Expressions researched:
"spiritual world everything"
|"spiritual world, everything"
|"spiritual world. Everything"
In this verse it is clearly mentioned that the Lord is ajanaḥ, or the Supreme Person, and that He was showing His transcendental form (ātmano rūpam) to Brahmājī while instructing him in the summarization of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam in four verses. He is ajanaḥ, or the Supreme Person, amongst janānām, or all persons. All living entities are individual persons, and amongst all such persons Lord Hari is supreme, as confirmed in the śruti-mantra, nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām (Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2.2.13). So there is no place for impersonal features in the transcendental world as there are impersonal features in the material world. Whenever there is cetana, or knowledge, the personal feature comes in. In the spiritual world everything is full of knowledge, and therefore everything in the transcendental world, the land, the water, the tree, the mountain, the river, the man, the animal, the bird—everything—is of the same quality, namely cetana, and therefore everything there is individual and personal. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam gives us this information as the supreme Vedic literature, and it was personally instructed by the Supreme Personality of Godhead to Brahmājī so that the leader of the living entities might broadcast the message to all in the universe in order to teach the supreme knowledge of bhakti-yoga.
Before the creation and after its dissolution, only the Supreme Personality of Godhead and His associates exist; there is no existence of the material elements. This is confirmed in the Vedic literature. Vāsudevo vā idam agra āsīn na brahmā na ca śaṅkaraḥ. The meaning of this mantra is that before creation there was no existence of Brahmā or Śiva, for only Viṣṇu existed. Viṣṇu exists in His abode, the Vaikuṇṭhas. There are innumerable Vaikuṇṭha planets in the spiritual sky, and on each of them Viṣṇu resides with His associates and His paraphernalia. It is also confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā that although the creation is periodically dissolved, there is another abode, which is never dissolved. The word "creation" refers to the material creation because in the spiritual world everything exists eternally and there is no creation or dissolution.
One who thinks that there is a difference between Lord Viṣṇu's body and His soul dwells in the darkest region of ignorance. There is no difference between Lord Viṣṇu's body and Viṣṇu's soul, for they are advaya-jñāna, one knowledge. In this world there is a difference between the material body and the spiritual soul, but in the spiritual world everything is spiritual and there are no such differences. The greatest offense of the Māyāvādī philosophers is to consider Lord Viṣṇu and the living entities to be one and the same. In this connection the Padma Purāṇa states, arcye viṣṇau śilā-dhir guruṣu nara-matir vaiṣṇave jāti-buddhiḥ . . yasya vā nārakī saḥ: "One who considers the arcā-mūrti, the worshipable Deity of Lord Viṣṇu, to be stone, the spiritual master to be an ordinary human being, and a Vaiṣṇava to belong to a particular caste or creed is possessed of hellish intelligence." One who follows such conclusions is doomed.
In reference to the words aprākṛta navīna madana, aprākṛta refers to that which is the very opposite of the material conception. The Māyāvādīs consider this to be zero or impersonal, but that is not the case. Everything in the material world is dull, but in the spiritual world everything is alive. The desire for enjoyment is present both in Kṛṣṇa and in His parts and parcels, the living entities. In the spiritual world, such desires are also spiritual. No one should mistakenly consider such desires to be material. In the material world, if one is sexually inclined and enjoys sex life, he enjoys something temporary. His enjoyment vanishes after a few minutes. However, in the spiritual world the same enjoyment may be there, but it never vanishes. It is continuously enjoyed. In the spiritual world such sex pleasure appears to the enjoyer to be more and more relishable with each new feature. In the material world, however, sex enjoyment becomes distasteful after a few minutes only, and it is never permanent. Because Kṛṣṇa appears very much sexually inclined, He is called the new Cupid in the spiritual world. There is no material inebriety in such desire, however.
The Lord has multifarious energies, and therefore the Lord and His energies are identical. Among His various energies the material energy is one, and it is said in the Bhagavad-gītā that the material energy is inferior in quality to the spiritual energy. Spiritual energy is superior because without contact with the spiritual energy the material energy alone cannot produce anything. But the source of all energies is the all-attractive Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa. This material world is a combination of matter and spirit, but the spiritual world, which is far, far away from the material sky, is purely spiritual and has no contact with matter. In the spiritual world, everything is spirit. We have already discussed this. The Personality of Godhead, the original source of all energies, is able to convert spirit into matter and matter into spirit. For Him there is no difference between matter and spirit. He is therefore called kaivalya.
Devotee: Śrīla Prabhupāda, if Kṛṣṇa has created everything and everything is submitted to Kṛṣṇa's will, can we really say what is good or bad?
Prabhupāda: There is no good or bad, it is mental concoction. But on the whole, in the material world means everything bad. Spiritual world everything is good. Material world means absence of spiritual world, that's all. You bring again spiritual world, it is good.
So that talks of God is here in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, because our God is not impersonal, void. No. He is the Supreme Person, Kṛṣṇa. You can see personally how He's standing, how He's enjoying with His eternal consort, lover, Śrīmate Rādhārāṇī. Here is God, actually God is not engaged in punishing somebody, original God. God is engaged in enjoying with His eternal consort, Śrīmate Rādhārāṇī. This Śrīmate Rādhārāṇī is enchanting Kṛṣṇa, and Kṛṣṇa is enchanting Rādhārāṇī. This is the business of God. Duhe (indistinct) lage hari (?). In the Caitanya-caritāmṛta it is said that when Kṛṣṇa comes before Rādhārāṇī, She becomes so much engladdened by seeing the beauty of Kṛṣṇa that She becomes more beautiful, and as soon as Rādhārāṇī becomes beautiful, Kṛṣṇa becomes engladdened and He becomes more beautiful. So unlimitedly there is competition of becoming more beautiful, duhe lage hurai (?). That is the state. Competition. Because in the spiritual world everything is unlimited. So unlimitedly both of them becoming beautiful and both of them enjoying unlimitedly.
Upendra: "Those fortunate living entities who catch up the truth and surrender unto the Lotus feet of Vāsudeva after many many births in the material world, become one of the eternally liberated souls and thus are allowed to enter into the kingdom of Godhead. After..."
Prabhupāda: We can also become one of them, eternally liberated. But we are not admitted in the spiritual kingdom unless we have given up this false sense of lording it over the material nature. Here, the conditioned souls, everyone is trying to become the lord, imitating. Everyone is trying. But there is clash. You are trying to become lord, I am trying to become lord. Therefore there is clash. And in the spiritual world the Lord is one and there is no competition of lording it over. Therefore in the spiritual world everything is unconditioned, freedom.
So these bad habits, kāma krodha-kāma means lust; krodha means anger—so if they are also coming from God, then how we can neglect it? How we can reject it? So there is no need of rejecting. That is the Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura's... You cannot reject. That is not possible. As you are a living being, there must be kāma, krodha, lobha, moha, mātsarya. You cannot reject it. You cannot make it zero. That is impersonalism. But it has its proper use. That you have to know. Unless you know the proper use of everything, everything... Proper use means it must be used for Kṛṣṇa. Then it is proper use. Otherwise it is misused. There is no such thing as bad. Everything is good when it is used for Kṛṣṇa. That is the difference between material and spiritual. Spiritual, everything is good, and material, everything is bad. You cannot make any distinction. When a thing is used materially it is bad. Therefore in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta it is said, dvaite bhadrābhadra sakali samāna. Dvaite—means in this world of duality—everything is bad. They have invented some artificial meaning, "This is good, this is bad," but actually everything is bad in the material world. There is nothing good. And just the opposite: in the spiritual world, everything is good.
Then, in another place,
The Lord... Everything is not material. That is sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha (Bs. 5.1). Kṛṣṇa is sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha. His form is eternity, blissful and full of knowledge. So all His paraphernalia in the Goloka Vṛndāvana, that is His expansion of that quality, eternity, blissfulness and knowledge. Ānanda-cinmaya-rasa-pratibhāvitābhis. His gopīs, His consorts, His father, His mother, His friends, His trees, His flowers, His calves and cows—everything is spiritual, expansion from Him. Everything... The... We are also expansion from Him. We are marginal potency. And this is spiritual potency. So everything is expansion. Therefore the Vedic literatures say, sarvaṁ khalv idaṁ brahma: "Everything is Brahman." We are now combination of two energies, marginal energy and the external energy. But in the spiritual world, everything is only spiritual energy. So we are constitutionally spiritual energy. Somehow or other we have been entangled with this material energy. So if we try in this human form of life, we can get out of this material energy and again go back to the spiritual energy. That is the opportunity. Ānanda-cinmaya-rasa-pratibhāvitābhis tābhir ya eva nija-rūpatayā kalābhiḥ (Bs. 5.37).
This is also only one universe. There are innumerable universes clustered together and beyond this clustering of universes there is another sky which is called paravyoma or spiritual sky. If you want to go there, then you have to penetrate through the material coverings—earth, water, fire, water, fire, air, like that. Each layer so big. And the next layer is ten times more than the first layer. In this way there are seven layers. So penetrating through that seven layers you reach the spiritual sky. And after reaching the spiritual sky, there are so many Vaikuṇṭha planets, spiritual planets.
So that is summarized: goloka-nāmni nija-dhāmni tale ca tasya (Bs. 5.43). The topmost planet is called Goloka or Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇaloka. Go means cows. Kṛṣṇa is very much fond of cows. Therefore, that planet is called also Goloka, the planet full of cows. We have recited Brahma-saṁhitā today, cintāmaṇi-prakara-sadmasu kalpa-vṛkṣa-lakṣā-vṛteṣu surabhīr abhipālayantam (Bs. 5.29). Kṛṣṇa is engaged in tending cows. He's very much fond of cows. Surabhi, they are not ordinary cows. In the spiritual world, everything is spiritual. So there is a planet, goloka-nāmni. So, that is the highest planet. Goloka-nāmni nija-dhāmni. That is the personal abode. Goloka-nāmni nija-dhāmni tale ca tasya: (Bs. 5.43) under that planet, there are other planetary systems. They are called Devīdhāma, Maheśadhāma, Haridhāma.
Woman: Is Rāma synonymous with Jesus?
Devotee: "Is Rāma synonymous, the same as Jesus."
Prabhupāda: Synonymous..., not exactly synonymous, but identical. Synonymous cannot be said, identical.
Woman: Oh, identical.
Prabhupāda: Yes. In the absolute platform everything is identical. In the relative world also. Just like anything you take, it is material. So material identity. Similarly, in the spiritual world everything is spiritual. So in the spiritual world God and God's son or God's friend or God's lover, anyone is the... They're in the same platform, spiritual. Therefore they are identical.
Guest (7): To give up matter through the chanting of Hare Kṛṣṇa, to make this contact by using the words of matter, how...?
Prabhupāda: It is very simple. It is sound vibration. Sound is the beginning of all material creation. Everywhere there is sound. So... And God is in everywhere. Therefore He is also in sound. So in sound form we can realize Him. The Kṛṣṇa, the transcendental sound, and the Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Lord, is identical. That we have to realize by practicing.
There is no, I mean to say, difference between the Supreme Person and His name. Just like in the material conception there is difference. If you want water, simply by chanting, "water, water," your satisfaction will not be there. But in the spiritual world, everything being absolute, there is no difference between the name Kṛṣṇa and the person Kṛṣṇa. Therefore by... And it is the easiest process for you. You can chant this name "Kṛṣṇa." That means by sound contact, you contact the Supreme Person. That is a point of realization. You have to practice it, and you know it really.
This Absolute Truth means wherefrom everything comes, emanates. Just like here we find love between mother and son, love between wife and husband, love between master and servant, love between friends and friends, love between master and the dog or the cat or the cow. Same thing. These are only reflection of the spiritual world. The same thing is there. Kṛṣṇa is also good lover of the animals, calves and cows. As we love here dogs and cats, Kṛṣṇa loves there cows and calves. You have seen the picture of Kṛṣṇa. So the propensity to love even an animal is there. Otherwise how it can be reflected here? This is simply shadow reflection. If, in the reality, there is nothing like that, then how it can be reflected here? So everything is there. Therefore, that mellow, to understand, you have to practice. Here we have got frustration. Here we love. A man loves a woman or woman loves a man. But there is frustration. After some time, they are separated, they divorce, because it is perverted reflection. There is no real love in this material world. It is simply lust. Real love is in the spiritual world between Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa. Real love is between Kṛṣṇa and the gopīs. Real love, the friendship is there between Kṛṣṇa and His cowherds boys. Real love between animal and man is there. Kṛṣṇa is loving the cows and calves. Real love between trees, flowers, water, simply that is the platform of love. That is spiritual world. Everything love.
Atreya Ṛṣi: In the spiritual world everything is permanent.
Prabhupāda: Yes.
Atreya Ṛṣi: There is no need for making predictions all the time.
Prabhupāda: No. Why there is? Prediction means when there is something wanting. There is no want at all.
Hayagrīva: Aquinas believed that God is the only single essence that consists of pure form. He felt that matter is only a potential and, in order to be real, must assume a certain shape or form. "Being in the universe have to acquire an individual form in order to actualize themselves. When matter unites with form, the form gives an object its individuality and personality." A form gives an object its individuality and personality.
Prabhupāda: Yes. The mat..., matter has no form. The spirit soul has got form. Though the matter is covering the actual form of the spirit soul, the matter appears to have form. Just like the original cloth has no form, but when the tailor cuts the cloth according to the body of the person, then the shirt and coat takes a form. The matter itself has no form. When you take clay, it has no form, but if you make it like a doll, like a man or woman, then it has a form. When the change the clay, and you manufacture a fort, then the fort has form. So form and formlessness is of the matter, but in the spiritual world everything has got form. The spirit soul has got form. God has got form. This is the truth.
Santa-rasa means appreciation of the greatness of the Lord, but there is no active service of the Lord. The land, the grass, the trees, the plants, fruits, or the cows in the transcendental world are supposed to be situated in the santa-rasa. As spiritual beings, they are all conscious of Krishna, but they prefer to appreciate Krishna's greatness remaining as they are.
The next development from santa-rasa is dasya-rasa, which means voluntary offering of some service. Next development is Sakhya rasa, or service in spirit of friendship and well-wisher. The next development is Vatsalya rasa, service as well wisher and affection. The next development is Madhura rasa, service, friendship, affection and conjugal love. So in the Madhura rasa, everything is complete; there is Santa rasa, Dasya rasa, Sakhya rasa, Vatsalya rasa, and Madhura rasa. But each and every one of the rasas is complete in itself. A person in Santa rasa or Sakhya rasa is as good as one in Madhura rasa because in the spiritual world everything is absolute. But from the platform of spiritual vision, where there is transcendental discrimination, one can appreciate Madhurya rasa as complete as anything.
Your sentiments expressed in this letter are transcendentally relished. Certainly you are mine and I am Krishna's, therefore you are also Krishna's. In the Krishna Consciousness activities that is the process. By following the disciplic succession, beginning from Krishna, everything becomes ultimately connected with Krishna. And Krishna being absolute, anything connected with Him becomes absolute, without any duality of concept like in the material world. In the material world, it is called illusion because everyone thinks I or my. But in the spiritual world, everything is Krishna. We being part and parcel of Krishna, when we surrender fully unto Krishna with sincerity of purpose, through the transparent via media of the spiritual master. One who thinks himself as Krishna's, he is non-different from Krishna. So the attitude which you are mentioning is the Grace of Krishna, and I wish by His Lordship's Mercy you will continue this aptitude of becoming more and more progressed in Krishna Consciousness. Thank you very much for thinking in such a nice way.
| Page Title: | In the spiritual world, everything is... |
| Compiler: | Labangalatika |
| Created: | 06 of Jul, 2011 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=0, SB=1, CC=3, OB=1, Lec=11, Con=0, Let=2 |
| No. of Quotes: | 18 |