Now Kṛṣṇa was encouraging to fight; Arjuna was also very intelligently replying. He addressed Kṛṣṇa as Madhusūdana, Arisūdana. Madhusūdana means "the killer of Madhu demon" or "the killer or enemy." So his purpose is that "I have to kill Bhīṣmadeva, who is my so kind grandfather, and I have to kill Droṇācārya, who is my teacher, from whom I have learned this military art. So You have killed the demons and Your enemy, and why You are inducing me to kill my guru and my grandfather?" This is his argument. Kathaṁ bhīṣmam ahaṁ saṅkhye droṇaṁ ca madhusūdana, iṣubhiḥ pratiyotsyāmi: (BG 2.4) "They, my grandfather, my teacher, may chastise me, but how I can pierce with arrows their body?"
From whom (Lectures)
Lectures
Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures
Lecture on BG 2.4-5 -- London, August 5, 1973:
Because they want to be competitor of Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa says that bhoktāram: "I am the supreme enjoyer." Sarva-loka-maheśvaram: (BG 5.29) "I am the Supreme proprietor." And the Vedas also confirm, īśāvāsyam idaṁ sarvam (ISO 1). "Everything is the property of the Supreme Lord." Sarvaṁ khalv idaṁ brahma. These are Vedic injunctions. Yato vā imāni bhūtāni jāyante: "From whom everything has come." Janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1). These are Vedic versions. But still, we, because we are enemies, "No, why Kṛṣṇa shall be the proprietor? I am the proprietor. Why Kṛṣṇa shall be God only. I have got another God. Here is another God."
Lecture on BG 2.9 -- Auckland, February 21, 1973:
So the Vedānta-sūtra explains when the question is that what is the original cause of everything... What is Brahman? What is the Absolute Truth? Athāto brahma jijñāsā: "Now this human form of life is meant for inquiring about the Absolute Truth." What is that Absolute Truth? The next answer is janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1), means "The Absolute Truth is that from whom everything emanates," or "The Absolute Truth is the original cause of all causes." This is the... So this knowledge, anyone who has knowledge, not only this knowledge, absolute knowledge as well as relative knowledge, such class of men is called the brāhmaṇas, the most intelligent class.
Lecture on BG 2.11 -- Mauritius, October 1, 1975:
So the problem was that Arjuna was not willing to fight, considering his family members as not to be killed. Nobody, of course, should like to kill his family members, so that was natural. But this family relationship or national relationship, community relationship, this is due to this body. I accept somebody as my brother because he has got the body from the same father from whom I have got this body. But the body is by-product of the father's body. So this bodily relationship is material. Material means outward, external. It is not real relationship. The father is a soul, I am soul, my brother is a soul, so we are related on the spiritual platform in relationship with God because soul is not matter. Our material father is... Material father means we see the material body. We do not see the soul of the father, neither the father sees the soul of the son. Everyone under illusion we are simply seeing the body and accepting as kinsman.
Lecture on BG 2.13 -- Hyderabad, November 18, 1972:
So Kṛṣṇa says, aham ādir hi devānām. Ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavaḥ. He's the origin of everything. Ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavo mattaḥ sarvaṁ pravartate (BG 10.8). "Everything emanates from Me." In the Vedānta-sūtra also the Absolute Truth is described as janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1). The Absolute Truth is that from whom everything emanates.
So here is Kṛṣṇa. From śāstric evidences, by His opulences, by His power... Because Bhagavān means full of six opulences. Aiśvaryasya samagrasya vīryasya yaśasaḥ śriyaḥ (Viṣṇu Purāṇa 6.5.47). He must be the richest. He must be the strongest. He must be the most famous. He must be the most beautiful. He must be the great renouncer. In this way, that is the definition of God. So that definition is confirmed by Lord Brahmā: īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ (Bs. 5.1). Īśvara means controller. Unless one is powerful, how he can control? So every one of us is little, a small controller. Somebody controls in his office. Somebody controls in his family life. Somebody controls a few factories.
Lecture on BG 2.17 -- London, August 23, 1973:
His philosophy is superconscious. Everyone who is here knows about Aurobindo. The superconsciousness you cannot get. That is not possible. Superconsciousness is for Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Vedāhaṁ samatītāni (BG 7.26). Kṛṣṇa says, "I know everything." In the Bhāgavata it is said: janmādy asya yato 'nvayād itarataś cārtheṣv abhijñaḥ (SB 1.1.1). The Absolute Truth is that from whom everything is emanating. And He knows everything. Anvayād itarataś cārtheṣu. We have explained many times. Artheṣu. Just like I am conscious. But I do not know actually what is there within my body, how it is constituted, how, how many veins are there, how the blood is becoming red, how... We have no, actually, information. I do not know what is within this finger. I am claiming it is my finger. Here it is my finger, but I do not know how the finger is constituted. Therefore I am not abhijñaḥ.
Lecture on BG 2.23-24 -- London, August 27, 1973:
So I am limited. I am only a small particle of Kṛṣṇa's body, part and parcel. If I have got this power of producing water, maybe one grain or two grain or one ounce; Kṛṣṇa has got unlimited power, why not a sea? Where is the difficulty to understand? He can produce unlimited quantity of water which may be known as ocean and sea. Yato vā imāni bhūtāni jāyante. Therefore, Vedas say that "From whom all these five elements have come into being?"
Lecture on BG 3.27 -- Melbourne, June 27, 1974:
And all the desires and propensities what God has got, we have also got. God has got this propensity to love Rādhārāṇī. We have got also the same propensity to love another young girl or young boy. So originally it is there. Therefore in the Vedānta-sūtra it is said janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1). God means from whom everything has come. So if there is a question of love, the (indistinct) a man loving a woman and woman loving a man, that is in God. It must be there. Otherwise wherefrom it has come?
But that is pure and here it is impure on account of this material contamination. The thing is there but it is contaminated. Therefore you feel frustration. So intelligence is the why shall I remain in this contaminated position? I shall go to the pure platform. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
Lecture on BG 4.1-2 -- Columbus, May 9, 1969:
Ātma-mātā, real mother, from whom I have taken birth, ātma-mātā. Guroḥ patnī, the wife of spiritual master. Ātma-mātā guroḥ patnī brāhmaṇī. Brāhmaṇī, the wife of a brāhmaṇa, learned scholar. Ātma-mātā guroḥ patnī. Why learned scholar? He is also guru because from learned scholar you learn so many things, and guru teaches us so many things. Therefore he is father, and his wife is mother.
Lecture on BG 4.3 -- Bombay, March 23, 1974:
There are three kinds of departmental study in the Vedas. First thing is sambandha. Sambandha means "What is my relationship with God." This is stated there. In the Vedānta it says, janmādy asya yataḥ. The Absolute Truth is that from whom everything is generated. So everything, amongst everything, I am also, you are also. So you are also coming from that Supreme Absolute Truth. Kṛṣṇa says, mamaivāṁśo jīva-bhūtaḥ: (BG 15.7) "All these living entities..." Sarva-yoniṣu kaunteya: (BG 14.4) "In any species, any form of life..." Sambhavanti mūrtayo yāḥ: "As many forms are there..." Not only human beings, the animals, the trees, the birds, the aquatics, the insects, everyone, all living entities. Kṛṣṇa says, sarva-yoniṣu kaunteya sambhavanti mūrtayo yāḥ: "In any species of life, as many forms are there," ahaṁ bīja-pradaḥ pitā, "I am their original father."
Lecture on BG 4.13 -- New York, April 8, 1973:
Because we are part and parcel. So originally all these qualities are there in God.
And therefore Vedānta-sūtra says what is God, what is the Absolute Truth? Athātho brahma-jijñāsā. When (we) inquire about God, about the Absolute Truth, the answer is immediately given: janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1). The Absolute Truth is that from whom everything comes, everything emanates. So everything is coming from God. He's the original source of all supplies. Now what is our position? There are innumerable living entities. Nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānāṁ (Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2.2.13). That is Vedic information. God is also a living entity, like us, but He's the chief living entity. And we are also living entity.
Lecture on BG 4.23 -- Bombay, April 12, 1974:
Even in college and school, there is percentage of attendance, hearing. All of you know that unless one has attended class of the professor seventy-five percent, he is not allowed for the examination. So hearing is so important.
And that is also in the case of spiritual. You hear from.... Hear from whom? Hear from whom? That tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum evābhigacchet: (MU 1.2.12) "Hear from guru." Who is guru? Guru. Brahma-niṣṭham. Brahma-niṣṭham. Guru means who knows God and fully engaged in His service. That is guru. Tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum evābhigacchet, samit-pāṇiḥ śrotriyaṁ brahma-niṣṭham. Śrotriyaṁ brahma-niṣṭham. And he has also heard from his guru. This is both, hearing. Therefore Vedas are known as śruti. Formerly it was learned simply by hearing. There was no books. And there was no need of noting down. The merit was so perfect that simply by hearing from guru, he would understand everything.
Lecture on BG 4.39-42 -- Los Angeles, January 14, 1969:
Revatīnandana: "But one who doubts the authority of Kṛṣṇa falls back. One is therefore advised to study the Bhagavad-gītā or any other scripture with a bona fide spiritual master, with service and surrender. A bone fide spiritual master is in the disciplic succession from time eternal, and there is not the slightest deviation from the instruction of the Personality of Godhead as it was imparted millions of years ago to the sun-god, from whom the instructions of the Bhagavad-gītā has come down to the earthly kingdom."
Prabhupāda: It is not very difficult. Just like in this Bhagavad-gītā the Supreme Personality of Godhead says that He is the Supreme, and He is advising, man-manā bhava mad-bhaktaḥ: "Just try to think of Me only, always." Man-manā bhava mad-bhaktaḥ: "And become My devotee." Mad-yājī: "Just worship Me." Māṁ namaskuru: "Just bow down unto Me." So simply these four processes, if one can do, He says, mām evaiṣyasi asaṁśayaḥ: (BG 18.68) "Surely, without any doubt, you shall come to Me."
Lecture on BG 6.6-12 -- Los Angeles, February 15, 1969:
Imagination, those who are in the modes of passion and ignorance, they are imagining the form of God. And when they are confused, they say, "Oh, there is no personal God. It is all impersonal or void." That is frustration. But actually, God has got form. Why not? The Vedānta-sūtra says, janmādy asya yataḥ: (SB 1.1.1) the Supreme Absolute Truth is that from whom or from which everything emanates. Now we have got forms. so we have also must have been, not only we, there are different kinds of forms of the living entities. Wherefrom they come? Wherefrom this form is originated? This is very common sense question. If God is not a person, then how His sons become persons? If your father is not a person, how you can become a person? This is very common question. If my father has not a form, wherefrom I get this form?But people imagine, because when they are frustrated, when they see that this form is troublesome, therefore God must be formless.
Lecture on BG 6.13-15 -- Los Angeles, February 16, 1969:
And jñāna-yoga means by, through philosophical process. By analytical process what is Brahman and what is not Brahman. Neti neti. That is jñāna-yoga. Just like Vedānta-sūtra, jñāna-yoga. You study Vedānta-sūtra, it says janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1). They give one hint codes, that the Supreme Brahman, Absolute Truth is that from whom everything is emanated. Now we try to understand what must be that. That is explained in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. What is nature of that Absolute Truth. The Absolute Truth, in the first verse of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is said: janmādy asya yato 'nvayād itarataś cārtheṣv abhijñaḥ svarāṭ (SB 1.1.1). Now the Absolute Truth, if he is the supreme cause of all emanation, then what are the symptoms? The Bhāgavata said that he must be cognizant. He's not dead. He must be cognizant. And what kind of cognizance? Anvayād itarataś cārtheṣu. Just like I am cognizant, you are also cognizant. But I do not know myself, how many hairs are there in my body.
Lecture on BG 6.13-15 -- Los Angeles, February 16, 1969:
I do not know anything. But God must be He who knows everything, every corner of His creation what is going on He must know. Therefore the Bhāgavata explains, that Supreme Truth, from whom everything is emanated, He must be supremely cognizant. Abhijñaḥ. Abhijñaḥ means cognizant.
That, you may question, "Then if He is so powerful, wise and cognizant, He must have learned it from similar..." No. We say that if he learns knowledge from somebody else, then he is not God. Svarāṭ. Automatically. He's self-independent. This is jñāna-yoga. The study what is the nature by just analyze what should be the nature of the supreme from whom everything is emanating. That is explained in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Therefore Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the supreme jñāna-yoga and bhakti-yoga combined.
Lecture on BG 7.1 -- San Francisco, March 17, 1968:
Kṛṣṇa is not different from the name because He's absolute. He is not different. The word "Kṛṣṇa" and the person Kṛṣṇa, or God Kṛṣṇa, is not different, because everything is Kṛṣṇa. The oneness, the philosophy of monism or pantheism, is perfect. When that oneness comes in understanding Kṛṣṇa, that is perfection. If Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Absolute Truth from whom everything is emanating, then everything is Kṛṣṇa.
Just like you have a gold mine and you are preparing so many golden utensils, ornaments and many other things, but they are all gold because the origin is gold. Similarly, you may name it as "earring," but you have to add "gold" earring. You may name it as "necklace," but "gold." Because originally it is coming from the gold mine. Similarly, originally, everything is coming from Kṛṣṇa. Janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1).
Lecture on BG 7.1 -- Los Angeles, March 12, 1970:
Yes. "Hear from Me." And hearing from whom? From a loafer? No. From Kṛṣṇa or Kṛṣṇa's representative. That will effect. Hearing, there must be hearing process also from the authorized person. Just like if you take electricity. You should take electricity where the electric point is there. Electric is everywhere; that's nice. Everyone accepts there is electricity. But you have to take electricity from the plug where the electricity current is going on. Then you get electricity. Therefore śravaṇam, hearing, from whom? From Kṛṣṇa or His representative. Then it is perfect. Not from Dr. Radhakrishnan and any other nonsense, because they are not devotee. They are not representative of Kṛṣṇa. What you will derive?
Lecture on BG 7.1 -- Fiji, May 24, 1975:
Therefore the Vedānta philosophy says that this human form of life is meant for understanding knowledge Absolute, knowledge of the Absolute. Athāto brahma jijñāsā. Brahman means the Absolute. Brahman is explained in the Vedānta-sūtra, janmādy asya yataḥ: (SB 1.1.1) "Brahman, or the Absolute Truth, is that from whom everything has emanated." There must be the original source of everything. So to understand that original source of everything is the knowledge of the Absolute.
So this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is teaching throughout the whole world about the knowledge of the Absolute. There is no question of religion or dogmatism. It is a question of cultural advancement in knowledge. Every human being has got right to understand the absolute knowledge. That is the only business of human being. There is no other business. Unfortunately, for want of training, we are wasting our advanced intelligence for the same business as the cats and dogs are engaged.
Lecture on BG 7.1-3 -- Stockholm, September 10, 1973:
That means your knowledge is complete, perfect. In the Vedas also, it is stated that yaj jñātvā, yasmin vijñāte sarvam idaṁ vijñātaṁ bhavati. If you simply try to understand what is God... Not try to understand. If you understand scientifically what is God then you understand everything. Because God is everything. God is the central point of everything. Yato vā imāni bhūtāni jāyante. These are the Vedic versions. "From whom all this material cosmic manifestation has come into being." In the Vedānta-sūtra it says janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1). The Absolute Truth is that from which everything has come down. So if you understand the Absolute Truth, kasmin vijñāte, sarvam idaṁ vijñātaṁ bhavati, then you can understand all other departments of knowledge.
Lecture on BG 7.3 -- Bombay, February 18, 1974:
You were also present at that time with Me, but you have forgotten. I have not forgotten." That is the difference between Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna, or God and human being. That is the difference. Vedāhaṁ samatītāni (BG 7.26). Kṛṣṇa, God, knows everything, past, present and future. Just like in the Bhāgavata, in the beginning, God means janmādy asya yataḥ: (SB 1.1.1) "From whom everything has emanated." So everyone can say, "I have given birth to so many children, so many houses, so many factories. I am also God." No. You cannot be God, because you do not know, abhijña... You do not know the past, present and future. Janmādy asya yataḥ anvayād itarataś ca artheṣu abhijñaḥ (SB 1.1.1). Kṛṣṇa is abhijña. Just like in our body. We are eating. How this eating, I mean, the substance is transformed into different secretion and again blood, again flesh, again bone?
Lecture on BG 7.4 -- Nairobi, October 31, 1975:
Therefore He is the ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavaḥ. This is the point. And the knowledge is also coming from Him. Knowledge is coming from Him.
It is explained in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, janmādy asya: (SB 1.1.1) "The original person from whom everything is born," yataḥ, anvayād itarataś ca artheṣu abhijñaḥ, "He knows everything perfectly, indirectly and directly." Anvayād itarataś ca abhijñaḥ. And wherefrom He got the knowledge? Now, svarāṭ. That is His... God means svarāṭ. He hasn't got to get any knowledge from anyone else. Everyone gets knowledge from Him, but He hasn't got to take knowledge from anyone, svarāṭ, independent. So the Brahmā, the first lord, first creature, living creature, so he got knowledge from Kṛṣṇa. Tene brahma hṛdā ādi-kavaye: (SB 1.1.1) "That Supreme Person gave the knowledge to the ādi-kavi." Ādi-kavi means Lord Brahmā, the first learned man.
Lecture on BG 7.11-16 -- New York, October 7, 1966:
And atheistic, atheistic, challenging against the supreme authority, challenging the father. Now, without father, I could not see the light of this world. Then what is the use of challenging my father, janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1), who is the supreme father, from whom everything has born? So how, what is this challenge? The āsuraṁ bhāvam. There are two classes of men. In the Vedic scripture we find there are two classes of men. Dvau bhūta-sargau loke 'smin daiva āsura eva ca (BG 16.6). Daiva. Viṣṇu-bhakto bhaved daiva āsuras tad-viparyayaḥ. There are two kinds of men. One is called the gods, demigods, and the other is called the demons. And who is demon and who is god? Viṣṇu-bhakto bhaved daivaḥ. One who is devotee of the Supreme Lord, he is called demigod. He also becomes god. And one who defies the authority of the Supreme Lord, he is called demon. So the demon and the gods are always there. Some are... But number of gods are very small, but there are.
Lecture on BG 7.18 -- New York, October 12, 1966:
"I am the origin of everything." Just like Vedānta-sūtra says that the Absolute Truth is that from whom everything is born or everything emanates. So in the Bhagavad-gītā you'll find, the Lord says, ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavaḥ: "I am the origin of everything." So if you believe that Kṛṣṇa is the..., or the Supreme Personality of Godhead is everything, and if you surrender, if you worship, then the whole thing, whole account, is closed in one second. But if you don't believe—"Oh, I want to see what is actually God is"—then you have to go by stages: first realization, this impersonal Brahman effulgence; then second realization, the Paramātmā; and then, in the third stage, you realize, "Oh, here is the Supreme Personality of Godhead." So that will take time.
Lecture on BG 9.13 -- New York, November 28, 1966:
That should be inquiry. Jijñāsuḥ, inquisitive, inquisitive. And the answer is given here in the Vedānta-sūtra, next. Athāto brahma jijñāsā: "Now this life is meant for inquiring about the Supreme Brahman." And what is that Brahman? That Brahman means that janmādy asya yataḥ: (SB 1.1.1) "Brahman means that source, that Supreme Absolute Truth from whom or from which everything emanates, the cause of all causes." That is Brahman.
Now, sages, saints, philosophers, and transcendentalists, yogis, jñānīs—they are all searching, "What is the ultimate source?" So they have found out. What is that? They have found out. In the Brahma-saṁhitā, we see, there is a very nice verse.
Lecture on BG 13.5 -- Paris, August 13, 1973:
Janma-sthiti... There are six kinds of changes. So anything material you study, these six kinds of changes are there. So this material world... How this rascal says that "It was existing"? "It was existing." Nothing was existing. Otherwise why the Brahma-sūtra says, janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1), that "The Absolute Truth is that from whom, or from which, everything is taking birth." This is Brahma-sūtra. So "everything is taking birth" means this material world also has taken birth from that Absolute Truth. That is answered in the Bhagavad-gītā, ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavo mattaḥ sarvaṁ pravartate (BG 10.8). Kṛṣṇa says that "I am the origin of all births, everything." So the material world was not existing. This is insufficient. How you can say it is existing? Anything you see, material, it has got a date of birth. Who can deny it? Can you present anything material which was, which has no beginning? Everything has got beginning. So how you can say this material world has no beginning? This is nonsense.
Lecture on BG 16.7 -- Hawaii, February 3, 1975:
They do not know what is ultimate truth. Satyaṁ paraṁ dhīmahi. In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam the beginning is satyaṁ paraṁ dhīmahi. Janmādy asya yataḥ: (SB 1.1.1) "The absolute truth... I am meditating upon the supreme truth, Absolute Truth." What is absolute truth? Janmādy asya yataḥ: "From whom everything has come into existence, that is Absolute."
So what is the nature of that Absolute Truth? Is it a dead body or a living body? There are two things, something dead and something living. So what is the nature of the absolute truth? So that is replied, janmādy asya yataḥ anvayād itarataś cārtheṣv abhijñaḥ (SB 1.1.1). Abhijñaḥ means cognizant, living. The Absolute Truth is not dead; it is living. We are pushing forward this theory.
Lecture on BG Lecture -- Ahmedabad, December 8, 1972:
Ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavo mattaḥ sarvaṁ pravartate (BG 10.8). Therefore if we try to understand Kṛṣṇa, if we try to serve Kṛṣṇa, then our life will be successful. Otherwise not. That is not possible.
So this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, we are preaching all over the world that Kṛṣṇa is the origin. The Vedānta-sūtra says: "The Absolute Truth is that from whom everything is emanating," janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1), and it is accepted by everyone: "Kṛṣṇa is the Puruṣa, the original person." Brahmā says in his Brahma-saṁhitā. Brahmā is supposed to be the original person within this universe. He accepts Kṛṣṇa: sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam (Bs. 5.1).
Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures
Lecture on SB 1.1.1 -- London, August 7, 1971:
Pradyumna: Translation: "I offer my obeisances unto Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, son of Vasudeva, who is the supreme all-pervading Personality of Godhead. I meditate upon Him, the transcendent reality, who is the primeval cause of all causes, from whom all manifested universes arise, in whom they dwell, and by whom they are destroyed. I meditate upon that eternally effulgent Lord who is directly and indirectly conscious of all manifestations and yet is beyond them. It is He only who first imparted Vedic knowledge unto the heart of Brahmā, the first created being. Through Him this world, like a mirage, appears real even to great sages and demigods. Because of Him, the material universes, created by the three modes of nature, appear to be factual, although they are unreal. I meditate therefore upon Him, the Absolute Truth, who is eternally existent in His transcendental abode, and who is forever free of illusion." (SB 1.1.1)
Prabhupāda: Vyāsadeva is offering his obeisances unto the Supreme Lord, Kṛṣṇa. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Bhagavate, "unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is known as Vāsudeva." Vāsudeva means the son of Vasudeva. Even the leader of the impersonalists, namely Śaṅkarācārya, he has accepted that the Supreme Personality of Godhead appeared as the son of Vasudeva and Devakī. People may not misunderstand. Just like we give identification by giving the name of father, mother, similarly, Kṛṣṇa's identification is that He is son of Vasudeva or son of Nanda Mahārāja, friend of Śrīdāmā, Sudāmā, lover of Rādhārāṇī. In so many ways He has got hundreds of thousands of names.
Lecture on SB 1.1.1 -- London, August 7, 1971:
He is finished. Just like we are present in this room, not in other room. That means in one room. Kṛṣṇa is not like that. Try to understand Kṛṣṇa.
Therefore Bhāgavata is trying to inform you about Kṛṣṇa, beginning janmādy asya... (SB 1.1.1). Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Vāsudeva is Kṛṣṇa, svayaṁ bhagavān. Now, what kind of Vāsudeva? Janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1). From whom everything is there. What is that everything? Means birth, sustenance, and death—everything you can understand, any material object we can understand by these three symptoms. Just like your body, my body, or everyone's body: it has got a date of birth, it continues to live for some time, and there is annihilation. That is called janmādy asya (SB 1.1.1). Janma ādi. First of all birth, then sustenance, then death. This is three summary. But actually there are six. Six in the birth, then living for some time, then growth, then producing something out of the body, then dwindling, then finished. Every body.
Lecture on SB 1.1.2 -- London, August 17, 1971:
A sane man will say, "There must be somebody, the origin of everything." Janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1). That is the Bhāgavatam. Janmādy asya (SB 1.1.1). First aphorism in the Vedānta-sūtra is that "What is the Absolute Truth?" Athāto brahma jijñāsā. "Let us discuss about the Supreme Truth, Absolute Truth." The answer is that Brahman, the Supreme, is that from whom everything comes out. He is the origin of everything. Very simple description. Janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1).
So dharma, religion, actually means to understand that origin, Absolute Truth. That is dharma. So that dharma, principles of religion, is there in every human society, either in Europe or America or Africa or... There is some. That is the significance of human being. If it is a human being society, there must be some principles of religion. Without religion... It doesn't matter what type of religion it is, there must be some religion. If there is no religion, then it is animal society. Try to understand.
Lecture on SB 1.2.1 -- New Vrindaban, September 1, 1972:
"It existed like this." Wherefrom this existence came? "There was chemicals, hydrogen, oxygen, and mixed up, there was water." Who put the hydrogen, oxygen? So these answers they cannot give because they have no perfect knowledge. So logical conclusion is there must be somebody, origin. That is God, from whom everything emanates, everything takes birth.
Now what is the nature of that origin? He is a stone or living entity? Because we have got two experiences, matter and life. A stone may be very big, but it has no life. But a small ant, although it is very small, it has got life, movement. It has got his independence of moving. That is called life. So if somebody, God or whatever you say, is the origin of everything, then what is the nature of that origin? Is He, is it like a stone or having life force? Naturally we can experience that without God being living, how the living entities are coming?
Lecture on SB 1.2.5 -- Vrndavana, October 16, 1972:
Gurudāsa: We've developed...
Indian: If hearing is more important than chanting, then from whom a man should hear about Kṛṣṇa? It is from anyone?
Prabhupāda: What is that question?
Devotee: He says hearing, hearing is more important...
Prabhupāda: Everything is more important, but hearing is especially given.
Indian: From whom one should hear about Kṛṣṇa?
Prabhupāda: From Kṛṣṇa devotee, not a professional man.
Lecture on SB 1.2.6 -- Delhi, November 12, 1973:
When one understands that everything is coming... That is the Vedānta-sūtras. Janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1). Athāto brahma jijñāsā: "Now this human form of life is meant for inquiring about the Absolute Truth." And what is that Brahman, brahma-jijñāsā? Immediate answer is janmādy asya yataḥ: (SB 1.1.1) "Brahman, or the Absolute Truth, is that from which or from whom everything has emanated." That answer is there, the meaning of Brahma-sūtra, in the Bhagavad-gītā. Because we have (to) find out what is that Absolute Truth, wherefrom everything is emanating, everything has come into existence. The answer is there in the Bhagavad-gītā. Ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavo mattaḥ sarvaṁ pravartate (BG 10.8). One who knows this secret... Ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavaḥ: "I am the origin of everything." Mattaḥ sarvaṁ pravartate: "Everything emanates from Me. Everything comes from Me." Iti matvā:
Lecture on SB 1.2.7 -- New Vrindaban, September 5, 1972:
That is the verdict of Vedānta-sūtra also. Simple. If you want to know what is God, the Vedānta-sūtra informs us very, in two words, very simple, "God, or the Absolute Truth, is that who is the source of everything." Janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1). The original source from whom everything is coming, He is God. Very simple definition. Anyone can understand. If you find out... That is our inqu... Philosophy means to inquire, athāto brahma jijñāsā, to enquire.
Lecture on SB 1.2.10 -- Delhi, November 16, 1973:
So from whom you'll have to inquire? From a person who has actually seen what is tattva, what is truth, from him. Therefore I was speaking yesterday, last night, in Hindi, that the tattva is not to be inquired from a pān-wala or biḍi-wala. No. One who has actually seen the tattva, tattva-darśī.
So according to Vedic scripture, a tattva-darśī should be very pure, uncontaminated. Therefore, generally, we go to the qualified brāhmaṇa, satyaṁ śamo damas titikṣā ārjavam, jñānaṁ vijñānam āstikyaṁ brahma-karma svabhāva-jam (BG 18.42). One who is qualified. Tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum eva abhigacchet (MU 1.2.12).
Lecture on SB 1.2.10 -- Delhi, November 16, 1973:
Who will read that? But people's attentions are diverted by so many nonsense literatures, and they are not interested to inquire from the real source of knowledge, real treasurehouse of knowledge. Therefore here it is said that jīvasya tattva-jijñāsā: "Your only business is to inquire about the truth." And that truth should be inquired from whom? Tasmād guruṁ prapadyeta jijñāsuḥ śreya uttamam (SB 11.3.21). If you are actually inquisitive to understand what is Absolute Truth, what is your life, what is the value of life, tasmād guruṁ prapadyeta. A guru is not a fashion, "Oh, such and such swamiji is a..., let me make him guru." Just like, "Oh, there is a nice dog. Keep me a dog. Let me keep here dog." And if a guru says, "Yes, whatever you are doing, you are right. You can do whatever you... You can eat whatever you like. You can do whatever...," "Oh, he is a very nice guru." And as soon as he will say, "No illicit sex life, sir, no meat-eating, no gambling, no intoxication," "Oh, Swamiji, you are very conservative." I have heard these things.
Lecture on SB 1.2.25 -- Vrndavana, November 5, 1972:
We are also Vedantist. It is not that Vedānta is the monopoly of the impersonalists. No.
Now, the Vedānta, in the beginning it is, the first sūtra is: athāto brahma jijñāsā. So to inquire about Brahman, the Absolute. Now, the next answer is janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1). Brahman, the Absolute Truth, is that from whom everything emanates. Janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1). Now, this janmādy asya yataḥ is explained in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Therefore Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is explained by Vyāsadeva himself. Vyāsadeva is explaining Vedānta-sūtra in his book, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Bhāṣyaṁ brahma-sūtrāṇām **. Śrī Vyāsadeva says, "This is the real comment, or bhāṣya, of Vedānta-sūtra, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam." Therefore Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas, Gosvāmīs, they did not write any comment on the Vedānta-sūtra because they accept Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the natural commentary on the Vedānta-sūtra. So why they should write again?
Lecture on SB 1.2.25 -- Vrndavana, November 5, 1972:
Therefore in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, in the very beginning, the Vedānta-sūtra is discussed. Unfortunately, the professional Bhāgavata reciters did... Neither they have got brain, nor do they explain the, from the very beginning, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, from the very beginning, Vedānta-sūtra is explained: janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1). In the Vedānta-sūtra, the answer is: "The Absolute Truth is that from whom everything emanates." So Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam explains: janmādy asya yataḥ anvayād itarataś cārtheṣu abhijñaḥ sva-rāṭ (SB 1.1.1). As soon as we speak that the original source of everything, janmādy asya yataḥ, so what is the nature of that original source? Whether He's a dead stone, or a living being? That is the next question. Everything that we experience is coming from the supreme source.
Lecture on SB 1.2.32 -- Vrndavana, November 11, 1972:
"From Him, everything is emanating." Everything is taking birth from Him. Janma. Not only janma, birth, but existence, maintenance, janmādi. Janmādi means birth, maintenance and death. Creation, maintenance and annihilation. Janmādi. Asya, anything you take, asya. Janmādy asya (SB 1.1.1). Janmādy asya yataḥ. From whom everything is emanating, everything is taking birth, this cosmic manifestation, it is being maintained in Him. And again, when it is annihilated, it enters into His own energy. Prakṛtiṁ māṁ gacchati. From His prakṛti, from His energy, Kṛṣṇa's energies, external energy, these five elements come out—earth, water, fire, air, sky. Five gross elements and three subtle elements—mind, intelligence ego. This is the eight, these are the eight elements of material creation. Then all the living entities, those who wanted to enjoy this material world, they are impregnated within this material energy and they come out with different bodies for enjoying different types of sufferings of happiness.
Lecture on SB 1.8.18 -- Mayapura, September 28, 1974:
All unfortunate. Everyone must suffer. This is the position. But if you chant Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, perform the yajña... Because this is the instruction by the Supreme Person. Puruṣaṁ tvā ādyam. Ādyaṁ puruṣam, the original person. The origin of everything. Janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1). The Supreme Person from whom everything has come down. That is the order. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu taught us that harer nāma harer nāma harer nāmaiva kevalam (CC Adi 17.21),... We are certainly in difficult position, but the only remedy is that we must chant the holy name of the Lord repeatedly. And that will solve all the problems. You preach this cult all over the world.
Lecture on SB 1.8.25 -- Vrndavana, October 5, 1974:
We understand from Bhagavad-gītā, na jāyate na mriyate, that "This living entity is never born, never dies." This information we get, very simple information. We are taking information from whom? Kṛṣṇa, jagad-guru, the supreme guru, the original guru. Guru means Kṛṣṇa's representative. A guru cannot be manufactured. Guru means... Kṛṣṇa is jagad-guru, and one who speaks on behalf of Kṛṣṇa or one who speaks as Kṛṣṇa says, he is guru. Caitanya Mahāprabhu says, āmāra ājñāya guru hañā: (CC Madhya 7.128) "You just become guru on My order." You cannot become guru automatically without following the order of jagad-guru. The government servant... Who is government servant? Who is strictly following the government order, that is government servant.
Lecture on SB 1.8.34 -- Los Angeles, April 26, 1973:
That is stated in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam: janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1). There is source. It is not blind. Just like these rascals think it has come out of nothing. How something can come out of nothing? There is no proof, but they claim like that. Therefore they are blind. No. Bhāgavata says: janmādy asya yataḥ anvayād itarataś cārtheṣu abhijñaḥ (SB 1.1.1). The original source from whom everything has come and in whom everything is existing and within whom everything will enter. Yato vā imāni bhūtāni jāyante. These are the Vedic instructions.
Lecture on SB 1.10.4 -- Mayapura, June 19, 1973:
What is that real dharma? Paraṁ satyaṁ dhīmahi. Namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. This is dharma. Namo bhagavate vāsu... Beginning. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Vāsudeva, Kṛṣṇa, Vyāsadeva is offering respect. Why? Now satyaṁ paraṁ dhīmahi. He is the Supreme Truth. What is that Supreme Truth? Janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1). That Supreme Truth from whom everything emanates. And this is confirmed in the Bhāgavatam, uh, Bhagavad-gītā: mattaḥ sarvaṁ pravartate. Ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavaḥ (BG 10.8). This is confirmed. The Vedānta-sūtra gives hint that the Absolute Truth, Brahman, is that which is the original source of all emanations. That is Absolute Truth. Athāto brahma jijñāsā. What is Brahman? Brahman means the original source of everything. So this is the Vedānta-sūtra.
Lecture on SB 1.14.43 -- New York, April 7, 1973 :
Although he played, played the part of an enemy throughout, still it is the duty of the family member to take care of the old men. When Dhṛtarāṣṭra left home after being accused by his younger brother Vidura, so, "My dear brother, you are still attached to family life, you have no shame. You are taking food whom you..., from whom you considered your enemies. You wanted to kill them from the very beginning. You set fire to their home. You banished them in the forest. You intrigued against their lives, and now everything is finished, all your sons, grandsons and son-in-laws and brothers, fathers, uncles...," I mean to say Bhīṣma was his uncle. So all the family. In the battlefield of Kurukṣetra everyone was killed except these five brothers: Yudhiṣṭhira, Bhīma, Arjuna, Nakula, Sahadeva. All male members were killed. So, only the remaining descendant was Mahārāja Parīkṣit. He was within the womb of his mother.
Lecture on SB 1.15.33 -- Los Angeles, December 11, 1973:
That you cannot say. If gold mine is right, then gold earring is also right because it has come from the gold mine. Similarly, Kṛṣṇa says that ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavaḥ: (BG 10.8) "I am the origin of everything." And the Vedānta-sūtra also says, janmādy asya yataḥ: (SB 1.1.1) "Absolute Truth is that from whom everything emanates." So everything has emanated from Kṛṣṇa. So how this material world can be false? It is true. Then what is that false? It is not false. It is temporary. But the idea that "This material world is for my enjoyment," that is false. That is false. As soon as you take things that "It is for my enjoyment," then it is false. Because you cannot enjoy. You are not the proprietor. God is the pro... Why the trouble? Why the problems of the world? Because people are taking things for their enjoyment. Why this petrol problem? Actually, that petrol, stock of petrol, in any part of the world, that is God's property. But these rascals, they are claiming that "My property." That is false. Neither the petrol is false, neither God is false.
Lecture on SB 1.16.13-15 -- Los Angeles, January 10, 1974:
"To get a mahātmā, broadly-minded great personality, it is very difficult to find out." But still, one may try to find out what are the symptoms of mahātmā. That is discussed in Bhagavad-gītā. When one understands, "Kṛṣṇa is the origin or original source of everything," janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1), as it is indicated in the Vedānta-sūtra that "The Absolute Truth is that from whom everything emanates." That is Absolute Truth.
So what is the nature of that Absolute Truth, animate or inanimate? That is also discussed: abhijña, animate. The origin, source of everything, must be animate. In this way, when one comes to the conclusion, as it is stated by Kṛṣṇa Himself personally, mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat kiñcid asti dhanañjaya: (BG 7.7) "My dear Dhanañjaya, there is no more superior," I mean to say, "objective than Myself."
Lecture on SB 2.1.5 -- Delhi, November 8, 1973:
That is the problem. Those who are after God, they make God nirākāra. "There is no ākāra. There is no form." God is the origin of all forms, but the poor God has no form. Just see. This is the conclusion. He is the origin of all forms, yato vā imāni bhūtāni jāyante, from whom everything is coming out. Janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1). Everything... We have also come from God. We are also claimed as sons of God. Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā, sarva-yoniṣu kaunteya sambhavanti mūrtayo yāḥ (BG 14.4). There are 8,400,000 species of life, and they have got forms. They are sons of God. So where is our experience that a son who has got a form, his father is impersonal, no form? Where you have got this experience? If the son has got form and the father is formless, how it can be? What is the reason? Where is the argument? But they are concluding like that. I am the son of my father, so my father has got a form.
Lecture on SB 2.4.3-4 -- Los Angeles, June 27, 1972:
The sex life is from Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa. Cin-mithuna, cin-mithuna, spiritual. But there the sex life is not like this abominable sex life. There is sex impulse in the original. Otherwise how we have got this sex impulse? In the Vedānta-sūtra it is said, janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1). "Supreme Brahman, Absolute Truth, is there, is that from whom everything comes." So if there is sex life there in the Absolute Truth ... There must be sex life. Otherwise where you have got it? Wherefrom we get it? Everything is there, but the difference is that here, everything is contaminated, abominable, and there, everything is without inebrieties; it is happy, healthy, and eternal blissful. That is the difference. The things are there.
Just like Kṛṣṇa's mother. Motherly affection of Mother Yaśodā upon Kṛṣṇa. And Kṛṣṇa is playing as child, pleasing Mother Yaśodā. So that thing is also in this material world. Here also, the mother likes to raise his beloved child, the child also plays to give pleasure to the mother. The rasa... Rasa means the humor or mellow.
Lecture on SB 3.22.20 -- Tehran, August 9, 1976:
Pradyumna: (chants synonyms, etc.) Translation: "The highest authority for me is the unlimited Supreme Personality of Godhead, from whom this wonderful creation emanates and in whom its sustenance and dissolution rest. He is the origin of all prajāpatis, the personalities meant to produce living entities in this world."
Prabhupāda: So the purpose of marriage is explained here. Putrātve kriyet bhāryā putra pinḍa prayojanam. For the purpose of one or two nice children one should marry, not for sense gratification. This is the Vedic purport of marriage. So in our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement we allow marriage on this principle, not for sense gratification. All the chief devotees of Lord Caitanya...
Lecture on SB 3.25.3 -- Bombay, November 3, 1974:
Just like if you prepare something from gold, an earring, that earring is also gold. You cannot say it is something else. So yato vā imāni bhūtāni jāyante. That is the Vedic instruction. Janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1). So Supreme Absolute Truth is that from whom, or from which, everything has emanated. So if everything has emanated from the Absolute Truth, it cannot be untruth. How it can be untruth? It may be temporary. Therefore we Vaiṣṇava philosophers, we do not accept this jagat as the Māyāvādī philosopher says, jagan mithyā. No, we don't say mithyā. We say jagat is also satyam. Because the jagat has emanated from the Supreme, therefore it is not mithyā, but it is temporary. That is also explained in the Bhagavad-gītā. The material nature is temporary. Bhūtvā bhūtvā pralīyate (BG 8.19). It comes into existence and stays for some time. Then it is again annihilated. But it is not mithyā. We don't say mithyā. And it can be utilized for the Supreme Truth.
Lecture on SB 3.25.4 -- Bombay, November 4, 1974:
Just like Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā, that ahaṁ sarvatra, ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavo mattaḥ sarvaṁ pravartate (BG 10.8). The answer is given there. The Vedānta-sūtra, the question is "What is Brahman?" And the answer is there... athāto brahma jijñāsā, janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1). Indirectly given. The Brahman, Para-brahman, is that from whom everything emanates.
Everything means... There are two things: jaḍa and cetana, living entities and nonliving entiti..., jaḍa. Dull entities. Matter is dull. So everything means including both. Matter is also coming from Kṛṣṇa, and these cetana, or living entities, they are also coming from... And the whole world is combination of this matter and cetana—your body, my body. Apareyam itas tu viddhi me prakṛtiṁ parām, jīva-bhūtāṁ mahā-bāho yayedaṁ dhāryate jagat (BG 7.5). This material energy is inferior, and the spiritual energy is superior. And superior why? Because the superior energy, the living entity, jīva-bhūta, they are controlling. Not controlling. They are trying to utilize.
Lecture on SB 3.25.4 -- Bombay, November 4, 1974:
In this way we have to understand tattva-jñāna. The human life is meant for understanding tattva. Jīvasya tattva-jijñāsā. The Vedānta-sūtra: athāto brahma jijñāsā. Jijñāsā, tattva-jijñāsā, the same thing.
So explanation of Vedānta-sūtra is Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam begins that what is that tattva. Janmādy asya (SB 1.1.1). Janmādy asya, from whom everything has emanated, or the Supreme, which is the source of everything, so what is the nature of that source? That is explained in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam: janmādy asya yataḥ anvayād itarataś ca artheṣu abhijñaḥ (SB 1.1.1). That source is abhijñaḥ, cognizant, not matter. Matter is not cognizant. Life. Janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1), cognizant.
Lecture on SB 3.25.4 -- Bombay, November 4, 1974:
So these scientists' theory, modern theory, that life comes from matter, this is wrong. The life comes from life. Because in the Bhagava..., Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is explained that janmādy asya yataḥ anvayād itarataś ca artheṣu abhijñaḥ (SB 1.1.1). The identity from whom everything emanates, He's abhijñaḥ, cognizant. He can understand. So cognizant means life. Not only that. Tene brahma hṛdā ādi-kavaye. He instructed knowledge to Lord Brahma, about Vedic knowledge. So unless one is living entity, how he can impart knowledge?
So actually, the Absolute Truth is explained in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, or the Vedānta-sūtra's explanation, natural explanation,... Actually, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam was written by Vyāsadeva. Here it is said, dvaipāyana-sakha. Dvaipāyana means Vyāsadeva.
Lecture on SB 3.26.9 -- Bombay, December 21, 1974:
Similarly, the Supreme Lord, He has got also energy. In the Vedānta-sūtra we understand that Supreme Personality of Godhead, the original source of everything, Brahman... athāto brahma jijñāsā. That Brahman... In one code Vyāsadeva describes that janmādy asya yataḥ: (SB 1.1.1) "The Brahman, Supreme Absolute Truth, is that from whom everything comes." So unless this principle is there, that Brahman, the Absolute Truth, is also energized or worked with His energies; otherwise why this conception comes within this material world? The material world is shadow reflection of the spiritual world. Unless the original thing is there in the spiritual world, it cannot be reflected in the material world.
Lecture on SB 3.26.17 -- Bombay, December 26, 1974:
Nitāi: "O My dear mother, O daughter of Svāyambhuva Manu, the time factor, as I have explained, is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, from whom the creation begins as a result of the agitation of the neutral, unmanifested nature."
Prabhupāda:
- prakṛter guṇa-sāmyasya
- nirviśeṣasya mānavi
- ceṣṭā yataḥ sa bhagavān
- kāla ity upalakṣitaḥ
- (SB 3.26.17)
Now Bhagavān Kapiladeva is describing what is the kāla, time factor. Time factor is another manifestation or feature of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Kāla... The beginning of creation, that is the beginning of kāla. So that beginning is started by the Supreme Personality of Godhead: sa aikṣata. These are the Vedic information. "The Lord glanced over the mahat-tattva." Sa asṛjata. "And in this way creation began."
Creation is not without the touch of the Supreme Puruṣa, Person. Paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān, puruṣam (BG 10.12). There is puruṣa.
Lecture on SB 3.26.32 -- Bombay, January 9, 1975:
So originally everything is coming from the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore Kṛṣṇa, simplifying the matter and informing us—"You fools, you try to understand." Ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavaḥ: (BG 10.8) "I am the origin." And Vedānta-sūtra says that janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1). "Janma ādi, from whom, that is Brahman." That is Kṛṣṇa. Janma, this janma or the creation of this material cosmic manifestation, phenomenal world, who is the cause of janma? The cause is Kṛṣṇa. Aham ādir hi devānām (Bg 10.2). Then He is the cause of Brahmā, devānām, Śiva. Padma-palāśa-locana, padma, padma-nābha. Therefore Viṣṇu's another name is Padmanābha. Padmanābha, He causes the lotus flower from His navel, and there is Brahmā. And then Brahmā creates whole universe. The original creator is bhagavad-vīrya-coditāt, not this material.
Lecture on SB 5.5.2 -- Hyderabad, April 11, 1975:
Ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavaḥ. Kṛṣṇa says that "I am the origin of everything," the same answer. Janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1). Who is that person from whom everything has come into existence? So if Kṛṣṇa is fact, Brahman, then He says, ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavaḥ, "I am the origin of everything," how other things can be false? No. We do not accept this philosophy. If Kṛṣṇa is truth, then this world is also truth. It may be temporary—bhūtvā bhūtvā pralīyate (BG 8.19)—but it is not untruth. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu therefore has criticized Śaṅkarācārya, māyāvādi-bhāṣya śunile haya sarva-nāśa: (CC Madhya 6.169) "If you accept Māyāvāda philosophy, then your progress is doomed, finished." This is the...
Lecture on SB 6.1.11 -- New York, July 25, 1971:
Therefore the supreme father must be a person. It is very difficult to understand? Any one of you can say it is very difficult to understand? God is called supreme father, not only in your Bible, but in the Vedas also. In all literature. And actually He's father, because the Vedānta says the Absolute Truth is the original father, janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1), from whom everything has taken birth or emanated. So the supreme father cannot be impersonal. He's a person. And in the Vedas, it is confirmed: nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām eko bahūnāṁ yo vidadhāti kāmān (Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2.2.13). He is the supreme eternal amongst all eternals. We are all eternal, living entities, and He's the supreme eternal. And we are all living entities, cetana, life symptoms. We have got everything, all desires. So similarly the supreme father has got all desires. Our desires are born because He has got desires.
Lecture on SB 6.1.15 -- Nellore, January 8, 1976:
So hearing is so important. Therefore our all Vedic literature is called śruti. So the subject matter which is beyond our sense perception, avāṅ-manasā gocaraḥ, that cannot be understood by using our imperfect senses. Now the question is: from whom to hear? So in the śāstra it is said, san-mukharitām: "You have to hear from realized saintly person." It is said in the Bhagavad-gītā,
- tad viddhi praṇipātena
- paripraśnena sevayā
- upadekṣyanti tad jñānaṁ
- jñāninas tattva-darśinaḥ
- (BG 4.34)
You have to hear from a person who has seen or who has understood the Absolute Truth and who is tat, sad-guru. He must be a devotee of the Lord.
Lecture on SB 6.1.24 -- Chicago, July 8, 1975:
Then what is required? Namanta eva. Just become submissive. Don't think yourself as very great philosopher, theologist, scientist. Just be humble. "My dear sir, just be humble." Namanta eva. "Then what will be my business? All right, I shall become humble. Then how I shall make progress?" Now, namanta eva san-mukharitāṁ bhavadīya-vārtām. "Just hear the message of God." "From whom?" San-mukharitām: "through the mouth of the devotees." Not professional, not gramophone—through the mouth of, through the lips of real devotee. "So then? Next? I will have to become sannyāsa or gṛhastha or what?" "No." Sthāne sthitāḥ: "You remain wherever you are. Either you are a gṛhastha or a vānaprastha, or apart from that, either you are a medical man or engineer or politician or businessman or shopkeeper—something your position is there—so you remain in that." Sthāne sthitāḥ:
Lecture on SB 7.9.31 -- Mayapur, March 9, 1976:
From this Saṅkarṣaṇa, Mahā-Viṣṇu. Therefore Mahā-Viṣṇu is described, kalā-viśeṣaḥ. Yasyaika-niśvasita-kālam athāvalambya jīvanti loma-vilajā jagad-aṇḍa-nāthāḥ, sa iha yasya kalā-viśeṣo (Bs. 5.48). This Mahā-Viṣṇu, from whom, by His breathing only, millions and trillions of universes are coming, and each universe there is a Brahmā, jagad-aṇḍa-nāthāḥ. Just like in this universe there is one Brahmā. He creates again so many demigods, animals, human beings in each universe. Again we create so many also. Each of us, although we are very insignificant, still in the history we find one man begets hundreds of children.
Lecture on SB 7.9.34 -- Mayapur, March 12, 1976:
Why do you finish here? It is common logic. Why should you finish here? There must be body. This is real reasoning. And Kṛṣṇa confirms it. Not only your contemplation. Kṛṣṇa says, tathā dehāntara-prāptiḥ: (BG 2.13) "In this way you'll have another body." The Kṛṣṇa, the great authority, He says, from whom Brahmā, the first creature, he learned. Tene brahma hṛdā ādi-kavaye. Kṛṣṇa, Vāsudeva... Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. He... Tene brahma hṛdā ādi-kavaye. He taught this Vedic literature to the heart of Brahmā. He can teach you through the heart also because He is sitting there. Īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-deśe (BG 18.61).
Nectar of Devotion Lectures
The Nectar of Devotion -- Bombay, January 1, 1973:
Somehow or other, the material energy came into existence, and therefore there is creation. This is their argument. This is asuric argument, or the demoniac argument. But the Vedas says, "No." Vedas says that janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1). There is original. Absolute Truth, or God, is He from (whom) everything emanates. Janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1). And that God must be sentient. He's not zero. Not zero. The śūnyavādi. He has got brain. He's person. That is explained. The Vedānta-sūtra says, janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1). Now they, that Absolute Truth, from where everything is emanating, is discussed in the beginning of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Therefore Bhāgavatam is accepted as the real commentary on the Vedānta-sūtra. Real commentary. Bhāṣyaṁ brahma-sūtrāṇām **. Vedārtha paribṛṁhitam. These are the statements.
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures
Lecture on CC Adi-lila 7.66-76 -- San Francisco, February 6, 1967:
Therefore Vyāsadeva, he explained Vedānta-sūtra in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. The first aphorism of Vedānta-sūtra is janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1). Athāto brahma jijñāsā: "Now it is the time for understanding what is Brahman." The next sūtra is... "What is Brahman?" The next answer is janmādy asya yataḥ: "Brahman is that from whom or from where everything emanates." Now he explains janmādy asya verse:
- janmādy asya yataḥ anvayād itarataś ca artheṣu abhijñaḥ svarāṭ
- tene brahma hṛdā ādi-kavaye muhyanti yat sūrayaḥ
- (SB 1.1.1)
In this way, there is lucid explanation of Vedānta-sūtra. Now, if you take Vedānta-sūtra, this janmādy asya aphorism, that Brahman is that Absolute Truth from where everything emanates, or everything is born...
Lecture on CC Adi-lila 7.106-107 -- San Francisco, February 13, 1967:
"Brahman, the Supreme Absolute Truth, is that who is the background of all this manifestation."
Now, if Brahman is background of this manifestation, so we are all living entities and we are intelligent. We know how to do things very nicely. We have got intelligence. And do you think from whom we have emanated, He has no intelligence? He has no sense? He is impersonal? What is this nonsense? I am born of my father. Suppose I have not seen. Just after my birth, my father died. So, in my childhood or even when my mother was pregnant, my father died. So I did not see my father. There are so many cases. Just like Mahārāja Parīkṣit. His father died while he was in the womb of his mother. Now he has not seen his father. Does this mean that his father is impersonal? Any common man (can) understand, "I have got this body from my father, and I am so intelligent. I can do things nicely.
Lecture on CC Adi-lila 7.106-107 -- San Francisco, February 13, 1967:
Does this mean that his father is impersonal? Any common man (can) understand, "I have got this body from my father, and I am so intelligent. I can do things nicely. So naturally my father is a person. How he can become imperson?" although I have not seen it. So these require, janmādy asya yataḥ... Vedānta-sūtra says that "from whom everything is emanated." So He's not imperson. Therefore Bhāgavata explains this verse, this sūtra, very nicely. Janmādy asya yataḥ anvayād itarataś ca artheṣu abhijñaḥ svarāṭ (SB 1.1.1). That Supreme Person, God, is cognizant. He's sentient, not imperson, because He knows everything. Because everything is... Just like your father knows almost everything of you because he has created you. This is crude example. But He's perfect. We fathers, we are not perfect. But He's perfect. Therefore, because He's perfect, He knows everything in the nook and corner of this creation. He knows everything. And Bhāgavata says abhijñaḥ.
Lecture on CC Adi-lila 7.118-121 -- San Francisco, February 24, 1967:
Now, vyāsera sūtra means Vedānta-sūtra. Vedānta-sūtra begins from the very beginning, janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1). Janmādy asya yataḥ means the source of all emanations. Now, this is clear, janmādy asya yataḥ, that "Brahman is that from which, from whom, everything emanates." That does not mean... Pariṇāma-vāda means by-product, by-product. Just like you... This is a tree, and this flower is the by-product. So suppose the flower is there and the flower becomes dried up and falls down. That does not mean the tree is lost. There are thousands and thousands of flowers are coming out, out of..., fruits and flowers, but the tree is there. Similarly, pūrṇasya pūrṇam ādāya pūrṇam evāvaśiṣyate (Īśo Invocation). Although this material manifestation, this world, has emanated from Brahman, that Supreme Brahman, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, that does not mean he is lost. It is material conception.
Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 6.154-155 -- Gorakhpur, February 19, 1971 (Krsna Niketan):
One is cit-śakti and one is jara-śakti. Just like so long the cit-śakti is there within this body, it is living, it is moving, and as soon as the cit-śakti, the soul, departs from this body, there is no more movement. Similarly, Kṛṣṇa, or the Supreme Personality of Godhead, He is the chief śakti, or..., not śakti, śaktimān, from whom—janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1)—from Him this material world is coming out. Ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavo mattaḥ sarvaṁ pravartate (BG 10.8).
So we should try to appreciate the energy of God. When Kṛṣṇa says, mayā tatam idaṁ sarvam: "I am all-pervading..." Sarvam. Sarvaṁ khalv idaṁ brahma, the same thing, as it is Vedic injunction, similarly Kṛṣṇa says, mayā tatam idaṁ sarvaṁ jagat avyakta-mūrtinā: "The all-pervading nature, the expansion of my energy, is the impersonal Brahman." That is impersonal. Mat-sthāni sarva-bhūtāni nāhaṁ teṣu avasthitaḥ (BG 9.4). That is Kṛṣṇa's power. Everything is resting in Him.
Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 6.254 -- Los Angeles, January 8, 1968:
Take, for example, in the Vedānta-sūtra, the first aphorism is janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1). The first sūtra is athāto brahma jijñāsā: "Now you have to understand what is Brahman, or what is the Absolute Truth." The next aphorism is, immediately, that "The Absolute Truth is that from whom everything emanates, the original source of all emanation." Janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1). Janma, janma means birth. Ādi means et cetera. But janma, where there is birth, there is death and there is existence. Whenever there is birth, you must know there is death also. There is not a single instance you have got experience where birth is possible and death is not possible. This material world is going on in that way: birth, then existence, then development, then by-product, then dwindling, then vanishing.
Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.358-359 -- New York, December 29, 1966:
And that is also confirmed in other Vedic literature. Yato vā imāni bhūtāni jāyante. Imāni bhūtāni, all these things which are created, there is a source. That is Brahman. That is Brahman. The Vedānta-sūtra also confirms this, janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1). Athāto brahma jijñāsā. What is Brahman? This is explained in one code word: Janmādy asya yataḥ, Brahman is that from whom everything is emanating. That... Brahman is that from whom, or from which, whatever you like, everything is emanated. So that Supreme Source, summum bonum, of everything is described in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Janmādy asya yato 'nvayād itarataś ca artheṣu abhijñaḥ svarāṭ. That Supreme Source of everything, what is the nature of that Supreme Source of everything? Now the Bhāgavata says, janmādy asya yataḥ anvayād itarataś ca arthesu abhijñaḥ. He is conscious.
Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.367-84 -- New York, December 31, 1966:
Now He says, about His ages, how the Lord is old. Lord never becomes old. Ādyaṁ purāṇa puruṣaṁ nava-yauvanaṁ ca (Bs. 5.33). In the Brahma-saṁhitā it is stated that, although He's the oldest personality, ādyam, because He's the original person from whom everything has come out. Everything has generated. So we living entities, we are also sons and grandsons of that Supreme Personality of Godhead. So the Brahma-saṁhitā says although He's the oldest person... In the Bhagavad-gītā He is stated by Arjuna as great-grandfather. Prapitāmahaś ca. You'll find this word in the Bhagavad-gītā. Because Brahmā is addressed as pitāmaha, grandfather. He's the original first creature in this material world, in this universe, and everyone has come from him. Therefore he is called pitāmaha. Pitāmaha means grandfather. And, because he's born also of Viṣṇu, therefore Viṣṇu is prapitāmaha (BG 11.39).
Sri Brahma-samhita Lectures
Lecture on Brahma-samhita, Lecture -- Bombay, January 3, 1973:
So he has explained about Kṛṣṇa by his experience, by his realization.
In the Vedānta-sūtra, Kṛṣṇa is described, janmādy asya yataḥ: (SB 1.1.1) the Supreme Person from whom everything has emanated. So that Kṛṣṇa has confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā, aham ādir hi devānām (Bg 10.2). Devānām means in the beginning there was Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Maheśvara. And Kṛṣṇa is ādi of these devas also. Aham ādir hi devānām. Ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavo: "Everything has emanated from Me."
Festival Lectures
Ratha-yatra Lecture at The Family Dog Auditorium -- San Francisco, July 27, 1969:
The Supreme Absolute, He is also a living entity like us, just like your father, this material father from whom you have got this body, he is also a person, and you are also a person. You are son of your father. Similarly, although you cannot see God, we can understand from the version of the Vedas and authoritative scriptures if God is father, then He must be a person. He must be a person because I am person. We have to study by analogy, by our reason, our intelligence. Just like you have got experience in this life that "My father is a person. I am also a person." Although the relation is "I am his son; he is my father," but both of us are persons. None of us is imperson. That is nonsense. How my father can become imperson if I am person? This is nonsense.
Initiation Lectures
Initiation and Brahma-samhita Lecture -- New York, July 26, 1971:
So if every living entity is a person, how the original of, origin of everything can be imperson? The origin must be person. Therefore ādi-puruṣam. The origin, original, or origin of everything, janmādy asya yataḥ, Absolute Truth, is that from whom or from which everything is emanating. So everything is a person, individual. So origin must be person. Ādi-puruṣam. Therefore Brahmā..., this Brahma-saṁhitā is made by Brahmā. He's the original creature within this universe. He's recommending that "My origin is also a person." Ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi: "I worship that original person." Therefore the origin of everything, the Absolute, the summum bonum, cannot be impersonal. What is the reason? Where is the experience that from imperson a person comes? There is no such instance within our experience. From person, a person comes. My father is a person, so I am a person.
Wedding Ceremonies
Paramananda & Satyabhama's Wedding -- Montreal, July 22, 1968:
And the Brahma-sūtra, Vedānta-sūtra, in the beginning says that "Who is Brahman, the Supreme Person or the Absolute Truth?" Athāto brahma jijñāsā, questioning "What is that Absolute Truth?" The answer is janmādy asya yataḥ: (SB 1.1.1) "The Absolute Truth is that from whom everything emanates." Very simple definition. That means the fountainhead of everything, the source of everything. Therefore here in this material world we see that the attraction for man and woman, woman's attraction for man, man's attraction for woman, is so prominent. Not only in human society, but in other than: animal society, cat society, dog society, bird society, there is always the attraction, man and woman, or male and female. Why? The answer is in the Vedānta-sūtra: janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1). Because it is there in the Absolute Truth. Without being present in the Absolute Truth, how it can be manifested in the relative truth?
General Lectures
Lecture on Teachings of Lord Caitanya -- Seattle, September 25, 1968:
That is not explanation. So the direct explanation is..., very nice explanation is given by the Vedānta-sūtra what is that origin. The Vedānta-sūtra says, janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1). The origin is that from which everything is born. That is the origin. Now we have to find out what is that thing from whom everything is born. That is Kṛṣṇa. The great sages, they have searched out what is that origin. And in the Brahma-saṁhitā it is said,
- īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ
- sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ
- anādir ādir govindaḥ
- sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam
- (Bs. 5.1)
Sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam means the cause of all causes. They have searched out. Scientifically they have searched out that Kṛṣṇa is the origin.
Lecture -- Seattle, September 30, 1968:
The Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, it is spotless description of understanding how to love God. There is no other description. From the beginning it is teaching how to love God. Those who have studied Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the first verse in the First Canto is janmādy asya yataḥ, satyaṁ paraṁ dhīmahi (SB 1.1.1). The beginning is that "I am offering my unalloyed devotion unto the Supreme, from whom everything has emanated." Janmādy asya yataḥ. So it is a... You know, it is a great description. So Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. If you want to learn how to love God, or Kṛṣṇa, then study Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. And to understand Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the preliminary study is Bhagavad-gītā. So study Bhagavad-gītā to understand the real nature or identification of God and yourself and your relationship, and then, when you are little conversant, when you are prepared, that "Yes, Kṛṣṇa is the only lovable object," then next book you take, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. And you go on.
Lecture -- Seattle, October 2, 1968:
So our program is to worship the original Supreme Personality of Godhead, Govinda. This is Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, find out who is the original person. Naturally, everyone is anxious to find out the original person of a family, original person of a society, original person of a nation, original person of humanity... You go on, searching. But if you can find out the original person from whom everything has come out, that is Brahman. Janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1). The Vedānta-sūtra says Brahman, the Absolute Truth, is that from whom everything has emanated. Very simple description. What is God, what is the Absolute Truth, very simple definition—the original person.
Lecture -- Seattle, October 7, 1968:
As you are person, I am person, you'll find person.
So it is poor fund of knowledge only that these conclude that the ultimate Absolute Truth is impersonal. No. Because Vedānta says, Vedānta-sūtra says, janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1). The Supreme Absolute Truth, or Brahman, is that from whom everything generates, everything is born. Now, everything is born. Then you have got personality, I have got my personality, everyone has got personality. How you can think of Him that He is not person? We have got experience that a father is person, therefore his son is also person. So if we are born of the supreme father, then if we are person, how He can be imperson? It is simple reason. But His personality is different, our personality is different. Īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ (Bs. 5.1). His body is different, sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ. His power is different, His potency is different.
Lecture -- Montreal, October 26, 1968:
God, Kṛṣṇa, He's the original person because from the original father, you can take, from whom everyone has come. Therefore He's the oldest. Advaitam acyutam anādim ādyam. Ādyam means the original person. Man is made after God; therefore God is original person. So that person ādyam, acyutam, anādim, nava-yauvanaṁ ca. Nava-yauvanaṁ ca means He is always a young man. Just like you are all young men, attractive. Young life is attractive. So that youthful age is always in the spiritual world. And as the youthful means joyful life, ānandamayo 'bhyāsāt... (Vedānta-sūtra 1.1.12). All young boys and young girls, they are after joyfulness, but they are being frustrated in this material world. That is the inebriety. The spiritual world means these things are there, but without any inebriety. Here we love. A boy loves a girl; a girl loves...
Pandal Lecture -- Delhi, November 13, 1971:
We are getting this information from Lord Brahmā, the creator of this particular universe, very authoritative statement by his realization. In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, in the beginning, the description of the Lord is given, janmādy asya yataḥ, tene brahma hṛdā ādi-kavaye (SB 1.1.1). So, first of all He gave instruction, the Lord, janmādy asya yataḥ, from whom everything is emanating. Lord Brahmā is also emanating from Him. Tene brahma hṛdā ādi-kavaye. So how Lord Brahmā got Vedic instruction? That is answered, hṛdā. Hṛdā means through the heart. So the Lord is situated in everyone's heart—in the heart of the Brahmā or in the heart of the ant. Not only in the heart but also within the atom. Aṇḍāntara-sthaṁ paramāṇu-cayāntara-stham. Paramāṇu means atom. So we do not know how many paramāṇus, atoms, are there. That is impossible to count. Even if you are able to count how many paramāṇus or atoms are there, still you cannot know what is the limit of God's expansions and qualities.
Lecture -- Bombay, March 19, 1972:
That Brahma is explained by the author. That Brahma is that from where everything emanates, janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1). Janma, śiti and loi(?). Janma means birth, śiti means stay, and loi(?) means annihilation. So wherefrom everything is coming out, and from whom everything is staying, and after annihilation, where everything is entering—that is Brahma. Janmādy asya (SB 1.1.1). Janmādi.
Now, that source of energy wherefrom everything is emanating, now what is the actual position of that thing? Is it inanimate or animate? Just like some scientists explain the theory of creation, that "There was a chunk that was inanimate. From inanimate things animation has developed under certain conditions." That is not possible. We have no such experience that from inanimate things some animation has developed. Sometimes we see, it is called (Sanskrit?).
Town Hall Lecture -- Auckland, April 14, 1972:
So all these ācāryas, according to the Vaiṣṇava ācārya... Vaiṣṇava ācāryas, there are four ācāryas. Śrī Rāmānujācārya, Madhvācārya, Nimbārka, and Viṣṇu Svāmī. And those who are not Vaiṣṇavas, impersonalists, they are represented by Śaṅkarācārya. Even Śaṅkarācārya, from whom we differ in philosophical discussion... Not very much different—so far the procedure is concerned, the regulative principles are concerned, they are all the same. The only difference is that Śaṅkarācārya's sampradāya, they take the ultimate Absolute Truth as impersonal, and we Vaiṣṇavas, we take the Absolute Truth as person. But Śaṅkarācārya, in his later stage, he also admitted in a different way.
Lecture at Art Gallery -- Auckland, April 16, 1972:
So don't you think there is need of artistic brain and scientific brain? If you simply say, "It is nature," that is not good explanation. But the Vedas gives us information, "No." Janmādy asya yataḥ: (SB 1.1.1) "The Absolute Truth is He from whom everything is being generated." First aphorism is athāto brahma jijñāsā. Greater thing. We are engaged in smaller thing. We become amazed when we see a small sputnik is flying in the sky, and it is trying to go to the moon planet, and we are giving all credit to the scientist, and scientist is challenging, "What is God? Science is everything." But if you are cool brain, then you will see that now, in comparison to the sputnik, there are millions and trillions of planets and stars, big, big planets like sun planet, which is fourteen hundred thousand times bigger than this earth. Apart from sun planet, if we take this teeny planet, earthly planet, on which we are living, there are so many oceans, so many mountains, skyscraper buildings.
Sunday Feast Lecture -- Los Angeles, May 21, 1972:
He must have sufficient brain substance to understand what are these Vedānta-sūtras. Because everything is there in a small aphorism. Just like the first aphorism of Vedānta-sūtra is athāto brahma jijñāsā. In three words: atha, ataḥ, brahma, jijñāsā. Four words. So it contains volumes of philosophy. The next aphorism is janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1). Janma, ādi, asya, yataḥ. "From whom," asya, viśvasya, "of this universe, cosmic manifestation." From where this cosmic manifestation has come, and where it rests, and where it will dissolve. Janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1). In this way, Vedānta-sūtra means, gives you the whole purpose of Vedas, knowledge, in small code words. So to understand these code words, one must have very big brain, or very highly standard educational qualification. Then...
Lecture -- Hong Kong, January 31, 1974:
Kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam (SB 1.3.28). If you are searching after God, that is your duty. Athāto brahma jijñāsā. That is your human life's business, to search out the truth, Absolute Truth. Then that is Kṛṣṇa, that is Kṛṣṇa. In the Vedānta-sūtra it is indirectly said, "The Absolute Truth is janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1), from whom everything is generated." That is Absolute Truth. That answer is given in the Bhagavad-gītā, aham sarvasya prabhavaḥ mattaḥ sarvaṁ pravartate: (BG 10.8) "I am the origin of everything." Aham ādir hi devānām (Bg 10.2). Somebody may say the demigods like Lord Brahma, Siva, they are the beginning demigods. But Kṛṣṇa says, aham ādir hi devānām. "The all the demigods, but their beginning, they are also coming from Me." Sarvasya prabhavaḥ mattaḥ sarvaṁ pravartate. These things are there. So we are teaching that. It is not difficult. We are not manufacturing anything by fertile brain. Everything is there in the Bhagavad-gītā.
Lecture -- Vrndavana, March 14, 1974:
And Bhāgavata says, jīvasya tattva-jijñāsā. The same thing; a little different language. And janmādy asya śloka is beginning of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Janmādy asya yataḥ anvayād (SB 1.1.1). In the Vedānta-sūtra the sūtra is janmādy asya yataḥ: "Absolute Truth is that from which or from whom everything emanates." Janmādy asya yataḥ. And Bhāgavata is explaining... That is commentary. What is that janmādy asya yataḥ? Janmādy asya yataḥ anvayād itarataś ca artheṣu abhijñaḥ sva-rāṭ. Who is that source of knowledge? He must be abhijña. Wherefrom He got this knowledge? Svarāṭ. These things are explained.
Lecture at St. Pascal's Franciscan Seminary -- Melbourne, June 28, 1974:
"How this world is created? Who has created?" And there are many different ways of answering. But the Vedānta-sūtra answers that the, whatever we are seeing, all this cosmic manifestation, the creator is God, Brahman. Athāto brahma jijñāsā, janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1). So God, or the Supreme Truth, Absolute Truth is that from whom everything has come. So that is the beginning of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1), "Absolute Truth is that from whom everything has come into existence." So the common platform is therefore, if we try to understand the Supreme Soul, and we turn our loving propensities to that Supreme Soul, that is called religion. Religion is not kind of... In the dictionary it is said, "Religion is a kind of faith." No. It is a permanent, I mean to say, arrangement. It is not the faith. Faith we can change.
Tenth Anniversary Address -- Washington, D.C., July 6, 1976:
This is not wanted. And Kṛṣṇa says, vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ (BG 15.15). So you become Vedantist, that's very nice. In the beginning of Vedānta it is said that the Absolute Truth is that from whom everything comes. Athāto brahma jijñāsā. This is beginning. Now the human life is meant for understanding the Absolute Truth, jijñāsā. One should inquire what is the Absolute. That is human life, to find out the Absolute Truth. So the next sūtra immediately says that Absolute Truth is that who is the source of everything. And what is that everything? Two things we find: animate and inanimate. Practical experience. Some of them are animate and some of them are inanimate. Two things. Now we can expand the varieties. That is another thing. But two things are there. So these two things, we see there is a controller above these two things, the animate and inanimate.
Philosophy Discussions
Philosophy Discussion on John Dewey:
Prabhupāda: Yes, that is required. Because in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is also accepted that except a Vedic religion, all others are cheating religion because they have no perfect knowledge. It is clearly stated that cheating type of religion is rejected from the Bhāgavata religion. Bhāgavata... The sum and substance of Bhāgavata religion is accepting God as the supreme controller. Satyaṁ paraṁ dhīmahi. This is beginning. And what is that Absolute Truth? Janmādy asya yataḥ, itarataś ca artheṣu abhijñaḥ svarāṭ: (SB 1.1.1) that there is a principal, Brahman, from whom everything has come. So unless you find out what is the ultimate source of emanation, the knowledge is perfect, hum, imperfect. But you must have to admit, from your experience, that everything has a source of emanation. Anything has. You cannot go beyond your experience. You see this table. This table has got a history. Somebody has collected the wood and he has made into a shape. So everything that you see, it has got a history.
Philosophy Discussion on Edmund Husserl:
Śyāmasundara: Yes. And then he takes the next step. Now, why is there no leaf at a certain time? And then you go on inquiring in that way. But he...
Prabhupāda: You inquire from whom?
Śyāmasundara: You inquire from your intuition.
Prabhupāda: Just see. This is nonsense.
Devotee: According to that philosophy, if one looks inside a body, a person's body, the essence of the body is the soul. So by looking at the body can we detect the soul within?
Śyāmasundara: Materially, yes. Just like before... Our Western scientists have never read Vedic literature, but they understand why there is leaves on a tree at a certain time and why not. It's not a very difficult thing to understand.
Philosophy Discussion on Sigmund Freud:
Prabhupāda: That, that means he has no clear conception of God, because God has to take power from some parliament. God does not take power from anyone. He is God. That is described in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, that janmādy asya yataḥ anvayād itarataḥ ca artheṣu abhijñaḥ svarāṭ (SB 1.1.1), that the Supreme, God, or Supreme Truth, Brahman, He knows everything. He knows everything in details. And wherefrom? Abhijñaḥ. He is, abhijñaḥ means completely in awareness. Then the question may be raised that "How He got this complete knowledge? From whom He received?" The answer is immediate, svarāṭ. Svarāṭ means independent. That is God. If one has to take knowledge from Mr. Freud, then he is not God. Anyone, if you come to that person that He is independent, parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate svābhāvikī (Cc. Madhya 13.65, purport), naturally He is all-perfect. He hasn't got to become perfect by some process or from some authority. That is God. He is all-perfect automatically.
Philosophy Discussion on Sigmund Freud:
Prabhupāda: Now, at this time, atha ato brahma-jijñāsā, now this human life is to inquire about the Absolute Truth, Brahman, because that is the ultimate knowledge. This ultimate knowledge can be acquired by the human being, not by the cats and dog. So if a philosopher, without any knowledge of God, doubtful knowledge of God, so he is imperfect, he is not even human being. He is cats and dogs. (break) God means supreme controller. So everything we see is controlled. The government is controller, but the supreme controller there must be. That's a fact. Now, if you want to know it clearly, then be educated. That is Vedānta. That is very reasonably said, that "What is that Brahman, God?" Immediately answer is, janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1). God means, the Absolute Truth means, Brahman means from whom everything has emanated. We see everything is emanating. Just like we see the trees are emanating from the earth, and by eating the fruits, flowers, grains, the animal, human being, they are also emanating.
Philosophy Discussion on The Evolutionists Thomas Huxley, Henri Bergson, and Samuel Alexander:
Prabhupāda: There is no such thing, from inorganic life. Inorganic life... Suppose just like Brahmā is coming from the navel of Viṣṇu. So where is the... We don't get any information. Viṣṇu is origin, and from Viṣṇu, Brahmā came. From Brahmā, other demigods came, other animals came. They create animals and others. The first created being is Brahmā, the most intelligent. He's not animal. Their proposal is from lower to the higher, but our theory is from the higher, from Viṣṇu. Kṛṣṇa says, ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavaḥ (BG 10.8). "I am the origin of everything." Now, how you can say there is development from the lower creatures? He is the origin. And Vedānta says, janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1). The origin, Absolute Truth, is that from whom everything is generating. So Absolute Truth means He is the supreme life. From life, life is coming. Where is the evidence that dead stone giving birth to a man or animal? Where is the evidence?
| Page Title: | From whom (Lectures) |
| Compiler: | Visnu Murti, RupaManjari |
| Created: | 23 of May, 2012 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=95, Con=0, Let=0 |
| No. of Quotes: | 95 |