SB 1.9.18 (1964)
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
TEXT No. 18
Esa bai bhagawan sakshat adyo narayanah puman Mohayan mayaya lokam gudhas charati vrishnisu.
ENGLISH SYNONYMS
Esa—this, Bai—positively, Bhagawan—the Personality of Godhead, Sakshat—Original, Adyo—the first, Narayana—the Supreme Lord (who lies down on the water) Puman—the Supreme enjoyer, Mohayan—bewildering, Mayaya—by His self created energy, Lokam—the planets, Gudhas—inconceivable, Charati—moves, Vrishni—amongst the Vrishni family.
TRANSLATION
This Sri Krishna is no other than the Original Personality of Godhead. He is the first Narayana the Supreme Enjoyer. But He is moving amongst the descendants of the King Vrishni just like one of us by bewildering us with His self created energy.
PURPORT
The Vedic system of acquiring knowledge is the deductive processs. The Vedic knowledge is received perfectly by disciplic succession from authorities. Such knowledge is never dogmatic as it is ill-conceived by less intelligent persons. The mother is the authority to verify the identity of the father. She is the authority for such confidential knowledge. Therefore, authority is not dogmatic. In the Bhagwat Geeta this truth is confirmed in the fourth chapter (B.G. 4/2) and the perfect system of learning is to receive it from authority. The very same system is accepted universally as truth but only the false arguer speaks against this system. For example the modern sputniks fly in the sky and they say that the instrument has gone to the other side of the moon and so many other stories about sputnik and the moon. The modern man believes these stories blindly because they have accepted the modern scientist as authorities. The authorities speak and the people in general believe them because spoken by their authorities. But in the case of Vedic truths they have been so much obversely taught that they do not believe the truth mentioned in the Vedas. Even they accept them they give a different interpretation. Each and every man wants direct perception of the Vedic knowledge otherwise foolishly they deny to accept it: but in the case of Sputnik affairs they believe it as they are said. This means that the misguided man believes one class of authorities while they reject the authorities of the Vedas. The result is that people have degraded much in the principles of human life and the society is most uncongenial in the modern context.
Here is an authority speaking about Sri Krishna as the Original Personality of Godhead and the First Narayana. Even an Impersonalist like Acharya Sankara had said in the beginning of his commentation on the Bhagwat Geeta* that Narayana the Personality of Godhead is beyond the material creation. The universe is one of the material creations but Narayana is transcendental to such material paraphernalia.
Bhismadeva is one of the twelve Mahajans who knows the principles of transcendental knowledge. His confirmation of Lord Sri Krishna's becoming the original personality of Godhead is also corroborated by the impersonalist Sankara. All other Acharyas have also confirmed this statement and as such there is no chance of not accepting Lord Sri Krishna as the Original Personality of Godhead. Bhismadeva says that He is the first Narayana. This is also confirmed by Brahmaji in the Bhagwatam (10.14.14). Krishna is the First Narayana because in the spiritual world (Vaikunthas) there are unlimited number of Narayana, Who are all the same Personality of Godhead considered to be the plenary expansions of the Original Personality of Godhead Sri Krishna. The First Form of the Lord Sri Krishna first expands Himself as the Form of Valadeva and Valadeva expands in so many other Forms as Sankarsana, Pradyumna, Aniruddha, Vasudeva, Narayana, Purusha, Rama, Nrisingha, etc. All such expansions are one and the same Vishnu Tatwa and Sri Krishna is the original source of all the plenary expansions. He is, therefore, the direct Personality of Godhead. He is the creator of the material vrorld and He is the Predominating Deity in all the Vaikuntha planets known as Narayana. Therefore, His movements amongst the human being is another sort of bewilderment. The Lord, therefore, says in the Bhagwat Geeta that the foolish persons consider Him as one of the human beings without knowing the intricacies of His movement.
The bewilderment about Sri Krishna is exhibited by His two fold internal and external energies upon the third one called the marginal energy. The living entities are expansions of His Marginal Energy and as such the living beings are sometimes bewildered by the internal energy and sometimes by the external energy. By internal energetic bewilderment Sri Krishna expands Himself as unlimited number of Narayana and exchanges or accepts transcendental loving service of the living entities in the transcendental world. And by His external energetic expanstions He incarnates Himself in the material world amongst the men, animals or demigods for re-establishing His forgotton relation with the living entities in different species of life. Great authorities like Bhisma however escapes His bewilderment by the mercy of the Lord.