Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.1.1 Prabhupada: It is all right? Working? Devotee: Yes. It’s working. Prabhupada: Where is spectacle? Yes. Chant. Pradyumna: Om namo bhagavate vasudevaya. (three times with response) Prabhupada: janmady asya yato ’nvayad itaratas carthesv abhijnah svarat tene brahma hrda ya adi-kavaye muhyanti yat surayah tejo-vari-mrdam yatha vinimayo yatra tri-sargo ’mrsa dhamna svena sada nirasta-kuhakam satyam param dhimahi [Bhag. 1.1.1] So Vyasadeva is offering his obeisances to satyam param, the Absolute Supreme Truth, not to the relative truth. Everyone has to offer obeisances to somebody. Somebody… In our practical life, at least, we have to offer obeisances to the police constable. When you go on the street, as soon as they, “Stop!” So we have to obey. So how you can avoid obeying? They are saying that “We don’t believe in God. God is dead. I am God.” But why you are offering obeisances even to the small constable? That means you have to offer your obeisances to somebody. That is your position. But we are offering obeisances to the relative truth. Relative truth means… That has been explained here that tejo-vari-mrdam yatha vinimayo yatra tri-sargo ’mrsa. We are offering obeisances to a temporary manifestation of tejo-vari-mrdam vinimayah. Tejah means fire, vari means water, and mrt means earth. So you take earth, mix with water, and put it into fire. Then grind it, so it becomes mortar and the brick, and you prepare a very big skyscraper and offer obeisances there. Yes. “Oh, such a big house, mine.” Tri-sargo ’mrsa. But there is another place: dhamna svena nirasta-kuhakam. We are offering here obeisances to the bricks, stone, iron. Just like in your country especially—in all Western countries—there are so many statues. The same thing, tejo-vari-mrdam vinimayah. But when we install Deity, actually the form, eternal form of Krsna, nobody offers obeisances. They’ll go to offer obeisances to the dead. Just like in British Museum. They are standing in queue to offer obeisances to a dead body. It has no value, but they are wasting time there. But here, if they are invited, “Oh, they are worshiping idol. Why shall I go? Why shall I go there?” This is called illusion. They are actually doing that, obeisances, but not to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Vyasadeva says that “I offer my obeisances to the Supreme Absolute Truth.” Satyam param dhimahi. There is no more truth beyond that. And as Krsna says in the Bhagavad-gita, mattah parataram nanyat kincid asti dhananjaya [Bg. 7.7]. Mattah, “Beyond Me there is no more superior power.” Mattah parataram na anyat. So Vyasadeva is offering his obeisances to the person above whom there is nobody. God means controller, I have several times explained. But here in our experience we see that one controller is controlled by another controller. Nobody is absolute controller. Therefore nobody is Absolute Truth. But there is…, there must be the Absolute Truth. Janmady asya yatah [Bhag. 1.1.1], as it has begun, “the source of all emanations.” Now, what is that source of emanation? What is the nature? One has to accept the cause and effect. As we have got experience, in everything there is a cause and the effect. So the supreme cause, supreme cause means who has no more cause—sarva-karana-karanam [Bs. 5.1] I am caused by my father, my father is caused by his father. His father, his father…, go on making research, who is the ultimate father. When you come… There must be some ultimate father. Just like I have my father, my father has got father, his father… We can see up to two, three generation upwards, and beyond that, we cannot see. That does not mean that the great- grandfather had no father. There must have been some father. Is it very unreasonable? Anyone can understand. Although I cannot see with my limited potency, but with my knowledge, reasonable knowledge, I can understand that either he may be great- grandfather or above that, above that, he must have some father. So Lord Brahma is called therefore pitamaha, “grandfather,” because he is the original father within this universe. He is the first created being, and he begot so many children. So all the living entities, they are born of Brahma. He is called srsti-karta. Srsti-karta means “the creator of this universe.” And there are innumerable universes. In each universe there is one Brahma, and all these Brahmas are also created by Garbhodakasayi Visnu. Therefore visnu-tattva is the Absolute Truth. Now it will be explained in the purport. Read. Pradyumna: Shall I take up where we left off yesterday? Prabhupada: Yes. Pradyumna: “Sri Vyasadeva asserts herein that Sri Krsna is the original Personality of Godhead and all others are His direct or indirect plenary portions or portion of the portion. Srila Jiva Gosvami has even more explicitly explained the subject matter in his Krsna Sandarbha, and Brahma, the original living being…” Prabhupada: Jiva Gosvami has got six sandarbhas, theses: Bhagavat-sandarbha, Krsna-sandarbha, Tattva-sandarbha, Priti-sandarbha, like that. So these books are… I don’t think it is published in English. So these sandarbhas are so philosophically discussed that throughout the whole world, there is not a single philosopher who can defy these Jiva Gosvami’s six sandarbhas. Our, this Gaudiya- sampradaya… We belong to Gaudiya-sampradaya—Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, from the disciplic succession of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. We have got immense literature to understand God. One who wants to understand God through philosophy, science, argument, logic, so to supply them material, we have got immense literature, Vedic literature. So one of them is mentioned here, Krsna-sandarbha, what is Krsna. Go on. Pradyumna: “And Brahma, the original living being, has explained the subject of Sri Krsna substantially in his treatise named Brahma-samhita. In the Sama-veda Upanisad it is also stated that Lord Sri Krsna is the divine son of Devaki.” Prabhupada: Some of the foolish scholars, they say that Krsna was a, I mean to say, powerful, what is called? Aborigine. And the Krsna worshipers have taken Him because He was very powerful. Krsna is always powerful. But they have misinterpreted in this way. Krsna is mentioned in the Vedas. Just like these books, Brahma-samhita. Brahma-samhita is only description of Krsna, and this book was composed by Lord Brahma. Nobody knows how many millions of years ago this book was composed, but we understand that it was composed by Brahma on the authority of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Our process is to take knowledge from the authority. We don’t bother whether Brahma-samhita was actually written by Brahma or not. The so-called scholars and anthropologists and… What is called? Archaeologists, they may go on talking, but we have got a very nice process, to receive knowledge through parampara system, Vedic succession, disciplic succession. So Caitanya Mahaprabhu, when He was traveling in the southern part of India, south India, Adikesava Mandira, there was a temple. Still that temple is there. He found out this Brahma-samhita in handwritten. Formerly, there was no printing press. So any important Vedic literature was being copied. Suppose you have got some copy. I want it, so I borrow from you the book, and I copy in my handwriting or I engage somebody who has got good handwriting. In this way, in Vrndavana, still there are so many handmade, handwritten literatures. They have opened one association, one society. They are collecting all this handwritten literature. So this handwritten literature, Brahma-samhita, was collected by Caitanya Mahaprabhu from a temple in South India, and He delivered to His immediate disciples, that “This is Brahma-samhita, written by Brahma. It is the summary of the Bhagavata, Srimad-Bhagavata.” So Caitanya Mahaprabhu gives reference of Srimad-Bhagavatam with Brahma-samhita. That means Srimad-Bhagavatam also is eternal. They are not man-made, manufactured books. The Vedic literature means, as it is stated in this verse, tene brahma hrda. Brahma means Vedic literature, sabda-brahma. So He distributed the… Vasudeva, original person, Absolute Truth, He, I mean to say, transferred this Vedic knowledge. Tene brahma hrda. Brahma was alone. He could not see Krsna eye to eye, but isvarah sarva-bhutanam hrd-dese arjuna tisthati [Bg. 18.61]. Krsna is everyone’s heart, so He taught him from within. Krsna’s name is Caitya-guru, “guru, spiritual master from within.” So Krsna is trying to help us from within, and He manifests again externally also as spiritual master, directly teaching. So from within, from without, He is trying to help us. Krsna is so kind. From within and without. Tene brahma hrda adi-kavaye. So this Brahma-samhita was written by Lord Brahma, and in Brahma-samhita the name of Krsna is there. Isvarah paramah krsnah [Bs. 5.1], beginning. That is the fifth chapter. There were hundred chapters. Only fifth chapter is available. So in the beginning of that fifth chapter, Brahma says, isvarah paramah krsnah sac-cid-ananda-vigrahah [Bs. 5.1] So how these rascals can conclude that Krsna was liv…, some years, some hundred or five hundred years ago there was a beel boy, he was very powerful. So in this way, these rascal so-called scholars they are misleaded public. Therefore we call them simply rascals. They do not know what is the truth, and still, they write books, they write commentaries unauthorizedly and mislead public. This is going on. Krsna is not manufactured. In the Brahma-samhita there is complete description of Krsna: isvarah paramah krsnah sac-cid-ananda-vigrahah anadir adir govindah sarva-karana-karanam [Bs. 5.1] The cause of all causes. Janmady asya yatah [Bhag. 1.1.1]. Vedanta-sutra says, “The Absolute Truth is that which is the origin, original cause.” Original cause. The scientists, they are trying to find out the original cause of creation, but they are creating their own imagination. “There was a chunk, and it burst out, and then planets came out.” Like that. (laughter) And wherefrom this chunk came, you nonsense? So this is going on. So if you actually want knowledge, then you have to take knowledge by this disciplic succession, because you cannot speculate. By speculation, you can never arrive to the Absolute Truth. That is not possible. athapi te deva padambuja-dvayam prasada-lesanugrhita eva hi janati tattvam bhagavan-mahimno na canya eko ’pi ciram vicinvan Ciram vicinvan. Ciram means perpetually you can speculate, but you cannot understand what is God. That is not possible. You have to know God from a person who knows God or God personally. Just like Krsna. Krsna’s name is mentioned in the Bhagavata…, Brahma-samhita. That means Brahma knew Krsna. That means Krsna was before Brahma’s birth, original. Aham evasam agre. Before creation, Krsna was. Not that Krsna is a product of this material creation. Just like we are product of this material creation. This body, everyone knows it is a product of material creation. My father and mother created this body. My father and mother’s body also created by somebody, somebody, somebody. Krsna’s body is not like that. Krsna’s body is beyond creation—aham evasam agre—because there was no creation and Krsna was existing before creation, then how you can say Krsna’s body is material? That is not possible. So when there was no material creation, Krsna was there. Therefore His body is not… Therefore Krsna says in the Bhagavad-gita, janma karma ajo ’pi san avyayatma: “I am born,” avyayatma, “eternal body; still, I take birth.” Bhutanam isvaro ’pi san: “I am the Lord of everyone; still, I appear.” These things are to be understood. And if we can understand Krsna, janma karma me divyam… These are all transcendental knowledge. They are not ordinary knowledge. Divyam, transcendental. His appearance, His disappearance, His work, His activity, His pastimes, they are all transcendental. So anyone who can try to understand Krsna in His transcendental position beyond creation, beyond creation… Even Sankaracarya, the impersonalist, he says narayana parah avyaktat: “Narayana is beyond this material creation.” Avyakta. Avyakta means there is a total stock of material elements beyond this universe. There are so many things to be learned. This universe we see just like a ball, and this ball is covered by layers of water, fire, air, earth, like that. Circling. And each layer is ten times bigger than the previous layer. In this way the universe is covered. And beyond that covering, there is another sky. We are prisoned here within this universe. We are thinking that we are very free to move in the sky with, what is called, sputniks. But you cannot go beyond your limitation. That is not possible. They are going to the moon planet, again coming back. You see. That is our conditional life, that you are conditioned, packed up under certain regulations. If you violate, then you are punishable. You cannot violate. You have to remain within the conditions of material nature. Daivi hy esa gunamayi mama… [Bg. 7.14] You cannot violate. If you want to violate the laws of nature, then you will create another difficulty. Another difficulty. (end)
by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
London, August 6, 1971