Srila Prabhupada explains The Avatars
of Sri Krishna
Srila Prabhupada:
isvarah paramah krsnah sac-cid-ananda-vigrahah
/
anadir adir govindah sarva-karana-karanam
So Lord Caitanya has explained the particular
features of Krishna, and He's giving evidence from Brahma-samhita and other authentic Vedic literatures. So we have concluded that Krsna is the origin.
Origin. There are many demigods, gods, and living entities, energies, millions and
millions. Parasya saktir vividhaiva
sruyate. There is no estimate.
But He is the origin of all. Just like in your New York City there are so many manifestation
of electricity, but the origin is the powerhouse, similarly, He is the origin, powerhouse. Sarvadi, sarvamsi. He is the whole, and everything is part. And He is always
just like a young boy of sixteen years old. And His body is transcendental, spiritual,
full of bliss, eternity, and He is the shelter of everything. On Him everything
is resting, and sarvesvara, He is the Supreme Lord.
svayam bhagavan krsna, 'govinda' para
nama
sarvaisvarya-purna yanra goloka--nitya-dhama
Now, that Supreme Personality of Godhead,
Krsna... Krsna is the original name of God, and Govinda is the qualitative name,
transcendental qualitative. This Govinda, we have explained. Go means land, go means senses, and go means...
Land, senses...
Devotee: Cow.
Srila Prabhupada: Cow. Yes. This we have explained. And because
He gives pleasure to all these things especially, cows and land and the senses,
He is known as Govinda. Sarvaisvarya-purna. He is full of all opulences. There is definition
of God in the Parasara-sutra. Parasara Muni, the father of Vyasadeva,
he was a great sage. So he has given the definition of God. After consulting all
Vedic literatures, he has given his, delivered the definition of God. What is that? Sad-aisvarya-purna: full of six opulences. And what are those
six opulences? Aisvaryasya samagrasya: "He is the proprietor of all wealth, everything."
So aisvaryasya samagrasya viryasya: "He is the reservoir of all strength." Viryasya yasasah sriyah: "And He is the supreme famous." Nobody can
be more famous than Krsna. Aisvaryasya
samagrasya viryasya yasasah sriyah. Sriyah means beauty. Nobody can be more beautiful than Krsna. And jnana, knowledge. Nobody can be more knower and full of knowledge than Krsna. And renunciation.
And He is also, at the..., having so many opulences. He is renouncer of... He has
nothing to do with all these things. He does not depend for His Godheadship on these
qualifications. He is renouncer at the same time. So here also Lord Caitanya substantiates
that sad-aisvarya-purna: "He's full of six opulences." Sad-aisvarya-purna yanra goloka--nitya-dhama.
Nitya-dhama means He's homely.
Homely. He's the proprietor of all land, but just like a king. A king is the proprietor
of the whole state; still, he has got his personal residence, which is called palace,
royal palace. So similarly, although Lord is the proprietor of everything, every
land, every space, every, any, anywhere... This is the proprietorship of Lord, of
God's.
So we are seeking after peace, but we do
not know that where we are living. We are claiming proprietorship for the time being.
We come here under different shapes, in different body, and claim proprietorship
for the land where we are born. But we do not know by freaks of nature, any second,
we can be driven away from this land and put another land. So where is my proprietorship?
If I am staying for some time here, some time there... Bhojanam yatra yatra sayanam hatta-mandire: "I eat wherever eatables are available,
and I sleep on the marketplace." Then where is my home? Where is my home? So this
is our position. We are circumambulating under, in the cycle of birth and death.
Sometimes I am claiming, "America is my land," sometimes claiming, "India is my
land," sometimes claiming, "China is my land," sometimes claiming, "Moon planet
is my land." No land belongs to you. Everything belongs to God. Isavasyam idam sarvam. He is the proprietor. Bhoktaram
yajna-tapasam sarva-loka-mahesvaram. That misunderstanding... We are falsely encroaching upon and falsely claiming proprietorship.
Therefore there is no peace. You are searching after peace. How can there be peace?
You are falsely claiming something which does not belong to you. So here it is said, sarvaisvarya-purna.
So every place belongs to God, but that
Goloka Vrndavana, that place is particularly His abode. You have seen the picture.
It is lotuslike. All planets are round, but that supreme planet is lotuslike. So
that is in the spiritual sky, Goloka Vrndavana. And from that spiritual planet...
Just like the, from the sun planet, the sunshine is emanating profusely. Just like
this sun is, is compared with the eye, eyes of the Lord. Not... One eye. Another
eye, the moon. It is figuratively stated. Yac-caksur esa savita sakala-grahanam raja samasta-sura-murtir asesa-tejah. Asesa-tejah, unlimited potency, sunlight, is coming from
the sun. This material world, we can practically experience. But the sunlight is
also emanating from that light which is emanating from that Goloka Vrndavana. That
is the real light, which is called brahmajyoti. So in that brahmajyoti there are innumerable spiritual planets also. So in the
spiritual sky, in that spiritual light, in that spiritual planets, there are innumerable
liberated living entities, and each, each and every planet, there is expansion of
Lord Krsna. They are named by different names. (break) Sad-aisvarya-purna yanra goloka--nitya-dhama. So origin. He is the origin. His planet,
Goloka Vrndavana, is the original planet, and from that planet, that brahmajyoti, light, is coming. And in that light, everything is resting.
And in an insignificant portion of that light, this material world is situated.
In that place there are innumerable universes as we are seeing one. And one of these
universes, there are millions and billions of planets, of which this earth is only
a insignificant fragment. And in that earth, the land of America, United States,
is still insignificant. And in that state, New York is still insignificant. And
in that New York City, this 26 Second Avenue insignificant. And we are sitting here.
So just see how much insignificant we are. And we are claiming "God." Do not know... Sad-aisvarya-purna. This is called ignorance. We do not know
how much insignificant we are in the creation of God, and we are claiming, "God."
This is called poor fund of knowledge, poor fund of knowledge.
Now Lord Caitanya says that... He's giving
evidence from Srimad-Bhagavatam. In Srimad-Bhagavatam it is stated,
ete camsa-kalah pumsah krsnas
tu bhagavan svayam /
indrari-vyakulam lokam mrdayanti
yuge yuge
Now, in the Srimad-Bhagavatam, perhaps in the Third Chapter in the First Canto, you'll find there is description
of different incarnations, principal incarnations--not all the incarnations, principal,
in different yugas. So in that list of incarnations you'll find
Lord Krsna's name also, Lord Rama's name also, Lord Buddha's name also. Lord Buddha
is mentioned in that list. So we, Vaisnavite, we respect Lord Buddha as incarnation,
incarnation. So do not think that the Hindus, they have got disregard for Lord Buddha
or for Lord Jesus Christ. No. They have all regard. Anyone who comes as representative
of God, or as God, as powerful incarnation, they are all welcome. According to time,
according to place, according to the audience, they may speak, speak something which
is, which may be different from the Vedic conclusion, but they are accepted as powerful
incarnations. So in that list of incarnations, Krsna's name is also there. But just
to particularize Krsna from all others, this verse is mentioned there. What is that? Ete. Ete means "All this list of incarnations that we have seen or
we are reading in the Srimad-Bhagavatam..." Ete ca amsa-kalah pumsah. Pumsah means the Supreme Lord. "The Supreme Lord's plenary portion or portion of the plenary
portion..." Just like the... I have several times mentioned in this room, that the
original lamp... This is original lamp. And you kindle another candle, from that,
another, from that, another, from... In that... Thousands and millions of candles,
you can light up, but the original is called the original. Similarly, the original
God is Krsna. From Him, Baladeva, and from Him, Sankarsana, and from Sankarsana,
then Narayana, and Narayana, then second Sankarsana, the second Sankarsana, purusa avatara, then purusa avatara, Maha-Visnu...
You have seen the picture in the, what is called, title page of the Srimad-Bhagavatam. The Maha-Visnu is lying in the, lying in the Causal Ocean,
and in that Causal Ocean, from Maha-Visnu, from His breathing, millions and millions
universes are coming out. And when He, when He breathes externally, the universes
come out, and when He inhales, all the universes go into Him. You see? That Maha-Visnu.
yasyaika-nisvasita-kalam athavalamby
jivanti loma-vilaja-jagad-anda-nathah /
visnur mahan sa iha yasya kala-viseso
govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami
That Visnu, Maha-Visnu, is the part,
part, part, part, part, part of the part of the part of Krsna, that Maha-Visnu.
So they are called kala.
So all these list... Bhagavata is specifying about Krsna. All this full list of God's incarnation...
Either they are part, plenary part, or parts of the parts of the parts of the Supreme,
but here, the name Krsna, He's the original God. Krsnas tu bhagavan svayam: "The Supreme Personality of Godhead is Krsna." That has
been particularly pointed out in Srimad-Bhagavatam, although
there are list of many. So that, that Krsna, although He is original, still, indrari-vyakulam lokam mrdayanti yuge yuge.
Indrari. Indra. Indra is the
king of heaven. And ari, ari means enemy. Just like the heavenly king
and the Satan, conception of Satan. So when there is satanic influence over the
kingdom of God, or the devotees, or the appointed demigods, they are disturbed by
satanic influence, then Krsna comes. Yada yada hi... That is stated,
confirmed, in Bhagavad-gita.
yada yada hi dharmasya glanir
bhavati bharata /
abhyutthanam adharmasya tadatmanam srjamy
aham
Whenever there is discrepancies in the
discharge of natural laws of God, then God incarnates. Either He incarnates Himself,
or He sends His bona fide representative, or He sends His powerful representative,
like that. So whenever there is incarnation of God, it is to be understood that
there is discrepancies in the matter of discharging the laws made by God. And the
laws made by God is called dharma,
dharma, or religion.
So religion, you cannot manufacture; I
cannot manufacture. Just like there are so many religions now, manufactured by laymen.
Oh, they are not religion. Dharmam
tu saksad bhagavat-pranitam: "Dharma means, religion means, which is made by God." Or His representative.
Not by anyone. Not that you make a club or association, you manufacture some idea
and it becomes religion. No. Dharmam tu saksad bha... Therefore
God incarnates. Yada yada hi
dharmasya glanir bhavati. Glanir means when there is discrepancies. In that law, which is given by God, when there
is discrepancies and people are disturbed, especially the devotees are disturbed,
when there is satanic influence, there is, devotees are very much disturbed. So paritranaya sadhunam. When incarnation comes, now, paritranaya sadhunam, the first business is to give protection to the devotees.
There is no necessity of God's coming here to settle up things. There is no necessity.
He has got omnipotential power. He can do without His presence. But when His devotees
become very much disturbed, He comes personally. He comes personally, sends His
representative. Paritranaya sadhunam.
Sadhunam means devotees. Paritranaya and vinasaya
ca duskrtam. And, simultaneously,
when He comes, all these miscreants, they are killed. They are annihilated. Vinasaya ca duskrtam. Dharma-samsthapanarthaya, and reestablishing the principle of religion. Yuge yuge sambhavami. The Lord says, "I come in different millenniums."
So that is going on. There are innumerable
universes, which you cannot estimate, and each of the universes, the Lord is incarnating
Himself by one of His plenary portions. Krsna is present in some of the universes
even now. We do not know where is that universe because we cannot see. What is information
we have got? We do not know anything about this universe. We see so many stars in
the night, so many sun, moon, but what do we know about them? Still, we are claiming
that "We are very powerful. We are very advanced in knowledge." This is our poor
fund of knowledge. Anyone who is claiming that "I am God" or "I am everything,"
he is a fool number one. Take it for... Immediately take as fool. What does he know?
So indrari-vyakulam lokam. There are many universes and many planets.
So in either of them or each of them, some sort of incarnation is present there.
Just like in government, in every department, there is a government representative.
Just like in your city, your mayor, mayor is there. Or any responsible post, there
is some director, there is... Similarly, indrari-vyakulam mrdayanti yuge yuge. Yuge yuge means different yugas. The same example. Just like the sun. The
sun is present everywhere. Just at this moment it is now eight, eight o'clock in
New York. In India it is night. There is no sun. But here it is, sun present. Similarly,
in your country also, if you go more farther eastern, western side, somewhere the
sun is already there somewhere, somewhere the sun is not there. So similarly, the
sun is there, but it is the particular time and place where people can see and cannot
see. So Krsna is there always, everywhere, but it is the power of seeing where Krsna
is or Krsna is not.
So indrari-vyakulam... He is, by
His one plenary portion, He is in either of the all universes. So in this universe,
when He comes... Just like when sun appears in your country it takes round of twenty-four
hours, similarly, when Krsna comes on this universe, it is only in one day of Brahma,
that is, some millions and millions of years after, He comes. He has got a scheduled
time also, to appear in this universe. We get information from authentic scripture. Indrari-vyakulam lokam mrdayanti yuge yuge. So He is... Just like sun is rotating, or
we are rotating, similarly, Krsna is there. At a certain interval of time we see
Him in this universe. He is present always, but at a certain interval... Just like
the motorcar passes... It is going on. But when it is in front of my storefront,
I can see. That's all. Not that because the motorcar has passed away, out of my
sight, there is no motorcar. No. It has passed away from your sight. That's all.
It is going on. It is going on. Similarly, incarnation, representation of Krsna,
is always going on. When we can see, then it is... Krsna we can see. That is His
omnipotency.
Now to understand that Krsna... Already
said that bhakti, only devotional service, can help you in
understanding that Supreme Krsna.
jnana, yoga, bhakti,--tina sadhanera
vase
brahma, atma, bhagavan--trividha prakase
That same Krsna, He manifests Himself before
you in three different features. What is that? Param brahma. Brahman, impersonal
Brahman; impersonal atma, Supersoul; and Bhagavan, the Supreme Personality
of Godhead. The same Krsna. Actually Krsna is everything. He is the Supreme Personality
of Godhead, Godhead, and He is Atma. He is situated as Paramatma, the Supersoul,
in everyone's heart. And He is Brahman. He is impersonal brahmajyoti spreading everywhere. So how the same thing is understood in different features?
That is said, jnana, yoga and bhakti. Those who are trying to understand the Supreme Absolute Truth through knowledge,
they can go up to that impersonal Brahman. Those who are searching after the Supreme
Absolute Truth through meditation, yoga, they can approach Krsna up to His plenary
portion, Paramatma, or the Supersoul. And those who are pursuing the principles
of devotional service, they can directly approach the Supreme Personality of Godhead,
Krsna. So Krsna is everything. He is impersonal Brahman, He is localized Paramatma,
and He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead at the same time, but due to our different
processes, different process of approach, somebody is realizing Him as the impersonal
Brahman, somebody is realizing Him as the localized Paramatma, Supersoul, and somebody
is realizing Him, isvarah paramah
krsnah sac-cid-ananda-vigrahah, the most, supermost reservoir of all pleasure, Personality of Godhead, and associates
with Him in different relationship and enjoys life, eternal life, blissful life
and knowledge of full...
Thank you very much. (end)
Srila Prabhupada lecture on Sri Caitanya-caritamrta,
Madhya-lila 20.154-157 New York, NY, USA December 7, 1966
His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
Prabhupada
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