Source of the Brahman

Expressions researched:
"source of Brahman" |"source of the Brahman"

SB Canto 2

The ultimate realization of Brahman is the source of the Brahman light, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the summum bonum or the ultimate source of everything.

SB 2.7.47, Purport:

The supreme enjoyer, the Personality of Godhead, is the Supreme Brahman or the summum bonum because of His being the supreme cause of all causes. The conception of impersonal Brahman realization is the first step, due to His distinction from the illusory conception of material existence. In other words, impersonal Brahman is a feature of the Absolute distinct from the material variegatedness, just as light is a conception distinct from its counterpart, darkness. But the light has its variegatedness, which is seen by those who further advance in the light, and thus the ultimate realization of Brahman is the source of the Brahman light, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the summum bonum or the ultimate source of everything. Therefore, meeting the Personality of Godhead includes the realization of the impersonal Brahman as realized at first in contrast with material inebriety. The Personality of Godhead is the third step of Brahman realization. As explained in the First Canto, one must understand all three features of the Absolute—Brahman, Paramātmā and Bhagavān.

SB Canto 6

There is heat and light in the sun, and there is heat and light in the sunshine, and thus they are qualitatively one. But one should not forget that the sunshine rests on the sun. As the Lord says in Bhagavad-gītā,"I am the original source of Brahman." The sunshine is important because of the presence of the sun globe.

SB 6.16.57, Purport:

As soon as a living entity forgets his constitutional position and endeavors to become one with the Supreme, his conditional life begins. The conception that the Supreme Brahman and the living entity are equal not only in quality but also in quantity is the cause of conditional life. If one forgets the difference between the Supreme Lord and the living entity, his conditional life begins. Conditional life means giving up one body to accept another and undergoing death to accept death again. The Māyāvādī philosopher teaches the philosophy of tat tvam asi, saying, "You are the same as God." He forgets that tat tvam asi applies in terms of the marginal position of the living entity, who is like sunshine. There is heat and light in the sun, and there is heat and light in the sunshine, and thus they are qualitatively one. But one should not forget that the sunshine rests on the sun. As the Lord says in Bhagavad-gītā, brahmaṇo hi pratiṣṭhāham (BG 14.27): "I am the original source of Brahman." The sunshine is important because of the presence of the sun globe. It is not that the sun globe is important because of the all-pervasiveness of the sunshine. Forgetfulness and misunderstanding of this fact is called māyā. Because of forgetfulness of one's constitutional position and that of the Supreme Lord, one comes into māyā, or saṁsāra—conditional life.

SB Canto 10.1 to 10.13

Somehow or other, whether one thinks of Kṛṣṇa as an ordinary human child, as the source of the Brahman effulgence, as the origin of Paramātmā, or as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one should concentrate one's full attention upon the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa.

SB 10.12.7-11, Purport:

All the boys would be differently engaged. Some boys blew their flutes, and others blew bugles made of horn. Some imitated the buzzing of the bumblebees, and others imitated the voice of the cuckoo. Some boys imitated flying birds by running after the birds' shadows on the ground, some imitated the beautiful movements and attractive postures of the swans, some sat down with the ducks, sitting silently, and others imitated the dancing of the peacocks. Some boys attracted young monkeys in the trees, some jumped into the trees, imitating the monkeys, some made faces as the monkeys were accustomed to do, and others jumped from one branch to another. Some boys went to the waterfalls and crossed over the river, jumping with the frogs, and when they saw their own reflections on the water they would laugh. They would also condemn the sounds of their own echoes. In this way, all the cowherd boys used to play with Kṛṣṇa, who is the source of the Brahman effulgence for jñānīs desiring to merge into that effulgence, who is the Supreme Personality of Godhead for devotees who have accepted eternal servitorship, and who for ordinary persons is but another ordinary child. The cowherd boys, having accumulated the results of pious activities for many lives, were able to associate in this way with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. How can one explain their great fortune?" As recommended by Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī, tasmāt kenāpy upāyena manaḥ kṛṣṇe niveśayet (Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.2.4) (SB 7.1.32). Somehow or other, whether one thinks of Kṛṣṇa as an ordinary human child, as the source of the Brahman effulgence, as the origin of Paramātmā, or as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one should concentrate one's full attention upon the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa. That is also the instruction of Bhagavad-gītā (18.66): sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the easiest way of directly approaching Kṛṣṇa.

CC Adi-lila

Since impersonalists cannot understand the source of the Brahman energy, they mistakenly choose to think this impersonal Brahman the ultimate or absolute goal.

CC Adi 1.53, Purport:

Just as the sun is a localized planet with the sunshine expanding unlimitedly from that source, so the Absolute Truth is the Supreme Personality of Godhead with His effulgence of energy, Brahman, expanding unlimitedly. From that Brahman energy the creation appears, just as a cloud appears in sunshine. From the cloud comes rain, from the rain comes vegetation, and from the vegetation come fruits and flowers, which are the basis of subsistence for many other forms of life. Similarly, the effulgent bodily luster of the Supreme Lord is the cause of the creation of infinite universes. The Brahman effulgence is impersonal, but the cause of that energy is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. From Him, in His abode, the Vaikuṇṭhas, this brahmajyoti emanates. He is never impersonal. Since impersonalists cannot understand the source of the Brahman energy, they mistakenly choose to think this impersonal Brahman the ultimate or absolute goal. But as stated in the Upaniṣads, one has to penetrate the impersonal effulgence to see the face of the Supreme Lord. If one desires to reach the source of the sunshine, he has to travel through the sunshine to reach the sun and then meet the predominating deity there. The Absolute Truth is the Supreme Person, Bhagavān.

Nectar of Devotion

It is confirmed by the statement of Brahma-saṁhitā that the Brahman effulgence is the bodily ray of Kṛṣṇa; the Brahman effulgence is simply an exhibition of the energy of Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is the source of the Brahman effulgence.

Nectar of Devotion 22:

It is confirmed by the statement of Brahma-saṁhitā that the Brahman effulgence is the bodily ray of Kṛṣṇa; the Brahman effulgence is simply an exhibition of the energy of Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is the source of the Brahman effulgence, as He Himself confirms in Bhagavad-gītā. From this we can conclude that the impersonal feature of the Absolute Truth is not the ultimate end; Kṛṣṇa is the ultimate end of the Absolute Truth.

When will it be possible for me to think always of the lotus feet of Mukunda, who is the source of the Brahman effulgence?

Nectar of Devotion 35:

The qualifications of a saintly person are described in the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu as follows. A saintly person is one who understands fully that simply by discharging devotional service he can become confident of liberation. He is always situated in the regulative principles of devotional life and at the same time aspires to be liberated from material entanglement. A saintly person thinks like this: "When shall I be able to live alone in the caves of the mountains? When shall I be dressed simply with undergarments? When shall I be satisfied by eating simply a little fruit and vegetables? When will it be possible for me to think always of the lotus feet of Mukunda, who is the source of the Brahman effulgence? When, in such a spiritual condition of life, shall I fully understand my days and nights to be insignificant moments in eternal time?" The devotees and self-realized persons who are engaged in preaching the glories of the Lord always maintain an ecstatic love for the Lord within their hearts. Thus they are benefited by the rays of the ecstatic moon, and they are called saintly persons.

Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead

Govinda is the original person, the cause of all causes. In the Bhagavad-gītā also it is stated that You are the source of the Brahman effulgence.

Krsna Book 14:

Govinda is the original person, the cause of all causes. In the Bhagavad-gītā also it is stated that You are the source of the Brahman effulgence. No one should conclude that Your body is like an ordinary material body. Your body is akṣara, indestructible. The material body is always full of threefold miseries, but Your body is sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha: (Bs. 5.1) full of bliss, knowledge and eternality. You are also nirañjana because Your pastimes, as the little son of mother Yaśodā or the lover of the gopīs, are never contaminated by the material qualities. And although You exhibited Yourself as so many cowherd boys and calves, Your transcendental potency was not reduced. You are always complete. As it is described in the Vedic literature, even if the complete is taken away from the complete—the Supreme Absolute Truth—it remains the complete Supreme Absolute Truth.

Renunciation Through Wisdom

Brahman is Lord Kṛṣṇa's bodily effulgence. Since Lord Kṛṣṇa is the source of Brahman, devotional service to Lord Kṛṣṇa establishes the true meaning of sarvaṁ khalv idaṁ brahma.

Renunciation Through Wisdom 1.9:

In the Bhagavad-gītā (14.27) Lord Kṛṣṇa says, "And I am the basis of the impersonal Brahman, which is the constitutional position of ultimate happiness." This verse unequivocally declares that Brahman is Lord Kṛṣṇa's bodily effulgence. Since Lord Kṛṣṇa is the source of Brahman, devotional service to Lord Kṛṣṇa establishes the true meaning of sarvaṁ khalv idaṁ brahma. A sacrifice is properly performed only when all the sacrificial ingredients—the offerings, the fire, the ghee, and so on—become spiritualized, or reach the stage of Brahman, by their contact with Lord Kṛṣṇa. And since the performance of sacrifice culminates in the manifestation of real love for Lord Viṣṇu, loving devotional service to Lord Viṣṇu is the very best form of sacrifice. Such a stage can be also described as total absorption in Brahman.

The source of Brahman is an eternal personality who has no material form but who has a transcendental form full of spiritual potencies and all divine qualities.

Renunciation Through Wisdom 2.2:

Brahman exists as the all-pervading energy in this phenomenal world. Therefore the Vedas have defined Brahman as formless, impersonal, pure, and so on. But the source of Brahman is an eternal personality who has no material form but who has a transcendental form full of spiritual potencies and all divine qualities. He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the embodiment of eternity, knowledge, and bliss. He possesses all six transcendental opulences to an infinite degree, He performs superexcellent divine pastimes, and He alone is to be searched out and known in all the scriptures.

Lord Kṛṣṇa is the ultimate source of Brahman.

Renunciation Through Wisdom 3.2:

Sometimes material nature, or prakṛti, is referred to as Brahman, the reason being that Brahman is the cause of the material nature. In one sense a cause and its effect are identical. But Lord Kṛṣṇa is the ultimate source of Brahman. The Lord impregnates Brahman in the form of the material nature with the seed of Brahman known as the jīva. As Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā (14.3),

mama yonir mahad brahma

tasmin garbhaṁ dadhāmy aham

sambhavaḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ

tato bhavati bhārata

The total material substance, called Brahman, is the source of birth, and it is that Brahman that I impregnate, making possible the births of all living beings, O scion of Bharata.

This verse explains the famous saying sarvaṁ khalv idaṁ brahma from the Upaniṣads, meaning "Everything is Brahman." In other words, the Supreme Brahman, Lord Kṛṣṇa, is identical with both the jīva and prakṛti in that they are all Brahman.

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

The sunshine, all over the universe it is spread. Does it make it is greater than the sun? The sun is the source of the sunshine. So similarly, "I am the source of Brahman, the effulgence." That's a fact. Brahman is not greater than Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture on BG 2.46-62 -- Los Angeles, December 16, 1968:

Om vibration is there. Om is also representation of Kṛṣṇa. That is also accepted. But that is not ultimate. Ultimate is Kṛṣṇa. Just like there is some vibration, some source. You go, go, proceed, wherefrom this vibration is coming? If you find whether here is a horn. From this..., or conchshell. Here is vibration. So that, unless you reach that point... That is the ultimate. Not that vibration. Suppose I am vibrating conchshell. There is a huge sound. But is that vibration ultimate? Or the conchshell wherefrom the vibration is emanating, the conchshell is ultimate. The conchshell sound is going beyond this temple. Does it mean that conchshell sound is bigger than the conchshell? The vibration of the conchshell, apparently it seems to be very great, but does it mean it is great? The great is the conchshell wherefrom the vibration is coming. That is the ultimate source. So oṁkāra vibration is all over the universe, that's all right; but wherefrom it is coming? That you have to search out. When you search out you'll find Kṛṣṇa. Therefore Kṛṣṇa is the ultimate. Not the vibration. Is that clear? Yes. The same example. The sunshine, all over the universe it is spread. Does it make it is greater than the sun? The sun is the source of the sunshine. So similarly, brahmaṇo hi pratiṣṭhāham, "I am the source of Brahman, the effulgence." That's a fact. Brahman is not greater than Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is greater than Brahman. Mattaḥ parataro nāsti. You will find in the Bhagavad-gītā, "There is no more greater truth than Me." These people, they cannot understand; less intelligent. The same example. Because they see that the sunshine is spreading all over the universe, therefore it is more important, greater than the sun planet. But actually it is not. The simple truth. And if you go into the sun planet you will find Vivasvān the sun-god is there. The sun planet is so dazzling due to his presence. Similarly, with all impersonal conception, when you reach Kṛṣṇa, then you reach to the goal.

The bhaktas, they directly come to the original source of Brahman and Paramātmā—Bhagavān.

Lecture on BG 4.24 -- Bombay, April 13, 1974:

The Absolute Truth is one, either you say Brahman, or Parabrahman or Bhagavān, but still, there is grades of realization. Brahman realization is impersonal realization. Paramātmā realization is localized. And Bhagavān realization is the perfect, ultimate realization. Brahmeti paramātmeti bhagavān iti.

The same example: Just like you are in the sunshine. That is also light. It is not darkness. Similarly, those who have realized impersonal Brahman, that is also light. Those who have realized localized Paramātmā, īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānām (BG 18.61), the yogis... The yogis realize Paramātmā. Dhyānāvasthita-tad-gatena manasā paśyanti yaṁ yoginaḥ (SB 12.13.1). Yogis' business is in meditation to see Kṛṣṇa within the heart. And the jñānīs, they realize impersonal feature, brahmajyoti. But the bhaktas, they directly come to the original source of Brahman and Paramātmā—Bhagavān. Īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-deśe 'rjuna tiṣṭhati (BG 18.61). Īśvara has expanded in everyone's heart.

And who is that īśvara? Īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ (Bs. 5.1).

īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ

sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ

anādir ādir govindaḥ

sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam

(Bs. 5.1)

So if we understand Kṛṣṇa and Kṛṣṇa's energies, then we can realize the Vedic slogan, sarvaṁ khalv idaṁ brahma. But without understanding Kṛṣṇa, it is not possible. Without understanding Kṛṣṇa, there will be falldown. Therefore we see so many impersonalists. They cannot give up their attachment for this material world.

The Brahman effulgence, that is standing on Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is the source of Brahman effulgence.

Lecture on BG 13.3 -- Bombay, December 30, 1972:

This body and the kṣetra-jña, the owner and the occupier of the body. This subject matter we were discussing last night. It is very easy. I was explaining. Just like this apartment, we are occupying. Therefore we are occupier. But we are not the owner. The owner is different person. Similarly this body, there are two souls, the Supersoul and the individual soul. Jīvātmā Paramātmā. Brahman, Parambrahman. Jīvātmā is Brahman constitutionally because mamaivāṁśo jīva-bhūtaḥ (BG 15.7). The living entities, they are part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa, God. Therefore qualitatively, what is Kṛṣṇa, the jīva, living entity's also the same thing. There is no difference in quality.

But quantity there is difference. Paramātmā or Bhagavān, brahmeti paramātmeti bhagavān iti śabdyate (SB 1.2.11). All these three features of the Absolute Truth, Brahman, Paramātmā and Bhagavān, the ultimate cause is Bhagavān. As it is confirmed by Kṛṣṇa: brahmaṇaḥ ahaṁ pratiṣṭhā. The Brahman effulgence, that is standing on Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is the source of Brahman effulgence.

Just like the sun globe is the source of sunshine. Sunshine is very big, all pervading. And sun appears to be located in some place. But which is important, the sunshine is important or the sun globe is important? Because the sunshine is emanating from the sun it has no independent existence. As soon as the sun disappears, there is no sunshine. So wherever there is sun, there is sunshine. Therefore sunshine is dependent on the sun.

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Big, big ṛṣis and yogis, those who are interested in brahma-sukha or to merge in the Brahman effulgence—the source of Brahman effulgence is here playing: Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture on SB 3.26.20 -- Bombay, December 29, 1974:

Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī is describing when the cowherd boys were playing with Kṛṣṇa, that description. He says that "These cowherd boys, they are not ordinary human being." Kṛta-puṇya-puñjāḥ: "They have accumulated many, many births' pious activities, as the result of which, they are now playing with Kṛṣṇa." And who is Kṛṣṇa? Itthaṁ satāṁ brahma-sukhānubhūtyā: "Big, big ṛṣis and yogis, those who are interested in brahma-sukha or to merge in the Brahman effulgence—the source of Brahman effulgence is here playing: Kṛṣṇa.

General Lectures

Kṛṣṇa is not imperson. He is imperson also. He is present in three features: by His personal feature, by His impersonal features, and His localized feature. By His personal feature, He is always present in His abode known as Kṛṣṇaloka or Vaikuṇṭhaloka in the spiritual sky. And by His impersonal feature He is present as impersonal Brahman effulgence. You will find in the Bhagavad-gītā also, brahmaṇo ahaṁ pratiṣṭhā: "I am the source of Brahman effulgence."

Lecture -- New Vrindaban, June 7, 1969:

Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is present before you in three features. Simply you have to make your senses perfect to perceive it. Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is a person, a person like you, like me. Just like we are facing each other, similarly, when you are spiritually perfect, you will be able to see Kṛṣṇa exactly like face to face. Kṛṣṇa is not imperson. He is imperson also. He is present in three features: by His personal feature, by His impersonal features, and His localized feature. By His personal feature, He is always present in His abode known as Kṛṣṇaloka or Vaikuṇṭhaloka in the spiritual sky. And by His impersonal feature He is present as impersonal Brahman effulgence. You will find in the Bhagavad-gītā also, brahmaṇo ahaṁ pratiṣṭhā: "I am the source of Brahman effulgence." Brahmaṇo ahaṁ pratiṣṭhā.