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In the middle (Books)

Bhagavad-gita As It Is

BG Chapters 1 - 6

BG 2.28, Purport:

From this subtle state of nonmanifestation comes manifestation, just as from ether, air is generated; from air, fire is generated; from fire, water is generated; and from water, earth becomes manifested. From the earth, many varieties of manifestations take place. Take, for example, a big skyscraper manifested from the earth. When it is dismantled, the manifestation becomes again unmanifested and remains as atoms in the ultimate stage. The law of conservation of energy remains, but in course of time things are manifested and unmanifested—that is the difference. Then what cause is there for lamentation either in the stage of manifestation or in unmanifestation? Somehow or other, even in the unmanifested stage, things are not lost. Both at the beginning and at the end, all elements remain unmanifested, and only in the middle are they manifested, and this does not make any real material difference.

BG Chapters 7 - 12

BG 12.20, Purport:

The impersonal conception of the Supreme Absolute Truth, as described in this chapter, is recommended only up to the time one surrenders himself for self-realization. In other words, as long as one does not have the chance to associate with a pure devotee, the impersonal conception may be beneficial. In the impersonal conception of the Absolute Truth one works without fruitive result, meditates and cultivates knowledge to understand spirit and matter. This is necessary as long as one is not in the association of a pure devotee. Fortunately, if one develops directly a desire to engage in Kṛṣṇa consciousness in pure devotional service, he does not need to undergo step-by-step improvements in spiritual realization. Devotional service, as described in the middle six chapters of Bhagavad-gītā, is more congenial. One need not bother about materials to keep body and soul together, because by the grace of the Lord everything is carried out automatically.

BG Chapters 13 - 18

BG 13.1-2, Purport:

In the first six chapters of Bhagavad-gītā the knower of the body (the living entity) and the position by which he can understand the Supreme Lord are described. In the middle six chapters of the Bhagavad-gītā the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the relationship between the individual soul and the Supersoul in regard to devotional service are described. The superior position of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the subordinate position of the individual soul are definitely defined in these chapters. The living entities are subordinate under all circumstances, but in their forgetfulness they are suffering. When enlightened by pious activities, they approach the Supreme Lord in different capacities—as the distressed, those in want of money, the inquisitive, and those in search of knowledge.

BG 14.18, Purport:

The mode of passion is mixed. It is in the middle, between the modes of goodness and ignorance. A person is not always pure, but even if he should be purely in the mode of passion, he will simply remain on this earth as a king or a rich man. But because there are mixtures, one can also go down. People on this earth, in the mode of passion or ignorance, cannot forcibly approach the higher planets by machine. In the mode of passion, there is also the chance of becoming mad in the next life.

Srimad-Bhagavatam

SB Preface and Introduction

SB Preface:

We must know the present need of human society. And what is that need? Human society is no longer bounded by geographical limits to particular countries or communities. Human society is broader than in the Middle Ages, and the world tendency is toward one state or one human society. The ideals of spiritual communism, according to Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, are based more or less on the oneness of the entire human society, nay, of the entire energy of living beings. The need is felt by great thinkers to make this a successful ideology. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam will fill this need in human society. It begins, therefore, with the aphorism of Vedānta philosophy janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1) to establish the ideal of a common cause.

SB Canto 1

SB 1.3.2, Purport:

The first puruṣa is the Kāraṇodakaśāyī Viṣṇu. From His skin holes innumerable universes have sprung up. In each and every universe, the puruṣa enters as the Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu. He is lying within the half of the universe which is full with the water of His body. And from the navel of Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu has sprung the stem of the lotus flower, the birthplace of Brahmā, who is the father of all living beings and the master of all the demigod engineers engaged in the perfect design and working of the universal order. Within the stem of the lotus there are fourteen divisions of planetary systems, and the earthly planets are situated in the middle. Upwards there are other, better planetary systems, and the topmost system is called Brahmaloka or Satyaloka. Downwards from the earthly planetary system there are seven lower planetary systems inhabited by the asuras and similar other materialistic living beings.

SB Canto 2

SB 2.8.21, Purport:

Samplavaḥ, in the sense of "perfect means," is employed to denote the discharging of devotional service, and pratisamplavaḥ means just the opposite, or that which destroys the progress of devotional service. One who is firmly situated in the devotional service of the Lord can very easily execute the function of conditional life. Living the conditional life is just like plying a boat in the middle of the ocean. One is completely at the mercy of the ocean, and at every moment there is every chance of being drowned in the ocean by slight agitation. If the atmosphere is all right, the boat can ply very easily, undoubtedly, but if there is some storm, fog, wind or cloud, there is every possibility of being drowned in the ocean. No one can control the whims of the ocean, however one may be materially well equipped.

SB Canto 3

SB 3.5.49, Purport:

Developed consciousness begins from the human form of life and further increases in the forms of the demigods living in higher planets. The earth is situated almost in the middle of the universe, and the human form of life is the via medium between the life of the demigods and that of the demons. The planetary systems above the earth are especially meant for the higher intellectuals, called demigods. They are called demigods because although their standard of life is far more advanced in culture, enjoyment, luxury, beauty, education and duration of life, they are always fully God conscious. Such demigods are always ready to render service to the Supreme Lord because they are perfectly aware of the fact that every living entity is constitutionally an eternal subordinate servitor of the Lord. They also know that it is the Lord only who can maintain all living entities with all the necessities of life. The Vedic hymns, eko bahūnāṁ yo vidadhāti kāmān, tā enam abruvann āyatanaṁ naḥ prajānīhi yasmin pratiṣṭhitā annam adāme, etc., confirm this truth. In Bhagavad-gītā also, the Lord is mentioned as bhūta-bhṛt, or the maintainer of all living creatures.

SB 3.6.28, Purport:

In Bhagavad-gītā (14.14-15) it is said that those who are highly developed in the mode of goodness are promoted to the higher, heavenly planetary system, and those who are overpowered by the mode of passion are situated in the middle planetary systems—the earth and similar planets. But those who are surcharged with the mode of ignorance are degraded to the lower planetary systems or to the animal kingdom. The demigods are highly developed in the mode of goodness, and thus they are situated in the heavenly planets. Below human beings are the animals, although some of them mingle with human society; cows, horses, dogs, etc., are habituated to living under the protection of human beings.

SB 3.6.29, Purport:

This middle portion of the sky is called Bhuvarloka, as confirmed by both Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī and Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī. In Bhagavad-gītā it is stated that those who develop in the mode of passion are situated in the middle region. Those who are situated in the mode of goodness are promoted to the regions of the demigods, those who are situated in the mode of passion are placed in human society, and those who are situated in the mode of ignorance are placed in the society of animals or ghosts. There are no contradictions in this conclusion. Numerous living entities are distributed all over the universe in different planets and are so situated in terms of their own qualities in the modes of material nature.

SB 3.30.20, Purport:

The process of punishment is explained in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta. Formerly the king's men would take a criminal in a boat in the middle of the river. They would dunk him by grasping a bunch of his hair and thrusting him completely underwater, and when he was almost suffocated, the king's constables would take him out of the water and allow him to breathe for some time, and then they would again dunk him in the water to suffocate. This sort of punishment is inflicted upon the forgotten soul by Yamarāja, as will be described in the following verses.

SB Canto 4

SB 4.14.8, Translation:

When the great sages consulted one another, they saw that the people were in a dangerous position from both directions. When a fire blazes on both ends of a log, the ants in the middle are in a very dangerous situation. Similarly, at that time the people in general were in a dangerous position due to an irresponsible king on one side and thieves and rogues on the other.

SB 4.23.4, Purport:

As it is necessary for one to become very active in family life, similarly, after retirement from family life, it is necessary to control the mind and senses. This is possible when one engages himself fully in the devotional service of the Lord. Actually the whole purpose of the Vedic system, the Vedic social order, is to enable one to ultimately return home, back to Godhead. The gṛhastha-āśrama is a sort of concession combining sense gratification with a regulative life. It is to enable one to easily retire in the middle of life and engage fully in austerities in order to transcend material sense gratification once and for all. Therefore in the vānaprastha stage of life, tapasya, or austerity, is strongly recommended. Mahārāja Pṛthu followed exactly all the rules of vānaprastha life, which is technically known as vaikhānasa-āśrama.

SB 4.29.30-31, Purport:

"Those situated in the mode of goodness gradually go upward to the higher planets; those in the mode of passion live on the earthly planets; and those in the mode of ignorance go down to the hellish worlds."

There are many varieties of life in the different planetary systems, and these come about due to the living entity's developing his qualities in goodness, passion and ignorance. If one is in goodness, he is promoted to the higher systems; if in passion, he remains in the middle systems; and if in ignorance, he is pushed down to the lower species of life.

SB Canto 5

SB 5.9.13, Translation:

The leader of the dacoits captured a man-animal for sacrifice, but he escaped, and the leader ordered his followers to find him. They ran in different directions but could not find him. Wandering here and there in the middle of the night, covered by dense darkness, they came to a paddy field where they saw the exalted son of the Āṅgirā family (Jaḍa Bharata), who was sitting in an elevated place guarding the field against the attacks of deer and wild pigs.

SB 5.16 Summary:

While describing the character of Mahārāja Priyavrata and his descendants, Śukadeva Gosvāmī also described Meru Mountain and the planetary system known as Bhū-maṇḍala. Bhū-maṇḍala is like a lotus flower, and its seven islands are compared to the whorl of the lotus. The place known as Jambūdvīpa is in the middle of that whorl. In Jambūdvīpa there is a mountain known as Sumeru, which is made of solid gold. The height of this mountain is 84,000 yojanas, of which 16,000 yojanas are below the earth. Its width is estimated to be 32,000 yojanas at its summit and 16,000 yojanas at its foot. (One yojana equals approximately eight miles.) This king of mountains, Sumeru, is the support of the planet earth.

SB 5.16.5, Translation:

The planetary system known as Bhū-maṇḍala resembles a lotus flower, and its seven islands resemble the whorl of that flower. The length and breadth of the island known as Jambūdvīpa, which is situated in the middle of the whorl, are one million yojanas (eight million miles). Jambūdvīpa is round like the leaf of a lotus flower.

SB 5.16.7, Translation:

Amidst these divisions, or varṣas, is the varṣa named Ilāvṛta, which is situated in the middle of the whorl of the lotus. Within Ilāvṛta-varṣa is Sumeru Mountain, which is made of gold. Sumeru Mountain is like the pericarp of the lotuslike Bhū-maṇḍala planetary system. The mountain's height is the same as the width of Jambūdvīpa—or, in other words, 100,000 yojanas (800,000 miles). Of that, 16,000 yojanas (128,000 miles) are within the earth, and therefore the mountain's height above the earth is 84,000 yojanas (672,000 miles). The mountain's width is 32,000 yojanas (256,000 miles) at its summit and 16,000 yojanas at its base.

SB 5.16.28, Translation:

In the middle of the summit of Meru is the township of Lord Brahmā. Each of its four sides is calculated to extend for ten million yojanas (eighty million miles). It is made entirely of gold, and therefore learned scholars and sages call it Śātakaumbhī.

SB 5.16.29, Purport:

Brahmā's township is known as Manovatī, and those of his assistants such as Indra and Agni are known as Amarāvatī, Tejovatī, Saṁyamanī, Kṛṣṇāṅganā, Śraddhāvatī, Gandhavatī, Mahodayā and Yaśovatī. Brahmapurī is situated in the middle, and the other eight purīs surround it in all directions.

SB 5.20 Summary:

Vertically, the sun-globe is situated just in the middle of the universe, in Antarikṣa, the space between Bhūrloka and Bhuvarloka. The distance between the sun and the circumference of Aṇḍa-golaka, the globe of the universe, is estimated to be twenty-five koṭi yojanas (two billion miles). Because the sun enters the universe and divides the sky, it is known as Mārtaṇḍa, and because it is produced from Hiraṇyagarbha, the body of the mahat-tattva, it is also called Hiraṇyagarbha.

SB 5.20.30, Translation:

In the middle of that island is a great mountain named Mānasottara, which forms the boundary between the inner side and the outer side of the island. Its breadth and height are 10,000 yojanas (80,000 miles). On that mountain, in the four directions, are the residential quarters of demigods such as Indra. In the chariot of the sun-god, the sun travels on the top of the mountain in an orbit called the Saṁvatsara, encircling Mount Meru. The sun's path on the northern side is called Uttarāyaṇa, and its path on the southern side is called Dakṣiṇāyana. One side represents a day for the demigods, and the other represents their night.

SB 5.20.43, Translation and Purport:

The sun is situated (vertically) in the middle of the universe, in the area between Bhūrloka and Bhuvarloka, which is called antarikṣa, outer space. The distance between the sun and the circumference of the universe is twenty-five koṭi yojanas (two billion miles).

The word koṭi means ten million, and a yojana is eight miles. The diameter of the universe is fifty koṭi yojanas (four billion miles). Therefore, since the sun is in the middle of the universe, the distance between the sun and the edge of the universe is calculated to be twenty-five koṭi yojanas (two billion miles).

SB 5.22 Summary:

The demigod Sūrya is always in touch with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Nārāyaṇa. Residing in outer space, which is in the middle of the universe, between Bhūloka and Bhuvarloka, the sun rotates through the time circle of the zodiac, represented by twelve rāśis, or signs, and assumes different names according to the sign he is in. For the moon, every month is divided into two fortnights. Similarly, according to solar calculations, a month is equal to the time the sun spends in one constellation; two months constitute one season, and there are twelve months in a year. The entire area of the sky is divided into two halves, each representing an ayana, the course traversed by the sun within a period of six months. The sun travels sometimes slowly, sometimes swiftly and sometimes at a moderate speed. In this way it travels within the three worlds, consisting of the heavenly planets, the earthly planets and outer space. These orbits are referred to by great learned scholars by the names Saṁvatsara, Parivatsara, Iḍāvatsara, Anuvatsara and Vatsara.

SB 5.23.3, Translation:

When bulls are yoked together and tied to a central post to thresh rice, they tread around that pivot without deviating from their proper positions—one bull being closest to the post, another in the middle, and a third on the outside. Similarly, all the planets and all the hundreds and thousands of stars revolve around the polestar, the planet of Mahārāja Dhruva, in their respective orbits, some higher and some lower. Fastened by the Supreme Personality of Godhead to the machine of material nature according to the results of their fruitive acts, they are driven around the polestar by the wind and will continue to be so until the end of creation. These planets float in the air within the vast sky, just as clouds with hundreds of tons of water float in the air or as the great śyena eagles, due to the results of past activities, fly high in the sky and have no chance of falling to the ground.

SB Canto 6

SB 6.4.34, Purport:

There are three classes of men—the lowest (adhama), those in the middle (madhyama), and the best (uttama). The lowest (adhama) think that there is no difference between God and the living entity except that the living entity is under designations whereas the Absolute Truth has no designations. In their opinion, as soon as the designations of the material body are dissolved, the jīva, the living entity, will mix with the Supreme. They give the argument of ghaṭākāśa-paṭākāśa, in which the body is compared to a pot with the sky within and the sky without. When the pot breaks, the sky inside becomes one with the sky outside, and so the impersonalists say that the living being becomes one with the Supreme. This is their argument, but Śrīla Madhvācārya says that such an argument is put forward by the lowest class of men. Another class of men cannot ascertain what the actual form of the Supreme is, but they agree that there is a Supreme who controls the activities of the ordinary living being.

SB 6.16.36, Purport:

Everything is caused or manifested by the energy of the Supreme Lord, and when everything is annihilated or dissolved, the original potency enters the body of the Supreme Lord. Therefore this verse says, ādāv ante 'pi ca sattvānāṁ yad dhruvaṁ tad evāntarāle 'pi. The word dhruvam means "permanent." The permanent reality is Kṛṣṇa, not this cosmic manifestation. As stated in Bhagavad-gītā, aham ādir hi devānām (BG 10.2) and mattaḥ sarvaṁ pravartate: Kṛṣṇa is the original cause of everything. Arjuna recognized Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa as the original person (puruṣaṁ śāśvataṁ divyam ādi-devam ajaṁ vibhum), and the Brahma-saṁhitā describes Him as the original person (govindam ādi-puruṣam). He is the cause of all causes, whether at the beginning, at the end or in the middle.

SB Canto 7

SB 7.2.37, Purport:

In the Mahābhārata it is said, adarśanād ihāyātaḥ punaś cādarśanaṁ gataḥ. This statement could support the theory of the atheistic scientist that the child in the womb of the mother has no life but is simply a lump of matter. To follow this theory, if the lump of matter is aborted by a surgical operation, no life is killed; the body of a child is like a tumor, and if a tumor is operated upon and thrown away, no sin is involved. The same argument could be put forward in regard to the King and his queens. The body of the King was manifested from an unmanifested source, and again it became unmanifested from manifestation. Since the manifestation exists only in the middle—between the two points of unmanifestation—why should one cry for the body manifested in the interim?

SB Canto 8

SB 8.6 Summary:

Following the instructions of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the demigods established a peace with Mahārāja Bali, the King of the demons. Then both the demons and the demigods started for the ocean, taking Mandara Mountain with them. Because of the great heaviness of the mountain, the demigods and demons became fatigued, and some of them actually died. Then the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Viṣṇu, appeared there on the back of His carrier, Garuḍa, and by His mercy He brought these demigods and demons back to life. The Lord then lifted the mountain with one of His hands and placed it on the back of Garuḍa. The Lord sat on the mountain and was carried to the spot of the churning by Garuḍa, who placed the mountain in the middle of the sea. Then the Lord asked Garuḍa to leave that place because as long as Garuḍa was present, Vāsuki could not come there.

SB 8.11.25, Purport:

From this statement it appears that in the upper planetary system there is shipping and that traders there engage in navigation as their occupational duty. Sometimes, as on this planet, these traders are shipwrecked in the middle of the ocean. It appears that even in the upper planetary system, such calamities occasionally take place. The upper planetary system in the creation of the Lord is certainly not vacant or devoid of living entities. From Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam we understand that every planet is full of living entities, just as earth is. There is no reason to accept that on other planetary systems there are no living beings.

SB Canto 9

SB 9.6.5, Translation:

Of the one hundred sons, twenty-five became kings in the western side of Āryāvarta, a place between the Himalaya and Vindhya mountains. Another twenty-five sons became kings in the east of Āryāvarta, and the three principal sons became kings in the middle. The other sons became kings in various other places.

SB 9.10.6-7, Translation:

O King, the pastimes of Lord Rāmacandra were wonderful, like those of a baby elephant. In the assembly where mother Sītā was to choose her husband, in the midst of the heroes of this world, He broke the bow belonging to Lord Śiva. This bow was so heavy that it was carried by three hundred men, but Lord Rāmacandra bent and strung it and broke it in the middle, just as a baby elephant breaks a stick of sugarcane. Thus the Lord achieved the hand of mother Sītā, who was equally as endowed with transcendental qualities of form, beauty, behavior, age and nature. Indeed, she was the goddess of fortune who constantly rests on the chest of the Lord. While returning from Sītā's home after gaining her at the assembly of competitors, Lord Rāmacandra met Paraśurāma. Although Paraśurāma was very proud, having rid the earth of the royal order twenty-one times, he was defeated by the Lord, who appeared to be a kṣatriya of the royal order.

SB Canto 10.1 to 10.13

SB 10.1 Summary:

The living entity rotates up and down throughout the universe, sometimes in the upper planetary system, sometimes in the middle and lower planetary systems, sometimes as a man, sometimes a god, a dog, a tree and so on. This is all due to the agitation of the mind. The mind must therefore be steadily fixed. As it is said, sa vai manaḥ kṛṣṇa-padāravindayoḥ (SB 9.4.18). One should fix one's mind at the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, and then one will become free from agitation. This is the instruction of the Garuḍa Purāṇa, and in the Nāradīya Purāṇa the same process is described. As stated in Bhagavad-gītā, yānti deva-vratā devān (BG 9.25). The agitated mind goes to different planetary systems because it is attached to different kinds of demigods, but one does not go to the abode of the Supreme Personality of Godhead by worshiping the demigods, for this is not supported by any Vedic literature. Man is the architect of his own fortune. In this human life one has the facility with which to understand one's real situation, and one can decide whether to wander around the universe forever or return home, back to Godhead. This is also confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā (aprāpya māṁ nivartante mṛtyu-saṁsāra-vartmani (BG 9.3)).

SB Cantos 10.14 to 12 (Translations Only)

SB 10.31.16, Translation:

Dear Acyuta, You know very well why we have come here. Who but a cheater like You would abandon young women who come to see Him in the middle of the night, enchanted by the loud song of His flute? Just to see You, we have completely rejected our husbands, children, ancestors, brothers and other relatives.

SB 10.78.8, Translation:

Although hit by Dantavakra's club, Lord Kṛṣṇa, the deliverer of the Yadus, did not budge from His place on the battlefield. Rather, with His massive Kaumodakī club the Lord struck Dantavakra in the middle of his chest.

SB 11.24.17, Translation:

Gold and earth are originally existing as ingredients. From gold one may fashion golden ornaments such as bracelets and earrings, and from earth one may fashion clay pots and saucers. The original ingredients gold and earth exist before the products made from them, and when the products are eventually destroyed, the original ingredients, gold and earth, will remain. Thus, since the ingredients are present in the beginning and at the end, they must also be present in the middle phase, taking the form of a particular product to which we assign for convenience a particular name, such as bracelet, earring, pot or saucer. We can therefore understand that since the ingredient cause exists before the creation of a product and after the product's destruction, the same ingredient cause must be present during the manifest phase, supporting the product as the basis of its reality.

SB 11.28.18, Translation:

Real spiritual knowledge is based on the discrimination of spirit from matter, and it is cultivated by scriptural evidence, austerity, direct perception, reception of the Purāṇas' historical narrations, and logical inference. The Absolute Truth, which alone was present before the creation of the universe and which alone will remain after its destruction, is also the time factor and the ultimate cause. Even in the middle stage of this creation's existence, the Absolute Truth alone is the actual reality.

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta

CC Adi-lila

CC Adi 5.22, Purport:

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam also describes how yogīs can travel to all the planets in the universe. When the vital force is lifted to the cerebellum, there is every chance that this force will burst out from the eyes, nose, ears, etc., as these are places that are known as the seventh orbit of the vital force. But the yogīs can block these holes by complete suspension of air. The yogī then concentrates the vital force in the middle position, that is, between the eyebrows. At this position, the yogī can think of the planet to which he wants to go after leaving the body. He can then decide whether he wants to go to the abode of Kṛṣṇa in the transcendental Vaikuṇṭhas, from which he will not be required to descend into the material world, or to travel to higher planets in the material universe. The perfect yogī is at liberty to do either.

CC Adi 17.136, Translation:

In the front party danced Ṭhākura Haridāsa, and in the middle party danced Advaita Ācārya with great jubilation.

CC Madhya-lila

CC Madhya 3.44, Translation:

The cooked rice was a stack of very fine grains nicely cooked, and in the middle was yellow clarified butter from the milk of cows. Surrounding the stack of rice were pots made of the skins of banana trees, and in these pots were varieties of vegetables and mung dhal.

CC Madhya 11.215, Translation:

Four parties were then distributed in four directions to perform saṅkīrtana, and in the middle of them the Lord Himself, known as the son of mother Śacī, began to dance.

CC Madhya 11.225, Translation:

On all four sides the four saṅkīrtana groups chanted very loudly, and in the middle Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu danced, jumping high.

CC Madhya 11.230, Translation:

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu stood in the middle of the dancers, and all the dancers in all directions perceived that Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was looking at them.

CC Madhya 12.131, Translation:

The Lord then personally sat down in the middle and picked up all kinds of straw, grains of sand and dirty things.

CC Madhya 12.137, Translation:

All around Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu all the devotees performed congregational chanting. The Lord, just like a maddened lion, danced in the middle.

CC Madhya 16.196, Translation:

One of the boats had been newly constructed, and it had a room in the middle. It was on this boat that they put Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and His associates.

CC Madhya 16.207, Purport:

"Everyone knows that in the middle of Nadia is a village named Kuliyā-pāhāḍapura."

Śrī Narahari Cakravartī, or Ghanaśyāma dāsa, has written in his Bhakti-ratnākara:

kuliyā pāhāḍapura dekha śrīnivāsa

pūrve "koladvīpa"-parvatākhya—e pracāra

"He said, "O Śrīnivāsa, just see the town of Kuliyā-pāhāḍapura, which was previously known as Koladvīpa.""

In a book named Navadvīpa-dhāma-parikramā, also written by Ghanaśyāma dāsa, it is stated: kuliyā-pāhāḍapura grāma pūrve koladvīpa-parvatākhyānanda nāma. "The town of Kuliyā-pāhāḍapura was previously named Koladvīpa-parvatākhyānanda."

CC Madhya 18.6, Translation:

When the people of the village saw Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu taking His bath in those two ponds in the middle of the paddy fields, they were very much astonished. The Lord then offered His prayers to Śrī Rādhā-kuṇḍa.

CC Antya-lila

CC Antya 14.19, Translation:

The gopīs were dancing in a circle, and in the middle of that circle, Kṛṣṇa, the son of Mahārāja Nanda, danced with Rādhārāṇī.

Other Books by Srila Prabhupada

Teachings of Lord Caitanya

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 14:

This information was disclosed by Indra when he offered his prayers after being defeated upon challenging the potency of Kṛṣṇa. In the Hari-vaṁśa it is stated that although birds and airplanes can fly high in the sky above the earth, they cannot reach the higher planetary systems. The higher planetary systems extend upward from the sun planet, which is situated in the middle of the universe. Above the sun are planetary systems where persons who are elevated by great austerities and penances are situated. The whole material universe is called Devī-dhāma, and above it is Śiva-dhāma, where Lord Śiva and his wife Pārvatī eternally reside. Above that planetary system is the spiritual sky, where innumerable spiritual planets, known as Vaikuṇṭhas, are situated. And above these Vaikuṇṭha planets is Kṛṣṇa's planet, known as Goloka Vṛndāvana. The word goloka means "planet of the cows." Because Kṛṣṇa is very fond of cows, His abode is known as Goloka. Goloka Vṛndāvana is larger than all the material and spiritual planets put together.

Nectar of Devotion

Nectar of Devotion 5:

In the Middle Ages, after the disappearance of Lord Caitanya's great associate Lord Nityānanda, a class of priestly persons claimed to be the descendants of Nityānanda, calling themselves the gosvāmī caste. They further claimed that the practice and spreading of devotional service belonged only to their particular class, which was known as Nityānanda-vaṁśa. In this way, they exercised their artificial power for some time, until Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, the powerful ācārya of the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava sampradāya, completely smashed their idea. There was a great hard struggle for some time, but it has turned out successfully, and it is now correctly and practically established that devotional service is not restricted to a particular class of men. Besides that, anyone who is engaged in devotional service is already at the status of being a high-class brāhmaṇa. So Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura's struggle for this movement has come out successful.

Nectar of Devotion 42:

When Kṛṣṇa is more grown up, in the middle age of paugaṇḍa, His nails become finely sharp, and His chubby cheeks become lustrous and round. On the two sides of His waist above His belt there are three distinct lines of folded skin, called trivalī.

Nectar of Devotion 43:

In the middle kaumāra age, the upper portion of Kṛṣṇa's hair falls around His eyes. Sometimes He is covered with cloth around the lower part of His body, and sometimes He is completely naked. Sometimes He tries to walk, taking step by step, and sometimes He talks very sweetly, in broken language. These are some of the symptoms of His middle kaumāra age. He is thus described when mother Yaśodā once saw Him in His middle kaumāra age: His scattered hairs were touching His eyebrows, and His eyes were restless, but He could not express His feelings with proper words; still, when He was talking, His talk was so nice and sweet to hear. When mother Yaśodā looked at His little ears and saw Him naked, trying to run very quickly with His little legs, she was merged into the ocean of nectar. Kṛṣṇa's ornaments at this age are a pearl hanging from the septum of His nose, butter on His lotuslike palms, and some small bells hanging from His waist. It is stated that when mother Yaśodā saw that the child was moving, ringing the bells on His waist, smiling at her with a pearl between His nostrils and with butter on His hands, she became wonderfully pleased to see her little child in that fashion.

Nectar of Devotion 43:

While Kṛṣṇa was in the middle of His kaumāra age, His waist became thinner, His chest became broader, and His head was decorated with His curly hairs, resembling the falling of the wings of a crow. These wonderful features of Kṛṣṇa's body never failed to astonish mother Yaśodā. At the end of His kaumāra age, Kṛṣṇa carried a small stick in His hand, His clothing was a little longer, and He had a knot around His waist, resembling the hood of a snake. In that dress He used to take care of the calves near the house, and sometimes He played with cowherd boys of about the same age. He had a slender flute and a buffalo-horn bugle, and sometimes He played on a flute made from the leaves of trees. These are some of the symptoms of the end of Kṛṣṇa's kaumāra age.

Easy Journey to Other Planets

Easy Journey to Other Planets 1:

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam also describes how yogīs can travel to all the planets in the universe. When the vital force is lifted to the cerebellum, there is every chance of this force bursting out from the eyes, nose, ears, etc., as these are places which are known as the seventh orbit of the vital force. But the yogīs can block out these holes by complete suspension of air. The yogī then concentrates the vital force in the middle position, that is, between the eyebrows. At this position, the yogī can think of the planet into which he wants to enter after leaving the body. He can then decide whether he wants to go to the abode of Kṛṣṇa in the transcendental Vaikuṇṭhas from which he will not be required to descend into the material world, or to travel to higher planets in the material universe. The perfect yogī is at liberty to do either.

Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead

Krsna Book 17:

Since it was almost night and all the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana, including the cows and calves, were very tired, they decided to take their rest on the riverbank. In the middle of the night, while they were taking rest, there was suddenly a great forest fire, and it quickly appeared that the fire would soon devour all the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana. As soon as they felt the warmth of the fire, they immediately took shelter of Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, although He was playing just like their child. They began to say, "Our dear Kṛṣṇa! O Supreme Personality of Godhead! Our dear Balarāma, reservoir of all strength! Please try to save us from this all-devouring and devastating fire. We have no shelter other than You. This devastating fire will swallow us all!" Thus they prayed to Kṛṣṇa, saying that they could not take any shelter other than His lotus feet. Lord Kṛṣṇa, being compassionate upon His own townspeople, immediately swallowed up the whole forest fire and saved them. This was not impossible for Kṛṣṇa, because He is unlimited. He has unlimited power to do anything He desires.

Renunciation Through Wisdom

Renunciation Through Wisdom 2.6:

We therefore find that Lord Kṛṣṇa, out of compassion for the conditioned souls, instructs Arjuna to fight and at the same time remember Him. This is called karma-yoga. Therefore devotees always remember Him in all their activities—in their endeavors for food and safety and even in the middle of the battlefield while fighting a war. Life being like a battlefield, in which one may die at any time, the devotees remember Him at every moment, and He willingly becomes the charioteer of their chariotlike bodies. The activities of their bodies, minds, and words are thus prompted by the Supreme Lord's will, and at the end, when they leave their gross and subtle bodies, they go directly to the spiritual sky.

Renunciation Through Wisdom 4.5:

We certainly commiserate with them, but at the same time it is hard not to laugh at them. From the Chapter 4 of the Bhagavad-gītā we learn that after an interval of several million years, Lord Kṛṣṇa re-established the spiritual link with the disciplic succession right in the middle of the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra, explaining to Arjuna unequivocally and in detail the science of right action, knowledge, and devotional service. The Bhagavad-gītā is not a novel rendition of a new philosophy. Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa is eternally the original Supreme Personality of Godhead. Similarly, the Bhagavad-gītā is eternally present as His instructions propounding the absolute, undifferentiated truth.

Renunciation Through Wisdom 5.1:

At present only a small portion of the knowledge contained in the Vedas, Vedānta-sūtra, and Upaniṣads is available to the general populace. What is noteworthy, however, is that the essence of all Vedic knowledge is available in the Gītopaniṣad, popularly known as the Bhagavad-gītā. Lord Kṛṣṇa milked the cow of the Upaniṣads, and Arjuna drank the milk thus obtained—the Bhagavad-gītā. If Arjuna found time to hear the Bhagavad-gītā in the middle of a battlefield at Kuruksetra, then what urgent business is stopping us from hearing the Gītā? When knowledge of the Gītā spreads, then everyone will easily be able to attain the platform of yoga. And as the pure devotees of the Lord become successful in their efforts to use their spiritual intelligence in the Lord's service, then the science of love of God taught by Lord Caitanya, the most magnanimous incarnation of Godhead, will be distributed everywhere. Judging from all the symptoms, the time is now ripe. Indians should now take shelter of their saintly preceptors, the pure devotees, and unitedly propagate the glorification of Kṛṣṇa via the medium of the Bhagavad-gītā. In this way the world will become prosperous and perfect. The present age has seen interest in spiritual matters markedly increase. Yoga and meditation societies have mushroomed expressly to transmit the knowledge of the Bhagavad-gītā, but how this will be accomplished is still a question. We are confident that Lord Caitanya's teachings on the process of loving devotional service will easily harmonize all conflicting concepts.

Light of the Bhagavata

Light of the Bhagavata 44, Purport:

In this age of Kali the people want their own government, because the kings have become corrupt. Formerly it was not like that. The sons of kings were trained under the guidance of a good brāhmaṇa-ācārya just as the Pāṇḍavas and the Kauravas were put under the instruction of the qualified brāhmaṇa professor Śrī Droṇācārya. Princes were rigidly trained in politics, economics, the military arts, ethics and morality, the sciences, and, above all, devotional service to the Lord. Only after such good training were the princes allowed to be enthroned. When such a prince became king, then too he was guided by the advice of good brāhmaṇas. Even in the Middle Ages, Mahārāja Candragupta was guided by the learned brāhmaṇa Cāṇakya Paṇḍita.

Page Title:In the middle (Books)
Compiler:Visnu Murti, Mayapur
Created:25 of Mar, 2012
Totals by Section:BG=4, SB=33, CC=12, OB=11, Lec=0, Con=0, Let=0
No. of Quotes:60