So today is that auspicious day, Janmāṣṭamī, when Lord Kṛṣṇa appeared five thousand years ago in India, Mathurā. Those who are Indian ladies and gentlemen present, they know very well where is Mathurā. It is about ninety miles south of New Delhi. Mathurā is still existing, and it is eternally existing. Kṛṣṇa appeared in Mathurā in His maternal uncle's house in a very precarious condition. That birthplace, Lord Kṛṣṇa's birthplace, is now maintained very nicely. One who goes to India, they see. So anyway, Lord Kṛṣṇa appeared on this planet five thousand years ago.
Now Kṛṣṇa says, janma karma me divyam (BG 4.9). Divyam means "not ordinary." It should not be understood just like we take our birth. Kṛṣṇa does not take His birth like us. That is also explained in the Bhagavad-gītā. When Arjuna inquired from Kṛṣṇa, "My dear Kṛṣṇa, You are speaking that formerly You spoke this yoga system of Bhagavad-gītā to the sun-god. That means it is millions and trillions years ago You spoke. How can I believe it?"
Because Kṛṣṇa was contemporary to Arjuna, so he was thinking that "Kṛṣṇa is my friend, is my cousin-brother. How it is possible that He spoke this Bhagavad-gītā yoga to sun-god?" So what was the reply? The reply was this, that "You also appear many, many times; I also appear many, many times. The difference is that I can remember; you cannot remember."
That is the difference between God and ordinary living creature, that we are also taking birth after birth. There are 8,400,000 species of life, and so long we are in this material world, we are cycling round this birth after birth. So Kṛṣṇa's birth is not like that. Therefore Kṛṣṇa says, janma karma me divyaṁ yo jānāti tattvataḥ (BG 4.9). Tattvataḥ means "in truth," not superficially. Scientifically, one who knows, he can get immediately liberation. And how one can understand the same truths? That is also explained in the Bhagavad-gītā: bhaktyā mām abhijānāti yāvan yaś cāsmi tattvataḥ (BG 18.55). Again the same thing, tattvataḥ, in truth. If anyone wants to know God, or Kṛṣṇa, in truth, not superficially, then he has to undertake the process of devotional service, bhaktyā.
In another place Kṛṣṇa says, patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ yo me bhaktyā prayacchati (BG 9.26): "Any person who gives Me a little fruit, little flower, little water, but with devotion, bhaktyā . . ." that is the only qualification. So Kṛṣṇa says, tayā bhaktyā upāhṛtam aṣnāmi: "Because he brings it with devotion and faith and love, I eat." Kṛṣṇa eats. We are offering in the temple prasādam. So He eats, because He says "I eat." How you can say that He does not eat?
Some gentleman asked me that, "Swāmījī, you offer prasādam in the temple, but do you think Kṛṣṇa or God eats?" I answered, "Yes, why not? He says, 'I eat.' How you can say He does not eat? But you do not know how He eats."
Due to poor fund of knowledge, you think that God does not eat. But eat . . . His eating process is different. That is answered in the Brahma-saṁhitā. Brahma-saṁhitā, it is said, aṅgāni yasya sakalendriya-vṛtti-manti (Bs. 5.32). God's senses, Kṛṣṇa's senses, are as powerful as other senses. Just like I can see with my eyes, but Kṛṣṇa can eat also with His eyes. That is . . . aṅgāni yasya sakalendriya-vṛtti-manti.
Just like . . . there is many examples. Kṛṣṇa, or Viṣṇu, the first creation is that Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu lying on the ocean, and Brahmā was created from His navel. There was a lotus stem grown from the abdomen of the Lord, and Brahmā was born. Now Lakṣmī, the goddess of fortune, was just sitting.
But as we understand that if we beget child, we require the cooperation of wife, but here we see that wife was sitting, but He begot Brahmā from the navel. This is called sarva-śaktimān. He does not require anyone's help.