KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM HH HARIVILAS MAHARAJ’S MORNING BHAGAVATAM CLASS ON SB 2.4.10
- The Personality of Godhead, although one without a second, is infallibly expanded by innumerable forms nondifferent from one another, and although He is the original person, He is still ever young with permanent youthful energy.
- The innumerable expansions of the Lord are like lamps of equal power which kindle from one lamp to another. That is the transcendental potency of the Lord.
- The Vedas say that He is so complete that even though the whole complete identity emanates from Him, He still remains the same complete whole
- He is very difficult to know simply by learning the transcendental science of the Vedas, but He is very easily realized by His pure devotees.
- One cannot have any clear conception of the Lord or His holy name, form, attributes, pastimes, etc., unless one is engaged in His transcendental loving service.
- One must become a pure, unconditional devotee of the Lord. Only then can one know Him by the strength of devotional service.
- Brahmā says that the transcendental Absolute is beyond the reach of the Vedas. The Vedas originate in sound and sound originates in the mundane ether. So the Vedas cannot present before us a direct view of the transcendental world (Goloka).
- It is only when the Vedas are imbued with the cit potency that they are enabled to deal with the transcendental.
- But Goloka reveals itself to every jīva-soul when he is under the influence of the spiritual cognitive potency joined to the essence of ecstatic energy.
- BG 10.10 – To those who are constantly devoted to serving Me with love, I give the understanding by which they can come to Me.
- Mahārāja Parīkṣit admitted in the previous verse that the Lord is inconceivable even for the greatest learned scholars. Why then should he again request Śukadeva Gosvāmī to clarify his insufficient knowledge about the Lord?
- The reason is clear. Not only was Śukadeva Gosvāmī vastly learned in the Vedic literatures, but he was also a great self-realized soul and a powerful devotee of the Lord. A powerful devotee of the Lord is, by the grace of the Lord, more than the Lord Himself.
- The Lord is so merciful upon His pure devotee that He presents His beloved devotee as more powerful than Himself.
- For example – Supreme Lord Śrī Rāmacandra attempted to bridge the Indian Ocean to reach the island of Laṅkā, but Śrī Hanumānjī, the unalloyed devotee of the Personality of Godhead, could cross the ocean simply by jumping over it.
- Another example – The Lord expressed Himself to be unable to save Durvāsā Muni, although the Muni was so powerful that he could reach the Lord directly under material conditions. But Durvāsā Muni was saved by Mahārāja Ambarīṣa, a devotee of the Lord.
- Not only is a devotee of the Lord more powerful than the Lord, but also worship of the devotee is considered more effective than direct worship of the Lord. The Lord is extremely satisfied with those who offer worship to His pure devotees, and He rewards them accordingly.
- A serious devotee must first approach a spiritual master who not only is well versed in the Vedic literatures but is also a great devotee with factual realization of the Lord and His different energies. Without the help of such a devotee spiritual master, one cannot make progress in the transcendental science of the Lord.
- And a bona fide spiritual master like Śukadeva Gosvāmī does not speak about the Lord only in the matter of His internal potencies but also explains how He associates with His external potencies.
- Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī says that Vaishnavas should not be interested in hearing only about the Lord’s activities (like rāsa-līlā), but must be keenly interested in His pastimes in His features of the puruṣāvatāras in connection with sṛṣṭi-tattva, creational functions.
- So one must follow the examples of Mahārāja Parīkṣit, the ideal disciple, and Śukadeva Gosvāmī, the ideal spiritual master.
SB 2.4.10 TRANSLATION:
Kindly clear up all these doubtful inquiries, because you are not only vastly learned in the Vedic literatures and self-realized in transcendence, but are also a great devotee of the Lord and are therefore as good as the Personality of Godhead.
CLASS NOTES:
In the Brahma-saṁhitā it is said that the Supreme Absolute Truth, Govinda, the Personality of Godhead, although one without a second, is infallibly expanded by innumerable forms nondifferent from one another, and although He is the original person, He is still ever young with permanent youthful energy. He is very difficult to know simply by learning the transcendental science of the Vedas, but He is very easily realized by His pure devotees.
This is a compendium of three different verses in Brahma Samhita.
BS 5.1
īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ
sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ
anādir ādir govindaḥ
sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam
Kṛṣṇa who is known as Govinda is the Supreme Godhead. He has an eternal blissful spiritual body. He is the origin of all. He has no other origin and He is the prime cause of all causes.
BS 5.33
advaitam acyutam anādim ananta-rūpam
ādyaṁ purāṇa-puruṣaṁ nava-yauvanaṁ ca
vedeṣu durlabham adurlabham ātma-bhaktau
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi
I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who is inaccessible to the Vedas, but obtainable by pure unalloyed devotion of the soul, who is without a second, who is not subject to decay, is without a beginning, whose form is endless, who is the beginning, and the eternal puruṣa; yet He is a person possessing the beauty of blooming youth.
The sum and substance of it is that though He possesses diverse and apparently mutually contradictory qualities, still they are in universal harmonious concordance by dint of His unthinkable potency. This is what is meant by cid-dharma (transcendental nature) as distinguished from the material.
HOW CAN THE JĪVA REALIZE SUCH UNPRECEDENTED EXISTENCE?
The limited intellectual function of the jīva is always contaminated by the influence of time and space and is, therefore, not in a position to shake off this limitedness. If the potency of cognitive function does not extend to the realization of the transcendental, what else can? In reply. Brahmā says that the transcendental Absolute is beyond the reach of the Vedas. The Vedas originate in sound and sound originates in the mundane ether. So the Vedas cannot present before us a direct view of the transcendental world (Goloka). It is only when the Vedas are imbued with the cit potency that they are enabled to deal with the transcendental. But Goloka reveals itself to every jīva-soul when he is under the influence of the spiritual cognitive potency joined to the essence of ecstatic energy. The ecstatic function of devotion is boundless and is surcharged with unalloyed transcendental knowledge. That knowledge reveals goloka-tattva (the principle of the highest transcendental) in unison with devotion, without asserting itself separately but as a subsidiary to unalloyed devotion.
These are mutually contradictory qualities. Mundane scholars cannot deal with them as it is not logical. But it is factual. Therefore there is no entry into transcendence for them.. They cannot see a person who is so powerful from whose body the whole Brahman is emanating… Unless we hear about the lord from the pure devotees we cannot understand the lord and we apply our own limitations to the lord.
Knowledge devoid of devotion is zero…
(BG10.10) ONLY THROUGH PURE DEVOTIONAL SERVICE TO THE LORD, ONE CAN ATTAIN THE LORD.
teṣāṁ satata-yuktānāṁ
bhajatāṁ prīti-pūrvakam
dadāmi buddhi-yogaṁ taṁ
yena mām upayānti te
To those who are constantly devoted to serving Me with love, I give the understanding by which they can come to Me.
Just by reading Vedas expertly one cannot become a pure devotee of the lord. This includes all Vedic scholars who are experts in Vedic knowledge but until they meet a pure devotee they cannot become a pure devotee of the lord. Examples – Durvasa muni, Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya…. In order to glorify the devotee He lets the devotees do things which He appears to have not done, it is not that he cannot do those things, He lets the devotee do.. Lord Rama gives the chance to Hanuman..
In this one purport today we get an incredible view of Krsna’s inconceivable and panoramic view of His potencies. This is also explained in SB 11.19.20 -24
(SB 11.19.20 -24) PURPOSE OR GOAL FOR THE DEVOTEE
Firm faith in the blissful narrations of My pastimes, constant chanting of My glories, unwavering attachment to ceremonial worship of Me, praising Me through beautiful hymns, great respect for My devotional service, offering obeisances with the entire body, performing first-class worship of My devotees, consciousness of Me in all living entities, offering of ordinary, bodily activities in My devotional service, use of words to describe My qualities, offering the mind to Me, rejection of all material desires, giving up wealth for My devotional service, renouncing material sense gratification and happiness, and performing all desirable activities such as charity, sacrifice, chanting, vows and austerities with the purpose of achieving Me — these constitute actual religious principles, by which those human beings who have actually surrendered themselves to Me automatically develop love for Me. What other purpose or goal could remain for My devotee?
The Lord is extremely satisfied with those who offer worship to His pure devotees, and He rewards them accordingly. Because of the Lord’s generous appraisal of His pure devotees, worship of the pure devotees is described as superior to worship of the Lord Himself.
- Ordinary, bodily activities such as brushing the teeth, taking bath, eating, etc., should all be offered to the Supreme Lord as devotional service.
- whether one speaks in ordinary, crude language or with learned poetic eloquence, one should describe the glories of the Personality of Godhead.
- One should spend one’s money for festivals glorifying the Personality of Godhead, such as Ratha-yātrā, Janmāṣṭamī and Gaura-pūrṇimā. One is instructed to spend money to assist the mission of one’s spiritual master and other Vaiṣṇavas. The wealth that cannot be used properly in the Lord’s service and is thus an impediment to one’s clear consciousness should be given up entirely.
- One should give up The word bhogasya refers to sense gratification, headed by sex enjoyment, and sukhasya refers to sentimental material happiness, such as excessive family attachment.
- One should offer to brāhmaṇas and Vaiṣṇavas first-class foods cooked in ghee.
- One should offer the vibration svāhā to Lord Viṣṇu in an authorized sacrificial fire along with grains and ghee.
- One should constantly chant the holy names of the Lord.
We have to look at the motivation of the people before you accept them as teachers. By their body language and their way of things they teach the service of material lust, greed and anger.. They do not have any feelings for the Lord. People who know things about Krsna, they can also be nonsense. They divide Krsna from His activities in the Spiritual world and the material world. It is therefore important to know both His potencies. Understanding is only manifested by the service of the lord. Ready to sacrifice everything for the service of the lord. The potential is there for everyone. It is not based on academics, it is based on loving devotional service of the Lord. There is inequality everywhere in the world. There are species with no legs and species with legs, they cannot be equal. But one who is surrendered to the Lord a pure devotee can rise above all the inequalities.. But it cannot be done artificially. Krishna Accepts even Hanuman, who is not even a human that is equity..
(SB 2.4.10) DIFFERENT EXPANSIONS OF THE LORD
The expansions of different forms of the Lord are –
from Kṛṣṇa to Baladeva to Saṅkarṣaṇa,
from Saṅkarṣaṇa to Vāsudeva,
from Vāsudeva to Aniruddha,
from Aniruddha to Pradyumna, and then
again to the second Saṅkarṣaṇa, and
from Him to the Nārāyaṇa puruṣāvatāras and innumerable other forms,
The innumerable expansions of the Lord are compared to the constant flowing of the uncountable waves of a river, are all one and the same. They are like lamps of equal power which kindle from one lamp to another. That is the transcendental potency of the Lord.
The Vedas say that He is so complete that even though the whole complete identity emanates from Him, He still remains the same complete whole (pūrṇasya pūrṇam ādāya pūrṇam evāvaśiṣyate).
THE LORD IS BEYOND THE LIMIT OF CONCEPTION FOR MUNDANE LEARNED SCHOLARS, PHILOSOPHERS OR SCIENTISTS
As such, there is no validity in a material conception of the Lord produced by the mental speculator. Thus He remains always a mystery for the mundane scholar, even if he is vastly learned in the Vedic literatures (vedeṣu durlabham adurlabham ātma-bhaktau). Therefore, the Lord is beyond the limit of conception for mundane learned scholars, philosophers or scientists
HE IS EASILY UNDERSTANDABLE FOR THE PURE DEVOTEE
because the Lord declares in the Bhagavad-gītā (18.54) that after surpassing the stage of knowledge, when one is able to be engaged in the devotional service of the Lord, then only can one know the true nature of the Lord.
One cannot have any clear conception of the Lord or His holy name, form, attributes, pastimes, etc., unless one is engaged in His transcendental loving service. The statement of the Bhagavad-gītā that one must first of all surrender unto the Lord, being freed from all other engagements, means that one must become a pure, unconditional devotee of the Lord. Only then can one know Him by the strength of devotional service.
MAHĀRĀJA PARĪKṢIT ADMITTED IN THE PREVIOUS VERSE THAT THE LORD IS INCONCEIVABLE EVEN FOR THE GREATEST LEARNED SCHOLARS. WHY THEN SHOULD HE AGAIN REQUEST ŚUKADEVA GOSVĀMĪ TO CLARIFY HIS INSUFFICIENT KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THE LORD?
The reason is clear. Not only was Śukadeva Gosvāmī vastly learned in the Vedic literatures, but he was also a great self-realized soul and a powerful devotee of the Lord. A powerful devotee of the Lord is, by the grace of the Lord, more than the Lord Himself.
THE LORD IS SO MERCIFUL UPON HIS PURE DEVOTEE THAT HE PRESENTS HIS BELOVED DEVOTEE AS MORE POWERFUL THAN HIMSELF.
The Personality of Godhead Śrī Rāmacandra attempted to bridge the Indian Ocean to reach the island of Laṅkā, but Śrī Hanumānjī, the unalloyed devotee of the Personality of Godhead, could cross the ocean simply by jumping over it. The Lord is so merciful upon His pure devotee that He presents His beloved devotee as more powerful than Himself. The Lord expressed Himself to be unable to save Durvāsā Muni, although the Muni was so powerful that he could reach the Lord directly under material conditions. But Durvāsā Muni was saved by Mahārāja Ambarīṣa, a devotee of the Lord. Therefore, not only is a devotee of the Lord more powerful than the Lord, but also worship of the devotee is considered more effective than direct worship of the Lord (mad-bhakta-pūjābhyadhikā).
NOT ONLY IS A DEVOTEE OF THE LORD MORE POWERFUL THAN THE LORD, BUT ALSO WORSHIP OF THE DEVOTEE IS CONSIDERED MORE EFFECTIVE THAN DIRECT WORSHIP OF THE LORD (MAD-BHAKTA-PŪJĀBHYADHIKĀ).
The conclusion is, therefore, that a serious devotee must first approach a spiritual master who not only is well versed in the Vedic literatures but is also a great devotee with factual realization of the Lord and His different energies. Without the help of such a devotee spiritual master, one cannot make progress in the transcendental science of the Lord.
A BONAFIDE SPIRITUAL MASTER EXPLAIN ABOUT BOTH INTERNAL POTENCIES AND EXTERNAL POTENCIES
And a bona fide spiritual master like Śukadeva Gosvāmī does not speak about the Lord only in the matter of His internal potencies, but also explains how He associates with His external potencies.
Maya is always accompanying Krsna. As soon as we deviate from Krsna she enters. We should always be engaged in the service of the lord and fixed in our mind to serve the lord without deviating..
ONE SHOULD ALSO BE KEENLY INTERESTED IN THE WORKINGS OF THE LORD’S EXTERNAL POTENCY
The Lord’s pastimes in the internal potency are displayed in His activities in Vṛndāvana, but the workings of His external potency are directed in His features of Kāraṇārṇavaśāyī Viṣṇu, Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu and Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu. Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī offers his good counsel to the interested Vaiṣṇavas when he says that they should not be interested in hearing only about the Lord’s activities (like rāsa-līlā), but must be keenly interested in His pastimes in His features of the puruṣāvatāras in connection with sṛṣṭi-tattva, creational functions, following the examples of Mahārāja Parīkṣit, the ideal disciple, and Śukadeva Gosvāmī, the ideal spiritual master.