Prabhupāda: So simply by vibration the atmosphere will be cleansed and purified. Just like when there is thundering sound in the sky, it does not require to understand by any particular language. That very vibration . . . and the origin of creation is sound. The grosser elements are visible, but the creation takes place from finer elements.
The sound is the symptom of the sky. By sound we can understand that there is sky, ether. Then, by sound vibration, there is circulation of air. And you have got practical experience, when there is very loud sound vibration, sometimes there is very strong wind also. So by sound vibration, the wind is started, and by strong wind, electricity is produced. From electricity, water is produced, perspiration. And from water, earth is produced.
So sound is the original element of creation. In Sanskrit language it is called śabda-brahma. Brahman, or the Absolute Truth, is . . . first appears . . . absolute Truth becomes knowable by sound. In the Bhagavad-gītā it is said—the Lord says—raso 'ham apsu kaunteya prabhāsmi śaśi-sūryayoḥ, śabdaḥ khe (BG 7.8). Śabda means sound.
If we want to see God, so let us hear first of all the sound vibration, because that is the beginning. In the Bible also it is said: "The Lord said, 'Let there be creation,' and there was creation." So "Let there be creation," this is sound, transcendental sound. So one who says this word, "Let there be creation," He is not within the creation. Because He, God, is speaking, "Let there be creation" means He is existing before creation.
So God is not within the creation. In the Vedic literature, therefore, description of God's body is given as sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ. Vigraha means form. Sac-cid-ānanda vigrahaḥ. Isvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ (Bs. 5.1). He is not formless. He has got His form, but it is a different form. How we can understand?
Because we have got experience of this material world. We cannot see anything subtle. Gross things we can see. Therefore we can understand by our thoughts what kind of form God has got. Sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ (Bs. 5.1). Sat means eternal, cit means knowledge and ānanda means blissful.
So if we compare with our body, then we can understand what is sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ. Sat means eternal. So if we compare with our body, this body is not eternal; it is destructible. It has got a history: it is produced at a certain period, it exists for a certain period, it grows, it gives some by-product, then it becomes older and older, and then vanquished—no more. That is our practical experience, we know. But God's body is eternal. Therefore He hasn't got a body like this. This body is not eternal—everyone can understand—but His body is eternal.
Another symptom, sat, cit. Cit means knowledge. So we have got also knowledge, but not full knowledge. That has been described in the beginning of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, what is the nature of God. Nature of God is described, janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1). Nature of God means He is the supreme source of everything. Whatever, janma . . . janmādy asya. Janma ādi. Ādi means "Beginning with janma."
Just like I have already described, my body, your body, has a history of janma, or birth, a date of birth. So janma ādi means birth and sustenance and death. We have got this body produced, or born, at a certain date. It keeps, sustains, for a certain period—say fifty years, sixty years or a hundred years, utmost—and then again it is destroyed.
Therefore janma ādi means birth is also coming from Him, maintained also by Him, and when it is destroyed, it goes unto Him. That is called janma ādi, means birth, maintenance and annihilation. Janmādy asya. All this material world, they are undergoing the same process: janma, sustenance and end. Everything. This universe also is like that, everything, even the ant's body or my body, your body, elephant's body, or there are many demigods' body. Just like we have learned from Bhagavad-gītā, Brahmā's body, it keeps for millions and millions of years. One day we cannot calculate.
So there are different types of bodies within this material world. We can compare. Just like ant's body, a fly's body and my body. A fly's body may remain for few years, eh, few hours. So our body may remain for few years. And similarly, there are other living entities like Brahmā, their body remains for few decades. But every body, each body, is subjected to this law of nature: birth, death, disease and old age.
So God's body is not like that. It is eternal. Here in this material world we can possess a body which may exist for millions of years, but that does not mean it is eternal. It is not eternal. But God's body is eternal. Therefore, in the Vedic language, when it is said nirākāra—nirākāra means "Who has no form"—it does not mean that God has no form. He has got form, but His form is different from this form upon which you have got experience.
Our experience is whatever form we can think of, even Brahmā's form, that is liable to be annihilated. But God's form is not like that. So when in the Vedic language it is said nirākāra—means nira, nira means "not," and ākāra means "form"—that means God's form is not like ours. It is not that He has no form. He has form, but His form is different from ours.