ERROR: Your browser does not support scripts.

sutah uvaca—Suta Gosvami said; iti—thus; upamantritah—being requested; rajna—by the King; guna-anukathane—in describing the transcendental attributes of the Lord; hareh—of the personality of Godhead; hrsikesam—the master of the senses; anusmrtya—properly remembering; prativaktum—just to reply; pracakrame—executed the preliminaries.

Suta Gosvami said: When Sukadeva Gosvami was thus requested by the King to describe the creative energy of the Personality of Godhead, he then systematically remembered the master of the senses [Sri Krsna], and to reply properly he spoke thus.

namah parasmai purusaya bhuyase

The devotees of the Lord, while delivering speeches and describing the transcendental attributes of the Lord, do not think that they can do anything independently. They think that they can speak only what they are induced to speak by the Supreme Lord, the master of the senses. The senses of the individual being are not his own; the devotee knows that such senses belong to the Supreme Lord and that they can be properly used when they are employed for the service of the Lord. The senses are instruments, and elements are ingredients, all endowed by the Lord; therefore whatever an individual can do, speak, see, etc., is under the direction of the Lord only. The Bhagavad-gita (15.15) confirms this: sarvasya caham hrdi sannivisto mattah smrtir jnanam apohanam ca. No one is free to act freely and independently, and as such, one should always seek the permission of the Lord to act or eat or speak, and by the blessing of the Lord everything done by a devotee is beyond the principles of the four defects typical of the conditioned soul.

SB2.4.12

TEXT 12

sri-suka uvaca

sad-udbhava-sthana-nirodha-lilaya

grhita-sakti-tritayaya dehinam

antarbhavayanupalaksya-vartmane

sri-sukah uvaca—Sri Sukadeva Gosvami said; namah—offering obeisances; parasmai—the Supreme; purusaya—personality of Godhead; bhuyase—unto the complete whole; sad-udbhava—the creation of the material world; sthana—its maintenance; nirodha—and its winding up; lilaya—by the pastime of; grhita—having accepted; sakti—power; tritayaya—three modes; dehinam—of all who possess material bodies; antah-bhavaya—unto He who resides within; anupalaksya—inconceivable; vartmane—one who has such ways.

Sukadeva Gosvami said: Let me offer my respectful obeisances unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead who, for the creation of the material world, accepts the three modes of nature. He is the complete whole residing within the body of everyone, and His ways are inconceivable.

bhuyo namah sad-vrjina-cchide ’satam

This material world is a manifestation of the three modes goodness, passion and ignorance, and the Supreme Lord, for the creation, maintenance and destruction of the material world, accepts three predominating forms as Brahma, Visnu and Sankara (Siva). As Visnu He enters into every body materially created. As Garbhodakasayi Visnu He enters into every universe, and as Ksirodakasayi Visnu He enters the body of every living being. Lord Sri Krsna, being the origin of all visnu-tattvas, is addressed here as parah puman, or Purusottama, as described in the Bhagavad-gita (15.18). He is the complete whole. The purusavataras are therefore His plenary expansions. Bhakti-yoga is the only process by which one can become competent to know Him. Because the empiric philosophers and mystic yogis cannot conceive of the Personality of Godhead, He is called anupalaksya-vartmane, the Lord of the inconceivable way, or bhakti-yoga.

SB2.4.13

TEXT 13

asambhavayakhila-sattva-murtaye

pumsam punah paramahamsya asrame

vyavasthitanam anumrgya-dasuse

bhuyah—again; namah—my obeisances; sat—of the devotees or the pious; vrjina—distresses; chide—the liberator; asatam—of the atheists, the nondevotee-demons; asambhavaya—cessation of further unhappiness; akhila—complete; sattva—goodness; murtaye—unto the Personality; pumsam—of the transcendentalists; punah—again; paramahamsye—the highest stage of spiritual perfection; asrame—in the status; vyavasthitanam—particularly situated; anumrgya—the destination; dasuse—one who delivers.

I again offer my respectful obeisances unto the form of complete existence and transcendence, who is the liberator of the pious devotees from all distresses and the destroyer of the further advances in atheistic temperament of the nondevotee-demons. For the transcendentalists who are situated in the topmost spiritual perfection, He grants their specific destinations.

namo namas te ’stv rsabhaya satvatam

Lord Sri Krsna is the complete form of all existence, both material and spiritual. Akhila means complete, or that which is not khila, inferior. As stated in the Bhagavad-gita, there are two kinds of nature (prakrti), namely the material nature and the spiritual nature, or the external and internal potencies of the Lord. The material nature is called apara, or inferior, and the spiritual nature is called superior or transcendental. Therefore the form of the Lord is not of the inferior, material nature. He is complete transcendence. And He is murti, or having transcendental form. The less intelligent men, who are unaware of His transcendental form, describe Him as impersonal Brahman. But Brahman is simply the rays of His transcendental body (yasya prabha [Bs. 5.40]). The devotees, who are aware of His transcendental form, render Him service; therefore the Lord also reciprocates by His causeless mercy and thus delivers His devotees from all distresses. The pious men who follow the rulings of the Vedas are also dear to Him, and therefore the pious men of this world are also protected by Him. The impious and the nondevotees are against the principles of the Vedas, and so such persons are always hampered from making advances in their nefarious activities. Some of them, who are specially favored by the Lord, are killed by Him personally, as in the cases of Ravana, Hiranyakasipu and Kamsa, and thus such demons get salvation and are thereby checked from further progress in their demoniac activities. Just like a kind father, either in His favor upon the devotees or His punishment of the demons He is ever kind to everyone because He is the complete existence for all individual existence.

The paramahamsa stage of existence is the highest perfectional stage of spiritual values. According to Srimati Kuntidevi, the Lord is factually understood by the paramahamsas only. As there is gradual realization of the transcendence from impersonal Brahman to localized Paramatma to the Personality of Godhead, Purusottama, Lord Krsna, similarly there is gradual promotion of one’s situation in the spiritual life of sannyasa. Kuticaka, bahudaka, parivrajakacarya and paramahamsa are gradual progressive stages in the renounced order of life, sannyasa, and Queen Kuntidevi, the mother of the Pandavas, has spoken about them in her prayers for Lord Krsna (Canto One, Chapter Eight). The paramahamsas are generally found among both the impersonalists and the devotees, but according to Srimad-Bhagavatam (as clearly stated by Kuntidevi), pure bhakti-yoga is understood by the paramahamsas, and Kuntidevi has especially mentioned that the Lord descends (paritranaya sadhunam) especially to award bhakti-yoga to the paramahamsas. So ultimately the paramahamsas, in the true sense of the term, are unalloyed devotees of the Lord. Srila Jiva Gosvami has directly accepted that the highest destination is bhakti-yoga, by which one accepts the transcendental loving service of the Lord. Those who accept the path of bhakti-yoga are the factual paramahamsas.

Since the Lord is very kind to everyone, the impersonalists, who accept bhakti as the means of merging in the existence of the Lord in His impersonal brahmajyoti, are also awarded their desired destination. He has assured everyone in the Bhagavad-gita (4.11): ye yatha mam prapadyante. According to Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti, there are two classes of paramahamsas, namely the brahmanandis (impersonalists) and the premanandis (devotees), and both are awarded their desired destinations, although the premanandis are more fortunate than the brahmanandis. But both the brahmanandis and the premanandis are transcendentalists, and they have nothing to do with the inferior, material nature full of the existential miseries of life.

SB2.4.14

TEXT 14

vidura-kasthaya muhuh kuyoginam

nirasta-samyatisayena radhasa

sva-dhamani brahmani ramsyate namah

namah namah te—let me offer my obeisances unto You; astu—are; rsabhaya—unto the great associate; satvatam—of the members of the Yadu dynasty; vidura-kasthaya—one who is far from mundane wranglers; muhuh—always; ku-yoginam—of the nondevotees; nirasta—vanquished; samya—equal status; atisayena—by greatness; radhasa—by opulence; sva-dhamani—in His own abode; brahmani—in the spiritual sky; ramsyate—enjoys; namah—I do bow down.

Let me offer my respectful obeisances unto He who is the associate of the members of the Yadu dynasty and who is always a problem for the nondevotees. He is the supreme enjoyer of both the material and spiritual worlds, yet He enjoys His own abode in the spiritual sky. There is no one equal to Him because His transcendental opulence is immeasurable.

yat-kirtanam yat-smaranam yad-iksanam

There are two sides of the transcendental manifestations of the Supreme Lord, Sri Krsna. For the pure devotees He is the constant companion, as in the case of His becoming one of the family members of the Yadu dynasty, or His becoming the friend of Arjuna, or His becoming the associate neighbor of the inhabitants of Vrndavana, as the son of Nanda-Yasoda, the friend of Sudama, Sridama and Madhumangala, or the lover of the damsels of Vrajabhumi, etc. That is part of His personal features. And by His impersonal feature He expands the rays of the brahmajyoti, which is limitless and all-pervasive. Part of this all-pervasive brahmajyoti, which is compared to the sun rays, is covered by the darkness of the mahat-tattva, and this insignificant part is known as the material world. In this material world there are innumerable universes like the one we can experience, and in each of them there are hundreds of thousands of planets like the one we are inhabiting. The mundaners are more or less captivated by the unlimited expansion of the rays of the Lord, but the devotees are concerned more with His personal form, from which everything is emanating (janmady asya yatah [Bhag. 1.1.1]). As the sun rays are concentrated in the sun disc, the brahmajyoti is concentrated in Goloka Vrndavana, the topmost spiritual planet in the spiritual sky. The immeasurable spiritual sky is full of spiritual planets, named Vaikunthas, far beyond the material sky. The mundaners have insufficient information of even the mundane sky, so what can they think of the spiritual sky? Therefore the mundaners are always far, far away from Him. Even if in the future they are able to manufacture some machine whose speed may be accelerated to the velocity of the wind or mind, the mundaners will still be unable to imagine reaching the planets in the spiritual sky. So the Lord and His residential abode will always remain a myth or a mysterious problem, but for the devotees the Lord will always be available as an associate.

In the spiritual sky His opulence is immeasurable. The Lord resides in all the spiritual planets, the innumerable Vaikuntha planets, by expanding His plenary portions along with His liberated devotee associates, but the impersonalists who want to merge in the existence of the Lord are allowed to merge as one of the spiritual sparks of the brahmajyoti. They have no qualifications for becoming associates of the Lord either in the Vaikuntha planets or in the supreme planet, Goloka Vrndavana, described in the Bhagavad-gita as mad-dhama and here in this verse as the sva-dhama of the Lord.

This mad-dhama or sva-dhama is described in the Bhagavad-gita (15.6) as follows:

na tad bhasayate suryo
na sasanko na pavakah
yad gatva na nivartante
tad dhama paramam mama

The Lord’s sva-dhama does not require any sunlight or moonlight or electricity for illumination. That dhama, or place, is supreme, and whoever goes there never comes back to this material world.

The Vaikuntha planets and the Goloka Vrndavana planet are all self-illuminating, and the rays scattered by those sva-dhama of the Lord constitute the existence of the brahmajyoti. As further confirmed in the Vedas like the Mundaka (2.2.10), Katha (2.2.15) and Svetasvatara Upanisads (6.14):

na tatra suryo bhati na candra-tarakam
nema vidyuto bhanti kuto ’yam agnih
tam eva bhantam anu bhati sarvam
tasya bhasa sarvam idam vibhati

In the sva-dhama of the Lord there is no need of sun, moon or stars for illumination. Nor is there need of electricity, so what to speak of ignited lamps? On the other hand, it is because those planets are self-illuminating that all effulgence has become possible, and whatever there is that is dazzling is due to the reflection of that sva-dhama.

One who is dazzled by the effulgence of the impersonal brahmajyoti cannot know the personal transcendence; therefore in the Isopanisad (15) it is prayed that the Lord shift His dazzling effulgence so that the devotee can see the real reality. It is spoken thus:

hiranmayena patrena
satyasyapihitam mukham
tat tvam pusann apavrnu
satya-dharmaya drstaye

“O Lord, You are the maintainer of everything, both material and spiritual, and everything flourishes by Your mercy. Your devotional service, or bhakti-yoga, is the actual principle of religion, satya-dharma, and I am engaged in that service. So kindly protect me by showing Your real face. Please, therefore, remove the veil of Your brahmajyoti rays so that I can see Your form of eternal bliss and knowledge.”

SB2.4.15

TEXT 15

yad-vandanam yac-chravanam yad-arhanam

lokasya sadyo vidhunoti kalmasam

tasmai subhadra-sravase namo namah

yat—whose; kirtanam—glorification; yat—whose; smaranam—remembrances; yat—whose; iksanam—audience; yat—whose; vandanam—prayers; yat—whose; sravanam—hearing about; yat—whose; arhanam—worshiping; lokasya—of all people; sadyah—forthwith; vidhunoti—specifically cleanses; kalmasam—effects of sins; tasmai—unto Him; subhadra—all-auspicious; sravase—one who is heard; namah—my due obeisances; namah—again and again.

Let me offer my respectful obeisances unto the all-auspicious Lord Sri Krsna, about whom glorification, remembrances, audience, prayers, hearing and worship can at once cleanse the effects of all sins of the performer.

The sublime form of religious performances to free oneself from all reactions of sins is suggested herein by the greatest authority, Sri Sukadeva Gosvami. Kirtanam, or glorifying the Lord, can be performed in very many ways, such as remembering, visiting temples to see the Deity, offering prayers in front of the Lord, and hearing recitations of glorification of the Lord as they are mentioned in the Srimad-Bhagavatam or in the Bhagavad-gita. Kirtanam can be performed both by singing the glories of the Lord in accompaniment with melodious music and by recitation of scriptures like Srimad-Bhagavatam or Bhagavad-gita.

The devotees need not be disappointed in the physical absence of the Lord, though they may think of not being associated with Him. The devotional process of chanting, hearing, remembering, etc., (either all or some of them, or even one of them) can give us the desired result of associating with the Lord by discharging the transcendental loving service of the Lord in the above manner. Even the very sound of the holy name of Lord Krsna or Rama can at once surcharge the atmosphere spiritually. We must know definitely that the Lord is present wherever such pure transcendental service is performed, and thus the performer of offenseless kirtanam has positive association with the Lord. Similarly, remembrance and prayers also can give us the desired result if they are properly done under expert guidance. One should not concoct forms of devotional service. One may worship the form of the Lord in a temple, or one may impersonally offer the Lord devotional prayers in a mosque or a church. One is sure to get free from the reactions of sins provided one is very careful about not committing sins willingly in expectation of getting free from the reactions of sins by worshiping in the temple or by offering prayers in the church. This mentality of committing sins willfully on the strength of devotional service is called namno balad yasya hi papa-buddhih, and it is the greatest offense in the discharge of devotional service. Hearing, therefore, is essential in order to keep oneself strictly on guard against such pitfalls of sins. And in order to give special stress to the hearing process, the Gosvami invokes all auspicious fortune in this matter.

SB2.4.16

TEXT 16

vicaksana yac-caranopasadanat

sangam vyudasyobhayato ’ntar-atmanah

vindanti hi brahma-gatim gata-klamas

tasmai subhadra-sravase namo namah

vicaksanah—highly intellectual; yat—whose; carana-upasadanat—simply dedicating oneself unto the lotus feet; sangam—attachment; vyudasya—giving up completely; ubhayatah—for present and future existence; antah-atmanah—of the heart and soul; vindanti—moves progressively; hi—certainly; brahma-gatim—toward spiritual existence; gata-klamah—without difficulty; tasmai—unto Him; subhadra—all-auspicious; sravase—unto one who is heard; namah—my due obeisances; namah—again and again.

Let me offer my respectful obeisances again and again unto the all-auspicious Lord Sri Krsna. The highly intellectual, simply by surrendering unto His lotus feet, are relieved of all attachments to present and future existences and without difficulty progress toward spiritual existence.

tapasvino dana-para yasasvino

Lord Sri Krsna has repeatedly instructed Arjuna, or for that matter everyone concerned with becoming His unalloyed devotee. In the last phase of His instruction in the Bhagavad-gita (18.64–66) He instructed most confidentially as follows:

sarva-guhyatamam bhuyah
srnu me paramam vacah
isto ’si me drdham iti
tato vaksyami te hitam

man-mana bhava mad-bhakto
mad-yaji mam namaskuru
mam evaisyasi satyam te
pratijane priyo ’si me

[Bg. 18.65]

sarva-dharman parityajya
mam ekam saranam vraja
aham tvam sarva-papebhyo
moksayisyami ma sucah

“My dear Arjuna, you are very dear to Me, and therefore only for your good I will disclose the most secret part of My instructions. It is simply this: become a pure devotee of Mine and give yourself unto Me only, and I promise you full spiritual existence, by which you may gain the eternal right of transcendental loving service unto Me. Just give up all other ways of religiosity and exclusively surrender unto Me and believe that I will protect you from your sinful acts, and I shall deliver you. Do not worry any more.”

Persons who are intelligent take serious notice of this last instruction of the Lord. Knowledge of the self is the first step in spiritual realization, which is called confidential knowledge, and a step further is God realization, which is called more confidential knowledge. The culmination of the knowledge of Bhagavad-gita is God realization, and when one attains this stage of God realization, he naturally, voluntarily becomes a devotee of the Lord to render Him loving transcendental service. This devotional service to the Lord is always based on love of God and is distinct from the nature of routine service as prescribed in karma-yoga, jnana-yoga or dhyana-yoga. In the Bhagavad-gita there are different instructions for such men of different categories, and there are various descriptions for varnasrama-dharma, sannyasa-dharma, yati-dharma, the renounced order of life, controlling the senses, meditation, perfection of mystic powers, etc., but one who fully surrenders unto the Lord to render service unto Him, out of spontaneous love for Him, factually assimilates the essence of all knowledge described in the Vedas. One who adopts this method very skillfully attains perfection of life at once. And this perfection of human life is called brahma-gati, or the progressive march in spiritual existence. As enunciated by Srila Jiva Gosvami on the basis of Vedic assurances, brahma-gati means to attain a spiritual form as good as that of the Lord, and in that form the liberated living being eternally lives on one of the spiritual planets situated in the spiritual sky. Attainment of this perfection of life is easily available to a pure devotee of the Lord without his undergoing any difficult method of perfection. Such a devotional life is full of kirtanam, smaranam, iksanam, etc., as mentioned in the previous verse. One must therefore adopt this simple way of devotional life in order to attain the highest perfection available in any category of the human form of life in any part of the world. When Lord Brahma met Lord Krsna as a playful child at Vrndavana, he offered his prayer in which he said:

sreyah-srtim bhaktim udasya te vibho
klisyanti ye kevala-bodha-labdhaye
tesam asau klesala eva sisyate
nanyad yatha sthula-tusavaghatinam

(Bhag. 10.14.4)

Bhakti-yoga is the highest quality of perfection to be achieved by the intelligent person in lieu of performing a large quantity of spiritual activities. The example cited here is very appropriate. A handful of real paddy is more valuable than heaps of paddy skins without any substance within. Similarly, one should not be attracted by the jugglery of karma-kanda or jnana-kanda or even the gymnastic performances of yoga, but skillfully should take to the simple performances of kirtanam, smaranam, etc., under a bona fide spiritual master, and without any difficulty attain the highest perfection.

SB2.4.17

TEXT 17

manasvino mantra-vidah sumangalah

ksemam na vindanti vina yad-arpanam

tasmai subhadra-sravase namo namah

tapasvinah—the great learned sages; dana-parah—the great performer of charity; yasasvinah—the great worker of distinction; manasvinah—the great philosophers or mystics; mantra-vidah—the great chanter of the Vedic hymns; su-mangalah—strict followers of Vedic principles; ksemam—fruitful result; na—never; vindanti—attain; vina—without; yat-arpanam—dedication; tasmai—unto Him; subhadra—auspicious; sravase—hearing about Him; namah—my obeisances; namah—again and again.

Let me offer my respectful obeisances unto the all-auspicious Lord Sri Krsna again and again because the great learned sages, the great performers of charity, the great workers of distinction, the great philosophers and mystics, the great chanters of the Vedic hymns and the great followers of Vedic principles cannot achieve any fruitful result without dedication of such great qualities to the service of the Lord.