“Dear Lord, when You appear in Your different incarnations, You take different names and forms according to different situations. Lord Kṛṣṇa is Your name because You are all-attractive; You are called Śyāmasundara because of Your transcendental beauty. Śyāma means "blackish," yet it is said that You are more beautiful than thousands of Cupids (kandarpa-koṭi-kamanīya). Although You appear in a color which is compared to the blackish cloud, because You are the Transcendental Absolute, Your beauty is many, many times more attractive than the delicate body of Cupid. Sometimes You are called Giridhārī because You lifted the hill known as Govardhana. You are sometimes called Nandanandana or Vāsudeva or Devakīnandana because You appear as the son of Mahārāja Nanda or Vasudeva or Devakī. Impersonalists think that Your many names or forms are given according to a particular type of work and quality because they accept You from the position of a material observer."
Devaki-nandana
Bhagavad-gita As It Is
BG Chapters 1 - 6
The Lord has different names according to His different activities. For example, His name is Madhusūdana because He killed the demon of the name Madhu; His name is Govinda because He gives pleasure to the cows and to the senses; His name is Vāsudeva because He appeared as the son of Vāsudeva; His name is Devakī-nandana because He accepted Devakī as His mother; His name is Yaśodā-nandana because He awarded His childhood pastimes to Yaśodā at Vṛndāvana; His name is Pārtha-sārathi because He worked as charioteer of His friend Arjuna. Similarly, His name is Hṛṣīkeśa because He gave direction to Arjuna on the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra.
Srimad-Bhagavatam
SB Canto 4
The Supreme Personality of Godhead is also described herein as vāsudevāya kṛṣṇāya. Kṛṣṇa is the original Supreme Personality of Godhead, and all Viṣṇu expansions are His plenary portions or portions of His plenary portions (known as svāṁśa and kalā). The svāṁśa, or direct expansion, is also called aṁśa. All viṣṇu-tattvas are svāṁśa, direct parts and parcels of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is known as Vāsudeva because He appeared in this material world as the son of Vasudeva. Similarly, He is known as Devakī-nandana, Yaśodā-nandana, Nanda-nandana and so on.
SB Canto 8
Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu says in His Śikṣāṣṭaka, nāmnām akāri bahudhā nija-sarva-śaktiḥ: the Supreme Personality of Godhead has many names, which are all nondifferent from the Supreme Person. This is spiritual existence. By chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, consisting of names of the Supreme Lord, we find that the name has all the potencies of the person. The Lord's activities are many, and according to His activities He has many names. He appeared as the son of mother Yaśodā, and also as the son of mother Devakī, and therefore He is named Devakī-nandana and Yaśodā-nandana. Parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate: (Cc. Madhya 13.65, purport) the Lord has a multitude of energies, and therefore He acts in multifarious ways. Yet He has a particular name. The śāstras recommend which names we should chant, such as Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare. It is not that we have to search for some name or manufacture one. Rather, we must follow the saintly persons and the śāstras in chanting His holy name.
SB Canto 10.1 to 10.13
"Dear Lord," the demigods prayed, "when You appear in Your different incarnations, You take different names and forms according to different situations. Lord Kṛṣṇa is Your name because You are all-attractive; You are called Śyāmasundara because of Your transcendental beauty. Śyāma means blackish, yet they say that You are more beautiful than thousands of cupids. Kandarpa-koṭi-kamanīya. Although You appear in a color which is compared to that of a blackish cloud, You are the transcendental Absolute, and therefore Your beauty is many, many times more attractive than the delicate body of Cupid. Sometimes You are called Giridhārī because You lifted the hill known as Govardhana. You are sometimes called Nanda-nandana or Vāsudeva or Devakī-nandana because You appear as the son of Mahārāja Nanda or Devakī or Vasudeva. Impersonalists think that Your many names or forms are according to a particular type of work and quality because they accept You from the position of a material observer.
The Lord is also known as Giridhārī or Girivara-dhārī. Because Kṛṣṇa, for the sake of His devotees, lifted Govardhana Hill, the devotees appreciate the Lord's inconceivable strength; but nondevotees, in spite of directly perceiving the Lord's inconceivable strength and power, regard the Lord's activities as fictitious. This is the difference between a devotee and a nondevotee. Nondevotees cannot give any nomenclature for the Supreme Personality of Godhead, yet the Lord is known as Śyāmasundara and Giridhārī. Similarly, the Lord is known as Devakī-nandana and Yaśodā-nandana because He accepted the role of son for mother Devakī and mother Yaśodā, and He is known as Gopāla because He enjoyed the sport of maintaining the cows and calves. Therefore, although He has no mundane name, He is addressed by devotees as Devakī-nandana, Yaśodā-nandana, Gopāla and Śyāmasundara. These are all transcendental names that only devotees can appreciate and nondevotees cannot.
The word kukṣi-gataḥ, meaning "within the womb of Devakī," has been discussed by Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī in his Krama-sandarbha commentary. Since it was said at first that Kṛṣṇa was present within the heart of Vasudeva and was transferred to the heart of Devakī, Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī writes, how is it that Kṛṣṇa was now in the womb? He replies that there is no contradiction. From the heart the Lord can go to the womb, or from the womb He can go to the heart. Indeed, He can go or stay anywhere. As confirmed in the Brahma-saṁhitā (5.35), aṇḍāntara-stha-paramāṇu-cayāntara-sthaṁ govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi. The Lord can stay wherever He likes. Devakī, therefore, in accordance with the desire of her former life, now had the opportunity to seek the benediction of having the Supreme Personality of Godhead as her son, Devakī-nandana.
SB Cantos 10.14 to 12 (Translations Only)
Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa is He who is known as jana-nivāsa, the ultimate resort of all living entities, and who is also known as Devakīnandana or Yaśodā-nandana, the son of Devakī and Yaśodā. He is the guide of the Yadu dynasty, and with His mighty arms He kills everything inauspicious, as well as every man who is impious. By His presence He destroys all things inauspicious for all living entities, moving and inert. His blissful smiling face always increases the lusty desires of the gopīs of Vṛndāvana. May He be all glorious and happy!
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta
CC Madhya-lila
When the gopīs sometimes saw Kṛṣṇa in the form of Nārāyaṇa, they were not very much attracted to Him. The gopīs never addressed Kṛṣṇa as Rukmiṇī-ramaṇa. Kṛṣṇa's devotees in Vṛndāvana address Him as Rādhāramaṇa, Nandanandana and Yaśodānandana, but not as Vasudeva-nandana or Devakī-nandana. Although according to the material conception Nārāyaṇa, Rukmiṇī-ramaṇa and Kṛṣṇa are one and the same, in the spiritual world one cannot use the name Rukmiṇī-ramaṇa or Nārāyaṇa in place of the name Kṛṣṇa. If one does so out of a poor fund of knowledge, his mellow with the Lord becomes spiritually faulty and is called rasābhāsa, an overlapping of transcendental mellows. The advanced devotee who has actually realized the transcendental features of the Lord will not commit the mistake of creating a rasābhāsa situation by using one name for another. Because of the influence of Kali-yuga, there is much rasābhāsa in the name of extravagance and liberal-mindedness. Such fanaticism is not very much appreciated by pure devotees.
“"Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa is He who is known as jana-nivāsa, the ultimate resort of all living entities, and who is also known as Devakī-nandana or Yaśodā-nandana, the son of Devakī and Yaśodā. He is the guide of the Yadu dynasty, and with His mighty arms He kills everything inauspicious, as well as every man who is impious. By His presence He destroys all things inauspicious for all living entities, moving and inert. His blissful smiling face always increases the lusty desires of the gopīs of Vṛndāvana. May He be all-glorious and happy!""
Other Books by Srila Prabhupada
Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead
Mukunda-mala-stotra (mantras 1 to 6 only)
Vasudeva and Devakī are confidential devotees of the Lord in the mood of parental love. Even greater than them are Nanda and Yaśodā, His foster parents in Vṛndāvana. The Lord takes great pleasure in being addressed as Devakī-nandana ("the son of Devakī"), Nanda-nandana ("the son of Nanda"), Yaśodā-nandana ("the son of Yaśodā"), Daśarathī ("the son of King Daśaratha"), Janakī-nātha ("the husband of Janakī"), and so on. The pleasure one gives the Lord by addressing Him by such names is many, many times greater than the pleasure He enjoys when He is addressed as the Supreme Father, the Greatest of the Great, Parameśvara, or anything of that nature, which indicate volumes of awe and veneration. Therefore the names King Kulaśekhara uses to glorify the Lord in this verse indicate his intimate transcendental relationship with the Lord.
Therefore King Kulaśekhara, knowing how pleased the Lord is to be addressed by a name indicating His transcendental relationships with His intimate devotees, and knowing also the potency of the name Kṛṣṇa, has chosen to glorify the Lord by addressing Him as Devakī-nandana and Kṛṣṇa. The king also addresses Him as Vṛṣṇi-vaṁśa-pradīpa ("the brilliant light in the Vṛṣṇi dynasty") because millions of generations of the Vṛṣṇi dynasty became sanctified by the Lord's appearance within it. The śāstras state that a family in which a pure devotee is born is sanctified for one hundred generations of ancestors and descendants. And the śāstras also state that every place within a radius of one hundred miles from where a devotee is born becomes sanctified. If a devotee can sanctify the place and family of his birth so extraordinarily, then what to speak of how completely the Lord can sanctify the place and family in which He chooses to take His birth.
Lectures
Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures
So everyone is named here with his task. The first name is, Kṛṣṇa, Hṛṣīkeśa. Hṛṣīkeśa. He is the master of the senses. Govinda. Go means senses. "Who gives pleasure to the senses." So Kṛṣṇa has got many names, thousands, out of which, the Kṛṣṇa name is chief, mukhya. That is described in Vedic literature. People say God has no name. That is right. He has no particular fixed name. But His names are there according to His different activities. Just like His name is Devakī-nandana. Because He accepted Devakī as His mother, therefore He is called Devakī-nandana. Similarly, He is called Nanda-nandana, Yaśodā-nandana, Vrajendra-nandana—in relationship with Nanda Mahārāja, Yaśodā, His foster father and mother. Similarly, He is sometimes named Pārtha-sārathi because He acted as the chariot driver of Arjuna. Arjuna's name is Pārtha. His mother's name is Pṛthā, Kuntī's. From Pṛthā, his name is Pārtha. From his father's name, Pāṇḍu, his name is Pāṇḍava. So in this way big personalities or anyone, they should tally, the name should tally with the activities. This is nomenclature.
Kṛṣṇa says that "I am the origin of everything." And in Vedānta says the Brahman, Absolute Truth is that, janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1), wherefrom everything is emanating. And here Kṛṣṇa says, ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavo mattaḥ sarvaṁ pravartate (BG 10.8). All the ācāryas, they have admitted this. Even Śaṅkarācārya, who is not Vaiṣṇava. Still he accepts: sa bhagavān svayaṁ kṛṣṇa devakī-nandana. He has admitted. So Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. There is no doubt. If you want to know Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Lord, here is Bhagavad-gītā As It Is. Try to understand, and your life will be successful.
So somebody will fight that "God has no name." Yes, God has name, but the names are so many that you cannot understand which one is the chief name. Therefore the Vedantist, those who are expert in Vedic knowledge—and the word is also there—they have selected the chief name of God as Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa means "all-attractive." God has actually no name, but His name is designated according to His activities and action. Just like Pārtha-sārathi. Pārtha-sārathi, the name is given to Kṛṣṇa because He acted as the chariot driver of Pārtha. He is addressed as Devakī-nandana. So Devakī-nandana is not His name, but because He acted, He appeared as the son of Devakī, He is called Devakī-nandana. He is called Yaśodā-nandana. Similarly, all the names of God... Actually, what you say, that there is no name of God, but He has His name, but the name is designated according to His activities. That means that God has His activities, and according to the different types of activities, He has got millions and trillions of name.
Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures
So in the Vedas, in the Purāṇas, in the Upaniṣads, and confirmed by great sages, saintly persons, everyone accepts Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Then why these rascals cannot find out God? We are giving the name of God, the address of God, the father, God's father's name also, Nanda-nandana, Devakī-nandana. So where is the difficulty to find out? There is no difficulty. But the rascals will not accept. They will continue their rascaldom. That is the difficulty. Otherwise, it is not at all difficulty to find out where is God. God is neither dead, nor God has become void or impersonal. He's person, dvi-bhuja-muralīdhara, Kṛṣṇa, playing on His flute and jāmuna-tīra-vana-cārī. He is existent always. Adyāpi kare līlāya gaura-rāya, kona kona bhāgyavān dekhibāre pāya(?). Kṛṣṇa is always existing. Kṛṣṇa's incarnations are always existing, before us. But if we are fortunate enough, we can see; otherwise not.
So Kapila Muni is incarnation of God. He described the sāṅkhya philosophy and bhakti-yoga. In the Third Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, His instructions are there. He was giving instruction to His mother, Devahūti. His father left Him under the care of the mother. He went to forest for liberation. So when He grew up, He instructed His mother. He's known..., Kapiladeva is known as Devahūti-putra, the son of Devahūti. All incarnation of God is famous, especially by mother's name. Just like Kṛṣṇa is famous by Yaśodā-nandana, Devakī-nandana. He is very much pleased when His name is made in connection with His mother and father. Nanda-nandana, Vasudeva-nandana. Similarly, here also, Devahūti-nandana, Devahūti-putra Kapila. So this Kapiladeva sāṅkhya philosophy has described how the elements came in, how the subtle elements mind, intelligence develop, how these gross elements earth, water, fire, all these gross elements develop.
Therefore this is the best service, to inform him that "You are part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa. You are son of Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is opulent, six kind of opulence. Why you are traveling, why you are rotting in this material world?" This is the greatest service, Kṛṣṇa consciousness. But māyā is very strong. Still, it is the duty of every kṛṣṇa-bhakta to try to enlighten everyone to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Just like Kuntīdevī is pointing out. First of all she said, alakṣyaṁ sarva-bhūtānām antar bahir avasthi... (SB 1.8.18). Although Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Person, is without and within, still, to the rascals and fools, He is invisible. Therefore she is pointing out: "Here is the Lord, kṛṣṇāya vāsudevāya (SB 1.8.21)." He is the all-pervading Supreme Personality of Godhead, but He's very much pleased to become the son of Devakī. Devakī-nandanāya. Devakī-nandanāya is mentioned in Atharva-Veda also. Kṛṣṇa comes as Devakī-nandana, and His foster father is Nanda-gopa, Nanda Mahārāja.
Just like when He acts as the chariot driver of Arjuna, His name is Pārtha-sārathi. When He plays as the child of mother Yaśodā, He is called Yaśodā-nandana. When people say that He is born of Nanda Mahārāja, He is called Nanda-nandana. When people say that He came to protect Vasudeva and Devakī, He is called Vāsudeva, or Devakī-nandana. Or when He is in the Yadu dynasty, He's said as Yādava. In this way, Kṛṣṇa has unlimited pastimes and unlimited names. Advaitam acyutam anādim ananta-rūpam (Bs. 5.33). Ananta. Ananta means unlimited. He has got unlimited because so many devotees, not one devotees, and He has to satisfy everyone, as Nanda-kumāra, as Yaśodā-nandana, as Vāsudeva, as Yādava, as Pārtha-sārathi. So in this way, when one becomes bewildered that how many names He has got, so one should understand He has unlimited names or no name, but because He has to act unlimitedly, therefore He has got unlimited names.
Those who are mūḍhas, they cannot understand, but those who are intelligent, they know that Kṛṣṇa is perfectly playing as a human being. As a human being takes birth in the womb of his father and mother by the father and mother, similarly, Kṛṣṇa also appeared, accepting Vasudeva as His father, Devakī as mother. But actually Kṛṣṇa is not born. That is being repeatedly explained by Kuntīdevī, that apare, apare vasudevasya devakyām: "They say like that." What is that? Devakī-nandana... There is a verse, that "It is a saying only. Nobody can become Kṛṣṇa's father or mother, but they get the reputation as father and mother. That is a concession to the devotee." Therefore, Kuntīdevī says, apare: "Others say like that." Somebody says like this; somebody says like that; somebody says like this. This is going on. But actually, Kṛṣṇa remains aja always. Because if we do not understand that Kṛṣṇa, what is Kṛṣṇa, then we'll misunderstand Him, that "He is also born. He is also born, so how He can become?" The Māyāvādīs say that "Kṛṣṇa is also having a body of the material body, māyā. Therefore real spiritual identity (is) impersonal. As soon as He assumes the body, it is material." That is called Māyāvāda. "Māyā. The Kṛṣṇa's body is māyā. The ultimate Absolute is no body, impersonal." That is their theory. Therefore we call them Māyāvādī.
Kṛṣṇa supplied unlimited measurement of cloth to Draupadī because Draupadī was crying to Kṛṣṇa, "Save my honor." Similarly, Arjuna also, he accepted Kṛṣṇa as the supreme guide. Śiṣyas te 'haṁ śādhi māṁ prapannam: (BG 2.7) "There is perplexity, my dear Kṛṣṇa. I cannot decide whether I shall fight or I shall not fight." Kārpaṇya-doṣopahata-svabhāvaḥ: "I am kṣatriya, but due to my weakness, I am crying to avoid fight. So therefore please instruct me. Because You can, I understand that You can give me the right instruction; therefore I become Your śiṣya." Śiṣyas te 'haṁ śādhi māṁ prapannam. Therefore Kṛṣṇa is known as Pārtha-sārathi. Pārtha-sārathi, Kṛṣṇa-sakha, Yaśodā-nandana, Nanda-nandana, Vāsudeva, Devakī-nandana. So God has no name, but He has got thousands and millions of names on account of His different varieties of activities with His devotees. This is the science of understanding Kṛṣṇa's name. Kṛṣṇa-sakha and Vṛṣṇi-ṛṣabha, "The best of the Vṛṣṇi dynasty." Because Kṛṣṇa took birth in the Vṛṣṇi dynasty, so He's the best, Ṛṣabha. Ṛṣabha means the best. And because Kṛṣṇa took birth in the Vṛṣṇi dynasty, therefore the whole family became very famous. And His business was avani-dhrug-rājanya-vaṁśa, vaṁśa-dahana. Paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām (BG 4.8).
So here, about the Pāṇḍavas it is described that Kṛṣṇa accepted sārathyam. Kṛṣṇa's another name is Pārtha-sārathi. Pārtha. Arjuna's name is Pārtha. Pārtha means "the son of Pṛthā." Kuntī's another name is Pṛthā. Kuntī's father's name was Pṛthu, so Kuntī's name was Pṛthā. Therefore Arjuna's name was Pārtha. And because Kṛṣṇa served as the chariot driver of Kṛṣṇa, His another name is Pārtha-sārathi. So it is a fact that God has no name. Sometimes some philosopher says that "God has no name." That is fact. But why God has so many names? These names are calculated according to His pastimes. Just like Kṛṣṇa is known as Devakī-nandana. Because He appeared as the son of Devakī, therefore His name is Devakī-nandana. By the action. Kṛṣṇa is known as Yaśodā-nandana. Because Kṛṣṇa acted as the son of mother Yaśodā, His name is Yaśodā-nandana. Kṛṣṇa's name is Rādhā-ramaṇa. Because Kṛṣṇa enjoyed with Rādhārāṇī, therefore His name is Rādhā-ramaṇa. Kṛṣṇa's name is Govinda. Because He gave pleasure even to the cows, therefore His name is Govinda. Or Kṛṣṇa gives pleasure to every sense; therefore His name is Govinda. There are so many thousands and millions of names of Kṛṣṇa.
Prahlāda Mahārāja says, "My Lord," Aravinda-akṣa. Kṛṣṇa's another name... As I explained yesterday, God has no name, but He has got thousands and millions of names according to His relationship with the devotee or the world, like that. As I explained yesterday, Kṛṣṇa is called Devakī-nandana because He has got relationship with Devakī. Therefore He has become Devakī-nandana. Kṛṣṇa is called Yaśodā-nandana. So similarly, Kṛṣṇa's another name is Aravindākṣa, Aravinda, because His eyes are just like petals of the lotus flower. Aravinda-nābhi. Aravinda-nābhi means Viṣṇu, Lord Viṣṇu, Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, from His navel, one lotus flower is grown. Therefore He is called Aravinda-nābhi.
Sri Brahma-samhita Lectures
Just like in this brahmāṇḍa there was Kṛṣṇa avatāra in, five thousand years ago, similarly Kṛṣṇa avatāra is going on just like... The same example, as I have given you many times, that the sun, sun, sun planet is there in the sky, but sun is visible when he is in our front. Otherwise sun is there. Similarly Kṛṣṇa is always there, but when He descends, incarnates, He becomes visible to us, exactly like the sun. At the present moment, it is night. Sun is not visible. But in due course of time, say, after eight hours or ten hours, in the morning, the sun will be visible. Similarly there is scheduled time when Kṛṣṇa becomes visible on this planet, on this universe. And there are, there are innumerable universes. They..., therefore He's called nitya-līlā. Nitya-līlā means eternal pastimes. Kṛṣṇa is born as Yaśodā, Devakī-nandana. Immediately He begins to grow. But that birth is taking another planet, another universe. Just like six-thirty, sunshine... It is now visible on this planet, or on this city, but again six-thirty, again, in another city, six-thirty in another city, six-thirty another city. It is not very difficult to understand.
Festival Lectures
So they were preparing just to satisfy the demigod Indra, because he was supposed to... Not supposed. Actually he supplies rains sufficiently. Without rains you cannot have successful agriculture. So they were preparing that sacrifice. So this preparation was being observed by Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma. Kṛṣṇa is the youngest, and Balarāma is the eldest. Balarāma is son of Rohiṇī, and Kṛṣṇa is son of Devakī. Both these ladies, Rohiṇī and Devakī, they were wives of Vasudeva, Kṛṣṇa's father. So Balarāma was born of Rohiṇī, and Kṛṣṇa was born of Devakī. Devakī-nandana-gopāla. So Devakī-nandana. So They were not very... There was not much difference of Their age, say one year or two years, like that. So Balarāma was eldest brother. They were playing together, and this is an incidence when Balarāma was about eight years old and Kṛṣṇa was about seven years old. So, bhagavān tatraiva baladevena saṁyutaḥ. Bhagavān, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, along with Baladeva, His elder brother, apaśyan, "saw." What is that "saw"? Nivasan gopa indra-yāga-kṛtodyamān: "All the cowherds men, including His father, they were preparing for sacrifice of Indra-yajña." Indra-yajña.
Arrival Addresses and Talks
Here is the Tehran representative. Yes. So there was very nice meeting in Tehran. Many scholar, Muhammadan, came to see me. So everyone is understanding the importance of this movement. So in Tehran I discussed about chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu says that there are many names. Nāmnām akāri bahudhā nija-sarva-śaktiḥ. Kṛṣṇa's name, manyfold. So I pleaded to the Muslim audience that "You can chant the name of Allah also. Not necessarily that you have to chant the Kṛṣṇa name, but any name indicating the Supreme Lord can be chanted." Because in the śāstra it is said, harer nāma, harer nāma, (CC Adi 17.21) the holy name of the Lord. But it must be the name of the Lord. Actually, Kṛṣṇa has thousands of names, and His names are enumerated by His activities. Just like Kṛṣṇa accepted to become the son of mother Yaśodā; therefore He is called Yaśodā-nandana. Kṛṣṇa accepted Vasudeva as His father, or Nanda Mahārāja; therefore He is called Nanda-nandana, Vāsudeva, or Devakī-nandana. Kṛṣṇa acted as the charioteer of Arjuna; He is called Partha-sarathi. So Kṛṣṇa's name means attached with the activities along with His devotees. This is Kṛṣṇa's name. So if the Muhammadans' aim the Supreme Lord, Allah akbar, "God the great..." Just like we say Parabrahma. Brahman means the biggest, bṛhatvāt bṛhannatvāt. On account of being very big, including everything, that God's another name is Parabrahma. Paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān (BG 10.12). Arjuna addressed Kṛṣṇa as Parabrahma. So Allah akbar means Parabrahma.
General Lectures
Although he was impersonalist, he accepted, sa bhagavān svayam kṛṣṇa. "Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, has come, has descended as the son of Vasudeva and Devakī." He has clearly mentioned. Because one may not misunderstand, "This Kṛṣṇa may be different." But he has specif... Just like identification. If you go to the court, you give your identification by your father's name. So Śaṅkarācārya has given identification of Kṛṣṇa by His father's name, by His mother's name. Devakī vasudevāsya. We also say Devakī-nandana, Vasudeva. So ātmavit-sammataḥ. It must be approved by great ācāryas. We are pushing on this Kṛṣṇa consciousness not by whims. It is approved by great ācāryas. We are following their footsteps. That's all. That is our business. Ātmavit tattva, ātmavit-sammataḥ. And then puṁsām, for the people in general, śrotavyādiṣu yaḥ paraḥ. They have got many subject matter for hearing, ordinary people. But this subject matter, hearing of this Kṛṣṇa consciousness, is the, śrotavyādi... Whatever subject matter you have got for hearing, this is the topmost. This is the topmost. Śrotavyādiṣu yaḥ paraḥ.
Because anything done without Kṛṣṇa consciousness, that is sinful. That is explained in the Bhagavad-gītā, yajñārthāt karmaṇo 'nyatra loko 'yam-karma-bandhanaḥ (BG 3.9). So either you act piously or act sinfully, you become bound up by the reaction of such pious or impious activities. But if you act for Kṛṣṇa in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, then there is no such bondage. So this Kṛṣṇa consciousness is not a concocted thing. It is... We have got authority from the Vedas. We have authority from Kṛṣṇa. We have got authority from Bhagavad-gītā. We have got authority by the ācāryas, Rāmānujācārya, Madhvācārya, all of them, even Śaṅkarācārya, although we differ in some points with Śaṅkarācārya. Śaṅkarācārya has admitted Kṛṣṇa, bhagavān sa svayam kṛṣṇa, he has stated. Devakīnandana, he has specifically mentioned Kṛṣṇa, the son of Devakī and Vasudeva, is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Nārāyaṇa paraḥ avyaktāt. I think those who have read Śaṅkara's comment on Bhagavad-gītā, they know all these things. So Kṛṣṇa is admitted as the Supreme Personality of Godhead by all the bona fide ācāryas. And all scholars up to date, everyone, and confirmed by Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu.
Just like Kṛṣṇa is sometimes called Yaśodā-nandana, the son of Mother Yaśodā. That is quite all right, because He played the part of son of Yaśodā-mā. So Yaśodā-nandana means son of Yaśodā. Devakī-nandana, son of Devakī. Vasudeva-nandana, Nanda-nandana, Pārtha-sārathi. Pārtha-sārathi means He acted as the charioteer of Arjuna, Pārtha, the son of Pṛthā. Arjuna's mother's name was Pṛthā. So Arjuna's another name—Pārtha. And because He acted as the charioteer of Pārtha, His name is Pārtha-sārathi. So actually, Kṛṣṇa, or God, has many dealings with His many devotees, and that particular dealing may be called His name. Therefore... He has innumerable devotees, therefore He has innumerable names. You cannot fix up one name.
Purports to Songs
So this song was sung by Govinda dasa. Govinda-dāsa-abhilāsa re. What is his desire? Abhilāsa means desire. Bhajahū re mana śrī-nanda-nandana: "My dear mind..." Because mind is our friend and enemy. If you train the mind, then mind is your best friend. And if you cannot train your mind, then will be your bitterest enemy. Sa vai manaḥ kṛṣṇa-padāravindayoḥ (SB 9.4.18). Therefore mind has always to be engaged on the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, then mind automatically will be controlled and will become friend. So Govinda dasa is expressing his desire: "My dear mind, you just be engaged in devotional service of Nanda-nandana." His..., he does not say Kṛṣṇa. He says Nanda-nandana. If we address Kṛṣṇa directly, that is not very pleasing, but if we say Kṛṣṇa: Nanda-nandana, Yaśodā-nandana, Devakī-nandana, Pārtha-sārathi—in relationship with His devotee—then He becomes more pleased. So bhajahū re mana śrī-nanda-nandana. Why Śrī-Nanda-nandana? Now, abhaya-caraṇāravinda re. If you take shelter of the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, Nanda-nandana, then you'll have no more anxiety, fear.
Conversations and Morning Walks
1977 Conversations and Morning Walks
Prabhupāda: Yes, they are creating so many dogs. "Can you give me any service?" "No vacancy! Get out!" And somebody becomes a... "All right, a bit of bread..." And: "Oh, oh, you are so kind." These śūdras... The number of śūdras have created this world situation so bad. (break) In your country also the farmers wants to go to the city to become educated and never comes back again. They are no more interested.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: No. Actually Paramānanda was telling me that, you know, he's made some very close friends amongst the farming people, not our own people. So every year he goes back to near New Vrindaban, 'cause he made friends with the local people there, and he spends a week with them, and Devakī-nandana also. So he says that now he helps them. Whenever he goes, he helps them with the farming because their sons are all starting to marry the girls from the city, and they're not so much inclined towards the farming work. So the father and mother, even though they're getting older, they have to more and more work because the children are not helping them.
Prabhupāda: The city girl, she does not wish to come.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: No. It's too... What should I say?
Prabhupāda: They are not faithful wives.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: No. They want the cinema and all of the other things. They don't want to work hard. Farm life means to work hard. You have to get out and milk the cows, so many things. They don't want to do this. They want to stay at home.
Prabhupāda: Stay home and read fiction and drink.
| Page Title: | Devaki-nandana |
| Compiler: | Sahadeva, Serene |
| Created: | 11 of Aug, 2012 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=1, SB=6, CC=2, OB=3, Lec=18, Con=1, Let=0 |
| No. of Quotes: | 31 |