the existence of snake besides the rope is only within the mind. Similarly, the existence of māyā is only within the mind. Māyā is nothing but ignorance of Your personality. When one forgets Your personality, that is the conditional state of māyā. Therefore one who is fixed upon You, both internally and externally, he has no such illusion as mistaking a rope as a snake.
"One who has therefore attained a little bit a result of devotional service can understand Your glories. Even one who is after Brahma realization or Paramātmā realization cannot understand such different features of Your personality without being bestowed by a slightest path of devotional result. One may be in a solitary place alone or one may be the supreme spiritual master of many impersonalists, and one may go in the forest or within the cave of a mountain and meditate for many, many years. Still, it is not possible to understand Your glories without being favored by the result of devotional service even in the slightest degree. In other words, Brahma realization or Paramātmā realization is also not possible even after searching after them for many, many years without being touched by the wonderful effect of devotional service.
"Therefore, my Lord, I beg to pray that…, that I may be so much fortunate that I can accept You as my Supreme Lord. This concept of life may be in this life or in another life or anywhere I may take my birth. My only prayer unto You is that I may be counted as one of Your devotees, and wherever I may be, I may always be engaged in Your devotional service. I do not mind whatever form of life I may get in future, because I see even in the form of cows and calves or cowherds boy, the devotees are so much fortunate they are always engaged in Your transcendental loving service and associates. Therefore I wish that I may be one of them instead of becoming in such exalted position as I am now, which is full of ignorance only.
"The gopīs of Vṛndāvana and the cows of Vṛndāvana are so fortunate that they have been able to supply their breast milk unto You. Persons who are engaged in the business of performing great sacrifices, offering so many valuable goods in the sacrifice, still could not attain the perfection of understanding You. But simply by devotional service these innocent village women, gopīs, and the cows, were all able to satisfy You by supplying their bodily milk. You have drunk their bodily milk so much satisfactorily that You are never so much satisfied by such persons who are engaged in performing great sacrifice. I am simply therefore surprised with the fortunate position of these residents of Vṛndāvana like Mahārāja Nanda, mother Yaśodā and other cowherds men and gopīs, because You, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Absolute Truth, You are existing here as their most intimate lovable object.
"My dear Lord, nobody can actually appreciate the extent of fortunate position of these residents of Vṛndāvana. We are all demigods, controlling deities of respective senses of the living entities, and we are proud of enjoying such privileges of controlling respective senses. But actually there is no comparison of our position with these fortunate residents of Vṛndāvana, because they are actually relishing Your presence and enjoying Your association by dint of their activities of the senses. We may be proud of our being respective controller of the senses, but here the residents of Vṛndāvana, their position is so transcendental that…, that they are not under our control. Actually they are enjoying the existence of senses by Your associated service, practically. I shall therefore consider myself as one of such fortunate residents of Vṛndāvana if I am given the chance to take birth in this land in any future of my life.
Next paragraph.
"My dear Lord, I am not therefore interested in either material opulences or for liberation. I am most humbly praying at Your lotus feet that You can give me any sort of birth within this Vṛndāvana forest so that I may be able to be favored by the dust of the feet of some of the devotees of this Vṛndāvana area. Even if I am given the chance of growing just like a humble grass in this land of Vṛndāvana, that will be a glorious birth for me. Even if I am not so much fortunate to take birth within the forest of Vṛndāvana, I may be allowed to take my birth outside the area of Vṛndāvana, so that when the devotees will go out, they will traverse on me, and that would be a good fortune for me. I am aspiring such birth, to be smeared by the dust of the foot of the devotees, because here I can see that everyone is simply full with Kṛṣṇa consciousness, and they do not know anything except Mukunda, although the whole Vedas are searching after the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa."
It is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā that the purpose of Vedic knowledge is to find out Kṛṣṇa. Similarly, it is said in the Brahma-saṁhitā that it is very difficult to find out Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, by systematic reading of the Vedic literature, but He is very easily available through the mercy of a pure devotee. The pure devotees of Vṛndāvana are fortunate enough because they can always see Mukunda, or Lord Kṛṣṇa, all the time. This word used, "mukunda," can be understood in two ways. Muk means liberation. So Lord Kṛṣṇa can give liberation and therefore transcendental bliss. Another import of the word mukunda is that whose smiling of the face is just like kunda flower. The kunda flower is very beautiful, and it appears just like smiling. Similarly, Kṛṣṇa's face, especially smiling face, is compared with the kunda flower. Mukha means face, and kunda. Mukunda.
Difference between the pure devotees of Vṛndāvana and other places is that residents of Vṛndāvana have no other desire except to be associated with Kṛṣṇa, and Kṛṣṇa, being very kind to His devotees, He fulfills the desire of the devotees. And the devotees in Vṛndāvana, they always want Kṛṣṇa's association and the Lord is also prepared to give them such association. Another feature of the devotees of Vṛndāvana is that they are spontaneous lover. They do not follow much about the regulative principles, because they do not require to follow very strictly the regulative principle because naturally they have already developed a transcendental love for Kṛṣṇa. Regulative principles are required for such persons who have not achieved such position of spontaneous love. Brahmā is also devotee…
(break)
...they have already developed a transcendental love for Kṛṣṇa. Regulative principles are required for such persons who have not achieved such position of spontaneous love. Brahmā is also devotee of the Lord, but he is ordinary devotee under regulative principle. So his prayer to Kṛṣṇa to give him chance to take birth in Vṛndāvana is that he wanted to be elevated on the platform of spontaneous love.
Lord Brahmā continued to say, "My Lord, sometimes I am puzzled as to how Your Lordship will be able to repay by gratitude to the devotional service of these residents of Vṛndāvana. Although I know that You are the supreme source of all benediction, still I am puzzled how You shall be able to repay all the debts that You are receiving from these residents of Vṛndāvana. When I think that You are so kind, You are so magnanimous, that even Pūtanā, who came to cheat You as mother by dressing herself as very affectionate mother, and still You are so kind that You gave her liberation and just the post of a mother. And not only to her; because other demons who were connected with her, just like Aghāsura and Bakāsura, belonging to the same family, they were also favored by achieving You. Under the circumstances, I am puzzled that these residents of Vṛndāvana who have given You everything—their body, their mind, their hearth, their home, their position, everything are being utilized for Your purpose—so how You will be able to repay their debt? Because You have already given Yourself to Pūtanā, and under the circumstances, I surmise that to the residents of Vṛndāvana You shall remain ever a debtor, without being able to repay their loving service.
"My Lord, I can understand that the superexcellent service of the residents of Vṛndāvana is due to their spontaneously engaging all natural instincts into Your loving service. It is said that attachment for material object and home are different illusions, and such illusions make a living entity conditioned in the material world. But this is only possible to such persons who are not Kṛṣṇa conscious. But in the case of the residents of Vṛndāvana, such obstructive principles as attachment to home, hearth cannot be applied to these residents of Vṛndāvana, because their attachment has been converted unto You, and their home has been converted into temple, because You are always there. And their illusion is also not impediment, because they have forgotten everything for Your sake. For a Kṛṣṇa conscious person, therefore, there is no such thing as impediment of attachment for hearth and home or illusion.
"I can understand also that Your appearance as a small cowherds boy, a child of these cowherds men, is not at all material activities. You are so much obliged by their affection that You are present here to enthuse them with more and loving service by Your transcendental presence. In Vṛndāvana there is no such distinction between what is material and spiritual, because everything is dedicated to Your loving service. My dear Lord, Your Vṛndāvana pastime is simply to enthuse Your devotees. Otherwise, if somebody takes Vṛndāvana pastimes as something material, they will be misled. I think You are representing Your indebted…
(break)
Kṛṣṇa, tape number seventeen. Kṛṣṇa, tape number seventeen. July 18, 1969.
"My dear Lord Kṛṣṇa, people may think of You as having a material body. As it is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā, only the rascals and less intelligent class of men derided You as ordinary man. But You are always transcendental. It is said clearly the cheating for the nondevotees that they consider You as one of the material creation. Actually, You are simply to increase the volume of devotion and transcendental bliss of Your devotees, and for that purpose You have assumed this body exactly resembling just like ordinary cowherds boy.
Next paragraph.
"My dear Lord, I may say that people who advertise themselves that they have already realized God, or by such realization they have themselves become God, I have nothing to say about them. But so far as I am concerned, I can admit frankly that for me it is not possible to realize You either by my body, mind or speeches. In other words, what I can speak about You, or what I can realize You by my senses? I cannot even think of You perfectly even by my mind, which is the master of senses. Your qualities, Your activities, Your body, all are inconceivable by any person within this material world. Therefore I have already explained above that only by Your mercy only, one can understand to some extent what You are.
"My dear Lord, actually You are the Supreme Lord of all creations, although I sometimes falsely think that I am the master of this universe. I may be master of this universe, but there are innumerable universes, and there are innumerable Brahmās also, as the head of all such universes. But actually You are the master of all of them. As the Supersoul in everyone's heart, You know everything, and please therefore accept me as Your surrendered servant, and I wish that You may now excuse me of my great fault that I disturbed You in Your pastimes with Your friends and calves. Now, if You kindly ask me, I can immediately leave this place so that You can enjoy Your friends and calves without my presence.
"My Lord Kṛṣṇa, Your very name suggests that You are all-attractive. The attractiveness of the sun and the moon are all due to You. By the attractiveness of the sun, You are beautifying the very existence of the Yadu dynasty. With the attractiveness of the moon, You are enhancing the potency of the land, of the demigods, of the brāhmaṇas, of the cows and of the oceans. On account of Your supreme attraction, demons like Kaṁsa and others are being annihilated. Therefore it is my deliberate conclusion that You are the only worshipable Deity within the creation; therefore accept my humble obeisances until the annihilation of this material world, or I may say till the sunshine is existent within this material world, You may kindly accept my humble obeisances."
In this way, Brahmā, the master of this universe, after offering humble and respectful obeisances unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead and circumambulating Him three times, he was just preparing himself to return to his place known as Brahmaloka, and the Supreme Personality of Godhead also, by His gesture, gave him permission to return back. As soon as Brahmā left the place, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa immediately, exactly in His previous state of situation, appeared on the bank of Yamunā and met His friends as before.
Kṛṣṇa left his friends on the bank of the Yamunā while engaged in lunch, and although He returned exactly after one year, the cowherds boys thought Him that He returned within a second. That is the way of different activities of Kṛṣṇa’s different energies. As it is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā that Kṛṣṇa Himself residing in everyone’s heart gives them remembrance or gives them forgetting everything. So His friends also, being controlled in such a way, they could not understand that for continually one year they were absent from that place and they were under the spell of Brahmā's illusion. Generally, the entire group of living entities are being controlled by the supreme energy of the Lord, and sometimes they are remembering and sometimes they are forgetting their constitutional position.
When Kṛṣṇa appeared before His cowherd friends, they thought that Kṛṣṇa has returned back without delaying even a minute. So they began to laugh, thinking that Kṛṣṇa was not willing to leave their company in lunchtime. As such, they were very much jubilant and invited Him, "My dear friend Kṛṣṇa, You have come back so quickly! All right, we have not as yet begun our lunch even by one morsel of food. So please come and join us and let us eat together.” Kṛṣṇa also accepted their invitation and, smiling Himself, began to enjoy the lunchtime companion of His friends. While eating together, Kṛṣṇa was smiling, thinking that "These boys are thinking that I have come back very quickly within a second, but they did not know that for the last one year I was replying the mystic activities of Lord Brahmā.”
Therefore, after finishing their lunch, Kṛṣṇa along with His friends and calves left that place and began to return to their Vrajabhūmi homes, and while passing they enjoyed seeing the dead carcass of the body of Aghāsura, assumed like a gigantic snake. Thus they returned back home.
Next paragraph.
When Kṛṣṇa returned home in the Vrajabhūmi, He was seen by all the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana as wearing the peacock feather on His helmet, which was decorated with forest flowers, and Kṛṣṇa was also garlanded by those flowers and painted with different kinds of minerals, different colors, collected from the caves of Govardhana Hill. Govardhana Hill is always famous for supplying natural red oxides, and Kṛṣṇa and His friends painted their body with such minerals from the Govardhana Hill. Each of them had a bugle made of buffalo horn and a stick and a flute also, and they were calling their respective calves by their particular names. In this way, all of them entered into the village of Vrajabhūmi.
The friends were so much proud of Kṛṣṇa's wonderful activities that while entering into the village, all of them were singing the glories of Kṛṣṇa, and in this way all the gopīs in Vṛndāvana saw beautiful Kṛṣṇa entering the village. All the boys composed very nice songs describing how the boys were saved from the imminent danger of being swallowed by the big snake and how the snake was killed. Some of them were describing Kṛṣṇa's activities as He was the son of Nanda Mahārāja, and some of them were describing Kṛṣṇa's activities as Kṛṣṇa was the son of Yaśodā. In other words, they were singing that "The son of Yaśodā, the son of Nanda Mahārāja, is so wonderful that He saved us from the clutches of the big snake, and the big snake was killed by Him."
There was an inquiry from Mahārāja Parīkṣit to Śukadeva Gosvāmī as to how the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana all of a sudden developed so much love for Kṛṣṇa, although Kṛṣṇa was not directly member of any family. But still, during the absence of the original cowherds boy, when Kṛṣṇa assumed as all those cowherds boy, how their parents become so much affectionate to Him even more than their own sons? Similarly the cows also, how they become so much affectionate to the calves, more than their own calves originally? This inquiry was answered by Śukadeva Gosvāmī as follows.
Next paragraph.
Śukadeva Gosvāmī replied to Mahārāja Parīkṣit that "Every living entity is actually affectionate to his own self. Outward paraphernalia just like home, family, friends, country, nation, society, or wealth, opulence, reputation, all these things are secondarily pleasing to the living entity because such things gives pleasure to the self. Actually, one is attached to his own self, and anything which gives pleasure to the self become secondarily pleasing. For this reason only, one is more or less self-centered, or affectionate to his body and self, more than his bodily relatives like wife, children and friends. If there is some immediate danger to somebody's own person, first of all he takes care of himself and then for others. That is natural. That means he loves more than anything else his own self.
"After one's own self, the next important object of affection is one's material body. Person who has no information of the spirit soul is too much affectionate to his material body, so much so that even in old age he wants to preserve the body by so many artificial ways, thinking that his old and broken body may be saved. The conclusion is that everyone is working so hard day and night just to give pleasure to his own self, either under the bodily concept of life or spiritually concept of life.
"The conclusion is that we are attached to the material position because they give pleasure to the senses or to the body. We are attached to the body because ‘I,’ the spirit soul, is within this body. Similarly, when one is further advanced, that the spirit soul is also so pleasing to us because it is part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa. So ultimately Kṛṣṇa is pleasing and all-attractive. This is the conclusion—He is the Supersoul of everything, and in order to give us this information, Kṛṣṇa descends and gives us information this: that the all-attractive center is He Himself. Without being expansion of Kṛṣṇa, nothing can be attractive to us. In this cosmic manifestation, whatever there is attractive, it is due to Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is therefore the reservoir of all pleasure.
"The active principle of everything is Kṛṣṇa, and highly elevated transcendentalists see everything in connection with Kṛṣṇa. In the Caitanya-caritāmṛta it is stated that a mahā-bhagavata, or the highly advanced devotee, first-class devotee, although he sees everything like immovable trees and movable living entities, sees the active principle Kṛṣṇa; therefore without Kṛṣṇa he sees nothing within this cosmic manifestation. The conclusion is therefore that a fortunate person who has taken shelter of Kṛṣṇa as everything, for him liberation is already there. He is no more in the material world. This is also confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā, that anyone who is engaged in the devotional service of Kṛṣṇa, he is already in the brahma-bhūta, or spiritual platform.
"‘Kṛṣṇa,’ the very name suggests piety and liberation. Anyone who takes shelter of the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa has the boat for crossing over the ocean of nescience. For them, this vast expansion of material manifestation becomes just like hoof-hole on the ground. Kṛṣṇa is the shelter of all great souls, Kṛṣṇa is the shelter of this material (indistinct), and anyone who is on that platform of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, for him Vaikuṇṭha, or the spiritual world, is not far away. He does not live any more within the material world, which is full of dangers step by step.” In this way, Kṛṣṇa consciousness was fully explained by Śukadeva Gosvāmī to Mahārāja Parīkṣit, quoting the statement and prayers of Lord Brahmā.
Next paragraph.
Anyone who hears and recites this description of Lord Kṛṣṇa's pastime with His cowherds boys, eating with them on the bank of Yamunā and Lord Brahmā's prayers unto Him, they are all transcendental subject matter. Anyone who hears and chants surely gets all the desires fulfilled in the spiritual realization of self. Kṛṣṇa in His childhood appearance along with Baladeva used to play like that in Vṛndāvana.
Thus ends the Bhaktivedanta summary study purport of the Fourteenth Chapter depicting "The Prayers Offered by Lord Brahmā."