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Bhakti, devotional service is the only way to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead

Expressions researched:
"Bhakti, devotional service, is the only way to understand the Absolute Truth" |"The only way to understand the Lord" |"This is the only way to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead" |"that is the only way to understand"

Srimad-Bhagavatam

SB Canto 3

The only way to understand the Lord as He is, is by devotional service to the Lord, or by approaching the devotee of the Lord who always has the Lord in his heart.
SB 3.9.3, Translation and Purport:

O my Lord, I do not see a form superior to Your present form of eternal bliss and knowledge. In Your impersonal Brahman effulgence in the spiritual sky, there is no occasional change and no deterioration of internal potency. I surrender unto You because whereas I am proud of my material body and senses, Your Lordship is the cause of the cosmic manifestation and yet You are untouched by matter.

As stated in Bhagavad-gītā (18.55), bhaktyā mām abhijānāti yāvān yaś cāsmi tattvataḥ: the Supreme Personality of Godhead can only be partially known, and only by the process of devotional service to the Lord. Lord Brahmā became aware that the Supreme Lord Kṛṣṇa has many, many eternal, blissful forms of knowledge. He has described such expansions of the Supreme Lord, Govinda, in his Brahma-saṁhitā (5.33), as follows:

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 nondual and infallible. He is the original cause of all causes, even though He expands in many, many forms. Although He is the oldest personality, He is ever youthful, unaffected by old age. The Supreme Personality of Godhead cannot be known by the academic wisdom of the Vedas; one has to approach the devotee of the Lord to understand Him."

The only way to understand the Lord as He is, is by devotional service to the Lord, or by approaching the devotee of the Lord who always has the Lord in his heart. By devotional perfection one can understand that the impersonal brahma-jyotir is only a partial representation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Kṛṣṇa, and that the three puruṣa expansions in the material creation are His plenary portions. In the spiritual sky of the brahma-jyotir there is no change of various kalpas or millenniums, and there are no creative activities in the Vaikuṇṭha worlds. The influence of time is conspicuous by its absence. The rays of the transcendental body of the Lord, the unlimited brahma-jyotir, are undeterred by the influence of material energy. In the material world also, the initial creator is the Lord Himself. He brings about the creation of Brahmā, who becomes the subsequent creator, empowered by the Lord.

SB Canto 5

When we are engaged in the Lord's devotional service, the Lord reveals Himself to us. Sevonmukhe hi jihvādau svayam eva sphuraty adaḥ. This is the only way to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
SB 5.3.4-5, Translation and Purport:

The priests began to offer prayers to the Lord, saying: O most worshipable one, we are simply Your servants. Although You are full in Yourself, please, out of Your causeless mercy, accept a little service from us, Your eternal servants. We are not actually aware of Your transcendental form, but we can simply offer our respectful obeisances again and again, as instructed by the Vedic literatures and authorized ācāryas. Materialistic living entities are very much attracted to the modes of material nature, and therefore they are never perfect, but You are above the jurisdiction of all material conceptions. Your name, form and qualities are all transcendental and beyond the conception of experimental knowledge. Indeed, who can conceive of You? In the material world we can perceive only material names and qualities. We have no other power than to offer our respectful obeisances and prayers unto You, the transcendental person. The chanting of Your auspicious transcendental qualities will wipe out the sins of all mankind. That is the most auspicious activity for us, and we can thus partially understand Your supernatural position.

The Supreme Personality of Godhead has nothing to do with material perception. Even the impersonalist Śaṅkarācārya says. nārāyaṇaḥ paro 'vyaktāt: "Nārāyaṇa. the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is beyond the material conception." We cannot concoct the form and attributes of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. We must simply accept the description given in Vedic literatures about the Lord's form and activities. As stated in Brahma-saṁhitā (5.29):

cintāmaṇi-prakara-sadmasu kalpa-vṛkṣa-
lakṣāvṛteṣu surabhīr abhipālayantam
lakṣmī-sahasra-śata-sambhrama-sevyamānaṁ
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi

"I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, the first progenitor, who is tending the cows, yielding all desires, in abodes built with spiritual gems and surrounded by millions of purpose trees. He is always served with great reverence and affection by hundreds and thousands of goddesses of fortune." We can have some conception of the Absolute Truth, His form and His attributes simply by reading the descriptions given in Vedic literatures and authoritative statements given by exalted personalities like Brahmā, Nārada, Śukadeva Gosvāmī and others. Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī says, ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi na bhaved grāhyam indriyaiḥ: (CC Madhya 17.136) "We cannot conceive the name, form and qualities of Śrī Kṛṣṇa through our material senses." Because of this, other names for the Lord are adhokṣaja and aprākṛta, which indicate that He is beyond any material senses. Out of His causeless mercy upon His devotees, the Lord appeared before Mahārāja Nābhi. Similarly, when we are engaged in the Lord's devotional service, the Lord reveals Himself to us. Sevonmukhe hi jihvādau svayam eva sphuraty adaḥ. This is the only way to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead. As confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā, bhaktyā mām abhijānāti yāvān yaś cāsmi tattvataḥ: (BG 18.55) one can understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead through devotional service. There is no other way. We have to hear from the authorities and from the śāstras and consider the Supreme Lord in terms of their statements. We cannot imagine or concoct forms and attributes of the Lord.

SB Canto 10.1 to 10.13

The Supreme Truth can be approached or understood by the supreme method, as declared by the Supreme Truth: bhaktyā mām abhijānāti yāvān yaś cāsmi tattvataḥ (BG 18.55). Bhakti, devotional service, is the only way to understand the Absolute Truth.
SB 10.2.26, Translation and Purport:

The demigods prayed: O Lord, You never deviate from Your vow, which is always perfect because whatever You decide is perfectly correct and cannot be stopped by anyone. Being present in the three phases of cosmic manifestation-creation, maintenance and annihilation—You are the Supreme Truth. Indeed, unless one is completely truthful, one cannot achieve Your favor, which therefore cannot be achieved by hypocrites. You are the active principle, the real truth, in all the ingredients of creation, and therefore you are known as antaryāmī, the inner force. You are equal to everyone, and Your instructions apply for everyone, for all time. You are the beginning of all truth. Therefore, offering our obeisances, we surrender unto You. Kindly give us protection.

The demigods or devotees know perfectly well that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the true substance, whether within this material world or in the spiritual world. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam begins, therefore, with the words oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. .. satyaṁ paraṁ dhīmahi (SB 1.1.1). Vāsudeva, Kṛṣṇa, is the paraṁ satyam, the Supreme Truth. The Supreme Truth can be approached or understood by the supreme method, as declared by the Supreme Truth: bhaktyā mām abhijānāti yāvān yaś cāsmi tattvataḥ (BG 18.55). Bhakti, devotional service, is the only way to understand the Absolute Truth. For protection, therefore, the demigods surrender to the Supreme Truth, not to the relative truth. There are persons who worship various demigods, but the Supreme Truth, Kṛṣṇa, declares in Bhagavad-gītā (7.23), antavat tu phalaṁ teṣāṁ tad bhavaty alpa-medhasām: "Men of small intelligence worship the demigods, and their fruits are limited and temporary." Worship of demigods may be useful for a limited time, but the result is antavat, perishable. This material world is impermanent, the demigods are impermanent, and the benedictions derived from the demigods are also impermanent, whereas the living entity is eternal (nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām (Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2.2.13)). Every living entity, therefore, must search for eternal happiness, not temporary happiness. The words satyaṁ paraṁ dhīmahi (SB 1.1.1) indicate that one should search for the Absolute Truth, not the relative truth.

Lectures

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

We follow Nārada, Asita, Vyāsa. Because that is the only way to understand. Mahājano yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ (CC Madhya 17.186). You cannot understand Kṛṣṇa. You cannot understand His incarnation. You have to follow the footprints.
Lecture on SB 1.2.34 -- Vrndavana, November 13, 1972:

So those who are asuras or the narādhamas, their only business is to, how to kill Kṛṣṇa. Just like the great scholar is saying, when Kṛṣṇa says that man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru (BG 18.65), he's commenting, because he's a great scholar, "Not to Kṛṣṇa." Just see. "Not to Kṛṣṇa." This is going on. They are thinking there is something more exalted than Kṛṣṇa. But Kṛṣṇa says, mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat: (BG 7.7) "There is nothing more. I am the Supreme." So I do not know what kind of scholars they are. They are reading Bhagavad-gītā and decrying Kṛṣṇa. This is going on. Therefore our movement is Bhagavad-gītā as it is. We don't follow these rascals, duṣkṛtina, mūḍhāḥ, narādhamāḥ. We don't follow them. We follow Caitanya Mahāprabhu. We follow Rāmānujācārya. We follow Madhvācārya. We follow the great authorities-Vyāsadeva. We follow Nārada, Asita, Vyāsa. Because that is the only way to understand. Mahājano yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ (CC Madhya 17.186). You cannot understand Kṛṣṇa. You cannot understand His incarnation. You have to follow the footprints. Then you'll understand who is avatāra. Otherwise, instead of Kṛṣṇa, you will accept another demi-kṛṣṇa. Somebody will say, "I was Kṛṣṇa." "Oh, he's avatāra." And what is the proof that he was Kṛṣṇa? Why you are so fool? If somebody says... If I say that "I was Kṛṣṇa," so only the fools will take me that I was Kṛṣṇa, now I am dog. It is not like that.

Page Title:Bhakti, devotional service is the only way to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead
Compiler:Laksmipriya
Created:10 of Apr, 2013
Totals by Section:BG=0, SB=3, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=1, Con=0, Let=0
No. of Quotes:4