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Navel lotus (Lectures)

Lectures

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Lecture on BG 7.9-10 -- Bombay, February 24, 1974:

Tene brahma hṛdā ādi-kavaye (SB 1.1.1). You know, those who are conversant with the śāstras, that Brahmā's another name is Svayambhū. He's not born of any material father and mother. He's born on the lotus flower sprouted from the navel of Mahā-Viṣṇu, Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu. Therefore his name is Svayambhū. Svayambhū is one of the authorities because he was first educated about the Vedic knowledge by Kṛṣṇa, or Viṣṇu. Tene brahma hṛdā.

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Lecture on SB 1.2.3 -- London, August 24, 1971:

Within the coconut shell it is darkness, and without it is light. Similarly, this universe is just like the coconut. We are within. As in within coconut there is water, half water, similarly, within this universe there is half water. On that water, Lord Viṣṇu, Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, is lying. And from His navel, a lotus stem is sprouted. Just imagine within the coconut there is water, and somebody's lying, and there is some stem out of the navel. Exactly this universe is like that.

Lecture on SB 1.3.27 -- Los Angeles, October 2, 1972:

Just like many living entities came out from Brahmā's nostril, eyes, ear. Just like Lord Brahmā himself came out from the navel of Viṣṇu. This requires specific power. Not that we have got some stereotyped ideas. Therefore we sometimes find difficulty to understand the description of the Vedas and the Purāṇas. They do not believe. As soon as we say that there was a lotus flower sprouted from the navel of Lord Viṣṇu, and on that lotus flower Brahmā generated, they call it a story. No. These are not stories. These are fact. But our philosophy is Dr. Frog's philosophy. You see? I can simply understand that three feet water in the well. That's all. If there is beyond that, description of Atlantic Ocean, it is beyond my conception. I therefore refuse.

Lecture on SB 1.8.22 -- Los Angeles, April 14, 1973:

God is person, but His personality is distinct from our personality. So these specific marks are there on His lotus feet. And paṅkaja-nābhāya, another meaning, paṅkaja-nābhāya means originally a lotus stem came out from the navel of Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, and Brahmā was born in that lotus flower, the origin of creation.

Lecture on SB 1.8.22 -- Los Angeles, April 14, 1973:

So this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is so nice. Here Kuntīdevī, a great devotee, is giving us opportunity to become Kṛṣṇa conscious: simply concentrating your mind on lotus flower. That's all. Lotus flower. As soon as you see a lotus flower, you will immediately think of namaḥ paṅkaja-nābhāya. "Oh, Kṛṣṇa's navel is just like lotus flower. From the navel of Kṛṣṇa there was a stem of lotus flower, and from that lotus flower, Brahmā came out. And Brahmā created this universe. This universe means so many planets, so many seas, mountains and cities, motorcars, everything."

Lecture on SB 1.8.34 -- Los Angeles, April 26, 1973:

Take for example Brahmā. He grew from the lotus flower. So one can say this lotus flower is matter. No. The lotus flower has grown from the navel of Viṣṇu, the original cause is Viṣṇu. If you take the lotus flower as matter, then it has also grown from the spirit. This is the beginning. The spirit soul is the basis of creation.

Lecture on SB 1.16.17 -- Los Angeles, January 12, 1974:

Aravinda-nābhi. Aravinda-nābhi means Viṣṇu, Lord Viṣṇu, Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, from His navel, one lotus flower is grown. Therefore He is called Aravinda-nābhi.

Lecture on SB 3.25.15 -- Bombay, November 15, 1974:

Ābrahma-bhuvanāl lokāḥ punar āvartino 'rjuna (BG 8.16). There is no benefit. Because there also the four principles of miserable condition, janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi (BG 13.9), they are there, even in the Brahmaloka. Brahmā also dies. Brahmā also takes birth. You know it. Brahmā, he also took birth from the lotus flower generated from the navel of Viṣṇu. So there was birth. And when Brahmā will die, whole material cosmic manifestation will be finished. So he has also birth and death and old age and disease.

Lecture on SB 3.25.31 -- Bombay, December 1, 1974:

Dharmasya tattvaṁ nihitaṁ guhāyāṁ mahājano yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ (CC Madhya 17.186). It is very difficult to understand the path of perfection. Therefore the śāstra recommended that "You follow the mahājana." This is called āmnāya. "You follow the mahājana." And who are mahājana? They are also described in the śāstras: svayambhūr nāradaḥ śambhuḥ (SB 6.3.20). Svayambhū means Lord Brahmā. Lord Brahmā is... Another name is Svayambhū. He was found in the lotus flower emanating from the navel of Viṣṇu. So practically, he was not born of father and mother; therefore he is called Svayambhū.

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

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.

Lecture on SB 3.26.32 -- Bombay, January 9, 1975:

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.

Lecture on SB 5.5.31 -- Vrndavana, November 18, 1976:

So we cannot understand what is a spiritual body at the present moment. We have to hear from the right source, Vedic knowledge. That is Vedic knowledge. Everything described about God, Kṛṣṇa, at the present moment is inconceivable. We cannot imagine. Long, long ago I was talking with one Ārya-samajī friend. So he did not believe that a lotus stem can grow on the navel of Viṣṇu and there is Brahmā born. Everyone says like that, "mythology." It is not mythology; it is fact.

Lecture on SB 5.5.31 -- Vrndavana, November 18, 1976:

So I asked him that "Here we see one coconut tree, and about sixty feet above, there is coconut and there is water, there is pulp, and it is being carried from the ground. Where is the pipe? Where is the pump? How the water is there within the coconut? Can you explain?" So he could not explain. And I said that "Even in material things which is front of you, you cannot explain. How you will explain the spiritual position? How the lotus grown from the navel of...?" Therefore it should be accepted as inconceivable. Acintyāḥ khalu ye bhāvā na tāṁs tarkeṇa yojayet. Don't try to argue; it is foolishness. It is inconceivable.

Lecture on SB 6.1.40 -- Surat, December 22, 1970:

You have seen the picture that Nārāyaṇa is lying down on the water of Garbhodaka, udaka, and Lakṣmī is massaging His lotus feet, and Brahmā in a lotus flower is born. So generally, when a father begets a son, he takes the advantage of his wife, the help of his wife. But here Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, although His wife is present, He did not take the assistance of the wife. A lotus sprouted from His navel, and there was Brahmā. That is all-powerful. Generally we understand that whenever there is birth, the man and woman must combine. But that is for ordinary entities or in this material world. But that is not possible in the case of God, or Viṣṇu. Therefore He is called sarva-śaktimān, all-powerful. He can do anything, whatever He likes.

Lecture on SB 6.3.18-19 -- Gorakhpur, February 12, 1971:

Svayambhū means Brahmā. Svayambhū. He is called Svayambhū. Svayambhū means "one who is born by himself." Of course, he is not born by himself, but he is not ordinarily born. Just like a child is born by the sex intercourse of the father and the mother, Brahmā is not born like that. There was no sex intercourse to beget Brahmā. Therefore he is called Svayambhū. Svayambhū. Automatically he has come out. He has come out from the father without the help of the mother. Therefore he is called Svayambhū. You know that there was a lotus flower from the navel of Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, and within that lotus flower, Brahmā appeared. Therefore he is called Svayambhū.

Lecture on SB 7.9.8 -- Calcutta, March 5, 1972:

Prahlāda Mahārāja says brahmādayaḥ sura-ganā munayo 'tha siddhāḥ (SB 7.9.8). Brahmādayaḥ, amongst the demigods the head is Lord Brahma, brahma ādayaḥ. Ādi-kavi, Brahma is known as ādi-kavi, the first living creature within this universe. Because when this universe was created, the first living being visible was Brahma. Then from Brahma, Lord Siva appeared. Brahmā śiva viriñcit(?). And Viṣṇu is the origin. From Viṣṇu's navel lotus flower, Brahma appeared; and from Brahma, Lord Siva appeared. Lord Siva's another name is Rudra.

Lecture on SB 7.9.10 -- Montreal, July 10, 1968:

Aravinda-nābha. Nabha means this navel, and aravinda means lotus. You know that the creation is made by the navel of Viṣṇu, the first sprouting of the lotus flower-like planet, and there is Brahmā, and he creates other things. So therefore, aravinda-nābha, "the Supreme Personality of Godhead, whose navel has the lotus flower," aravinda-nābha.

Lecture on SB 7.9.26 -- Mayapur, March 4, 1976:

Brahmā is supposed to be the supreme creature within this material world, Brahmā. He's the first created creature, and he's called Svayambhū. He's not born of any material father and mother but directly came through the lotus stem which is growing from the navel of Viṣṇu. So he's not ordinary person. He's not ordinary person. He's not... Therefore he's known as Svayambhū.

Lecture on SB 7.9.33 -- Mayapur, March 11, 1976:

The secret, the people, they do not know. They... But Prahlāda Mahārāja knows. Ambhasi. This is the beginning of creation, ambhasi. Ambhasy ananta-śayanāt. Anantadeva... Ananta faces, there are. On that Ananta-naga, the Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu is lying on. So from the navel of Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu there is a lotus flower, and... Vaṭavat-mahābjam. So, so there is Brahmā, and Brahmā created other thing. So it is just like the... In previous verse it has been explained, "Just like the seed of the fruit of the tree." Seed is the cause of the tree, and tree is the cause of the seed. In this way the whole material cosmic manifestation is there, and vapur idaṁ tava te. So everything of Kṛṣṇa.

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

So from the beginning of the creation the same illusion is continued. Brahma, when he was born, created, he was created not by ordinary father and mother, but he was created on a lotus flower stem which grew from the navel of Maha Viṣṇu, er, yes, Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu. Therefore Brahmā's another name is Aja. He's not born like ordinary human being. Svayambhū. He's also known as Svayambhū. Everyone is born by father and mother, but he was born... Of course, father was there, Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, but he did not come through the womb of mother. This is omnipotency. Lord Viṣṇu is lying on the Śeṣa bed, and Lakṣmīji is engaged in the service of massaging the lotus feet of Viṣṇu, but Viṣṇu did not take the help of Lakṣmīji to beget Brahmā. He personally begot from the navel. Therefore we should understand that the Supreme Personality of Godhead can perform anything he likes from any part of His body.

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures

Lecture on CC Adi-lila 1.7 -- Mayapur, March 31, 1975:

So, the universe is not so big in the beginning. Just like our, this body is not so big in the beginning of our body within the womb of our mother. It is not so big. It is very small, minute, and then it becomes just like a pea, and gradually the body develops. The same process is applicable to the universes. In the beginning, they are coming out of the breathing of Kāraṇa-toya-śāyī Viṣṇu, and then gradually they are developed bṛhannatvāt, bṛhatvāt. It increases gradually. That Kāraṇa-toya-śāyī Viṣṇu is also Saṅkarṣaṇa. And then Garbhodakaśāyī. The universes are created. Then, when they develop, then same Viṣṇu, Mahā-Viṣṇu, enters into each universe, and He creates an ocean. That is called Garbhoda Ocean. And He lies down there on Śeṣa-Nāga, And then, from the navel, the lotus flower sprouts, and then Lord Brahmā is created. Then, after many years tapasya, tapo, he understands how to create. In this way the whole creation of universes takes place.

Lecture on CC Adi-lila 1.10 -- Mayapur, April 3, 1975:

Nitāi: "I offer my full obeisances unto the feet of Śrī Nityānanda Rāma, a partial part of whom is Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu. From the navel of Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu sprouts the lotus that is the birthplace of Brahmā, the engineer of the universe. The stem of that lotus is the resting place of the multitude of planets."

Prabhupāda:

yasyāṁśāṁśaḥ śrīla-garbhoda-śāyī
yan-nābhy-abjaṁ loka-saṅghāta-nālam
loka-sraṣṭuḥ sūtikā-dhāma dhātuḥ
taṁ śrī-nityānanda-rāmaṁ prapadye
(CC Adi 1.10)

We have already discussed Kāraṇodakaśāyī, who is the plenary portion of Saṅkarṣaṇa. Now, from Kāraṇodakaśāyī is Garbhodakaśāyī. Garbhodakaśāyī means this, within the womb or bottom of this universe, there is a ocean, big ocean, and in that ocean the plenary portion of Kāraṇodakaśāyī Viṣṇu enters. This is explained in the Bhagavad-gītā, viṣṭabhya aham idaṁ kṛtsnam ekāṁśena sthito jagat (BG 10.42). By one portion, the Garbho..., er, Kāraṇodakaśāyī Viṣṇu enters each universe, and within that universe He creates a ocean by His perspiration. Now, there are so many questions: "How these oceans are created?" The scientist says that it is a combination of hydrogen and oxygen gas. So wherefrom this gas came? The answer is here.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.66-96 -- New York, November 21, 1966:

If one is able to dovetail his material qualities in the service of the Lord, then that becomes a great qualification. Viprād dvi-ṣaḍ-guṇa-yutād aravinda-nābha. Aravinda-nābha. Aravinda means lotus flower, and nābha means this navel. So Viṣṇu... Kṛṣṇa is Viṣṇu; therefore His another name is Aravinda-nābha. He has got a lotus flower. On that lotus flower, Brahmā is born. This is omnipotency, omnipotency of God. You have seen that picture in the cover of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. That Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu is lying, and there is a lotus flower from His navel, and upon the lotus flower, Brahmā is born, and Lakṣmīji is engaged in serving His lotus feet. But just see. Kṛṣṇa was to beget a son. His wife, Lakṣmī, or Viṣṇu's wife, was sitting. But He did not take... (break) ... He begot a child, Brahmā, from His own navel. This is called omnipotency.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.281-293 -- New York, December 18, 1966:

This universe, what we are seeing, it is only half. Half is full with water. And where is that water, we cannot see. But there is water. Just like a ball, and half the ball, inside, is filled with water. So and wherefrom this water came? Viṣṇu, the Viṣṇu which entered each universe, from His perspiration He created this water. And He laid down on the water. This is called Śeṣaśāyī Viṣṇu or Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu. Tāṅra nābhi-padma haite uṭhila eka padma: "And then He created one lotus flower from His navel." You have seen that picture in the title page, title cover. Nābhi-padma. Sei padme ha-ila brahmāra janma-sadma: "And from that lotus flower, on that lotus flower, the Brahmā, the first created being, was manifested."

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 21.13-49 -- New York, January 4, 1967:

So far the demigods are concerned, Brahmā is the chief. Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Maheśvara, they are ājñākārī. They are under the order of Kṛṣṇa: Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Maheśvara.

e sāmānya tryadhīśvarera śuna artha āra
jagat-kāraṇa tina puruṣāvatāra

Then there are three puruṣa-avatāras, we have already discussed. Jagat... For material creation there are three puruṣa incarnations.

mahā-viṣṇu, padmanābha, kṣīrodaka-svāmī
ei tina-sthūla-sūkṣma-sarva-antaryāmī

And those three incarnations are called Mahā-Viṣṇu, Padmanābha, Padmanābha Viṣṇu. Padmanābha means from His navel there is a stem of lotus flower, and Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu... Ei tina-sthūla-sūkṣma-sarva-antaryāmī.

ei tina-sarvāśraya jagat-īśvara
eho saba kalā-aṁśa kṛṣṇa-adhīśvara

So all these incarnations are plenary parts of Kṛṣṇa.

Festival Lectures

Janmastami Lord Sri Krsna's Appearance Day -- Montreal, August 16, 1968:

Kṛṣṇa or Viṣṇu, the first creation is that Garbhośāyī (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. He can beget child.

General Lectures

Lecture -- Los Angeles, January 15, 1969:

So this material world, it is developing. The modern scientists also agree that the universe is increasing in volume. Why? Because Kṛṣṇa has entered within this universe as Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu. Therefore it is developing. So there are innumerable universes, and so therefore there are innumerable Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇus. Because without Viṣṇu entering, this universe cannot develop. And the first creature is Brahmā. From the navel of Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, a lotus flower is grown. And upon that, Brahmā is the first creature. So the first creature is the most intelligent person. So Darwin's theory cannot be applicable because his theory is that human form develops after many evolution. That is another process. That is also stated in the Padma Purāṇa. That is called jīva-paryāyā. But this is not a fact, that in the, during..., in the beginning of the creation there was no human being or intelligent creature. The first creature is Brahmā, who has created this universe.

Lecture -- Bombay, March 19, 1972:

Brahma is considered to be the original creature within the universe, ādi-kavi. So now this Brahma is also born of the navel lotus of Viṣṇu; the Viṣṇu, He must be conscious. The Viṣṇu is conscious, abhijñaḥ. So the origin of creation cannot be unconscious. Origin of creation must be conscious. That is the version of the Vedas, Vedic literature. Janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1), this is the Vedānta-sūtra verse. He must be conscious.

Page Title:Navel lotus (Lectures)
Compiler:Alakananda
Created:20 of Apr, 2010
Totals by Section:BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=28, Con=0, Let=0
No. of Quotes:28