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Supreme means

Lectures

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

The supreme īśvara.... Supreme means nobody controls Him, but He controls everyone. That is Supreme.
Lecture on BG 1.15 -- London, July 15, 1973:

Īśvara, the Supreme Lord, Kṛṣṇa. Īśvara means the Supreme, īśvara means controller. But the supreme controller is Kṛṣṇa. Īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ (Bs. 5.1). Control everyone of us, we are controller. We control our family, our society, our business, our factory. There are different kinds of controller. So in that sense everyone is īśvara, but different types of īśvara. But the supreme īśvara.... Supreme means nobody controls Him, but He controls everyone. That is Supreme. Here we are controller, but we are also controlled, somebody else, superior than me. Therefore we cannot be called supreme controller. Supreme controller is Kṛṣṇa.

The Supreme means the "highest authority." So is any one of us the highest authority? No. Nobody is highest authority.
Lecture on BG 2.17 -- London, August 23, 1973:

Nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām (Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2.2.13). The Supreme Lord is the supreme cetana, conscious. Just like we were consulting dictionary yesterday, "supreme being." Therefore, His consciousness is also supreme. As we are living being—not supreme, subordinate—similarly, God is also being, but the supreme being. That is the difference. Very simple thing. You cannot say that "I am supreme." As these rascals say that "I am God." How you can be God? Are you supreme? As soon as we ask this question, "Are you supreme?" "No." Then how you have become God? The supreme means... That is also... We consulted dictionary. The Supreme means the "highest authority." So is any one of us the highest authority? No. Nobody is highest authority. Everyone is under the grip of material nature. How you can be highest authority? But they imagine, "Yes, I am high authority. I am..." Meditate: "I am the highest authority, I am moving the sun, I am moving the this," simply rascaldom. This is their meditation. Falsely think that "I am the supreme, I am controlling everything. The sun is moving under my direction, the everything, the water is, seas, I mean to say, there under my direction." Simply... This is their meditation. Impersonalists. Just try to understand how much foolish they are. Any sane man will say that "I am moving the sun, I am moving the moon, I am moving the sea"? Any sane man will say like that? Nobody will say. Will you say? Anyone here? That you are moving the sun, you are moving the moon? Who is there, anyone? Who can say? Nobody can say. And still these rascals they are claiming that he has become God. God... "We are all God."

Kṛṣṇa is the greatest authority, Supreme Being. Supreme means the greatest authority.
Lecture on BG 2.26-27 -- London, August 29, 1973:

So this contradiction, opposing elements, will continue unless there is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. So this is not a fact that the karma-vādīs simply by discharging your duties nicely... This is... On principle, it is all right. But we must know what is actual morality. There are so many examples. Just like when there is war, to kill the enemies, that is morality. But in peaceful condition if you kill a person that is immorality or sinful. The process is the same, morality or immorality, the process is the same. But sometimes it is moral, sometimes immoral. So how it will be standardized? Therefore Bhāgavata says dharmaṁ tu sākṣād bhagavat-praṇītam (SB 6.3.19). Real dharma, real religion, morality, honesty, they can be decided on the words of the Supreme Lord. That is the... When Kṛṣṇa says "This is all right," then it is all right. When Kṛṣṇa says it is not right, then it is not right. This is our decision. We Kṛṣṇa conscious men, we simply accept. And that is a fact. That is a fact in this way because Kṛṣṇa is the greatest authority, Supreme Being. Supreme means the greatest authority. Just like state says "Now it is wartime. If you kill a number of enemies then you will be awarded with gold medal." The same process of killing. But at another time, when there is no war, if you kill one person you'll be hanged. The killing process is the same, but the judgement is given by the greatest authority, the government. "This is all right, this is not right." Therefore, standard of morality means to abide by the orders of the greatest authority. That is standard of morality. This is the conclusion. You cannot make your own morality. No. If Kṛṣṇa says "This is all right," then it is all right. Otherwise, it is not.

God means "the Supreme Being." And the Supreme means... That is also stated in the dictionary, "The greatest authority." So God means the greatest authority, supreme, Supreme Being.
Lecture on BG 7.1 -- Upsala University Stockholm, September 8, 1973:

Śrī bhagavān uvāca. Bhagavān means the Supreme Being. That is also dictionary word. In the... I consulted the Oxford Dictionary, "God." God means "the Supreme Being." And the Supreme means... That is also stated in the dictionary, "The greatest authority." So God means the greatest authority, supreme, Supreme Being. We have got little idea of supreme. Suppose when you go to work in our office, the proprietor of the establishment or the managing director of the establishment, he's called the supreme. We have got experience of the Supreme Court. In India, we have got Supreme Court. If there is any judgment which is not accepted by the litigant, he can go to the Supreme Court. And in the judgment given in the Supreme is final. No more any appeal. That is final. Supreme means that, final.

If there is rivalry between the Supreme, then there is not meaning of Supreme. Supreme means there is no rivalry. He is the Supreme, means nobody is greater than Him; nobody is equal to Him; everyone is under Him. That is called Supreme.
Lecture on BG 9.1 -- Melbourne, April 19, 1976:

This has been decided. Nṛpa-nirṇītam. It is already considered and decided. So any part... Suppose Bhagavān means the supreme rich. Supreme Being means everything supreme. In richness He is supreme. In bodily strength He is supreme. His knowledge is supreme. In beauty He is supreme. In renunciation He is supreme. That is the description, definition of God, that He must be supreme in every respect. Therefore He is called Supreme Being in the dictionary. Nobody can be rival to Him. Asamaurdhva. Asama means equal. Nobody is equal to Him. If I become equal to Him, how He can become Supreme? If there is rivalry between the Supreme, then there is not meaning of Supreme. Supreme means there is no rivalry. He is the Supreme, means nobody is greater than Him; nobody is equal to Him; everyone is under Him. That is called Supreme. Asamaurdhva. Nobody can be sama. Sama means equal. If I am God, and another competitor God, you are also God, then neither I am God nor I am God. There cannot be any competition. That is called Supreme. So Arjuna is to that position. He does not challenge Kṛṣṇa that "There is another Supreme Being than Yourself." There cannot be. But sometimes we foolishly challenge. That is our foolishness. But God is always Supreme. So therefore this is the qualification of understanding confidential knowledge about God. Anasūyave. Pravakṣyāmy anasūyave.

Supreme means one. Otherwise there is no meaning of Supreme.
Lecture on BG 9.1 -- Melbourne, April 19, 1976:

Prabhupāda: Suppose you have heard the name of the..., "There is a president," but if you hear from somebody, "The president name is this," so what is the harm? You become advanced in knowledge. Suppose you go to a country. You know that that government has got a president. But if somebody says, "The president's name is this," then where is the wrong there?

Guest (3): Nothing wrong.

Prabhupāda: Then? You do not know the name of God, but if I give you the name of God, what is the wrong there?

Guest (3): Well, the point is, as I said before, that there is one God and that I suggest...

Prabhupāda: Yes, one God is there, but you do not know what is His name. That is the difficulty.

Guest (3): I un... I know, all right.

Prabhupāda: That you say. What is that name? You say me.

Guest (3): The point is that I would like to suggest...

Prabhupāda: No, no suggestion. God names cannot be suggested. Then He is not God. God's name cannot be suggested. Then He's not God. You cannot suggest God's name.

Guest (3): Well, then you make God into a person called Kṛṣṇa.

Prabhupāda: God is person. I have already said. It is described in the dictionary, "the Supreme Being." You are being, I am being, but He is the Supreme Being. You are not Supreme; I am not Supreme.

Guest (3): One Supreme Being, just one.

Prabhupāda: Yes, one. Supreme means one. Otherwise there is no meaning of Supreme.

Guest (6) (young man): Is that Jack in the...(?) (laughter)

Prabhupāda: If there is equal, then that is not... That's all right. Now chant.

Devotees: Hare Kṛṣṇa! (end)

We have already explained, that taking himself as the Supreme means, as the part and parcel of the Supreme, if we study myself, then I can understand also what is God.
Lecture on BG 9.15-18 -- New York, December 2, 1966:

So amongst the persons who worship the Absolute Truth not directly as the Personality of Godhead but as ahaṅgrahopāsanam... Ahaṅgrahopāsanam means taking himself as the Supreme. This we have already explained, that taking himself as the Supreme means, as the part and parcel of the Supreme, if we study myself, then I can understand also what is God. The only difference is: quantitatively, God is great and I am small. Otherwise, so far quality is concerned, that is one. So this ahaṅgrahopāsanam, that is number one. Then next upāsanā, next worship, is ekatvena pṛthaktvena (BG 9.15). Pṛthaktvena means pantheism. Just like there are persons who are worship any demigod as God. Their opinion is that there are different forms of God. So any form we accept as God and worship, we shall be benefited. We shall approach the highest perfection. That is another section. So this can be adjusted that God is everywhere. That... There is no denying this fact because by His energy, He is everywhere.

If somebody says that "I am supreme God," or "supreme controller," then we have got objection. Supreme means he has no controller.
Lecture on BG 13.1-3 -- Durban, October 13, 1975:

In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is stated by Vyāsadeva that kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam. Similarly, in the Brahma-saṁhitā it is stated, īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ (Bs. 5.1). Īśvara means controller. So parama means the supreme. So every one of us, we are more or less controller. But we are not supreme controller. We must know this. Īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ (Bs. 5.1). There are some men who claim to become Īśvara, to become God. So we have no objection, that if somebody says, "I am God," or "I am controller," we have no objection. But if somebody says that "I am supreme God," or "supreme controller," then we have got objection. Supreme means he has no controller. And ordinary controller, just like we are... You are controller. You are controlling some sphere of life. I am also controlling some. But I also being controlled.

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

"There is no equal to you, asama, and urdhva, nobody is greater than You." That is God. Supreme means who has no equal, neither anyone is greater than. Everyone is under.
Lecture on SB 7.6.1 -- Madras, January 2, 1976:

In the list of the incarnation given in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam there is name of Kṛṣṇa also. But at the conclusion, Vyāsadeva says, ete cāṁśa-kalāḥ puṁsaḥ kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam (SB 1.3.28). He concludes that "All the incarnation mentioned here, they are aṁśa-kalāḥ, part, partly manifestation or part of partly manifestation." Kalāḥ means part of partly(?) manifestation. "But the name which is mentioned here, Kṛṣṇa, He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead." Kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam. (break) Ete cāṁśa-kalāḥ puṁsaḥ kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam. So Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That is accepted by all the ācāryas. And in the Bhagavad-gītā Arjuna says, asamaurdhva. Asama: "There is no equal to you, asama, and urdhva, nobody is greater than You." That is God. Supreme means who has no equal, neither anyone is greater than. Everyone is under. That is called asama urdhva. This is there. So there cannot be any competitor of God.

"God may be like this, God may be like that," these are all speculation... God the Supreme means īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ (Bs. 5.1). Bahūnāṁ janmanām ante jñānavān māṁ prapadyate, vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti (BG 7.19). Vāsudeva is the origin of everything.
Lecture on SB 7.9.51 -- Vrndavana, April 6, 1976:

So bhakti is the only platform which is nirguṇa, and from that platform you can please the Supreme Lord. Here it is clearly said, prahrādaṁ praṇataṁ prīto. You cannot satisfy the Supreme Personality of Godhead from the material platform of rajo-guṇa, tamo-guṇa, sattva-guṇa. That is not possible. You have to come to the platform of bhakti. Bhaktyā. And who can come to the platform of bhakti? One who is bhakta. Not the others, namely karmī, jñānī, yogi. No. They cannot. It is not possible. Therefore it clearly says here, bhaktyā bhaktena. The same thing is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā. Kṛṣṇa says, bhaktyā mām abhijānāti yāvān yaś cāsmi tattvataḥ (BG 18.55). If you want to understand the Supreme Lord, tattvataḥ, in truth, not in your imagination, "God may be like this, God may be like that," these are all speculation... God the Supreme means īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ (Bs. 5.1). Bahūnāṁ janmanām ante jñānavān māṁ prapadyate, vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti (BG 7.19). Vāsudeva is the origin of everything. This knowledge. Vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti. Nothing else. That conclusion can be achieved when you are nirguṇa, not saguṇa.

General Lectures

God is so cheap thing, huh? Supreme being. Are you supreme being? Supreme means the highest authority. Highest authority means nobody is equal to him, nobody is greater than him. That is supreme.
Lecture What is a Guru? -- London, August 22, 1973:

The whole situation has been spoiled by these so-called rascal gurus who gives his own opinion. This is our plain declaration: Let any rascal guru come. We can convince him that he is not guru, because he is speaking differently. We can challenge any rascal. Just like somebody came here, he said that he's God, every one of us God. (aside:) Stop this. So I asked that "Just find out in the dictionary what is meaning of God. Let us see whether he is God." The dictionary, as soon as dictionary was consulted, the meaning of God is "the supreme being," meaning of God. So I asked him, "Are you supreme? If you cannot understand, then find out the meaning of supreme." Then when he consulted dictionary, the supreme, it is said "the greatest authority." So I asked him, "Are you the greatest authority?" The rascal could not answer. He does not know even the dictionary meaning, and he's claiming that he's God. This rascaldom is going on, whole world. Big, big rascal swamis, they say, "Why you are finding out God anywhere? You do not see so many rascal gods are loitering in the street?" This is going on. If you simply consult dictionary, you can understand what is the meaning of God. God is so cheap thing, huh? Supreme being. Are you supreme being? Supreme means the highest authority. Highest authority means nobody is equal to him, nobody is greater than him. That is supreme. So these rascals who are claiming to become God, is it a fact that nobody is equal to him, nobody is greater than him? There are so many.

Supreme means the greatest authority. As in a state the greatest authority is the government, similarly, throughout the cosmic manifestation, throughout the whole creation, there must be some supreme authority. So that supreme authority is God, and whatever He gives, the rules and regulation, that is called religion. You cannot change it.
Lecture -- London, August 23, 1973:

Today's subject matter is "What is Religion?" So we are reciting some verses from the Sixth Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, where the subject matter, dharma, is discussed. It is said that dharmaṁ tu sākṣād bhagavat-praṇītam (SB 6.3.19). Dharma, it is Sanskrit word, and the English translation, generally, it is made as "religion." Religion is accepted as a kind of faith. But faith may be wrong or right—according to the different time, persons, climate, condition, so many consideration. But Śrīmad-Bhāgavata says, dharmaṁ tu sākṣād bhagavat-praṇītam. Dharma, or religion, means the law given by God. Simple formula. As there are laws given by the state, similarly, the supreme state, supreme governor is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. God means the supreme being, supreme person. So... Or the supreme authority. Supreme means the greatest authority. As in a state the greatest authority is the government, similarly, throughout the cosmic manifestation, throughout the whole creation, there must be some supreme authority. So that supreme authority is God, and whatever He gives, the rules and regulation, that is called religion. You cannot change it. That the law whimsically, you cannot change. Then you will be punishable. Similarly, the laws or the words (are) of the regulative principles given by God. That is religion. And if you do not follow it, then you'll be punished.

Philosophy Discussions

God is the Supreme, Supreme means He is supreme father. The Supreme everything means He is supreme father also.
Philosophy Discussion on Jean-Paul Sartre:

Hayagrīva: So from this he concludes that without God, everything is possible. He says, "Indeed, everything is permissible if God does not exist. If God did not exist, everything would be possible. That is the very starting point of existentialism."

Prabhupāda: But he does not know what, what is the meaning of God. We have several times repeated this. God is the Supreme, Supreme Being. So we have defined in so many ways. Another thing that God is the Supreme, Supreme means He is supreme father. The Supreme everything means He is supreme father also. The conception of father is there. So as we are standing, we are talking with that gentleman priest, that mother nature, nature is giving, producing so many living entities. So she is supposed to be the mother. And as soon as we accept mother, there must be father. Mother cannot, alone cannot give birth to any offspring, so there must be the conception of father. And that is, practically we are seeing that mother nature... We say "mother nature" because she gives birth to so many forms of life, and if we accept mother, then you must to accept father, and that God is supreme father. How he can deny it? Father's duty is to maintain the children. So all living beings are being maintained, so there must be father. How he can deny that?

Hayagrīva: How, how, well, he does. He says, his very words, he says, "Since we have discarded God the father, there has to be someone to invent values. Before you become alive, life is nothing. It's up to you to give it a meaning, and value is nothing else but the meaning that you choose."

Prabhupāda: I will have to give meaning of my life? So what is that idea?

Hayagrīva: You must give meaning to your own life. Since, since there is no God to give life meaning, man must invent his own meaning.

Prabhupāda: Everyone will invent his meaning.

Hayagrīva: Yes.

Correspondence

1968 Correspondence

It is a fact that nobody can be equal or greater than the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and as such, anyone desiring to become one with the Supreme means that he is still in the trap of maya.
Letter to Aniruddha -- Los Angeles 14 November, 1968:

Regarding your questions: Your first question, "Are great sages put under yogamaya or maya? Also are all the eternally liberated souls under yogamaya?" Yogamaya means the mercy of the Supreme Lord which connects a devotee in the transcendental loving service of the Lord, and mahamaya means the external potency of the Lord which puts a conditioned soul into illusion that he will be happy by material adjustment. So great sages who are impersonalists are also under the spell of mahamaya, because a conditioned soul in the material world wants to improve his material position as exalted as possible, and the concept of becoming one with the Supreme Lord is the greatest illusion for them. Because it is a fact that nobody can be equal or greater than the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and as such, anyone desiring to become one with the Supreme means that he is still in the trap of maya. On the other hand, a humble devotee who may not be a great sage, but simply by his implicit acceptance of the Lotus Feet of the Lord as the goal of his life means that he is under the protection of yogamaya. I think this will clear the idea.

Page Title:Supreme means
Compiler:Jahnu
Created:25 of Jan, 2012
Totals by Section:BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=13, Con=0, Let=1
No. of Quotes:14