Brahmaṇe darśayan rūpam darśayan rūpam avyalīka-vratādṛtaḥ (SB 2.9.4). He manifested His form to Brahmā. That means God is not formless. If He is formless, then how He could show His form? Brahmaṇe darśayan rūpam avyalīka. Without . . . avyalīka means without any cheating? Where is avyalīkam? "Without any deceptive motive." So those who realize impersonal form—not form; impersonal feature—they are cheated. They do not know actually what is God, what is the Absolute Truth. It is . . . avyalīka-vrata. And why Brahmā was favored to see the form of the Lord? Because he underwent severe tapasya, vow, worship.
So God, or the Absolute Truth, is not formless. He has His form, sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha (Bs. 5.1). But that can be seen only by persons who underwent severe austerities, penances, or engaged in devotion. Bhaktyā mām abhijānāti (BG 18.55). Otherwise, they will remain impersonal. The conclusion is, those who are impersonalists, their knowledge is imperfect. They have still to go forward.
Therefore Bhagavad-gītā says, bahūnāṁ janmanām ante (BG 7.19): after many, many births of continued impersonal views, when he actually comes to the right platform of knowledge, he surrenders to Vāsudeva. Vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti sa mahātmā sudurlabhaḥ (BG 7.19): "That mahātmā, that saintly person, is very rare." All the so-called svāmīs or yogīs, they are all impersonalists. Therefore our svāmīs, they are very rare. They are not ordinary, these so-called svāmīs and yogīs, because they know the personal feature of God. Go on.
Pradyumna: (leads chanting of SB verses 5-8)
- sa ādi-devo jagatāṁ paro guruḥ
- svadhiṣṇyam āsthāya sisṛkṣayaikṣata
- tāṁ nādhyagacchad dṛśam atra sammatāṁ
- prapañca-nirmāṇa-vidhir yayā bhavet
- (SB 2.9.5)
- sa cintayan dvy-akṣaram ekadāmbhasy
- upāśṛṇod dvir-gaditaṁ vaco vibhuḥ
- sparśeṣu yat ṣoḍaśam ekaviṁśaṁ
- niṣkiñcanānāṁ nṛpa yad dhanaṁ viduḥ
- (SB 2.9.6)
- niśamya tad-vaktṛ-didṛkṣayā diśo
- vilokya tatrānyad apaśyamānaḥ
- svadhiṣṇyam āsthāya vimṛśya tad-dhitaṁ
- tapasy upādiṣṭa ivādadhe manaḥ
- (SB 2.9.7)
- divyaṁ sahasrābdam amogha-darśano . . .
Prabhupāda: Word by word first.
Pradyumna: (chants each word individually first, Prabhupāda correcting some pronunciation, then line by line)
- divyaṁ sahasrābdam amogha-darśano
- jitānilātmā vijitobhayendriyaḥ
- atapyata smākhila-loka-tāpanaṁ
- tapas tapīyāṁs tapatāṁ samāhitaḥ
- (SB 2.9.8)
(break)
Prabhupāda: . . . memory was so sharp that, once heard, it is practiced immediately. In the Kali-yuga this memory is declining, and they are proud, "We are advanced." There is no question of advancement. It is simply degraded. But this is māyā. Falsely they are thinking, "We are advanced." In this age, memory will be reduced, duration of life will be reduced, people's merciful tendency will be reduced, strength of the body will be reduced. In this way everything will be reduced. Now we do not find very strong men, very strong memory, living for long time, bodily strength. No. These are reducing. Now people are not merciful. One man is being killed before you in the street; nobody takes care. This is the sign of Kali-yuga. Everything will be reduced. Memory also being reduced.