Span of water

Expressions researched:
"span of water" |"watery span"

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

The frog is perpetually within the well, and if somebody informs him that there is another big span of water, Atlantic Ocean, he simply calculates that "It may be a little more than this well, little more than this well."

Lecture on BG 2.23 -- Hyderabad, November 27, 1972: Kṛṣṇa said, avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā mānuṣīṁ tanum āśritam, paraṁ bhāvam ajānantaḥ [Bg. 9.11]. They do not know how much potential the Lord is, how much powerful He is. They are comparing the power of the Supreme Lord with his own power. A frog philosophy. The Dr. Frog. Frog is considering, "Atlantic Ocean may be a little bigger than the well." Because he is living always. Kūpa-maṇḍūka-nyāya It is, Sanskrit it is called kūpa-maṇḍūka-nyāya. Kūpa means well, and maṇḍūka means the frog. The frog is perpetually within the well, and if somebody informs him that there is another big span of water, Atlantic Ocean, he simply calculates that "It may be a little more than this well, little more than this well." But he cannot understand how great He is. So God is great. We cannot understand how great He is! That is our folly. We are simply calculating: "He may be one inch greater than me. Or one foot greater than me." That is mental speculation. Therefore Kṛṣṇa says, manuṣyāṇāṁ sahasreṣu kaścid yatati siddhaye: [Bg. 7.3] "Out of many millions of men, one may try to make his life successful, understanding the Absolute Truth." And yatatām api siddhānāṁ kaścin māṁ vetti tattvataḥ

"My dear friend, today I have seen a very big span of water, Pacific Ocean."

Lecture on BG 4.1 -- Delhi, November 10, 1971: In Sanskrit there is a logical conclusion, Dr. Frog. A frog within the well. You know, well, a three-feet circumference, and there is a frog. Another frog friend comes and informs the frog in the well, "My dear friend, today I have seen a very big span of water, Pacific Ocean." So the frog in the well, he considers that Pacific Ocean may be four feet. "My water is three feet, so Pacific Ocean may be four feet." So, he replied to his friend, "Is that Pacific Ocean four feet?" "No, no it is very big." "All right, five feet?" "No, no, it is very big." "All right, six feet!" (laughter) So in this way, if we speculate about God—one feet more—God may be little stronger than me, or richer than me, little. Or more rich, more rich. In this way you cannot speculate. What will he know, the frog, about the Pacific Ocean. Similarly, all our philosophical speculation about God, is the speculation of the frog within the well. Because our brain cannot accommodate what is greatness. So, in that way we cannot understand what is God. The process should be attempted.

"Oh, it is a huge, vast span of water."

Lecture on BG 7.8-14 -- New York, October 2, 1966: The frog philosophy is that a frog in the well, he was informed about the Atlantic Ocean by his friend, and the frog inquired from him, "Oh, what is that Atlantic Ocean?" "Oh, it is a huge, vast span of water." Now, the frog is in the well, he is thinking, "Oh, it may be double than this well or it may be triple than this well, or a hundred times," in this way, calculating. But do you think by such calculation the frog will ever come to the conclusion how length and breadth is of Atlantic Ocean? So this is all frog philosophy. We are very tiny. Our knowledge, power of speculating, is limited always. So we cannot speculate about the Supreme. It is a useless waste of time.

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

"A very big span of water."

Lecture on SB 1.1.4 -- London, August 27, 1973: Frog philosophy we have discussed in our Back to Godhead. A frog is informed, "Oh, there is Atlantic Ocean. What is that?" "A very big span of water." So he is calculating how big. He is in the three feet. He thinks, "Maybe four feet." "No, very..." "Five." "No, very big." "Six." Go on, five, four, six, seven, millions. Where is your calculation? Similarly, these speculators, they are thinking, "God? I am God. He may be like me. He and me. All right." "No, you are not God." "All right. God may be little more than me. Little more intelligent." (laughter) This is frog philosophy.

The kupa-manduka is thinking that "This is the whole water, within this well, this three-feet span of water. That is final."

Lecture on SB 5.5.21-22 -- Vrndavana, November 9, 1976: They are the frogs in the well. They are thinking... Kupa-manduka-nyāya. Everyone is thinking... The kupa-manduka is thinking that "This is the whole water, within this well, this three-feet span of water. That is final." And if you say to the kupa-manduka, "Oh, I have seen another vast water, Atlantic Ocean," he cannot imagine. So these rascals, those who are unaware of the potency of God, they think that "God may be like me. I am so little powerful. He may be little more powerful." Therefore they cannot understand what is God because they are thinking in their own terms. And somebody is thinking that "I am God." So this misconception should be given up.

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures

You require some boat to cross over some watery span.

Lecture on CC Adi-lila 1.15 -- Dallas, March 4, 1975: This is the solution. To take shelter of the padāmbhojau of Rādhā-Madana-mohana, that is the solution of all problem. And for a person who has taken shelter of the lotus feet, samāśritā ye pada-pallava-plavam... Pada-pallavam. His lotus feet is compared with the lotus flower. The lotus flower has got petals, and the petal is just like in the shape of a boat. Everyone has got this experience. If you take the shelter of this boat, then we can cross over the ocean of material world very easily. You require some boat to cross over some watery span. So here, if you take one boat and if you want to cross the Pacific Ocean or Atlantic Ocean, it is very difficult. It may not... The boat may not go up to the end. But if you... Samāśritā ye pada-pallava-plavam. If you take shelter of the lotus petal boatlike of... What is that lotus flower? Samāśritā ye pada-pallava-plavaṁ mahat-padaṁ puṇya-yaśo murāreḥ. Murāri, Murāri means Kṛṣṇa. If you take shelter of the boat of the lotus feet of Murāri... What is that feet? Mahat-padam. Mahat-padam means the whole universal creation, the cosmic manifestation, is also resting there. It is not only a small thing. Mahat-padaṁ puṇya-yaśo murāreḥ: "And who is famous very piously." Then what the result? Bhavāmbudhir vatsa-padam. Bhavāmbudhiḥ means the great ocean of material existence. We are struggling here, trying to swim. That becomes vatsa-padam. Vatsa-padam.