O souls who, like bees, are attracted to the lotus feet of the moon of Vrindavan, who manifested the Vedas, who is the knower of the Vedas, and who is knowable through the Vedas! As is customary, let us chant the divine name for a while, after which the subject will begin. All glories to the Lord of Vrindavan, Shri Krishna!
Now, please pay attention. Who am I? Who is Mine? In answering these two questions, so far I have explained to you that in order to solve any question, we need an authority, a type of evidence, which is undeniably true. Such revealed scriptures, which are devoid of the four human faults, are the Vedas. And there are the Puranas and Shastras that conform with the Vedas. On the basis of these scriptures as well as logic, it has been explained to you that the one the ‘I’ belongs to is ‘mine’. And when one discovers who ‘I’ belong to, then one can also know who ‘I’ am.
So, the Vedas and Shastras revealed that there is one Brahm. He has two forms: the attributeless, non-distinct, formless Brahm, and Brahm with attributes, distinctions and form. He has infinite powers. Scriptural Verse (Brahma Sutra 2.1.28). The Vedant says His powers are vichitra. Vichitra means that which is beyond the grasp of the human mind. In other words, He can do and not do whatever He wishes, as well as the opposite, through those powers.
He has three main powers. One is called chit shakti, para shakti, svarup shakti or yogmaya shakti. One power is called jiva shakti, and one power is called maya shakti. Scriptural Verse respectively, internal, marginal and external. Para shaktiis His internal power; it is His personal power. It is the director, the governor, of all powers. All His other powers are subservient to para shakti. Even God Himself is subservient to it. Later on I will tell you how.
The second power is jiva shakti, and the third power is maya shakti. Maya shakti is an insentient power. Put it aside for now. However, the second power, jiva shakti, has two parts. One are the souls under maya, and the other are the souls beyond maya. In this way, both are sentient and eternal. However, between these two, the souls under maya did not come under maya one day. They have always been under maya. And the souls who are beyond maya have always been beyond maya. They have never been controlled by maya. Remember this law. If we become liberated from maya today, we shall be liberated forever. So, the souls beyond maya‘s control did not become liberated one day. They are eternally beyond maya. However, they too are a part of God’s jiva shakti. This means that infinite souls are beyond maya, and infinite souls are under maya. Both are a part of God’s jiva shakti.
And those who are a part of Brahm endowed with para shakti are governors of svarup shakti. And they possess all the divine powers of God. In other words: Scriptural Verse (Vishnu Purana 6.5.74). One in whom these six opulences exist in absolute perfection, to an infinite degree, is referred to as God. So, all of them are God. Scriptural Verse (Padma Purana). All of these are descensions of God and are His personal expansions. They are called svansh. Sva means His own part. For example, take a drop of the ocean; it is salty. It has all the attributes of the ocean. A drop of nectar has all the attributes of nectar. So, we too are a part of God. However, we do not possess the attributes of God. This is because we are not a part of Brahm endowed with para shakti. We are not His personal expansions. We are vibhinnansh (separate from God). This is the difference. The personal expansions of God are Brahma, Vishnu, Shankar, all the descensions and so on. All of them are also subservient to God. And there are two kinds of parts of God’s jiva shakti: the souls beyond maya and the souls under maya. These are also subservient to God. And poor maya is insentient; it is obviously subordinate to God. In this way, all His powers and all His parts are subordinate to Him. He is the governor of all, the director of all, the controller of all and the giver of all powers.
None of this is for Himself. He is complete in Himself. In the world, a king’s subjects are meant to keep the king happy. The king is incomplete. He gets some happiness through his subjects. It is not that way with God. God gives happiness to others. What happiness will God’s servants, personal expansions or separated parts give Him? One can only give something to someone who is incomplete. And God … Scriptural Verse Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 5.1.1. God is so complete that even if you remove completeness from Him, He still remains complete. In other words: Scriptural Verse (Taittiriya Upanishad 2.1). He is infinite. Taittiriya Upanishad 2.1. So, if you take infinity out of infinity, it will still remain infinite. Such an infinite personality is He.
So Brahm, who Himself is infinite, has infinite powers, and each and every power of His is endowed with infinite energy. For instance, strength. How much strength does God possess? Infinite. How much beauty does He possess? Infinite. Nothing that God has is limited. His brahmands (vast cosmic worlds) are also infinite. Everything is infinite. His divine abodes are also infinite. Scriptural Verse (Mundaka Upanishad 3.2.6). Infinite! He has divine spiritual abodes.
So, that Brahm, whose two forms are mentioned by the Vedas … Scriptural Verse (Shankaracharya). Scriptural Verse Tripad-vibhuti-narayana Upanishad 1.1. Scriptural Verse Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 2.3.1. He has infinite forms. I have just mentioned two. Scriptural Verse Bhagavatam 10.40.7. Scriptural Verse Bhagavatam 8.3.9. He has infinite forms. Didn’t I say that everything God possesses is infinite? Ananta nama rupaya vishnave prabha vishnave.
Does that Brahm do anything? He should not do anything. Why? Scriptural Verse (Jabala Darshan Upanishad 1.23). A person who is incomplete, ignorant and with limited power does something to become complete. Why should one who is complete do anything? If he does something, he will be questioned. And we, with a human intellect, will say that the person is incomplete because he is doing something. He opened his eyes. Why? He will be questioned, “You are complete, aren’t You?” Leave God aside, even those who attain God: Scriptural Verse (Bhagavad Gita 3.17). Even a Saint has nothing left to do. He is kritkritya. Kritya means to do; krit means to have done. Now he will not do anything. He has become complete. When we immerse a pot in the sea or a well, the empty pot makes a sound. Why does it make this sound? To be filled with water. However, once it is full, even if it is immersed for thousands of years, it does not and will not make any sound.
However, when it comes to God, the personal God with qualities and form, Shri Krishna, who I am going to speak about today; just listen to His plight. Scriptural Verse (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 1.4.3). You will laugh. Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 1.4.3. During total dissolution, He was all alone. The Supreme Lord, Shri Krishna with form and qualities, was all alone. Was there no one else? No, there was no one; He was alone. Then? He was lonely. Na ramate. “Hey, what are you saying? Please talk sense.” I am talking sense! I am quoting a Vedic mantra. “His mind was lonely? But He doesn’t have a mind.” Scriptural Verse Mundaka Upanishad 2.1.2. He is devoid of senses, mind and intellect. Scriptural Verse Shvetashvatara Upanishad 3.17. The Gita also says this. Scriptural Verse Bhagavad Gita 13.14. Why would He need senses? Even without senses … Scriptural Verse Shvetashvatara Upanishad 3.19.
However, when He became the personal form, everything else followed. Now He had a body, mind and senses. He had an intellect too. “Alright, let’s accept that He had all of these.” So? Then He had a mind, didn’t He? Yes. So, He felt lonely. “You are saying the same thing again! I accept that He had a mind, But why do you keep saying that He felt lonely? He is completely fulfilled.” This happens with worldly people when they are all alone at home. The wife has gone to see her parents. The children have gone off to the Himalayas, and there is no one at home. He is a rich man and has a house with fifty rooms, but wherever he goes, there is no one. So, the man laments, “This empty house will devour me.” Devour you? Did you build a 500 million rupee mansion for it to devour you? “Oh, I feel lonely since there is no one here.” So, call your servants. Yes, but God didn’t even have servants; who could He call? Alright, then He could have called His consort, Lakshmi. She wasn’t there either at the time of dissolution. So what could He do? Well, He could do this: He could create a fake wife. Fake wife? What do you mean? “Let Me Myself become a woman.” Scriptural Verse (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 1.4.3). He assumed two forms: one a woman and the other, Himself. Now the two can talk about love, “Tell me my dear, how are you?” But look, what happiness can anyone gain by becoming a woman himself? If there are actually two, only then can there be a feeling of two. But what can be done when there is no one else? It didn’t serve the purpose. Even taking two forms did not work!
He said, “Oh, now I remember.” What? Is there something wrong with His memory too? “Those countless souls lying within Me, especially the vibhinnansh under maya – the poor souls cannot do anything as they are within Me.” After universal dissolution, neither the physical body nor the subtle body remain. Only the past impressions remain. So, the soul cannot do anything. “Let Me take them out so they can work towards their welfare. Who will show them the path for their welfare? The Vedas are also within Me. When the Vedas emerge, they will show them the way.” Okay, fine. So, it all began. The factory began to run. But why? Please pay attention. Scriptural Verse (Shandilya Bhakti Sutra 49). Out of compassion. God possesses a very great quality called grace. Compassion. No one in the world possesses this quality. One who attains God acquires that; no one else can acquire it. We who pretend to be compassionate towards others do so with a selfish motive behind it. A person distributes fifty blankets for publicity. “Now publish it! You publish it too!” He is an influential man; which newspaper can refuse him? All the newspapers publish it: Minister Distributes Blankets Today! “Oh, the minister is a very generous man!” And even if someone does donate something without an ulterior motive: “I am building a temple, a guest house, with no intention to make money from it.” Alright, even if we accept that there is such a person, then he is doing it so that after death he will be blessed with more wealth. He will be made a billionaire. And if someone is more knowledgeable and gives with the desire to attain selfless love, then he too has a desire, doesn’t he? God will bestow His grace upon Him; he will see God’s divine form. He will attain the service of God. So, all these compassionate people are selfish, whether their motive is material or spiritual. However, God, who showers compassion, has nothing to gain from anyone, from this selfish material world. It is just an effort for Him.
He now manifested everything that is available in our world. Pay attention. The very first work of God, of Shri Krishna: Scriptural Verse (Taittiriya Upanishad 3.1). Brahm, Shri Krishna. Is Shri Krishna Brahm? Has this also been written in the Upanishads? Yes. Scriptural Verse Gopalatapani Upanishad 1. The question was asked: kah paramo devah (Gopalatapani Upanishad 2). Kah paramo devah. Who is the ultimate Supreme Power? Gopalatapani Upanishad 2. The answer was given: Scriptural Verse Gopalatapani Upanishad 3. That is Brahm Shri Krishna. That’s why He made a mind and a body, and He thought. So, He did not create anything in this world that He created. He just manifested it, as it was within Him. Scriptural Verse (Narayana Upanishad 5.7). Scriptural Verse Bhagavatam 2.9.38. Just the way it was before. Scriptural Verse Bhagavatam 3.9.43. He manifested the world just as it was before dissolution. He did not create anything new.
And those who claim that there is no cycle of birth and death will have to give an answer for this. Tell me, if there was no cycle of birth and death, no past life, then when God created this world – your God – why did He make someone a man, someone a woman, someone a donkey, someone a dog and someone a tree? What harm did the others do? One was made a millionaire and the other a beggar, one beautiful, the other very ugly. Why? They don’t have any answer. If you say it is God’s will … If you say that it was His will, then is your God whimsical? How can He desire like that? He is compassionate! Every scripture says this: the Quran Sharif, the Bible. He is merciful, kind and compassionate. Who could be as compassionate as Him? He doesn’t need anything from anyone, since He is complete in Himself.
So, He manifested the world as it was before. Again the Vedas say: Scriptural Verse (Taittiriya Upanishad 2.6). He desired. This implies that prior to creation, God was with form and attributes. That is why He could desire. Yes, Shri Krishna was there. He expressed a desire. Scriptural Verse (Taittiriya Upanishad 2.6). “There should be many worlds. I am all alone. I must do some work, I am just sitting idle.” Scriptural Verse (Taittiriya Upanishad 2.6). He engaged in austerity. Again the same point! Did God engage in austerity? Only those with limited power engage in austerity. God had to think, didn’t He? He thought, “O you who are within Me, come out!” So, He who doesn’t need anything thought, didn’t He? He underwent this suffering. He thought for our sake.
In our world, if the prime minister takes a shovel in his hand, it will hit the headlines in every newspaper that He was doing physical labour. He just held a shovel in his hand. Is that doing physical labour? Did he work for eight or twelve hours? “Oh, he is a man of status. He’s taken a broom in his hand. Just see, such an important man is actually sweeping!” Not only this, if someone of great importance … Even in our country these days, there are those who go and visit the huts of the poor at night and tell them, “Cook food for me. I shall eat whatever you cook.” They eat and sleep there too. Yes, such news gets published daily. No matter what their real motive is, such events become important news. And if a poor man spends his entire life working with a shovel, no one pays any attention to him. So, God made a desire. This is the austerity. And after this austerity, He released everything that was within. Please pay attention.
And He didn’t leave the souls alone; He accompanied them. We are His children, His parts, aren’t we? So, He accompanied us when we came out. He didn’t leave us alone. Scriptural Verse (Taittiriya Upanishad 2.6). Look, the earth is insentient, made of maya. He entered even that. He is omnipresent. Scriptural Verse (Shvetashvatara Upanishad 6.11). He is sarvbhuteshu and also sarvavyapi. Meaning, He pervaded the insentient, and also sat within the sentient. He came along with us. And after that wherever we went, He was with us everywhere. Taittiriya Upanishad 2.6.
Scriptural Verse (Taittiriya Upanishad 2.1). There was nothing. Now God Himself became space. And then from space, air came into being. Space does not have the attributes of air. Space cannot be touched, but air can be touched. Just imagine! You say that a camel cannot be born from an elephant and look here: a horse is being born from an elephant. The opposite! And then from air, fire was born. Fire has a form, and air does not have a form. So, from where did fire acquire the attribute of having a form? And water was born from fire. Imagine that! Earth came into being from water. Water is such a soft element and the earth is so hard! And who created so many trees on this earth? He created all kinds of trees for His children: trees and plants bearing thousands of fruits, thousands of vegetables, thousands of grains. Just see how kind He is! Because He knew that when His child came out of the mother’s womb, he would get the mother’s milk only for a year and a half at the most. “What will he eat after that? Everyone will die. Creation will cease to exist. Then I will be all alone again. Oh no!” Taittiriya Upanishad 2.1.
Scriptural Verse Shandilya Upanishad 2.1. The same three functions are being mentioned in every mantra. God manifests the world; He protects the world by entering into it, and then He dissolves it. Scriptural Verse Nrisimhatapani Upanishad 3.1. Scriptural Verse Taittiriya Upanishad 3.6. Scriptural Verse (Chhandogya Upanishad 3.14.1). Tajja talla tadan. Everyone originates from Him. Chhandogya Upanishad 3.14.1. Scriptural Verse Chhandogya Upanishad 6.2.3. Scriptural Verse Aitareya Upanishad 1.1.1. And it is further mentioned in 1.1.3. And again the same mantra is written at 1.3.1. Scriptural Verse (Prashna Upanishad 6.3). They all state the same – God thought. He thought. This was His austerity. Prashna Upanishad 6.3. Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 1.2.5.
And in the Vedant, when it was asked: athato brahma jigyasa (Brahma Sutra 1.1.1). The first sutra. O Guru Ji! Who is known as Brahm? So, Brahm with form and attributes was described, not the formless Brahm, because the formless Brahm does not do anything. So the Vedant answered, “The One from whom the world originates, from whom it manifests … yasya yatah (Brahma Sutra 1.1.2) … He is Brahm.” And Shankaracharya also wrote its meaning: Scriptural Verse (Shankara Bhashya). Shankaracharya is writing the meaning of Brahma Sutra 1.1.2: “The One by whom the world is created, is protected and into whom it merges.” And in the Bhagavat, the same Veda Vyas who divided the Vedas, who wrote the Vedant, the Gita, the eighteen Puranas and the Mahabharat, gave this very definition of who Shri Krishna is in the first verse: Scriptural Verse (Bhagavatam 1.1.1). The One from whom the world manifests.
In other words, when people questioned whether the soul and Brahm are one, and Shankaracharya lost in every way, He said, “When a soul attains God, he acquires all the powers of God, doesn’t he?” So, at that time he becomes Brahm. Scriptural Verse Chhandogya Upanishad 8.7.1. Only God alone has these eight qualities! These are acquired by a God-realised Saint. Out of these, one quality is satya sankalp. Satya sankalp means whatever He thinks, happens. Look, He created the world or manifested it; you may say what you like. But how? He thought. sa ikshat (Aitareya Upanishad 1.1.1). sa ikshanchakre (Prashna Upanishad 6.3). so kamayat (Taittiriya Upanishad 2.6). That’s all. He thought. He didn’t move His hands or feet, nor did He speak. “O maya, come here! O yogmaya, come here. The two of you together create the world. Get started.” He doesn’t need to speak. He thought and it was done. So, the very same quality is acquired by the Saint as well.
It has been stated in the Vedant: Scriptural Verse Brahma Sutra 1.3.13. Scriptural Verse (Brahma Sutra 1.3.14). Scriptural Verse (Brahma Sutra 1.3.15). Scriptural Verse (Brahma Sutra 1.3.16). Scriptural Verse (Brahma Sutra 1.3.17). Scriptural Verse (Brahma Sutra 1.3.18). All these brahmasutras mention that those eight attributes are also acquired by a Saint. God has to give them. Yes, He gives them. So, then the Saint can perform the work of creation as well. And if he can do so, then there will be so many who can engage in creation. Then there will be a lot of fighting. Look, these eight qualities that they received were given to them by God after God-realisation. The Saints were not always like this; they didn’t have one single quality. Not even apahatpapma (to be free of sin). So then He made a sutra so that people could have no doubt. Scriptural Verse Brahma Sutra 4.4.17. Scriptural Verse Brahma Sutra 4.4.21. Brahmanand (bliss of formless Brahm), Premanand (bliss of divine love), Krishnanand (bliss of Shri Krishna) and His power of immortality are bestowed on the soul for eternity. And He will give you the power of omniscience. The work of creation is performed by God Himself.
This Brahm does not do anything. So how will He create? And it is not as if there is only one task to perform – to create – and then He is free to relax in Golok. Oh no! Now He is in more trouble. He has to assume as many forms as there are souls, and sit in each one’s heart. Scriptural Verse Shvetashvatara Upanishad 4.6. He sits in the heart of every soul. And He not only sits; He takes the soul within Himself and sits. Scriptural Verse Subala Upanishad 7.1. Ten things are mentioned in one mantra. All these are the body of Shri Krishna. “What do you mean?” Look, you have two things, don’t you? One is you and one is your body. You reside in this body, don’t you? Without you, the body can’t survive. “Yes, sir!”Similarly, you reside in God. You, the individual soul, are the body of God. And you cannot live without God.
People often ask, “Where will I find God?” Where? Oh, you reside in Him! How can you ask, “Where will I find Him?”God has said in the Vedas: Scriptural Verse (Jabala Darshan Upanishad 4.58). “I am sitting inside you, and you are going out looking for me, to Badrinarayan, Rameshwaram, Jagannath Ji, temple upon temple of goddesses, Vaishno Devi, Tirupati.” Everyone is running around outside, while God Himself is sitting inside you. So … Scriptural Verse Jabal Darshan Upanishad 4.58. He is licking his elbow. He is not eating the sweet that is in his hand. He has a morsel of nectar. He does not eat that; instead, the hungry fellow licks his own elbow! Meaning, I (God) reside within you, but you don’t realise this and instead you are looking around outside. God is also all-pervading. God is so merciful that He has said, “One who is crippled should not complain to Me, ‘Oh, I have no legs; how will I go to Badrinarayan? I don’t have any money.'” God says, “I reside within you. Why do you need to go anywhere?”
So, Lord Shri Krishna alone is the creator. Secondly, He pervades His creation, bestows His power and governs it. Then during dissolution, every element merges into its source. Earth merges into water, water into fire, fire into air, air into space, space into the subtle ego, the subtle ego into mahan, mahan into prakriti, and prakriti merges into God. This mayaand the souls all merge into God. Scriptural Verse (Bhagavatam 2.9.32). That Lord Shri Krishna is our everything. A part has only one function: it serves its whole. Look at an insentient object. For example, there is a tree. It has branches. It has leaves. The fertiliser that you feed to the roots is drawn by the leaves and given to the tree. Every day! The whole tree is fed: the flowers, the fruits, the trunk and the roots as well. Naturally! Even the lifeless objects are all servants.
And we too are servants of bliss at each and every moment. We desire only bliss. That bliss itself is God. That is why Gauranga Mahaprabhu said: Scriptural Verse (Chaitanya Charitamrit). This soul is Shri Krishna’s eternal servant. Scriptural Verse (Chaitanya Charitamrit). All the scriptures state: Scriptural Verse (Padma Purana, Uttara Khand 227.38,39). Both the living and the non-living, the mobile and immobile are all His servants. So, our master is the One who is the creator of the universe. The creator. I have explained one of His greatest glories. The rest tomorrow. All glories to Shri Radha Krishna!
