External feature of the Lord

Expressions researched:
"external feature"

SB Canto 2

The materially absorbed mind of the conditioned soul does not allow him to transcend the limit of the bodily conception of self, and thus the yoga system for meditation (controlling the sitting posture and breathing process and fixing the mind upon the Supreme) is prescribed in order to mold the character of the gross materialist. Unless such materialists are able to cleanse the materially absorbed mind, it is impossible for them to concentrate upon thoughts of transcendence. And to do so one may fix one's mind on the gross material or external feature of the Lord.

SB 2.1.23, Translation and Purport:

Śukadeva Gosvāmī answered: One should control the sitting posture, regulate the breathing process by the yogic prāṇāyāma and thus control the mind and senses and with intelligence apply the mind to the gross potencies of the Lord (called the virāṭ-rūpa).

The materially absorbed mind of the conditioned soul does not allow him to transcend the limit of the bodily conception of self, and thus the yoga system for meditation (controlling the sitting posture and breathing process and fixing the mind upon the Supreme) is prescribed in order to mold the character of the gross materialist. Unless such materialists are able to cleanse the materially absorbed mind, it is impossible for them to concentrate upon thoughts of transcendence. And to do so one may fix one's mind on the gross material or external feature of the Lord. The different parts of the gigantic form of the Lord are described in the following verses. The materialistic men are very anxious to have some mystic powers as a result of such a controlling process, but the real purpose of yogic regulations is to eradicate the accumulated dirty things like lust, anger, avarice and all such material contaminations. If the mystic yogī is diverted by the accompanying feats of mystic control, then his mission of yogic success is a failure, because the ultimate aim is God realization. He is therefore recommended to fix his gross materialistic mind by a different conception and thus realize the potency of the Lord. As soon as the potencies are understood to be instrumental manifestations of the transcendence, one automatically advances to the next step, and gradually the stage of full realization becomes possible for him.

The gross external body of the Supreme is manifested at certain intervals, and thus the external feature or form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is not the eternal form of the Lord, which has no beginning, no intermediate stage and no end.

SB 2.10.34, Purport:

The gross external body of the Supreme is manifested at certain intervals, and thus the external feature or form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is not the eternal form of the Lord, which has no beginning, no intermediate stage and no end. Anything which has a beginning, interim and end is called material. The material world is begun from the Lord, and thus the form of the Lord, before the beginning of the material world, is certainly transcendental to the finest, or the finer material conception. The ether in the material world is considered to be the finest. Finer than the ether is mind, intelligence, and false ego. But all eight of the outward coverings are explained as outer coverings of the Absolute Truth. The Absolute Truth is therefore beyond the expression and speculation of the material conception. He is certainly transcendental to all material conceptions. This is called nirviśeṣaṇam. One should not, however, misunderstand nirviśeṣaṇam as being without any transcendental qualifications. Viśeṣaṇam means qualities. Therefore nir added to it means that he has no material qualities or variegatedness. This nullifying expression is described in four transcendental qualifications, namely unmanifested, transcendental, eternal, and beyond the conception of mind or word. Beyond the limits of words means negation of the material conception. Unless one is transcendentally situated, it is not possible to know the transcendental form of the Lord.

SB Canto 7

"One who has unflinching devotional faith in Kṛṣṇa consistently manifests all the good qualities of Kṛṣṇa and the demigods. However, he who has no devotion to the Supreme Personality of Godhead has no good qualifications because he is engaged by mental concoction in material existence, which is the external feature of the Lord." (SB 5.18.12) So-called educated philosophers and scientists who are simply on the mental platform cannot distinguish between what is actually sat, eternal, and what is asat, temporary.

SB 7.5.5, Translation and Purport:

Prahlāda Mahārāja replied: O best of the asuras, King of the demons, as far as I have learned from my spiritual master, any person who has accepted a temporary body and temporary household life is certainly embarrassed by anxiety because of having fallen in a dark well where there is no water but only suffering. One should give up this position and go to the forest (vana). More clearly, one should go to Vṛndāvana, where only Kṛṣṇa consciousness is prevalent, and should thus take shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Hiraṇyakaśipu thought that Prahlāda, being nothing but a small boy with no actual experience, might reply with something pleasing but nothing practical. Prahlāda Mahārāja, however, being an exalted devotee, had acquired all the qualities of education.

yasyāsti bhaktir bhagavaty akiñcanā

sarvair guṇais tatra samāsate surāḥ

harāv abhaktasya kuto mahad-guṇā

manorathenāsati dhāvato bahiḥ

"One who has unflinching devotional faith in Kṛṣṇa consistently manifests all the good qualities of Kṛṣṇa and the demigods. However, he who has no devotion to the Supreme Personality of Godhead has no good qualifications because he is engaged by mental concoction in material existence, which is the external feature of the Lord." (SB 5.18.12) So-called educated philosophers and scientists who are simply on the mental platform cannot distinguish between what is actually sat, eternal, and what is asat, temporary. The Vedic injunction is asato mā jyotir gama: everyone should give up the platform of temporary existence and approach the eternal platform. The soul is eternal, and topics concerning the eternal soul are actually knowledge. Elsewhere it is said, apaśyatām ātma-tattvaṁ gṛheṣu gṛha-medhinām: (SB 2.1.2) those who are attached to the bodily conception of life and who thus stick to life as a gṛhastha, or householder, on the platform of material sense enjoyment, cannot see the welfare of the eternal soul. Prahlāda Mahārāja confirmed this by saying that if one wants success in life, he should immediately understand from the right sources what his self-interest is and how he should mold his life in spiritual consciousness. One should understand himself to be part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa and thus completely take shelter of His lotus feet for guaranteed spiritual success. Everyone in the material world is in the bodily conception, struggling hard for existence, life after life. Prahlāda Mahārāja therefore recommended that to stop this material condition of repeated birth and death, one should go to the forest (vana).

"In one who has unflinching devotional service to Kṛṣṇa, all the good qualities of Kṛṣṇa and the demigods are consistently manifest. However, he who has no devotion to the Supreme Personality of Godhead has no good qualifications because he is engaged by mental concoction in material existence, which is the external feature of the Lord." (SB 5.18.12) Our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, therefore, is all-embracing. Human civilization should take it very seriously and practice its principles for the peace of the world.

SB 7.11.8-12, Purport:

Nowadays there is propaganda everywhere, all over the world, for a secular state, a state interested only in mundane activities. But if the citizens of the state are not educated in the above-mentioned good qualities, how can there be happiness? For example, if the total populace is untruthful, how can the state be happy? Therefore, without consideration of one's belonging to a sectarian religion, whether Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Buddhist or any other sect, everyone should be taught to become truthful. Similarly, everyone should be taught to be merciful, and everyone should observe fasting on certain days of the month. Everyone should bathe twice a day, cleanse his teeth and body externally, and cleanse his mind internally by remembering the holy name of the Lord. The Lord is one, whether one is Hindu, Muslim or Christian. Therefore, one should chant the holy name of the Lord, regardless of differences in linguistic pronunciation. Also, everyone should be taught to be very careful not to discharge semen unnecessarily. This is very important for all human beings. If semen is not discharged unnecessarily, one becomes extremely strong in memory, determination, activity and the vitality of one's bodily energy. Everyone should also be taught to be simple in thought and feeling and satisfied in body and mind. These are the general qualifications of a human being. There is no question of a secular state or an ecclesiastical state. Unless one is educated in the above-mentioned thirty qualities, there cannot be any peace. Ultimately it is recommended:

śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ cāsya

smaraṇaṁ mahatāṁ gateḥ

sevejyāvanatir dāsyaṁ

sakhyam ātma-samarpaṇam

Everyone should become a devotee of the Lord, because by becoming a devotee of the Lord one automatically acquires the other qualities.

yasyāsti bhaktir bhagavaty akiñcanā

sarvair guṇais tatra samāsate surāḥ

harāv abhaktasya kuto mahad-guṇā

manorathenāsati dhāvato bahiḥ

"In one who has unflinching devotional service to Kṛṣṇa, all the good qualities of Kṛṣṇa and the demigods are consistently manifest. However, he who has no devotion to the Supreme Personality of Godhead has no good qualifications because he is engaged by mental concoction in material existence, which is the external feature of the Lord." (SB 5.18.12) Our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, therefore, is all-embracing. Human civilization should take it very seriously and practice its principles for the peace of the world.

CC Adi-lila

It is most apparent that nondevotees violate the rules and regulations of devotional service to equate the whole cosmic manifestation, which is the external feature of Viṣṇu, with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is the controller of māyā, or with His quadruple expansions. Equating māyā with spirit, or māyā with the Lord, is a sign of atheism. The cosmic creation, which manifests life in forms from Brahmā to the ant, is the external feature of the Supreme Lord.

CC Adi 5.41, Purport:

On the spiritual platform there are none of the differences we find in cause and effect. Since all the forms of the Supreme Personality of Godhead are spiritually supreme, They are equally controllers of material nature. Standing on the fourth dimension, They are predominating figures on the transcendental platform. There is no trace of material contamination in Their expansions because material laws cannot influence Them. There is no such rule as cause and effect outside of the material world. Therefore the understanding of cause and effect cannot approach the full, transcendental, complete expansions of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Vedic literature proves this:

oṁ pūrṇam adaḥ pūrṇam idaṁ pūrṇāt pūrṇam udacyate

pūrṇasya pūrṇam ādāya pūrṇam evāvaśiṣyate

(Īśo Invocation)

"The Personality of Godhead is perfect and complete, and because He is completely perfect, all emanations from Him, such as this phenomenal world, are perfectly equipped as complete wholes. Whatever is produced of the complete whole is also complete by itself. Because He is the complete whole, even though so many complete units emanate from Him, He remains the complete balance." (Bṛhad-āraṇyaka Upaniṣad 5.1) It is most apparent that nondevotees violate the rules and regulations of devotional service to equate the whole cosmic manifestation, which is the external feature of Viṣṇu, with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is the controller of māyā, or with His quadruple expansions. Equating māyā with spirit, or māyā with the Lord, is a sign of atheism. The cosmic creation, which manifests life in forms from Brahmā to the ant, is the external feature of the Supreme Lord. It comprises one fourth of the Lord's energy, as confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā (ekāṁśena sthito jagat (BG 10.42)). The cosmic manifestation of the illusory energy is material nature, and everything within material nature is made of matter. Therefore, one should not try to compare the expansions of material nature to the catur-vyūha, the quadruple expansions of the Personality of Godhead, but unfortunately the Māyāvādī school unreasonably attempts to do this.

CC Adi 8.58, Translation:

"In one who has unflinching devotional faith in Kṛṣṇa, all the good qualities of Kṛṣṇa and the demigods are consistently manifested. However, one who has no devotion to the Supreme Personality of Godhead has no good qualifications because he is engaged by mental concoction in material existence, which is the external feature of the Lord."

CC Madhya-lila

CC Madhya 22.76, Translation and Purport:

"'In one who has unflinching devotional faith in Kṛṣṇa, all the good qualities of Kṛṣṇa and the demigods are consistently manifest. However, he who has no devotion to the Supreme Personality of Godhead has no good qualifications because he is engaged by mental concoction in material existence, which is the external feature of the Lord.'"

This was spoken by Prahlāda Mahārāja and his followers, who were offering prayers to Nṛsiṁhadeva (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 5.18.12).

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

The material existence, external feature of the Lord, is the, are these eight elements, namely bhūmir āpo 'nalo vāyuḥ khaṁ mano buddhir eva ca (BG 7.4). They are subtle forms. Ahaṅkāra, egotism, mind and intelligence. They are also material. They are not spiritual.

Lecture on BG 7.4-5 -- Bombay, March 30, 1971:

The Buddhist theory is that living symptoms are produced by combination of matter. But from Bhagavad-gītā and other Vedic literature we understand that matter is produced from spirit soul. Matter, not from the matter the living symptoms are produced. According to Lord Buddha's philosophy, that this body is combination of matter... So when we dismantle the matter, nirvāṇa, then there is no more feelings of pains and pleasures. That is called śūnyavādi. But we are neither śūnyavādī or nirviśeṣa-vādī. We are saviśeṣa-vādīs. Saviśeṣa-vādi means that the spirit soul has got its form, and this body has got form. Just like dress takes its form because the man has got a form. This body is considered as dress. Vāsāṁsi jīrṇāni yathā vihāya (BG 2.22). We are changing our dresses as much as we change our old dress to new ones. Old order changes, yielding place to new. So this body, because we, in our spiritual body we have got form, hands and legs, therefore we develop a material body which has got hands, legs, etc. That we can understand very easily. Just like your coat and shirt cannot have hands and legs without you having your hands and legs; similarly, this material body which is considered as dress means it has developed on the personal body of the spiritual form. This is called saviśeṣa-vāda.

So the material existence, external feature of the Lord, is the, are these eight elements, namely bhūmir āpo 'nalo vāyuḥ khaṁ mano buddhir eva ca (BG 7.4). They are subtle forms. Ahaṅkāra, egotism, mind and intelligence. They are also material. They are not spiritual. One who thinks that mental speculation is spiritual speculation, that is wrong. Here from Bhagavad-gītā we understand the mind is also subtle form of matter, and actually that is so. Because we get another body after death according to the mental situation at the time of death. The mind, intelligence, the subtle body... Just like at night our subtle body, mind, intelligence works, and we think that we have got a separate body and have gone somewhere else from our house, from our room. We forget this material body. Similarly, after death, my mind and intelligence carry me to another separate body according to my thinking at the time of death. So false ego. This false ego is that "I am something of material product." This is called false ego. Actually, though, ahaṁ brahmāsmi: "I am Brahman."

bhūmir āpo 'nalo vāyuḥ

khaṁ mano buddhir eva ca

ahaṅkāra itīyaṁ me

bhinnā prakṛtir aṣṭadhā

(BG 7.4)

So if we think over all these material objects, then actually, at the end we come to the platform of spirit soul. And the spirit soul, being part and parcel of the Supreme Soul, Kṛṣṇa, then ultimately you come to Kṛṣṇa.

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Viśvarūpa, as Kṛṣṇa showed, the Viśvarūpa, external feature. This gigantic cosmic manifestation. That is Kṛṣṇa's external body. These are described in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

Lecture on SB 1.8.30 -- Los Angeles, April 22, 1973:

Viśvarūpa, as Kṛṣṇa showed, the Viśvarūpa, external feature. This gigantic cosmic manifestation. That is Kṛṣṇa's external body. These are described in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. The, the hills, the mountains, they are described as the bones. Just like we have got in our body some part raised by the bones, similarly these big, big mountains and hills, they have been described as the bones. And the big, big oceans they have been described as different holes in the body, down and up. Similarly the Brahmaloka is the skull, upper skull.

So one who cannot see God, they have been advised to see God in so many ways. These are the instruction in the Vedic literature. Because you can simply conceive of God, the great... The greatness... You also do not know how great He is. So in your conception of greatness... Just like the very high mountains, the sky, the big, big planet. So the description is there. You can think of. That is also Kṛṣṇa consciousness. If you think that: "This mountain is the bone of Kṛṣṇa," that is also Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Actually that is so. If you think that big Pacific Ocean is the navel of Kṛṣṇa. These big, big trees, plants, they are hairs in the body of Kṛṣṇa. Then the head, the skull of Kṛṣṇa, is the Brahmaloka. The sole is the Pātālaloka. Similarly... This is mahato mahīyān. When you think of Kṛṣṇa as the greater than the greatest, you can think like this. And if you think Kṛṣṇa is both, smaller than the smallest. That is also greatness. That is also greatness. Kṛṣṇa can manufacture this gigantic cosmic manifestation and He can manufacture also a small insect, smaller than the point.