Tag: Creation

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SB 2.9.33 – Part 2 – Notes: 1/2/22

KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM HH HARIVILAS MAHARAJ’S MORNING BHAGAVATAM CLASS ON SB 2.9.33:

  • The kingdom of Godhead is not void as conceived by the impersonalists.
  • The Personality of Godhead exists before the creation, and He exists with all transcendental variegatedness in the Vaikuṇṭhalokas.
  • The Vaikuṇṭhalokas, also accepted in the Bhagavad-gītā as being of the sanātana nature, are not annihilated even after the annihilation of the manifested cosmos. [BG 8.20] 
  • Those transcendental planets are of a different nature altogether, and that nature is not subjected to the rules and regulations of material creation, maintenance or annihilation. 
  •  The existence of the Personality of Godhead implies the existence of the Vaikuṇṭhalokas, as the existence of a king implies the existence of a kingdom. 
  • ŚB(2.8.10) – “How does the Personality of Godhead, the cause of creation, maintenance and annihilation, who is always freed from the influence of the illusory energy and is the controller of the same, lie in everyone’s heart?”
  • In the Skanda Purana it is said – Even the devotees of the Personality of Godhead are not annihilated during the period of the entire annihilation of the material world, not to speak of the Lord Himself. The Lord is ever-existent in all three stages of material change.
  • The activities of Brahmā and other demigods during the maintenance of the creation are to be understood as the activities of the Lord
  • The Personality of Godhead is never formless. In the material world He may not be visible in His personal form to the less intelligent class of men, and therefore He may sometimes be called formless. 
  • But actually He is always in His eternal form in His Vaikuṇṭha planets as well as in other planets of the universes as different incarnations.
  • Arianism – an influential heresy denying the divinity of Christ, originating with the Alexandrian priest Arius ( c. 250– c. 336). Arianism maintained that the Son of God was created by the Father and was therefore neither coeternal with the Father, nor consubstantial.
  • Heresy – belief or opinion contrary to orthodox religious (especially Christian) doctrine.
  • Pejoritive – express contempt or disapproval 
  • Adduces – cite as evidence
  • Anathema – something or someone that one vehemently dislikes
  • Flaccid – soft and hanging loosely or limply, especially so as to look or feel unpleasant.
  • Cosubstantial – Participation of the same nature; coexistence in the same substance
  • Analogy – An analogy is something that shows how two things are alike,
  • Metaphor – a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable.

SB 2.9.33 – Part 2 – 1/2/22

The other feature of the statement is that the supreme truth is Bhagavān, or the Personality of Godhead. The Personality of Godhead and His kingdom have already been explained. The kingdom of Godhead is not void as conceived by the impersonalists. The Vaikuṇṭha planets are full of transcendental variegatedness, including the four-handed residents of those planets, with great opulence of wealth and prosperity, and there are even airplanes and other amenities required for high-grade personalities. Therefore the Personality of Godhead exists before the creation, and He exists with all transcendental variegatedness in the Vaikuṇṭhalokas. The Vaikuṇṭhalokas, also accepted in the Bhagavad-gītā as being of the sanātana nature, are not annihilated even after the annihilation of the manifested cosmos. [BG 8.20] . Those transcendental planets are of a different nature altogether, and that nature is not subjected to the rules and regulations of material creation, maintenance or annihilation. The existence of the Personality of Godhead implies the existence of the Vaikuṇṭhalokas, as the existence of a king implies the existence of a kingdom. 

96 percent of all gurus in India are all mayavadis. They are teaching something that is misleading. These 4 nutshell verses of SB teach us that the Supreme personality of Godhead is a person and the Vaikuntha planets exist. 

BG 8.20

Yet there is another unmanifest nature, which is eternal and is transcendental to this manifested and unmanifested matter. It is supreme and is never annihilated. When all in this world is annihilated, that part remains as it is.

In various places in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and in other revealed scriptures the existence of the Personality of Godhead is mentioned. [Om namo bhagavate vaasudevaya…]

For example, in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (2.8.10), Mahārāja Parīkṣit asks:

sa cāpi yatra puruṣo

viśva-sthity-udbhavāpyayaḥ

muktvātma-māyāṁ māyeśaḥ

śete sarva-guhāśayaḥ

“How does the Personality of Godhead, the cause of creation, maintenance and annihilation, who is always freed from the influence of the illusory energy and is the controller of the same, lie in everyone’s heart?” Similar also is a question of Vidura’s:

tattvānāṁ bhagavaṁs teṣāṁ

katidhā pratisaṅkramaḥ

tatremaṁ ka upāsīran

ka u svid anuśerate

(Bhāg. 3.7.37)

Śrīdhara Svāmī explains this in his notes: “During the annihilation of the creation, who serves the Lord lying on the Śeṣa, etc.” This means that the transcendental Lord with all His name, fame, quality and paraphernalia exists eternally. The same confirmation is also in the Kāśī-khaṇḍa of the Skanda Purāṇa in connection with dhruva-carita. It is said there:

na cyavante ’pi yad-bhaktā

mahatyāṁ pralayāpadi

ato ’cyuto ’khile loke

sa ekaḥ sarvago ’vyayaḥ

Even the devotees of the Personality of Godhead are not annihilated during the period of the entire annihilation of the material world, not to speak of the Lord Himself. The Lord is ever-existent in all three stages of material change.

The impersonalist adduces no activity in the Supreme, but in this discussion between Brahmā and the Supreme Personality of Godhead the Lord is said to have activities also, as He has His form and quality. The activities of Brahmā and other demigods during the maintenance of the creation are to be understood as the activities of the Lord. The king, or the head executive of a state, may not be seen in the government offices, for he may be engaged in royal comforts. Yet it should be understood that everything is being done under his direction and everything is at his command. The Personality of Godhead is never formless. In the material world He may not be visible in His personal form to the less intelligent class of men, and therefore He may sometimes be called formless. 

Arianism – an influential heresy denying the divinity of Christ, originating with the Alexandrian priest Arius ( c. 250– c. 336). Arianism maintained that the Son of God was created by the Father and was therefore neither coeternal with the Father, nor consubstantial.

Heresy – belief or opinion contrary to orthodox religious (especially Christian) doctrine.

Pejoritive – express contempt or disapproval 

Adduces – cite as evidence

Anathema – something or someone that one vehemently dislikes.

Flaccid – soft and hanging loosely or limply, especially so as to look or feel unpleasant.

16th chapel body of christ painting – flaccid old guy with wrinkles and gray hair 

Flaccid – soft and hanging loosely or limply, especially so as to look or feel unpleasant.

Cosubstantial – Participation of the same nature; coexistence in the same substance

But actually He is always in His eternal form in His Vaikuṇṭha planets as well as in other planets of the universes as different incarnations. 

Nithya and Naimittic –

Nithya – eternal.. 

Naimittic –  Incarnation of the Lord that appears for a purpose. They do not have a planet in the spiritual world. 

Analogy – An analogy is something that shows how two things are alike,

Metaphor – a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable.

The example of the sun is very appropriate in this connection. The sun in the night may not be visible to the eyes of men in the darkness, but the sun is visible wherever it has risen. That the sun is not visible to the eyes of the inhabitants of a particular part of the earth does not mean that the sun has no form.

Why did Krsna give handshake to Brahmaji – 

Because He congratulated Brahmaji for following His instructions. 

Faith precedes Knowledge 

SP has faith in his guru

People believe in Krsna but they have no faith in following the instructions of Krsna. 

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SB 2.7.39 Notes – 10/27/21

KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM HH HARIVILAS MAHARAJ’S MORNING BHAGAVATAM CLASS ON SB 2.7.39:

  • The material world is created by the energy of the Lord, which is manifested in the beginning of the creation by the penance of Brahmājī, the first living being in the creation, and then there are the nine Prajāpatis, known as great sages.
  • In the stage when the creation is maintained, there are devotional service to Lord Viṣṇu, or factual religion, the different demigods, and the kings of different planets who maintain the world.
  • At last, when the creation is preparing to wind up, there is first the principle of irreligion, then Lord Śiva along with the atheists, full of anger. But all of them are but different manifestations of the Supreme Lord. 
  • Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Mahādeva (Śiva) are different incarnations of the different modes of material nature. Viṣṇu is the Lord of the mode of goodness, Brahmā is the lord of the mode of passion, and Śiva is the lord of the mode of ignorance. 
  • The birth, executed by the sex life of the father and the mother, is called animal birth. But such animal birth and progress of life on the animal principles of eating, sleeping, fearing and mating (without any scientific culture of spiritual life) is called the śūdra life or, to be more explicit, the uncultured life of the lower class of men. 
  • The governmental power of society in the Kali-yuga will be passed over to the uncultured, godless laborer classes of men, and thus the nṛdevas (or the ministers of the government) will be the vṛṣalas, or the uncultured, lower-class men of society.
  • No one can expect any peace and prosperity in a human society full of uncultured, lower classes of men. 
  • The symptoms of such uncultured social animals are already in vogue, and it is the duty of the leaders of men to take note of it and try to reform the social order by introducing the principles of twice-born men trained in the science of God consciousness. 
  • This can be done by expanding the culture of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam all over the world. 
  • Ultimately, the material creation is but a temporary manifestation meant to give the chance of liberation to the conditioned souls, who are entrapped in the material world, and one who develops the mode of goodness under the protection of Lord Viṣṇu has the greatest chance of being liberated by following the Vaiṣṇava principles and thus being promoted to the kingdom of God, no more to return to this miserable material world.

SB 2.7.39 TRANSLATION:

At the beginning of creation there are penance, myself [Brahmā] and the Prajāpatis, the great sages who generate; then, during the maintenance of the creation, there are Lord Viṣṇu, the demigods with controlling powers, and the kings of different planets. But at the end there is irreligion, and then Lord Śiva and the atheists full of anger, etc. All of them are different representative manifestations of the energy of the supreme power, the Lord.

The material world is created by the energy of the Lord, which is manifested in the beginning of the creation by the penance of Brahmājī, the first living being in the creation, and then there are the nine Prajāpatis, known as great sages. In the stage when the creation is maintained, there are devotional service to Lord Viṣṇu, or factual religion, the different demigods, and the kings of different planets who maintain the world. At last, when the creation is preparing to wind up, there is first the principle of irreligion, then Lord Śiva along with the atheists, full of anger. But all of them are but different manifestations of the Supreme Lord. Therefore Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Mahādeva (Śiva) are different incarnations of the different modes of material nature. Viṣṇu is the Lord of the mode of goodness, Brahmā is the lord of the mode of passion, and Śiva is the lord of the mode of ignorance. Ultimately, the material creation is but a temporary manifestation meant to give the chance of liberation to the conditioned souls, who are entrapped in the material world, and one who develops the mode of goodness under the protection of Lord Viṣṇu has the greatest chance of being liberated by following the Vaiṣṇava principles and thus being promoted to the kingdom of God, no more to return to this miserable material world.

All this information we are receiving in 1st and 2nd canto help us understand what is our real position in this material world. 

If we understand the vastness of Krsna we become humbled and through that humility we develop a state of pricelessness, where we don’t falsely puff up that we are the center of the universe. We understand that we are extremely insignificant in this infinite creation and our position is extremely limited. However we can get connect to Krsna who is unlimited, who is the source of everything through bhakti yoga.

Once there was a great saintly woman Shilavati . Her husband was a leper. He was in a very bad state of health. He still had a desire for sense gratification. His wife was willing to sacrifice everything to satisfy him. She was carrying him in a basket.. And passed by the mansion of a prostitute. He tells her that he wants to enjoy the prostitute. Shilavathi cleaned outside the mansion and planted a garden and took care of it everyday and cleaned it every day. The prostitute wanted to see her and ask who she was. Shilavati tells her about her husband’s wish. Prostitute asks her to get him. She decorates him and takes him to the lady. The prostitute served them food but the food was in gold dishes and the same items were in iron dishes. Do you see any difference in the taste because of the dishes. .. The prostitute tells him – your wife sacrificed her dignity and chastity to satisfy you. On the way back he was cursed by a saint – that he will die when the sun rises. Shilavati prays to the lord to stop the sunrise. Due to her chastity the sun did not rise and the universe was in chaos.. The lord sent the woman of same caliber to speak to Shilavati to draw her wish to let the sun rise. Arundati goes to convince her and the sun rises. Her husband and her walked into the fire the next day they both rejuvenated into young and beautiful living entities and go back to Heavenly planets. This story is in CC ADI lila. A very famous stories in vedas of amazing Chastity  and dedication to her husband. This is similar to Sati Savitri.. This principle of chastity, it is very important for man and woman.. If it is violated it causes disturbance in the world. All this will happen at the end of the creation. 

3rd canto – explains the creation of the material world. 

The vision of a pure devotee is he sees everything in relationship with the lord. Thus he is always Krsna Conscious. 

If he sees the tree he does not see the body of the tree, but  he sees the soul in the body of the tree and the super soul. With that spiritual vision the devotee is always in contact with Krsna. 

Creation – Brahma 

Maintenance – Vishnu

Destruction – Shiva

A married couple to maintain the family – should have regulation – if they cultivate mode of goodness (sleeping early, raising early… ), then maintaining family life will become easy. 

Maintenance is the hardest thing, harder than creation and destruction. It requires – regulative principles, steadiness, focus, self control. 

When destruction takes place – it starts with people not following regulations, violating all the divine qualities as discussed in BG 13.8-12 

  • Upward movement – 
    • Follow all the 18 points of knowledge in BG 13.8-12
    • One has to learn the value of DS. 
    • One has to accept and respect the spiritual authorities and follow their instructions and engage as much as possible in the devotional service.
    • Krishna has to be the center of their life. They have to plan their life with Krsna as the center. Then they will be liberated. 
  • Downward movement – 
    • Not training to be self controlled
    • Not having Krsna as the center.. Sense gratification as the center of life
    • This leads to Mode of passion and then Mode of ignorance, anger, violence and destruction

SB 2.7.38 

Because of the lack of training or culture in the upper section of the social orders, they are no more to be designated as the dvija-janas, or the twice-born. The significance of being twice-born has been explained in many places in these great literatures, and again one is reminded herewith that birth, executed by the sex life of the father and the mother, is called animal birth. But such animal birth and progress of life on the animal principles of eating, sleeping, fearing and mating (without any scientific culture of spiritual life) is called the śūdra life or, to be more explicit, the uncultured life of the lower class of men. 

That is what we see today.,, these things are glorified today as if they are the only sources of pleasure.. 

 It is stated herein that the governmental power of society in the Kali-yuga will be passed over to the uncultured, godless laborer classes of men, and thus the nṛdevas (or the ministers of the government) will be the vṛṣalas, or the uncultured, lower-class men of society.

All these symptoms of Kali yuga.. The end time does not happen very soon, 427,000 years and more. Imagine how bad it is going to be. It is only due to the appearance of Lord Caitanya that there is this 10,000 years of golden window that people can get out of this. After that it is going to be very very difficult. Only due to the Sankirtan movement one can be free of this influence. And having a structured life based on the principles of devotional service, one can be liberated from birth and death.. 

No one can expect any peace and prosperity in a human society full of uncultured, lower classes of men. The symptoms of such uncultured social animals are already in vogue, and it is the duty of the leaders of men to take note of it and try to reform the social order by introducing the principles of twice-born men trained in the science of God consciousness. This can be done by expanding the culture of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam all over the world. In the degraded condition of human society, the Lord incarnates as the Kalki avatāra and kills all the demonic without mercy.

Culture of SB – Om namo bhagavate vasudevaya.. It is the whole culture with Vasudeva as the center.. It is not about Indra or mata.. We should take this SB very seriously everyday and preach about it.. 

Opulent days – live frugally – frugal days – love opulently

Live minimalist.. 

Focusing our life in hearing BG and SB 

Real Purpose of material creation – “Ultimately, the material creation is but a temporary manifestation meant to give the chance of liberation to the conditioned souls, who are entrapped in the material world, and one who develops the mode of goodness under the protection of Lord Viṣṇu has the greatest chance of being liberated by following the Vaiṣṇava principles and thus being promoted to the kingdom of God, no more to return to this miserable material world.”

Q – How to see a soul in the tree? First understand intellectually. Then anything that is moving is due to the soul and the super soul. When they are not there everything is static dead.. This person is moving because soul is present and super soul.. When the person is dead – the soul has left but the super soul is still there because the body is decaying.. If you see something moving then there is a soul, at least a super soul..