"The Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Supersoul, Lord Hari, is the controller of both the living entities and the material nature. He is self-sufficient and self-effulgent. As the subject matter of perception is not the cause of our perceiving senses, so the living entity, although within his body, does not cause his eternal friend the Supersoul, who is the cause of creation of all the senses. Because of the living entity's ignorance, his senses are engaged with material objects. Since the living entity is alive, he can understand the creation of this material world to some extent, but he cannot understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is beyond the conception of the body, mind and intelligence. Nevertheless, great sages who are always in meditation can see the personal form of the Lord within their hearts.
Creation of the material world
Expressions researched:
"creation of material world"
|"creation of the material world"
|"creation of this material world"
|"material world is creation"
Bhagavad-gita As It Is
BG Chapters 1 - 6
The Vedas deal mostly with fruitive activities to gradually elevate the general public from the field of sense gratification to a position on the transcendental plane. Arjuna, as a student and friend of Lord Kṛṣṇa, is advised to raise himself to the transcendental position of Vedānta philosophy where, in the beginning, there is brahma-jijñāsā, or questions on the supreme transcendence. All the living entities who are in the material world are struggling very hard for existence. For them the Lord, after creation of the material world, gave the Vedic wisdom advising how to live and get rid of the material entanglement. When the activities for sense gratification, namely the karma-kāṇḍa chapter, are finished, then the chance for spiritual realization is offered in the form of the Upaniṣads, which are part of different Vedas, as the Bhagavad-gītā is a part of the fifth Veda, namely the Mahābhārata. The Upaniṣads mark the beginning of transcendental life.
Srimad-Bhagavatam
SB Canto 1
In the beginning of the material creation, that Absolute Personality of Godhead (Vāsudeva), in His transcendental position, created the energies of cause and effect by His own internal energy.
The position of the Lord is always transcendental because the causal and effectual energies required for the creation of the material world were also created by Him. He is unaffected, therefore, by the qualities of the material modes. His existence, form, activities and paraphernalia all existed before the material creation.* He is all-spiritual and has nothing to do with the qualities of the material world, which are qualitatively distinct from the spiritual qualities of the Lord.
First of all, in the beginning of creation, there were the four unmarried sons of Brahmā (the Kumāras), who, being situated in a vow of celibacy, underwent severe austerities for realization of the Absolute Truth.
The creation of the material world is effected, maintained and then again annihilated at certain intervals. So there are different names of the creations in terms of the particular types of Brahmā, the father of the living beings in the creation. The Kumāras, as above mentioned, appeared in the Kaumāra creation of the material world, and to teach us the process of Brahman realization, they underwent a severe type of disciplinary action as bachelors. These Kumāras are empowered incarnations. And before executing the severe type of disciplinary actions, all of them became qualified brāhmaṇas. This example suggests that one must first acquire the qualifications of a brāhmaṇa, not simply by birth but also by quality, and then one can undergo the process of Brahman realization.
There are two types of dissolution of the manifested cosmos. At the end of every 4,320,000,000 solar years, when Brahmā, the lord of one particular universe, goes to sleep, there is one annihilation. And at the end of Lord Brahmā's life, which takes place at the end of Brahmā's one hundred years of age, in our calculation at the end of 8,640,000,000 x 30 x 12 x 100 solar years, there is complete annihilation of the entire universe, and in both the periods both the material energy called the mahat-tattva and the marginal energy called jīva-tattva merge in the person of the Supreme Lord. The living beings remain asleep within the body of the Lord until there is another creation of the material world, and that is the way of the creation, maintenance and annihilation of the material manifestation.
The material creation is effected by the interaction of the three modes of material nature set in action by the Lord, and therefore it is said here that the Lord existed before the modes of material nature were set in motion. In the Śruti-mantra it is said that only Viṣṇu, the Supreme Lord, existed before the creation, and there was no Brahmā, Śiva or other demigods. Viṣṇu means the Mahā-Viṣṇu, who is lying on the Causal Ocean.
There are fourteen Manus in one day of Brahmā, and the Manu referred to herein is the seventh Manu, who is one of the prajāpatis (those who create progeny), and he is the son of the sun-god. He is known as the Vaivasvata Manu. He had ten sons, and Mahārāja Ikṣvāku is one of them. Mahārāja Ikṣvāku also learned bhakti-yoga as taught in the Bhagavad-gītā from his father, Manu, who got it from his father, the sun-god. Later on the teaching of the Bhagavad-gītā came down by disciplic succession from Mahārāja Ikṣvāku, but in course of time the chain was broken by unscrupulous persons, and therefore it again had to be taught to Arjuna on the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra. So all the Vedic literatures are current from the very beginning of creation of the material world, and thus the Vedic literatures are known as apauruṣeya (not made by man). The Vedic knowledge was spoken by the Lord and first heard by Brahmā, the first created living being within the universe.
SB Canto 2
Śukadeva Gosvāmī 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.
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 Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Śaṅkara (Śiva). As Viṣṇu He enters into every body materially created. As Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu He enters into every universe, and as Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu He enters the body of every living being. Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, being the origin of all viṣṇu-tattvas, is addressed here as paraḥ pumān, or Puruṣottama, as described in the Bhagavad-gītā (15.18). He is the complete whole. The puruṣāvatāras 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 yogīs cannot conceive of the Personality of Godhead, He is called anupalakṣya-vartmane, the Lord of the inconceivable way, or bhakti-yoga.
The Supreme Lord is pure spiritual form, transcendental to all material qualities, yet for the sake of the creation of the material world and its maintenance and annihilation, He accepts through His external energy the material modes of nature called goodness, passion and ignorance.
The Supreme Lord is the master of the external energy manifested by the three material modes, namely goodness, passion and ignorance, and as master of this energy He is ever unaffected by the influence of such bewildering energy. The living entities, the jīvas, however, are affected by or susceptible to being influenced by such modes of material nature—that is the difference between the Lord and the living entities. The living entities are subjected by those qualities, although originally the living entities are qualitatively one with the Lord. In other words, the material modes of nature, being products of the energy of the Lord, are certainly connected with the Lord, but the connection is just like that between the master and the servants.
The creation of the material world, wherein the conditioned souls are allowed to act subordinately by the Supreme Lord, takes place again and again after being repeatedly annihilated. The material creation is something like a cloud in the unlimited sky. The real sky is the spiritual sky, eternally filled with the rays of the brahmajyoti, and a portion of this unlimited sky is covered by the mahat-tattva cloud of the material creation, in which the conditioned souls, who want to lord it against the will of the Lord, are put into play as they desire under the control of the Lord by the agency of His external energy. As the rainy season appears and disappears regularly, the creation takes place and is again annihilated under the control of the Lord, as confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā (8.19). So the creation and annihilation of the material worlds is a regular action of the Lord just to allow the conditioned souls to play as they like and thereby create their own fate of being differently created again in terms of their independent desires at the time of annihilation.
Only under certain conditions do the planets float as weightless balls in the air, and as soon as these conditions are disturbed, the planets may fall down in the Garbhodaka Ocean, which covers half the universe. The other half is the spherical dome within which the innumerable planetary systems exist. The floating of the planets in the weightless air is due to the inner constitution of the globes, and the modernized drilling of the earth to exploit oil from within is a sort of disturbance by the modern demons and can result in a greatly harmful reaction to the floating condition of the earth. A similar disturbance was created formerly by the demons headed by Hiraṇyākṣa (the great exploiter of the gold rush), and the earth was detached from its weightless condition and fell down into the Garbhodaka Ocean. The Lord, as maintainer of the whole creation of the material world, therefore assumed the gigantic form of a boar with a proportionate snout and picked up the earth from within the water of Garbhodaka.
One should note how Mahārāja Parīkṣit intelligently put questions before his spiritual master for scientific understanding of the transcendental body of the Lord. It has been described in many places before this that the Lord assumed a gigantic body, like that of Kāraṇodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, from whose hair pores innumerable universes have generated. The body of Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu is described as sprouting the lotus stem within which all the planets of the universe remain, and at the top of the stem is the lotus flower on which Lord Brahmā is born. In the creation of the material world the Supreme Lord undoubtedly assumes a gigantic body, and living entities also get bodies, big or small, according to necessity. For example, an elephant gets a gigantic body according to its needs, and so also an ant gets its body according to its needs. Similarly, if the Personality of Godhead assumes a gigantic body to accommodate the universes or the planets of a particular universe, there is no difference in the principle of assuming or accepting a particular type of body in terms of necessity.
The creation of the material world is not blind or accidental. The living entities who are ever conditioned, or nitya-baddha, are thus given a chance for liberation under the guidance of His own representative like Brahmā. The Lord instructs Brahmā in Vedic knowledge in order to diffuse this knowledge to the conditioned souls. The conditioned souls are forgetful souls in their relationship with the Lord, and thus a period of creation and the process of dissemination of Vedic knowledge are necessary activities of the Lord. Lord Brahmā has a great responsibility in delivering the conditioned souls, and therefore he is very dear to the Lord.
Brahmā also does his duty very perfectly, not only by generating the living entities but also by spreading his party for reclaiming the fallen souls. The party is called the Brahma-sampradāya, and any member of this party to date is naturally engaged in reclaiming the fallen souls back to Godhead, back home. The Lord is very much anxious to get back His parts and parcels, as stated in the Bhagavad-gītā. No one is more dear than the one who takes the task of reclaiming the fallen souls back to Godhead.
SB Canto 3
The Supreme Lord, the Personality of Godhead, is always the benefactor of the surrendered souls. His activities are always enacted through His internal potency, Ramā, or the goddess of fortune. I pray only to engage in His service in the creation of the material world, and I pray that I not be materially affected by my works, for thus I may be able to give up the false prestige of being the creator.
In the matter of material creation, maintenance and destruction, there are three incarnations of the material modes of nature—Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Maheśvara. But the Lord's incarnation as Viṣṇu, in His internal potency, is the supreme energy for the total activities. Brahmā, who is only an assistant in the modes of creation, wanted to remain in his actual position as an instrument of the Lord instead of becoming puffed up by the false prestige of thinking himself the creator. That is the way of becoming dear to the Supreme Lord and receiving His benediction. Foolish men want to take credit for all creations made by them, but intelligent persons know very well that not a blade of grass can move without the will of the Lord; thus all the credit for wonderful creations must go to Him. By spiritual consciousness only can one be free from the contamination of material affection and receive the benedictions offered by the Lord.
Demigods like Brahmā also follow the religious rites observed by him. He is the controller of the material energy, which causes the creation of the material world. He is great, and therefore his devilish characteristics are simply imitation.
Lord Śiva is the husband of Durgā, the controller of the material energy. Durgā is personified material energy, and Lord Śiva, being her husband, is the controller of the material energy. He is also the incarnation of the mode of ignorance and one of the three deities representing the Supreme Lord. As His representative, Lord Śiva is identical with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He is very great, and his renunciation of all material enjoyment is an ideal example of how one should be materially unattached. One should therefore follow in his footsteps and be unattached to matter, not imitate his uncommon acts like drinking poison.
SB Canto 4
It is said that the transcendental name, qualities, activities, paraphernalia, etc., of the Supreme Personality of Godhead cannot be understood with our material senses. The attempt of the empiric philosophers to understand the Absolute Truth by speculation is always futile because their process of understanding, their objective and the instruments by which they try to understand the Absolute Truth are all material. The Lord is aprākṛta, beyond the creation of the material world. This fact is also accepted by the great impersonalist Śaṅkarācārya: nārāyaṇaḥ paro 'vyaktād aṇḍam avyakta-sambhavam. Avyakta, or the original material cause, is beyond this material manifestation and is the cause of the material world. Because Nārāyaṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is beyond the material world, one cannot speculate upon Him by any material method. One has to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead simply by the transcendental method of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. This is confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā (18.55). Bhaktyā mām abhijānāti: only by devotional service can one understand the transcendental form of the Lord. The difference between the impersonalists and the personalists is that the impersonalists, limited by their speculative processes, cannot even approach the Supreme Personality of Godhead, whereas the devotees please the Supreme Personality of Godhead through His transcendental loving service. Sevonmukhe hi: due to the service attitude of the devotee, the Lord is revealed to him. The Supreme Lord cannot be understood by materialistic persons even though He is present before them.
The governors of various planets spoke as follows: Dear Lord, we believe only in our direct perception, but under the circumstances we do not know whether we have actually seen You with our material senses. By our material senses we can simply perceive the cosmic manifestation, but You are beyond the five elements. You are the sixth. We see You, therefore, as a creation of the material world.
The governors of the various planets are certainly materially opulent and very puffed up. Such persons are unable to understand the transcendental, eternal form of the Lord. In the Brahma-saṁhitā it is stated that only persons who have anointed their eyes with love of Godhead can see the Personality of Godhead in every step of their activities. Also, in the prayers of Kuntī (SB 1.8.26) it is stated that only those who are akiñcana-gocaram, who are not materially puffed up, can see the Supreme Personality of Godhead; others are bewildered and cannot even think of the Absolute Truth.
The Lord is not part of the soul—He is the unchangeable Supreme Soul, and the living entities are His parts and parcels. The living entity is forced to appear in this material world under the direction of daiva-māyā, but when the Lord appears, He comes by His own internal potency, ātma-māyā. Besides that, a living entity is within the time of past, present and future. His life has a beginning, a birth, and in the conditioned state his life ends with death. But the Lord is ādi-puruṣa, the original person. In the Brahma-saṁhitā Lord Brahmā offers his respect to the ādi-puruṣa, Govinda, the original person, who has no beginning, whereas the creation of this material world has a beginning. The Vedānta says, janmādy asya yataḥ; (SB 1.1.1) everything is born from the Supreme, but the Supreme has no birth. He has all the six opulences in full and beyond comparison, He is the master of material nature, His intelligence is not broken under any circumstances, and He stands aloof, although He is the maintainer of the whole creation.
It may be questioned why Dhruva Mahārāja offered his respect not only to his mother but also to his stepmother, due to whose insults he had to leave home. The answer is that after achieving perfection by self-realization and seeing the Supreme Personality of Godhead face to face, Dhruva Mahārāja was completely freed from all contamination of material desire. Feelings of insult or honor in this material world are never perceived by a devotee. Lord Caitanya therefore says that one has to be humbler than the grass and, He recommends, more tolerant than the tree to execute devotional service. Dhruva Mahārāja, therefore, has in this verse been described as saj-janāgraṇīḥ, the foremost of noble men. The pure devotee is the noblest of all, and he has no feelings of animosity towards anyone. Duality due to animosity is a creation of this material world. There is no such thing in the spiritual world, which is the absolute reality.
The creation of the material world begins with the five elements, and thus everything, including the body of a man or a woman, is created of these elements. By the sexual life of man and woman, the number of men and women in this material world is further increased.
When Svāyambhuva Manu saw that Dhruva Mahārāja understood the philosophy of Vaiṣṇavism and yet was still dissatisfied because of his brother's death, he gave him an explanation of how this material body is created by the five elements of material nature. In the Bhagavad-gītā it is also confirmed, prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni: (BG 3.27) everything is created, maintained and annihilated by the material modes of nature. In the background, of course, there is the direction of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is also confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā (mayādhyakṣeṇa (BG 9.10)). In the Ninth Chapter, Kṛṣṇa says, "Under My superintendence material nature is acting." Svāyambhuva Manu wanted to impress on Dhruva Mahārāja that the death of the material body of his brother was not actually the Yakṣas' fault; it was an act of the material nature. The Supreme Personality of Godhead has immense varieties of potencies, and they act in different gross and subtle ways.
The Lord as Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu lies in the ocean of Garbha within this universe, and from His navel the lotus flower sprouts. Lord Brahmā is generated from that lotus flower, and from Lord Brahmā the creation of this material world begins. As such, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, is the origin of the material senses and sense objects. Since Lord Śiva considers himself to be one of the products of the material world, his senses are under the control of the supreme creator. The Supreme Lord is also known as Hṛṣīkeśa, master of the senses, which indicates that our senses and sense objects are formed by the Supreme Lord. As such, He can control our senses and out of His mercy engage them in the service of the master of the senses. In the conditioned state, the living entity struggles in this material world and engages his senses for material satisfaction. However, if the living entity is graced by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he can engage these very senses in the service of the Lord.
My dear Lord, You are the only Supreme Person, the cause of all causes. Before the creation of this material world, Your material energy remains in a dormant condition. When Your material energy is agitated, the three qualities—namely goodness, passion and ignorance—act, and as a result the total material energy—egotism, ether, air, fire, water, earth and all the various demigods and saintly persons—becomes manifest. Thus the material world is created.
If the whole creation is one—that is, nothing but the Supreme Lord, or Viṣṇu—then why do the expert transcendentalists make such categories as are found in the above verse:? Why do learned and expert scholars distinguish between matter and spirit? In answer to these questions, Lord Śiva says that spirit and matter are not creations of various philosophers, but are manifested by Lord Viṣṇu, as described in this verse: tvam eka ādyaḥ puruṣaḥ. Spiritual and material categories are made possible by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but actually there are no such distinctions for the living entities who are eternally engaged in the service of the Lord.
A sincere devotee who follows the instructions of the spiritual master certainly gets direct instructions from his heart from the Supersoul. Thus a sincere devotee is always helped directly or indirectly by the spiritual master and the Supersoul. This is confirmed in Caitanya-caritāmṛta: guru-kṛṣṇa-prasāde pāya bhakti-latā-bīja (CC Madhya 19.151). If the devotee serves his spiritual master sincerely, Kṛṣṇa automatically becomes pleased. Yasya prasādād bhagavad-prasādaḥ. By satisfying the spiritual master, one automatically satisfies Kṛṣṇa. Thus the devotee becomes enriched by both the spiritual master and Kṛṣṇa. The Supersoul is eternally the friend of the living entity and always remains with him. The Supersoul has always been ready to help the living entity, even before the creation of this material world. It is therefore stated here: yenāgre vicacartha. The word agre means "before the creation." Thus the Supersoul has been accompanying the living entity since before the creation.
SB Canto 5
Therefore Āgnīdhra, having lost his intelligence, could not distinguish whether Pūrvacitti was male or female. He mistook her for a muni-putra, the son of a saintly person in the forest, and addressed her as muni-varya. Because of her personal beauty, however, he could not believe her to be a boy. He therefore began studying her features. First he saw her two eyebrows, which were so expressive that he wondered whether he or she might be the māyā of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The words used in this connection are bhagavat-para-devatāyāḥ. Devatāḥ, the demigods, all belong to this material world, whereas Bhagavān, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, is always beyond this material world and is therefore known as para-devatā. The material world is certainly created by māyā, but it is created under the direction of para-devatā, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. As confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā (mayādhyakṣeṇa prakṛtiḥ sūyate sa-carācaram (BG 9.10)), māyā is not the ultimate authority for the creation of this material world. Māyā acts on behalf of Kṛṣṇa.
The workings of nature are not going on automatically. It is only because the Lord glances over the material energy that it acts in wonderful ways, just as a lodestone causes a piece of iron to move here and there. Because materialistic scientists and so-called Sāṅkhya philosophers do not believe in God, they think that material nature is working without supervision. But that is not the fact. In Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Ādi 6.18-19) the creation of the material world is explained as follows:
- yadyapi sāṅkhya māne 'pradhāna'—kāraṇa
- jaḍa ha-ite kabhu nahe jagat-sṛjana
- nija-sṛṣṭi-śakti prabhu sañcāre pradhāne
- īśvarera śaktye tabe haye ta' nirmāṇe
"Atheistic Sāṅkhya philosophers think that the total material energy causes the cosmic manifestation, but they are wrong. Dead matter has no moving power, and therefore it cannot act independently. The Lord infuses the material ingredients with His own creative potency. Then, by the power of the Lord, matter moves and interacts." Sea waves are moved by the air, the air is created from ether, the ether is produced by the agitation of the three modes of material nature, and the three modes of material nature interact due to the Supreme Lord's glance over the total material energy.
My dear King, as I heard of it from my spiritual master, I have fully described to you the creation of this material world according to the fruitive activities and desires of the conditioned souls. Those conditioned souls, who are full of material desires, achieve various situations in different planetary systems, and in this way they live within this material creation.
In this regard, Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura sings,
- anādi karama-phale, paḍi' bhavārṇava-jale,
- taribāre nā dekhi upāya
"My Lord, I do not know when I commenced my material life, but I can certainly experience that I have fallen in the deep ocean of nescience. Now I can also see that there is no other way to get out of it than to take shelter of Your lotus feet." Similarly, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu offers the following prayer:
- ayi nanda-tanuja kiṅkaraṁ
- patitaṁ māṁ viṣame bhavāmbudhau
- kṛpayā tava pāda-paṅkaja-
- sthita-dhūlī-sadṛśaṁ vicintaya
(Cc. Antya 20.32, Śikṣāṣṭaka 5)
"My dear Lord, son of Nanda Mahārāja, I am Your eternal servant. Somehow or other, I have fallen into this ocean of nescience. Kindly, therefore, save me from this horrible condition of materialistic life."
SB Canto 6
Anything expressed by material vibrations, anything ascertained by material intelligence and anything experienced by the material senses or concocted within the material mind is but an effect of the modes of material nature and therefore has nothing to do with the real nature of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Supreme Lord is beyond the creation of this material world, for He is the source of the material qualities and creation. As the cause of all causes, He exists before the creation and after the creation. I wish to offer my respectful obeisances unto Him.
SB Canto 7
Since Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is the controller of everything, when He appears He is not within the limitations of material time (janma karma ca me divyam (BG 4.9)). In this verse the words kālaṁ carantaṁ sṛjatīśa āśrayam indicate that although the Lord acts within time, whether sattva-guṇa, rajo-guṇa or tamo-guṇa is prominent, one should not think that the Lord is under time's control. Time is within His control, for He creates time to act in a certain way; He is not working under the control of time. The creation of the material world is one of the Lord's pastimes. Everything is fully under His control. Since creation takes place when rajo-guṇa is prominent, the Lord creates the necessary time to give facilities for rajo-guṇa. Similarly, He also creates the necessary times for maintenance and annihilation. Thus this verse establishes that the Lord is not under the limitations of time.
Since the creation of the material world, there have been two kinds of men—the devas and the asuras. The devas are always faithful to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, whereas the asuras are always atheists who defy the supremacy of the Lord. At the present moment, throughout the entire world, the atheists are extremely numerous. They are trying to prove that there is no God and that everything takes place due to combinations and permutations of material elements. Thus the material world is becoming more and more godless, and consequently everything is in a disturbed condition. If this continues, the Supreme Personality of Godhead will certainly take action, as He did in the case of Hiraṇyakaśipu. Within a second, Hiraṇyakaśipu and his followers were destroyed, and similarly if this godless civilization continues, it will be destroyed in a second, simply by the movement of one finger of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The demons should therefore be careful and curtail their godless civilization.
O my Lord, O Supreme Personality of Godhead, after the annihilation the creative energy is kept in You, who appear to sleep with half-closed eyes. Actually, however, You do not sleep like an ordinary human being, for You are always in a transcendental stage, beyond the creation of the material world, and You always feel transcendental bliss. As Kāraṇodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, You thus remain in Your transcendental status, not touching material objects. Although You appear to sleep, this sleeping is distinct from sleeping in ignorance.
SB Canto 8
Actually Lord Viṣṇu maintains and accomplishes all good fortune. If one has to take shelter of Lord Viṣṇu, why should the demigods take shelter of Lord Śiva? They did so because Lord Viṣṇu acts through Lord Śiva in the creation of the material world. Lord Śiva acts on behalf of Lord Viṣṇu. When the Lord says in Bhagavad-gītā (14.4) that He is the father of all living entities (ahaṁ bīja-pradaḥ pitā), this refers to actions performed by Lord Viṣṇu through Lord Śiva. Lord Viṣṇu is always unattached to material activities, and when material activities are to be performed, Lord Viṣṇu performs them through Lord Śiva. Lord Śiva is therefore worshiped on the level of Lord Viṣṇu. When Lord Viṣṇu is untouched by the external energy He is Lord Viṣṇu, but when He is in touch with the external energy, He appears in His feature as Lord Śiva.
SB Canto 10.1 to 10.13
All the viṣṇu-mūrtis were surrounded by the opulences, headed by aṇimā-siddhi; by the mystic potencies, headed by Ajā; and by the twenty-four elements for the creation of the material world, headed by the mahat-tattva.
In this verse the word mahimabhiḥ means aiśvarya, or opulence. The Supreme Personality of Godhead can do whatever He likes. That is His aiśvarya. No one can command Him, but He can command everyone. Sad-aiśvarya-pūrṇam. The Lord is full in six opulences. The yoga-siddhis, the perfections of yoga, such as the ability to become smaller than the smallest (aṇimā-siddhi) or bigger than the biggest (mahimā-siddhi), are present in Lord Viṣṇu. Sad-aiśvaryaiḥ pūrṇo ya iha bhagavān (CC Adi 1.3). The word ajā means māyā, or mystic power. Everything mysterious is in full existence in Viṣṇu.
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta
CC Adi-lila
Saṅkarṣaṇa, the second expansion, is Vāsudeva's personal expansion for pastimes, and since He is the reservoir of all living entities, He is sometimes called jīva. The beauty of Saṅkarṣaṇa is greater than that of innumerable full moons radiating light beams. He is worshipable as the principle of ego. He has invested Anantadeva with all the potencies of sustenance. For the dissolution of the creation, He also exhibits Himself as the Supersoul in Rudra, in Adharma (the personality of irreligion), in sarpa (snakes), in Antaka (Yamarāja, the lord of death) and in the demons.
Pradyumna, the third manifestation, appears from Saṅkarṣaṇa. Those who are especially intelligent worship this Pradyumna expansion of Saṅkarṣaṇa as the principle of the intelligence. The goddess of fortune always chants the glories of Pradyumna in the place known as Ilāvṛta-varṣa, and she always serves Him with great devotion. His complexion appears sometimes golden and sometimes bluish like new monsoon clouds in the sky. He is the origin of the creation of the material world, and He has invested His creative principle in Cupid. It is by His direction only that all men and demigods and other living entities function with energy for regeneration.
After this, Jagannātha Miśra got a son of the name Viśvarūpa, who was most powerful and highly qualified because He was an incarnation of Baladeva.
Viśvarūpa was the elder brother of Gaurahari, Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. When arrangements were being made for the marriage of Viśvarūpa, He took sannyāsa and left home. He took the sannyāsa name of Śaṅkarāraṇya. In 1431 Śakābda Era (A.D. 1509), He disappeared in Pāṇḍarapura, in the district of Sholapur. As an incarnation of Saṅkarṣaṇa, He is both the ingredient and immediate cause of the creation of this material world. He is nondifferent from Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, for the aṁśa and the aṁśī, or the part and the whole, are not different. As an incarnation of Saṅkarṣaṇa, Viśvarūpa belongs to the quadruple manifestation of catur-vyūha. In the Gaura-candrodaya it is said that Viśvarūpa, after His so-called demise, remained mixed within Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu.
CC Madhya-lila
Actually an ordinary human being cannot become Nārāyaṇa. As the chief Māyāvādī sannyāsī, Śrī Śaṅkarācārya, says, nārāyaṇaḥ paro ’vyaktāt: "Nārāyaṇa is not a creation of this material world. Nārāyaṇa is above the material creation." Due to their poor fund of knowledge, Māyāvādī sannyāsīs think that Nārāyaṇa, the Absolute Truth, takes birth as a human being and that when He realizes this, He becomes Nārāyaṇa again. They never consider why Nārāyaṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, would accept an inferior position as a human being and then again become Nārāyaṇa when He is perfect. Why should Nārāyaṇa be imperfect? Why should He appear as a human being? Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu very nicely explained these points while at Vṛndāvana.
The living entity is called the marginal energy because by nature he is spiritual but by forgetfulness he is situated in the material energy. Thus he has the power to live either in the material energy or in the spiritual energy, and for this reason he is called marginal energy. Being in the marginal position, he is sometimes attracted by the external, illusory energy, and this is the beginning of his material life. When he enters the material energy, he is subjected to the threefold time measurement—past, present and future. Past, present and future belong only to the material world; they do not exist in the spiritual world. The living entity is eternal, and he existed before the creation of this material world. Unfortunately he has forgotten his relationship with Kṛṣṇa. The living entity's forgetfulness is described herein as anādi, which indicates that it has existed since time immemorial. One should understand that due to his desire to enjoy himself in competition with Kṛṣṇa, the living entity comes into material existence.
One must receive knowledge from the paramparā system and from the guru; otherwise one will be bewildered and will ultimately become an impersonalist. One who very scrutinizingly deliberates on genuine spiritual knowledge can realize the personal feature of the Absolute Truth. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is always transcendental to this material creation. Nārāyaṇaḥ paro ’vyaktāt: "Nārāyaṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is always transcendental." He is not a creation of this material world. Without realizing spiritual knowledge, one cannot understand that the transcendental form of the Lord is always beyond the creative energy. The example of the sun and the sunshine is given. The sunshine is not the sun, but still the sunshine is not separate from the sun. The philosophy of acintya-bhedābheda-tattva (simultaneously one and different) cannot be understood by one who is fully under the influence of the external energy. Consequently a person under the influence of the material energy cannot understand the nature and form of the Personality of the Absolute Truth.
Other Books by Srila Prabhupada
Teachings of Lord Caitanya
Śaṅkara has falsely argued that if the transformation of energy is accepted, the Supreme Absolute Truth cannot remain immutable. But this is not true. Despite the fact that unlimited energy is always being generated, the Supreme Absolute Truth remains always the same. He is not affected by the emanation of unlimited energies. Śaṅkarācārya has therefore incorrectly established his theory of illusion.
Rāmānujācārya has discussed this point very nicely: "If you argue that before the creation of this material world there was only one Absolute Truth, then how is it possible that the living entity emanated from Him? If He were alone, how could He have produced or generated the infinitesimal living entities?" In answer to this question, the Vedas state that everything is generated from the Absolute Truth, everything is maintained by the Absolute Truth, and, after annihilation, everything enters into the Absolute Truth. From this statement it is clear that the living entities enter into the supreme existence when they are liberated, and they do not change their original constitutional position.
Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead
"My dear Lord," he said, "You are the Supreme Person, Puruṣottama, transcendentally situated beyond the manifested and unmanifested material creation. The activities of this material world and of the conditioned souls have nothing to do with Your position. We can appreciate that not only today have You given me Your audience, but You are associating with all the living entities as Paramātmā since the beginning of creation."
This statement by the brāhmaṇa is very instructive. It is a fact that the Supreme Lord, the Personality of Godhead, in His Paramātmā feature, enters the creation of this material world as Mahā-Viṣṇu, Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu and Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, and in a very friendly attitude the Lord sits along with the conditioned soul in the body. Therefore, every living entity has the Lord with him from the very beginning, but due to his mistaken consciousness of life, the living entity cannot understand this. When his consciousness, however, is changed into Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he can immediately understand how Kṛṣṇa is trying to assist the conditioned souls to get out of the material entanglement.
The impersonalists, yogīs and enemies of the Lord enter into the Lord's transcendental effulgence, but the personalists who follow in the footsteps of the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana or strictly follow the path of devotional service are elevated to the personal abode of Kṛṣṇa, Goloka Vṛndāvana, or to the Vaikuṇṭha planets. Both the impersonalists and the personalists enter the spiritual realm, the spiritual sky, but the impersonalists are given their place in the impersonal Brahman effulgence, whereas the personalists are given a position in the Vaikuṇṭha planets or in the Vṛndāvana planet, according to their desire to serve the Lord in different mellows.
The personified Vedas stated that persons born after the creation of this material world cannot understand the existence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead by manipulating their material knowledge. Just as a person born in a particular family cannot understand the position of his great-grandfather, who lived before the birth of the recent generation, we are unable to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Nārāyaṇa, or Kṛṣṇa, who exists eternally in the spiritual world. In the Eighth Chapter of the Bhagavad-gītā it is clearly said that the Supreme Person, who lives eternally in the spiritual kingdom of God (sanātana-dhāma), can be approached only by devotional service.
One may argue that because this material world is created by the Lord, He is therefore responsible for its condition. Certainly He is indirectly responsible for the creation and maintenance of this material world, but He is never responsible for the different conditions of the living entities. The Lord's creation of this material world is compared to a cloud's creation of vegetation. In the rainy season the cloud creates different varieties of vegetation. The cloud pours water on the surface of the earth, but it never touches the earth directly. Similarly, the Lord creates this material world simply by glancing over the material energy. This is confirmed in the Vedas: "He threw His glance over the material nature, and thus there was creation." In the Bhagavad-gītā it is also confirmed that simply by His transcendental glance over the material nature, He creates different varieties of entities, both movable and immovable, living and dead.
The creation of the material world can therefore be taken as one of the pastimes of the Lord; it is called one of the Lord's pastimes because He creates this material world whenever He desires. This desire of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is also extreme mercy on His part because it gives the conditioned souls another chance to develop their original consciousness and thus go back to Godhead. Therefore no one can blame the Supreme Lord for creating this material world.
After this, Lord Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna entered a vast spiritual water. This spiritual water is called the Kāraṇa Ocean, which means that this ocean is the origin of the creation of the material world; this place is also known as Virajā, because it is free from the influence of the three qualities of the material world. In the Mṛtyuñjaya-tantra, a Vedic scripture, there is a vivid description of this Kāraṇa Ocean, or Virajā. It is stated there that the highest planetary system within the material world is Satyaloka, or Brahmaloka, beyond which are Rudraloka and Mahā-Viṣṇuloka. Regarding this Mahā-Viṣṇuloka, it is stated in the Brahma-saṁhitā, yaḥ kāraṇārṇava-jale bhajati sma yoga-nidrām ananta-jagad-aṇḍa-sa-roma-kūpaḥ: (Bs. 5.47) "Lord Mahā-Viṣṇu is lying in the Kāraṇa Ocean. When He exhales, innumerable universes come into existence, and when He inhales, innumerable universes enter within Him."
Light of the Bhagavata
Everything emanates as different energies from the Lord, and thus everything should be engaged for His service only. As soon as even temporary things are engaged in His service, they take on permanent values. The process of such engagement in the service of the Lord is what the sages call cikitsitam, or "well treated." If we have some kind of trouble in the stomach from drinking milk, the physician prescribes the same milk in the form of yogurt, which is nothing but treated milk. Similarly, the temporary creation of the material world is undoubtedly full of miseries, but when accepted in terms of its relation with the Supreme Lord, the whole thing becomes as well treated as the yogurt. Everything accepted in full God consciousness has its spiritual value, and by the grace of the Almighty its material effects are diminished in terms of the increasing degree of spiritual consciousness. That is the process for cultivating the human spirit.
Sri Isopanisad
Since the creation of the material world, everyone has been trying to attain a permanent life, but the laws of nature are so cruel that no one has been able to avoid the hand of death. No one wants to die, nor does anyone want to become old or diseased. The law of nature, however, does not allow anyone immunity from old age, disease or death. Nor has the advancement of material knowledge solved these problems. Material science can discover the nuclear bomb to accelerate the process of death, but it cannot discover anything that can protect man from the cruel hands of old age, disease and death.
From the Purāṇas we learn of the activities of Hiraṇyakaśipu, a king who was very much advanced materially. Wanting to conquer cruel death by his material acquisitions and the strength of his nescience, he underwent a type of meditation so severe that the inhabitants of all the planetary systems became disturbed by his mystic powers. He forced the creator of the universe, the demigod Brahmā, to come down to him. He then asked Brahmā for the benediction of becoming amara, by which one does not die.
Lectures
Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures
So you have seen the picture. Kṛṣṇa is driving four white horses. (reads from purport:) "In contrast with the conchshell blown by Bhīṣmadeva, the conchshells in the hands of Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna are described as transcendental." Kṛṣṇa is transcendental. Nārāyaṇaḥ paro 'vyaktāt. Kṛṣṇa is not of this material world. Kṛṣṇa's body, Kṛṣṇa's activities, everything of Kṛṣṇa, they are transcendental. They are not of this material world. Divyam. In the catuḥ-śloki Bhāgavatam it is said when Kṛṣṇa was instructing Brahmā, aham evāsam evāgre: (SB 2.9.33/34/35/36) "Before this material creation, I was existing." In the Vedas also, it is said, eko nārāyaṇa āsīt. "Before creation, only Nārāyaṇa was there."
So Kṛṣṇa's position is always transcendental. He is not any creation of this material world. But because he comes just like a human being and acts also just like human being, those who are less intelligent, avajānanti, they think of Kṛṣṇa as ordinary human being. Avajānanti māṁ mūḍhāḥ (BG 9.11). Mūḍhāḥ. Mūḍhāḥ means asses. Or less intelligent class of men. They cannot understand Kṛṣṇa's position. Kṛṣṇa's position is always transcendental.
Kṛṣṇa says, "Māyā is also Mine." Just like the cloud. What is this cloud? This is also made by the sun. Everyone, you know. The cloud means the sun evaporates water from the ocean, and it becomes cloud, and the business of the cloud is to cover our eyes to see the sun. Actually, the cloud has no existence, separate existence, and as soon as the sun is bright, the cloud disappears. This is bhūtvā bhūtvā pralīyate (BG 8.19). It comes into existence and again it disappears. This is māyā. But the sky remains there; the sun remains there. Similarly, māyā, illusion, is sometimes is generated. This is the creation of the material world, mahat-tattva-māyā. So this is not permanent. It comes and goes. Similarly, māyā is simply covering our eyes. Just the... Just like this cloud, it is not possible for the cloud to cover the sun. Sun is ninety-three millions, or at least, fourteen, fourteen hundred thousand times bigger than this earth. So how a cloud, spreading over, say, a few miles, ten miles, it can cover the sun? No. The cloud cannot cover the sun, but the cloud can cover my eyesight.
But that is not the fact. Arjuna gives evidences that "Not only I, but the great authorities like Vyāsa, Nārada, Asita, Devala, they have also accepted You as the Supreme Personality of Godhead." In the recent ages... This is five thousand years ago. Even one thousand, five hundred... Śaṅkarācārya, who is impersonalist, he has also accepted Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Sa bhagavān svayaṁ kṛṣṇa. He has written in his commentary on the Bhagavad-gītā: nārāyaṇaḥ avyakta, avyaktāt, para avyaktāt. Nārāyaṇaḥ para avyaktāt. "Nārāyaṇa is not a creation of this material world. He's transcendental." He has accepted. And what to speak of the Vaiṣṇava ācāryas, Rāmānujācārya, Madhvācārya, all. They have written so many nice commentaries on the Bhagavad-gītā, Brahma-sūtra, establishing that the Supreme Absolute Truth is person, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Kṛṣṇa is speaking as person. And He is warning the rascals: avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā mānuṣīṁ tanum āśritam (BG 9.11). "Because I am speaking as a human being, the rascals, they deride." Paraṁ bhāvam ajānantaḥ. They do not know what is My influence, what is My power."
This is another explanation of Kṛṣṇa's greatness, that by His one plenary expansion, eko 'py asau racayitum, one plenary expansion is maintaining the whole material creation. Eko 'py asau racayitum. Just to create this material world. One plenary expansion. Eko 'py asau racayituṁ jagad-aṇḍa-koṭim (Bs. 5.35). Not only one, but millions of jagad-aṇḍa, universes. By His one plenary...
In Bhagavad-gītā also it is confirmed,
- athavā bahunaitena
- kiṁ jñātena tavārjuna
- viṣṭabhyāham (idaṁ kṛtsnam)
- ekāṁśena sthito jagat
- (BG 10.42)
Ekāṁśena. "One My plenary portion..." Mahā-Viṣṇu. For creation of this material world. Ekāṁśena sthito jagat. And what is that ekāṁśa? That is described also. Yasyaika-niśvasita-kālam athāvalambya jīvanti loma-vilajā jagad-aṇḍa-nāthāḥ (Bs. 5.48). Loma-vilajā. And innumerable universes are coming out from the hair holes of the body of Mahā-Viṣṇu. Niśvasita-kālam athāvalambya. His breathing. He is, within the Kāraṇa Ocean, Causal Ocean, He is sleeping. Yaḥ kāraṇārṇava-jale bhajati sma yoga-nidrām (Bs. 5.47). Yoga-nidrā. And while He's sleeping in His yoga-nidrā, innumerable universes are coming out through His breathing and from the air holes.
Now, Brahman, the Absolute Truth, how we can understand the Absolute Truth? Absolute Truth means the Supreme. Now we have got experience that everything is created by somebody, everything, whatever we see, this pillow, this seat, or this book, or this microphone, whatever we are seeing. Even my body is created by my father and mother. Everyone can understand. So why they should deny the creation of this material world?
We see. Everything material, that has got a beginning, date of birth and date of death. And there are, in the middle, between the birth and death, there is disease and old age, deterioration. Old age means deterioration. Just like this body. When I was young man, child, I was also jumping. Now I have to go with a stick. The deterioration... This is called de... Deterioration. Deterioration means now it is coming to be finished.
Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures
There are millions of eggslike clustered together. This is material world. Millions, not one. And each universe... Koṭiṣu vasudhādi-vibhūti-bhinnam. In each universe there are millions and trillions of stars and planets. Koṭiṣu vibhūti-bhinnam. And each one of them is different from the other. Just like you are going to, trying to go to the moon planet, but you cannot stay there because the atmosphere is different. Everything is there. Yasya prabhā prabhavato jagad-aṇḍa-koṭi-koṭiṣu vasudhādi (Bs. 5.40). Vasudhā means planets. This is also called vasudhā, this planet. So just imagine what insignificant this vasudhā in comparison to the whole material world. There are millions of universes, and in each and every universe there are millions and trillions of the stars and planets. This is the whole creation of material world. And taking them together, this is one-fourth creation of God. The three-fourths creation is the spiritual world, and in that spiritual world, the topmost planet is called Goloka Vṛndāvana. That is the place of Kṛṣṇa.
So it is to be understood that all living entities who have come to this material existence... This material existence means this is a life which is not permanent. Why it is not permanent? It is not permanent for this reason: that we are given a chance. This material manifestation, creation of this material world, and let loose the living entities. These are all statement in the Bhagavad-gītā. Mama yonir mahad-brahma tasmin garbhaṁ dadāmy aham. The history of creation, as we learn from the Vedic literature, that after creation of this material world, the living entities are impregnated... Just like a man constructs a nice house or takes a very nice apartment and begets children in the womb of his wife, similarly, the material nature is the mother, and the father is God, and we are all children. These are the Vedic literature description. So who are these children? These children are all criminals. All criminals. Beginning from Brahma, the highest living creature, down to the ant, a small insignificant ant, more or less, we are criminals, and we are suffering the consequences.
In the Padma Purāṇa, Viṣṇu Purāṇa: parasya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate (Cc. Madhya 13.65, purport). God's energy are varieties. All those varieties are grouped into three divisions. Out of that... Three divisions means tatastha-śakti, antarāṅga-śakti, cit-chakti. Tatastha-śakti and this external, or this karma-śakti... The... Tṛtīyā śaktiḥ karma-saṅgā anyā. It is mentioned that the spiritual world is just manifestation of cic-chakti, and this material world is creation of material energy or karma-saṅgā, where everyone has to work. Without work, it is said, na hi suptasya siṁhasya praviśanti mukhe mṛgāḥ. That is very nice example. In the forest the lion is supposed to be the mightiest animal, and he is sometimes called the king of the animals, paśu-rāja. So in one place it is said that even the lion, who is the king of the forest, if he sleeps and he thinks that animals will come and enter in his mouth, that is not possible. He has to also find out how to eat. Na hi suptasya siṁhasya praviśanti mukhe mṛgāḥ. The lion is so powerful, but he cannot also dictate.
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures
So ekāṁśena sthitaḥ, by His one part of energy, the whole material creation is there. He says, "I enter into this material world, and by expansion of My one part of energy, this material, whole material creation is there." There are many... Yasmād bhavanti vibhavanti viśanti. Yato vā imāni bhūtāni bhavanti. Yato vā imāni. Janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1). There are many Vedic statements. Janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1). That means the creation of this material world is from the Supreme Lord. Now, that creative energy of Supreme Lord is not material. That is spiritual. The material means the material world is created by the spiritual energy. Therefore, the spiritual energy (was) existing before the creation of the material world. Therefore, Viṣṇu's energy is not material. Viṣṇu's energy is spiritual. Here it is stated that viṣṇu-śaktiḥ parā. Parā means spiritual; proktā, "it is said." Kṣetra-jñākhyā tathā parā. And kṣetrajña means these jīvas.
So viṣṇos tu trīṇi rūpāṇi: "That Viṣṇu, for the creation of this material world, takes into three forms, trīṇi rūpāṇi." Viṣṇos tu trīṇi rūpāṇi purusākhyāny atho viduḥ: "And all of them are known as puruṣāvatāras." Mahā-Viṣṇu puruṣāvatāra, Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu puruṣāvatāra and Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu puruṣāvatāra. They are called puruṣāvatāra. Ekaṁ tu mahataḥ sraṣṭṛ: "And the first puruṣāvatāra, who is called Mahā-Viṣṇu, He creates the material ingredients, which is called mahat-tattva." Everything requires ingredients. So the, I mean to say, original ingredients, the, what is called, subtle ingredients, they were created first by this Mahā-Viṣṇu. Then, from those ingredients, universes were produced. And each universe, ekaṁ tu mahataḥ dvitīyaṁ tv aṇḍa-saṁsthitam. The first puruṣāvatāra, Mahā-Viṣṇu, creates the ingredients, and the second Mahā-Viṣṇu enters in each and every universe. He is called dvitīya. And tṛtīyaṁ sarva-bhūta-stham: "And the third, He enters into the body of all living entities, Paramātmā, or the Supersoul." This is the division of three first incarnation.
Actually, there is no creation in the spiritual world. The creation means it begins at a certain time and ends at a certain time, but in the spiritual world there is no such beginning. But because we find the creation of this material world by the kriyā-śakti potency of Lord, therefore it is understood that the spiritual world is also manifested by the same potency with the help of His spiritual energy.
- sahasra-patraṁ kamalaṁ
- gokulākhyaṁ mahat-padam
- tat-karṇikāraṁ tad-dhāma
- tad anantāṁśa-sambhavam
- (Bs. 5.2)
That original planet, Goloka Vṛndāvana, is described here in the Brahma-saṁhitā, "just like a lotus flower."
- māyā-dvāre sṛje teṅho brahmāṇḍera gaṇa
- jaḍa-rūpā prakṛti nahe brahmāṇḍa-kāraṇa
Now, so far this material creation is concerned, it is said here that "By His material potency, He manifests this material world and unlimited universes within the material world." So nobody should think that the material world has come out of nothing, out of void. No. This is confirmed in all Vedic literature and especially in the Brahma-saṁhitā, and in the Bhagavad-gītā also it is stated, mayādhyakṣeṇa prakṛtiḥ sūyate sa-carācaram (BG 9.10).
Festival Lectures
So here practically the same thing is advocated by Kṛṣṇa, that sattvaṁ rajas tama iti sthity-utpatty-anta-hetavaḥ. Now, the creation of this material world is the three modes of material nature. There is no other cause. There is no other cause. Rajasā coditā meghā varṣanty ambūni sarvataḥ: "So when there is too much heat by, I mean to say, aggravation of the modes of passion, there is evaporation of water, and that becomes cloud, and that is the cause of... The cloud is the cause of rain. Why do you go to this Indra and Candra and all these things?" Just see Kṛṣṇa, how He is speaking atheistically. So prajās tair eva sidhyanti mahendraḥ kiṁ kariṣyati: "Therefore that rain constitutes agriculture. So why do you bother about this Mahendra?" Just like modern scientists say that "We shall artificially make raining so that where there is scarcity of rain we shall fertilize the land, we shall get production," so similarly, the sāṅkhya philosophy, according to sāṅkhya philosophy, that rain is caused by the heat, and by the heat there is cloud in the sky, and the cloud is the cause of the rain.
General Lectures
This is one standard, or one platform. This platform is called sensual platform because so long we have bodily conception of life, we think happiness means sense gratification. That's all. Happiness means sense gratification because body means senses. So indriyāṇi parāṇy āhur indriyebhyaḥ paraṁ manaḥ (BG 3.42). Lord Kṛṣṇa says that in the material concept of life, or bodily concept of life, our senses are very prominent. That is going on at the present moment. Not at the present moment; since the creation of this material world. That is the disease, that "I am this body." Śrīmad-Bhāgavata says that yasyātma-buddhiḥ kuṇape tri-dhātuke sva-dhīḥ kalatrādiṣu bhauma ijya-dhiḥ (SB 10.84.13), that "Anyone who has the concept of this bodily understanding, that 'I am this body...' " Ātma-buddhiḥ kuṇape tri-dhātu. Ātma-buddhiḥ means concept of self in this bag of skin and bone. This is a bag. This body is a bag of skin, bone, blood, urine, stool, and so many nice things. You see? But we are thinking that "I am this bag of bone and skin and stool and urine. That is our beauty. That is our everything."
Departure Talks
Kṛṣṇa is always existing—tiṣṭhan means existing—with many other forms simultaneously: Rāma, Nṛsiṁha, Varāha and Nārāyaṇa, Viṣṇu. So Viṣṇu and Nārāyaṇa is... There are many expansion. You have seen on the cover of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. There are different planets, and each and every planet there is the predominating Deity, Nārāyaṇa, Viṣṇu. They have got different names. So He is always associated with His eternal consort as well as devotees, many thousand, millions, in the spiritual world. In the material world... The creation of the material world is one-fourth demonstration of the whole creation, and this is one of the universes. In the material world there are innumerable universes. Yasya prabhā prabhavato jagad-aṇḍa-koṭi (Bs. 5.40). When Caitanya Mahāprabhu was requested by one of His devotee that "Sir, You have come. You just liberate all the residents of this universe, and that will make me very happy. And if You think they are so impious they cannot be liberated, then I am ready to take up their sinful activities.
Philosophy Discussions
Prabhupāda: That is Brahman. Brahman is essence, and from Brahman is everything is coming out-janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1). So Brahman means everything is emanating. Now this janma is in reference to this material world. In the spiritual world there is no such thing as creation. Creation and annihilation, that is the nature of this material world. So when we speak of janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1), it means the creation of the material world, but the original source of creation, that is eternal. Janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1)—the source from which everything is taking birth. So everything is taking birth means before the birth of everything there was the source wherefrom the birth is taking place. Just like child is born, and before the birth of the child the mother was existing. Similarly, before the creation of this material world, the source, Brahman, was there. Therefore Brahman is not matter. Brahman is not matter.
Prabhupāda: So our conception is—"our" means Vedic conception—that Kṛṣṇa is the original Personality of Godhead, as it is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā, ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavaḥ: (BG 10.8) "I am the origin of everyone." Either you call the son or the Holy Ghost, it doesn't matter, but the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the origin. Then, He has got expansion. That expansion is not actually His son... Or there are two kinds of expansion: His personal expansions and His expansion as part and parcel. His personal expansion is called Viṣṇu-tattva, and the part and parcel expansion is called jīva-tattva—in Sanskrit technical words, svāṁśa and vibhinnāṁśa. The personal expansion there are also many varieties—puruṣa-avatāra, saktyāveśa-avatāra, manvantara-avatāra, many varieties. So generally, His personal expansion for creation of this material world are three also, accepted as Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Maheśvara. Viṣṇu is personal expansion, and Brahmā is expansion of the living entity, or the vibhinnāṁśa. And another expansion, via-media between the personal expansion and expansion of jīva, the via-media expansion is called Śiva.
Conversations and Morning Walks
1969 Conversations and Morning Walks
Prabhupāda: This Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is composed of four different stages. The first stage is to understand the relationship with Godhead, or Kṛṣṇa. Because the conditioned souls at the present moment, they have forgotten self. They have forgotten their relationship with Kṛṣṇa. Actually the relationship is there, eternal, but under the influence of māyā he is thinking that "I am something of this material world," identifying himself with this body. So we have to awake them from that illusory existence, what he is not. The whole mistake of the modern status of life... I don't say modern civilization. This is coming up since the creation of this material world. Sometimes it is in greater degree and sometimes in lesser degree. In Satya-yuga the same condition, but in lesser degree. But in Kali-yuga the condition is in greater degree. So the first business is to awake the conditioned souls from their illusory position, that he is thinking, "I am this body and anything in relationship with this body is very important."
1973 Conversations and Morning Walks
Prabhupāda: Those who know Sanskrit, they know what is the meaning of Veda. Veda means knowledge. Vetti veda-vid jñāne. Jñāna means knowledge. That means the history of Veda means from the date of creation of this material world. Now find out the date of creation of the material world. Approximately, nobody can give what is the date of. We can, we cannot... Date of Brahmā, he got the, first of all, the Vedic knowledge. Now, one day of Brahmā you cannot calculate. One day of Brahmā. And the... When Brahmā's night is there, there is devastation up to some extent. So again in the daytime of Brahmā, that creation takes place. There are two kinds of devastation. One devastation is at the night of Brahmā and one final devastation is the whole cosmic manifestation finished. So these teeny people, they are after the dates of Vedas, and that is ludicrous, that is...(laughs) Just like there are many microbes, they grow in the evening and die just in the day beginning. So whole night is their span of life. So our life is like that. What history you can write? Therefore, we receive Vedic knowledge from the authorities. And what is the value of these dates?
| Page Title: | Creation of the material world |
| Compiler: | Matea |
| Created: | 11 of Jul, 2010 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=1, SB=30, CC=5, OB=7, Lec=16, Con=2, Let=0 |
| No. of Quotes: | 61 |