KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM HH HARIVILAS MAHARAJ’S MORNING BHAGAVATAM CLASS ON SB 2.1.24
- Less intelligent men cannot conceive the transcendental all-spiritual form of the Lord, but they are astounded by His different energies.
- The asuras cannot recognize the existence of the Lord. They want to see with their own eyes at once, therefore they can see the gigantic body of the Lord as virāṭ. Since they are accustomed to paying homage to superior material strength like that of the tiger, elephant and lightning, they can offer respect to the virāṭ-rūpa.
- The virāṭ-rūpa of the Lord was especially manifested, not for the benefit of Arjuna, but for that unintelligent class of men who accept anyone and everyone as an incarnation of the Lord and so mislead the general mass of people.
- People should be careful of many imposters who pose themselves as incarnations of God. They should ask the cheap incarnation to exhibit his virāṭ-rūpa and thus be established as an incarnation
- A pure devotee does not like to see Kṛṣṇa in any form except His form with two hands. He being unaccustomed to looking into such a mundane gigantic form of the Lord, requires special vision for this purpose. Arjuna was bestowed that special vision by the Lord to see His Virat Rupa.
- This virat rupa is a favor of the all-merciful Lord to the atheists and the gross materialists, who think of the Lord as virāṭ and thus gradually cleanse the dirty things from their hearts in order to become qualified to actually see the transcendental form of the Lord in the near future.
- Impersonalist Māyāvādīs always try to defy Vaiṣṇavas because Vaiṣṇavas accept the Supreme Personality as the supreme cause and want to serve Him, talk with Him and see Him, just as the Lord is also eager to see His devotees and talk, eat and dance with them. These personal exchanges of love do not appeal to the Māyāvādī sannyāsīs.
- The original purpose of the Māyāvādī sannyāsīs of Benares in meeting Caitanya Mahāprabhu was to defeat His personal conception of God.
- Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura says, “Even at the expense of all the properties, temples and maṭhas that I have, if I could convert even one person into a pure devotee, my mission would be fulfilled.”
- The spiritual master is not actually happy if the disciple brings him money, but when he sees that a disciple is following the regulative principles and advancing in spiritual life, he is very glad and feels obliged to such an advanced disciple.
- It is another ambition of the spiritual master to see his disciples not only chant, dance and follow the regulative principles but also preach the saṅkīrtana movement to others in order to deliver them.
- Two classes of unalloyed devotees
- Bhajanānandī refers to one who is satisfied to cultivate devotional service for himself,
- goṣṭhy-ānandī is one who is not satisfied simply to become perfect himself but wants to see others also take advantage of the holy name of the Lord and advance in spiritual life. Ex: Bhakta Prahlad
- Everyone should endeavor to preach the cult of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu in all parts of the world and thus become successful in spiritual life. Thus by the activities of a pure devotee even those who are bereft of love of Godhead get a chance to become devotees of the Lord one day
- Prahlad Maharaj says – “My dear Lord, I have no problems and want no benediction from You because I am quite satisfied to chant Your holy name. This is sufficient for me because whenever I chant I immediately merge in an ocean of transcendental bliss. I only lament to see others bereft of Your love. They are rotting in material activities for transient material pleasure and spoiling their lives toiling all day and night simply for sense gratification, with no attachment for love of Godhead. I am simply lamenting for them and devising various plans to deliver them from the clutches of māyā.” (Bhāg. 7.9.43)
- “prāṇa arthe yāñra sei hetu pracāra “One who has got life, he can preach.” The dead man cannot preach. So you become with life, not like dead man.”
SB 2.1.24 TRANSLATION
This gigantic manifestation of the phenomenal material world as a whole is the personal body of the Absolute Truth, wherein the universal resultant past, present and future of material time is experienced.
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(SB 2.1.24)
Anything, either material or spiritual, is but an expansion of the energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Although He is in His abode, His energy is distributed everywhere, just as the sun is localized as well as expanded everywhere, since the rays of the sun, being nondifferent from the sun, are accepted as expansions of the sun disc.
Less intelligent men cannot conceive of the transcendental all-spiritual form of the Lord, but they are astounded by His different energies,
The asuras cannot recognize the existence of the Lord. They want to see with their own eyes at once, therefore they can see the gigantic body of the Lord as virāṭ
- cannot recognize the existence of the Lord, although there are vivid descriptions of the Lord in the revealed scriptures, although the Lord incarnates and exhibits His uncommon strength and energy
- do not accept any evidential proof from the revealed scriptures,
- nor do they recognize the authority of the great ācāryas.
- they want to see with their own eyes at once.
- therefore they can see the gigantic body of the Lord as virāṭ, which will answer their challenge, and since they are accustomed to paying homage to superior material strength like that of the tiger, elephant and lightning, they can offer respect to the virāṭ-rūpa.
(SB 2.1.24) A PURE DEVOTEE OF THE LORD REQUIRES SPECIAL VISION TO SEE THE VIRAT RUPA
Lord Kṛṣṇa, by the request of Arjuna, exhibited His virāṭ-rūpa for the asuras. A pure devotee of the Lord, being unaccustomed to looking into such a mundane gigantic form of the Lord, requires special vision for the purpose
(BG 11.10 – 11) BY THE GRACE OF THE LORD, ARJUNA COULD SEE THEM WHILE SITTING IN ONE PLACE. THAT WAS DUE TO THE INCONCEIVABLE POTENCY OF KṚṢṆA.
(BG 11.8) A PURE DEVOTEE DOES NOT LIKE TO SEE KṚṢṆA IN ANY FORM EXCEPT HIS FORM WITH TWO HANDS. THE LORD GAVE ARJUNA THE NECESSARY POWER TO SEE HIS UNIVERSAL FORM BECAUSE HE KNEW THAT ARJUNA DID NOT PARTICULARLY WANT TO SEE IT.
But you cannot see Me with your present eyes. Therefore I give you divine eyes. Behold My mystic opulenceDevotees who are correctly situated in a transcendental relationship with Kṛṣṇa are attracted by loving features, not by a godless display of opulences. The playmates of Kṛṣṇa, the friends of Kṛṣṇa and the parents of Kṛṣṇa never want Kṛṣṇa to show His opulences. They are so immersed in pure love that they do not even know that Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In their loving exchange they forget that Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Lord. In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is stated that the boys who play with Kṛṣṇa are all highly pious souls, and after many, many births they are able to play with Kṛṣṇa. Such boys do not know that Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. They take Him as a personal friend.
The fact is that the devotee is not concerned with seeing the viśva-rūpa, the universal form, but Arjuna wanted to see it to substantiate Kṛṣṇa’s statements so that in the future people could understand that Kṛṣṇa not only theoretically or philosophically presented Himself as the Supreme but actually presented Himself as such to Arjuna.
How come there is such a big gap in Parampara system? Vyasdeva and Madhavacharya there is 5000 year gap. Arjuna is not even in the list, because he was not an initiating guru. He was a siksha guru. Paramapara system was there ever before. But it was broken and It was reestablished. Today if someone claims to be an incarnation of the lord, ask them to show the universal form.
(SB 2.1.24) THIS VIRĀṬ-RŪPA OF THE LORD WAS ESPECIALLY MANIFESTED FOR THAT UNINTELLIGENT CLASS OF MEN WHO ACCEPT ANYONE AND EVERYONE AS AN INCARNATION OF THE LORD
This virāṭ-rūpa of the Lord was especially manifested, not for the benefit of Arjuna, but for that unintelligent class of men who accept anyone and everyone as an incarnation of the Lord and so mislead the general mass of people. For them, the indication is that one should ask the cheap incarnation to exhibit his virāṭ-rūpa and thus be established as an incarnation
(BG 11.3) Kṛṣṇa also understands that Arjuna wants to see the universal form to set a criterion, for in the future there would be so many imposters who would pose themselves as incarnations of God. The people, therefore, should be careful; one who claims to be Kṛṣṇa should be prepared to show his universal form to confirm his claim to the people.
(SB 2.1.24) THE VIRĀṬ-RŪPA MANIFESTATION OF THE LORD IS SIMULTANEOUSLY A CHALLENGE TO THE ATHEIST AND A FAVOR FOR THE ASURAS,
who think of the Lord as virāṭ and thus gradually cleanse the dirty things from their hearts in order to become qualified to actually see the transcendental form of the Lord in the near future. This is a favor of the all-merciful Lord to the atheists and the gross materialists.
Srila Prabhupada is developing his theory for reaching to the atheists and mayavadis. It is very good to see the clear delineation of asuras and materialists.
Majority of people are empiricists. They only accept what they can see and measure with their senses. Actually many things which exist which cannot be seen with eyes. 5000 years ago if we say there are electromagnetic waves, or if we can fly in the sky, people will not believe. Now it is true. There are things people cannot see and measure. The strategy to preach to empiricists, atheists, genuine impersonalists and mayavadis is through the tactic of explaining universal form. Arjuna was shown the Virat rupa tor this purpose. Everything we see in this world is a combination of matter and spirit. Any living body is some type of combination of matter and spirit. Spirit in the form of Jiva or spirit in the form of paramatma.
Virat rupa encompasses everything material and beyond that.
“a challenge to the atheist and a favor for the asuras,” – Favor to asuras because they worship anything gigantic. Atheists who do not believe in God. Asuras belittle the God.
This is also explained when Lord Caitanya is explaining to Prakasananda Saraswati.
(CC ADI 7.99)THE MĀYĀVĀDĪS SAY THAT THE ULTIMATE SOURCE OF EVERYTHING IS IMPERSONAL, AND IN THIS WAY THEY DENY THE EXISTENCE OF GOD (PERSONAL CONCEPTION)
The Māyāvādī sannyāsīs met Caitanya Mahāprabhu at Vārāṇasī to criticize the Lord regarding His participation in the saṅkīrtana movement, which they did not like. This demonic nature of opposition to the saṅkīrtana movement perpetually exists. As it existed in the time of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, similarly it existed long before that, even in the time of Prahlāda Mahārāja.
The Māyāvādī sannyāsīs are āsuraṁ bhāvam āśritāḥ, which means that they have taken the path of the asuras (demons), who do not believe in the existence of the form of the Lord. The Māyāvādīs say that the ultimate source of everything is impersonal, and in this way they deny the existence of God. Saying that there is no God is direct denial of God, and saying that God exists but has no head, legs or hands and cannot speak, hear or eat is a negative way of denying His existence. A person who cannot see is called blind, one who cannot walk is called lame, one who has no hands is called helpless, one who cannot speak is called dumb, and one who cannot hear is called deaf. The Māyāvādīs’ proposition that God has no legs, no eyes, no ears and no hands is an indirect way of insulting Him by defining Him as blind, deaf, dumb, lame, helpless, etc. Therefore although they present themselves as great Vedāntists, they are factually māyayāpahṛta-jñāna; in other words, they seem to be very learned scholars, but the essence of their knowledge has been taken away.
Impersonalist Māyāvādīs always try to defy Vaiṣṇavas because Vaiṣṇavas accept the Supreme Personality as the supreme cause and want to serve Him, talk with Him and see Him, just as the Lord is also eager to see His devotees and talk, eat and dance with them. These personal exchanges of love do not appeal to the Māyāvādī sannyāsīs. Therefore the original purpose of the Māyāvādī sannyāsīs of Benares in meeting Caitanya Mahāprabhu was to defeat His personal conception of God.
We will continue from yesterday.
(CC ADI 7.89-90)
One who attains the perfection of existence is completely averse to material enjoyment and engrossed in transcendental love of Godhead. It is therefore to be concluded that the ecstatic symptoms of āśaya-śuddhi are visible when a devotee’s service has no material cause and is purely spiritual in nature.
Vaikunta is a place where there is formal worship of Lord. Goloka is a place where the pure love of God can e expressed without any reservations.
(CC ADI 7.91) A SPIRITUAL MASTER CAN CONVERT EVEN ONE SOUL INTO A PERFECTLY PURE DEVOTEE, HIS MISSION IN LIFE IS FULFILLED
“ ‘It is very good, my dear child, that You have attained the supreme goal of life by developing love of Godhead. Thus You have pleased me very much, and I am very much obliged to You.
According to the revealed scriptures, if a spiritual master can convert even one soul into a perfectly pure devotee, his mission in life is fulfilled. Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura always used to say, “Even at the expense of all the properties, temples and maṭhas that I have, if I could convert even one person into a pure devotee, my mission would be fulfilled.” It is very difficult, however, to understand the science of Kṛṣṇa, what to speak of developing love of Godhead. Therefore if by the grace of Lord Caitanya and the spiritual master a disciple attains the standard of pure devotional service, the spiritual master is very happy. The spiritual master is not actually happy if the disciple brings him money, but when he sees that a disciple is following the regulative principles and advancing in spiritual life, he is very glad and feels obliged to such an advanced disciple.
Love of God is a very rare thing. It is very rare thing. But it is possible if we strictly follow the instruction of siksha and diskha guru and take to chanting. It becomes possible.
(CC ADI 7.92) IT IS ANOTHER AMBITION OF THE SPIRITUAL MASTER TO SEE HIS DISCIPLES NOT ONLY CHANT, DANCE AND FOLLOW THE REGULATIVE PRINCIPLES BUT ALSO PREACH THE SAṄKĪRTANA MOVEMENT TO OTHERS IN ORDER TO DELIVER THEM.
“ ‘My dear child, continue dancing, chanting and performing saṅkīrtana in association with devotees. Furthermore, go out and preach the value of chanting kṛṣṇa-nāma, for by this process You will be able to deliver all fallen souls.’
It is another ambition of the spiritual master to see his disciples not only chant, dance and follow the regulative principles but also preach the saṅkīrtana movement to others in order to deliver them.
Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is based on the principle that one should become as perfect as possible in devotional service oneself and also preach the cult for others’ benefit.
There are two classes of unalloyed devotees —
- Bhajanānandī refers to one who is satisfied to cultivate devotional service for himself,
- goṣṭhy-ānandī is one who is not satisfied simply to become perfect himself but wants to see others also take advantage of the holy name of the Lord and advance in spiritual life. Ex: Bhakta Prahlad
Prahlad Maharaj says – “My dear Lord, I have no problems and want no benediction from You because I am quite satisfied to chant Your holy name. This is sufficient for me because whenever I chant I immediately merge in an ocean of transcendental bliss. I only lament to see others bereft of Your love. They are rotting in material activities for transient material pleasure and spoiling their lives toiling all day and night simply for sense gratification, with no attachment for love of Godhead. I am simply lamenting for them and devising various plans to deliver them from the clutches of māyā.” (Bhāg. 7.9.43)
Everyone should endeavor to preach the cult of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu in all parts of the world and thus become successful in spiritual life. One who is not very expert in preaching may chant in a secluded place, avoiding bad association, but for one who is actually advanced, preaching and meeting people who are not engaged in devotional service are not disadvantages. A devotee gives the nondevotees his association but is not affected by their misbehavior. Thus by the activities of a pure devotee even those who are bereft of love of Godhead get a chance to become devotees of the Lord one day
Prahlad Maharaj was a great preacher. He would get up and start preaching to his classmates, even though he was in Kindergarten. We should chant and become Krsna Consciousness.
prāṇa arthe yāñra sei hetu pracāra “One who has got life, he can preach.” The dead man cannot preach. So you become with life, not like dead man.
There are so many people out there waiting to be introduced to Krsna Consciousness.
We have to have the childrens books, remember their birthdays, we have to be there every saturday and sunday to greet people to welcome them, make friends with them and make them part of our family.