Lord Caitanya then sang a nice song about the opulences of Kṛṣṇa, and Sanātana Gosvāmī listened. "All the pastimes of Kṛṣṇa are exactly like the activities of human beings," the Lord sang. "Therefore it is to be understood that His form is like that of a human being. Indeed, a human being is but an imitation of His form. Kṛṣṇa's dress is just like that of a cowherd boy's. He has a flute in His hand, and He seems to be just like a newly grown youth. He is always playful, and He plays just like an ordinary boy." Lord Caitanya then told Sanātana Gosvāmī about the beautiful aspects of Kṛṣṇa. He said that one who understands these beautiful qualities enjoys an ocean of nectar. The yogamāyā potency of Kṛṣṇa is transcendental and beyond the material energy, but the Lord exhibits His transcendental potency even within this material world just to satisfy His confidential devotees. Thus He appears in the material world to satisfy His devotees, and His qualities are so attractive that Kṛṣṇa Himself becomes eager to understand Himself. When He is fully decorated and stands with His body curved in three ways—His eyebrows always moving and His eyes so attractive—the gopīs become enchanted. His spiritual abode is at the top of the spiritual sky, and He resides there with His associates, the cowherd boys, the gopīs, and all the goddesses of fortune. It is there that He is known as Madana-mohana.
Three ways
Bhagavad-gita As It Is
BG Chapters 1 - 6
My dear Arjuna, one who does not follow in human life the cycle of sacrifice thus established by the Vedas certainly leads a life full of sin. Living only for the satisfaction of the senses, such a person lives in vain.
The mammonist philosophy of "work very hard and enjoy sense gratification" is condemned herein by the Lord. Therefore, for those who want to enjoy this material world, the above-mentioned cycle of performing yajñas is absolutely necessary. One who does not follow such regulations is living a very risky life, being condemned more and more. By nature's law, this human form of life is specifically meant for self-realization, in either of the three ways—namely karma-yoga, jñāna-yoga, or bhakti-yoga. There is no necessity of rigidly following the performances of the prescribed yajñas for the transcendentalists who are above vice and virtue; but those who are engaged in sense gratification require purification by the above mentioned cycle of yajña performances. There are different kinds of activities. Those who are not Kṛṣṇa conscious are certainly engaged in sensory consciousness; therefore they need to execute pious work. The yajña system is planned in such a way that sensory conscious persons may satisfy their desires without becoming entangled in the reaction of sense-gratificatory work.
Srimad-Bhagavatam
SB Canto 3
These four devotees prayed to the Lord that although they might go to hell because they had cursed devotees, they might not forget the service of the Lord. The transcendental loving service of the Lord is performed in three ways—with the body, with the mind and with words. Here the sages pray that their words may always be engaged in glorifying the Supreme Lord. One may speak very nicely with ornamental language or one may be expert at controlled grammatical presentation, but if one's words are not engaged in the service of the Lord, they have no flavor and no actual use. The example is given here of tulasī leaves. The tulasī leaf is very useful even from the medicinal or antiseptic point of view. It is considered sacred and is offered to the lotus feet of the Lord. The tulasī leaf has numerous good qualities, but if it were not offered to the lotus feet of the Lord, tulasī could not be of much value or importance.
SB Canto 6
In this verse the word yoga-sāṅkhyayoḥ is very important. Yoga means bhakti-yoga because yogīs also accept the existence of the all-pervading Supreme Soul and try to see that Supreme Soul within their hearts. As stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (12.13.1), dhyānāvasthita-tad-gatena manasā paśyanti yaṁ yoginaḥ. The devotee tries to come directly in touch with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, whereas the yogī tries to find the Supersoul within the heart by meditation. Thus, both directly and indirectly, yoga means bhakti-yoga. Sāṅkhya, however, means physical study of the cosmic situation through speculative knowledge. This is generally known as jñāna-śāstra. The Sāṅkhyites are attached to the impersonal Brahman, but the Absolute Truth is known in three ways. Brahmeti paramātmeti bhagavān iti śabdyate: (SB 1.2.11) the Absolute Truth is one, but some accept Him as impersonal Brahman, some as the Supersoul existing everywhere, and some as Bhagavān, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The central point is the Absolute Truth.
SB Canto 7
Religion, economic development and sense gratification—these are described in the Vedas as tri-varga, or three ways to salvation. Within these three categories are education and self-realization; ritualistic ceremonies performed according to Vedic injunction; logic; the science of law and order; and the various means of earning one's livelihood. These are the external subject matters of study in the Vedas, and therefore I consider them material. However, I consider surrender to the lotus feet of Lord Viṣṇu to be transcendental.
SB Canto 10.1 to 10.13
In the beginning, the Vedic purpose is pursued in three ways (trayī)—by karma-kāṇḍa, jñāna-kāṇḍa and upāsanā-kāṇḍa. When one reaches the complete, perfect stage of upāsanā-kāṇḍa, one comes to worship Nārāyaṇa, or Lord Viṣṇu. When Pārvatī asked Lord Mahādeva, Lord Śiva, what is the best method of upāsanā, or worship, Lord Śiva answered, ārādhanānāṁ sarveṣāṁ viṣṇor ārādhanaṁ param. Viṣṇūpāsanā, or viṣṇv-ārādhana, worship of Lord Viṣṇu, is the highest stage of perfection, as realized by Devakī. But here mother Yaśodā performs no upāsanā, for she has developed transcendental ecstatic love for Kṛṣṇa. Therefore her position is better than that of Devakī. In order to show this, Śrīla Vyāsadeva enunciates this verse, trayyā copaniṣadbhiḥ etc.
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta
CC Adi-lila
In Brahmaloka there is an unlimited number of airplanes that are controlled not by yantra (machine) but by mantra (psychic action). Because of the existence of the mind and intelligence on Brahmaloka, its residents have feelings of happiness and distress, but there is no cause of lamentation from old age, death, fear or distress. They feel sympathy, however, for the suffering living beings who are consumed in the fire of annihilation. The residents of Brahmaloka do not have gross material bodies to change at death, but they transform their subtle bodies into spiritual bodies and thus enter the spiritual sky. The residents of Brahmaloka can attain perfection in three different ways. Virtuous persons who reach Brahmaloka by dint of their pious work become masters of various planets after the resurrection of Brahmā, those who have worshiped Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu are liberated with Brahmā, and those who are pure devotees of the Personality of Godhead at once push through the covering of the universe and enter the spiritual sky.
The Vedic conclusion is that the cosmic manifestation visible to the eyes of the conditioned soul is caused by the Absolute Truth, the Personality of Godhead, through the exertion of His specific energies, although in the conclusion of atheistic deliberations this manifested cosmic exhibition is attributed to material nature. The energy of the Absolute Truth is exhibited in three ways: spiritual, material and marginal. The Absolute Truth is identical with His spiritual energy. Only when contacted by the spiritual energy can the material energy work and the temporary material manifestations thus appear active. In the conditioned state the living entities of the marginal energy are a mixture of spiritual and material energies. The marginal energy is originally under the control of the spiritual energy, but, under the control of the material energy, the living entities have been wandering in forgetfulness within the material world since time immemorial.
In Vaiṣṇava philosophy there are three ways for perfection—namely sādhana-siddha, perfection attained by executing devotional service according to the rules and regulations, nitya-siddha, eternal perfection attained by never forgetting Kṛṣṇa at any time, and kṛpā-siddha, perfection attained by the mercy of the spiritual master or another Vaiṣṇava. Kavirāja Gosvāmī here stresses kṛpā-siddha, perfection by the mercy of superior authorities. This mercy does not depend on the qualifications of a devotee. By such mercy, even if a devotee is dumb he can speak or write to glorify the Lord splendidly, even if lame he can cross mountains, and even if blind he can see the stars in the sky.
CC Madhya-lila
The last twelve years of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu were passed in this transcendental craziness. Thus He executed His last pastimes in three ways.
This important verse (Śrī Caitanya-candrodaya-nāṭaka 8.10) specifically describes the Lord's causeless mercy. Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura explains that Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, who is the most magnanimous Personality of Godhead, distributes His causeless mercy in three ways to the conditioned soul. Every living entity is morose in the material world because he is always in want. He undergoes a great struggle for existence and tries to minimize his miserable condition by squeezing the utmost pleasure out of this world. But the living entity is never successful in this endeavor. While in a miserable condition, a person sometimes seeks the favor of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but this is very difficult for materialistic people to obtain. However, when one becomes Kṛṣṇa conscious by the grace of the Lord, the fragrance of the lotus feet of the Lord expands, and in this way a materialist may gain freedom from his miseries. Actually his mind is cleansed by his transcendental connection with the lotus feet of the Lord. At such a time one is enlightened by the loving service of the Lord.
As the śaktyāveśa-avatāra Vyāsadeva, Kṛṣṇa teaches the conditioned soul through the Vedic literatures. Kṛṣṇa externally appears as the spiritual master and trains the conditioned soul to come to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. When his original Kṛṣṇa consciousness is revived, the conditioned soul is delivered from the material clutches. Thus a conditioned soul is always helped by the Supreme Personality of Godhead in three ways—by the scriptures, the spiritual master and the Supersoul within the heart. The Lord is the deliverer of the conditioned soul and is accepted as the Supreme Lord of all living entities.
CC Antya-lila
In His incarnation as Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa descended to deliver all the living beings in the three worlds, from Brahmaloka down to Pātālaloka. He caused their deliverance in three ways.
Other Books by Srila Prabhupada
Teachings of Lord Caitanya
After giving a summary of the beauty of Kṛṣṇa, Rāmānanda Rāya began to speak of the spiritual energy of Kṛṣṇa, which is headed by Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. Kṛṣṇa has immense energetic expansions. Three energies are predominant: the internal energy, external energy and marginal energy. This is confirmed in the Sixth Chapter of Viṣṇu Purāṇa where it is said that Viṣṇu has one energy, which is called spiritual energy, and it is manifested in three ways. When spiritual energy is overwhelmed by ignorance, it is called marginal energy. As far as spiritual energy itself is concerned, it is exhibited in three forms because Kṛṣṇa is a combination of eternity, bliss and knowledge. As far as His bliss is concerned, His spiritual energy is manifested as the pleasure giving potency. His eternity is manifested as energy, and His knowledge is manifested as spiritual perfection. As confirmed in Viṣṇu Purāṇa (1.12.69): "The pleasure potency of Kṛṣṇa gives Kṛṣṇa transcendental pleasure and bliss." Thus when Kṛṣṇa wants to enjoy pleasure, He exhibits His own spiritual potency known as hlādinī.
Nectar of Devotion
There are three ways of dealing with such insults. If someone is heard blaspheming by words, one should be so expert that he can defeat the opposing party by argument. If he is unable to defeat the opposing party, then the next step is that he should not just stand there meekly, but should give up his life. The third process is followed if he is unable to execute the above-mentioned two processes, and this is that one must leave the place and go away. If a devotee does not follow any of the above-mentioned three processes, he falls down from his position of devotion.
In the Skanda Purāṇa there is a statement about submission unto the lotus feet of the Lord. It is said there that those who are sober devotees can offer their submission to Kṛṣṇa in the following three ways: (1) samprārthanātmikā, very feelingly offering prayers; (2) dainyavodhikā, humbly submitting oneself; (3) lālasāmayī, desiring some perfectional stage. This desiring some perfectional stage in spiritual life is not sense gratification. When one realizes something of his constitutional relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he understands his original position and wants to be reinstated in this position, either as friend, servant, parent or conjugal lover of Kṛṣṇa. That is called lālasāmayī, or very eagerly desiring to go to one's natural position. This lālasāmayī stage of submission comes in the stage of perfect liberation, which is technically called svarūpa-siddhi, when the living entity understands, by perfect spiritual advancement and revelation, his original relationship with the Lord.
Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī states that although Lord Kṛṣṇa is the reservoir of unlimited pleasure and the greatest leader of all, He is still dependent upon His devotees in three ways. According to the emotional status of the devotee, the Supreme Personality of Godhead is appreciated in three ways: as the most perfect, as very perfect and as perfect. When He exhibits Himself in fullness, He is appreciated by great learned scholars as most perfect. When He exhibits Himself in lesser degrees, He is called very perfect. And when He exhibits still less, He is called perfect. This means that Kṛṣṇa is appreciated for three degrees of perfection. These three degrees of perfection are especially exhibited as follows: when He is in Goloka Vṛndāvana His transcendental qualities are exhibited as most perfect, when He is in Dvārakā He exhibits His qualities as very perfect, and when He is in Mathurā He exhibits His qualities as perfect.
Sri Isopanisad
It is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā (7.23) that the worshipers of the demigods can go to the planets of the demigods. The moon worshipers can go to the moon, the sun worshipers to the sun, etc. Modern scientists are now venturing to the moon with the help of rockets, but this is not really a new attempt. With their advanced consciousness, human beings are naturally inclined to travel in outer space and to reach other planets, either by spaceships, mystic powers or demigod worship. In the Vedic scriptures it is said that one can reach other planets by any one of these three ways, but the most common way is by worshiping the demigod presiding over a particular planet. In this way one can reach the moon planet, the sun planet and even Brahmaloka, the topmost planet in this universe. However, all planets in the material universe are temporary residences; the only permanent planets are the Vaikuṇṭhalokas. These are found in the spiritual sky, where the Personality of Godhead Himself predominates.
Lectures
Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures
Rūpa Gosvāmī gives this direction that the initiation must be done according to śruti, smṛti or pāñcarātrikī vidhi. There is nyāya-prasthāna, śruti-prasthāna and smṛti-prasthāna. To make spiritual progress in three ways: by the Vedānta philosophy, or Vedic ways, or according to Smṛti. Smṛti means authorized books written in accordance to the Śruti. Śruti smṛti. Just like Bhagavad-gītā. Bhagavad-gītā is not directly Vedas, but the all the stanzas of Bhagavad-gītā, they're strictly according to the Nyāya-prasthāna and Śruti-prasthāna. So any book which is strictly written according to the Vedas and Vedāntas, that is also accepted as Vedic literature. So Pāñcarātrikī vidhi means that it doesn't matter whether man is śūdra or caṇḍāla... Caṇḍāla means less than śūdra. Pañcama The fifth grade. First class, brāhmaṇa; second class, kṣatriya; third class, vaśya; fourth class, śūdra; and below this fourth class, they're all caṇḍālas. Caṇḍālas means pañcama. Untouchable. They are called untouchable. So even the untouchables... Because Kṛṣṇa has said: Māṁ hi pārtha vyapāśritya ye 'pi syuḥ pāpa-yonayaḥ (BG 9.32). The pāpa-yoni, caṇḍāla means pāpa-yoni, born of low-grade family... The Bhāgavata says, Śukadeva Gosvāmī says, that: Kirāta-hūnāndhra-pulinda-pulkaśā ābhīra-śumbhā yavanā khasādayaḥ (SB 2.4.18). Yavana, mlecca yavana. They, they are called... They are also counted amongst the caṇḍālas. Ye 'nye ca pāpāḥ, even lower than that. Ye 'nye ca pāpāḥ śuddhyanti. They becomes purified. How? Prabhaviṣṇave namaḥ. When they are initiated to become Kṛṣṇa conscious. So if a, one may argue, "How it is possible to make a caṇḍāla a Vaiṣṇava?" No, that is possible. Prabhaviṣṇave namaḥ. Viṣṇu is so powerful, omnipotent. He can do that. So only by Viṣṇu mantra, by becoming a Vaiṣṇava, one can transcend all this restriction, sociology. They can be. That is confirmed by Kṛṣṇa: māṁ cāvyabhicāriṇī bhakti-yogena yaḥ sevate sa guṇān brahmātītyaitan brahma-bhūyaya kalpate (BG 14.26).
So Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He is the origin of Brahman. He is the origin of Paramātmā. Brahmeti paramātmeti bhagavān iti śabdyate (SB 1.2.11). The Absolute Truth is experienced in three ways—Brahman, Paramātmā and Bhagavān. So Bhagavān is the last word of the Absolute Truth, the Supreme Person. Therefore Vyāsadeva has purposefully written here, "śrī bhagavān uvāca." Bhagavān uvāca means you cannot exceed the Supreme Person. Nobody can be equal to the Supreme Person; nobody can be more than the Supreme Person. Everyone should be under the Supreme Person. That is the meaning of Bhagavān.
Tattva, tattva, the Absolute Truth. Absolute Truth is nondual. And that Absolute Truth is experienced in three ways. What are they? Now, Brahman, the all-pervading, impersonal feature, Brahman. And brahmeti paramātmeti. Paramātmeti means the Supersoul. Brahmeti paramātmeti and bhagavān iti. Bhagavān iti means the Personality of Godhead. Now these three conception of life have been analyzed in various places, and I will give you a short description.
So Caitanya Mahāprabhu also says the same thing. And we have to make it confirmed in three ways. What we hear from the sādhus, we shall have to consult whether these things are spoken in the śāstras. And whether the statements or śāstras are confirmed by guru, by the direct spiritual master. Sādhu-guru-śāstra-vākya tinete kariyā aikya. A sādhu will speak nothing which is not stated in the śāstras. So in this way Caitanya Mahāprabhu says that
- ei rūpe brahmāṇḍa bhramite kona bhāgyavān jīva
- guru-kṛṣṇa-kṛpāya pāya bhakti-latā-bīja
- (CC Madhya 19.151)
The śravaṇa-kīrtana is the beginning of Kṛṣṇa conscious life. One who is very fortunate, he's in meeting, he meets somebody who is a pure devotee and accepts him as his spiritual master. Therefore here it is stated, mayy āsakta-manāḥ pārtha yogaṁ yuñjan mad-āśrayaḥ. One has to take shelter of a bona fide spiritual master... A spiritual master is always bona fide. And if he cultivates this Kṛṣṇa consciousness under the direction of a spiritual master, āśraye lañā bhaje, kṛṣṇa tāre nāhi tyaje.(?) Kṛṣṇa does not reject him. Kṛṣṇa accepts him.
How Kṛṣṇa is truth, the Absolute Truth, although the Absolute Truth is described in three phases in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam... Just like vadanti tat tattva-vidas tattvam (SB 1.2.11). This tattva. Here it is said, tattvataḥ. The truth, Absolute Truth, is called tattva. So vadanti tat tattva-vidas tattvam (SB 1.2.11). Tattva-vid. Vid means knowledge. Vetti veda vido jñāne. One who has got complete knowledge, he is called vid, tattva-vid. So tattva-vid, they ascertain the tattva, the truth, in three ways. Vadanti tat tattva-vidas tattvaṁ yaj jñānam advayam (SB 1.2.11). So knowledge of the truth is nondual. Absolute means nondual, no relative, absolute, advaya-jñāna. So what is that advaya-jñāna? Brahmeti paramātmeti bhagavān iti śabdyate. So to approach Kṛṣṇa, to understand, one has to go through the brahma-jñāna, brahmeti, then Paramātmā, paramātma-jñāna. Then kṛṣṇa-jñāna. Brahmeti paramātmeti bhagavān iti śabdyate. So generally, those who are inquiring about the Absolute Truth, they come to the point of brahma-jñāna, brahma-jñāna. Then, if one makes further advance, then he can understand paramātma-jñāna. Paramātma-jñāna means the all-pervasive Personality of Godhead, localized aspect. Īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-deśe arjuna tiṣṭhati (BG 18.61). That is paramātma-jñāna. First of all, brahma-jñāna, then paramātma-jñāna, then bhagavad-jñāna.
Now, those who are directly worshiping the Supreme Lord, Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, they have been described as mahātmā. And there are others, worshipers; they cannot conceive of the Supreme Personality of Godhead directly on account of less, on account of being less advanced. Therefore they have been described here, anye: "others." So others, they worship the Absolute Truth in three different ways. The first-class others... Amongst the others, there is first-class, second-class, third-class, as amongst the direct worshipers, there, there are first-class, second-class and third-class. In every, I mean to say, department—as you have got experience in the material world, there are things, first-class, second-class and third-class... Even in the whole material world is under first-class, second-class and third-class. The first-class is mode of goodness, the second-class is mode of passion, and the third-class is mode of ignorance. Simi..., in every department, more or less, there are three classes.
Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures
So Parīkṣit Mahārāja said there are three stages. Bhavauṣadhāc chrotra-mano... In three ways it is so nice, palatable. So why one should be aloof from this chanting? Ka uttama-śloka-guṇānu... Who can be aloof from this chanting or hearing about the activities, pastimes of the uttama-śloka, Supreme Personality of Godhead? Vinā paśughnāt (SB 10.1.4). The only person: who is paśughnāt. Paśughnāt means animal-killer. A person who is animal-killer, he'll not be interested. The animal-killer, you can, I mean to say, analyze the meaning in two ways. Animal killer means not exactly those who are butchers, or ordinary man who kills animal and eat. But even a person who does not take care of his self-realization, he is also animal-killer. He is killing himself. He is also animal-killer. Because this life is meant for self-realization, but he's not taking interest in self-realization. He is taking pleasure only just like animal. So I am also an animal. I am killing myself. If I don't take interest in self-realization and if I glide down again into the cycle of birth and death, then I am killing myself. Suiciding. That is our willing, killing ourself willingly. If I know that "If I do this, I will be punished like this," and if I still do this, then I am killing myself.
This is the description of paṇḍita. Paṇḍita... And in the Bhagavad-gītā, the paṇḍita is described: paṇḍitāḥ sama-darśinaḥ (BG 5.18). This is paṇḍita. Nowadays it has become the custom that unless you have got a university degree, either you may be in knowledge..., māyayā apahṛta-jñānāḥ, you are not recognized as a paṇḍita. But in the Vedic scripture, the paṇḍita is different person. Anyone... This is the moral instruction by Cāṇakya Paṇḍita.
- mātṛvat para-dāreṣu
- para-dravyeṣu loṣṭravat
- ātmavat sarva-bhūteṣu
- yaḥ paśyati sa paṇḍitaḥ
He is giving the description of paṇḍita in three ways: "One who sees all women except his wife as mother—he is paṇḍita One who takes others' money as garbage on the street—he is paṇḍita. And one who sees everyone, even to the ant, like himself, that 'If I, if somebody pin, pricks pin on my body, I get, I suffer. I feel pain. So why shall I give pain even to an ant?' " Ātmavat sarva-bhūteṣu.
Just like Bhagavad-gītā is called smṛti, the Purāṇas are called smṛti. But Upaniṣad is called śruti, and Vedānta is called nyāya. So three ways, nyāya-pramāṇa, śruti-pramāṇa and smṛti-pramāṇa. So of all these, the śruti-pramāṇa, or the evidence by the śruti, is very important. Pratyakṣa, anumāna and śruti. Pratyakṣa: direct perception. Direct perception has no value because our senses are all imperfect. So what is the value of direct perception? Just like we are seeing every day the sun just like a disc, say, about twelve inches or eleven inches. But it is fourteen hundred thousand times bigger than this earth. So therefore our direct perception with the experience of these eyes has no value. Similarly all the senses, either eyes or nose, by smelling, by touching, by tasting, by hearing... There are so many senses we can experience knowledge. But because the senses are imperfect, whatever knowledge you are getting by exercising your senses, they're all imperfect.
So how that tattva can be understood? That is explained by Kṛṣṇa that janma karma ca divyaṁ me yo jānāti tattvataḥ. So we have to understand Kṛṣṇa, tattvataḥ, by truth. And how? We can understand that Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā, bhaktyā mām abhijānāti yāvān yaś cāsmi tattvataḥ (BG 18.55). This is tattva word. So tattvāvabodhanam. Devahūti is asking Kapiladeva that "Kindly describe that process of yoga by which we can understand in truth, tattvāvabodhanam, not superficially." Tattvāvabodhanam. And in another place the tattvam is described in three ways: vadanti tat tattva-vidas tattvaṁ yaj jñānam advayam (SB 1.2.11). They are not different. That is everything is tattva, tattva. There are three kinds of tattva: brahmeti paramātmeti bhagavān iti śabdyate. This very thing, tattva, is described in three features: impersonal Brahman, localized Paramātmā, and at the end Bhagavān.
Tattva-jijñāsā, that is the main business. Now, what is that tattva? That is explained in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavata. Vadanti tat tattva-vidas tattvam: (SB 1.2.11) "Those who are aware of the tattva, they say that tattva means the Supreme Absolute Truth." Vadanti tat tattva-vidas tattvaṁ yaj jñānam advayam (SB 1.2.11). Jñānam, that knowledge, is advaya. Advaya means without any duality. But they are expressed in three different ways—Brahman, Paramātmā, and Bhagavān—brahmeti paramātmeti, according to the stage of understanding. Those who are in the lower stage—we cannot say lower—in the beginning stage, that is Brahman realization. And one who has made further progress, that is Paramātmā realized. And one who has made further progress, that is Bhagavān realization. This is the verdict. So if you realize Bhagavān, then vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti sa mahātmā sudurlabhaḥ (BG 7.19). Then you'll understand that Vāsudeva, Bhagavān, He is Paramātmā. He's also Brahman. Rather, He is Parabrahman.
This is the formula: īhā yasya harer dāsye karmaṇā manasā vacā. We act three ways: by our bodily activities, by the mind, and by words. So if we engage our body Body means senses. What is this body? So long the hand is working, the eyes are working, the legs are working, all these different karma and jñāna, indriyas, they are working, then it is body. Otherwise, if the indriyas do not work, then it is dead matter. Indriyāṇi parāṇy āhur (BG 3.42). So these indriyas, so long the indriyas are working, that means my body is working, I am alive. Therefore if we engage our indriyas in the service of Kṛṣṇa, then this material..., not This is not material activities. To engage the senses in the matter of serving Kṛṣṇa, these are not material activities. These are all spiritual activities. And the difference between the Māyāvāda philosophy and Vaiṣṇava philosophy, that the Māyāvāda philosophy, they want to stop activities. They think stopping of all activities is perfection, śūnyam, śūnyavādi. Nirviśeṣa-śūnyavādi. Simply stop material. But what is the positive engagement? That they do not know. That is the difference. Positive engagement means serving Kṛṣṇa. That positive engagement means, engagement means, acting means, the employment of the senses.
Just like in Christian religion, at the time of death, if somebody admits that "I have committed this kind of sin," it is supposed that he is forgiven. Similarly, in Muslim scripture there is also similar injunction, and in Hindu scripture there are many such injunctions. And as far as possible, they are followed by different followers. So the same thing is confirmed here: "My dear King, if somebody does not atone for his sinful activities..." Sinful activities function in three ways. Here it is stated. What is that? Mana-ukta-pāṇibhiḥ. Mana-ukta-pāṇibhiḥ: by mind, by activities of the mind, and by activities of our words, and by activities of our senses. And if I hurt you by harsh word, then that is also a sin. And when actually commit violence or do something with my hands or legs or something, that is certainly sinful. So we can commit sins in three ways: mind and words and karma, by action. Thinking, feeling and willing and acting. Therefore a svāmī or gosvāmī means who has control over the function of the mind, of the words, and of the activities of the senses. There is definition. "One who can control the tongue, one who can control the mind, one who can control the words, one who can control the belly, one who can control the generative organ, he is svāmī." And pṛthiviṁ sa śiṣyāt: "He is allowed to create disciples all over the world."
I have already explained that there are three ways, karma-kāṇḍa, jñāna-kāṇḍa, and upāsanā-kāṇḍa. Therefore Veda is called trayī, three kinds of activities. So devotees, they are not in the karma-kāṇḍa, jñāna-kāṇḍa. He is not pure devotee. Bhakti means jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam: (CC Madhya 19.167) "There is no touch of this fruitive activities or speculative knowledge." The devotees do not accept this.
- anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ
- jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam
- ānukūlyena kṛṣṇānu-
- śīlanaṁ bhaktir uttamā
- (Brs. 1.1.11)
That is first-class bhakti, ānukūlyena kṛṣṇānu-śīlana, just to satisfy Kṛṣṇa. Just like Arjuna. He was not willing to fight or to kill the other party. That is very good. He is a Vaiṣṇava. Naturally he does not like to fight or pick up quarrel with others or do some harm to others. Vaiṣṇava is para-duḥkha-duḥkhī. He knows very well that "If something harmful is done to me, I am unhappy, so why should I commit the same thing to others?" So But in spite of his conviction that he should not fight, still, when Kṛṣṇa insisted up to the point that "Your this mercy upon them will not act because it is already My plan that they will have to die. So you have become very kind, but you cannot surpass My plan. That is not possible. I have come here..." Paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām (BG 4.8).
So Kṛṣṇa, by His one plenary portion as Paramātmā... The Absolute Truth is realized in three ways: Brahman, Paramātmā and Bhagavān.
- vadanti tat tattva-vidas
- tattvaṁ yaj jñānam advayam
- brahmeti paramātmeti
- bhagavān iti śabdyate
- (SB 1.2.11)
So Kṛṣṇa, by His Paramātmā feature, He is all-pervading. He is in all universes. He is all, everywhere, in the heart of all living entity. Īśvaraḥ paramaḥ... Īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-deśe 'rjuna tiṣṭhati (BG 18.61). And He is also within the atom. Aṇḍāntara-stha-paramāṇu-cayāntara-stham (Bs. 5.35). Aṇor aṇīyān mahato mahīyān. This is Kṛṣṇa. So one has to understand Kṛṣṇa perfectly. So for preliminary study of Kṛṣṇa, there is Bhagavad-gītā, how to understand Kṛṣṇa. And next... Bhagavad-gītā is the ABCD, primary entrance to the understanding of spiritual life. This is ABCD. But people are so fallen that they cannot understand even ABCD, what to speak of becoming graduate or postgraduate.
This attraction of man and women, this is material bondage. Therefore it is said, durāpūreṇa kāmena: (SB 7.6.8) this lusty desires is never fulfilled even up to the point of death. And what is this nature of this lusty desire? Moha, illusion. It is not fact. It has no substance, but it is there; that's a fact. The example is given just like in dream, somebody is cutting my head and I'm crying. Actually there is no man cutting my head—my head is there—still, I am suffering by such thoughts. This is called moha. Actually there is no fact, but on account of being entangled in three stages of pollution... The pollution is that intelligence. The intelligence is polluted in three ways: jāgriti, svapna, and suṣupti. Jāgriti means just like we are now awakened; we are not sleeping. This is one stage. And another stage, at night when you go to sleep, and you sleep with dream, that is another stage. And another stage is suṣupti, so deeply, just like when a man is intoxicated or chloroform during surgical operation, he does not understand that "Surgical instruments are being applied on my body." He remains silent. This is another stage. So these three stages are there for polluting our intelligence.
So the point is that five thousand years ago the things which were written for this age, how they are coming to be true in our experience. That is the point: how they could see past, present, and future so nicely. The sages were known as tri-kāla-jñā. Tri means three. There is almost similarity, tri and three. Tri is Sanskrit, and three is English or Latin, but there is similarity. Tri-kāla-jñā. Tri means three, and kāla means time. Time is experienced by three ways: past, present and future. Time limitation, past, present and... Whenever you speak of time, it is past, present or future. So the sages in those days were tri-kāla-jñā. Tri-kāla-jñā means they could understand, they could know what was in the past, what there shall be in the future, and what is at present. Just like in the Bhagavad-gītā Kṛṣṇa says, "My Dear Arjuna, you, Me, I, and all these kings and soldiers who have assembled in this battlefield, they were all individuals, and we are still individual. And in this past, in the future, we shall all remain individuals." That past, present, and future, he explained. Another place Kṛṣṇa says, vedāhaṁ samatītāni (BG 7.26). Atītāni, atītāni means past. Vartamānāni ca, "and present." So that is yogic power. One can know past, present, and future.
Initiation Lectures
Actually, woman is considered as goddess of fortune, representative of goddess of fortune. We are misusing for sense gratification. No. They should be respected as goddess of fortune. If one man has got nice wife, actually he has got goddess of fortune. That is astrological calculation. A man is considered to be fortunate in three ways. If he has got good wife then he is fortunate. If he has got good son then he is fortunate. And if he has got plenty money he is fortunate. So these three standards of fortune, out of which, one who has got good wife, he is the most fortunate. So our society will try to make good wives so that the boys, all boys, should, can think himself always fortunate. If one has got good wife, any place, doesn't matter. Either under... Just like Lord Śiva, he was living underneath the tree. There is no shelter, but he had the good wife, Pārvatī, so he was happy. So whenever you like, we shall select any brahmacārī. But don't have illicit sex. Marriage is allowed. I take personally care of marriage. I want this society must be cleansed. Without being cleansed, nobody can advance in spiritual consciousness.
General Lectures
This understanding, when we can understand that this life, this material life, is not at all comfortable, it is full of misery, that is called buddha life, intelligent. Buddha means intelligent. And if we are thinking that "I am living very comfortably. I am very happy," that is called māyā, illusion. Actually, we are always in miserable condition. In the Vedic language the miserable conditions have been described in three ways: adhyātmika, adhibhautika, and adhidaivika, miseries due to the condition of this body and due to the condition of the mind. Sometimes you feel headache. This is due to the body, gross body. And sometimes you feel morose. This is due to the mind; the mind is not in quite order. Similarly... This is called adhyātmika. Then adhibhautika-misery inflicted by others, other living entities, some of your enemies. Just like somebody murders somebody. This is misery inflicted by other living entity. The mosquito bite, the bug bite, or the tiger attacks you. So many living entities there are, they're always busy to inflict misery. This is called adhibhautika. And there is another misery, which is called adhidaivika, nature's disturbance. All of a sudden there is earthquake, there is famine, there is pestilence. So many, in which you have to control. In every misery, there is no control.
So on my order the fingers are working, not by the order of finger I am working. Similarly, you cannot bring God in your business. But you must be engaged in God's business. That is religion. That is religion. It is very simple formula. So God is great and we are teeny small living entities. Our only business is to serve God. We are serving, any one of us. That means if you do not serve God, then you have to serve māyā. You cannot be without service. Māyā is another agent of God. Just like if you do not obey the laws of the state as a free man, then you will be pushed into the prison house as a criminal, and you have to abide by the orders. You cannot say, "No, I'll not obey the orders of the state." That is not possible. If you voluntarily do not abide by the orders of the state, then you will be forced to abide by the state in the prison house. Similarly, those who have declared independence, so-called independence—nobody can be independent—that "I do not believe in God, I do not want any type of religion or serving God," such persons will be under the guidance or under the influence or power of the material nature, māyā. Māyā-mohita. Tribhir guṇa-māyāir bhāvair. We are now illusioned by the influence of māyā, material energy, in three ways: by goodness, by passion, and by ignorance. But instead of serving God, we are now serving māyā. And so long we shall be going on serving māyā, or serving in the prison house, we cannot be happy.
Philosophy Discussions
Prabhupāda: Whatever it may be, the living entity is superior to the inert matter. In Sanskrit language they are called tan mātrā. They are created for the sense; they are sense objects. I have got senses, I must appreciate something. That something is that quality or sensory quality. I have eyes, I must see something. So therefore there is color, there is beauty...
Śyāmasundara: He postulates three laws whereby perceptions are associated or connected with one another. He says first of all, there is the principle of resemblance. For example, I see a picture and it impels me to think of the original of that picture. The second principle is the principle of contiguity. If I mention a room in a building, this impels me to think of other rooms in other buildings. And the third principle is the principle of cause and effect, just like if I think about a wound I automatically think of pain. So in these three ways he thinks that our whole being is made up of this stream of ideas, association of ideas, one idea follows another, perpetually.
Prabhupāda: That is called relative world. That is the meaning of relative world. You cannot understand what is father without a son; you cannot understand son without a father. You cannot understand husband without a wife. This world is like that. It is called relative world.
Prabhupāda: Subjective mind, just like although I have never heard what is God but I can think within my mind that as there is every man there is some controller, some chief man. So all this creation as I have seen, there must be a controller. This is thinking, right way.
Śyāmasundara: Subjectively.
Prabhupāda: Yes.
Śyāmasundara: He says the subjective mind manifests itself again in three ways. First...
Prabhupāda: So that three ways, impersonal, localized and personal.
Conversations and Morning Walks
1973 Conversations and Morning Walks
Prabhupāda: Everything, logy means science. So theology is also science. Why they reject theology "Yes, you are talking..." What kind of scientist you are? It is a "logy," it is a science. Why you are giving preference to one "logy" to another? What kind of scientist you are? Even though I am talking of theology, why should you reject it? In Vedic knowledge, "logy" is the basic... Nyāya-prasthāna, śruti-prasthāna, smṛti-prasthāna. These are the three ways of understanding the Absolute Truth.
Svarūpa Dāmodara: Logic and argument?
Prabhupāda: Yes. Nyāya-pra... Just like Vedānta-sūtra, it is logic and argument to approach the Absolute Truth. Athāto brahma jijñāsā: "Now it is the time for inquiring about Brahman." This is logic. Because other animals, they cannot inquire about the Absolute Truth, but human being can, therefore the first proposition is, atha ataḥ, "Now because you have got human form of life, therefore you should now inquire about the Absolute Truth." This is the beginning. It is logic. And actually we feel, "Who has created the ocean? Who has created the stars? How it is floating? Whether there are human beings?" So many questions. That should be solved now. And actually they are doing, the scientists. Scientists means they are also trying to solve so many problems. So that is, human being can be scientist. Not a dog can be scientist. So why not become the supreme scientist to know the Absolute Truth. That is Vedānta-sūtra. Athāto brahma jijñāsā.
1974 Conversations and Morning Walks
Pater Emmanuel: Brahman is not Kṛṣṇa.
Prabhupāda: Brahman. Yes, He is Parabrahman. Parabrahman. Brahman is realized in three angles of vision: impersonal Brahman and localized Brahman, Paramātmā in the heart, and personal Brahman. Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Brahman because ultimately God is person. Yes. Brahmeti paramātmeti bhagavān iti śabdyate. The exact Sanskrit word is vadanti tat tattva-vidas tattvam (SB 1.2.11). The Absolute Truth is described by the person who knows the Absolute Truth in three ways: brahmeti, the impersonal Brahman, paramātmeti, the localized Paramātmā, and Bhagavān, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is the ultimate feature of God, full with all six opulences, the richest, the strongest, the most famous, the most wise, the most renounced and most beautiful. These are the six features of the Personality of Godhead.
Guest (2): But if a painter was to paint a picture of me or of Allen or of anybody, first they'd take the subject, and the subject would be a living person, and then they would paint the picture and the picture would be in...
Prabhupāda: Yes. Subject is there, that "Kṛṣṇa's color is bluish, Kṛṣṇa has got in His hand a flute, Kṛṣṇa has got a peacock feather on His head, Kṛṣṇa stands, little curving." Tri-bhaṅga-lalitam. Tri-bhaṅga means in three ways He is curved. You see. Tri-bhaṅga. Three, three times He is curved. Śyāmaṁ tri-bhaṅga-lalitaṁ niyata-prakāśam (Bs. 5.31). These are the description of the Vedas. Just like my students, they have painted so many pictures, so I have given simply the hints that "This picture should be like this." So they take note and make the picture, and people very much appreciate our picture. So you can paint pictures by taking hints from the authority. That is going on. So if you are intelligent, you can make almost like that.
Guest (2): But still, somebody must have seen Kṛṣṇa...
Prabhupāda: Yes.
1975 Conversations and Morning Walks
Indian man (2): Hindrance is already there, as I described before. (laughter) Swamijī, my request is that the world is divided into two main things. One, some people believe, a group, believe that world is formless. Some say world has got a form. So instead of entering to this controversy, why we should not agree that whatever you...?
Prabhupāda: No, this is not controversy. This is fact, that God is... That is... We learn from śāstra,
- vadanti tat tattva-vidas
- tattva yaj jñānam advayam
- brahmeti paramātmeti
- bhagavān iti śabdyate
- (SB 1.2.11)
The Absolute Truth is manifested in three ways: impersonal Brahman, and all-pervading Paramātmā, and Personality of Godhead-brahmeti paramātmeti bhagavān iti śabdyate—but they are one and the same. This is the verdict of the śāstra. So we can understand from this example that the sun is localized. Everyone can see. At the same time, sunshine is all-pervading, and within the sun globe there is a predominating deity. He is a person. Similarly, originally God is person, and then, when He expands, all-pervasive, that is Paramātmā. And when He expands by His energy, that is Brahman. This is understanding. Brahmeti paramātmeti bhagavān iti. Now somebody, they finish their business by realizing the impersonal Brahman, and somebody finishes his business by realizing the localized Paramātmā, yogis. Jñānīs, yogis. And the bhaktas, they come to the real, original source of everything, Kṛṣṇa. That is the difference.
1977 Conversations and Morning Walks
Prabhupāda: So they have got business, blowing with mouth in three ways.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: The brāhmaṇas.
Prabhupāda: What is that? First of all, if they are third class, then blowing in the oven, fire.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Blowing in the...?
Prabhupāda: The oven. (laughter) He is third class. And the second class, blowing in the conchshell, pūjārī. And first class? Blowing in the ear and becoming spiritual master. (laughter) But their business is...
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Blowing.
Prabhupāda: Either here or in the conchshell or in the fire, first, second, third. This is a very..., said three way.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Bengali language has so many...
Prabhupāda: Bengalis are very poetic. That's a fact.
Correspondence
1970 Correspondence
Regarding my help for your coming here, there are three ways. You may apply for acceptance at a university here. If you are accepted by a university, they can arrange a job for you. Then you may come here by the university's arrangement as a foreign exchange student. Second: Another way is that if I can show a bank balance in your favor to the extent of $12,000 to $15,000 and because I am an immigrant and thus I sponsor you, you can come here as immigrant immediately as my relative. Now, for this bank balance, how you will arrange?
Another way is if you can spend about Rs. 25,000, you can come here at any time as a visitor at least for six months. When you come here, you can try for a suitable job in any respectable firm or whatever you like you may be free to move and search out within that period. but if you come as a visitor you will not be allowed to work here by law, but by arrangement everything may be done. So these are the three ways of getting you here, and whichever way you find suitable can be arranged.
| Page Title: | Three ways |
| Compiler: | Visnu Murti, Serene |
| Created: | 26 of Jul, 2012 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=1, SB=4, CC=10, OB=6, Lec=24, Con=5, Let=2 |
| No. of Quotes: | 52 |