Fallen in the ocean

Bhagavad-gita As It Is

BG Chapters 1 - 6

BG 2.1, Purport: No one knows where compassion should be applied. Compassion for the dress of a drowning man is senseless. A man fallen in the ocean of nescience cannot be saved simply by rescuing his outward dress—the gross material body. One who does not know this and laments for the outward dress is called a śūdra, or one who laments unnecessarily. Arjuna was a kṣatriya, and this conduct was not expected from him.

BG Chapters 7 - 12

BG 12.6-7, Purport: Although a man who has fallen in the ocean may struggle very hard and may be very expert in swimming, he cannot save himself. But if someone comes and picks him up from the water, then he is easily rescued. Similarly, the Lord picks up the devotee from this material existence. One simply has to practice the easy process of Kṛṣṇa consciousness and fully engage himself in devotional service.

Srimad-Bhagavatam

SB Preface and Introduction

SB Introduction: O son of Mahārāja Nanda [Kṛṣṇa], I am Your eternal servitor, yet somehow or other I have fallen into the ocean of birth and death. please pick me up from this ocean of death and place me as one of the atoms of Your lotus feet.

SB Canto 2

SB 2.4.21, Purport: The pure devotee thinks himself fallen into the ocean of birth and death and incessantly prays to the Lord to lift him up.

SB 2.7.1, Purport: 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.

SB Canto 3

SB 3.13.29, Purport: Even the great ocean was perturbed by the falling of the mountainlike body of the transcendental boar, and it appeared to be frightened, as if death were imminent.

SB Canto 4

SB 4.17.27, Purport: The earth informed King Pṛthu that if he destroyed her, he and his subjects would all fall down into the waters of the garbha ocean.

SB 4.28.27, Purport: "Because of my past fruitive activities, I have now fallen into an ocean of nescience. I cannot find any means to get out of this great ocean, which is indeed like an ocean of poison. We are trying to be happy through sense enjoyment, but actually that so-called enjoyment is like food that is too hot and causes burning in the heart. I feel a burning sensation constantly, day and night, and thus my mind cannot find satisfaction."

SB 4.29.78, Purport: The living entity falls into the ocean of karma-bandhana as a result of past material activities. Instead of plunging oneself into the ocean of material activity, one should accept material activity only to maintain body and soul together. The rest of one's time should be devoted to engaging in the transcendental loving service of the Lord. In this way one can attain relief from the reactions of material activity.

SB 4.31.20, Purport: As long as one is under the control of the material modes, he desires so many things and makes so many plans for material sense enjoyment, but as soon as the Lord is perceived in the heart, all material desires vanish. When the mind is completely free from material desire, the devotee can think of the Lord constantly. In this way he becomes completely dependent upon the lotus feet of the Lord. Caitanya Mahäprabhu prays:

ayi nanda-tanuja kiìkaraà

patitaà mäà viñame bhavämbudhau

kåpayä tava päda-paìkaja-

sthita-dhülé-sadåçaà vicintaya

[Cc. Antya 20.32, Çikñäñöaka 5]

"My dear Lord, I am Your eternal servant, but somehow or other I have fallen into the ocean of this material world. Kindly pick me up and fix me as a speck of dust at Your lotus feet." (Çikñäñöaka 5)

SB Canto 5

SB 5.1.35, Purport:

ayi nanda-tanuja kiṅkaraṁ

patitaṁ māṁ viṣame bhavāṁbudhau

kṛpayā tava pāda-paṅkaja-

sthita-dhūlī-sadṛśaṁ vicintaya

[Cc. Antya 20.32, Śikṣāṣṭaka 5]

"O son of Nanda Mahārāja, I am Your eternal servant, yet somehow or other I have fallen into the ocean of birth and death. Please pick me up from this ocean of death and place me as one of the atoms of Your lotus feet." Lord Caitanya teaches us to come in touch with the dust of the Lord's lotus feet, for then there will undoubtedly be all success.

SB 5.18.9, Purport: Whenever one offers a prayer to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one always requests some benediction from Him. Even pure (niṣkāma) devotees pray for some benediction, as instructed by Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu in His Śikṣāṣṭaka:

ayi nanda-tanuja kiṅkaraṁ

patitaṁ māṁ viṣame bhavāmbudhau

kṛpayā tava pāda-paṅkaja-

sthita-dhūlī-sadṛśaṁ vicintaya

[Cc. Antya 20.32, Śikṣāṣṭaka 5]

"O son of Mahārāja Nanda [Kṛṣṇa], I am Your eternal servitor, yet somehow or other I have fallen into the ocean of birth and death. Please pick Me up from the ocean of death and place Me as one of the atoms at Your lotus feet."

SB 5.25.14, Purport: "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."

SB 5.25.14, Purport: 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 5.26.23, Translation: The shameless husbands of lowborn śūdra women live exactly like animals, and therefore they have no good behavior, cleanliness or regulated life. After death, such persons are thrown into the hell called Pūyoda, where they are put into an ocean filled with pus, stool, urine, mucus, saliva and similar things. Śūdras who could not improve themselves fall into that ocean and are forced to eat those disgusting things.

SB Canto 6

SB 6.1.50, Purport: Everyone must struggle alone for existence with the many elements of nature. Therefore one's only hope, as Kṛṣṇa advises, is to surrender to Him, for He can help one become free from the ocean of nescience. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu therefore prayed:

ayi nanda-tanuja kiṅkaraṁ

patitaṁ māṁ viṣame bhavāmbudhau

kṛpayā tava pāda-paṅkaja-

sthita-dhūlī-sadṛśaṁ vicintaya

[Cc. Antya 20.32, Śikṣāṣṭaka 5]

"O Kṛṣṇa, beloved son of Nanda Mahārāja, I am Your eternal servant, but somehow or other I have fallen into this ocean of nescience, and although I am struggling very hard, there is no way I can save myself. If You kindly pick me up and fix me as one of the particles of dust at Your lotus feet, that will save me."

SB 6.4.27-28, Purport: In other words, a pure devotee, by devotional service, is able to see the Supreme Personality of Godhead despite many material impediments, which are all various energies of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Easily making his way through these impediments, a devotee comes directly in contact with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. After all, the material impediments described in these verses are but various energies of the Lord. When a devotee is eager to see the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he prays to the Lord:

ayi nanda-tanuja kiṅkaraṁ

patitaṁ māṁ viṣame bhavāmbudhau

kṛpayā tava pāda-paṅkaja-

sthita-dhūlī-sadṛśaṁ vicintaya

[Cc. Antya 20.32, Śikṣāṣṭaka 5]

"O son of Mahārāja Nanda [Kṛṣṇa], I am Your eternal servitor, yet somehow or other I have fallen into the ocean of birth and death. Please pick me up from this ocean of death and place me as one of the atoms at Your lotus feet." Being pleased with the devotee, the Lord turns all his material impediments into spiritual service.

SB 6.7.14, Purport: We, the conditioned souls, have fallen in the ocean of nescience, but the human body fortunately provides us a good opportunity to cross the ocean because the human body is like a very good boat. When directed by a spiritual master acting as the captain, the boat can very easily cross the ocean. Furthermore, the boat is helped across by favorable winds, which are the instructions of Vedic knowledge. If one does not take advantage of all these facilities to cross the ocean of nescience, he is certainly committing suicide.

SB Canto 7

SB 7.1.41, Translation: Appearing as Nṛsiṁhadeva, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śrī Hari, killed Hiraṇyakaśipu. When the Lord delivered the planet earth, which had fallen in the Garbhodaka Ocean, Hiraṇyākṣa tried to hinder Him, and then the Lord, as Varāha, killed Hiraṇyākṣa.

SB Cantos 10.14 to 12 (Translations Only)

SB 10.77.4, Translation: Gada, Sātyaki, Sāmba and others began killing Śālva's army, and thus all the soldiers inside the airship began falling into the ocean, their necks severed.

SB 11.17.44, Translation: Just as a ship rescues those who have fallen into the ocean, similarly, I very quickly rescue from all calamities those persons who uplift brāhmaṇas and devotees suffering in a poverty-stricken condition.

SB 11.26.32, Translation: The devotees of the Lord, peacefully fixed in absolute knowledge, are the ultimate shelter for those who are repeatedly rising and falling within the fearful ocean of material life. Such devotees are just like a strong boat that comes to rescue persons who are at the point of drowning.

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta

CC Madhya-lila

CC Madhya 11.151, Purport: One’s relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead may be reestablished even after one has fallen into the ocean of nescience, which is the ocean of material existence involving the repetition of birth, death, old age and disease, all arising out of the acceptance of the material body. There are 8,400,000 species of material life, but in the human body one attains a chance to get release from the repetition of birth and death. When one becomes the Lord’s devotee, he is rescued from this dangerous ocean of birth and death. The Lord is always prepared to shower His mercy upon fallen souls struggling against miserable material conditions.

CC Madhya 13.142, Translation: Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu continued, “The gopīs have fallen into the great ocean of separation and are being devoured by the timiṅgila fish of their ambition to serve You. The gopīs are to be delivered from the mouths of these timiṅgila fish, for they are pure devotees. Since they have no material conception of life, why should they aspire for liberation? The gopīs do not want that liberation desired by yogīs and jñānīs, for they are already liberated from the ocean of material existence.

CC Antya-lila

CC Antya 5.1, Translation: I am infected by the germs of material activity and am suffering from the boils of envy. Therefore, falling in an ocean of humility, I take shelter of the great physician Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

CC Antya 18.120, Translation: Thus I have described the incident of Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s falling into the ocean. Anyone who listens to this pastime will certainly attain shelter at the lotus feet of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

CC Antya 20.32, Translation: “‘O My Lord, O Kṛṣṇa, son of Mahārāja Nanda, I am Your eternal servant, but because of My own fruitive acts I have fallen into this horrible ocean of nescience. Now please be causelessly merciful to Me. Consider Me a particle of dust at Your lotus feet.’

CC Antya 20.33, Translation: “I am Your eternal servant, but I forgot Your Lordship. Now I have fallen into the ocean of nescience and have been conditioned by the external energy.

Other Books by Srila Prabhupada

Teachings of Lord Caitanya

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter Mission: O son of Mahārāja Nanda [Kṛṣṇa], I am Your eternal servitor, yet somehow or other I have fallen into the ocean of birth and death. Please pick me up from this ocean of death and place me as one of the atoms at Your lotus feet.

Nectar of Devotion

Nectar of Devotion 30: One of the gopīs said, "May Kṛṣṇa's sweet flute be washed away by the waves of the Yamunā, and let it fall into the ocean! The sweet sound of that flute is so impudent that it makes us lose all composure before our superiors."

Nectar of Instruction

Nectar of Instruction 1, Purport: "O Lord! This material body is a lump of ignorance, and the senses are a network of paths leading to death. Somehow or other we have fallen into the ocean of material sense enjoyment, and of all the senses the tongue is the most voracious and uncontrollable. It is very difficult to conquer the tongue in this world, but You, dear Kṛṣṇa, are very kind to us. You have sent this nice prasāda to help us conquer the tongue; therefore let us take this prasāda to our full satisfaction and glorify Your Lordships Śrī Śrī Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa and in love call for the help of Lord Caitanya and Prabhu Nityānanda." There are six kinds of rasas (tastes), and if one is agitated by any one of them, he becomes controlled by the urges of the tongue.

Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead

Krsna Book 20: The distribution of rain by clouds is so sumptuous that it is compared to the distribution of wealth by a great, munificent person. The clouds’ downpour is so profuse that the rains even fall on rocks and hills and on the oceans and seas, where there is no need for water. It is like a charitable person who opens his treasury for distribution and who does not discriminate whether the charity is needed or not.

Krsna Book 47: The gopīs further expressed that Vṛndāvana was still full of all opulence and good fortune; there was no scarcity or want in Vṛndāvana as far as material necessities were concerned. But in spite of such opulence they could not forget Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma. “We constantly remember various attractive features of beautiful Kṛṣṇa—His walking, His smiling, His joking words. We have all become lost by the dealings of Kṛṣṇa, and it is impossible for us to forget Him. We always pray to Him, exclaiming, ‘Dear Lord, dear husband of the goddess of fortune, dear Lord of Vṛndāvana and deliverer of the distressed devotees! We are now fallen and merged in an ocean of distress. Please, therefore, come back to Vṛndāvana and deliver us from this pitiable condition.’ ”

Krsna Book 59: When the Mura demon saw himself outmaneuvered by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he immediately began to strike the Lord in great anger with his club. But Lord Kṛṣṇa, with His own club, broke the club of Mura to pieces before it could reach Him. The demon, bereft of his weapon, decided to attack Kṛṣṇa with his strong arms, but Kṛṣṇa, with the aid of His Sudarśana cakra, immediately separated the demon’s five heads from his body. The demon then fell into the water, just as the peak of a mountain falls into the ocean after being struck by the thunderbolt of Indra.

Lectures

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Lecture on BG 2.14 -- London, August 20, 1973: Therefore the problem is how to get out of this bodily entanglement. I am spirit soul. Somehow or other, I have fallen in this entanglement of bodily transformation. There, Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura says, anādi karama-phale, pori' bhavārṇava-jale, toribāre nā dekhi upāy: "Somehow or other I have fallen in this ocean of birth and death. I do not know how to get out of it." Just like if you are thrown into the ocean, however expert swimmer you may be, that is not your comfortable life. You have to swim all along, otherwise immediately drown. Similarly, as soon as you get yourself in this material world, you have to struggle for existence. You have to. If you want to stop this struggle for existence, then you must get out of this material existence. That is the problem of life. Anädi karama-phale, pori' bhavärëava-jale, toribäre nä dekhi upäy. Therefore Caitanya Mahäprabhu teaches us, ayi nanda-tanuja patitaà kiìkaraà mäà viñame bhavämbudhau: "My dear Lord, Nanda-tanuja, son of Nanda Mahäräja, Kåñëa, I am Your eternal servant. Somehow or other, I am now fallen in this material ocean." Ayi nanda-tanuja patitaà kiìkaraà mäà viñame bhavämbudhau. Viñame: "Very ferocious danger, ocean of this material existence, I am fallen. Although I am Your servant, some way or other, I have forgot. I have fallen down." Then ayi nanda-tanuja patitaà kiìkaraà mäà viñame bhava, kåpayä: "Now I am seeking Your mercy." Kåpayä tava päda-paìkaja-sthita-dhülé-sadåçaà vicintaya: "Now take me again. Pick me, and make me the one particle of dust of Your lotus feet." This should be our prayer, no other prayer. No other prayer.

Lecture on BG 2.55-58 -- New York, April 15, 1966: So here is the point, that without Lord's mercy, we cannot stand up on the pure consciousness platform. Therefore we have to pray to the Supreme Lord always. That is the instruction of Lord Caitanya. He, He has put up His prayers. I have got this paper. I'll distribute you, to you, after the meeting is over. That He says that "My dear Lord, Kṛṣṇa, somehow or other, I am fallen into this ocean of misunderstanding. Ocean of misunderstanding." The prayer is just like this. I'll utter the whole Sanskrit structure: ayi nanda-tanuja patitaṁ kiṅkaraṁ māṁ viṣame bhavāmbudhau, kṛpayā tava pāda-paṅkaja-sthita-dhūlī-sadṛśaṁ vicintaya. He's addressing the Lord, "Oh, Lord, the son of Nanda Mahārāja..." This Nanda Mahārāja, son of Nanda Mahārāja, it is very significant. I shall describe it later on. "O My Lord, the son of Nanda Mahārāja, I am Your eternal servitor, and, somehow or other, I am now fallen in this ocean of misconception. Kindly pick me up and fix me up as one of the atoms of the dust of Your lotus feet." That is the prayer.

Lecture on BG 2.62-72 -- Los Angeles, December 19, 1968: Suppose if you go in the outer space... Just like the sputnik men, they go sometime. People think, "Oh, where he has gone, so high, so high." But he has not gone anywhere. He's coming down again. So it is false clapping, "Oh, he has gone so high, so high." What is the use of going so high? You are coming down next moment. Because you have no power to enter into another planet. So what your machine, this sputnik or these planes, will help you? You have to come down again. Rather, you shall fall down in some Atlantic Ocean, or Pacific Ocean, and somebody will go and pick you up. You see? This is your position. So voidism means to fly in the sky and be puffed up, "I have come so high, I have come so high, so high." (laughs) That foolish man does not know how long he'll keep in that high position. You see? He will come down. This is māyā's attraction. He'll have to come down.

Lecture on BG 3.16-17 -- New York, May 25, 1966: We have got many necessities of life, not only grains. We require cotton for clothing. We require silk for luxury. We require valuable stones and jewels. All these are produced under certain circumstances of rain. Rain is falling on the sea and the ocean also. So there is purpose. Under certain constellation of the star, if the rain falls on the sea, it produces pearls and jewels. We have got this information from Vedic literature. So everything is produced, whatever you require.

Lecture on BG 4.34-38 -- New York, August 17, 1966: Our, this life, this conditioned life in the material world is just like the ocean of ignorance, ocean of ignorance. So Lord Caitanya, therefore, He prayed to Śrī Kṛṣṇa like this, ayi nanda-tanuja patitaṁ kiṅkaraṁ māṁ viṣame bhavāmbudhau: "My dear Lord Kṛṣṇa, I am just fallen in the ocean of ignorance." So we are in the ocean of ignorance. Now, in the ocean, if you get a very good boat or very good ship, as you can cross over, similarly, if we have the ship or the boat of perfect knowledge, then there is no fear. We can cross the ocean very easily. We can cross this ocean very easily.

Lecture on BG 7.3 -- Montreal, June 3, 1968:

Guest (1): When the person, by following his temporary nature, realizes he can't find satisfaction but he has to turn to spiritual nature...

Prabhupāda: Yes. That dissatisfaction is always there. Just like if a animal or a living entity is put into the water, then however expert swimmer he may be, it is struggle. In the water... That... Because that is not his natural position. The same man, if he is taken over the water, one inch over the water, he feels relief immediately. And if he is put into the land, then he's perfectly relieved. So therefore Lord Caitanya offers His prayer to Kṛṣṇa, ayi nanda-tanuja patitaṁ kiṅkaraṁ viṣame bhavāmbudhau: "My dear Lord Kṛṣṇa, I am Your eternal servant. Somehow or other, I am now fallen in this ocean of nescience." Kṛpayā tava pāda-paṅkaja-sthita-dhūlī-sadṛśaṁ vicintaya: "Kindly pick me up from this ocean of nescience and fix me as one of Your dust of the lotus feet." You see? So that should be our prayer, that... This Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa is also prayer. Hare means "O the energy of the Lord," and Kṛṣṇa means "O the Lord, Supreme Personality of Godhead, please take me out of this ocean of nescience and fix me up in Your eternal, transcendental service." This is the prayer.

Lecture on BG 8.21-22 -- New York, November 19, 1966: So Lord Caitanya addresses Him, "O the son of Nanda, somehow or other, I have now fallen in this ocean of nescience, ignorance. Please pick me up and fix me as one of the atoms of Your lotus feet." That's all. Just like a man fallen in the ocean, the only survival is... If somebody goes and picks him just one inch above the water, he feels immediately relieved. Immediately. So as soon as we are fixed up in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, the immediate relief. Immediately. There is no question about it. It is such a nice thing.

Lecture on BG 9.2-5 -- New York, November 23, 1966: As God is pure, so we are also pure. So we have fallen in this turmoil of this material ocean, and there is tossing of the waves. So we are suffering. We don't identify with the tossing of the waves because I have nothing to do with this tossing. I simply pray, "Kṛṣṇa, please pick me up from these tossing waves. Some way or other, I am fallen here."

ayi nanda-tanuja kiṅkaraṁ

patitaṁ māṁ viṣame bhavāmbudhau

kṛpayā tava pāda-paṅkaja-

sthita-dhūlī-sadṛśaṁ vicintaya

[Cc. Antya 20.32, Śikṣāṣṭaka 5]

"O my dear Kṛṣṇa, somehow or other, I forgot You, and I am fallen in this..." As soon as I forget Kṛṣṇa this māyā or illusion, ocean of illusion is there. It at once captures me. That is my position.

Lecture on BG 9.2-5 -- New York, November 23, 1966: You have to hear Bhagavad-gītā and, if you have got any distress, you have got any confidential thing, you have to submit to Kṛṣṇa, "Kṛṣṇa, I am in suffering this way. I am fallen in this tossing ocean of material illusion. Kindly save me. I can understand now that I have no identification with this material world. I am simply put here." Just like if I am put into the Atlantic Ocean, I have no identification with the ocean, but I am subjected to the tossing waves of the ocean, similarly, we are spiritual spark, fragmental part of Kṛṣṇa. Some way or other, we put into this material ocean, and there is tossing. So I am being tossed. Don't identify. Don't try to solve the tossing. That is not possible. If you want to make solution of the tossing waves of the Atlantic Ocean when you are fallen there, it is useless foolishness. That is not possible. Don't be foolish in that way. That will go on. That is Atlantic Ocean's nature. You cannot stop it. You have to get out of it.

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Lecture on SB 1.7.11 -- Vrndavana, September 10, 1976: The material madness entangles people more and more in the process of birth and death. Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura has sung, anādi karama-phale paḍi' bhavārṇava-jale taribāre nā dekhi upāya. Anādi karama-phale paḍi' bhavārṇava-jale. Somehow or other, we have fallen in this material world, the ocean of nescience, bhavārṇava. Arṇava means ocean, and bhava means repetition of birth. In this ocean we have fallen. Therefore our prayer should be not for any material opulence, as we generally do. Dhanaṁ dehi rūpaṁ dehi: "Give me money or mitigate my distress." This is very lower stage of devotion, to ask something from the Supreme Lord.

Lecture on SB 1.16.22 -- Hawaii, January 18, 1974: Tri-guṇa, these, all these materials, they are manufactured by the three modes of material nature, and he's, he has no connection with the material nature. But somehow or other, he is now fallen in the ocean of the... Just like you have no connection with ocean. Your place of living is land. But some way or other, if you are thrown in the Pacific Ocean, that is a very troublesome business. You have to swim always. You have to protect... But still, you are unsafe. It doesn't matter you are a very great swimmer, doesn't matter. When you are in the Pacific Ocean, you are in danger. So similarly, when that very man is taken away from the Pacific Ocean and put into the land, then he becomes prasannātmā, "Oh, I am saved." Brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā. "Now I am on the saved..." Brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā na śocati na kāṅkṣati [Bg. 18.54], that when one is in full knowledge that "I have nothing to do with this material world, that everything made by the material nature, that is illusion, I have nothing to do with anything of them, I am spirit, ahaṁ brahmāsmi. I am spirit soul. Now I have my business with the spiritual world," that is liberation. That is liberation. And the means which help you to come to that position, that is called spiritual life, sanātana-dharma.

Lecture on SB 3.25.11 -- Bombay, November 11, 1974: Prabhupāda: Ah! Viṣame bhavāmbudhau. That is our position. Actually we are servant of God, servant of Kṛṣṇa. We are servant in every... Even though we declare independence, we are not independent. We are servant. That is a false declaration, that "We are independent." No. There cannot be independence. Therefore this is self-realization. As Caitanya Mahāprabhu says,

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, Kṛṣṇa, the son of Nanda Mahārāja..." Patitaṁ kiṅkaraṁ mām: "I am Your eternal servant, kiṅkara." Kiṅkara means servant. "Now, somehow or other, I am fallen in this ocean of nescience, saṁsāra." Saṁsāra-dāvānala-līḍha-loka. Unless one has got the knowledge what is this position, where we are staying, we cannot understand. That is called moha. We have discussed this. Illusion. We are under illusion.

Lecture on SB 3.25.41 -- Bombay, December 9, 1974: Ayi nanda-tanuja patitaṁ kiṅkaraṁ māṁ viṣame bhavāmbudhau: "Now I am Your eternal servant. Some way or other, I have fallen down in this ocean of birth and death." Bhavāmbudhau. Bhava. Bhava means you become and again vanish. That is bhava. And that is ambudhi. Ambudhi means a sea. You do not know how long you are taking this business, accepting one body and again dying, again accepting, and... Not only here, throughout the whole universe, many planets, many species of life, this is going on.

Lecture on SB 3.26.5 -- Bombay, December 17, 1974: I am... Somehow or other, I have fallen in this ocean of material existence. Kindly pick me up and make me the dust of Your lotus feet." Just like if you are in the ocean, somehow or other, if you are taken one inch above the water, you immediately feel relief. So we have to become at least one inch above these material qualities. Then you are liberated, immediately.

Lecture on SB 3.26.8 -- Bombay, December 20, 1974: Therefore Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura sings, anādi karama-phale, paḍi' bhavārṇava-jale: "Somehow or other, I have fallen in this ocean of birth and death." Taribāre nā dekhi upāy: "I do not find how to get out of it." But we can get out of it very easily. That is advised by Kṛṣṇa: mām eva ye prapadyante māyām etāṁ taranti te [Bg. 7.14]. Otherwise you cannot. Here it is a great struggle. Manaḥ ṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṇi prakṛti-sthāni karṣati [Bg. 15.7]. Karṣati, great hard struggle going on. We are trying to be happy, but that is not possible. Just like if you are put into the ocean, you may be very good swimmer, you may struggle very nicely, but you are under the control of the prakṛti. You cannot be happy in the water. But if somebody helps you to get out of the water, then you will be happy.

Lecture on SB 3.26.8 -- Bombay, December 20, 1974: Nanda Mahārāja is devotee playing as the father of Kṛṣṇa. So therefore Caitanya Mahāprabhu is addressing Kṛṣṇa, ayi nanda-tanuja: "Kṛṣṇa, You are born out of the body of Mahārāja Nanda." This is very pleasing to Kṛṣṇa. Therefore He is addressing, ayi nanda-tanuja, patitaṁ kiṅkaraṁ māṁ viṣame. Patitaṁ kiṅkaram. Kiṅkaram means servant. "I am Your eternal servant, but somehow or other, I am now fallen in this ocean of nescience, repeated birth and death." Patitaṁ kiṅkaraṁ māṁ viṣame bhavāmbudhau. Kṛpayā: "By Your causeless mercy, because I am servant... I have somehow or other fallen." Kṛpayā tava pāda-paṅkaja-sthita-dhūlī-sadṛśaṁ vicintaya: "Kindly fix me again as one of the dust particle in Your lotus feet." This prayer has been tak...

Lecture on SB 3.26.22 -- Bombay, December 31, 1974: Therefore Caitanya-caritāmṛta, er, Caitanya Mahāprabhu teaches us, patitaṁ kiṅkaraṁ māṁ viṣame bhavāmbudhau: "My Lord," ayi nanda-tanuja, "O the son of Nanda Mahārāja, Kṛṣṇa, I am Your eternal servant. Somehow or other, I am now fallen in this ocean of nescience." Patitaṁ kiṅkaraṁ māṁ viṣame bhavāmbudhau. Bhava ambudhau. Ambudhi means sea, ocean.

Lecture on SB 3.26.32 -- Bombay, January 9, 1975: This material world is supposed to be like a big ocean, bhavārṇava. Arṇava means ocean, and bhava means the situation where repetition of birth and death takes place. This is called bhavārṇava. Anādi karama-phale, paḍi' bhavārṇava-jale. Anādi karma-phale: "Before creation I had my resultant action of my activities, and somehow or other, I am now fallen in this ocean of bhavārṇava, repetition of birth and death." So as the fish, being entangled, he struggles for existence, how to get out of the net... He's not peaceful. You will find. As soon as caught he's up in the net, "Fut! Fut! Fut! Fut! Fut!" He wants to get out. So that is our struggle for existence, how to get out. We do not know.

Lecture on SB 5.5.3-4 -- Bombay, March 29, 1977: here is a Bengali poet, he has sung, anādi-karama-phale paḍi, bhavārṇava-jale, tarivāre na dheki upāya. "Somehow or other I am fallen in this material ocean and struggling for existence." Caitanya Mahāprabhu therefore prayed... He does not pray for any material benefit. He is teaching us, na dhanaṁ na janaṁ na sundarīṁ kavitāṁ vā jagadīśa kāmaye: [Cc. Antya 20.29, Śikṣāṣṭaka 4] "My Lord, Jagadīśa, I do not want any material happiness or wealth," na dhanaṁ na janam, "or great followers," na sundarīṁ kavitām, "or beautiful wife." These are the demands of the karmīs: "I must have wealth, I must have position, I must have beautiful home, beautiful wife." But Caitanya Mahāprabhu denies. He says, na dhanaṁ na janaṁ na sundarīṁ kavitāṁ vā jagadīśa kāmaye. He does not want even mukti. Because He says next line that mama janmani janmanīśvare bhavatād bhaktir ahaitukī tvayi [Cc. Antya 20.29, Śikṣāṣṭaka 4]. "Life after life simply let Me remain Your devotee."

Lecture on SB 6.1.45 -- Laguna Beach, July 26, 1975: Our one big poet in our country, Rabindranath Tagore, he wrote an article—I read it—when he was in London. So in your country, western countries, the motorcars and the..., they run in high speed. So Rabindranath Tagore, he was poet. He was thinking that "These Englishmen's is country so small, and they are running on so great speed they will fall in the ocean."

Lecture on SB 6.1.46 -- San Diego, July 27, 1975: If you engage yourself in pure devotional service incessantly, without any stop, then you always remain transcendental, above these three guṇas. So our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is to keep the devotee above the three guṇas. Just like in the ocean, if you are fallen in the ocean, it is very dangerous position. But if somebody helps you to lift you from the ocean water and keep one inch above the ocean water, there is no danger. Your life is saved.

Lecture on SB 6.1.50 -- Detroit, August 3, 1975: So we are fallen into great ocean of nescience, covered. First of all the five senses, knowledge-acquiring senses, jñānendriya and karmendriya, working senses, ten, and sense object...

Lecture on SB 6.1.50 -- Detroit, June 16, 1976: So unless we are free from all kinds of desires, we shall be entangled with these elements. Therefore bhakti, bhakti-mārga, devotional service, means no more material desire. It is difficult because we are associated with the material desires life after life, from time immemorial. Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura sings therefore: anādi karama phale pori bhavārṇava-jale toribāre na dekhi upāy. Anādi karama, time immemorial I am fallen in this ocean of fruitive activities and I have no rescue from this ocean. Toribāre na dekhi upāy. This is our position. Very, very difficult to come out of these elements.

Lecture on SB 6.2.11 -- Allahabad, January 16, 1971: Really, originally, the, I mean to say regulator of religious principle is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore Kṛṣṇa is sometimes addressed as dharma-setu. Setu means bridge. We have to cross over. The whole plan is that we have to cross over the ocean of nescience in which we are now fallen. The material existence means it is ocean of ignorance and nescience, and one has to cross over it. Then he gets the real life. This is not real life.

Lecture on SB 7.9.9 -- Mayapur, March 1, 1977: Bhavaṁ budhau. This material world is just like a great ocean, bhava. Bhava means repetition of birth and death, and āmbu means āmbudhau, means in the sea, in the ocean. So we are struggling hard for existence in this ocean. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu says, ayi nanda tanuja patitaṁ kiṅkaraṁ mām: "I am Your servant eternal. Somehow or other I have fallen in this ocean and struggling. Pick me up." Ayi nanda-tanuja patitaṁ kiṅkaraṁ mām viṣame bhavāmbudhau kṛpāya. By Your causeless mercy...

ayi nanda-tanuja patitaṁ kiṅkaraṁ māṁ viṣame bhavāmbudhau

kṛpāya tava pāda-paṅkaja-sthita-dhūlī sadṛśsaṁ vicintaya

[Cc. Antya 20.32, Śikṣāṣṭaka 5]

This is bhakti-mārga, devotional service, to become very humble, meek, always pray to Kṛṣṇa, "Kindly consider me as one of the particle of the dust of the lotus feet of Your Lordship," this very simple thing. Man-manā. In this way think of Kṛṣṇa, become His devotee, offer obeisances and whatever patraṁ puṣpaṁ, little flower, water, you can provide, offer to Kṛṣṇa. In this way live very peacefully and be happy.

Lecture on SB 7.9.18 -- Mayapur, February 25, 1976: If we associate with haṁsa, pure devotees, then our life will be successful. Añjas titarmi. Very easily we shall cross over this ocean of nescience. There is another verse like that. Bhavāmbudhir vatsa-padaṁ paraṁ padaṁ padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadaṁ na teṣām [SB 10.14.58]. Samāśritā ye pada-pallava-plavam. The same thing, differently expressed.

samāśritā ye pada-pallava-plavaṁ

mahat-padaṁ puṇya-yaśo murāreḥ

bhavāmbudhir vatsa-padaṁ paraṁ padam...

Bhavāmbudhiḥ, this great ocean of nescience in which we are now fallen and very much struggling for existence, exactly just like if you are thrown in the ocean, you may be a very good swimmer, but the condition is very dangerous... You'll have to struggle. You cannot say, "I am a good swimmer. I shall be very easily able to cross over the ocean." No. That's not possible. But if you take the shelter of the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord, samāśritā ye pada-pallava-plavam... Anyone who has taken shelter of the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa...

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.100 -- Washington, D.C., July 5, 1976: Now when a man is fallen in the ocean or in the water, he's asking help, you cannot say that "How did you fall? What was the cause?" That we shall discuss later on. First of all, save him. So that is the immediately necessity. There is no... Sometimes we are questioned that "How a living entity fallen in this material world?" Yes, that is also stated in the Bhagavad-gītā: icchā-dveṣa-samutthena sarge yānti parantapa [Bg. 7.27]. Icchā-dveṣa. Actually, we are servants of God. That is our real position. But we sometimes become envious, that "Why shall I become servant of God? This is slave mentality."

Arrival Addresses and Talks

Arrival Talk -- Aligarh, October 9, 1976:

Prabhupāda: Hare Kṛṣṇa. (Hindi) ...they are offering their... We have received one letter, telegram, from one gentleman. What is his name? Patel? Bhogilal Patel. He's very rich man. So I was sometimes a guest in his house. He is very friendly. He comes to see me in Bombay. Old man. He is older than me, one or two years. But he has sent me one telegram, "Swamijī, take this land, one hundred acres of land in Ahmedabad."

Indian man: In?

Prabhupāda: Ahmedabad. Yes. So... There are so many. One gentleman has offered land in Mahabaleshwar. This is very costly place.

Indian man: Mahabaleshwar. Very costly place and very nice place.

Prabhupāda: (laughs) Very nice. And wherefrom other offers we have got?

Haṁsadūta: Hyderabad we have.

Prabhupāda: Hyderabad he has already... That is six hundred acres of land. What is the name of that place? Do you remember?

Haṁsadūta: Where? Hyderabad? No. We call it New Naimiṣāraṇya.

Prabhupāda: No, we have named New Naimiṣāraṇya. A very nice place.

Indian man: You'll get a lot of offers. And as you rightly said that these Vaiṣṇavas, they want to become maṭha-deśas, they want to become like kings. They don't want to leave their empire and go out, working hard like you and spreading the message of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Prabhupāda: Yes. That is our mission.

Indian man: That is the right attitude. Even if there is one bhakta, that is Vṛndāvana.

Prabhupāda: Yes. Bhakta will create Vṛndāvana. Kṛṣṇa says, nāhaṁ tiṣṭhāmi vaikuṇṭha. "I do not stay in Vaikuṇṭha." Nāhaṁ tiṣṭhāmi vaikuṇṭhe yogināṁ hṛdayeṣu. "Neither I stay at the heart, core of the heart of the yogis." Tatra tiṣṭhāmi nārada yatra gāyanti mad-bhaktāḥ. "When My pure devotee chants the glories of My..., I immediately stay there. I immediately stay." It's not that He is packed up in some place. He's all-pervading. Vāsudeva. Vāsudeva. Therefore His name is Vāsudeva. Vāsudeva. Īśāvāsyam idaṁ sarvam [Īśo mantra 1]. He's everywhere. Electricity is everywhere. Only one who knows how to take the electricity... So Caitanya Mahāprabhu's preaching and teaching, their effect you have to follow. Then our life will be successful. We don't manufacture ideas. That is not wanted. And if they... They have manufactured the ideas. The Hindus, samudra (Hindi) jānāsi (Hindi) prātikūlyam. Caitanya Mahāprabhu says that pṛthivīte āche yata nagarādi grāma. (Hindi) Foolish theories. Just see. As soon as you cross over the Bay of Bengal or Indian Ocean, you become immediately fallen.

Indian man: You become an outcaste. (laughs)

General Lectures

City Hall Lecture -- Durban, October 7, 1975:

Prabhupāda: Our prayer is, Caitanya Mahāprabhu has taught,

ayi nanda-tanuja kiṅkaraṁ

patitaṁ māṁ viṣame bhavāmbudhau

kṛpayā tava pāda-paṅkaja

sthita-dhūlī-sadṛśaṁ vicintaya

[Cc. Antya 20.32, Śikṣāṣṭaka 5]

Just like if you are in danger, you ask your friends to help you. This is prayer. So our prayer is, to Kṛṣṇa, ayi nanda-tanuja. Nanda-tanuja means... Kṛṣṇa appeared as the foster son of Nanda Mahārāja; therefore He is addressed as nanda-tanuja, means "the son of Mahārāja Nanda." So patitaṁ kiṅkaraṁ māṁ viṣame bhavāmbudhau. "I am your eternal servant. Somehow or other, I am now fallen in this ocean of nescience, ignorance." Just like if you are a person of the land, if you are thrown in the ocean, it is struggle for existence. Manaḥ ṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṇi prakṛti-sthāni karṣati [Bg. 15.7]. This is struggle for exis... Everyone is struggling. But what you will struggle in the ocean? You may be a very big swimmer, but how long you shall swim? You will be tired. The only means is to take you out of the ocean. Even one inch above the ocean is your safety. It doesn't matter how many inches you are taken from the ocean. Similarly, the prayer is, "My dear Lord Kṛṣṇa, I am your eternal servant. Somehow or other, I am now fallen in this ocean. Please pick me up and fix me again as the dust of Your lotus feet." This is the prayer. So we should know in what dangerous position we are. Then there is necessity of prayer. And prayer to whom? To the Supreme Person to save us. Therefore there are so many prayers in the śāstra. Prayers means addressing the Lord to save us from this. The real saving is to pick us up from this ocean of nescience, ignorance. Then everything is all right. As soon as we come to the knowledge that "I am not this body; I am spirit soul, part and parcel of God," then our knowledge is perfect. This is called brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā. This is called Brahman realization.

Conversations and Morning Walks

1973 Conversations and Morning Walks

Morning Walk -- December 15, 1973, Los Angeles:

Prajāpati: ...what these rascal philosophers do, psychologists and scientists, they say the things that are very sinful actually, that Kṛṣṇa says and the Bible and all of scriptures say are sinful, they say, "That's all right. You may do those things." Not only do they deny God's existence, but they say that which is sinful is actually good for you: "Yes. You must have intoxication, take illicit sex life," like that.

Prabhupāda: No good man will say like that. That is the difference between good man and bad man. The same example as I told, that one blind man is going this side, and another man says, "Yes, you are all right. Go this side." This is going on. Either he does not know, this rascal who says, "Yes, you can go this side," that he will fall down in the ocean and die... Both of them do not know. So one blind man, andhā yathāndhair upanīyamānāḥ [SB 7.5.31]. One blind man is giving direction to another blind man. This is going on. Therefore Vedic injunction is to take direction: "You must go to guru." That is in... Tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum evābhigacchet [MU 1.2.12]. Gurum eva, "Must go." Then he will get right direction. Otherwise misguided. [break]

1976 Conversations and Morning Walks

Morning Walk -- July 5, 1976, Washington, D.C.:

Vipina: These are the natural falls here, Prabhupāda, not manmade.

Prabhupāda: Ah, where?

Vipina: Not manmade. [break] It is not necessary to take millions of years for life to develop, because within five days an egg is there and life is being manifest. But scientists are saying it took millions of years to come to that stage where in five days it would only take life to become manifest.

Prabhupāda: Then why you are waiting millions of years? Accept that millions of years passed, now let us have it in five days. Why you are again asking to wait for millions of years? If it has passed? Rascal. From the sky, Atlantic, wherefrom... Big, big chunks like mountains constantly coming, cut-cut-cut-cut-cut-cut. In Canada, big, big chunks.

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: Ice?

Prabhupāda: Ice, flood, every second.

Hari-śauri: Down the fall?

Prabhupāda: Yes. Not from Canada, somewhere else, the Atlantic. And it is falling in the Atlantic Ocean. That broke the Titanic.

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: Yes, iceberg.

Room Conversation -- August 4, 1976, New Mayapur (French farm): The glories of the holy name have been described by Śrī Caitanya in His eight verses of Sikṣāṣṭaka, which run as follows: 1) Glory to the Śrī Kṛṣṇa Saṅkīrtana, which cleanses the heart of all the dust accumulated for years together, and thus the fire of conditional life of repeated birth and death is extinguished. Such saṅkīrtana movement is the prime benediction for the humanity at large because it spreads rays of the benediction moon. It is the life of transcendental knowledge, it increases the ocean of transcendental bliss, and it helps to have a taste of the full nectariṇe for which always anxious we are. 2) O my Lord, Your holy name can render all benediction upon the living being, and therefore you have hundreds and millions of names like Kṛṣṇa, Govinda, etc. In these transcendental names you have invested all your transcendental potencies, and there is no hard-and-fast rules for chanting these holy names. O my Lord, You have so kindly made easy approach to You by Your holy names, but unfortunate as I am, I have no attraction for them. 3) One can chant the holy names of the Lord in a humble state of mind, thinking himself as lower than the straw in the streets, tolerant more than the tree, devoid of all sense of false prestige, and being ready to offer all kinds of respects to others. 4) O almighty Lord, I have no desire for accumulating wealth, nor I have any desire to enjoy beautiful women, neither I want any number of followers of mine. What I want only is that I may have your causeless devotional service in my life, birth after birth. 5) O the son of Mahārāja Nanda, I am Your eternal servitor, and although I am so, somehow or another I have fallen in the ocean of birth and death. Please therefore pick me up from the ocean of death and fix me up as one of the atoms of Your lotus feet. 6) O my Lord, when shall my eyes be decorated with tears of love flowing incessantly by chanting Your holy name, and when all the holes of hair on my body will have eruptions by the recitation of Your name? 7) O Govinda, feeling your separation I am considering a moment as twelve years or more than that, and tears flowing down my cheeks like torrents of rain. I am feeling all vacant in the world without Your presence. 8) I do not know anyone except Kṛṣṇa as my Lord, and He shall remain as such even if He handles me roughly by His embrace or He may make me broken-hearted by not being present before me. He is completely free to do anything, but He is always my worshipful Lord, unconditionally.

1977 Conversations and Morning Walks

Morning Conversation -- April 30, 1977, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: ...and millions of Vaikuṇṭhalokas, planets, and the topmost planet is Goloka Vṛndāvana. This is the spiritual nature. This is material, within this universe, and that is spiritual. Paras tasmāt tu bhāvaḥ anyaḥ: [Bg. 8.20] "another nature, which is indestructible." This is the whole situation. Now, how you show it, that you think over. This is only fragmental part of material creation. And each universe is floating in the..., like a football. Football floats in the water. It is like that. And each universe, half filled up with water, Garbhodakaśāyī. And the planetary system is hanging on that half filled-up water.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Above it.

Prabhupāda: Hm. And if it is dropped, it falls in the ocean, as once it was. Varāha-mūrti saved.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Earth fell.

Page Title:	Fallen in the ocean
Compiler:	Rita
Totals by Section:	BG=2, SB=20, CC=6, OB=6, Lec=29, Let=0, Con=4
No. of Quotes:	67