Glance (Lectures)

Expressions researched:
"glance" |"glanced" |"glances" |"glancing"

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Lecture on BG 3.11-19 -- Los Angeles, December 27, 1968:

Prabhupāda: Yes. We should not think how it is that Lord gave His laws through breathing. Because with breathing we cannot speak anything. That means I am calculating the strength of God with my capacity. The Brahma-saṁhitā says no. Aṅgāni yasya sakalendriya vṛttimanti. The every part, or every limb, of the body of Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality, can act of other limb. Just like I can see through the eyes only. But Kṛṣṇa can see through His finger also. That is His omnipotency. Omnipotency means every limb has got the potency of all other limbs. That is called omnipotency. We speak of omnipotency, but we do not know the meaning of omnipotency. This is omnipotency, that by His glance God created this world by His glance. Sa īkṣata sa asṛjata. These are Vedic hymns. So we can say that how is that, simply God saw and there was creation? Yes. That is omnipotency. Why do you think in terms of your capacity? That is materialism. As soon as you think of God in my capacity, that is materialism. You have to accept as it is said in the Vedas. Then you understand what is God. Otherwise you cannot. Go on.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: "The Lord, being potent, can speak by breathing air as is confirmed in the Brahma-saṁhitā, for the Lord has omnipotence to perform through each of His senses the actions of all other senses. In other words, the Lord can speak through His breathing and He can impregnate by His eyes. It is said that He glanced over the material nature and thus fathered all the living entities. So after impregnating the conditioned souls into the womb of the material nature, He gave His direction in the Vedic wisdom as to how such conditioned souls can return home, back to Godhead.

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

He doesn't require to tax His brain how to do things. Immediately He desires, everything is done. That is Kṛṣṇa. Immediately what He wants, as soon as. Sa aikṣata. As soon as He glanced over the material nature, there was creation. These are the Vedic statements.

Therefore here, to inquire about Kṛṣṇa, to clarify the matter, that what is Kṛṣṇa. Because He is all-powerful, all-cognizant, fully conversant, sva-rāṭ, therefore He could speak millions of years ago to the sun-god. This is not story. This is fact. To clarify this matter, Arjuna inquired from Kṛṣṇa, "How can I believe it?" And the answer is next verse, that "We, you, you and Me, both of them took many many times our birth, but you have forgotten because you are a living being and I am the Supreme Personality of Godhead, I have not forgotten. This is the difference between you and Me."

Lecture on BG 4.14 -- Bombay, April 3, 1974:

Why he should have any desire? He can create anything, without any effort, simply by His willing. Simply by His willing. Sa īkṣata, sa asṛjata. These are the Vedic information. Simply by His glancing, there was the whole material cosmic manifestation. So if we understand Kṛṣṇa like that...

Therefore Kṛṣṇa says... Study Kṛṣṇa. Study Kṛṣṇa. And Kṛṣṇa is describing Himself. There is no difficulty. You can study Kṛṣṇa. If you know now, "What Kṛṣṇa says is all right," simply if you know definitely, then iti māṁ yo 'bhijānāti, simply by knowing this, karmabhir na sa badhyate, he is no more under the condition of this fruitive resultant action. He is free. So why don't you do that? So nice thing. Simply study. Now how can I study? Here is Krsna's instruction, you study and you become devotee. Man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru (BG 18.65). Don't require education. If you cannot read, if you are illiterate, it doesn't matter. You hear. Satāṁ prasaṅgān mama vīrya-saṁvidaḥ. You hear from the realized soul. God has given you ear you can hear.

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Lecture on SB 1.2.23 -- Vrndavana, November 3, 1972:

The material creation, mahat-tattva... Sa īkṣata. As it is said in the Vedic literature, simply by glancing over the material nature and agitating the three modes of material nature, the whole creation comes out. This is an sum, sum and substance of material creation. Mahā-Viṣṇu is lying in the Causal Ocean, Kāraṇārṇava, and He is breathing, and from His breathing innumerable universes are coming out. And in each and every universe, Mahā-Viṣṇu, in His further expansion as Garbhodakaśāyī-Viṣṇu, He enters. That Garbhodakaśāyī-Viṣṇu, from His abdomen there is a lotus stem, and in that lotus flower Lord Brahmā is born. In this way, creation is made.

So actually, Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Maheśvara, they are the principal directors of the three guṇas. Therefore Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Maheśvara, they are called guṇāvatāra. Lord Viṣṇu is in charge of sattva-guṇa activities.

Lecture on SB 1.2.33 -- Vrndavana, November 12, 1972:

This bhāva, this material creation, it is also bhāva. Another bhāva, that is sanātana. Paras tasmāt tu bhāvaḥ anyaḥ. Anya means other. Avyakto 'vyaktāt sanātanaḥ. Here the mahat-tattva, the total material energy, is called avyakta. Then, when it is agitated by the glance of the Supreme Lord, the three modes of material nature acts. And by interaction of these three modes of material nature, the whole cosmic manifestation comes into being. This is the... Not theory. This is the fact of creation. Creation, there is machine, or there is electronic working and the buttons are pushed by the Supreme Lord. Parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate (Cc. Madhya 13.65, purport). His electronic machine is so subtle and powerful that we cannot understand. We say "nature." Because, due to our ignorance, we cannot explain how the nature is working, we give an evasive reply. Just like a flower is coming from the seed.

Lecture on SB 1.2.33 -- Vrndavana, November 12, 1972:

In the Bhagavad-gītā it is said, paras tasmāt tu bhāvaḥ anyaḥ (BG 8.20). This bhāva, this material creation, it is also bhāva. Another bhāva, that is sanātana. Paras tasmāt tu bhāvaḥ anyaḥ. Anya means other. Avyakto 'vyaktāt sanātanaḥ. Here the mahat-tattva, the total material energy, is called avyakta. Then, when it is agitated by the glance of the Supreme Lord, the three modes of material nature acts. And by interaction of these three modes of material nature, the whole cosmic manifestation comes into being. This is the... Not theory. This is the fact of creation. Creation, there is machine, or there is electronic working and the buttons are pushed by the Supreme Lord. Parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate (Cc. Madhya 13.65, purport). His electronic machine is so subtle and powerful that we cannot understand. We say "nature." Because, due to our ignorance, we cannot explain how the nature is working, we give an evasive reply. Just like a flower is coming from the seed. The tree is coming, the flower is coming, the fruit is coming. So we simply give an evasive reply: "By nature, it is coming." But we cannot explain how it is coming.

Lecture on SB 1.3.1 -- Vrndavana, November 14, 1972:

So this is not a very good theory that from the chunk, or some matter exploded, and immediately the universe came into existence. That is not a very good theory. But this is nice. Jagṛhe pauruṣaṁ rūpam. This pauruṣam, the Mahā-Viṣṇu, Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, and Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, They are expansions of Kṛṣṇa. Advaitam acyutam anādim ananta-rūpam (Bs. 5.33). He incarnates, He expands Himself in various incarnations. Now, for the creation, these three persons... Always person. Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, person; Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, person; and Kāraṇārṇava-jala, Kāraṇārṇavaśāyī Viṣṇu, person. And Kāraṇārṇavaśāyī Viṣṇu, Mahā-Viṣṇu, He's also expansion of Saṅkarṣaṇa. And Saṅkarṣaṇa is expansion of Baladeva; Baladeva is expansion of Kṛṣṇa. Therefore Kṛṣṇa becomes the origin. Īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ, anādiḥ (Bs. 5.1). He has no beginning, but He is beginning. Anādir ādiḥ. He's, He has no beginning, but He is the beginning of creation. Anādir ādir govindaḥ sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam (Bs. 5.1).

Lecture on SB 1.5.8-9 -- New Vrindaban, May 24, 1969:

These things happen simply by little merciful glance by Lord Caitanya upon us. Simply if Lord Caitanya approves our activity, "Well, this man is doing nice," oh, then you get all the success. Simply if He approves. Yat kāruṇya-katākṣa-vaibhavavatāṁ taṁ gauram eva stumaḥ.

Therefore our point was how to please the Supreme Lord. This is the way. If you want to please Kṛṣṇa, you spread Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That is the point Nārada is pointing out to Vyāsadeva. Yathā dharmādayaś cārthā muni-varyānukīrtitāḥ. Muni-varya. Muni-varya means he was the greatest of all thoughtful men. Muni. Muni means those who are thoughtful, and varya means the greatest. So he says, yathā dharmādayaś cārthā muni-varyānukīrtitāḥ. "As you have described in all the Vedas and Upaniṣads about religiosity or economic development or the procedure of sense gratification or merging into the Supreme, in that way you have not described the glories of the Lord. You have given more importance to the material activities."

Lecture on SB 1.7.44 -- Vrndavana, October 4, 1976:

Na cānya eko 'pi ciraṁ vicinvan, prasāda-leśānugṛhīta eva hi (SB 10.14.29). By little prasāda, satisfaction... In many places these things are stated. Yat kāruṇya-katākṣa-vaibhavavatāṁ gauram eva stumaḥ. Kāruṇya-katākṣa. Not complete kāruṇya, but katākṣa, simply little glancing, he becomes so great, kaivalyaṁ narakāyate tridaśa-pūr ākāśa...

Therefore Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura says, yasya prasādād bhagavat-prasādaḥ **. Not that bhagavat-prasāda is achieved by education and grammar. No. Yasya prasādād bhagavat-prasādaḥ **. By the mercy of guru one can achieve. That is just like a common word, "If you love me, love my dog." So you cannot approach Kṛṣṇa without loving His dog, His servant. Satāṁ prasaṅgāt. A person who is trying to distribute the message of Kṛṣṇa, he is very, very dear dog of Kṛṣṇa. Na ca tasmān manuṣyeṣu kaścin me priya-kṛttamaḥ (BG 18.69). He is very... It doesn't matter how far he is advanced in education, how far he has learned grammar. These are not the things. The things is how far he is working to carry out the mission of Kṛṣṇa. Then one has to receive Kṛṣṇa's mercy through the bona fide servant.

Lecture on SB 1.8.40 -- Los Angeles, May 2, 1973:

So there is full cooperation between trees, animals, human beings when there is Kṛṣṇa is in the center. This is civilization. Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa consciousness, if it is there, tava vīkṣitaiḥ... Tava vīkṣitaiḥ means "This is due to Your glancing over them." Just like we are sitting here. Kṛṣṇa is glancing over us. Everything is nice, first-class. Kṛṣṇa has come very kindly. Because you are trying to become Kṛṣṇa's devotee, He has come before you in His full opulence, and He's glancing over you, and you become happy and beautiful. Therefore we want... This whole material creation is due to Kṛṣṇa's glancing. Sa aikṣata. In the Vedas, he glanced over this matter and the matter become agitated. Just like there is man and woman. When the woman is agitated, there is fruit, there is fruit. Similarly, the whole creation is in the same process. The nature, matter, has to be agitated. That agitation comes from the life, not from the matter.

So this is the Vedic information. Sa aikṣata sa asṛjata. Kṛṣṇa also says ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavaḥ (BG 10.8). Simply by Kṛṣṇa's glancing, seeing, the matter becomes agitated and becomes pregnant, and the living entities come out. The trees, the fruits and everything comes out. Simply by His glancing. How it is possible? We have no experience that "Simply by glancing over my wife, I can make her pregnant." No.

Lecture on SB 1.8.40 -- Los Angeles, May 2, 1973:

Each and every part, limb of Kṛṣṇa, has got the capacity of other parts. We, by our eyes part of our body, we can simply see. But Kṛṣṇa, by seeing, can make others pregnant. That is Kṛṣṇa. There is no need, use of sex life. There is no... Simply by Kṛṣṇa's glancing... Mayādhyakṣeṇa prakṛtiḥ sūyate sa-carācaram (BG 9.10). Adhyakṣeṇa, adhi-akṣeṇa. Akṣa means eyes. "By My glancing," mayādhyakṣeṇa prakṛtiḥ, "the material nature..." These things are there in the Bhagavad-gītā. You study. Mayādhyakṣeṇa prakṛtiḥ sūyate: "gives birth." What kind of birth? Carācaram: "moving and nonmoving."

There are two living entities: moving and nonmoving. The nonmoving are the trees and the plants. They cannot move. They stand in one place. And we, human beings, animals, insects, flies, we move. So there are two kinds of living entities. Stāvara-jaṅgama. In Sanskrit it is called sthāvara-jaṅgama. So the sthāvara-jaṅgama, they're coming out of this material nature. Not the life is coming, but the body. When we say coming, coming means birth. So if you say, now, matter, from matter—no.

Lecture on SB 1.8.40 -- Los Angeles, May 2, 1973:

There is no question of to become rich by starting some huge factory, producing these motor bodies. You see.

So we have created troubles. Otherwise, if we depend on Kṛṣṇa and Kṛṣṇa's mercy... Because by Kṛṣṇa's glancing, everything is all right. Here it is said,

ime jana-padāḥ svṛddhāḥ

supakvauṣadhi-vīrudhaḥ

vanādri-nady-udanvanto

hy edhante tava vīkṣitaiḥ

(SB 1.8.40)

So simply by Kṛṣṇa's glancing, Kuntī is expressing that so many beautiful things are there. "Simply by Your glance." So if you simply plead for Kṛṣṇa's glancing, so there is no question of scarcity, there is no question of need. Everything will be complete. This is Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. You depend on nature's gift. By the grace of Kṛṣṇa... They are... Our opinion, that the population has increased. Everywhere they say the population has increased, and they're checking the population by artificial means, by rascal method. Why? The birds and bees, they have no checking. They are increasing their population without any contraceptive.

Lecture on SB 1.8.40 -- Los Angeles, May 2, 1973:

So it is not to be done. It is not to be done. Therefore people are not happy. They are committing simply sinful activities. How they can become happy? But if you become Kṛṣṇa conscious, simply depend on Kṛṣṇa's glancing, tava vīkṣitaiḥ, if you depend on Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa will supply you everything. There is no question of scarcity. It is a question of production. And sometimes we find that the grains and fruits are produced in huge quantity. One cannot finish. So it is a question of Kṛṣṇa's glance. If Kṛṣṇa likes, He can produce huge quantity of grains and fruits and vegetables. And if He, Kṛṣṇa controls, then what your meat will do? You can eat me, I shall eat you. That will go on, but that will not solve the problem. Therefore for real peace of life, tranquillity and everything, sufficient supply of foodstuffs, sufficient supply of milk and water, everything, arrangement is there. Simply we have to depend on Kṛṣṇa.

Just like Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura is teaching us: so, "I depend on You." Mārobi rākhobi jo icchā tohārā. "My dear Lord, I simply surrender unto You, depend on You. Now, if You like, You can kill me or You can give me protection." This is wanted. And Kṛṣṇa says in reply, "Yes."

Lecture on SB 1.8.41 -- Mayapura, October 21, 1974:

They are doing nothing for nationalism." So Guru Mahārāja said, "Well, for your national propaganda you require very strong men, but these people are very weak. You can see. They are very skinny. So don't put your glance upon them. Let them eat something and chant Hare Kṛṣṇa." He avoided like that.

And then there were many others. That was a philanthropy, to give food to the daridra-nārāyaṇa. These things are going on. Nobody is interested that..., or they know it, that human life is only meant for God realization; there is no other business. Otherwise Caitanya Mahāprabhu is not so fool that at the age of twenty-four years He took sannyāsa and preached this cult:

harer nāma harer nāma harer nāmaiva kevalam

kalau nāsty eva nāsty eva nāsty eva gatir anyathā

(CC Adi 17.21)

He was not such a fool because that is the only business. That is the only business, how one should develop Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That is the verdict of all Vedic śāstras. What is the meaning of Vedic..., studying Vedas? Vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ (BG 15.15). That is the only necessity. To become educated, learned scholar and learned in Vedas, catur-vedi, tri-vedi, dvi-vedi, four-vedi... The brāhmaṇas were divided according to education.

Lecture on SB 1.10.13 -- Mayapura, June 26, 1973:

The Māyāvādīs, they say that God cannot be explained. In the Vedānta-sūtra there is a sūtra: na śabdyāt. I, I forget the... "God is explainable." Because in the Vedas there are mantras. Sa aikṣata, sa asṛjata. He glanced over the material nature. He created. Sa aikṣata. So these things are explainable. So we don't see that the Absolute Truth is not explicable. It is explicable. We have got our explanation. Pūrṇa. Pūrṇa means complete. Nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām (Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2.2.13). He's also a living entity like us. (yelling in background) (aside:) Ask the rascals to stop talking. But He's pūrṇa. That is the difference. We are not pūrṇa. We are defective. Especially when we come in the material world, we are defective in so many respects. By nature, we are defective. Or not pūrṇa, incomplete, subordinate. He's therefore called the nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām. He's complete, the chief all living entities.

So how do we explain it? It is very simple thing. Suppose I am here, and you are here. So you may be better than me. Nobody is equal. You don't find. We don't find. In every respect, two bodies equal, you won't find. In bodily features, in qualities, in action, in thinking, in feeling.

Lecture on SB 1.15.51 -- Los Angeles, December 28, 1973:

This is the first subject matter. Then second subject matter is that what is the ultimate goal of life, and the third subject matter is how to attain it. To know God, my relationship with God, and what is my ultimate goal of life, and how to attain it—these three subject matters are Vedic knowledge. That is everywhere. Another subject matter is... Trayī, means Veda is dealing with this material world. There is spiritual knowledge in glance.

Therefore Vyāsadeva, after compiling all Vedic literatures, so many Purāṇas, so many Upaniṣads, Vedānta philosophy and four Vedas, but he was not satisfied. He was not satisfied. So when Nārada Muni, his spiritual master, came, he inquired that "Why you are not satisfied?" So Vyāsadeva said, "My dear sir, yes, as you say, I have done so many activities. I have written so many books. But still, I don't feel any satisfaction. So I do not know why it is. You can direct me. You are my spiritual master." So he said that "You have done, you have labored so hard in writing so many books, but you have not glorified the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Lecture on SB 2.1.5 -- Los Angeles, August 13, 1972:

Therefore this vibration is not material. So when God is saying, "Let there be creation," then He's a person. Therefore His personality is also transcendental, spiritual. Otherwise how He speaks? These things are there in the Vedic literature. Sa aikṣata: "He glanced over, and there was creation." And Bhagavad-gītā also it is said that mayādhyakṣeṇa prakṛtiḥ sūyate sa-carācaram (BG 9.10).

So Kṛṣṇa's or God's position is always transcendental. Therefore those who are impersonalists, they are not attracted with the variegatedness of this material life. They want to make it void, because they have no information of the spiritual variegatedness. But this Śukadeva Gosvāmī, he became attracted with the pastimes of Kṛṣṇa because Kṛṣṇa's pastimes are not variegatedness of this material world. It completely spiritual. And to discuss about Kṛṣṇa, to hear about Kṛṣṇa, to chant about Kṛṣṇa, to glorify about Kṛṣṇa, everything is spiritual. So if you are engaged twenty-four hours in this business you are not in this material world. You are in the spiritual world.

Lecture on SB 2.4.1 -- Los Angeles, June 24, 1972:

Who knows the tattva? Athāpi te deva padāmbuja-dvaya-prasāda-leśānugṛhīta. "One person who has got a slight benediction from Your lotus feet." Not that all. A slight. Svalpam apy asya dharmasya trāyate mahato bhayāt. If you get a slight, a glance, then your life is perfect, immediately. Not that you have to get all the mercies of the Lord. Even little, very insignificant part. That means, insignificant part, that is, Kṛṣṇa is teaching Himself, "Just surrender." So this much mercy every one of us we can take. How? "Kṛṣṇa, I was wandering throughout the whole universe in so many lives. I did not know that You are my supreme master. Now, from this day, I surrender unto You." Kṛṣṇa is ready: ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo mokṣayiṣyāmi (BG 18.66). "Yes, you do it. I shall give you protection from all sinful resultant action. Immediately." A simple process. So this much mercy we can take, if we will. But we are not willing. We surrender to some rascal, but not to Kṛṣṇa. That is our position.

Lecture on SB 2.9.16 -- Tokyo, April 30, 1972:

Dṛg-āsavam. Dṛg-āsavam. Āsavam means intoxication. Intoxication. Just like one, when one is intoxicated, his eyes are... This thing, in... Bengali it is called dumabhi.(?) Not a staring, but very mildly smiling. Dṛg-āsavam. Bhṛtya-prasādābhimukhaṁ dṛg-āsavam. Abhimukham: "Glancing over the devotees very mildly, softly." Prasanna-hāsa: smiling so nicely that immediately you can understand that the master is pleased. Prasanna-hāsa.

So there is no question of displeasure. That is Vaikuṇṭha. There is no discrepancy of the service. Just opposite. Here there is just different thing. The master is not satisfied, and the servant is also not satisfied. Servant, you go on paying him more and more, he'll..., "Oh, it is insufficient. Give me more. I will strike. I will not come. I will not work." This is the position of this material world. Everyone is giving service. And apart from master and servant, even in family the man is giving service throughout his whole life, up to the old age. And ask anybody, any member of the family, "You are satisfied?" "No." Just see. Frustration. Gandhi, he gave service to the country to the best capacity, and people appreciated.

Lecture on SB 3.26.6 -- Bombay, December 18, 1974:

This is the fact. We living entities... Just like father gives the seed within the womb of the mother, and then the son develops a body from the ingredients supplied by mother's body, and when the body is completely developed, the child comes out with a particular type of body given by the mother, in the same way, we living entities, we are part and parcel of God.

So sa aikṣata. The Vedic information is... Sa asṛjata. We gives seeds with a particular part of the body, but Mahā-Viṣṇu, simply by glancing over the material nature, mahat-tattva, He impregnates the material nature with so many living entities. Sa asṛjata, sa aikṣata. These are the information. The Supreme Personality can give birth through His eyesight. He doesn't require to use it, genital. Because we get information from Brahma-saṁhitā, aṅgāni yasya sakalendriya-vṛttimanti paśyanti pānti kalayanti ciraṁ jaganti, ānanda-cinmaya-sad-ujjvala (Bs. 5.32). These are description in the Brahma-saṁhitā. We can see only with our eyes, but the Brahman, Para-brahman, Viṣṇu, He can beget children also with eyesight. We can eat with our mouth, tongue, but Kṛṣṇa can eat by seeing.

Lecture on SB 3.26.17 -- Bombay, December 26, 1974:

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. The prakṛti, woman, strī, if she is not in contact with a puruṣa, then there is no creation. There is... Sāmyasya. Prakṛter guṇa-sāmyasya. Without the touch of puruṣa, prakṛti remains guṇa-sāmya, no manifestation of the three guṇas. Prakṛter guṇa-sāmyasya nirviśeṣasya. At the time of nirviśeṣa... Nirviśeṣa means without variety, without varieties. Nirviśeṣasya mānavi, addressing His mother, Devahūti. Devahūti is the daughter of Svāyambhuva Manu, and Svāyambhuva Manu brought the daughter before... What is Kapiladeva's father's name?

Lecture on SB 3.26.17 -- Bombay, December 26, 1974:

The time is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Puruṣa. Now, prakṛti herself cannot produce anything. This material manifestation which we see, so beautiful cosmic manifestation, that is not alone by the prakṛti, as the materialistic scientists think, that "There was a chunk, and there became manifested." These are foolish theories. Real is that in contact... Sa aikṣata. That is the Vedic information. When the Supreme Personality of Godhead glanced over the prakṛti, mahat-tattva, then the three guṇas agitated, and she begins to give birth in so many varieties of the twenty-four elements. We have already discussed the twenty-four elements. The ingredients are there. That is prakṛti. And pradhāna means when they are not manifest, and prakṛti means when they are manifest. And prakṛti, pradhāna, and above them, there is the Puruṣa. That Puruṣa is Bhagavān, sa bhagavān. Ceṣṭā yataḥ sa bhagavān. Wherefrom the prakṛti begins to manifest, that is with the touch of Bhagavān. How touch? Sa aikṣata: by simply glancing over, the prakṛti becomes pregnant.

Now we cannot understand how one can make his wife pregnant simply by glancing. That is possible by Bhagavān. Therefore He is called almighty. We have got experience. If we want to make pregnant my wife, then we have to use certain sense. That particular sense can make pregnancy.

Lecture on SB 3.26.17 -- Bombay, December 26, 1974:

Now we cannot understand how one can make his wife pregnant simply by glancing. That is possible by Bhagavān. Therefore He is called almighty. We have got experience. If we want to make pregnant my wife, then we have to use certain sense. That particular sense can make pregnancy. But the Supreme Personality of Godhead, being all-powerful, He can do anything from anywhere from any sense. That is almighty. We speak of almighty—"God is almighty"—but we do not understand what is the almighty. This is almighty. The almighty Lord, simply by glancing over prakṛti, He makes the prakṛti pregnant, and the prakṛti produces so many varieties of life. Ceṣṭā. Ceṣṭā yataḥ sa bhagavān.

So the prakṛti cannot give birth to the varieties. That is wrong theory. That is wrong theory. The real variety begins when the prakṛti is in touch with the Puruṣa. That is our experience also. How we can say that prakṛti can give birth or woman can give birth to a child or many children without being touch with man? Where is our experience?

Lecture on SB 3.26.23-4 -- Bombay, January 1, 1975:

That is the beginning of creation.

So wherefrom the creative energy begins? That is... In the Vedic literature we understand, sa aikṣata: "Simply by glancing." Not... When there is the word vīrya, it does not mean that, as in the material world, we discharge semina by sex intercourse. It is not like that. That vīrya, that energy, can be emanated from the Supreme Personality of Godhead any way. Therefore bhagavad-vīrya-sambhavāt. In the Brahma-saṁhitā it is said, aṅgāni yasya sakalendriya-vṛttimanti. Vīryatā we can understand as semina discharged from the genital. It is not like that. Vīryatā, that vīrya or that energy, can be emanated from any part of the body, of the transcendental spiritual body, everywhere. That is called omnipotency. So just like Lord Brahmā was born not from the womb of Lakṣmī Nārāyaṇa... Nārāyaṇa was lying down, and Lakṣmī was present. To beget Lord Brahmā, there was no necessity of taking the help of Lakṣmījī. He sprouted a lotus flower from His navel, and there was Brahmā. So everything is possible from every part of the body, transcendental body. That is spiritual body, sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha (Bs. 5.1), omnipotent. That is explained in the Brahma-saṁhitā, aṅgāni yasya sakalendriya-vṛttimanti.

Lecture on SB 3.26.23-4 -- Bombay, January 1, 1975:

Just like we can beget child, we can impregnate by the genital, but it is not required for the Supreme Personality of God. In the Vedas it is said, sa aikṣata: "Simply by glancing the same." The same. "He glanced over the total material energy, and the material energy, total mahat-tattva, became agitated." Then, one after another, the creation was there.

So kriyā-śaktir ahaṅkāras tri-vidhaḥ. Kriyā-śakti, the creative energy, kriyā-śakti. God is not impotent. He is fully potent, and His energies are acting. We can experience in our daily life. So this kriyā-śakti begins in three different categories, tri-vidhaḥ. Kriyā-śaktir ahaṅkāras tri-vidhaḥ samapadyata. Ahaṅkāra, ego, identification, "I am." Everyone is conscious of his activities, ego: "I am doing this." But this ego, this is called false ego. This material, under the material energy, this ego, is called another way upādhi, designation. The real ego is ahaṁ brahmāsmi: "I am spirit soul." But on account of being in touch, being born in this material world, my kriyā-śakti, my activities, are being done under different designation, under tri-vidhaḥ. Why under different designation.

Lecture on SB 5.5.21-22 -- Vrndavana, November 9, 1976:

This is a verse by Prabodānanda Sarasvatī. He gives his opinion that if one is favored by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, yat katākṣa vaibhavavātaṁ gauram eva stumaḥ: "I am offering my respectful obeisances to Lord Caitanya because little glance of His mercy creates this situation." What is that? Kaivalyaṁ narakāyate. The people are very anxious to merge into kaivalya, brahma-jyotir, only spirit. So for them that kaivalya is naraka, hell. Kaivalyaṁ narakāyate. And tridaśa-pūr ākāśa puṣpāyate. Tridaśa-pūr means the heavenly planets, where the demigods, as it is described, the Gandharvas, Kinnaras, Siddhas, they live. They are like flowers in the sky, will-o'-the-wisp, no factual happiness. Kaivalyaṁ narakāyate tridaśa-pūr ākāśa puṣpāyate. And durdāntendriya kāla-sarpa-paālī proṭkhāta-daṁstrāyate. And indriya saṁyamaḥ, the yogis, they are trying to control the senses. Yoga indriya sam... That is the real purpose. Our indriyas are so disturbing, just like kāla-sarpa. You are sitting here. If one snake comes, immediately you'll be all disturbed, immediately. So to... Disturbing why? Because every one of us, we know, "Here is a kāla-sarpa."

Lecture on SB 5.6.2 -- Vrndavana, November 24, 1976:

He did not lie down even on a quilt, only one naked cloth. He did not use... And no woman should come to offer Him obeisances very near. They must do it from a distant place. He was so strict. One of His personal associates, Haridāsa, Junior Haridāsa, he simply glanced over a young woman with lusty desire. He immediately rejected him: "Ask Haridāsa not to come anymore." So He never excused him very strictly. And Haridāsa, being disappointed, he... On his behalf, very close devotees like Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya, Rāmānanda Rāya, big, big devotees, Svarūpa Dāmodara and others, requested Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu that "He has committed mistake, but he is Your personal servant. Kindly excuse him." Then Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, "All right, then you can call him. You live with him. I shall go from here. You live with him; let Me go away." He was so strict. Then, when Haridāsa Ṭhākura Junior... The senior is another. Then he committed suicide—"Now it is hopeless. I cannot come to Caitanya Mahāprabhu." He committed suicide. And when this information was given to Caitanya Mahāprabhu, He did not regret.

Lecture on SB 7.6.16 -- New Vrindaban, June 30, 1976:

Kṛṣṇa can eat any way. Just like we can eat only putting the foodstuff through the mouth. No. Kṛṣṇa can eat even by seeing. Sa aikṣata. In the Vedic version it is said simply Kṛṣṇa put His glance over material nature, and she produced so many children. Sa aikṣata, sa jāyata. That is God. He can do everything by every linb of the body. We can simply see with eyes, but Kṛṣṇa, by seeing He can make pregnant. This is Kṛṣṇa. This is called aṅgāni yasya sakalendriya-vṛtti-manti. That is called all-powerful. Just like Brahmā, Brahmā was born from the lotus flower grown from the naval of Mahā-Viṣṇu, Garbhodakaśayī Viṣṇu, and mother Lakṣmī is engaged in giving massage to Garbhodakaśayī Viṣṇu. You have seen the picture. But Kṛṣṇa, without taking help of goddess of fortune, He begot Brahmā. This is aṅgāni yasya sakalendriya-vṛtti-manti (Bs. 5.32). We beget a child through the help of the wife, but Mahā-Viṣṇu or Garbhodakaśayī Viṣṇu, although the wife is there, He did not take any help from the wife, but He begot.

Lecture on SB 7.9.34 -- Mayapur, March 12, 1976:

This is called aṅgāni yasya sakalendriya-vṛttimanti. Every part of the body, every limb, has got the potency to act like other parts of the body. We can see only with the eyes, but God can see with His finger. That is God. We can eat through mouth, but God can eat from any part of His body. If He simply touches His toe, He can eat. If He simply glances over the foodstuff offered to Him, He has eaten it. That we do not know. Therefore we're sometimes surprised that "How He has eaten?" that "You are offering so many nice things. It is lying down there. How I shall understand that He has eaten?" Yes, He has eaten. Simply by seeing, He has eaten. And because He's nija-lābha-pūrṇa, He's satisfied by His own self, therefore by simply glancing, He has eaten and it has become prasādam. You can take it. This is the meaning of aṅgāni yasya sakalendriya-vṛttimanti.

So those who cannot understand the omnipotency, they speak of omnipotency, but they do not know what is that omnipotency.

Nectar of Devotion Lectures

The Nectar of Devotion -- Bombay, January 1, 1973:

Just like we offer prasādam. We offer foodstuff to Kṛṣṇa. Atheist class will say that "You have offered Kṛṣṇa this foodstuff, but He has not eaten. It is there still lying." No. He does not see. He does not know that Kṛṣṇa can eat simply by His glance, by seeing. He eats. Because He says in the Bhagavad-gītā that patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ yo me bhaktyā prayacchati tad aham aśnāmi (BG 9.26). Is He speaking lies? No. He eats, but we do not know His eating process. We compare Kṛṣṇa as ourself. If one plate is given to me, I immediately devour the whole thing. But Kṛṣṇa, He is complete. He can eat the complete; still it remains complete. Pūrṇasya pūrṇam ādāya pūrṇam eva avaśiṣyate (Īśo Invocation).

So in this way we have to understand Kṛṣṇa from the śāstra, from the Vedas. Then we shall understand Kṛṣṇa. And once we understand Kṛṣṇa, our life is successful. Janma karma me divyaṁ yo jānāti tattvataḥ. Anyone who understands Kṛṣṇa in truth, his life is perfect. Tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti (BG 4.9). The perfection of life is that after giving up this body, we shall not accept any more material body. That is perfection.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Calcutta, January 30, 1973:

Bhavānanda: "In this connection, in the Third Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Chapter Twenty-five, verse 23, Kapiladeva has advised His mother, Devahūti, as follows: 'My dear mother, My pure devotees are charmed by seeing My different forms, the beauty of My face, the structure of My body so enchanting. My laughing, My pastimes and My glance appear to them so beautiful that their minds are always absorbed in thoughts of Me, and their lives are dedicated fully unto Me. Although such people do not desire any kind of liberation or any kind of material happiness, still, I give them a place amongst My associates in the supreme abode.' "

Prabhupāda: Therefore this arcana-mārga, śrī-vigrahārādhana-nitya-nānā-śṛṅgāra-tan-mandira-mārj anādau yuktasya bhaktāṁś ca niyuñjato 'pi **. This is the first duty of the spiritual master, to engage the devotees in arcana-mārga. Śrī-vigrahārādhana-nitya. Cleansing the temple, dressing the Deity, decorating with flowers, ornaments and... So that devotees, as soon as (they) see smiling Kṛṣṇa, pleasing Kṛṣṇa, they become pleased. They become pleased by seeing Kṛṣṇa pleased. They do not want to be pleased independently. That is not devotee. Devotee's pleasure is seeing Kṛṣṇa is pleased. Kṛṣṇa is also pleased when He sees the devotees are pleased. This is competition.

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures

Lecture on CC Adi-lila 1.12 -- Mayapur, April 5, 1975:

Explosion, yes. So they are seeing that explosion and the chunk, but they cannot explain how the chunk became exploded. Sometimes we see that some earth, by the sunshine heating, heating, heating, it breaks all of a sudden. So this explosion of the chunk does not take place automatically. It is due to the sunshine drying it, drying it, drying it, and at a point it breaks. Similarly, the chunk is also, we can accept, the total material energy. You can take it as chunk. But this material energy in the form of chunk is agitated by the glance of Mahā-Viṣṇu. That is stated, sa aikṣata sa asṛjata. Material energy itself cannot explode. the explosion theory is there... Not theory, fact. But the total material energy, mahat-tattva, when it is glanced over by Mahā-Viṣṇu, then it becomes agitated, and the modes of material nature begins to act. So then these activities are executed by Mahā-Viṣṇu, by His glancing, simply by His glancing. The power... Kṛṣṇa is all-powerful. Viṣṇu is all-powerful. So simply by glancing, He can agitate the material energy, and the creation begins. Sa aikṣata sa asṛjata. Eko nārāyaṇa āsīt. These are the Vedic information. "In the beginning, there was only Nārāyaṇa." Na īśa na brahmā: "There was no Lord Śiva or Lord Brahmā." We have studied that. Nārāyaṇa, the Mahā-Viṣṇu, er, Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, He created, first of all, Brahmā. He is already there, from Mahā-Viṣṇu to Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu.

Lecture on CC Adi-lila 1.12 -- Mayapur, April 5, 1975:

Those who are not devotee, they cannot see that over the chunk, total material energy, there is the vision of Mahā-Viṣṇu. That they cannot see. Just like you'll find on the ground, so many flowers and grasses are coming up. How? By the sunrise, the glance of the sun. Where there is no sunshine, there the vegetables do not grow. We have got practical experience. Similar... Therefore the field or the earth is not exploding with the vegetation. It is due to the sunshine. Therefore it is coming out. It is the real cause. Similarly, accepting that chunk, the total material energy, it is agitated by the glance of Mahā-Viṣṇu. Then it explodes and things are coming out. We can accept that in that way, but not that automatically there was explosion. That is not fact. Therefore to the foolish person, the power behind the explosion is not visible. Nāhaṁ prakāśaḥ sarvasya yoga-māyā-samāvṛtaḥ (BG 7.25). Therefore Kṛṣṇa says that "I am not visible to everyone, they being covered by the curtain of yoga-māyā." Mūḍhāḥ nābhijānāti mām ebhyaḥ param avyayam. Tribhir guṇamayir bhavair mohitaḥ.

Lecture on CC Adi-lila 7.113-17 -- San Francisco, February 22, 1967:

Sa īkṣāñcakre. In the Praśna Upaniṣad... This is in the Ṛg-veda. I am sorry. This version, tad viṣṇoḥ paramaṁ padaṁ sadā paśyanti sūrayaḥ, this version is from Ṛg-veda. Then again, in the Praśna Upaniṣad, there is another statement, sa īkṣāñcakre: "He glanced over, glanced over." "Glanced over" means when He glanced over, then the creation began, this material creation. Therefore it should be understanding, it should be understood that this glancing is not material because before His glancing there was no material creation. So our glancing and His glancing is different. Our glancing—we are seeing with these material eyes. As soon as these material eyes will be taken away, we cannot see. We are blind. But He... Here is the statement, īkṣāñcakre: "He saw." "He saw" means He saw with His spiritual eyes. Otherwise where is the material creation, that He can have material eyes? So these things are to be considered. Similarly, if He has got spiritual eyes, then He has got spiritual ear, He has got spiritual nose, He has got spiritual head, body, everything spiritual. And it is confirmed in the Brahma-saṁhitā, aṅgāni yasya sakalendriya-vṛttimanti paśyanti pānti kalayanti ciraṁ jaganti (Bs. 5.32).

Lecture on CC Adi-lila 7.113-17 -- San Francisco, February 22, 1967:

So His vision, His presence, His activities, they are all spiritual. In the Bhagavad-gītā it is said, janma karma me divyaṁ yo jānāti tattvataḥ: "Anyone who understands the absolute nature of My birth, of My appearance, disappearance and activities," tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti (BG 4.9), "he becomes immediately liberated." Sa aikṣata. Sa imāḻ lokān asṛjata. This is Aitareya Upaniṣad. What is that? Sa aikṣata. The same thing: "He saw. He put His glance." Sa aikṣata. Sa imāḻ lokān asṛjata: "He has created all this material manifestation, cosmic manifestation." So tad vā īśan vijato tebhya ha prabhur babhūva. In this way, there are so many instances, so many quotations. Apāṇi-pādaḥ. In the Śvetāśvatara, apāṇi-pādaḥ. He has no, I mean to say, hands and legs. If He has no hands and legs, then how can He see? Is there any instance in your experience that something which has no hands and legs, he can see? No. He has no... Whenever... This is impersonal... The impersonalists quotes these authorities, that "He has no hands and... Therefore He's impersonal." No, it is not... If He sees, sa aikṣata, if He sees, if He hears, if He creates, then there is hand, there is eyes.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 6.154-155 -- Gorakhpur, February 19, 1971 (Krsna Niketan):

And when the whole manifestation annihilates, pralaya-prakṛtiṁ yānti māmikam—it enters into the energy, supreme energy of the Personality of Godhead. That is the way, sṛṣṭi-sthiti-pralaya. From the energy... In the Vedas also it is said, sa aikṣata sa asṛjata: "The Supreme Personality of Godhead glanced over." In the Bhagavad-gītā also, ahaṁ bijā-pradaḥ pitā (BG 14.4). In the material energy, Kṛṣṇa gives the seed. Just like a father gives the seed, the semina, within the womb of the mother, and a living entity comes out, similarly, within this material world the Supreme Personality puts, impregnates, the material energy with the living entities, and they come out with different types of bodies, 8,400,000's. This is the creation.

So here Caitanya Mahāprabhu quotes one verse from Viṣṇu Purāṇa: viṣṇu-śaktiḥ parā proktā (CC Madhya 6.154). You cannot say that the Absolute Person, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, has no energy. Niḥśakti. The Māyāvādī philosopher says that the energy generates when impersonal Brahman enters into this material energy, or māyā. He has got a body of māyā. No. That's not the fact. Kṛṣṇa hasn't got the body created by this material world as we have got. Kṛṣṇa says, therefore, avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā mānuṣīṁ tanum āśritam: (BG 9.11) "

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.105 -- New York, July 11, 1976:

And call them and ask them, "Are you happy like us?" So we can turn this whole world like that. Viśvaṁ pūrṇaṁ sukhāyate. It is possible. Everyone is hankering, working so hard day and night, and there is fire brigade, "gon-gon-gon-gon." It is going on. (laughter) This is life. That is not happiness. Here is happiness. Come here, sit down, and you'll find happiness. Practical. If is practical. So if you expand this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, you'll find whole world full of happiness. Viṣvaṁ pūrṇaṁ sukhāyate. How it is possible? Yat-kāruṇya-kaṭākṣa-vaibhavavatāṁ gauram eva stumaḥ. It is possible simply by the mercy glance of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. If He simply glances over anybody, then the whole thing happens.

So Caitanya Mahāprabhu is giving, empowering Sanātana Gosvāmī. So we should follow. Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura says, ei chai gosāi yār, tāro mui dās: "I am servant of that person who has followed the six Gosvāmīs."

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.255-281 -- New York, December 17, 1966:

Now, puruṣa-rūpe, the first incarnation for this material creation, the Mahā-Viṣṇu, sa aikṣata. Simply by His glance, this material world begins its activity.

sei māyā avalokite sri-saṅkarṣaṇa

puruṣa-rūpa avatīrṇa ha-ilā prathama

jagṛhe pauruṣaṁ rūpaṁ

bhagavān mahad-ādibhiḥ

sambhūtaṁ ṣoḍaśa-kalam

ādau loka-sisṛkṣayā

Ādau loka-sisṛkṣayā: "Just before the creation the Mahā-Viṣṇu, He takes His incarnation, and He puts His glance on the material energy, and the creation begins."

ādyo 'vatāraḥ puruṣaḥ parasya

kālaḥ svabhāvaḥ sad-asan-manaś ca

dravyaṁ vikāro guṇa indriyāṇi

virāṭ svarāṭ sthāsnu cariṣṇu bhūmnaḥ

So ādyo avatāra, the first puruṣāvatāra, Mahā-Viṣṇu, is very vast. Just imagine how much great He is, His body is, that from His breathing all these universes are generating.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 25.19-31 -- San Francisco, January 20, 1967:

That is not knowledge. Just like in the present modern civlization, so many nonsense articles without any utility, or volumes of volumes of books are sold in the market. There is nothing, no substance. Take for this..., newspaper. Especially in your country, volumes of papers in the news. Just after glancing over, it is thrown away. That's all. No more use. Just as The newspaper is published early in the morning, and just in the afternoon it is useless, it is heap of paper only, because there is no substance. Nobody can take any interest. But see Bhagavad-gītā, it is, five thousand years before it was published, and a few pages only, and how much care is being taken after Bhagavad-gītā. Because there is substance. Similarly, if you don't accept the substance, simply if you are busy with the skin... In Bengali it is called cavara nie tanake (?). Cavara means skin. You have seen coconut. The coconut is covered by heavy, what is called, fibers. So if you give up the coconut and simply quarrel with the fibers, what profit is there? There is no profit. Similarly, if you give up God, or Kṛṣṇa, who is the essence of everything, and you make your advancement in scientific knowledge, in physics and chemistry and so many departments of knowledge, so according to Bhāgavata this is simply waste of time.

General Lectures

Town Hall Lecture -- Auckland, April 14, 1972:

After one hour of its publication, it has no value. But this Bhagavad-gītā, it was spoken five thousand, years ago, still they are being read with respect and honor. So this kind of literature should be read, not a literature which is printed and you read and glance over and throw it away. So that is man-manā, thinking of Kṛṣṇa. Man-manā bhava mad-bhaktaḥ. Kṛṣṇa says, "You become My devotee." Man-manā bhava mad-bhaktaḥ mad-yājī: "You worship Me." Māṁ namaskuru: "Offer your obeisances unto Me." Now, all these items, there is no expenditure, and anyone can do. Even the child can do. What is the difficulty? Factually our children, Kṛṣṇa conscious children, do that. The father-mother offers obeisances, and the child imitates—he also offers obeisance, bows down. So this offering obeisances to Kṛṣṇa will not go in vain. It will have effect. So it is inexpensive. It is very simple, without any loss. Suppose you have got a picture of Kṛṣṇa and you simply think of the picture, man-manā, and you offer a little lamp, a little incense, and if you don't offer, if you simply offer your respect, what is your loss? Is there any loss? (break) We are all businessmen. We calculate everything in terms of loss and profit. So there is no loss.

Departure Talks

Departure Conversation -- Los Angeles, June 27, 1975:

Prabhupāda: No. It is not that. There was some young woman sitting there, and he glanced over her with lusty desire, not that old woman.

Rāmeśvara: That was her sister? Or daughter.

Prabhupāda: No. Daughter, granddaughter maybe. She was a very old lady.

Rāmeśvara: In that same volume of Antya-līlā there is a very elaborate description of Rūpa Gosvāmī being inspired to write his different plays, and I was thinking that in that book we could print the pictures of the Rādhā-Dāmodara temple which he founded. He established that temple. And also the bhajan-kutir of Rūpa Gosvāmī.

Prabhupāda: You have got the photo.

Rāmeśvara: We have very nice pictures of both those places. Because so much of the book is describing Rūpa Gosvāmī's writings...

Prabhupāda: Everything of Rūpa Gosvāmī. We are called rūpānuga, "strictly following the footstep of Rūpa Gosvāmī." Rūpānuga-varāya te. And our Guru Mahārāja was..., rūpānuga-viruddhāpasiddhānta-dhvānta-hāriṇe: "Anything against the plan of Rūpa Gosvāmī, not accepted."

Philosophy Discussions

Philosophy Discussion on Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibnitz:

We have got it in the Bhagavad-gītā, first creation is mahat-tattva, the sum total of material energy. Then there is interaction of the three guṇas, qualities, and then mind comes out, ego comes out, intelligence comes out, in this way, one after another. That is explained in the Second Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, how creation takes place. So the Veda says, sa aikṣata. Sa aikṣata. The Supreme Lord, simply by glancing over... In Bhagavad-gītā also it is said that. But just like we impregnate a woman by sex behavior, but here it is said that He simply glanced over the material nature, total material energy, and the creation begins. Sa aikṣata. So because He is omnipotent, He can impregnate the material nature not by sex behavior but simply by glancing, and the material nature immediately becomes agitated, and things begin to happen. So the original cause is glancing over material nature by God. But we materialists, we cannot think how by simply glancing, the material nature is set into motion. That is material conception.

Philosophy Discussion on Immanuel Kant:

Prabhupāda: Without fixed up conclusion, there is contradiction. Our fixed-up conclusion is that Kṛṣṇa is the cause of all causes. How, one after another, the categories are developed, that is in the Vedic literature. But it is summarized that Kṛṣṇa desired or He put His glance over the material nature and the material nature became impregnated, and then He delivered so many things. Matter and spirit have combined together, and the whole cosmic manifestation has come into being.

Śyāmasundara: To go back to this idea of cause and effect, Kant says that just as time and space are a priori concepts or mental creations—in other words, before we have any sense experience, we still have an idea of time and space—just as this is so, so also cause and effect is a priori category of human understanding.

Prabhupāda: So a priori existence is there, time and space.

Śyāmasundara: Time and space, and cause and effect.

Philosophy Discussion on John Stuart Mill:

Because then we know that God is the ultimate pusher, the pushing begins from there. So it may come through various agents. Just like one railway wagon is pushed by the engines, and it strikes another wagon and that is also pushed; another wagon, and that is pushed, that is also pushed. Similarly, the original pusher is the engine. Our study is like that, that the original, sa aikṣata, sa aikṣata... These are the Vedic... He glanced over, He desired; immediately there was creation. Therefore the original pusher is God, Kṛṣṇa. Now, how it is happening, that we cannot see. Just like same example, the wagon is already pushed, it is coming automatically. A child sees, "Oh, this wagon is coming automatically, and it caught another wagon, and it is now moved." He sees the (effect). But he did not see that ultimately there was a big engine that has pushed it.

Philosophy Discussion on William James:

Yes. Practical we can see from the verse of Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī, that anyone who has got a slight merciful glance of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, he thinks that Brahman liberation is as good as hell. Kaivalyaṁ narakāyate. And the heavenly planets, they are phantasmagoria, and yoga-siddhi, that is not a very important thing. And people are suffering on this material condition. (But) for a devotee it is simply pleasing. Everywhere he goes he feels pleased, while others seeing full of anxiety. Devotees, they are seeing everything pleasing. So these things happen simply by a fragment of the merciful glance of Caitanya Mahāprabhu upon His devotees. Viśvaṁ pūrṇam, they do not care for any big scholar or many exalted personalities, just like we challenge anyone, even we don't care for Dr. Radhakrishnan, who is so much exalted. So this is practical. Because one has become Kṛṣṇa conscious, therefore these things happen. (to guest:) Please sit down. (Bengali)

Purports to Songs

Purport to Brahma-samhita Verses 32 and 38 -- New York, November 5, 1966:

What is that significance? Now, each part of His body has got all the potencies of other parts of the body. Just like with our eyes we can simply see. But the Lord, He can not only see by His eyes, transcendental eyes, but He can also hear, He can also eat. All the... All the functions of all other parts of the body, He function by any part of His body, not that a particular part of the body can function only for a particular purpose, no. Just like simply by glancing... In the Vedic literature it is said, sa aikṣata sa asṛjata: "Simply by seeing, simply by seeing, He impregnated all the energies for creating, simply by seeing." Mayādhyakṣeṇa prakṛtiḥ sūyate sa-carācaram (BG 9.10). Simply by His glance. Simply by His glance He impregnates the material energy for functioning. It is going on. So He has got all the potencies in all the parts of His body. Aṅgāni yasya sakalendriya-vṛtti-manti paśyanti pānti kalayanti (Bs. 5.32). That is the difference between His body and our body. So when there is description in the Vedas that "He has no leg, no hand, no eyes, "that does not mean He has no eyes. He has got eyes, but not these eyes just like we have got conception. So here it is explained that aṅgāni yasya sakalendriya-vṛtti-manti (Bs. 5.32). His parts of the body are invested with all the potencies of other parts of the body. With any part of His body He can function any work.

Purport to Sri Krsna Caitanya Prabhu -- Los Angeles, January 11, 1969:

Then he prays to Lord Nityānanda. He says, hā hā prabhu nityānanda, premānanda sukhī. "My dear Lord Nityānanda, You are always joyful, in spiritual bliss, and You appear always very happy. So I have come to You because I am most unhappy. So if You kindly put Your glance over me, then I may also become happy."

Then he prays to Advaita Prabhu: hā hā prabhu sītā-pati advaita gosāi. Advaita Prabhu's wife's name was Sītā. Therefore He is sometimes addressed as sītā-pati. So "My dear Advaita Prabhu, the husband of Sītā, please You also be kind upon me because if You become kind upon me, then naturally Lord Caitanya and Nityānanda also will be kind upon me." The reason is that actually, Advaita Prabhu invited Lord Caitanya to come down. When Advaita Prabhu saw the fallen souls, they are all engaged simply in sense gratificatory processes without understanding Kṛṣṇa consciousness, He felt very much compassionate upon the fallen souls, and He felt Himself as incapable of claiming all these fallen souls. He therefore prayed to Lord Kṛṣṇa that "You come Yourself. Without Your personal presence, it is not possible to deliver these fallen souls."