Form of Krsna (Lectures, BG)

Expressions researched:
"He is in the same form" |"He is very virat, universal form" |"His Form" |"His different forms" |"His personal form" |"His transcendental form" |"His vibration form" |"I have taken the form" |"In the form of name" |"Krsna Himself in the form" |"Krsna appeared in the form" |"Krsna comes in His Vasudeva form" |"Krsna comes in the form of" |"Krsna form" |"Krsna has a body" |"Krsna in His original form" |"Krsna in the form" |"Krsna in this form" |"Krsna is the original form" |"Krsna or God has form" |"Krsna took the form" |"Krsna's form" |"Krsna's forms" |"Krsna's name, form" |"Krsna's personal form" |"Krsna, can have a form" |"My original transcendental form" |"Visnu form, or Krsna" |"Your universal form" |"exhibit this universal form except Krsna" |"form and pastimes of Sri Krsna" |"form as Krsna" |"form as Lord Krsna" |"form as Sri Krsna" |"form of God, Krsna" |"form of Krsna" |"form of Lord Krsna" |"form of Lord Sri Krsna" |"form of Sri Krsna" |"form of the Krsna" |"forms like Radha-Krsna" |"forms of God, Krsna" |"forms of Krsna" |"forms of Lord Krsna" |"forms of the Lord" |"the original form" |"transcendental forms"

Notes from the compiler: VedaBase query: "form* Krsna*"@5 or "form* Krishna*"@5 or "His Form" or "His different forms"

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Lecture on BG Introduction -- New York, February 19-20, 1966:

Now a question may be raised, what is the way how to approach the supreme abode of the Lord. That is also described in the Bhagavad-gītā. It is said on the 8th Chapter, verses 5, 6, 7, 8, the process of approaching the Supreme Lord or Supreme Lord's abode is also given there. It is said like this:

anta-kāle ca mām eva

smaran muktvā kalevaram

yaḥ prayāti sa mad-bhāvaṁ

yāti nāsty atra saṁśayaḥ

Anta-kāle, at the end of life, at the time of death. Anta-kāle ca mām eva, one who thinks of Kṛṣṇa, smaran, if he can remember. A dying person, at the time of death, if he remembers the form of Kṛṣṇa and while remembering in that way, if he quits the present body, then surely he approaches the spiritual kingdom, mad-bhāvam. Bhāvam means the spiritual nature. Yaḥ prayāti sa mad-bhāvaṁ yāti. Mad-bhāvam means just like the nature or the transcendental nature of the Supreme Being. As we have described above, that the Supreme Lord is sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha (Bs. 5.1). He has His form, but His form is eternal, sat; and full of knowledge, cit; and full of bliss, ānanda. Now just we can compare our present body, whether this body is sac-cid-ānanda. No. This body is asat. Instead of being sat it is asat. Antavanta ime dehā (BG 2.18), Bhagavad-gītā says that this body is antavat, perishable.

Lecture on BG Introduction -- New York, February 19-20, 1966:

Devotee: "Arjuna accepted Kṛṣṇa as pure, free from all material contamination, as the supreme enjoyer, as the foremost person, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, never born, the greatest. Now one may say that..., one may say that since Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna were friends, Arjuna was only saying these things to his friend. But Arjuna mentions that Kṛṣṇa is accepted as the Supreme Personality of Godhead not only by himself but by Nārada, Vyāsa and numerous other great persons."

Prabhupāda: Authorities. He accepted Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Personality of Godhead not because Kṛṣṇa happened to be his intimate friend but on the authorities of others. And on the statement of Kṛṣṇa, and by understanding Him fully. He, he did not accept Him blindly. So this is the process of understanding Bhagavad-gītā. And although he understood fully, because in future so many rascals will come and proclaim himself that "I am also incarnation of Godhead," therefore in the Eleventh Chapter Arjuna requested Kṛṣṇa that "If you think, You can show me Your universal form," so that in future others will accept some bogus rascal as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he may test by seeing the, I mean to say, universal form of the person. So who can exhibit this universal form except Kṛṣṇa?

So we have explained this Bhagavad-gītā in the paramparā system as we have heard from authoritative sources. So it may be a new contribution to your country, because in every edition they have concocted some ideas about Bhagavad-gītā, but we are presenting Bhagavad-gītā as it is. That's all. So, any question?

Lecture on BG 1.4-5 -- London, July 10, 1973:

So this battlefield, because Kṛṣṇa wanted to kill them, and the result was—you will find in the Bhagavad-gītā, they all attained svarūpa. Anyone who was killed, who died in the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra, in the presence of Kṛṣṇa, they all attained their original, constitutional position, spiritual form. They all went back to home, back to Godhead, everyone. Therefore Kṛṣṇa is Absolute. Either His killing or His protecting, it is all the same. You don't think that Kṛṣṇa is killing. No. If anyone is killed by Kṛṣṇa, he immediately gets liberation: the liberation for which great great saintly persons, sages, they undergo severe austerities for life after life, simply by being killed, he gets that. So by becoming Kṛṣṇa's enemy, one gets this benefit. Just think over if you become Kṛṣṇa's friend, what is the benefit. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. The Māyāvādīs they are after liberation. So this liberation is granted even to the enemies of Kṛṣṇa. They are also enemies. The Māyāvādīs, they are also enemies. Kṛṣṇe aparādhī. They are offender to Kṛṣṇa because they do not accept the form of Kṛṣṇa. Therefore they are offender. So everything studied in relationship with Kṛṣṇa, that is perfect knowledge, and that is described in the Bhagavad-gītā. So it is not that like sahajiyās that we are interested in Kṛṣṇa's rāsa dance, not with this fighting in the Battlefields of Kurukṣetra. This is sahajiyā-bhāva. This is not wanted. Thank you very much. Hare Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture on BG 1.10 -- London, July 12, 1973:

So it is all creation of Kṛṣṇa. Ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavo mattaḥ sarvaṁ pravartate (BG 10.8). Everything has come out from Kṛṣṇa's body, external, therefore He is the proprietor. If I have created something, then I am the proprietor. It is very easy to understand. In the Vedas also, it is said eko nārāyaṇa āsīt: "Before the creation only there was Nārāyaṇa." In the Catuḥ-śloki Bhāgavata also it is said, aham evāsam evāgre (SB 2.9.33/34/35/36). So before creation there was Kṛṣṇa. When we speak of Kṛṣṇa, it does not mean Kṛṣṇa was alone. Kṛṣṇa means with His form, with His pastimes, with His paraphernalia, with His entourage, everything. When we speak of king, it does not mean king is alone. As soon as we speak of king, we must understand the king, king's kingdom, king's secretaries, king's ministers, king's queen, king's palace, so many things. Similarly, when the Vedas says that eko nārāyaṇa āsīt, "Before creation there was only Nārāyaṇa." So Nārāyaṇa with His paraphernalia, with His expansion... Nārāyaṇa has expansion in the spiritual world, vaikuṇṭha jagat, innumerable Vaikuṇṭha planets. You have seen the picture. Innumerable. We have given only twenty-four names, but there are innumerable.

Lecture on BG 1.13-14 -- London, July 14, 1973:

When Arjuna inquired from Him about His instruction to sun-god, Kṛṣṇa said, imaṁ vivasvate yogaṁ proktavān aham avyayam (BG 4.1). This bhakti-yogam of as mentioned in the Bhagavad-gītā... Bhagavad-gītā is bhakti-yogam, to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead. So this literature is also transcendental. Bhakti is also transcendental. Bhakti is not any activities of this material world. Janma karma me divyam (BG 4.9). So bhakti is activity in relationship with Kṛṣṇa. Therefore it is not material. Sa guṇān samatītyaitān brahma-bhūyāya kalpate, māṁ ca yo 'vyabhicāreṇa bhakti-yogena sevate (BG 14.26). Bhakti-yoga is transcendental. And because Kṛṣṇa is transcendental, you cannot understand Kṛṣṇa by any material method. Therefore Kṛṣṇa says, bhaktyā mām abhijānāti (BG 18.55). The method also is transcendental, not of this material world. So if we can understand simply these facts, that Kṛṣṇa is transcendental, Kṛṣṇa's name is transcendental, Kṛṣṇa's form is transcendental, sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ. Īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ (Bs. 5.1). Kṛṣṇa's body is sac-cid-ānanda, not body like this. This body is asat, acit and nirānanda, just the opposite. This material body is asat. Asat means temporary. It will not exist. But Kṛṣṇa's body is not like that. Kṛṣṇa's body is eternal. That is cit. Sat-cit. Full of knowledge.

Lecture on BG 2.1 -- Ahmedabad, December 6, 1972:

Uttamā-bhakti, first-class bhakti, what is that? Anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyam: without any kind of desire than to serve the Lord. And in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam also, it is said, sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmaḥ. Paraḥ means transcendental, beyond this material conception. Kṛṣṇa, or the Absolute, Nārāyaṇa, that is para. Nārāyaṇaḥ paraḥ avyaktāt. Nārāyaṇa is not anything of this material world. Nārāyaṇa, Kṛṣṇa, Viṣṇu. The Absolute Personality of Godhead, He is not anything of this material world. When we use this word, nirākāra, that means His form is not anything of this material world. But He has got His form. That is a transcendental form. Sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ (Bs. 5.1). Nirākāra means He, He has no such form, as we have got this material form. This material form is neither of the three transcendental bliss, sac-cid-ānanda. This is asat, acit, and nirānanda. This body, this material body is asat, acit, and nirānanda. Therefore, when in the Vedic literature or in authorized statement we find "nirākāra," that means His form does not belong to this asat, acit, or nirānanda. But He has His form. Divyam. Janma karma me divyam (BG 4.9). Divyam, transcendental. And Śrīpāda Śaṅkarācārya also, who especially preached impersonalism, he also admits that nārāyaṇaḥ paraḥ avyaktāt: "Nārāyaṇa, the form of Nārāyaṇa, is beyond the range of this avyakta." Avyakta and...

Lecture on BG 2.1 -- Ahmedabad, December 7, 1972:

Kṛṣṇa, most attractive. Yaśasaḥ śri..., jñāna, knowledge, the book of knowledge which He has given, this Bhagavad-gītā, there is no comparison. There is no second book in the whole world which contains so full of knowledge. So jñāna. And vairāgya also. In spite of all the property of Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa doesn't care for this material world. He is busy in the spiritual world. Rādhā-mādhava kuñja-bihārī. He's busy in Vṛndāvana. He has many servants. Just big man has got many secretaries, servants, they look after, similarly, in this material world. His representatives—Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Maheśvara—they are managing the affairs of this whole universe. But He's enjoying in Vṛndāvana. Jaya rādhā-mādhava kuñja-bihārī. He has no concern. He doesn't care what is happening here. But it, it does not mean that He doesn't care, but He has no anxiety how the things are being managed. When it is mismanaged, then sometimes Kṛṣṇa comes in His Vāsudeva form. Not the original Kṛṣṇa. Original Kṛṣṇa never leaves Vṛndāvana. Padam ekaṁ na gacchati. He's always in His abode.

Lecture on BG 2.3 -- London, August 4, 1973:

So we have no connection with Kṛṣṇa. But if we chant Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, immediately our first chance to contact Kṛṣṇa begins. So it has to be practiced. Not that immediately I realize Kṛṣṇa. That is not... Of course, if one is advanced, it is possible immediately. So śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi. Nāma means name. So Kṛṣṇa is not only name. Ādi, that is the beginning, but form, activities. Just like śravanaṁ kīrtanam (SB 7.5.23). So śravanaṁ kīrtanam, glorifying or describing about Kṛṣṇa... So He has got His form. So nāma means name, and then, rūpa means form. Nāma, rūpa... Līlā means pastimes; guṇa means quality; entourage, his associates; all these... Ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi na bhaved (CC Madhya 17.136). Na bhaved grāhyam indriyaiḥ. By ordinary senses we cannot understand... Either Śrī Kṛṣṇa's name... We are hearing our, through the aural reception, Kṛṣṇa's name, but if we keep our ear without purification... Of course, by hearing, it will be purified. We have to help. Help means to avoid the offenses, ten kinds of offenses. So in this way we shall help the purificatory process. Just like if I want to ignite fire, so I must help the igniting process by drying the wood. It will very soon get fire. Similarly, simply chanting, that will help us also. It will take time. But if we avoid the offenses, then it will be very quickly purified. The action will be there.

Lecture on BG 2.3 -- London, August 4, 1973:

One has to discharge the duty ordered by the superior authority very strictly, without any consideration. So these are weakness of the heart, this kind of sympathy. But ordinary person will not understand. Therefore to understand Kṛṣṇa, one requires special senses, special senses, not ordinary senses. Special senses means you have to pluck your eyes and you have to put another eyes? No. You have to purify. Tat-paratvena nirmalam (CC Madhya 19.170). Just like if you have got some disease in the eyes, you apply medicine, and when it is clear, you can see clearly everything; similarly, with these blunt senses, we cannot understand what is Kṛṣṇa. Sevonmukhe hi jihvādau svayam eva sphuraty adaḥ (Brs. 1.2.234). As śrī-kṛṣṇasya nāmādau, Kṛṣṇa's name, form, quality, etc., is not understand by these blunt senses, so how it is to be done? Now, sevonmukhe hi jihvādau. Again jihvādau, beginning from the tongue, controlling the tongue. Just see it is something peculiar, that you have to understand Kṛṣṇa by controlling the tongue? This is something wonderful. How is that? I have to control my tongue to understand Kṛṣṇa? But it is, the śāstra injunction is there: sevonmukhe hi jihvādau. Jihvā means tongue. So in order to see Kṛṣṇa, in order to understand Kṛṣṇa, the first business is to control your tongue. Therefore we say, don't take meat, don't take liquor. Because it is controlling the tongue. The tongue is the most strong enemy as sense, as perverted sense. And these rascals they say, "No, you can eat whatever you like. It has nothing to do with religion." But Vedic śāstra says, "You rascal, first of all control your tongue. Then you can understand what is God."

Lecture on BG 2.11 -- New York, March 4, 1966:

Bhagavān means that nobody can surpass His knowledge. Because I have already given the definition of bhagavān, that a personality who is in full, all the opulences—wealth, strength, fame and knowledge, beauty and renunciation—He is God. You see? So... Now, in this, at the present moment, when people are godless, I think, this definition is convincing. If you find out a personality that, one who has got in full all these opulences, He is God. Then it will be very difficult to present an ordinary man as God. You see? You'll find that in the Bhagavad-gītā, when Arjuna was convinced that Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead... But because in future others will have doubt about Kṛṣṇa, he requested Kṛṣṇa that "Will You show me Your universal form?" And Kṛṣṇa agreed and showed him the universal form. That means in future any intelligent man, accepting a so-called God, may also ask him, "Just show something, that you are God." Without showing something, simply by false advertisement, one cannot be God. So whole mistake is that we do not know what is God. We consider God may be just like one of us. No. The God who is controlling such a huge affairs of universal administration, He cannot be, He is superconscious. That is superconsciousness.

Lecture on BG 2.11 -- Rotary Club Address -- Hotel Imperial, Delhi, March 25, 1976:

Out of many millions of persons, one becomes siddha, perfect. So that perfection is not complete perfection. That perfection means ahaṁ brahmāsmi: "I am not this material body; I am spirit soul." So one who understands this position of oneself is calculated as perfect, but yatatām api siddhānām (BG 7.3), in that perfect stage if one endeavors to understand Kṛṣṇa, yatatām api siddhānāṁ kaścid, out of many such millions of persons who trying to understand Kṛṣṇa in perfection, one may understand. So it is not so easy. Janma karma ca me divyaṁ yo jānā... (BG 4.9), again tattvataḥ. That factual understanding is possible. How it is possible? Bhaktyā mām abhijānāti yāvān yaś cāsmi tattvataḥ (BG 18.55). Only through devotion you can understand. So these problems will be solved when you become a devotee. Then Kṛṣṇa will reveal. Ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi na bhaved grāhyam indriyaiḥ (CC Madhya 17.136). If you try to understand that Supreme Person Kṛṣṇa, who comes before you as ordinary person, you can understand Him if you become His devotee. Otherwise it is not possible. Ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi. You cannot understand Kṛṣṇa or His name, His form, His pastimes, His activities—na bhaved grāhyam indriyaiḥ—by your imperfect senses. But sevonmukhe hi jihvādau svayam eva sphurati. When you are engaged in His service, then He reveals Himself: "Here I am." So this is the process. If you want to understand that person, Kṛṣṇa, who is accepted as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, then you have to take shelter of bhakti-yoga and associate with bhaktas. Then it is possible. Otherwise not.

Lecture on BG 2.13 -- Hyderabad, November 18, 1972:

So to know God, "God is very good, God is great," that is another thing. The science of God... Just like Bhagavad-gītā, by studying Bhagavad-gītā, we know not only "God is great," but we see what kind of God He is, what is His form. Sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ. We have heard in the śāstras that

īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ

sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ

anādir ādir govindaḥ

sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam

(Bs. 5.1)

Now that īśvara, sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha, how He appears sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha? Those who are present, of course, they saw the sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha, but because not all of them were devotees, they could not understand Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā mānuṣīṁ tanum āśritam (BG 9.11). Because He appeared just like a human being, so mūḍhas... Mūḍhas means less intelligent, or, in plain word, asses. Mūḍha means ass. So this class of men could not understand Kṛṣṇa, that He's the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That is the defect of the mūḍhas.

Lecture on BG 2.13-17 -- Los Angeles, November 29, 1968:

Due to the dazzling sunshine, we cannot see any stars. At night, we can see millions of stars, there are. Similarly, that is the impersonalism and personalism. One whose knowledge is not perfect, they think imperson, everything homogeneous. And one whose knowledge is perfect... Vedas also confirm it... Just like in the Īśopaniṣad, there is a verse in which it is stated that "Please withdraw Your effulgence so that I can see Your real face." Just like the sun globe. You cannot see it perfectly due to the dazzling sunshine. But the sun globe is there, and in the glow there are living entities, and there is a principal head man, god. They are not man because their body is made of fire. So similarly, the first, impersonal impression, Brahman, then further advanced, Supersoul, and when further advanced, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa. Brahmeti paramātmeti bhagavān iti śabdyate (SB 1.2.11). First realization, Brahman, impersonal; the second realization is Paramātmā, Supersoul; and the last realization is the personal form of God, Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture on BG 2.18 -- Hyderabad, November 23, 1972:

Intelligent class of men will take this saṅkīrtana movement for his spiritual elevation of life. It is a fact, it is scientific, it is authorized. So don't neglect. Take this chanting of Hare Kṛṣṇa heart and soul, and anywhere... Niyamitaḥ smaraṇe na kālaḥ. There is no rules and regulations, that "You have to chant at this time or that time, in this position or that position." No. Because it is especially meant for these fallen conditioned souls, there is no hard-and-fast rule. Nāmnām akāri bahudhā nija-sarva-śaktis tatrārpitā niyamitaḥ smaraṇe na kālaḥ. The name, the holy name of Kṛṣṇa, is as powerful as Kṛṣṇa. There is no difference with Kṛṣṇa and His name. Kṛṣṇa is Absolute. Therefore there is no distinction between Kṛṣṇa's name, Kṛṣṇa's form, Kṛṣṇa's quality, Kṛṣṇa's entourage, Kṛṣṇa's pastimes, from Kṛṣṇa. Everything is Kṛṣṇa. If you hear about Kṛṣṇa, then you should know that you are touching Kṛṣṇa by aural reception. If you see Kṛṣṇa the Deity, that means you are seeing personally Kṛṣṇa. Because Kṛṣṇa is absolute. He can accept your service, any way. Because He is everything.

Lecture on BG 2.32 -- London, September 2, 1973:

If you cannot see Kṛṣṇa physically... Although Kṛṣṇa is present everywhere, but we have no eyes to see Him. Therefore this Deity worship... Deity is not hedonism or idol worship. No. Deity is as good as the original Supreme Personality of Godhead. He's absolute. His form and He is not different. Abhinnatvān nāma-nāminoḥ (CC Madhya 17.133). Abhinna, identical. We are chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, not that like gramophone.(?) No. We are associating with Kṛṣṇa. Abhinnatvān nāma-nāminoḥ. By chanting Kṛṣṇa's name, Kṛṣṇa is present on your tongue. Unless we realize in that way, then it is the period of nāma-aparādha or nāmābhāsa. Not nāmābhāsa—nāma-aparādha. This is nāma-aparādha, to consider that the name is different from the person.

Lecture on BG 2.51-55 -- New York, April 12, 1966:

This material creation, how it is being done? It is being done that the Supreme Lord in His form of Mahā-Viṣṇu, He's lying on the Causal Ocean and in a sleeping mood, and with the breathing of His nostrils, so many universes are being born as seed. And when He's taking the breathing, inhaling, the whole thing is going into Him. So such is the position of God, that by His breathings, all the universes are coming, and by His breathing... So the existence of the universe means within His breathing period, within the breathing period of the Mahā-Viṣṇu. So that Mahā-Viṣṇu is described, yasyaika-niśvasita-kālam athāvalambya jīvanti loma-vilajā jagad-aṇḍa-nāthāḥ viṣṇur mahān sa iha yasya kalā-viśeṣaḥ (Bs. 5.48). That Mahā-Viṣṇu is also plenary portion of Kṛṣṇa, Govinda. That Mahā-Viṣṇu is also not the original. The original Personality of Godhead is Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture on BG 3.27 -- Melbourne, June 27, 1974:

It is very scientific movement, scientific movement because at the present moment we are all godless, forgotten what is God and what to speak of His name. They do not believe in God and what to speak of His name, fame, His place, His activities, His form, His qualities. How we can know? There is no educational system about the science of God. This movement, Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, is teaching the science of God. And if you accept the name of the God, name of God, Kṛṣṇa—this is also affirmed in other system also—then you will be able to associate with God immediately. Because God is Absolute. Absolute means there is no difference.

Lecture on BG 3.27 -- Melbourne, June 27, 1974:

Guest (5): Prabhupāda, Lord Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā that when there is decline of true religion...

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Guest (5): ...and when evil increases in the world, that He manifests Himself in a body, a human body, and comes to earth to rescue the human beings from their illusion.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Guest (5): Now these conditions exist today. Is He here in the human form or is He still to come?

Prabhupāda: Yes, God has already come.

Guest (5): In what form?

Prabhupāda: In the form of name, Hare Kṛṣṇa.

Guest (5): No, He said He manifests in a human form.

Prabhupāda: God has human form, and God is everything. So if He comes in the form of sound, where is your objection? But God is everything. He can come as a human being, or He can come in the form of sound also. Because what is this human being? You are seeing a human being, this flesh. That is combination of matter, combination of matter, earth, water, fire, air, ether. This is combination. What you are seeing? Your eyes are also the combination. But the sound is ether. So if you accept earth as the form, where is your objection to accept ether? Because they are all material.

Lecture on BG 3.27 -- Madras, January 1, 1976:

The material world, especially in this age, everyone is thinking, "I am the greatest. Who can become more than me?" Ahaṅkāra-vimūḍhātmā. This material world is like that. Everyone is thinking like that. Asuric pravṛtti. Kaḥ āḍhyo 'sti mama samaḥ: "Who is greater than me?" There is a struggle for this vimūḍhātmā competition.

But at the end he is under the control of nature—everyone knows it—because ultimately the death will come and all ahaṅkāras will be taken away. "I don't care for God. I am independent. I am God"—all these ahaṅkāra, false egotism, on account of bewildered, being bewildered, these things will be finished when Kṛṣṇa will come as death. Everything will be finished. Mṛtyuḥ sarva-haraś cāham (BG 10.34). Kṛṣṇa has described Himself that "I am death. I am death, and I take away all your possession, that's all, as death." It will be taken away. However intelligent we may be, however proud we may be for our possession, but the death is sure. "As sure as death." And when death comes—the death is also another form of Kṛṣṇa—then He will take everything.

Lecture on BG 3.27 -- Madras, January 1, 1976:

Indian (2): If I understand Bhagavad-gītā and also you (?), Kṛṣṇa has given different type of methods for different type of people of different advantages (?). He's talking about (Sanskrit), all these things. Arjuna questioned Kṛṣṇa. He asked the difference between the two kinds of worship. One is the worshiping the form; other is worshiping the guṇas (?). And actually we find it difficult to understand. What can you enlighten us on this point, that why Kṛṣṇa has given a different type of (?) and these two different type worships? One is the form worship; another is the formless worship, which He explains to Arjuna.

Prabhupāda: The personal form and impersonal form, there are two conception. But Kṛṣṇa explains this that mayā tatam idaṁ sarvaṁ jagad avyakta-mūrtinā (BG 9.4). Avyaktam, impersonal. That is another form of Kṛṣṇa. He says, mayā: "By Me." "I am all-pervading." Mayā tatam idaṁ sarvam. That is sarvaṁ khalv idaṁ brahma. Because He is expanded everywhere, that is impersonal. And... But as māyā, He says, "by Me." Then He's person. So the whole creation is Kṛṣṇa's expansion of energy.

Lecture on BG 4.1 -- Montreal, August 24, 1968:

So when in the Vedic literature it is said that the Absolute Truth has no hand or leg, that means He has no hand and leg as we conceive in this material world. When we speak of hand, immediately I think "my hand" or "your hand," but this is limited. So when we cannot adjust that God has got hands and also legs... In the Upaniṣads it is said that God, the Absolute Truth, Brahman, can walk so fast that even air cannot go so fast. In this way, there are descriptions. So that means, as stated in the Brahma-saṁhitā, that īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ (Bs. 5.1). His form, He has got form undoubtedly, but His form is different. The Māyāvādī philosopher, whenever they think of form they think in terms of his own form. That is their defect. Therefore it is said in the Bhāgavata, ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi. Śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāma is not ordinary nāma, name. Nāma means name. Śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāma is transcendental, absolute. There is no difference between the name and person and object. Here, there is difference. The name and the object is different. Water and the name "water" and the substance water—different. I cannot satisfy my thirst simply by chanting "water, water." But by chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, I can realize God. That is the difference.

Therefore we have to purify our senses. These senses will give you opportunity to hear His transcendental name, to see His transcendental form, to understand His transcendental quality, and so many things. He has got His name, He has got His qualities, He has got His form. Then He has got His associates. Everything. Whatever we see in this material world, they are simply perverted reflection of the reality. Real form is there. Real name is there in the spiritual world.

Lecture on BG 4.1 -- Montreal, August 24, 1968:

So these rājarṣis, they were great personalities. They were, although on the royal throne, they were not for luxury and tax collecting. No. They were just exactly like real father. Always thinking of the happiness of the prajās. It was actual democracy. There was committee of the brāhmaṇas who guided the king, and the king was, I mean to say, control over the citizens by the guidance of the brāhmaṇas. This was the system. So here it is said, evaṁ paramparā-prāptam imaṁ rājarṣayo viduḥ (BG 4.2). This system for understanding Bhagavad-gītā was current. Kṛṣṇa says to Arjuna. Now He says also, sa kālena iha mahatā yogaḥ... (break)...spoke the secret of this Bhagavad-gītā to his son Manu. Manu spoke the secret of the Bhagavad-gītā to his son Ikṣvāku. So now that system is now lost. Kālena mahatā. By the great power. Kāla means time. Time has got his influence, very great influence. Time's business is, whatever you make, time will try to kill you. That's all. You make a nice house, very nice house, but as soon as it becomes older it is being killed. You have very good body, nice body, but the influence of time is trying to kill you. That is the influence of time. So in the Bhagavad-gītā you'll also find that when Arjuna saw the universal form of Kṛṣṇa, he asked that "Who are You?" And Kṛṣṇa said in that universal form that "I am Kāla. I have come to kill." That's it. This was the answer.

Lecture on BG 4.1 -- Delhi, November 10, 1971:

What is the difference between Supersoul and individual soul? One is very small, minute, and the other is very big. God is great. Aṇor aṇīyān mahato mahīyān, God is greater than the greatest. You can conceive in your idea, the greatness of something, but God is still greater. And you can conceive the smallest—just like the atom—yet God is smaller than the atom. That is God. Not that He's only the great, but He is the smallest also. Aṇor aṇīyān mahato mahīyān. Mahato mahīyān means greater than the greatest, and aṇor aṇīyān, and smaller than the smallest. We cannot imagine the dimension of the atom, or you can imagine, but still God is smaller than that. This is the position of God. So He has got His form, as the atom has got form. Similarly, within the atom, God has got form, and as this whole universe has got form, that God has also got form. When there is a statement in the Vedic language that God has no form, it does not mean God has no form, but He has form which you cannot imagine. That is called formless. Actually God is not formless, but what is that form, you cannot imagine. Because He is greater than the greatest and smaller than the smallest.

Lecture on BG 4.1-6 -- Los Angeles, January 3, 1969:

Madhudviṣa: Purport: "The Lord has spoken about the peculiarity of this verse. Although He may appear like an ordinary person, He remembers everything of His many, many past births, whereas a common man cannot remember what he has done even a few hours before. If somebody is asked what he did exactly at the same time one day earlier, it would be very difficult for him to answer immediately. He would have to dredge his memory to recall what he was doing. And yet men often dare to claim to be God or Kṛṣṇa. One should not be misled by such meaningless claims. Then again, the Lord explains His prakṛti or His form. Prakṛti means nature as well as svarūpa, or one's own form. The Lord says that He appears in His own body. He does not change His body as the common living entity does from one to another. The conditioned soul may have one kind of body in the present birth, but he has a different one in the next birth. In the material world the living entity transmigrates in this way. The Lord, however, does not do so. Whenever He appears, He does so in the same original body by His internal potency. In other words, Kṛṣṇa appears in this material world in His original eternal form with two hands and holding a flute."

Prabhupāda: Yes. In your Bible also it is said that "Man is made after God," not that God is made after man. The atheist class, they say that "You have created a God according to your own feature," but no scripture says like that. God has eternal two hands, two legs. So man... God is so kind that man is also made according to His form. That is a special facility given to man, not that somebody imagines God, "Because man has two hands, therefore God has two hands." No. That is not a fact. Here it is explained nicely.

Lecture on BG 4.2 -- Bombay, March 22, 1974:

Paramparā means Kṛṣṇa explained the knowledge, Vedic knowledge, to Lord Brahmā, ādi-kavaye. Janmādy asya yataḥ anvayāt itarataś ca artheṣu abhijñaḥ sva-rāṭ tene brahma hṛdā (SB 1.1.1). The spiritual knowledge, brahma, brahma-vidyā, śabda-brahma, the Vedic knowledge... Just like in the Bhagavad-gītā, the words written in this book, Bhagavad-gītā, although it appears like ordinary letters, they are not like that. It is Vedic vibration. The things which are being spoken by Kṛṣṇa, they are not ordinary language. Had it been ordinary language, how...? Because it was written five thousand years ago. How it is still going on? There are many literatures written by great, great poets within two thousand, two hundred years, three hundred years, or, say, thousands of years. But they are being forgotten. But therefore the character of the Vedic knowledge, they are not material things. They're all spiritual. Why we are giving so much importance to the words of Kṛṣṇa? Because this language is absolute. Kṛṣṇa and Kṛṣṇa's words, Kṛṣṇa and Kṛṣṇa's language, or Kṛṣṇa's words, they are the same. Kṛṣṇa and Kṛṣṇa's forms... We are worshiping Kṛṣṇa's form. That is also Kṛṣṇa. Otherwise, are we wasting our time by decorating a doll, a statue, and we are struggling so hard to establish a temple of Kṛṣṇa? No.

This science is unknown to the atheist class of men. The atheist class of men, they do not know the absolute nature of Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa, His name, His form, His quality, His pastimes, His instruction—anything of Kṛṣṇa—that is Kṛṣṇa. That is not different from Kṛṣṇa. Abhinnatvān nāma-nāminoḥ (CC Madhya 17.133).

Lecture on BG 4.2 -- Bombay, March 22, 1974:

Sa kālena mahatā. The time is very powerful. It changes. That is the... Time means it changes, kills the original position. You have got experience. You purchase one anything. It is very fresh, new. But time will kill it. It will become shabby. It will be useless at a time, in due course of time. So time is fighting. This material time, it is called kāla. Kāla means death. Or kāla means the black snake. So black snake destroys. As soon as touches anything, it is destroyed. Similarly, kāla... This kāla is also another form of Kṛṣṇa. So kālena mahatā. Therefore it is called mahatā. It is very powerful. It is not ordinary thing. Mahatā. Its business is to destroy. Sa kālena iha naṣṭa. So by due course of time... Because how the kāla can destroy? As soon as kāla sees that you are distorting, then it will be lost. So don't try to understand Bhagavad-gītā from persons who are under the influence of kāla—past, present, future. Don't try to understand Bhagavad-gītā from so-called rascal philosophers, commentators, and... They will write Bhagavad-gītā in a distorted way. Somebody will say, "There was no Kṛṣṇa. There was no Mahābhārata." Somebody says, "Kṛṣṇa stressed on this point," "Kṛṣṇa stressed on that point." Somebody will say, "Kṛṣṇa stressed on karma, karma-kāṇḍa." Somebody will say on jñāna, and somebody will say yoga. There are so many editions of Bhagavad-gītā. Yogī cārtha, jñāna artha, Gītār gān artha...

Lecture on BG 4.4 -- Bombay, March 24, 1974:

So this is the qualification of God. He knows past, present and future. And those who are false God, they cannot say. That is not possible. This is the test. They are claiming, falsely claiming. But God means, He knows. His body does not change. Past.... He knows past, present, future means His body does not change.

Why He does not change? That is described in the śāstra. Īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ (Bs. 5.1). Vigrahaḥ means body, form. This transcendental form is made of sac-cid-ānanda. Sac-cid-ānanda. Sat means eternal, eternity. Oṁ tat sat. So sat, cit. Cit means full of knowledge. Full of knowledge here, tāny ahaṁ veda sarvāṇi. This is called cit. He knows everything, past, present and future. Sat, cit, and ānanda. You see Kṛṣṇa's form here, ānanda. He's enjoying. This is real Kṛṣṇa's form. He is always enjoying. Ānandamayo 'bhyāsāt in the Vedānta-sūtra it is said. He's ānandamaya. Kṛṣṇa, real form...

The Kṛṣṇa's form in the battlefield of Kurukṣetra, that is not Kṛṣṇa's real form. That is Kṛṣṇa's Vāsudeva form. Kṛṣṇa expands Vāsudeva, Saṅkarṣaṇa, Aniruddha, in that say. So this is a great science, Kṛṣṇa science. If you are interested, there are books you can study and you can understand what is Kṛṣṇa. Janma karma (ca) me divyaṁ yo jānāti tattvataḥ (BG 4.9). So everyone should try to understand Kṛṣṇa in truth. But people do not try to understand.

Lecture on BG 4.6 -- Bombay, March 26, 1974:

So Kṛṣṇa is explaining Himself. Ajo 'pi sann avyayātmā bhūtānām īśvaro... prakṛtiṁ svām adhiṣṭhāya. Prakṛtiṁ svām. Personal, personal energy, or personal form. Kṛṣṇa is... He has got His personal form, that Śyāmasundara, with flute. That is described in the Brahma-saṁhitā: cintāmaṇi-prakara-sadmasu kalpa-vṛkṣa-lakṣāvṛteṣu surabhīr abhipālayantam (Bs. 5.29). He's very fond of tending cows. Surabhīr abhipālayantam. Lakṣmī-sahasra-śata-sambhrama-sevyamānaṁ govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam aham... Veṇuṁ kvaṇantam. He's very fond of playing on flute. Aravinda-dalāyatākṣam. His eyes are just like petals of the lotus flower. These are described in the Vedic literature.

So Kṛṣṇa is not formless. It is not that the devotees of Kṛṣṇa, by imagination, they have... As the Māyāvādī rascals say, that Kr..., "They have made a form by imagination." No. This is, this is described in the Vedas. So... And Kṛṣṇa, when appeared on this planet, the same thing was visible. Those who have seen, authorities... Just like Vyāsadeva, Arjuna. He has seen personally. He has described in the Bhagavad-gītā: paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān: (BG 10.12) "Your personality is unknown to the so-called scholars. But authorities like Vyāsa, Devala, Nārada, Asita, they accept Your this form." It is very difficult... These things are there. You'll find in the Tenth Chapter.

So Kṛṣṇa is not formless, but His... What kind of form He has got, He is describing Himself. Prakṛtiṁ svām adhiṣṭhāya. How we are... We are forced to take birth by the manipulation of the external, material energy.

Lecture on BG 4.7 -- Montreal, June 13, 1968:

Kṛṣṇa descends means sometimes He personally descends, sometimes He descends by His incarnation, sometimes He descends as a sound vibration, sometimes He descends as devotee. There are many different categories of His descendance. And at the present moment this Kṛṣṇa has descended in His holy name. You should understand that. Kṛṣṇa kali-kāle nāma-rūpe kṛṣṇa-avatāra. This is the statement of Lord Caitanya, that in this age of Kali, Kṛṣṇa has descended in the sound vibration form. Sound is also one of the form. Just like oṁkāra is the form of Kṛṣṇa. Akṣarāṇām oṁkāro 'smi. Similarly, Kṛṣṇa, now, at the present moment, has descended in the form of His holy name. His name and He, there is no difference. So why? Yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānir bhavati bhārata (BG 4.7). People are now forgetting his relationship with God. Now this incarnation of Kṛṣṇa in the form of His holy name, this chanting of Kṛṣṇa will deliver all people of the world from this forgetfulness.

Lecture on BG 4.7-10 -- Los Angeles, January 6, 1969:

In the Brahma-saṁhitā it is said, sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ (Bs. 5.1). His form is eternal, full of bliss and knowledge, just exactly opposite to this form which we have got just now. We can also attain that form. That is being explained here.

Lecture on BG 4.9 -- Bombay, March 29, 1974:

Meditation means as you see the form of Kṛṣṇa, and whenever you go, the impression of the form will be within your eyes, and if you think of Kṛṣṇa, your life is succesful. Therefore the Deity of Kṛṣṇa should be seen. That is the benefit of the eyes. The ears should be engaged hearing about Kṛṣṇa. The tongue should be engaged for eating Kṛṣṇa's remnants of foddstuff, prasādam. The nose should be engaged for smelling the flower which is offered to Kṛṣṇa, or the tulasī. In this way, when you engage all your senses, the legs should be utilized for coming to this temple to see Kṛṣṇa. Not to going to the cinema rascal. Then your life will be successful. You'll understand Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is very kind. He says teṣāṁ satata-yuktānām (BG 10.10), if you engage all your senses for understanding Kṛṣṇa with devotion and faith, prīti-purvakam, with love, the love is the basic principle of understanding Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture on BG 4.9 -- Bombay, March 29, 1974:

And still you are not taking the opportunity of understanding Kṛṣṇa. Just see how much unfortunate we are. As you serve Kṛṣṇa, you understand Kṛṣṇa. You cannot understand Kṛṣṇa otherwise, unless you render service. Sevonmukhe hi jihvādau svayam eva sphuraty adaḥ. Ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi na bhaved grāhyam indriyaiḥ (CC Madhya 17.136). If you simply exact your senses, your nice brain, "Kṛṣṇa is like this, Kṛṣṇa is like that," but if you are not a devotee, Kṛṣṇa will not reveal Himself. Nāhaṁ prakāśaḥ sarvasya yoga-māyā-samāvṛtaḥ (BG 7.25). The rascal's mental speculation will not help him to understand Kṛṣṇa, what He is. That is not possible. His all activities are divyam, transcendental. We cannot understand with our material blunt senses. That is not possible. Therefore, the śāstra says, ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi na bhaved grāhyam indriyaiḥ. These blunt senses, you cannot understand Kṛṣṇa. Or Kṛṣṇa means His name, His form, His quality, His activities, His pastimes, so many things. Janma karma.

Lecture on BG 4.11-12 -- New York, July 28, 1966:

Now, suppose there are impersonalists who believe in the ultimate, I mean to say, merging into the supreme effulgence, brahma-jyotir. And what is that brahma-jyotir? Brahmajyoti is just the atomic spiritual combination of atomic spiritual portions. That is brahma-jyotir. Just like the sun rays. Those who are scientists, those who know what is the sun ray... The sun ray is a small molecular, glazing atom, the sun ray. You have got experience of sun ray, but what is the sun ray? It is not homogeneous. It is heterogeneous. When you can analyze the sun ray, you'll find small particles of molecules. Similarly, brahma-jyotir is also spiritual atoms combined together. Just like the sun rays, different material molecules combined together, similarly, brahma-jyotir is also like that. Now as in the sun rays there are different planets—they are also generated from the sun rays—similarly, from the brahma-jyotir there are different planets, but those planets we cannot see here. That is beyond this sky. So in that planets, spiritual planets, there are different forms of God, Kṛṣṇa. That is described in the Brahma-saṁhitā.

Lecture on BG 4.14 -- Vrndavana, August 6, 1974:

Bhakti-bhājām, those who are devotees, who are devotees. So who can understand Kṛṣṇa is not under the laws of any material nature? Only the bhaktas. Bhaktas can understand. Who can understand Kṛṣṇa? Bhaktyā mām abhijānāti (BG 18.55). Only the bhaktas can understand Him. Therefore Bhagavad-gītā was spoken to Arjuna, bhakto 'si, "You are My devotee." So Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa's name, Kṛṣṇa's form, Kṛṣṇa's attributes, Kṛṣṇa's pastimes, they can be understood by the bhaktas only, not the nondevotees. Nondevotees cannot understand that na māṁ karmāṇi..., this process, that Kṛṣṇa is not bound up by any material laws.

Lecture on BG 4.14 -- Vrndavana, August 6, 1974:

So somehow or other, approach Kṛṣṇa. Then your life is perfect. Kṛṣṇa does not become imperfect. Kṛṣṇa is always... In the Īśopaniṣad: apāpa-viddham. Description of God is there. Apāpa-viddham. That Kṛṣṇa, or the Lord, is never contaminated by any so-called... For Him, there is nothing sinful. This is understanding of Kṛṣṇa. Na māṁ karmāṇi limpanti (BG 4.14). Why He should be? Therefore, if anyone understands, studies Kṛṣṇa perfectly, about His activities, about His birth, about His name, about His form, anything... He has got everything like us. He has got His form. He has got His activities. He has got His attributes. Everything is there. But they're all transcendental.

Lecture on BG 4.14 -- Vrndavana, August 6, 1974:

And if you really understand... That is stated here. Iti māṁ yo 'bhijānāti. In this way, if one understands Kṛṣṇa, karmabhir na sa badhyate, he does not become entangled with the karma. In another place it is also confirmed: janma karma me divyaṁ yo jānāti tattvataḥ. If one understands Kṛṣṇa's activities, Kṛṣṇa's birth and Kṛṣṇa's form, Kṛṣṇa's attributes, if one can understand tattvataḥ, in truth, not by mental speculation. In truth, as it is, then what happens? Tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti (BG 4.9). He does not get any more material body after leaving this body.

Lecture on BG 4.18 -- Delhi, November 3, 1973:

Suppose anyone who is working in the office, the immediate boss is the head, head clerk or the superintendent of that department. So everyone is working. If he satisfies the superintendent or the head clerk, then it is to be understood that he has satisfied the managing director. It is not very difficult. Your immediate boss, representative of Kṛṣṇa, he is to be satisfied. Yasya prasādād bhagavat-prasādo yasya **. Therefore the guidance of spiritual master is required. Kṛṣṇa comes in the form of spiritual master to guide. That is stated in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta. Guru-kṛṣṇa-kṛpāya. Guru-kṛṣṇa-kṛpāya. So guru-kṛpā, mercy of guru, is mercy of Kṛṣṇa. So when both of them are satisfied, then our path is clear. Guru-kṛṣṇa-kṛpāya pāya bhakti-latā-bīja (CC Madhya 19.151). Then our devotional service is perfect. So you did not mark this statement in the Gurvaṣṭaka? Yasya prasādād bhagavat-prasādo yasyāprasādān na gatiḥ kuto 'pi **.

Lecture on BG 4.21 -- Bombay, April 10, 1974:

Real life is that you keep your health nicely, save time, take ordinary very nutritious food within the jurisdiction of kṛṣṇa-prasāda. Kṛṣṇa says, patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ yo me bhaktyā prayacchati (BG 9.26). So Kṛṣṇa eats all these things. Patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyam, vegetables, liquid things, water, milk, and so many other things, grains. So you offer to Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is here. Kṛṣṇa, although He is very virāṭ, universal form, but Kṛṣṇa has accepted arcā-vigraha so that you can serve, you can see, you can touch, and your life becomes successful. This is Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. Thank you very much.

Lecture on BG 4.27 -- Bombay, April 16, 1974:

Saintly person, mahātmā, they are engaged in chanting satatam, always. Satataṁ kīrtayanto mām (BG 9.14). Kīrtayantaḥ, glorifying. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu recommends, kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ. Kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ.

tṛṇād api sunīcena

taror api sahiṣṇunā

amāninā mānadena

kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ

(CC Adi 17.31)

This is the recommendation of Caitanya Mahāprabhu that you should glorify the holy name of Hari. Hari means Kṛṣṇa. So that is the recommendation. But we are meeting so many obstacles because they think, "This chanting is nescience. This bhajana is nuisance. This is Kali-yuga. Not the Kali-yuga, even every yuga. So ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi na bhaved grāhyam indriyaiḥ (CC Madhya 17.136). A devotee is hearing, he is enjoying, and the nondevotee is thinking, "It is a nuisance."

Therefore it is said, ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi na bhaved grāhyam indriyaiḥ. The blunt senses, material senses, they cannot receive. Nāmādi. Not only name, they cannot see Lord Kṛṣṇa's form. Because hearing and seeing and smelling and tasting and touching... We have got so many senses. So These senses being materially contaminated, it cannot hear what is Kṛṣṇa's holy name. Ataḥ (śrī) kṛṣṇa-nāmādi na bhaved grāhyam indriyaiḥ (CC Madhya 17.136). Then how to understand Kṛṣṇa? That is recommended. Sevonmukhe hi jihvādau. You have to engage your tongue first of all in the service of the Lord. The Kṛṣṇa realization begins from the tongue.

Lecture on BG 4.34 -- New York, August 14, 1966:

Kīrtanam means to chant about the glories, about the holy name, about the form, about the quality. Then this is association with Kṛṣṇa because Kṛṣṇa, or God, is absolute. He is not different from His name, from His quality, from His form, from His pastimes. He is not different. So hearing and chanting of the qualities or form or name of the Supreme, of the Absolute, means our association with God. Association. Direct association, in transcendental quality. So as we go on making association, then Kṛṣṇa helps us to understand Him.

Lecture on BG 6.1 -- Los Angeles, February 13, 1969:

Pleasure is the ultimate goal. But you do not know where is the pleasure. that is illusion. Real pleasure is in the transcendental form of Kṛṣṇa. You'll find Kṛṣṇa always jolly. There's so many pictures you see. And if we join, you become jolly. There's so many pictures you see. And if we join, you become jolly, that's all. Have you seen any picture Kṛṣṇa is working with machine? (laughter) Huge machine? Or have you seen any picture He is smoking? (laughter) By nature, pleasure, you see? Pleasure. So you have to unfold yourself, unfold yourself in that way and you find pleasure. Simply full of pleasure, that's all. Ānandamayo 'bhyāsāt (Vedānta-sūtra 1.1.12). By nature simply pleasure. Not by artificial means.

Lecture on BG 6.13-15 -- Los Angeles, February 16, 1969:

Question: Prabhupāda, you said that Kṛṣṇa has no limbs, no eyes, no form that we can comprehend. How then are we to understand the form of Kṛṣṇa that's given to us in the pictures and the mūrtis?

Prabhupāda: Yes, that I have explained. That you are to simply serve Him, then He will reveal. You cannot understand Kṛṣṇa by your ascending process. You have to serve Kṛṣṇa and Kṛṣṇa will reveal to you. That is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā you'll find in the Tenth Chapter.

teṣām evānukampārtham

aham ajñāna-jaṁ tamaḥ

nāśayāmy ātma-bhāva-stho

jñāna-dīpena bhāsvatā

(BG 10.11)

Lecture on BG 6.13-15 -- Los Angeles, February 16, 1969:

So if you simply hear sincerely and submissively, then you will understand Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa will reveal to you. Śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ smaraṇaṁ pāda-sevanam arcanaṁ vandanaṁ dāsyam, there are different nine kinds of variety. So vandanam, offering prayers, that is also bhakti. Śravaṇam, to hear about it. Just like we are hearing about Kṛṣṇa from this Bhagavad-gītā. Chanting about His glory, Hare Kṛṣṇa. This is the beginning. Śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ (SB 7.5.23). Viṣṇu means, everything is Viṣṇu. The meditation is Viṣṇu. The bhakti is Viṣṇu. Not without Viṣṇu. And Kṛṣṇa is the original form of Viṣṇu. Kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam (SB 1.3.28). The original form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. So if we follow this process then we'll be able to understand without any doubt.

Lecture on BG 6.13-15 -- Los Angeles, February 16, 1969:

This sāṅkhya-yoga was first practiced by Kapiladeva. He is incarnation of God, Kṛṣṇa. So this is the secret of yoga. That this, I mean to say, process of sitting and seeing the tip of your nose and sitting straight, all these means will help you to concentrate your mind on the Viṣṇu form, or Kṛṣṇa. One should meditate upon Me. This meditation means meditation on Kṛṣṇa. So here in this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, it is directly simply on Kṛṣṇa. There is nothing, therefore nobody is better meditator than these boys. They are simply concentrating on Kṛṣṇa. Their whole business is Kṛṣṇa. They're working in the garden, digging the earth, "Oh, there will be nice rose, we shall offer to Kṛṣṇa." Meditation. Practical meditation. I shall grow rose and it will be offered to Kṛṣṇa. Even in the digging there is meditation. You see? They are preparing nice foodstuff, "Oh, it will be eaten by Kṛṣṇa." So in cooking there is meditation. You see? You see? And what to speak of chanting and dancing. So they are meditating twenty-four hours in Kṛṣṇa. Perfect yogi. Let anyone come and challenge. These boys are perfect yogis.

Lecture on BG 6.30-34 -- Los Angeles, February 19, 1969:

Viṣṇujana: "In the Nārada Pañcarātra this is confirmed in this way: 'By concentrating one's attention on the transcendental form of Kṛṣṇa, who is all-pervading and beyond time and space, one becomes absorbed in thinking of Kṛṣṇa and then attains the happy state of transcendental association with Him.' Kṛṣṇa consciousness is the highest stage of trance in yoga practice. This very understanding that Kṛṣṇa is present as Paramātmā in everyone's heart makes the yogi faultless. The Vedas confirm this inconceivable potency of the Lord as follows: 'Viṣṇu is one and yet He is certainly all-pervading. By His inconceivable potency, in spite of His one form, He is present everywhere. As the sun, He appears in many places at once.' "

Prabhupāda: Yes, that example I have already given. As the sun can be present in many places simultaneously, similarly, Viṣṇu form or Kṛṣṇa can be present in everyone's heart, He is actually present: īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-deśe 'rjuna (BG 18.61)—He's sitting. The localization is also stated. Hṛd-deśe. Hṛd-deśe means in the heart. So concentration of yoga means to find out from the heart where Viṣṇu is sitting. There is. Go on.

Lecture on BG 6.40-42 -- New York, September 16, 1966:

And actually, if we are not getting some spiritual enlightenment by chanting Kṛṣṇa then do you think that we are simply wasting our time? No. We're not wasting our time. We're actually getting spiritual ecstasy because there is no difference. But you take similarly, the name of water or something else, what you want, that will not be fulfilled. This is the absolute and relative conception. In the absolute stage there is no difference, name, quality, form, pastime, entourage, everything the same. If you chant Kṛṣṇa's name it is as good as Kṛṣṇa. If you see Kṛṣṇa's form it is as good as Kṛṣṇa. If you think of Kṛṣṇa's activities it is as good as Kṛṣṇa. This realization is spiritual realization. Therefore a first-class devotee who is advanced in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he sees everything Kṛṣṇa. Nothing different from Kṛṣṇa. Any other questions?

Lecture on BG 6.46-47 -- Los Angeles, February 21, 1969:

Devotee: Prabhupāda, we were reading earlier this morning in Bhagavad-gītā, on the universal form of Kṛṣṇa when He revealed Himself to Arjuna, and He said that celestial beings and devotees and the demons both were fearful when they saw this universal form. How is it that devotees of Kṛṣṇa like demigods can be fearful even if they see Viśvarūpa?

Prabhupāda: Because they cannot love Viśvarūpa. Is that all right? Can you love Viśvarūpa? If Kṛṣṇa comes before you with Viśvarūpa, (laughs) you'll forget your love. Don't try to love Viśvarūpa. Love Śyāmasundara, that's all. We have seen Kṛṣṇa in Viśvarūpa during wartime. I remember I think in 1942, December, date I forget. I was just eating and there was siren of bombing in Calcutta. So the arrangement was as soon as there will be siren of bombing the government selected a place, shelter room, this room in your house will be shelter room. So we had to go into that shelter room and the bombing began—chiiiii-gown. So we were seeing that Viśvarūpa, you see, at that time. So I was thinking of course, that this is also Kṛṣṇa's another form. But that form is not very lovable form. (laughter) So a devotee in love, wants to love Kṛṣṇa in His original form. This Viśvarūpa is not His original form. He can appear in any form, that is His all-potency. But the lovable form is Kṛṣṇa, Śyāmasundara.

Lecture on BG 7.1 -- San Francisco, March 17, 1968:

So Kṛṣṇa is everything. The atheist will say, "Oh, they have installed some wooden forms and they are worshiping as gods." Atheistic. And one who knows the Kṛṣṇa science, he'll understand that "Kṛṣṇa is everything; therefore He can appear in everything." If electricity current is everywhere, so wherever you touch current you'll feel, "Here is current." Similarly, the Kṛṣṇa current in impersonal form is everywhere. It is the technician who knows how to use that current. That's all. So... Just like we get telephone connection. We simply inform the person, deposit our money. They come immediately. They find out where the connection can be done and he does his work. We do not know. He knows the technique, how to join telephone wire. Within a few seconds he joins and he, oh, "kling, kling," you are ready.

So one must know how to connect Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is everywhere. This is Kṛṣṇa conscious movement. This is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. One must know how we can derive from these features of Kṛṣṇa's forms in wood or iron or metal... That doesn't matter. Kṛṣṇa is everywhere. You have to learn how to contact Kṛṣṇa with everything. That will be explained in this system of yoga. You'll learn it. So the Kṛṣṇa consciousness is also a yoga, the perfect yoga, the highest of all yogic systems.

Lecture on BG 7.1 -- Los Angeles, December 2, 1968:

If you try to concentrate your mind on the form of Kṛṣṇa, so beautiful... He's enjoying with Rādhārāṇī and His associates. Then, mayy āsakta-manāḥ pārtha yogam, if you practice this yoga, mad-āśrayaḥ, yuñjan mad-āśrayaḥ... You have to practice this yoga, at the same time, you have to take shelter of Kṛṣṇa. Mad-āśrayaḥ. Āśrayaḥ means "under My protection." This is called surrender. If you go to a friend in a difficult position and you surrender to your friend, "My dear friend, you are so great, so powerful, so influential. I am in this great danger. So I surrender unto you. You please give me protection..." So you can do that to Kṛṣṇa. Here in the material world, if you surrender to a person, however very big he may be, he may refuse. He may say, "Well, I am unable to give you protection." That is the natural reply. If you are in danger and if you go even to your intimate friend, "Please give me protection," he will hesitate, because his power is very limited. He'll first of all think that "If I give protection to this person, whether my interest will not be jeopardized?" He'll think like that, because his potency is limited. But Kṛṣṇa is so nice that He's so powerful, He's so opulent... He declares in the Bhagavad-gītā, everyone, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja: (BG 18.66) "You leave aside everything. You simply surrender unto Me." And what is the result? The result is ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo mokṣayiṣyāmi: "I shall get you released from all kinds of reaction of your sinful life."

Lecture on BG 7.1 -- Madras, February 14, 1972:

Now if we surrender, Kṛṣṇa says,

sarva-dharmān parityajya

mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja

ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo

mokṣayiṣyāmi mā śucaḥ

(BG 18.66)

man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru (BG 18.65). These are the statement. Mām eva ye prapadyante māyām etāṁ taranti te (BG 7.14). You have been captured by māyā. You have forgotten Kṛṣṇa. Just try to surrender unto Him. This is the teachings of Lord Caitanya. And they are accepting, these Western outsiders, because they have no hodgepodge in their mind, you see. They have cleansed. So I have said that kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam (SB 1.3.28), that, and they are getting the result. And chant Kṛṣṇa's name. Kṛṣṇa and Kṛṣṇa's name, nondifferent. (Sanskrit—indistinct) There is no difference. Kṛṣṇa is the Absolute. Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa's name, Kṛṣṇa's quality, Kṛṣṇa's form, Kṛṣṇa's entourage, they are all the same. Anything in relationship with Kṛṣṇa is Kṛṣṇa. That is absolute knowledge. So it has become easier for them because they are accepting as they are stated in the śāstra.

Lecture on BG 7.1 -- Auckland, April 15, 1972:

Our beloved student Śrīmān Hanumān Gosvāmī has already given some introduction about our movement. Lord Caitanya, five hundred years ago, ordered it. Lord Caitanya is accepted as Kṛṣṇa Himself in the form of a devotee. Kṛṣṇa, when He was personally present, He stressed that He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat kiñcid asti dhanañjaya (BG 7.7). I understand that you are reading in this hall Bhagavad-gītā regularly. You know all these verses. Mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat asti kiñcit. Kṛṣṇa says, mattaḥ: "Beyond Me." Just like if I say, "Beyond me, this person." Similarly Kṛṣṇa says mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat (BG 7.7).

Lecture on BG 7.1 -- Auckland, April 15, 1972:

So God has a form just like a human being, two hands, two legs, and He Himself comes to show Him. That is Kṛṣṇa. He is not nirākāra. Īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ (Bs. 5.1). Vigraha, vigraha means form. Īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ. Avyaktaṁ vyaktim āpannaṁ manyante mām abuddhayaḥ (BG 7.24). That is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā. You know. Avyaktaṁ vyaktim āpannam. "The original is impersonal Brahman. Now He has taken form." This conclusion, who makes? Avyaktaṁ vyaktim āpannaṁ manyante mām abuddhayaḥ (BG 7.24): "Those who are less intelligent, whose intelligence is very poor, they consider that ultimately I am nirākāra. I have taken the form." Sākāra-nirākāra. No. Kṛṣṇa says, sambhavāmy ātma-māyayā: (BG 4.6) "I come out of My good will." Yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānir bhavati bhārata, tadātmānaṁ sṛjāmy aham: (BG 4.7) "At that time I appear." Therefore Kṛṣṇa says, janma karma me divyaṁ yo jānāti tattvataḥ (BG 4.9). We have to understand Him in truth, not by imagination, not by malinterpretation, but by fact. The fact is being explained by Kṛṣṇa Himself. Why we should go to understand Kṛṣṇa by the commentary of some less intelligent, some poor fund of knowledge? Why we should go?

Lecture on BG 7.1 -- Auckland, April 15, 1972:

Indian guest (1): ...must be a very enlightened man to be able to carry on the work that you are doing, and the vast amount of work that you have done. I would like to ask just one question, if you could enlighten me on that. I would like to hear your explanation on how do you have seen the form of God, if you have had any enlightenment on this. In what form you have...

Prabhupāda: Here is the picture of Kṛṣṇa. You don't believe? You have not seen picture of Kṛṣṇa?

Indian guest (1): Yes, I have.

Prabhupāda: Then why do you say there is no form of Kṛṣṇa? When you see a photograph of a person, how do you know that he has no form?

Indian guest (1): I do not understand that.

Prabhupāda: If you see the photograph of your father, how do you say that is he impersonal, he has no form? How do you conclude? First of all answer me. I have seen form of Kṛṣṇa. You have seen also form of Kṛṣṇa. There are hundreds and thousands of temples in India. Do you think they are all fools? And they were established by big ācāryas, by Rāmānujācārya, Madhvācārya, Viṣṇu Svāmī, Lord Caitanya. There is Jagannātha temple. Jagannātha temple, every day hundreds and thousands of people are going to see. In Vṛndāvana there are five thousand temples, Kṛṣṇa. Five thousand, ten thousand people are going. You know. In India there are so many pilgrimages. So do you think all these temples established by our predecessor, they are all fools?

Lecture on BG 7.1 -- Auckland, April 15, 1972:

First of all you begin, how to try to learn how to love God. And when you are actually on the platform of love, prema, premāñjana-cchurita-bhakti, you will see God always in His form. He becomes revealed. You haven't got to try to see, but He will reveal. Svayam eva sphuraty adaḥ. Sevonmukhe hi jihvādau svayam eva sphuraty adaḥ (Brs. 1.2.234). When you engage your tongue... That beginning is tongue. Jihvādau sevonmukhe. If you begin your service... God cannot be understood by our challenging mood. Therefore Kṛṣṇa says, "First of all surrender. Then try to understand." Sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja, ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo mokṣayiṣyāmi (BG 18.66). When you surrender, and by that surrendering process, when you are free from the resultant action of sinful activities, then you can appreciate God, not that God is my order-supplier: "Please come. I will see You." No. Yeṣāṁ tv anta-gataṁ pāpaṁ janānāṁ puṇya. You are reading Bhagavad-gītā. You know all these things.

Lecture on BG 7.1 -- Auckland, April 15, 1972:

One who is completely free from the resultant action of sinful activities, they can be engaged fully in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. So these students are being trained how to become free from sinful activities. They are forbidden not to have illicit sex. These are four pillars of sinful activities: illicit sex life, meat-eating, intoxication and gambling. Yatra pāpaś catur-vidhā. These are exactly to the injunction of the Vedas. So if we purify ourself... In the Bhagavad-gītā, Arjuna appreciates Kṛṣṇa, paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān (BG 10.12). How you can approach the pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān without being pavitra? So there is a process to appreciate whether Kṛṣṇa or God has form. Unless we adopt the form, superficially it is not possible. I see otherwise there are... Why so many process of bhajana-sādhana if it is so cheap that we can immediately understand what is God? No. And the Veda says, tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum evābhigacchet (MU 1.2.12). That was our system. First of all, they used to become brahmacārīs, to become most obedient servant of the spiritual master before becoming gṛhastha. Celibacy, brahmacārī, then gṛhastha. So these things are all lost now.

Lecture on BG 7.1 -- San Diego, July 1, 1972:

Devotee: I went to one of their meetings, and it was just..., they talk about something concentrating, feeling, something going down, like, something coming up. But it's just...

Prabhupāda: Not very, I mean to say, clear. Something vague. So this will not help. Here is positive proposition, that you concentrate on the form of Kṛṣṇa. Mayy āsakta-manāḥ pārtha. Yoginām api sarveṣāṁ mad-gatenāntar-ātmanā śraddhāvān... Antar-ātmanā (BG 6.47). One has to fix up the form... Actual yoga system is to concentrate on the form of Viṣṇu. Dhyānāvasthita-tad-gatena manasā. By... Meditation means to concentrate the mind without being diverted to any other subject. Simply thinking of Lord Viṣṇu. That is the yoga meditation recommended in Vedic literature. So here also, Kṛṣṇa says "Me." Kṛṣṇa and Viṣṇu, the same. Viṣṇu is expansion of Kṛṣṇa. So when we concentrate our mind upon Kṛṣṇa, Viṣṇu is included there. Go on.

Lecture on BG 7.1 -- San Diego, July 1, 1972:

So Kṛṣṇa can be present by His words. Because Kṛṣṇa's word and Kṛṣṇa is not different, Absolute. If you actually accept Kṛṣṇa in the form of Bhagavad-gītā, then you are directly associating with Kṛṣṇa, as Arjuna was doing. There will be no difficulty. Ajita. Kṛṣṇa is unconquered, but simply by your humble receptive process, you will conquer over Kṛṣṇa. How you'll conquer? He's already within your heart. You'll realize that "Here is Kṛṣṇa." That is conquer. Then?

Pradyumna: "No one can be a greater authority than Kṛṣṇa, and therefore by hearing from Him one receives the greatest opportunity for progress in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. One has therefore to learn from Kṛṣṇa directly or from a pure devotee of Kṛṣṇa, and not from a nondevotee upstart, puffed up with academic education.

Lecture on BG 7.1 -- Sydney, February 16, 1973:

I am speaking from the Seventh Chapter. This Sixth Chapter of Bhagavad-gītā concludes with this verse, that yoginām api sarveṣām. There are different types of yogis, but the most important yogi, or the topmost yogi, is he. Who? "Who is always thinking of Me," Kṛṣṇa says. Who is always thinking of God. He's first-class yogi. Yoginām api sarveṣāṁ mad-gatenāntarātmanā. Yoga means that: always thinking of God. Dhyānāvasthita-tad-gatena manasā paśyanti yaṁ yogina. The yogi's business is that he's always meditating upon the form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That is yogi. Mad-gatenāntarātmanā. These are the Vedic version, that dhyānāvasthita. Dhyāna means meditation. Dhyānāvasthita-tad-gatena: just being absorbed in the form of God, Kṛṣṇa. One who is meditating, dhyānāvasthita-tad-gatena manasā,(?) mind is so trained up that mind cannot think of anything else except God, that is perfection of yoga. Mind..., we, our mind cannot be vacant. We must think of something in the mind. Not for a second we can make our mind vacant. That is not possible. So this vacancy, this mind's business—thinking, feeling and willing—when all of them are engaged in the Supreme Personality of Godhead, that is called perfect yoga system, or the topmost yoga system.

Lecture on BG 7.1 -- Sydney, February 16, 1973:

Anyway, our position is, we learn from Bhagavad-gītā that we have to increase our attachment for God, Kṛṣṇa. mayy āsakta. This is the perfect process of yoga system. And if you simply increase your attachment for Kṛṣṇa, then asaṁśayam, without any doubt, samagram, and in fullness, you can understand what is God. This is Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. We have got our Kṛṣṇa's form. Just like you see Kṛṣṇa is playing on His flute. Here is also Kṛṣṇa standing with His brother Balarāma. So Kṛṣṇa is sometimes with Rādhārāṇī, so we worship Kṛṣṇa-Rādhā, Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa in our temple. Those who have not seen—we invite all of you to our temple—there is Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa Deity. So this process, Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, is to teach people how to increase his attachment for Kṛṣṇa. There are many processes. The beginning of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness is śraddhā, a little faith. That is the beginning. Adau śraddhā. Śraddhā means to accept that "This is a nice movement." This a nice movement. Just like you have come here with śraddhā, little faith, that "What these people are making in Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement? Let us go and see." This is called śraddhā. This is the first thing. So you have to increase this śraddhā. How? Adau śraddhā tataḥ sādhu-saṅga (CC Madhya 22.83).

Lecture on BG 7.1 -- Sydney, February 16, 1973:

So our recommendation is... Not our; it is the recommendation of Sri Caitanya Mahāprabhu, who inaugurated or revitalized this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement five hundred years ago in Bengal as Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. He says, nāmnām akāri bahudhā nija sarva śaktis, tatrārpitā niyamitaḥ smaraṇe na kālaḥ. Nāmnām akāri: the name and person whose name. Because God is absolute, there is no difference between His name and He Himself. Just like in this material calculation, if you want water, simply by chanting "water, water," you won't get water. The water substance is different from the name "water." But God being absolute, His name, His form, His quality, His entourage, they are all the same, as good as God. So if you associate with any one of them, either God personally or with His name or with His form or with His quality or with His paraphernalia, immediately you become in contact with God. This is the science. This is not fiction; this is science. Because if you accept God as absolute, there cannot be difference between God and His name and His form. So this is science. You'll realize as you make progress.

Lecture on BG 7.1 -- Upsala University Stockholm, September 8, 1973:

Yoginām api sarveṣām. One who practices yoga system, he's called yogi. So Kṛṣṇa says, yoginām api sarveṣām: "Of all the yogis..." I have already stated. There are different kinds of yogis. "Of all the yogis..." Yoginām api sarveṣām. Sarveṣām means "of all yogis." Mad-gatenāntar-ātmanā: "One who is thinking of Me within himself." We can think of Kṛṣṇa. We have Kṛṣṇa's form. Kṛṣṇa Deity, we worship. So if we engage ourself in the worship of the Deity, the form of Kṛṣṇa, which is nondifferent from Kṛṣṇa, or, in the absence of Deity, if we chant the holy name of Kṛṣṇa, that is also Kṛṣṇa. Abhinnatvān nāma-nāminoḥ (CC Madhya 17.133). Kṛṣṇa is Absolute. Therefore, there is no difference between Him and His name. There is no difference between Him and His form. There is no difference between Him and His picture. There is no difference between Him and His topics. Anything about Kṛṣṇa is Kṛṣṇa. This is called absolute knowledge. So either you chant the Kṛṣṇa's name or you worship Kṛṣṇa's form—everything is Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture on BG 7.1 -- Upsala University Stockholm, September 8, 1973:

So here Kṛṣṇa is teaching, Himself, how you can become Kṛṣṇa conscious. The first item, He says: mayy āsakta-manāḥ pārtha. "My dear Arjuna, if you increase your attachment for Me, that is the beginning." And that is the end. That is beginning, and that is end. It is not that beginning is something... Spiritual means it is nothing beginning, nothing end. The beginning and the end, the same thing. If you increase your attachment for Kṛṣṇa... Because, at the present moment, in our material conditional life, we have no attachment for Kṛṣṇa. We have got attachment for non-Kṛṣṇa. So you have to transfer that attachment to Kṛṣṇa. Attachment is there; simply you have to transfer the object of attachment. So here it is said: mayy āsakta-manāḥ pārtha yogaṁ yuñjan mad-āśrayaḥ. This is yoga. This is meditation. If you are fond of meditation, then you meditate upon Kṛṣṇa, on the form of Kṛṣṇa, playing flute, bluish color, having a peacock on His head. The description is there. Barhāvataṁsam asitāmbuda-sundarāṅgam.

Lecture on BG 7.1 -- Upsala University Stockholm, September 8, 1973:

So this Deity, description of Kṛṣṇa, is there in the temple, in the book. So if you always simply think of this beautiful form of Kṛṣṇa, that is called perfect meditation. If you simply think of. That is very easy. If you... We are always attracted by beautiful things. So Kṛṣṇa is the most beautiful. So if you meditate upon Kṛṣṇa, then your meditation becomes very easy and perfect. Because Kṛṣṇa has said that yoginām api sarveṣāṁ mad-gatenāntar-ātmanā (BG 6.47).

Lecture on BG 7.1 -- Hong Kong, January 25, 1975:

There are two living beings. One is Bhagavān, and the other is the living being as we are. That is the Vedic version. Nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām (Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2.2.13). Bhagavān means He is also a living being. He is not nirākāra. When we say bhagavān nirākāra, that means either we have no knowledge of Bhagavān or nirākāra means He is not a form like us. Our form and Kṛṣṇa's form—different. Kṛṣṇa is complete spiritual, divine, and we are, at the present moment, although we have got our spiritual form within this body, but because we have no vision of the spiritual form, we are taking this body as our form. This is called illusion.

Lecture on BG 7.1 -- Fiji, May 24, 1975:

When Kṛṣṇa was present He was not controlled by anyone. He was only controller. If you study the life of Kṛṣṇa, you will find He is always controller, never controlled by anyone. Therefore the śāstra says, īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ (Bs. 5.1). And about His form? His form is sat-cit-ānanda. How it is? Now, you can distinguish. Your form, this body, is asat; it will not stay. But Kṛṣṇa's form is sat, just the opposite. And your form or my form is full of ignorance, not cit. But Kṛṣṇa's form is full of knowledge, just opposite. And ānanda. My form is so full of miserable condition of life that I have no ānanda, blissfulness. But Kṛṣṇa's form is blissfulness. You will find Kṛṣṇa's picture always smiling and playing on His flute with His cowherd boyfriends or the gopīs or His mother, Yaśodā, always jolly. Ānanda. Ānandamayo 'bhyāsāt (Vedānta-sūtra 1.1.12). That is, the Vedānta-sūtra says, "The Absolute Truth by nature is ānandamaya, always jolly."

Lecture on BG 7.1 -- Melbourne, June 29, 1974 :

So, samagram, one has to understand actually what is Kṛṣṇa in complete. If you want to that, know that, then this is the process, mayi, mayi āsakta-manaḥ, mayy āsakta-manaḥ (BG 7.1), the mind has to be engaged in Kṛṣṇa, first thing is. Mind. Therefore, Kṛṣṇa manifests Himself in this Deity form. The Deity is Kṛṣṇa Himself. But we cannot concentrate Kṛṣṇa which is not visible. Kṛṣṇa is not visible to the ordinary eyes. Ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi na bhaved grāhyam indriyaiḥ (CC Madhya 17.136). God is not perceptible with our, this material eyes, our material senses. ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi na, even material ears. You are chanting. If you are not spiritually advanced, this chanting of Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra also will not appeal. It will be happening mechanically. But by chanting you will gradually advance, ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanam, then you will understand that this Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra is not different from Kṛṣṇa. The mantra, the sound vibration, is also Kṛṣṇa. So, we have to, I mean to say, repose our mind to the form of Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa says mayi, "Unto Me, ṛṣṇa." We cannot see now Kṛṣṇa personally. Personally He is here, but we want to see anything physically. Physically He is also there. Here, Kṛṣṇa mūrti is physical, but, because you are differently educated, you do not know what is this world of physics. We think that this is different from Kṛṣṇa. That will be explained. Therefore it is said, tac chṛṇu. Asaṁśayaṁ samagraṁ māṁ yathā jñāsyasi tac chṛṇu. "You just hear from Me, as you can understand Me in complete, without any doubt." So Kṛṣṇa is instructing Himself, about Himself. Why there should be any doubt? There cannot be any doubt. God is explaining Himself about Him, then why there should be doubt? This is the, this is called bhakti-yoga. Mad-āśrayaḥ. Mayy āsakta-manāḥ pārtha. So how you can engage your mind in the Supreme Personality of Godhead if you do not know the form? Therefore Kṛṣṇa comes in His original form.

Lecture on BG 7.1 -- Melbourne, June 29, 1974 :

So, Kṛṣṇa comes therefore personally and exhibits this Kṛṣṇa mūrti. Just like here is the picture of your spiritual master. So you worship this picture. You know that "This is my spiritual master's picture." Similarly, if somebody disregards this picture, you will not tolerate. Similarly, Kṛṣṇa's Deity and Kṛṣṇa not different. I was explaining this morning, Kṛṣṇa has come, kindly, to accept your service as you can deal with Him. If Kṛṣṇa comes in His gigantic form—Kṛṣṇa has got gigantic form also, as it was shown to Arjuna—you will not be able to capture Him, neither you have any means to dress him. Suppose the universal form of Kṛṣṇa is there, and you have to dress Him, so the (laughter) whole cloth factory will be finished.(laughter) Is it not? How you can dress? You have no capacity to dress. But Kṛṣṇa has kindly accepted a form, the Deity. You can purchase cloth according to your means, and with your great devotion, you can dress. Similarly, the gigantic gigantic virāṭ-rūpa, universal form, the whole, it s described in the Bhagavad-gītā that He is eating, the whole humanity is going on in His mouth. Then where you will get such food? (laughter) The whole human..., the whole universal living entities can be devoured by Kṛṣṇa. But, because you are not able to offer such gigantic food to Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa says, "All right, give Me," patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyam, "give Me a little flower, give Me a little fruit, give Me a little water, I shall accept it." This is called arcana-viddhi. Kṛṣṇa has agreed to accept your service as you can afford to do. It is not idol worship. It is actually worshiping Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture on BG 7.1 -- Durban, October 9, 1975:

Indian man (5): Swamiji, there is a school of thought amongst Hindus that condemns idol worship and the concept of avatāra. Would you kindly elaborate on these concepts?

Prabhupāda: Idol worship, that is not idol. Just like if you worship your leader in some picture or some statue, that is not idol worship. That is actually fact. You show your respect to your leader. Similarly, when we worship the Deity of the Supreme Lord, Kṛṣṇa, it is not idol worship. It is worshiping Kṛṣṇa. The difference is, as we have already discussed, Kṛṣṇa is Absolute. In the ordinary case the picture of your father and the father is different because it is material body. But Kṛṣṇa, being absolute, His form, Deity form, and He, there is no difference. It is Kṛṣṇa's mercy that He comes before you in the Deity form made of so-called wood or stone because we cannot see at the present moment except wood and stone. We cannot see.

Lecture on BG 7.1 -- Durban, October 9, 1975:

The idol, it is not idol. It is Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is all-powerful. He can present Himself in a manner which you can see, because Kṛṣṇa is everything. Bhūmir āpo 'nalo vāyuḥ khaṁ mano buddhir eva ca (BG 7.4). He is everything. God is everything. So you cannot see at your present status the God. But you can see His form, and the business will be done. If you offer everything, Kṛṣṇa will eat. Business will go on. There is no difference. It is His mercy that He presents Himself in a form which we can see.

Lecture on BG 7.1 -- Bombay, December 20, 1975:

Īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ (Bs. 5.1). He is not nirākāra; vigraha. Vigraha means form, but His form is different from our form. Therefore He is described as sac-cid-ānanda. Sat means eternal, cit means full of knowledge, and ānanda means full of transcendental bliss, eternal bliss. The beginning is eternal, so eternal life, eternal complete full knowledge and eternal bliss; this is the composition of Kṛṣṇa's body. But mūḍhas, rascals, they think of Kṛṣṇa as ordinary human being. Avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā mānuṣīṁ tanum āśritam (BG 9.11).

Lecture on BG 7.1 -- Hyderabad, August 22, 1976:

Tattva. Tattva means the Absolute is the same either by His name, by His form, by His pastimes, by His entourage—everything absolute same. Advaya-jñāna. Vadanti tat tattva-vidas yaj jñānam advayam (SB 1.2.11). There is no difference. This is tattva-jñāna.

Lecture on BG 7.1 -- Hyderabad, August 22, 1976:

So Kṛṣṇa is personally explaining, read Bhagavad-gītā, see the Deity, come here daily, take caraṇāmṛtam. If possible, bring patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyam (BG 9.26). In this way you become the topmost yogi and attached to Kṛṣṇa. Sa vai manaḥ kṛṣṇa-padāravindayor vacāṁsi vaikuṇṭha-guṇānuvarṇane (SB 9.4.18). In this way, he'll be attached to the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa and he'll try to understand and explain, just like these devotees are doing. They're going outside for preaching. Vacāṁsi vaikuṇṭha-guṇānuvarṇane. What is their business? Simply describing Kṛṣṇa and Kṛṣṇa's activities. So similarly, if we engage our mind unto the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa and we describe about His pastimes and see His form... Mind, we have got senses. So eyes engaged in seeing the form, nose engaged in smelling the flowers offered to Kṛṣṇa, tongue engaged in tasting caraṇāmṛta and prasādam, hands engaged in cleansing this temple or touching the feet of the devotees. In this way, when all your senses will be engaged, your life will be successful. This is wanted. This is Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement.

Lecture on BG 7.1-2 -- Bombay, March 28, 1971:

So here it is stated by Kṛṣṇa, mayy āsakta-manāḥ. How we can become attached to Kṛṣṇa? You have to think over. Kṛṣṇa's different features, His name, His quality, His pastimes, His form, His entourage—so many things—you can simply think over. That is practical and actual meditation. If you study Vedic literature, you get so many information about Kṛṣṇa. And all these will be revealed to you. Svayam eva. Sevonmukhe hi jihvādau svayam eva sphuraty adaḥ (Brs. 1.2.234). We cannot understand Kṛṣṇa by our speculative knowledge. If we try to do that, then we can approach up to the impersonal Brahman feature of Kṛṣṇa. Brahmeti. That is not full Kṛṣṇa. That is Kṛṣṇa's partial realization. Brahman realization means Kṛṣṇa's partial realization. Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā, brahmaṇo 'haṁ pratiṣṭhā: "The Brahman, the all-pervading Brahman, impersonal Brahman, is situated in Me." That's a fact.

Lecture on BG 7.1-2 -- Bombay, March 28, 1971:

I have got a relationship with Kṛṣṇa eternally. Now it is covered. So practice this yoga means reviving our original relationship with Kṛṣṇa. In the Caitanya-caritāmṛta it is said,

nitya-siddha kṛṣṇa-prema 'sādhya' kabhu naya

śravaṇādi-śuddha-citte karaye udaya

(CC Madhya 22.107)

It is simply awakened. Not that artificially we are imposing some impression to the minds of our students that they are hankering after "Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa..." No. It is a process to remove all the dirty things from the heart. Ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanam (CC Antya 20.12). And as soon as the heart is cleansed of all dirty things, material contamination, then we can see what is our relationship with Kṛṣṇa. Therefore, Kṛṣṇa recommends that "Somehow or other, you try to be attached to Me." And the Gosvāmīs also, Rūpa Gosvāmī recommends, yena tena prakāreṇa manaḥ kṛṣṇe niveśayet: "Somehow or other, try to apply your mind in Kṛṣṇa." It is not very difficult. Here is Kṛṣṇa's form, arcā-mūrti. If you constantly see Kṛṣṇa's form, śyāmasundaram acintya-guṇa-svarūpam Acintya-guṇa-svarūpam. Kṛṣṇa is acintya-guṇa-svarūpam; therefore He is nirguṇa.

Lecture on BG 7.1-3 -- London, August 4, 1971:

Yesterday there was a question. Somebody—I do not know whether the gentleman is present here—"Whether you have seen God, or Kṛṣṇa." Not only me, everyone has seen Kṛṣṇa. Everyone has seen Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa... It's not that... You can see Kṛṣṇa in this form. He is playing flute and enjoying with Rādhārāṇī. That is His natural picture or natural form. But He has got multi other forms also. If you are not fortunate enough to understand this form, then you can turn your attention to other, many other forms, and you can see Kṛṣṇa. Actually, we cannot see spirit. Spirit soul even we cannot see.

Lecture on BG 7.1-3 -- Stockholm, September 10, 1973:

Our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is to understand the Supreme Person, Kṛṣṇa, as He is, without any interpretation. That is called Kṛṣṇa consciousness yoga. That can be achieved, as Kṛṣṇa says, always keeping center Kṛṣṇa.

mayy āsakta-manāḥ pārtha

yogaṁ yuñjan mad-āśrayaḥ

asaṁśayaṁ samagraṁ māṁ

yathā jñāsyasi tac chṛṇu

(BG 7.1)

You can understand. If you practice this yoga, keeping Kṛṣṇa in the center, always thinking of Kṛṣṇa, the form of the Kṛṣṇa, then it will be revealed. Yasya deve parā bhaktir yathā deve tathā gurau (ŚU 6.23). This is the yoga system of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

Lecture on BG 7.2 -- Hyderabad, April 28, 1974 :

Simply try to be in touch with the vibration. Where is the wrong there? What is the loss there? If you chant, just like these boys, they, you have seen the picture, they have taken it seriously. They are working in the field: Hare Kṛṣṇa. They are working in the factory, of incense factory: Hare Kṛṣṇa. Where is the wrong there? Why India is not taking this? If you work in your factory, if you chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, then what is the loss there? But you will remain always in touch with Kṛṣṇa, smartavyaḥ satataṁ viṣṇur. This formula is (indistinct). We shall talk so many nonsense things, but you are not, (indistinct), desiring to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. This is our fault. Otherwise Kṛṣṇa is so kind. Nāma rūpe kṛṣṇa avatāra. Kṛṣṇa is now descended in His vibration form, Hare Kṛṣṇa, this Kali-yuga. Kali-yuga, because we cannot do anything, therefore Kṛṣṇa has become very easily available in the form of His holy name, Hare Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is available. You can see Kṛṣṇa, you can touch Kṛṣṇa, you can tlk with Kṛṣṇa. As you may advance in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, that is possible.

Lecture on BG 7.2 -- San Francisco, September 11, 1968:

Paramātmā is also personal. Everything is personal. Paramātmā is described as four-handed Nārāyaṇa with śaṇkha, cakra, gadā, padma, with, I mean to say, ornaments. That is the feature of Paramātmā. You have seen the Viṣṇu-mūrti. That is Paramātmā. This voidness is an imagination, voidness. Actually God or Paramātmā or Kṛṣṇa, They are all sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ, transcendental forms. They are not material forms. Transcendental forms. Īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ (Bs. 5.1). Vigraha means form. If we, part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa, we have got individuality, forms, how we can say that the Supreme has no form, no individuality? He has got complete individuality. And that is confirmed in the Vedas: nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām (Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2.2.13).

Lecture on BG 7.3 -- Bombay, March 29, 1971:

If a person is very expert in exercising his senses, mental speculator, it is not that he will understand Kṛṣṇa. Ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi. Nāmādi means His holy name, Hare Kṛṣṇa. Because name is the first. In our, this forgetful condition, our first business is to chant the holy name. Therefore nāmādi. To understand Kṛṣṇa we have to chant His holy name first, ādi. Then gradually, Kṛṣṇa's qualities, Kṛṣṇa's form, Kṛṣṇa's pastimes, Kṛṣṇa's entourage and everything will be revealed.

Lecture on BG 7.3 -- Bombay, March 29, 1971:

Kṛṣṇa has got ākāra. Kṛṣṇa therefore says, avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā mānuṣīṁ tanum āśritam (BG 9.11). Avyaktaṁ vyaktim āpannaṁ manyante mām abuddhayaḥ (BG 7.24). Kṛṣṇa has got transcendental form. He has got His abode. He is engaged there always.

cintāmaṇi-prakara-sadmasu kalpa-vṛkṣa-

lakṣāvṛteṣu surabhīr abhipālayantam

lakṣmī-sahasra-śata-sambhrama-sevyamānaṁ

govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi

(Bs. 5.29)

Every description is there in the Vedic literatures. Therefore if we learn about Kṛṣṇa, being situated in the daiva-varṇāśrama or having acquired the real qualities of brāhmaṇa, higher or transcendental qualities... Brāhmaṇa qualities means brahma jānāti iti brāhmaṇaḥ. That is nirākāra, of course, but you have to transcend the position of brāhmaṇa and become a Vaiṣṇava. Then you will understand the Kṛṣṇa's form, Kṛṣṇa's qualities, Kṛṣṇa's pastimes. Sevonmukhe hi jihvādau svayam eva sphuraty adaḥ (Brs. 1.2.234). Nāhaṁ prakāśaḥ sarvasya yoga-māyā-samāvṛtaḥ (BG 7.25). Those who are not Kṛṣṇa conscious, those who are not advanced in Kṛṣṇa science, for them, Kṛṣṇa is covered by the yoga-māyā curtain.

Lecture on BG 7.3 -- Nairobi, October 29, 1975:

If you simply think of Kṛṣṇa and talk of Kṛṣṇa, that... I think we discussed this verse in the morning. If your mind is always absorbed about Kṛṣṇa, then you are going to be perfect. Somehow or other, you think of Kṛṣṇa. Man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru (BG 18.65). This is the chance we are giving. Everyone can think of Kṛṣṇa. Here is Kṛṣṇa's form. Everyone can chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. Everyone can offer obeisances. Everyone can offer some fruits and flowers. This is the opportunity. Man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru (BG 18.65). These four principles. Then gradually develop.

Lecture on BG 7.7 -- Bombay, April 1, 1971:

So Kṛṣṇa says, praṇavaḥ sarva-vedeṣu. The oṁkāra, praṇava... oṁ tad viṣṇoḥ paramaṁ padaṁ sadā paśyanti sūrayaḥ. The Vedic mantras, oṁ bhagavate vāsudevāya namaḥ. This oṁkāra, this praṇava, is Kṛṣṇa. So anyone who is chanting the Vedic hymns, and as soon as he vibrates this sound, transcendental sound, om, here is Kṛṣṇa. So how we can avoid Kṛṣṇa? Simply we have to know. You have to purify your eyes. You have to purify your ears. You have to purify your hands. You have to purify your legs. In this way, when your senses are purified in every step, in every moment, you will see Kṛṣṇa, nothing but Kṛṣṇa. The purificatory process—just to purify the eyes. Kṛṣṇa is present before you in arcā-mūrti, arcāvatāra, nicely dressed by the devotees. Śrī-vigrahārādhana-nitya-nānā **. It is the duty of the devotee to decorate the śrī-vigraha, the form, transcendental form of Kṛṣṇa very nicely so that thousands of people may come in the temple and see Kṛṣṇa. And as you go on seeing Kṛṣṇa and your eyes become purified, then you will see Kṛṣṇa, how nice Kṛṣṇa is. Just like when Caitanya Mahāprabhu entered the Jagannātha temple, as soon as He saw Kṛṣṇa, immediately He fainted because His eyes were prepared to see Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture on BG 7.7 -- Vrndavana, August 13, 1974:

So the living entity and this matter, two combination, makes the whole creation. Everywhere the creation is going on. So therefore the conclusion is mayā tatam idaṁ sarvam, "Everywhere I am expanded." Where is the difficulty to understand? Sūtre maṇi-gaṇā iva. As the pearls are set up on a thread, standing... Everything is dazzling, but they're all resting on the thread. Similarly, everything is resting on Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is the support. We are discovering so many laws. Or the laws are there; they are discovering the laws. But the original support is Kṛṣṇa. The whole planetary system, the modern science says, the law of gravitation. But that is not very perfectly explained. We can question. There are so many things. But from the Vedic literature we understand that Kṛṣṇa in His ananta feature, Anantadeva, or Śeṣaśāyī Nāga... The hoods are expanded, and all the planets are resting on His hood. It is so small, and the hood is very big. In the Caitanya-caritāmṛta... So therefore the planets are resting not on the law of gravitation but on the head of Kṛṣṇa in His form of Śeṣa. This is our Vedic conclusion.

Lecture on BG 7.8 -- Bombay, February 23, 1974:

Those who are chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra without any offense, they are tasting spiritual nectarine. Just like Rūpa Gosvāmī has written a śloka that "If I could possess millions of ears and millions of tongues, then I could enjoy what is the transcendental mellow in chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra. But that is not possible for ordinary human being in the beginning. Therefore śāstra says, ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi na bhaved grāhyam indriyaiḥ (CC Madhya 17.136). These impurified senses cannot appreciate the value of the holy name of Kṛṣṇa. Nāma-ādi, His name, His quality, His pastimes, His form, His activities... There are so many things, beginning with nāma, Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra. As we go on chanting, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma ,Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare, and as we become purified... The more we chant, we become purified.

Lecture on BG 7.9 -- Vrndavana, August 15, 1974:

Actually, we have to think of Kṛṣṇa... Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare. Always thinking of Kṛṣṇa. Man-manā bhava mad-bhaktaḥ. Here is Kṛṣṇa's form. Therefore we have to worship Deity. Constantly, if we worship, then Kṛṣṇa's form is always impressed. I can see Kṛṣṇa any, any time. If I close my eyes, I will see Kṛṣṇa, how Kṛṣṇa is nicely dressed. I see Kṛṣṇa is very pleasingly eating what I have prepared with devotion, bhaktyā. Real thing is bhaktyā, not official. Not official. Patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ yo me bhaktyā prayacchati (BG 9.26). He does not accept anything even it is not offered with bhakti and by the bhakta. He does not accept. Why He shall accept? Is He hungry like me? No. He simply wants to see how you have learned to love Kṛṣṇa, bhakti, how you are eager to serve Kṛṣṇa. That is... Kṛṣṇa wants to see. Otherwise He does not require your service.

Lecture on BG 8.1 -- Geneva, June 7, 1974:

If we are practiced to think of Kṛṣṇa always, naturally, at the time of death, at the time of end of this body, if we are so fortunate to think of Kṛṣṇa, His form, then we become materially free, no more this material body. This is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Practice. Yaḥ prayāti sa mad-bhāvaṁ yāti (BG 8.5).

Lecture on BG 8.5 -- New York, October 26, 1966:

Anta-kāle means "at the time of death." "At the time of death, one who remembers Me..." Anta-kāle ca mām eva. Mām eva. Mām eva means... Eva means "certainly," and me means..., mām means "me." "Certainly Me." The Supreme Personality of Godhead says, "Certainly Me." That means Kṛṣṇa, or Kṛṣṇa's expansion, the form—not formless. Mām. Formless... This is explained in the Twelfth Chapter, that kleśo 'dhikataras teṣām avyaktāsakta-cetasām (BG 12.5). One who is attached to the impersonal Brahman, then his business is troublesome. Kleśa. Kleśa means troublesome. Avyaktā hi gatir duḥkhaṁ dehavadbhir avāpyate. Dehavat. Because we are in this material body and our senses are not able to understand except something form. So if by artificial way I want to think of formless, it becomes a troublesome business.

Actually, God is not formless, but His form is different. Everything has form. Without form, there is nothing. Even the smallest atom, it has got form. Just like in geometry, they describe a point has no length, no breadth—because the point is so small that our instrument, measuring instrument, fails to measure what is its length or breadth. Therefore they give it up, that "It has no length and no breadth." But actually, it is not a fact. It has got length and breadth, but we have no instrument, we have no power to see.

Lecture on BG 8.5 -- New York, October 26, 1966:

We get information from the śāstras. Just like we get complete information of the sun globe from geography or from authoritative sources, scientist, astrologer, astronomer, mathematician, so similarly, you can get information what is the form of individual soul, what is the form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. They are there. But His form is not like your form or my form. The Brahma-saṁhitā says, sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha (Bs. 5.1). His form is full of bliss, and full of knowledge, and eternal. But this body, this body, our body, is neither eternal, neither full of knowledge, neither blissful. So we can distinguish what is the form of God. Sac-cid-ānanda. Sat. Sat means eternal, cit means full of knowledge, and ānanda means full of blissfulness.

So this body is neither blissful, neither eternal, nor full of knowledge. It is full of ignorance and full of miseries and not permanent; temporary. So God hasn't got such body. Therefore sometimes it is said in the Vedic literature: formless. Formless means the form which you can conceive at the present moment, God hasn't got that form. But when He descends like you and me, that is His mercy. Paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām (BG 4.8). He comes just to..., being visible to our eyes. Just like this picture. This picture is not... It is not to be taken that He's not God, He is picture. The picture of God is also God. Picture of Kṛṣṇa is Kṛṣṇa. The sound, name Kṛṣṇa, that is also Kṛṣṇa. But just to give us facility to understand... You do not think that this picture of Kṛṣṇa is painted by some artist's imagination. No. It is not imagination. There is description in the scripture what is the form of Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture on BG 8.5 -- New York, October 26, 1966:

So neither God is limited to any five imaginative forms or this form or that form. His form nobody can imagine, neither He is within our perception. But He is as He is. Paraṁ bhāvam ajānanto mama bhūta-maheśvaram (BG 9.11). Therefore we have to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead from authoritative sources, just like the Bhagavad-gītā.

Lecture on BG 8.5 -- New York, October 26, 1966:

So His form..., His form, His name, His quality, His pastimes—everything transcendental. Therefore in the Bhagavad-gītā it is said, anta-kāle ca mām eva. Mām eva (BG 8.5). "Only unto Me." If you simply practice the Kṛṣṇa's form to see... Just like if you chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, at once you see the form of Kṛṣṇa within your mind. Therefore Bhagavad-gītā says "One who is thinking of Me, Kṛṣṇa, always, He is the greatest yogi." He's the greatest yogi. Yoginām api sarveṣām. There are many kinds of yogis, but Kṛṣṇa says that "Of all the yogis..." Yoginām api sarveṣām. Sarveṣām means you can count as many millions of yogis. But of all them, all of them... Yoginām api sarveṣāṁ mad-gatenāntar-ātmanā: (BG 6.47) "One who is always thinking of Me," antar-ātmanā, "within himself, within the heart, within the mind," śraddhāvān, "with faith and love," bhajate yo mām... Bhajate means engaged in devotional service. "Kṛṣṇa, please be kind upon me. I am fallen. Kindly accept me." This is yoga. That's all. Very simple thing. "Kṛṣṇa, I am in..."

Lecture on BG 8.5 -- New York, October 26, 1966:

Our intelligence is very short. We cannot perform real meditation. We cannot perform the preliminary activities. Yama niyama āsana prāṇāyāma. It is not possible at the present moment. So those principles are not rejected, but it is not possible at the present moment. Therefore Lord Caitanya says, harer nāma harer nāma harer nāmaiva kevalam (CC Adi 17.21). As soon as you chant this transcendental vibration, Hare Kṛṣṇa, immediately the form of Kṛṣṇa is within yourself, without yourself. And here in the Bhagavad-gītā the Lord says, anta-kāle ca mām eva smaran muktvā kalevaram (BG 8.5).

Lecture on BG 8.21-22 -- New York, November 19, 1966:

Now, because Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa is complete spirit and He's absolute, therefore His name is also spirit; His name, His form, His quality, His, I mean to say, opulence, His paraphernalia—everything is spiritual. But at the present moment, due to our material bondage or condition, we cannot understand what is spiritual. But this ignorance can be moved by this process, chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa. How it is? I'll give you example. Just like a man is sleeping. A man is sleeping. How you can awake him? By vibration of sound. "Mr. such-and-such, just get up. Get up! The time is up." Although he is now practically unconscious, he cannot see, he cannot, er, still, that hearing process is so prominent that a sleeping man can be awakened by vibration of sound. Similarly, the spirit soul, although it is now overpowered by this material bondage or material conditions, that spiritual consciousness can be revived by this transcendental vibration, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare. And for practical example, we are experiencing, and some of you...

Lecture on BG 9.1 -- Melbourne, April 19, 1976:

The Supreme Being is Kṛṣṇa. Īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ (Bs. 5.1). And He is... Vigraha means He has form. He is person, sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha. But His person, His form, is different from our form, our present form. Our present form, as we have got the material tabernacle, that is temporary. Your form, my form, this is changing. We are not existing in the same form.

Just like we have got this form, human form of life. It is not permanently I shall be able to enjoy. Just like you have got a particular dress now. It is not permanent. You can change your dress any moment. Similarly, this body, material body, is considered... Actual fact... It will not endure. We'll have to change. Therefore it is not sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha. But Kṛṣṇa's form is sac-cid-ānanda. Īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ (Bs. 5.1).

Lecture on BG 9.1 -- Melbourne, April 19, 1976:

So our, this material existence is inauspicious because we are full of ignorance, full of miserable condition, and this body is perfect. Our existence, body, should have been like Kṛṣṇa. Because Kṛṣṇa is the original father, the son's body is as good as the father's body. But when we learn from the śāstra that īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ (Bs. 5.1), His form is eternal, full of bliss and knowledge, and when we compare our, this body, material body, it is neither eternal, neither full of knowledge, neither full of bliss.

Lecture on BG 9.2-5 -- New York, November 23, 1966:

So it should be understood with all critical study. We don't request you to take it or accept it blindly. So śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ smaraṇam. And pāda-sevanam. Pāda-sevanam means to rise early in the morning, open the door of temple and wipe it out, all the dust, and give some light. The pāda-sevanam. Arcanaṁ vandanam. Then there is foodstuff offered. It is cooked for Kṛṣṇa, and decorate with flower. So many things there are, arcana-vidhi. The Deity will look very nice, and you'll be pleased to see it. We, we want to see very beautiful things. When you see the beautiful Deity, the forms of Lord Kṛṣṇa, you'll forget to see anymore any other beauty. You see? These are the process, very nice, susukham. There is no trouble. Decorate with flower, with dress, with ornaments and see and hear and eat very... You offer very nice foodstuff to Kṛṣṇa and then partake it. Śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ smaraṇaṁ pāda-sevanam arcanaṁ vandanam (SB 7.5.23). Vandanam means prayer. Of course, if you do not like, if you think, "This is Hindu system. We won't accept. We are Christian," all right, you go to church, sing there. You have got also songs of Bible. You can sing very nicely.

Lecture on BG 9.4 -- Calcutta, March 9, 1972:

Of course, to understand the form of the Lord, that is not very easy thing. It requires much intelligence. Intelligence, that is also a kind of tapasya. Without tapasya, nobody can understand the form of the Lord, sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha (Bs. 5.1). Because generally we take it for granted "form" means a form like me. Kṛṣṇa says that patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ yo me bhaktyā prayacchati, tad aham aśnāmi (BG 9.26). Now, we offer eatables to the Lord. Kṛṣṇa says tad aham aśnāmi, "I eat." But the atheists cannot see. They cannot see that how Kṛṣṇa is eating. They say that "You offered something to Kṛṣṇa, but He has not eaten. It is lying there; you are eating." But no, Kṛṣṇa has eaten. They do not know how they eat, how Kṛṣṇa eats. That is their fault. Poor fund of knowledge. One has to learn how Kṛṣṇa can eat. Kṛṣṇa can eat simply by seeing. Simply, Kṛṣṇa's all parts, all the indriyas, different parts of the body, limbs, they're as good as Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa can eat, just like we eat through our mouth, but Kṛṣṇa can eat with His eyes. That is absolute. We have, because we are not absolute, we have got distinction between my, our eyes and our hands, our mouth. There are distinction which is called sagata viveḥ. We have got difference of body between yourself and myself, and in the body also there are differences. My eyes are different from my hands, my hands are different from my legs. But Kṛṣṇa, being Absolute, He has no such distinction. That they do not understand. Therefore they can not imagine how God, Kṛṣṇa, can have a form. "If He has a form, then the form is like this, our," the Māyāvādīs they say. They believe that when Brahman comes, He accepts a material body. That is defied by Kṛṣṇa: avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā mānuṣīṁ tanum āśritam (BG 9.11), "Because I come as a human being, these rascals take Me as one of the human being."

Lecture on BG 9.4 -- Calcutta, March 9, 1972:

So one who knows the art, by worshiping stone also, he can worship Kṛṣṇa. By worshiping stone also. It is Kṛṣṇa's mercy. Because at the present moment, ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi na bhaved grāhyam indriyaiḥ (CC Madhya 17.136). By your blunt senses, you can not understand what is Kṛṣṇa, what is Kṛṣṇa's name, what is Kṛṣṇa's form, what is Kṛṣṇa's activity. Therefore Kṛṣṇa, by His causeless mercy, has come before us in the form of stone so that we can see Him. Because we cannot see beyond stone. We cannot see beyond wood. And wood and stone is also not beyond Kṛṣṇa. That is also Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture on BG 9.4 -- Melbourne, April 23, 1976:

The pantheists, they think that "If God has expanded in everything, then whatever I worship, that is God's worship." No. That is the... Kṛṣṇa said, "No, that you cannot take."

The same example: The sunshine is not different from the sun, and because the sunshine has entered within your room it does not mean the sun has entered in your room. If you try to understand, then you'll understand that God is everywhere; still, He is not everywhere. This is His inconceivable power. Therefore, if we want to worship God, then we have to worship His form, His name, name, form, quality, pastime. Then we shall realize that God is person, Supreme Being, and He has got all the propensities as we have got. Because we are part and parcel of God, we can study God's personality from our personality, just like we can study the father by the symptoms of the son—this is crude example—similarly, whatever propensities we have got, wherefrom the propensity is coming? It is coming from God.

Lecture on BG 9.11 -- Calcutta, June 30, 1973:

Although Kṛṣṇa is in Goloka Vṛndāvana, He has nothing to do... Why God has something to do? Then what kind of God He is? Here we see practically a big man, a big minister, a big prime minister or president, he is also sitting, giving direction. He has nothing to do. Similarly, Kṛṣṇa also, He has nothing to do. Kṛṣṇa is enjoying. Just like you see Kṛṣṇa's form, He is enjoying with Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. He has nothing to do. That is confirmed in the Vedic literature: na tasya kāryaṁ karaṇaṁ ca vidyate. Why God should be busy doing something?

Lecture on BG 9.15 -- New York, December 1, 1966:

So far Kṛṣṇa is concerned, He proved that He is God. How? In this Bhagavad-gītā. Now we are reading Ninth Chapter. In the Eleventh Chapter Arjuna requested, "O Kṛṣṇa, that will You kindly show me Your universal form?" So Kṛṣṇa showed him, "Yes." So that... This was Arjuna's teaching to world that in future so many fools will represent himself as God. So don't be befooled by them. Just ask him, "Show me your universal form." Then accept him as God. Don't very cheaply accept any fool as God. So this is the highest imperfection, that he is in the stringent laws of the material nature. If there is simply a toothache, he becomes overwhelmed, and he himself preaches as God. So this sort of thing can be accepted by similar foolish-natured people. God is supreme. Nobody can God. Nobody can be equal with God. God is called in the Vedic literature, asamaurdhva. Asama means nobody's equal to Him. And nobody is higher than Him. Ūrdhva means higher. Nobody can be higher than God, and nobody can be equal to God. Everyone is lower than God, however great he may be. And there is a nice verse, śiva-viriñci-nutam (SB 11.5.33). Śiva-viriñci. Śiva means the Lord Śiva, and viriñci means Lord Brahmā. They are considered to be the topmost demigods in this material world. So they also offer their respectful obeisances to Viṣṇu, or God.

Lecture on BG 9.15-18 -- New York, December 2, 1966:

But the Vaiṣṇavas, those who are personalists, they take it in a different way. Why? Because in the Bhagavad-gītā it is said by the Lord, mayā tatam idaṁ sarvaṁ jagad avyakta-mūrtinā: "I am spread all over the universe, all over the manifestation, in My impersonal feature." Mat-sthāni sarva-bhūtāni nāhaṁ teṣu avasthitaḥ: (BG 9.4) "Everything is resting on Me, but I am not there." Paśya me yogam aiśvaram. So this simultaneously one and different, this philosophy, is accepted by Lord Caitanya, but it is also accepted in the Bhagavad-gītā; mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat kiñcid asti dhanañjaya (BG 7.7). But this form, these two hands, with flute, Kṛṣṇa, form of Kṛṣṇa, there is nothing beyond this. So one has to come to this point. You may go in different way, accepting yourself as God, accepting everything as God, accepting the universal form of God. If you make actually progress, then you have come to this point. Sa mahātmā sudurlabhaḥ. Again He says, mahātmā. When he comes to that point of Kṛṣṇa, bahūnāṁ janmanām ante... (BG 7.19). This process you have to proceed, you have to make progress, many, many births. That is line. You have taken the line. That's all right, but it will take some time. Not in one life you'll come to that point.

Lecture on BG 12.13-14 -- Bombay, May 12, 1974:

Mayy arpita-mano-buddhiḥ: Mind and intelligence is always focussed towards the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, mayy arpita, to the form of Kṛṣṇa. That is real meditation. Dhyānāvasthita-tad-gatena paśyanti yaṁ yoginaḥ. You come to the temple, take the impression of this Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa, and always think of Him. That is the highest, topmost yoga system.

Lecture on BG 13.1-2 -- Bombay, December 29, 1972:

Now we are satisfying our senses. That is bodily concept of material existence. And when we train ourself how to satisfy Kṛṣṇa, oh, then, that is our perfection of life. This is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. The process is there. Either you satisfy your senses or you satisfy the proprietor of the senses. Kṛṣṇa is called Hṛṣīkeśa. Hṛṣīka. Hṛṣīka means "the senses." And Kṛṣṇa is called Hṛṣīkeśa. Senayor ubhayor madhye rathaṁ sthāpaya me 'cyuta (BG 1.21). Hṛṣīkeśa. Tvayā hṛṣīkeṇa hṛṣṭitena.(?) So Hṛṣīkeśa. So bhakti means hṛṣīkeṇa hṛṣīkeśa-sevanaṁ bhaktir ucyate (CC Madhya 19.170). Now hṛṣīka means indriya. At the present moment, we are satisfying the senses. For the sense only. We have no other higher objective. Sense wants to eat something palatable. Although it is not good for me, either from health point of view, or spiritual point of view...

Just like eating meat or drinking intoxication. This is not good, either for health or for my spiritual advancement. But because my tongue wants it, I have become my servant of my tongue. I want should be satisfied. This is the material condition. Because I, I don't want to serve Kṛṣṇa, I want to serve my tongue. Tā'ra madhye jihwā ati, lobhamoy sudurmati tā'ke jetā kaṭhina saṁsāre. We have got different senses. Out of all the senses, this tongue is very strong. Tongue is very strong. Therefore śāstra says: ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi na bhaved grāhyam indriyaiḥ (CC Madhya 17.136). By these blunt senses, we cannot understand Kṛṣṇa. We cannot understand what is Kṛṣṇa. What is Kṛṣṇa's name, what is Kṛṣṇa's fame, what is Kṛṣṇa's form, what is Kṛṣṇa's quality... We cannot understand.

Lecture on BG 13.1-2 -- Bombay, September 25, 1973:

So in the modern world every knowledge is speculative, hypothetical. There is no perfect knowledge. So if you want to be perfectly in knowledge, then you have to take knowledge from the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That is here delivered by the Supreme Personality of Godhead Kṛṣṇa in the form of Bhagavad-gītā. Therefore Arjuna is asking this question so that people may receive the perfect knowledge from Kṛṣṇa and their life may be perfect in that way.

Lecture on BG 13.5 -- Paris, August 13, 1973:

Before this universal creation, Kṛṣṇa took the form of Mahavisnu, and Mahavisnu's breathing period is the creation and annihilation. So long the breathing goes on, exhaling, that is the creation period; inhaling, the destruction, annihilation. So the whole cosmic manifestation is being maintained within the breathing period of Mahavisnu.

Lecture on BG 13.14 -- Bombay, October 7, 1973:

Kṛṣṇa, He has appeared here in His form to accept your offerings, not that He is poor. So Kṛṣṇa comes here to accept your offering, but the demons want to break it. This is demon. He does not think that "Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead has so kindly come here in Juhu and accepting our offerings." But the demons will not tolerate. "No, Kṛṣṇa cannot..." This is called āsuraṁ bhāvam āśritāḥ. Asura, rākṣasa.

Lecture on BG 13.14 -- Bombay, October 7, 1973:

Another meaning of this verse is that if He has got, sarvataḥ pāṇi-pādam, He has got His legs and hands, eyes, head, then how He becomes impersonal, void? Where is this conception comes from Bhagavad-gītā? The rascals say that "God is impersonal, no form." How it is possible, if He has got hands and legs, head and ears, how He has become formless? Tell me. Who is there? How He becomes formless? He is not formless. But the difference is His form is different from our form. Our hands and legs are limited, but He has got His hands and legs... That is not limited, that is unlimited. That is difference. When we say, when there is such thing as formless, formless means He hasn't got a form like us which is limited. Sac-cid...

īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ

sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ

anādir ādir govindaḥ

sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam

(Bs. 5.1)

He has got His form, He has got His hands. Just like Kṛṣṇa says,

patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ

yo me bhaktyā prayacchati

tad ahaṁ bhakty-upahṛtam

aśnāmi (prayatātmānaḥ)

(BG 9.26)

Now if you say, Kṛṣṇa is in the Goloka Vṛndāvana, far, far away from here. How He accepts?" That is the answer is here, that sarvataḥ pāṇi-pādam. He has got hands. That is the Vedic injunction. Apāṇi-pādo javana-gṛhītaḥ. The Absolute Brahman has no hands and legs, but He can accept anything, He can walk everywhere. Just contradictory. Paśyaty acakṣuḥ. He has no eyes. but He can see everything. This is the difference. He has got His form. That is spiritual form, that is not this material, limited form, but He has got His form. One who does not understand His unlimited form, Brahman form, sarvataḥ... Everywhere He can go, everywhere He can see, everywhere He can accept whatever you offer. Everywhere He can walk. That is His form, but He is not formless.

Therefore He is called omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent. These are the adjectives given to God. Omnipresent. He is present everywhere. That's a fact. Īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-deśe arjuna tiṣṭhati (BG 18.61). He's sitting within your heart, He's seeing everything, what you are acting. Īśvaraḥ sarva... Sarvasya cāhaṁ hṛdi sanniviṣṭo mattaḥ smṛtir jñānam apohanaṁ ca (BG 15.15). This is knowledge. This is knowledge. Not that to make Kṛṣṇa formless, "He does not eat. He does not speak. He does not walk. He has no hand. He has no head." That is not knowledge. That is ignorance, foolishness. Mūḍha. Avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā mānuṣīṁ tanum āśritam, paraṁ bhāvam ajānantaḥ (BG 9.11). Because He does not know the paraṁ bhāvam. This is paraṁ bhāvam. Kṛṣṇa has form, but a form not like us. That is paraṁ bhāvam. He is present everywhere.

Lecture on BG 13.19 -- Bombay, October 13, 1973:

Wherefrom the beauty worship has come in this material world unless there is beauty in the original form, Kṛṣṇa and Rādhārāṇī? So God cannot be nirākāra. Otherwise, why this beauty worship has come? What you'll say? Janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1). The Vedānta-sūtra says. Whatever you see within this world, there is origin. It is only reflection. It is only reflection. Just like in the mirror, there is reflection of your beautiful face, and it looks beautiful because the face is beautiful. If the face is ugly, the reflection will be ugly.

Lecture on BG 13.22-24 -- Melbourne, June 25, 1974:

And Kṛṣṇa says, patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ yo me bhaktyā prayacchati (BG 9.26). "A leaf, a flower, fruit and liquid, milk or water, all these things, within these categories, whatever a devotee offers Me in love and devotion, I eat." Kṛṣṇa says. Kṛṣṇa is not hungry. Neither He is dependent on your supply of foodstuff. No. But still, Kṛṣṇa has become your guest. Just like you have brought Kṛṣṇa here. He is very kind. Because you are devotees, you want to serve Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa has come in your temple in a form which you can very easily serve. Kṛṣṇa does not require your service, but He is so kind that He is accepting your service. You are bathing the Deity, you are dressing the Deity, offering flowers, garland, and whatever preparation you can make, you are offering Kṛṣṇa. So Kṛṣṇa has accepted your service in a form which you can handle. That is His energy.

And if you want to serve Kṛṣṇa in His gigantic form, universal form, you do not know where to catch Him. That is not possible. Kṛṣṇa showed His gigantic form to Arjuna and he was terrified: "Please again become in your original Kṛṣṇa form." Even Arjuna who is always constant companion of Kṛṣṇa, friend, he was also terrified by His gigantic universal form.

Lecture on BG 13.24 -- Bombay, October 23, 1973:

When there is such a statement in the Vedas that "The Supreme Spirit is nirākāra, or without form," that does not mean He has no form. He has His form, but that is spiritual form, sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ (Bs. 5.1). When it is negativated, that means the negative idea is of this inferior energy. So these things we should know. And if you know, then the result will be sarvathā vartamāno 'pi, wherever you stay, Sarvathā vartamāno 'pi, you are mukta. As it is stated by Rūpa Gosvāmī, īhā yasya harer dāsye...

Lecture on BG 13.26 -- Delhi, September 22, 1974:

So because you cannot see Kṛṣṇa otherwise, therefore Kṛṣṇa has appeared before you just like a stone statue. Because you cannot see Kṛṣṇa, without His becoming a stone statue or wooden statue. That is Kṛṣṇa's mercy. But that does not mean Kṛṣṇa is stone. Kṛṣṇa is everything. So mad-yājinaḥ. To accept your worship, Kṛṣṇa is here. Don't consider that "Here is a stone Deity." No, He's Kṛṣṇa. He has agreed. Because mad-yājinaḥ. Kṛṣṇa say "One who worships Me..." Now, ordinarily, where is Kṛṣṇa? We don't find. Therefore Kṛṣṇa is available in this form. Kṛṣṇa is so kind, that "You take Me. You offer Me service." Mad-yājinaḥ. "I will accept." We should worship Kṛṣṇa in that spirit, not that "We are worshiping a stone. He cannot see. Let me do all nonsense in the Deity room." No. He is seeing. Don't be so much cunning. He's more cunning than you. You see. He can see.

Just like in that story, the old brāhmaṇa and the young brāhmaṇa, Sākṣi-gopāla. Sākṣi-gopāla. So the young man came to Kṛṣṇa in Vṛndāvana, "Sir, You have to go to give witness because the old man is not keeping his promise." So Kṛṣṇa said to the young devotee that "How you are proposing that I shall go? Can a stone Deity, He can walk? Do you think?" He said, "Yes, if the stone Deity can speak, He can walk also." (laughter) So devotee is so strong. So Kṛṣṇa had to... "Yes, I'll go." First of all, He wanted to avoid. Then when He saw that "He's not ordinary devotee," He said, "All right, I'll go." So He came from Vṛndāvana to Kataka.

So don't think that He's stone Deity. Sākṣād vrajendra-nandana: "Directly Kṛṣṇa." But He is available to my capacity of understanding Him. Not that He is different from the original Kṛṣṇa. (break) Kṛṣṇa's name, Kṛṣṇa's form, Kṛṣṇa's quality, Kṛṣṇa's pastimes, everything absolute. You're chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra. It does not mean that it is a sound only. It is Kṛṣṇa personally. You are in direct touch with Kṛṣṇa when you chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. This is realization. This is Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

Lecture on BG 16.9 -- Hawaii, February 5, 1975:

So in the absolute platform, in the spiritual world, Kṛṣṇa is the supreme whole spirit. Therefore He may expand Himself... Advaitam acyutam anādim ananta-rūpam (Bs. 5.33). Ananta-rūpam, various kinds of forms... Everything is Kṛṣṇa's forms. Your form is also Kṛṣṇa's form, my form is also Kṛṣṇa's form. Therefore foolish rascals, they think, "Now I have become God." He has got the affinity that he is also God expansion. Therefore sometimes he thinks that "I am God." This is... We are also expansion of God, vibhinnāṁśa. There are two kinds of expansions: svāṁśa, vibhinnāṁśa. When Kṛṣṇa expands in fullness, that is called svāṁśa, viṣṇu-tattva. Just like Kṛṣṇa has expanded Himself as Viṣṇu, Nārāyaṇa, Vāsudeva, Saṅkarṣaṇa, Aniruddha, so many, millions. There is no limit. That is called svāṁśa. And Kṛṣṇa expands as His energy, this material energy, this material world, the spiritual world, spiritual energy, and we are also energy, marginal energy. Taṭastha. Taṭastha means, marginal means... You can have a conception of marginal in the sea beach. The same place, walking, is sometimes covered with water, and sometimes it is land. This is called marginal, between the water and the land. So we living entities, we are marginal. Sometimes we are under the protection of the spiritual energy, and sometimes we are under the protection of the material energy. We are under protection; we are not independent.

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Lecture on SB 1.1.1 -- London, August 6, 1971:

Relative truth means... That has been explained here that tejo-vāri-mṛdāṁ yathā vinimayo yatra tri-sargo 'mṛṣā. We are offering obeisances to a temporary manifestation of tejo-vāri-mṛdāṁ vinimayaḥ. Tejaḥ means fire, vāri means water, and mṛt means earth. So you take earth, mix with water, and put it into fire. Then grind it, so it becomes mortar and the brick, and you prepare a very big skyscraper and offer obeisances there. Yes. "Oh, such a big house, mine." Tri-sargo 'mṛṣā. But there is another place: dhāmnā svena nirasta-kuhakam. We are offering here obeisances to the bricks, stone, iron. Just like in your country especially—in all Western countries—there are so many statues. The same thing, tejo-vāri-mṛdāṁ vinimayaḥ. But when we install Deity, actually the form, eternal form of Kṛṣṇa, nobody offers obeisances. They'll go to offer obeisances to the dead. Just like in British Museum. They are standing in queue to offer obeisances to a dead body. It has no value, but they are wasting time there. But here, if they are invited, "Oh, they are worshiping idol. Why shall I go? Why shall I go there?" This is called illusion. They are actually doing that, obeisances, but not to the Supreme Personality of Godhead.