There are certain symptoms of great sages who are situated in śānta-rasa devotional service, and these symptoms are exhibited as follows. They concentrate their eyesight on the tip of the nose, and they behave just like an avadhūta. Avadhūta means a highly elevated mystic who does not care for any social, religious or Vedic conventions. Another symptom is that such persons are very careful to step forward when giving speeches. When they speak, they join together the forefinger and thumb. (This is called the jñāna-mudrā position.) They are not against the atheists, nor are they particularly inclined to the devotees. Such persons give stress to liberation and detachment from the materialistic way of life. They are always neutral and have no affection for nor misidentification with anything material. They are always grave, but fully absorbed in thoughts of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. These uncommon features develop in devotees who are situated in śānta-rasa.
Eyesight
Bhagavad-gita As It Is
BG Chapters 1 - 6
We never see a picture of Kṛṣṇa in old age because He never grows old like us, although He is the oldest person in the whole creation—past, present, and future. Neither His body nor His intelligence ever deteriorates or changes. Therefore, it is clear that in spite of His being in the material world, He is the same unborn, eternal form of bliss and knowledge, changeless in His transcendental body and intelligence. Factually, His appearance and disappearance are like the sun's rising, moving before us, and then disappearing from our eyesight. When the sun is out of sight, we think that the sun is set, and when the sun is before our eyes, we think that the sun is on the horizon. Actually, the sun is always in its fixed position, but owing to our defective, insufficient senses, we calculate the appearance and disappearance of the sun in the sky.
Srimad-Bhagavatam
SB Canto 1
The merciful Lord left behind Him the great teachings of the Bhagavad-gītā so that one can take the instructions of the Lord even when He is not visible to material eyesight. Material senses cannot have any estimation of the Supreme Lord, but by His inconceivable power the Lord can incarnate Himself to the sense perception of the conditioned souls in a suitable manner through the agency of matter, which is also another form of the Lord's manifested energy. Thus the Bhagavad-gītā, or any authentic scriptural sound representation of the Lord, is also the incarnation of the Lord. There is no difference between the sound representation of the Lord and the Lord Himself. One can derive the same benefit from the Bhagavad-gītā as Arjuna did in the personal presence of the Lord.
SB Canto 3
Dhṛtarāṣṭra was blind from birth, but his blindness in committing impious activities to support his dishonest sons was a greater blindness than his physical lack of eyesight. The physical lack of sight does not bar one from spiritual progress. But when one is blind spiritually, even though physically fit, that blindness is dangerously detrimental to the progressive path of human life.
Thereafter, the two eyes of the gigantic form of the Lord were separately manifested. The sun, the director of light, entered them with the partial representation of eyesight, and thus the living entities can have vision of forms.
Thereafter, the two eyes of the gigantic form of the Lord were separately manifested. The sun, the director of light, entered them with the partial representation of eyesight, and thus the living entities can have vision of forms.
So many impersonal philosophers remain everlastingly under the influence of māyā Because, although they indulge in theoretical knowledge of Brahman, they do not develop affection for Brahman nor do they have any scope for development of affection because of their defective method. A devotee of the sun-god, even though devoid of eyesight, can see the sun-god as he is even from this planet, whereas one who is not a devotee of the sun cannot even bear the glaring sunlight. Similarly, by devotional service, even though one is not on the level of a jñānī, one can see the Personality of Godhead within himself due to his development of pure love. In all circumstances one should try to develop love of Godhead, and that will solve all contending problems.
The Supreme Lord cannot be seen by ordinary eyes, but He now became visible to the eyesight of the Kumāras. Another significant word is samādhi-bhāgyam. Meditators who are very fortunate can see the Viṣṇu form of the Lord within their hearts by following the yogic process. But to see Him face to face is a different matter. This is only possible for pure devotees. The Kumāras, therefore, upon seeing the Lord coming forward with His associates, who were holding an umbrella and a cāmara fan, were struck with wonder that they were seeing the Lord face to face. It is said in the Brahma-saṁhitā that devotees, being elevated in love of God, always see Śyāmasundara, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, within their hearts. But when they are mature, the same God is visible before them face to face. For ordinary persons the Lord is not visible; however, when one can understand the significance of His holy name and one engages himself in the devotional service of the Lord, beginning with the tongue, by chanting and tasting prasāda, then gradually the Lord reveals Himself. Thus the devotee constantly sees the Lord within his heart, and, in a more mature stage, one can see the same Lord directly, as we see everything else.
For the impersonalists and the so-called yogīs, the Lord is always hidden by the curtain of yogamāyā. Bhagavad-gītā says that even when Lord Kṛṣṇa was seen by everyone while He was present on the surface of the earth, the impersonalists and the so-called yogīs could not see Him because they were devoid of devotional eyesight. The theory of the impersonalists and so-called yogīs is that the Supreme Lord assumes a particular form when He comes in touch with māyā, although actually He has no form. This very conception of the impersonalists and so-called yogīs checks them from seeing the Supreme Personality of Godhead as He is. The Lord, therefore, is always beyond the sight of such nondevotees. The four sages felt so much obliged to the Lord that they offered their respectful obeisances unto Him again and again.
SB Canto 4
As far as our senses are concerned, there are many animals, both beasts and birds, who are very expert in exercising their senses more keenly than human beings. For example, vultures or hawks can go very high in the sky, but can see a small body on the ground very clearly. This means that their eyesight is so keen that they can find an eatable corpse from a great distance. Certainly their eyesight is much keener than human beings', but this does not mean that their existence is more important than that of a human being. Similarly, dogs can smell many things from a far distance. Many fish can understand by the power of sound that an enemy is coming. All these examples are described in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. If one's senses cannot help him attain the highest perfection of life, realization of the Supreme, they are all useless.
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta
CC Madhya-lila
"'My dear Vaiṣṇava, seeing a person like you is the perfection of one"s eyesight, touching your lotus feet is the perfection of the sense of touch, and glorifying your good qualities is the tongue's real activity, for in the material world it is very difficult to find a pure devotee of the Lord.'"
Other Books by Srila Prabhupada
Nectar of Devotion
Regarding concentration of the eyesight on the tip of the nose, there is a statement in the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu by a devotee who observed this being performed by a yogī. He remarked, "This great sage is concentrating his eyesight on the tip of his nose, and from this it appears that he has already realized the eternal form of the Lord within himself."
When Cupid came on one occasion to visit Lord Kṛṣṇa, some devotee addressed him thus: "My dear Cupid, because you have been so fortunate as to have placed your eyesight on the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, the drops of perspiration on your body have become frozen, and they resemble kaṇṭakī fruits (a kind of small fruit found in thorny bushes)." These are signs of ecstasy and veneration for the Supreme Personality of Godhead. When the princes of the Yadu dynasty heard the vibration of Kṛṣṇa's Pāñcajanya conchshell, the hairs on their bodies immediately stood up in ecstatic jubilation. It seemed at that time that all the hairs on the bodies of the princes were dancing in ecstasy.
Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead
For two hours Kṛṣṇa remained like an ordinary child gripped in the coils of Kāliya, but when He saw that all the inhabitants of Gokula—including His mother and father, the gopīs, the boys and the cows—were just on the point of death and that they had no shelter for salvation from imminent death, Kṛṣṇa immediately freed Himself. He began to expand His body, and when the serpent tried to hold Him, he felt a great strain. On account of the strain, his coils slackened, and he had no alternative but to let loose the Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, from his grasp. Kāliya then became very angry, and his great hoods expanded. He exhaled poisonous fumes from his nostrils, his eyes blazed like fire, and flames issued from his mouth. The great serpent remained still for some time, looking at Kṛṣṇa. Licking his lips with bifurcated tongues, the serpent looked at Kṛṣṇa with double hoods, and his eyesight was full of poison. Kṛṣṇa immediately pounced upon him, just as Garuḍa swoops upon a snake. Thus attacked, Kāliya looked for an opportunity to bite Him, but Kṛṣṇa moved around him. As Kṛṣṇa and Kāliya moved in a circle, the serpent gradually became fatigued, and his strength seemed to diminish considerably.
In this way Balarāma reconciled the situation by His moral and ethical instructions to Rukmiṇī and Kṛṣṇa. To Rukmiṇī He stated further, "This body is part of the material manifestation, consisting of the material elements, living conditions and interactions of the modes of material nature. The living entity, or spirit soul, being in contact with these, is transmigrating from one body to another due to illusory enjoyment, and that transmigration is known as material existence. This contact of the living entity with the material manifestation has neither integration nor disintegration. My dear chaste sister-in-law, the spirit soul is, of course, the cause of this material body, just as the sun is the cause of sunlight, eyesight and the forms of material manifestation."
Lectures
Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures
It comes into existence and again it disappears. This is māyā. But the sky remains there; the sun remains there. Similarly, māyā, illusion, is sometimes is generated. This is the creation of the material world, mahat-tattva-māyā. So this is not permanent. It comes and goes. Similarly, māyā is simply covering our eyes. Just the... Just like this cloud, it is not possible for the cloud to cover the sun. Sun is ninety-three millions, or at least, fourteen, fourteen hundred thousand times bigger than this earth. So how a cloud, spreading over, say, a few miles, ten miles, it can cover the sun? No. The cloud cannot cover the sun, but the cloud can cover my eyesight. This is the position. Similarly māyā cannot touch Kṛṣṇa. The Māyāvādī philosophy is that māyā also covers Kṛṣṇa. When Kṛṣṇa comes here, He comes covered by this māyā. No. This is not. Māyā cannot touch.
Kṛṣṇa does not appear or disappear. Our eyesight changes. Just like we are looking through the window. One horse race is going on. When the horse comes before the window, we can see. And when it passes through, from our eyesight, we think that horse is no longer existing. But the horse is running. This example should be taken. Kṛṣṇa is called nitya-līlā. He is taking His birth, He is fighting in the battle of Kurukṣetra, He's dancing with the gopīs. That is going on eternally in either of the so many, innumerable universes. So the same time...
This is the process. This is yoga system. Suppose you are trying to concentrate your mind on Kṛṣṇa, and your mind is diverted, going somewhere, in some cinema house. So you should withdraw, "Not there, please, here." This is practice of yoga. Not to allow the mind to go away from Kṛṣṇa. If you can practice this simply. Don't allow the mind to go away from Kṛṣṇa and because we cannot fix up our mind sitting in one place in Kṛṣṇa, that requires very high training. To sit down in a place and always fix up in Kṛṣṇa the mind, that is not very easy job. One who is not practiced to it, if he simply imitates, then he will be confused. We have to engage ourself always in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Everything we do must be dovetailed in Kṛṣṇa. Our usual activities should be molded that it has to do everything for Kṛṣṇa. Then your mind will be fixed up in Kṛṣṇa. Artificially when you are not advanced if you try to fix up your mind in Kṛṣṇa, that yoga practice as it is recommended here, that you have to sit down in this way, straight, you have to concentrate your eyesight on the tip of the nose in a secluded sacred place. But where are these chances? At the present moment, where is the chance of all these facilities?
So we are energies of Kṛṣṇa. The Māyāvāda philosophy claims that we are the same Brahman or Paramātmā. But Bhagavad-gītā says that the living entities, as we are, we are simply energy; Kṛṣṇa is the energetic. So there is difference between the energetic and the energy. Just like fire. Fire is the energetic, and light and heat are the energies of fire. So the sun and the sunshine. The sunshine is the energy of sun. If you think because the sunshine has entered in your room, if you think the sun has entered your room, that is wrong. So energy and energetic, they are simultaneously one and different. That is the philosophy of Lord Caitanya. Acintya-bhedābheda. There are many philosophers, they say that God and the living entity the same; it is covered by māyā. Yes. It is covered by māyā. That is accepted. But God cannot be covered by māyā. That is not possible. The same example. Just like the clouds, cloud covering my eyesight. Not that cloud is covering the sun. That is not possible.
Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures
This is the description of the mūḍhāḥ. Here it is said, ajñā. Ajñā means ignorant. And what is Kṛṣṇa? Kṛṣṇa is adhokṣajam. Adhok..., adhokṣaja. Adha, adhakṛta. Adhakṛta means subdued. Akṣaja, our knowledge, direct perception. We are very much proud of our eyes, akṣa. So Kṛṣṇa's another name is Adhokṣaja. Where your eyesight fails to see you, see Kṛṣṇa; therefore he is Adhokṣaja. Akṣaja jñānam. Knowledge received through direct perception of the senses is called akṣaja jñānam, and Kṛṣṇa is adhokṣaja, where knowledge by direct perception cannot reach. And perfection of life is when you become attached to that adhokṣaja. In another place of Śrīmad... (break) Peace will be possible when you develop your loving propensity for the Adhokṣaja, who is beyond your senses. Therefore those who are duṣkṛtinaḥ, mūḍhāḥ-many languages have been used in the Vedas they do not know what is the aim of life, they are simply thinking "I am this body," then this kind of thought is there in the dogs and cats also.
Therefore Kuntīdevī says, na lakṣyase mūḍha-dṛśā (SB 1.8.19). The mūḍha, the rascal, is so foolish... Kṛṣṇa says that "You see Me in the taste of water," but these rascals: "Hah! This is humbug. This is humbug. How, in the taste, Kṛṣṇa is there? I want to see in my own eyes." But you haven't got that eyes. Just develop your eyes gradually. Just like one is suffering from some eye disease. So take some medicine, then gradually, your eyesight will be improved. Take the spectacle, some power, then more power, more power. So... But they'll not take the instruction of Kṛṣṇa, the instruction of spiritual master. So they want to remain mūḍha-dṛśā, rascal and fool. And still they want to see Kṛṣṇa. This is the difficulty.
So these things are discussed in the Bhagavad-gītā. So if we remain mūḍha-dṛśā, in spite of opening our eyes in so many ways by Kṛṣṇa, by guru, by śāstra, if still, if we remain mūḍha-dṛśā, then how we can see Kṛṣṇa? That is not possible. Therefore it is said, na lakṣyase mūḍha-dṛśā: (SB 1.8.19) "If we keep our eyes still mūḍha, illusioned, then we cannot see You." How? Naṭo nāṭyadharo yathā. Exactly... Kṛṣṇa... Just like one of my relatives, he is playing before me, but because I am mūḍha-dṛśā, my eyesight or my intelligence is not correct, I am seeing that somebody else... I see that my relative, my brother or father or friend, is dancing on the stage, but he is dressed in such a way that in spite of being present in my front, I cannot recognize. So if we remain mūḍha-dṛśā, then we cannot see Kṛṣṇa. Otherwise Kṛṣṇa is everywhere. Akhilātma-bhūtaḥ. In the Brahma-saṁhitā it said, goloka eva nivasaty akhilātma-bhūtaḥ (Bs. 5.37). Although He's living in Goloka Vṛndāvana, He's everywhere. Then how can I see? Premāñjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena santaḥ sadaiva hṛdayeṣu vilokayanti (Bs. 5.38). Those who have developed love for Kṛṣṇa, they can see always, twenty-four hours, Kṛṣṇa and nothing but Kṛṣṇa. This is the process.
The whole universe is moving not automatically, but under the guidance and superintendency of Kṛṣṇa. Mayādhyakṣeṇa prakṛtiḥ sūyate sa-carācaram (BG 9.10). Kṛṣṇa says, "Under My superintendence" So Kṛṣṇa is active, but He has nothing to do. This is acintya, inconceivable. He is very active because He is supervising the whole activities of the universe, but still, He has nothing to do. That is Kṛṣṇa. We have to understand that. Paśyaty acakṣuḥ. "He is seeing, but acakṣuḥ. Acakṣuḥ means... You may say, "Not seeing." Acakṣuḥ. He does not place His eyesight, but still, He's seeing. How it is? Now, He can see from any part of His body. Just like I close my eyes—I cannot see you. My seeing activities stop. But because, although I am, I have closed my eyes, but my hands are there. So Kṛṣṇa can see by hands, by nails. That is Kṛṣṇa. Aṅgāni yasya sakalendriya-vṛttimanti paśyanti... This very word is used, paśyanti. The limbs of the body of Kṛṣṇa, any part, He can see. Although He may close His eyes, but because other parts of the body are open, therefore He can see. Aṅgāni yasya sakalendriya-vṛttimanti.
The first aeronautics from Russia, when he was far, far away, he was just looking after, "Where is my Moscow? Where is my Moscow?" You see. This is our intelligence. You may go far away. There is an example. Just like the vulture, they have got a very good eyesight, very good eyesight. You... Seven miles away from the surface, they can see where there is a dead corpse. So they have got good eyesight, but they are searching after dead corpse only. That is their business. These so-called scientists, philosophers, they are very much advanced, but their only business is how to become happy in this planet. That's all. That is their... Not mahātmā. Durātmā. Their mind is not very broad. What is called? Ah? What is the English word? Crippled. Mind is very crippled. Durāśayā. Therefore they are hoping against hope. They will not live here. Still, they are decorating, decorating the dead body. "This is my apartment, this is my house, this is my country, this is my skyscraper building." Painting. And one day, mṛtyuḥ sarva... Just like Hiraṇyakaśipu. He's challenging, challenging, "Where is your God?" "Ah, here is God! Come on! Finished. Finished. Here is God."
In which way you are advanced? The animals, the trees, they are far advanced than you in this matter. So far bodily necessities are concerned, you cannot compete with them. You are flying. So we can fly by airplane. Oh, the vulture can fly more than you. It is a vulture, and it flies many miles above, and it has got very sharp eyesight. The vulture is so up. The business is where there is a dead body. That's all. He is trying to find out, "Where is a dead body?" You see? It goes high, but the business is to find out a dead body. That's all. Similarly, our, this advancement of science, increasing the duration of life, increasing the sex power especially in these days ... As soon as there is lack of sex power, there is divorce suit. Yes. But you have seen the dogs and cats. How much sex power they have got! So begetting children, the hog can beget children, at least three dozen a year. What we can do? In three years it is hardly we can produce one child. And the hog will produce in three years at least thirty-six children.
The Upaniṣad also it is stated that He... The two birds are sitting on the same tree, the jīvātmā and paramātmā. The one bird is eating forbidden fruit, and the other bird is seeing. So He is seeing. But how He is seeing? The Veda, the Vedic literatures, apaśyati. Therefore sees. Apaśyati means see. But you said, acakṣuḥ. He has no eyes. How He sees? That is His eyes. He has no eyes like you, a three feet distance, that's all, finished, your eyesight. He can see. From many thousands and millions of miles away He can see. So it is the distinction. When it is stated, impersonalism, He is not a person like us. Kṛṣṇa says, avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā mānuṣīṁ tanum āśritam: (BG 9.11) "Because I come here to be visible to the rascals, instead of taking advantage of this visibility, they are describing, nirākāra. Mūḍhā, rascals. I come here personally and still they say nirākāra, impersonal. Mūḍhā, rascals, fools, asses."
We have got so many attachment for so many things in the material world, and if you simply... You cannot make it zero; that is not possible. You have to purify. Just like if there is some disease in the eyes, if you simply say, "Pluck it out," that is not treatment. Treatment is: you must remove the disease. If there is cataract, by some way or other, then your eyesight will be revived. Similarly, we have got desires, we have got kāma, krodha, lobha, moha, mātsarya. These are there. But you have to divert these things for Kṛṣṇa's service. Kāmaḥ kṛṣṇa-karmārpaṇe. Just like we have got very much attachment toward doing business, for earning money and become very happy. So Kṛṣṇa says, "Yes, you can do business. There is no harm. But you give Me the result." Yat karoṣi yaj juhoṣi yad aśnāsi yat tapasyasi, kuruṣva tad mad-arpaṇam (BG 9.27). He does not say that you have to do something particular. Of course, bhakta, bhakti, but one who is not accepting bhakti cult immediately, to him Kṛṣṇa says, "All right, never mind. Whatever you do, that's all right." Yat karoṣi. He does not say that "Do this." Yat karoṣi yaj juhoṣi yad aśnāsi. "Try to give it to Me."
It is the guru's business to operate the blind cataractic eye..., eyeball, giving eyesight. So how it is done? Now, jñānāñjana-śalākayā. Just like in the darkness you cannot see. But if there is lamp, you can see. So jñāna means knowledge. You must know what is your position. There are śāstra. You read Bhagavad-gītā, try to understand your position. That is ātma-darśanam. Ātma-darśanam. Everything is there. Ātma-darśanam.
So sa aikṣata. The Vedic information is... Sa asṛjata. We gives seeds with a particular part of the body, but Mahā-Viṣṇu, simply by glancing over the material nature, mahat-tattva, He impregnates the material nature with so many living entities. Sa asṛjata, sa aikṣata. These are the information. The Supreme Personality can give birth through His eyesight. He doesn't require to use it, genital. Because we get information from Brahma-saṁhitā, aṅgāni yasya sakalendriya-vṛttimanti paśyanti pānti kalayanti ciraṁ jaganti, ānanda-cinmaya-sad-ujjvala (Bs. 5.32). These are description in the Brahma-saṁhitā. We can see only with our eyes, but the Brahman, Parabrahman, Viṣṇu, He can beget children also with eyesight. We can eat with our mouth, tongue, but Kṛṣṇa can eat by seeing. Sometimes the argument is put forward by the atheist class of men that "You are offering foodstuff to the Deity, but when He has eaten? The foodstuff is still lying there." (aside:) The children may be taken away. So he does not know, the atheist class man, that Kṛṣṇa can eat simply by seeing. He has eaten everything, and again He has left everything. Pūrṇasya pūrṇam ādāya pūrṇam evāvaśiṣyate (Īśo Invocation).
Actually, senses are there for satisfaction. That's a fact. Otherwise, why the senses are there? Just like the smell is there, and the nose is there. So smell is there for satisfaction of the senses. For the smell, for the nose, nostril, the beautiful flower is there, or beautiful, anything beautiful... To the man, woman is beautiful; to the woman, man is beautiful. So the eyes are there, and the beautiful things are there. That is arrangement. That is development of this nature. As soon as... It is... It is coming from the fire. The... That we have already described. The fire is the origin of beauty and the fire is the origin of eyesight. The loss of eyesight means there is less fiery element. Loss of appetite means there is less of fiery elements. In the Ayurvedic treatment it is called agni-māndyam. So these are transformation of the fire. Similarly, the smell is transformation of the rasa, taste.
People say that you become desireless. That is not possible. I am living being. How I can be desireless? No. That is very difficult task. If we want to become desireless, that is not possible. Kleśo adhikāras teṣām avyaktāsakta-cetasām. Desireless means your desires are suppressed by forced, "I shall not desire." That is not possible. You have got eyes, and if you want to suppress your eyesight, "I shall not see anything," is that possible? That is not possible. Yes, I have got my eyes, but I want to see Kṛṣṇa-Balarāma. That is wanted. That is wanted. Not that "No, I shall not see." Even meditation, so-called meditation, that is also seeing. Real meditation, seeing within. Dhyānāvasthita-tad-gatena manasaḥ paśyanti yaṁ yoginaḥ. Paśyanti, this word is used. Paśyanti means sees, but within, not without. Meditation means seeing within. Not that without seeing. Concentrating the mind to see the form of Lord Viṣṇu, that is real meditation. And without seeing Lord Viṣṇu, that is (indistinct). If you want to fix up my mind into nothing, they say nothingness, that is not possible.
Here also. The priests allow. The guru allow. The professional guru... His disciple will come: "Sir, doctor has advised me to take fish. Without taking fish my eyesight will be lost. He has advised. So what to do? You have asked me not to take fish. You said." "Oh, all right, I give you permission." He gives his permission. This is going on. "I give you per..." Because the guru sees that "If I say no, this rich disciple will be lost. So better let him do whatever he likes. I get my fees. That's all." This is going on. That statement of my Guru Mahārāja, "the society of the cheaters and the cheated," is a fact everywhere. In a law court also, you bribe; you get justice. That is stated in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Arghyeṇa nyāya-rahitam: "If you have got no money, then you cannot get justice in this age. You cannot get justice." It is clearly stated here. That is the symptom of this age. In the law court you have to bribe. In the judges...
Simply you are loving so many things. That is not giving you satisfaction. You try to develop your love which is already dormant in you, and when you are efficient in loving God, you will see God face to face. Premāñjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena santaḥ sadaiva hṛdayeṣu vilokayanti (Bs. 5.38). The Brahma-saṁhitā says that those who have developed love of God and smeared the eyes with the ointment of love, but by that ointment the sight of your eyes, the material eyesight, will be clear. Just like you sometimes apply medicine on your eyes to see clear, similarly, there is a process to make your eyesight clear to see God. That's all. Not that stop seeing, but clear the eyesight. Purify your senses. That is called bhakti. Bhakti means the process of purifying the senses. That's all. And as soon as your senses are purified, transcendentalized, you see God face to face.
Nectar of Devotion Lectures
The process of seeing God... Sevonmukhe hi jihvādau svayam eva sphuraty adhaḥ. Ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi na bhaved grāhyam indriyaiḥ (CC Madhya 17.136)]. Just like a person suffering from some disease, his eyesight is blocked. He has got the eyesight to see, but on account of some cataract disease, he cannot see. Similarly God is there, and I can see Him also. But the cataract of illusion is covering via media between God and me.
General Lectures
That Supreme Personality of Godhead, He is Śyāmasundara. Śyāmasundara. Śyāma means blackish but very, very beautiful. That beautiful person, Supreme Person, Kṛṣṇa, is being observed and seen by saintly persons always. Premāñjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena. Why they are seeing? Because their eyes have been cleared by the ointment of love of God. Just like if your eyes are defective, you apply some ointment, some lotion from the physician, and your eyesight becomes clear and bright, you can see things very nicely. Similarly, when your, these material eyes will be ointmented with love of God, then you'll see God, "Here is God." You will not say God is dead. And that covering has to be moved, and to move that covering you have to take this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement.
This is spoken in the Brahma-saṁhitā by Lord Brahmā. He says that "The devotee whose eyes are smeared with the ointment of love of Godhead..." Just like we sometimes use surma for clarifying our eyesight, similarly, one whose eyesight is purified... We have to purify the position of our senses in order to perceive. With our present senses, materialistic senses, we cannot understand Kṛṣṇa, or God. It is not possible. Ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi na bhaved grāhyam indriyaiḥ (CC Madhya 17.136). He is not... Kṛṣṇa is not perceivable by our material senses. "Then why you are troubling so much, because you have nothing but material senses?" No. It can be purified. How it can be purified? By love of God. When you evolve your dormant love of Godhead, your vision becomes different. That is called premāñjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena santaḥ sadaiva hṛdayeṣu vilokayanti (Bs. 5.38). They are also yogis.
Do you think that your eyes are perfect? There are many types of seeing. Not that simply with glaring eyesight you can see. You can see what is Sarasvatī , you are seeing the body. What is Sarasvatī, do you know? So what you are seeing? You are seeing the body. So what is the power of your seeing? There is another body, sukavādī (?), subtle body. Can you see the mind? But everyone has got mind. Can you see intelligence? But everyone has got intelligence. So what is the power of your seeing? Why you are so much proud of your seeing, nonsense seeing?
Conversations and Morning Walks
1972 Conversations and Morning Walks
Svarūpa Dāmodara: They fail to see that point.
Prabhupāda: That means they are rascals. They do not have clear eyesight, clear insight. They do not know whether they are degrading or developing. Just like the flies, with great force they will go into the fire. They think they are making progress, they are going to the light. They think; otherwise how they are going? Such kind of advancement. They are going to die, be annihilated, and they still, "Oh, we are going force, by force we are going to the light. Here is darkness, there is light." This is their philosophy. Just like a mad driver drinking drives recklessly to die, that's all. But he is thinking, "Oh, I am going with so much great speed." He does not know that he is going to die after few minutes. And that is their development.
1974 Conversations and Morning Walks
Girirāja: "After observing such wonderful happenings, Nanda Mahārāja began to think of the words of Vasudeva again and again."
Prabhupāda: He was a great charmer. Yes. Simple, simple life, village life. They were all... Vasudeva said all these things. Vasudeva is kṣatriya. From the political eyesight, he predicted that "This may happen," but he, as a vaiśya, simple agriculturist, he thought that "Oh, Vasudeva is so, foreseer."
1976 Conversations and Morning Walks
Prabhupāda: No. But if you love God. It helps to love the human beings.
Guest (1): I see, it's the other way!
Prabhupāda: Just like if you supply food to the stomach, it helps the eye sight, but if you supply food to the eyes then you become blind.
Prabhupāda: In the Bhagavad-gītā before meditation it is clearly stated one should not close the eyes. As soon as you close the eyes and meditate, you will sleep. Immediately. They should be half closed and concentrate your eyesight on the top of the nose. That is meditation. Not that closing and snoring and huhuh. These rascals are going on. Who cares for the genuine thing? Nobody cares. Dharma (indistinct). That "I am your guru, I have followers," dharma principle, but he does not know this. This is going on. Neither the rascal guru knows neither his disciple knows. This is going on. Everywhere this is going on. All bluff. This very word used, adharma (indistinct), get a plan, "That I am (indistinct)." That's all. And have it, that's all, and do nothing, that's all. I do not know nothing but (indistinct), that's all. All these gurus all these chelas are doing that. This Anandamayi, Sai Baba, this, that, so many. What do they know?
1977 Conversations and Morning Walks
Dr. Patel: They feed on the filth. This is one difficulty. All people are mad after the cinema.
Prabhupāda: They will wait four hours, five hours, standing. Why cinema? I have seen in London the British Museum. Something came there. From morning there is a queue. Exactly like that, they were standing to go and see the museum. Something came. I... Three, four years ago I saw. They were standing. Just like here. For purchasing the cinema ticket they are standing and eating nampalli, just to see, eyesight. They will not come to see Deity in the temple. They'll not come. Mentality is different. It is a very dangerous civilization, soul-killing civilization. We should be very, very careful if we want success also.
Correspondence
1968 Correspondence
N distributing the "perfection in yoga" leaflet, when people come to your temple you may explain to them the principles of yoga as they are described in the Bhagavad-gita. Such instructions by you may be preceded and followed by Krishna kirtana. If they are interested, you may show them how to sit, concentrating the eyesight on the tip of the nose. The concentration should be on Lord Krishna or Lord Visnu, as is explained in Bhagavad-gita As It Is. So if they come to know about hatha yoga you can show them in the authoritative scriptures how it cannot be successfully practiced in this present age of kali.
| Page Title: | Eyesight |
| Compiler: | Visnu Murti, Serene, Labangalatika |
| Created: | 17 of Nov, 2008 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=1, SB=8, CC=1, OB=5, Lec=22, Con=5, Let=1 |
| No. of Quotes: | 43 |