"It should be understood that all species of life, O son of Kuntī, are made possible by birth in this material nature, and that I am the seed-giving father." Viṣṇu impregnates māyā, the material nature, simply by glancing at her. This is the spiritual method. Materially we are limited to impregnating by only one particular part of our body, but the Supreme Lord, Kṛṣṇa or Mahā-Viṣṇu, can impregnate by any part. Simply by glancing, the Lord can conceive countless living entities in the womb of material nature. The Brahma-saṁhitā confirms that the spiritual body of the Supreme Lord is so powerful that any part of His body can perform the functions of any other part. We can touch only with our hands or skin, but Kṛṣṇa can touch just by glancing. We can see only with our eyes; we cannot touch or smell with them. Kṛṣṇa, however, can smell and also eat with His eyes. When food is offered to Kṛṣṇa, we do not see Him eating, but He eats simply by glancing at the food. We cannot imagine how things work in the spiritual world, where everything is spiritual. It is not that Kṛṣṇa does not eat or that we imagine that He eats; He actually eats, but His eating is different from ours. Our eating process will be similar to His when we are completely on the spiritual platform. On that platform every part of the body can act on behalf of any other part.
Cannot imagine (Books)
Expressions researched:
"can not imagine"
|"cannot even imagine"
|"cannot imagine"
|"could not imagine"
|"never imagine"
|"never imagined"
|"not imagine"
|"not imagined"
|"not imagining"
|"unimaginable"
|"unimaginably"
|"unimaginative"
Bhagavad-gita As It Is
BG Chapters 1 - 6
The fact that the atomic soul is within the body of a gigantic animal, in the body of a gigantic banyan tree, and also in the microbic germs, millions and billions of which occupy only an inch of space, is certainly very amazing. Men with a poor fund of knowledge and men who are not austere cannot understand the wonders of the individual atomic spark of spirit, even though it is explained by the greatest authority of knowledge, who imparted lessons even to Brahmā, the first living being in the universe. Owing to a gross material conception of things, most men in this age cannot imagine how such a small particle can become both so great and so small. So men look at the soul proper as wonderful either by constitution or by description. Illusioned by the material energy, people are so engrossed in subject matters for sense gratification that they have very little time to understand the question of self-understanding, even though it is a fact that without this self-understanding all activities result in ultimate defeat in the struggle for existence. Perhaps they have no idea that one must think of the soul, and thus make a solution to the material miseries.
As described above, it is very difficult for a person who is too materially affected to understand the personal nature of the Supreme Absolute Truth. Generally, people who are attached to the bodily conception of life are so absorbed in materialism that it is almost impossible for them to understand how the Supreme can be a person. Such materialists cannot even imagine that there is a transcendental body which is imperishable, full of knowledge and eternally blissful. In the materialistic concept, the body is perishable, full of ignorance and completely miserable. Therefore, people in general keep this same bodily idea in mind when they are informed of the personal form of the Lord. For such materialistic men, the form of the gigantic material manifestation is supreme.
BG Chapters 7 - 12
In the Nirukti Vedic dictionary it is said, yujyate 'nena durghaṭeṣu kāryeṣu: "The Supreme Lord is performing inconceivably wonderful pastimes, displaying His energy." His person is full of different potent energies, and His determination is itself actual fact. In this way the Personality of Godhead is to be understood. We may think of doing something, but there are so many impediments, and sometimes it is not possible to do as we like. But when Kṛṣṇa wants to do something, simply by His willing, everything is performed so perfectly that one cannot imagine how it is being done. The Lord explains this fact: although He is the maintainer and sustainer of the entire material manifestation, He does not touch this material manifestation. Simply by His supreme will, everything is created, everything is sustained, everything is maintained, and everything is annihilated. There is no difference between His mind and Himself (as there is a difference between ourselves and our present material mind) because He is absolute spirit. Simultaneously the Lord is present in everything; yet the common man cannot understand how He is also present personally. He is different from this material manifestation, yet everything is resting on Him. This is explained here as yogam aiśvaram, the mystic power of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
So this conception of Kṛṣṇa is complete foolishness. Foolish persons, however, cannot conceive that the Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, appearing just like an ordinary man, can be the controller of all the atoms and of the gigantic manifestation of the universal form. The biggest and the minutest are beyond their conception, so they cannot imagine that a form like that of a human being can simultaneously control the infinite and the minute. Actually although He is controlling the infinite and the finite, He is apart from all this manifestation. It is clearly stated concerning His yogam aiśvaram, His inconceivable transcendental energy, that He can control the infinite and the finite simultaneously and that He can remain aloof from them. Although the foolish cannot imagine how Kṛṣṇa, who appears just like a human being, can control the infinite and the finite, those who are pure devotees accept this, for they know that Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore they completely surrender unto Him and engage in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, devotional service of the Lord.
Srimad-Bhagavatam
SB Canto 1
Śrīla Śukadeva Gosvāmī was a liberated soul, and thus he remained always alert not to be trapped by the illusory energy. In the Bhagavad-gītā this alertness is very lucidly explained. The liberated soul and the conditioned soul have different engagements. The liberated soul is always engaged in the progressive path of spiritual attainment, which is something like a dream for the conditioned soul. The conditioned soul cannot imagine the actual engagements of the liberated soul. While the conditioned soul thus dreams about spiritual engagements, the liberated soul is awake. Similarly, the engagement of a conditioned soul appears to be a dream for the liberated soul. A conditioned soul and a liberated soul may apparently be on the same platform, but factually they are differently engaged, and their attention is always alert, either in sense enjoyment or in self-realization, respectively. The conditioned soul is absorbed in matter, whereas the liberated soul is completely indifferent to matter. This indifference is explained as follows.
SB Canto 2
Mahārāja Parīkṣit's statement regarding the workings of the creative energy of the Lord discloses that he knew everything of the process of creation. Why then did he ask Śukadeva Gosvāmī for such information? Mahārāja Parīkṣit, being a great emperor, a descendant of the Pāṇḍavas and a great devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa, was quite able to know considerably about the creation of the world, but that much knowledge was not sufficient. He said therefore that even greatly learned scholars fail to know about that, even after great effort. The Lord is unlimited, and His activities are also unfathomed. With a limited source of knowledge and with imperfect senses, any living being, up to the standard of Brahmājī, the highest perfect living being within the universe, can never imagine knowing about the unlimited. We can know something of the unlimited when it is explained by the unlimited, as has been done by the Lord Himself in the unique statements of the Bhagavad-gītā, and it can also be known to some extent from realized souls like Śukadeva Gosvāmī, who learned it from Vyāsadeva, a disciple of Nārada, and thus the perfect knowledge can descend by the chain of disciplic succession only, and not by any form of experimental knowledge, old or modern.
"The frog in the well" logic illustrates that a frog residing in the atmosphere and boundary of a well cannot imagine the length and breadth of the gigantic ocean. Such a frog, when informed of the gigantic length and breadth of the ocean, first of all does not believe that there is such an ocean, and if someone assures him that factually there is such a thing, the frog then begins to measure it by imagination by means of pumping its belly as far as possible, with the result that the tiny abdomen of the frog bursts and the poor frog dies without any experience of the actual ocean. Similarly, the material scientists also want to challenge the inconceivable potency of the Lord by measuring Him with their froglike brains and their scientific achievements, but at the end they simply die unsuccessfully, like the frog.
Sometimes a materially powerful man is accepted as God or the incarnation of God without any knowledge of the factual God. Such a material assessment may be gradually extended, and the attempt may reach to the highest limit of Brahmājī, who is the topmost living being within the universe and has a duration of life unimaginable to the material scientist. As we get information from the most authentic book of knowledge, the Bhagavad-gītā (8.17), Brahmājī's one day and night is calculated to be some hundreds of thousands of years on our planet. This long duration of life may not be believed by "the frog in the well," but persons who have a realization of the truths mentioned in the Bhagavad-gītā accept the existence of a great personality who creates the variegatedness of the complete universe. It is understood from the revealed scriptures that the Brahmājī of this universe is younger than all the other Brahmās in charge of the many, many universes beyond this, but none of them can be equal to the Personality of Godhead.
SB Canto 3
Persons who cannot think of anything beyond the limit of their own power are like frogs in a well who cannot imagine the length and breadth of the great Pacific Ocean. Such people take it as legendary when they hear that the Supreme Lord is lying on His bed within the great ocean of the universe. They are surprised that one can lie down within water and sleep very happily. But a little intelligence can mitigate this foolish astonishment. There are many living entities within the bed of the ocean who also enjoy the material bodily activities of eating, sleeping, defending and mating. If such insignificant living entities can enjoy life within the water, why can't the Supreme Lord, who is all-powerful, sleep on the cool body of a serpent and enjoy in the turmoil of violent ocean waves? The distinction of the Lord is that His activities are all transcendental, and He is able to do anything and everything without being deterred by limitations of time and space. He can enjoy His transcendental happiness regardless of material considerations.
It is predicted herewith that the grandson of Diti, Prahlāda Mahārāja, would not only see the Personality of Godhead within himself by meditation but would also be able to see Him personally with his eyes. This direct vision is possible only for one who is highly elevated in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, for the Lord is not possible to see with material eyes. The Supreme Personality of Godhead has multifarious eternal forms such as Kṛṣṇa, Baladeva, Saṅkarṣaṇa, Aniruddha, Pradyumna, Vāsudeva, Nārāyaṇa, Rāma, Nṛsiṁha, Varāha and Vāmana, and the devotee of the Lord knows all those Viṣṇu forms. A pure devotee becomes attached to one of the eternal forms of the Lord, and the Lord is pleased to appear before him in the form desired. A devotee does not imagine something whimsical about the form of the Lord, nor does he ever think that the Lord is impersonal and can assume a form desired by the nondevotee. The nondevotee has no idea of the form of the Lord, and thus he cannot think of any one of the above-mentioned forms. But whenever a devotee sees the Lord, he sees Him in a most beautifully decorated form, accompanied by His constant companion the goddess of fortune, who is eternally beautiful.
The vibhūti, or opulences, offered by māyā are of many varieties. We have experience of different varieties of material enjoyment even on this planet, but if one is able to promote himself to higher planets like Candraloka, the sun or, still higher, Maharloka, Janaloka and Tapoloka, or even ultimately the highest planet, which is inhabited by Brahmā and is called Satyaloka, there are immense possibilities for material enjoyment. For example, the duration of life on higher planets is far, far greater than on this planet. It is said that on the moon the duration of life is such that our six months are equal to one day. We cannot even imagine the duration of life on the highest planet. It is stated in Bhagavad-gītā that Brahmā's twelve hours are inconceivable even to our mathematicians. These are all descriptions of the external energy of the Lord, or māyā. Besides these, there are other opulences which the yogīs can achieve by their mystic power. They are also material.
Another significant point of this verse is that the mind of the conditioned soul, on account of its association with the material energy from time immemorial, contains heaps of dirt in the form of desires to lord it over material nature. This dirt is like a mountain, but a mountain can be shattered when hit by a thunderbolt. Meditating on the lotus feet of the Lord acts like a thunderbolt on the mountain of dirt in the mind of the yogī. If a yogī wants to shatter the mountain of dirt in his mind, he should concentrate on the lotus feet of the Lord and not imagine something void or impersonal. Because the dirt has accumulated like a solid mountain, one must meditate on the lotus feet of the Lord for quite a long time. For one who is accustomed to thinking of the lotus feet of the Lord constantly, however, it is a different matter. The devotees are so fixed on the lotus feet of the Lord that they do not think of anything else. Those who practice the yoga system must meditate on the lotus feet of the Lord for a long time after following the regulative principles and thereby controlling the senses.
The Lord appears in the particular form loved by a particular type of devotee. There are millions of forms of the Lord, but they are one Absolute. As stated in the Brahma-saṁhitā, advaitam acyutam anādim ananta-rūpam: (Bs. 5.33) all the different forms of the Lord are one, but some devotees want to see Him in the form of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa, others prefer Him as Sītā and Rāmacandra, others would see Him as Lakṣmī-Nārāyaṇa, and others want to see Him as four-handed Nārāyaṇa, Vāsudeva. The Lord has innumerable forms, and He appears in a particular form as preferred by a particular type of devotee. A yogī is advised to meditate upon the forms that are approved by devotees. A yogī cannot imagine a form for meditation. Those so-called yogīs who manufacture a circle or target are engaged in nonsense. Actually, a yogī must meditate upon the form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead that has been experienced by the Lord's pure devotees. Yogī means devotee. Yogīs who are not actually pure devotees should follow in the footsteps of devotees. It is especially mentioned here that the yogī should meditate upon the form which is thus approved; he cannot manufacture a form of the Lord.
One important statement here is dhyāyen manomayam. Manomayam is not imagination. Impersonalists think that the yogī can imagine any form he likes, but, as stated here, the yogī must meditate upon the form of the Lord which is experienced by devotees. Devotees never imagine a form of the Lord. They are not satisfied by something imaginary. The Lord has different eternal forms; each devotee likes a particular form and thus engages himself in the service of the Lord by worshiping that form. The Lord's form is depicted in different ways according to scriptures. As already discussed, there are eight kinds of representations of the original form of the Lord. These representations can be produced by the use of clay, stone, wood, paint, sand, etc., depending upon the resources of the devotee.
SB Canto 4
It is impossible to conceive of the existence, name, form, quality and pastimes of the Supreme Personality of Godhead because He is transcendentally situated beyond the conception of materialistic persons. Because materialists cannot imagine or conceive of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, they may think that God is dead, but factually He is always existing in His sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha (Bs. 5.1), His eternal form. Constant meditation concentrated on the form of the Lord is called samādhi, ecstasy or trance. Samādhi means particularly concentrated attention, so one who has achieved the qualification of always meditating on the Personality of Godhead is to be understood to be always in trance and enjoying brahma-nirvāṇa, or brahmānanda. Lord Śiva exhibited those symptoms, and therefore it is stated that he was absorbed in brahmānanda.
Lord Brahmā's duration of life is so long that it is difficult to estimate even the duration of one day in his life, and yet Lord Brahmā also dies, as do the residents of his planet. Bhagavad-gītā (8.16) says, ābrahma-bhuvanāl lokāḥ punar āvartino 'rjuna: except for those who go to Viṣṇuloka, everyone is subjected to the four principles of material life, namely birth, death, old age and disease. The Lord says, yad gatvā na nivartante tad dhāma paramaṁ mama: "The planet from which, once going, no one returns, is My supreme abode." (BG 15.6) Dhruva Mahārāja was reminded, "You are going in our company to that planet from which no one returns to this material world." Material scientists are attempting to go to the moon and other planets, but they cannot imagine going to the topmost planet, Brahmaloka, for it is beyond their imagination. By material calculation, traveling at the speed of light it would take forty thousand light-years to reach the topmost planet. By mechanical processes we are unable to reach the topmost planet of this universe, but the process called bhakti-yoga, as executed by Mahārāja Dhruva, can give one the facility not only to reach other planets within this universe, but also to reach beyond this universe to the Viṣṇuloka planets. We have outlined this in our small booklet Easy Journey to Other Planets.
Māyāvādī philosophers cannot imagine how this oneness can be achieved even in different varieties. Their idea of oneness is that there is no variety. Therefore they have become impersonalists. As Śiśumāra, Viṣṇuloka or Dhruvaloka are completely different from this material world, so a Viṣṇu temple within this world is also completely different from this material world. As soon as we are in a temple we should know very well that we are situated differently from the material world. In the temple, Lord Viṣṇu, His throne, His room and all other things associated with the temple are transcendental. The three modes, sattva-guṇa, rajo-guṇa and tamo-guṇa, have no entrance into the temple. It is said, therefore, that to live in the forest is in the mode of goodness, to live in the city is in the mode of passion, and to live in a brothel, liquor shop or slaughterhouse is in the mode of ignorance. But to live in the temple means to live in Vaikuṇṭhaloka. Everything in the temple is as worshipable as Lord Viṣṇu, or Kṛṣṇa.
When something uncommon happens in one's progressive spiritual life, it should be understood to be incurred by ajñāta-sukṛti, or pious activities beyond one's knowledge. To see personally the Supreme Personality of Godhead or His pure devotee is not an ordinary incident. When such things happen, they should be understood to be caused by previous pious activity, as confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā (7.28): yeṣāṁ tv anta-gataṁ pāpaṁ janānāṁ puṇya-karmaṇām. One who is completely freed from all the resultant actions of sinful activities and who is absorbed only in pious activities can engage in devotional service. Although Mahārāja Pṛthu's life was full of pious activities, he was wondering how his audience with the Kumāras happened. He could not imagine what kind of pious activities he had performed. This is a sign of humility on the part of King Pṛthu, whose life was so full of pious activities that even Lord Viṣṇu came to see him and predicted that the Kumāras would also come.
The woman continued: In this material world, a householder's life brings all kinds of happiness in religion, economic development, sense gratification and the begetting of children, sons and grandsons. After that, one may desire liberation as well as material reputation. The householder can appreciate the results of sacrifices, which enable him to gain promotion to superior planetary systems. All this material happiness is practically unknown to the transcendentalists. They cannot even imagine such happiness.
In this verse the woman is advocating pravṛtti-mārga only and is discouraging the path of nivṛtti-mārga. She clearly says that the yatis, the transcendentalists, who are concerned only with spiritual life (kaivalya), cannot imagine the happiness of pravṛtti-mārga. In other words, the man who follows the Vedic principles enjoys the materialistic way of life not only by becoming happy in this life, but also in the next life by being promoted to the heavenly planets. In this life such a person gets all kinds of material opulences, such as sons and grandsons, because he is always engaged in various religious functions. The material distresses are birth, old age, disease and death, but those who are interested in pravṛtti-mārga hold various religious functions at the time of birth, old age, disease and death. Without caring for the distresses of birth, old age, disease and death, they are addicted to performing the special functions according to the Vedic ritualistic ceremonies.
SB Canto 5
There is a Bengali saying which describes that someone is so powerful that he can make the night day and the day night. That saying is current because of the prowess of Priyavrata. His activities demonstrate how powerful he became by worshiping the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Lord Kṛṣṇa is known as Yogeśvara, the master of all mystic powers. In Bhagavad-gītā (18.78) it is said wherever there is the master of all mystic powers (yatra yogeśvaraḥ kṛṣṇaḥ), victory, fortune and all other opulences are present. Devotional service is so powerful. When a devotee achieves what he wants to accomplish, it is not by his own mystic power but by the grace of the master of mystic power. Lord Kṛṣṇa: by His grace, a devotee can accomplish wonderful things unimaginable even to the most powerful scientist.
Since the Supreme Lord is all-powerful, He can do things that seem wonderful for a common man. Similarly, a devotee who has taken shelter at the lotus feet of the Lord can also do wonderful things unimaginable to a common man, by the grace of the dust of those lotus feet. Caitanya Mahāprabhu therefore teaches us to take shelter of the Lord's lotus feet:
- ayi nanda-tanuja kiṅkaraṁ
- patitaṁ māṁ viṣame bhavāṁbudhau
- kṛpayā tava pāda-paṅkaja-
- sthita-dhūlī-sadṛśaṁ vicintaya
(Cc. Antya 20.32, Śikṣāṣṭaka 5)
"O son of Nanda Mahārāja, I am Your eternal servant, yet somehow or other I have fallen into the ocean of birth and death. Please pick me up from this ocean of death and place me as one of the atoms of Your lotus feet." Lord Caitanya teaches us to come in touch with the dust of the Lord's lotus feet, for then there will undoubtedly be all success.
How condemned is the advancement of material knowledge can be understood from the behavior of Mahārāja Priyavrata. He performed such wonderful acts as creating another sun, which shined during the night, and creating a chariot so great that its wheels formed vast oceans. These activities are so great that modern scientists cannot even imagine how such things can be done. Mahārāja Priyavrata acted very wonderfully in the material field of activities, but because he was dealing in sense gratification—ruling his kingdom and dancing to the indications of his beautiful wife—he personally condemned himself. When we think about this example of Mahārāja Priyavrata, we can just consider how degraded is the modern civilization of materialistic advancement. Modern so-called scientists and other materialists are very satisfied because they can construct great bridges, roads and machines, but such activities are nothing comparable to those of Mahārāja Priyavrata.
O best friend, will you kindly show me the place where you reside? I cannot imagine how the residents of that place have gotten such wonderful bodily features as your raised breasts, which agitate the mind and eyes of a person like me who sees them. Judging by the sweet speech and kind smiles of those residents, I think that their mouths must contain nectar.
Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī says, ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi na bhaved grāhyam indriyaiḥ: (CC Madhya 17.136) "We cannot conceive the name, form and qualities of Śrī Kṛṣṇa through our material senses." Because of this, other names for the Lord are adhokṣaja and aprākṛta, which indicate that He is beyond any material senses. Out of His causeless mercy upon His devotees, the Lord appeared before Mahārāja Nābhi. Similarly, when we are engaged in the Lord's devotional service, the Lord reveals Himself to us. Sevonmukhe hi jihvādau svayam eva sphuraty adaḥ. This is the only way to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead. As confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā, bhaktyā mām abhijānāti yāvān yaś cāsmi tattvataḥ: (BG 18.55) one can understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead through devotional service. There is no other way. We have to hear from the authorities and from the śāstras and consider the Supreme Lord in terms of their statements. We cannot imagine or concoct forms and attributes of the Lord.
SB Canto 6
In governmental management there may be departmental officials to give justice to different persons, but the law must be one, and that central law must control everyone. The Yamadūtas could not imagine that two judges would give two different verdicts in the same case, and therefore they wanted to know who the central judge is. The Yamadūtas were certain that Ajāmila was a most sinful man, but although Yamarāja wanted to punish him, the Viṣṇudūtas excused him. This was a puzzling situation that the Yamadūtas wanted Yamarāja to clarify.
"Those who are thus bewildered are attracted by demoniac and atheistic views. In that deluded condition, their hopes for liberation, their fruitive activities and their culture of knowledge are all defeated." Such persons do not know that Kṛṣṇa's body is not material. There is no distinction between Kṛṣṇa's body and His soul, but because less intelligent men see Kṛṣṇa as a human being, they deride Him. They cannot imagine how a person like Kṛṣṇa could be the origin of everything (govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi **). Such persons are described as moghāśāḥ, baffled in their hopes. Whatever they desire for the future will be baffled. Even if they apparently engage in devotional service, they are described as moghāśāḥ because they ultimately desire to merge into the Brahman effulgence.
SB Canto 7
The happiness and distress derived from the activities of the material senses are not actual happiness and distress. Therefore Bhagavad-gītā speaks of happiness that is transcendental to the material conception of life (sukham ātyantikaṁ yat tad buddhi-grāhyam atīndriyam (BG 6.21)). When our senses are purified of material contamination, they become atīndriya, transcendental senses, and when the transcendental senses are engaged in the service of the master of the senses, Hṛṣīkeśa, one can derive real transcendental pleasure. Whatever distress or happiness we manufacture by mental concoction through the subtle mind has no reality, but is simply a mental concoction. One should therefore not imagine so-called happiness through mental concoction. Rather, the best course is to engage the mind in the service of the Lord, Hṛṣīkeśa, and thus feel real blissful life.
When he was in the womb of his mother, Prahlāda Mahārāja listened to the words of Nārada Muni. One cannot imagine how the baby in embryo could hear Nārada, but this is spiritual life; progress in spiritual life cannot be obstructed by any material condition. This is called ahaituky apratihatā. Reception of spiritual knowledge is never checked by any material condition. Thus Prahlāda Mahārāja, from his very childhood, spoke spiritual knowledge to his class friends, and certainly it was effective, although all of them were children.
SB Canto 10.1 to 10.13
The word agādha-bodham, meaning "full of unlimited knowledge," is significant in this verse. The Lord's knowledge is unlimited, and therefore one cannot touch where it ends, just as one cannot measure the ocean. What is the extent of our intelligence in comparison to the vast expanse of water in the ocean? On my passage to America, how insignificant the ship was, like a matchbox in the midst of the ocean. Kṛṣṇa's intelligence resembles the ocean, for one cannot imagine how vast it is. The best course, therefore, is to surrender to Kṛṣṇa. Don't try to measure Kṛṣṇa.
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta
CC Preface and Introduction
Countless universes reside like seeds within the skin pores of Mahā-Viṣṇu, and when He exhales, they are all manifested. In the material world we have no experience of such a thing, but we do experience a perverted reflection in the phenomenon of perspiration. We cannot imagine, however, the duration of one breath of Mahā-Viṣṇu, for within one breath all the universes are created and annihilated. This is stated in the Brahma-saṁhitā. Lord Brahmā lives only for the duration of one breath, and according to our time scale 4,320,000,000 years constitute only twelve hours for Brahmā, and Brahmā lives one hundred of his years. Yet the whole life of Brahmā is contained within one breath of Mahā-Viṣṇu. Thus it is not possible for us to imagine the breathing power of Mahā-Viṣṇu, who is but a partial manifestation of Lord Nityānanda. This the author of the Caitanya-caritāmṛta explains in the ninth verse.
CC Adi-lila
The word śruta in śrutekṣita-pathaḥ refers to the Vedas, and īkṣita indicates that the way to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead is by proper study of the Vedic scriptures. One cannot imagine something about God or His form. Such imagination is not accepted by those who are serious about enlightenment. Here Brahmā says that one can know Kṛṣṇa through the path of properly understanding the Vedic texts. If by studying the form, name, qualities, pastimes and paraphernalia of the Supreme Godhead one is attracted to the Lord, he can execute devotional service, and the form of the Lord will be impressed in his heart and remain transcendentally situated there. Unless a devotee actually develops transcendental love for the Lord, it is not possible for him to think always of the Lord within his heart. Such constant thought of the Lord is the sublime perfection of the yogic process, as the Bhagavad-gītā confirms in the Sixth Chapter (47), stating that anyone absorbed in such thought is the best of all yogīs. Such transcendental absorption is known as samādhi. A pure devotee who is always thinking of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the person qualified to see the Lord.
The acts of yogamāyā make it possible for the Lord and the gopīs, in loving ecstasy, to sometimes meet and sometimes separate. These transcendental loving affairs of the Lord are unimaginable to empiricists involved in the impersonal feature of the Absolute Truth. Therefore the Lord Himself appears before the mundaners to bestow upon them the highest form of spiritual realization and also personally relish its essence. The Lord is so merciful that He Himself descends to take the fallen souls back home to the kingdom of Godhead, where the erotic principles of Godhead are eternally relished in their real form, distinct from the perverted sexual love so much adored and indulged in by the fallen souls in their diseased condition. The reason the Lord displays the rāsa-līlā is essentially to induce all the fallen souls to give up their diseased morality and religiosity, and to attract them to the kingdom of God to enjoy the reality. A person who actually understands what the rāsa-līlā is will certainly hate to indulge in mundane sex life. For the realized soul, hearing the Lord's rāsa-līlā through the proper channel will result in complete abstinence from material sexual pleasure.
In the Vaikuṇṭhas there are airplanes, but they make no tumultuous sounds. Material airplanes are not at all safe: they can fall down and crash at any time, for matter is imperfect in every respect. In the spiritual sky, however, the airplanes are also spiritual, and they are spiritually brilliant and bright. These airplanes do not fly business executives, politicians or planning commissions as passengers, nor do they carry cargo or postal bags, for these are all unknown there. These planes are for pleasure trips only, and the residents of Vaikuṇṭha fly in them with their heavenly, beautiful, fairylike consorts. Therefore these airplanes, full of residents of Vaikuṇṭha, both male and female, increase the beauty of the spiritual sky. We cannot imagine how beautiful they are, but their beauty may be compared to the clouds in the sky accompanied by silver branches of electric lightning. The spiritual sky of Vaikuṇṭhaloka is always decorated in this way.
“Material nature is inert, and as such it cannot be the cause of matter, neither as the material nor as the efficient cause. Seeing the wonderful arrangement and management of the cosmic manifestation generally suggests that a living brain is behind this arrangement, for without a living brain such an arrangement could not exist. One should not imagine that such an arrangement can exist without conscious direction. In our practical experience we never see that inert bricks can themselves construct a big building.
Other Books by Srila Prabhupada
Teachings of Lord Caitanya
"It should be understood that all species of life, O son of Kuntī, are made possible by birth in this material nature, and that I am the seed-giving father." Viṣṇu impregnates māyā, the material nature, simply by glancing at her. This is the spiritual method. Materially we are limited to impregnating by only one particular part of our body, but the Supreme Lord, Kṛṣṇa or Mahā-viṣṇu, can impregnate by any part. Simply by glancing, the Lord can conceive countless living entities in the womb of material nature. The Brahma-saṁhitāconfirms that the spiritual body of the Supreme Lord is so powerful that any part of His body can perform the functions of any other part. We can touch only with our hands or skin, but Kṛṣṇa can touch just by glancing. We can see only with our eyes; we cannot touch or smell with them. Kṛṣṇa, however, can smell and also eat with His eyes. When food is offered to Kṛṣṇa, we do not see Him eating, but He eats simply by glancing at the food. We cannot imagine how things work in the spiritual world, where everything is spiritual. It is not that Kṛṣṇa does not eat or that we imagine that He eats; He actually eats, but His eating is different from ours. Our eating process will be similar to His when we are completely on the spiritual platform. On that platform every part of the body can act on behalf of any other part.
Countless universes reside like seeds within the skin pores of Mahā-viṣṇu, and when He exhales, they are all manifested. In the material world we have no experience of such a thing, but we do experience a perverted reflection in the phenomenon of perspiration. We cannot imagine, however, the duration of one breath of Mahā-viṣṇu, for within one breath all the universes are created and annihilated. This is stated in the Brahma-saṁhitā. Lord Brahmā lives only for the duration of one breath, and according to our time scale 4,320,000,000 years constitute only twelve hours for Brahmā, and Brahmā lives one hundred of his years. Yet the whole life of Brahmā is contained within one breath of Mahā-viṣṇu. Thus it is not possible for us to imagine the breathing power of Mahā-viṣṇu, who is but a partial manifestation of Lord Nityānanda. This the author of the Caitanya-caritāmṛta explains in the ninth verse.
Lord Caitanya also rejected this third proposal from Rāmānanda Rāya, for He wanted to demonstrate that renunciation in itself is not sufficient. There must be positive engagement. Without positive engagement, the highest perfectional stage cannot be attained. Generally there are two kinds of philosophers in the renounced order of life. The goal of one is nirvāṇa, and the goal of the other is the impersonal Brahman effulgence. Such philosophers cannot imagine that they can reach beyond nirvāṇa and the Brahman effulgence to the Vaikuṇṭha planets of the spiritual sky. Because in simple renunciation there is no conception of spiritual planets and spiritual activities, Lord Caitanya rejected this third proposal.
Nectar of Devotion
As far as Kṛṣṇa's enjoyment is concerned, it is stated that the ornaments which decorated the bodies of Kṛṣṇa and His queens were beyond the dreams of Kuvera, the treasurer of the heavenly kingdom. The constant dancing before the doors of Kṛṣṇa's palaces was not to be imagined even by the demigods in the heavenly kingdom. In the heavenly kingdom, Indra always sees the dancing of the society girls. But even Indra could not imagine how beautiful were the dances being performed at the gates of Kṛṣṇa's palaces. Gaurī means "white woman," and Lord Śiva's wife is called Gaurī. The beautiful women residing within the palaces of Kṛṣṇa were so much whiter than Gaurī that they were compared to the moonshine, and they were constantly visible to Kṛṣṇa. Therefore, no one can be enjoying more than Kṛṣṇa. The conception of enjoyment is beautiful women, ornaments and riches. And all of these were fabulously present in the palaces of Kṛṣṇa, defeating even the imagination of Kuvera, Lord Indra or Lord Śiva.
Although Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and is therefore not partial to anyone, it is stated in Bhagavad-gītā that He has special attraction for a devotee who worships His name in love and affection. When Kṛṣṇa was on this planet, one devotee expressed his feeling in this way: "My dear Lord, if You had not appeared on this planet, then the asuras (demons) and atheists would have surely created havoc against the activities of the devotees. I cannot imagine the magnitude of such devastation prevented by Your presence." From the very beginning of His appearance, Kṛṣṇa was the greatest enemy of all demoniac persons, although Kṛṣṇa's enmity toward the demons is actually comparable to His friendship with the devotees. This is because any demon who is killed by Kṛṣṇa receives immediate salvation.
Easy Journey to Other Planets
Kṛṣṇa conscious persons are not interested in any temporary planet, even if it offers a long duration of life. If the yogī, at the time of death, can pronounce oṁ, the concise form of transcendental vibration, and at the same time mām anusmaran, remember Kṛṣṇa, Viṣṇu, he will attain perfection. The purpose of the entire yoga system is to concentrate the mind on Viṣṇu. Impersonalists imagine that they see the form of Viṣṇu, or the Lord, but those who are personalists do not imagine this—they actually see the form of the Supreme Lord. Either way, if one concentrates his mind through imagination or if one actually sees, one has to concentrate his mind on the Viṣṇu form. Mām means "unto the Supreme Lord, Viṣṇu." Anyone who leaves this body and concentrates his mind on Viṣṇu enters into the spiritual kingdom after quitting his body. Those who are actually yogīs do not desire to enter any other planet because they know that life is temporary on the temporary planets, and thus they are not interested. That is intelligence.
Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead
My dear Lord, You have said that You are bereft of all royal power, and that is also correct. Not only are You bereft of supremacy over the material world, but even Your servants, those who have some attachment to Your lotus feet, also give up supremacy over the material world because they consider the material position to be the darkest region, which checks the progress of spiritual enlightenment. Your servants do not like material supremacy, so what to speak of You? My dear Lord, Your statement that You do not act as an ordinary person with a particular aim in life is also perfectly correct. Even Your great devotees and servants, known as great sages and saintly persons, remain in such a state that no one can get any clue as to the aim of their lives. Human society considers them crazy and cynical. Their aim of life remains a mystery to the common human being; the lowest of mankind can know neither You nor Your servants. A contaminated human being cannot even imagine the pastimes of You and Your devotees. O unlimited one, when the activities and endeavors of Your devotees remain a mystery to the common human beings, how can Your motives and endeavors be understood by them? All kinds of energies and opulences are engaged in Your service, but still they rest at Your shelter.
“My dear Lord, You are the Supersoul of all living entities, and as the witness within the heart You are cognizant of everyone's activities. Thus we are duty-bound to always think of Your lotus feet so that we can remain in a secure position and not deviate from Your eternal service. As a result of our continuous remembrance of Your lotus feet, You have kindly visited my place personally to favor me with Your causeless mercy. We have heard, my dear Lord, that by Your various statements You confirm Your pure devotees to be more dear to You than Lord Balarāma or Your constant servitor the goddess of fortune. Your devotees are dearer to You than Your first son, Lord Brahmā, and I am sure that You have so kindly visited my place in order to prove Your divine statement. I cannot imagine how people can be godless and demoniac even after knowing of Your causeless mercy and affection for Your devotees who are constantly engaged in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. How can people who know of these things forget Your lotus feet?
Sri Isopanisad
One who knows this engages himself at once in the devotional service of the Lord. Such a pure and fully cognizant devotee of the Lord is fully attached to Him in heart and soul, and whenever such a devotee assembles with similar devotees, they have no engagement but the glorification of the Lord's transcendental activities. Those who are not as perfect as the pure devotees—namely, those who have realized only the Brahman or Paramātmā features of the Lord—cannot appreciate the activities of the perfect devotees. The Lord always helps the pure devotees by imparting necessary knowledge within their hearts, and thus out of His special favor He dissipates all the darkness of ignorance. The speculative philosophers and yogīs cannot imagine this, because they more or less depend on their own strength. As stated in the Kaṭha Upaniṣad (1.2.23), the Lord can be known only by those whom He favors, and not by anyone else. Such special favors are bestowed upon His pure devotees only. Śrī Īśopaniṣad thus points to the favor of the Lord, which is beyond the purview of the brahma-jyotir.
| Page Title: | Cannot imagine (Books) |
| Compiler: | Visnu Murti, Mayapur |
| Created: | 25 of Mar, 2012 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=4, SB=25, CC=6, OB=9, Lec=0, Con=0, Let=0 |
| No. of Quotes: | 44 |