You are the supreme friend of all living entities, but at the same time You are the supreme chastiser of the miscreants and the envious. I know that Your Lordship has descended to this earth for the proper maintenance of the whole universe. Your appearance, therefore, is not forced by any other agency. By Your sweet will only, You agree to appear and disappear. It is my great fortune that I have been able to see Your lotus feet today. Anyone who becomes attached to Your lotus feet is elevated to the supreme position of neutrality and is uncontaminated by the material modes of nature. My Lord, You are unlimited—there is no limit to Your opulences. Great demigods like Lord Brahmā and Lord Śiva are always busy placing You within their hearts and meditating upon You.
Sweet will
Srimad-Bhagavatam
SB Canto 1
While Bhīṣmadeva was describing occupational duties, the sun's course ran into the northern hemisphere. This period is desired by mystics who die at their will.
The perfect yogīs or mystics can leave the material body at their own sweet will at a suitable time and go to a suitable planet desired by them. In the Bhagavad-gītā (8.24) it is said that self-realized souls who have exactly identified themselves with the interest of the Supreme Lord can generally leave the material body during the time of the fire-god's effulgence and when the sun is in the northern horizon, and thus achieve the transcendental sky. In the Vedas these times are considered auspicious for quitting the body, and they are taken advantage of by the expert mystics who have perfected the system. Perfection of yoga means attainment of such supermental states as to be able to leave the material body as desired. Yogīs can also reach any planet within no time without a material vehicle.
As a player sets up and disperses his playthings according to his own sweet will, so the supreme will of the Lord brings men together and separates them.
By the grace of the Lord, each and every planet is created fully equipped. So not only is this earth fully equipped with all the riches for the maintenance of its inhabitants, but also when the Lord descends on the earth the whole earth becomes so enriched with all kinds of opulences that even the denizens of heaven worship it with all affection. But by the will of the Lord, the whole earth can at once be changed. He can do and undo a thing by His sweet will. Therefore no one should consider himself to be self-sufficient or independent of the Lord.
Thus the vegetarians are also living by eating other living beings. Therefore, the law is that one should live only by eating specific living beings, as ordained by the law of God. The Īśopaniṣad directs that one should live by the direction of the Lord and not at one's sweet will. A man can subsist on varieties of grains, fruits and milk ordained by God, and there is no need of animal food, save and except in particular cases.
The people's government, or government by the people, should not allow killing of innocent animals by the sweet will of foolish government men. They must know the codes of God, as mentioned in the revealed scriptures. Mahārāja Parīkṣit quotes here that according to the codes of God the irresponsible king or state executive jeopardizes his good name, duration of life, power and strength and ultimately his progressive march towards a better life and salvation after death. Such foolish men do not even believe in the existence of a next life.
SB Canto 4
Of course, the material energy also acts by His order, but His direct will is specifically executed through the spiritual energy. Thus by His spiritual energy He reveals Himself. It is stated in Bhagavad-gītā (4.6), sambhavāmy ātma-māyayā. Ātma-māyayā means "internal potency." By His sweet will He reveals Himself by His internal potency, being satisfied by the transcendental loving service of the devotee. The devotee never commands, "My dear Lord, please come here so that I can see You." It is not the position of the devotee to command the Supreme Personality of Godhead to come before him or to dance before him. There are many so-called devotees who command the Lord to come before them dancing.
The planet earth argues that there is no doubt that one who creates can also annihilate by his sweet will. The planet earth questions why she should be killed when the Lord is prepared to give protection to everyone. After all, it is the earth that is the resting place for all other living entities, and it is the earth that produces grains for them.
SB Canto 5
My transcendental body [sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha [Bs. 5.1]] looks exactly like a human form, but it is not a material human body. It is inconceivable. I am not forced by nature to accept a particular type of body; I take on a body by My own sweet will. My heart is also spiritual, and I always think of the welfare of My devotees. Therefore within My heart can be found the process of devotional service, which is meant for the devotees. Far from My heart have I abandoned irreligion (adharma) and nondevotional activities. They do not appeal to Me. Due to all these transcendental qualities, people generally pray to Me as Ṛṣabhadeva, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the best of all living entities.
SB Canto 6
Similarly, if He wants to bestow benedictions upon us with His ten hands, we cannot factually receive them all with our two hands; in other words, the benedictions exceed our ambitions. The conclusion is that even though we do not wish to be separated from our possessions, sometimes the Lord forcibly takes them from us; and sometimes He showers such benedictions upon us that we are unable to receive them all. Therefore either in opulence or in distress we are not independent; everything is dependent on the sweet will of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Once upon a time, when the powerful sage named Aṅgirā was traveling all over the universe without engagement, by his sweet will he came to the palace of King Citraketu.
Durgā—the goddess Pārvatī, the wife of Lord Śiva—is extremely powerful. She can create, maintain and annihilate any number of universes by her sweet will, but she acts under the direction of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, not independently. Kṛṣṇa is impartial, but because this is the material world of duality, such relative terms as happiness and distress, curses and favors, are created by the will of the Supreme. Those who are not nārāyaṇa-para, pure devotees, must be disturbed by this duality of the material world, whereas devotees who are simply attached to the service of the Lord are not at all disturbed by it. For example, Haridāsa Ṭhākura was beaten with cane in twenty-two bazaars, but he was never disturbed; instead, he smilingly tolerated the beating.
SB Canto 7
Sometimes one takes birth as an animal and sometimes as a king. When he takes birth as an animal he must lie down on the ground, and when he takes birth as a king or a very rich man he is allowed to lie in first-class rooms in huge palaces decorated with beds and other furniture. Such facilities are not available, however, at the sweet will of the living entity; rather, they are available by the supreme will (parecchayā), or by the arrangement of māyā. As stated in Bhagavad-gītā (18.61):
SB Canto 8
O Lord, O Supreme Personality of Godhead, by Your sweet will You appear in various incarnations, millennium after millennium, and act wonderfully, performing uncommon activities that would be impossible for us.
"Whenever and wherever there is a decline in religious practice, O descendant of Bharata, and a predominant rise of irreligion—at that time I descend Myself." Thus it is not imagination but a fact that the Supreme Personality of Godhead, by His sweet will, appears in different incarnations, such as Matsya, Kūrma, Varāha, Nṛsiṁha, Vāmana, Paraśurāma, Rāmacandra, Balarāma, Buddha and many other forms. Devotees are always eager to see one of the Lord's innumerable forms. It is said that just as no one can count how many waves there are in the sea, no one can count the forms of the Lord. This does not mean, however, that anyone can claim to be a form of the Lord and be acceptable as an incarnation.
The incarnation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead must be accepted in terms of the descriptions found in the śāstras. Lord Brahmā is eager to see the incarnation of the Lord, or the original source of all incarnations; he is not eager to see an imposter. The incarnation's activities are proof of His identity. All the incarnations described in the śāstras act wonderfully (keśava dhṛta-mīna-śarīra jaya jagadīśa hare). It is only by the personal sweet will of the Supreme Personality of Godhead that He appears and disappears, and only fortunate devotees can expect to see Him face to face.
SB Cantos 10.14 to 12 (Translations Only)
Material activities never entangle the devotees of the Supreme Lord, who are fully satisfied by serving the dust of His lotus feet. Nor do material activities entangle those intelligent sages who have freed themselves from the bondage of all fruitive reactions by the power of yoga. So how could there be any question of bondage for the Lord Himself, who assumes His transcendental forms according to His own sweet will?
While Lord Kṛṣṇa and Lord Balarāma thus played according to Their own sweet will and sang to the point of apparent intoxication, a servant of Kuvera named Śaṅkhacūḍa came upon the scene.
I am going to see the Supreme Lord Viṣṇu, the reservoir of all beauty, who by His own sweet will has now assumed a humanlike form to relieve the earth of her burden. Thus there is no denying that my eyes will achieve the perfection of their existence.
Śrī Nārada said: O almighty Lord, it is no surprise that You, the ruler of all worlds, show friendship for all people and yet subdue the envious. As we well know, You descend by Your sweet will in order to bestow the highest good on this universe by maintaining and protecting it. Thus Your glories are widely sung.
Seeing You Lords is a rare achievement for most living beings. But even persons like us, situated in the modes of passion and ignorance, can easily see You when You reveal Yourself by Your own sweet will.
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta
CC Madhya-lila
Since everyone can be liberated in this way, one may conclude that it is according to the sweet will of the devotee whether the material world exists or does not exist. Ultimately, however, it is not the sweet will of the devotee but the will of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who, if He so desires, can completely annihilate the material creation. There is no loss on His part. The owner of millions of cows does not consider the loss of one she-goat. Similarly, Lord Kṛṣṇa is the proprietor of both the material and spiritual universes.
Other Books by Srila Prabhupada
Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead
Light of the Bhagavata
All energies—internal, external, and marginal—are emanations from Him, the Supreme, and they act differently to prove diversity in unity. The unity is the Lord, and the energies represent diversity. The Lord is so powerful that He can do anything and everything merely by His sweet will alone. As mentioned above, everything is done by His energies in a natural way, with full knowledge and complete perfection. That is the information we have from the Vedic literatures.
Lectures
Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures
We are, you are, I am, you are, every one of us—we are all expansions of the Supreme Lord. Eko bahu syāt. The God willed that "I shall become many. I shall become many." Now, why He becomes many? God is one without second, but He, out of His own sweet will, He becomes many. Now, why He becomes many? He becomes many to enjoy, because without becoming many, nobody can enjoy. Just, for example, I am speaking here. Now, you are five gentleman and ladies present here. So we are enjoying these topics. But if there would have been five hundred here, people assembled, the enjoyment would have been more. And if there would have been no persons sitting here, simply myself speaking, there would have been no enjoyment.
This verse we were discussing last meeting, that we should eat after offering sacrifice. Lord Kṛṣṇa says that things which are eatable, we receive by the grace of the Lord. We should acknowledge it. We should not be forgetful, that our eatables, which come to us, they can be manufactured by our sweet will. No. The arrangement is so nice in the administration of nature that we shall get all our necessities of life by the grace of God, and our duty is to advance ourself in the right knowledge of our spiritual existence without unnecessarily engaging ourself for sense gratification. That is the difference between human civilization and animal life.
Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures
Mahārāja Kuntibhoja used to invite so many saintly persons. That is the system in India still. So once Durvāsā Muni became a guest of Mahārāja Kuntibhoja, and Kuntī served the Durvāsā Muni. He was very pleased, and he gave her one benediction, that "You can call any demigod by your sweet will. As soon as you desire, the demigod will..." So Kuntī, she was a girl; she made an experiment, immediately called the Sūrya, the sun-god, and he came. So Sūrya asked him (her) that "You have called me. You take some benediction. Take a son from me." She refused. "No, I am unmarried. I cannot." "No, there is no harm. Your son will be born from the ear." Generally, the son is born from the vagina, but Kuntī's son was born from the ear.
Don't believe your eyes in that way. You have to know things as it is stated here. The space, the air, they are acting. Prāṇa-vāyu. The yoga system is controlling the vāyu, the air within the body. That is called prāṇāyāma, prāṇa, prāṇa, vāyu, control the prāṇa-vāyu. So perfect yogi, they control the prāṇa-vāyu in such a way that by their sweet will they can transfer themselves through the prāṇa-vāyu in different planets. They can do that when they are fixed up, that "Now I am completely able to transfer myself," so they can transfer to any planet, or if he wants, he can transfer himself to the spiritual world. That is the perfection. We have given this picture in our Perfection of Yoga book: a yogi is transferring himself to another planet. So if you want to go to the planets of the demigods...
When he leaves this body... Actually, nobody will die. We simply quit this body and accept another body. We are forced by the laws of nature according to karma. By practice of yoga system we can avoid the forcible nature's law, but we can leave this body according to our sweet will, not being forced by the nature's law. Just like Bhīṣmadeva. Bhīṣmadeva, he knew this yoga practice. Therefore he was not to be killed. Unless he desired to die, nobody could kill him. So yogis... Still there are many yogis in India, they are living for seven hundred years, or three hundred years, four hundred years. They consider not yet perfect.
They are trying to make perfection of the yoga practice, and they look like young men, say, twenty-five years, thirty years old. But they are seven hundred years old, three hundred years old. There are still yogis. They are yogis. They have practiced yoga. Still they consider they are not perfect. The perfection will be when a yogi at his sweet will can leave this body and can go any planet he likes. Not only within this material universe, but also even, if he likes, he can go to the spiritual planet also. That is yoga.
Just like Durvāsā Muni. Durvāsā Muni traveled within this universe and beyond this universe within one year. That statement is there in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. There was a misunderstanding between him and a devotee, Mahārāja Ambarīṣa. So for that reason he had to travel.
"My transcendental body, sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha (Bs. 5.1), looks exactly like a human form, but it is not a material human body. It is inconceivable. I am not forced by nature to accept a particular type of body; I take on a body by My own sweet will. My heart is also spiritual, and I always think of the welfare of My devotees. Therefore within My heart can be found the process of devotional service, which is meant for the devotees. Far from My heart have I abandoned irreligion, or adharma, and nondevotional activities. They do not appeal to Me. Due to all these transcendental qualities, people generally pray to Me as Ṛṣabhādeva, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the best of all living entities."
Conversations and Morning Walks
1976 Conversations and Morning Walks
Rāmeśvara: (break) ...were just amazed at the dancing of Lord Caitanya. How Lord Jagannātha would stop His car just to see. It says that Lord Jagannātha is maintaining the whole universe, so who can carry Him? Only by His sweet will for His own pastimes can He be moved. And the cart that moves Him is as tall as Mount Sumeru.
Prabhupāda: Potamkin..., and what was that in Washington, Potomyer?
Devotees: Potomac.
Rāmeśvara: And you wrote that just like the cart of Jagannātha is compared to Mount Sumeru, similarly, in London they were comparing it to that statue of Lord Nelson.
Prabhupāda: Sweets.
George Harrison: Very well.
Prabhupāda: Sweet will help you digest. Don't give three—at least four.
George Harrison: I won't be able to eat much more.
Prabhupāda: Three is given to the enemy. According to our Indian system, if you give somebody three, that means he is enemy.
George Harrison: Oh, really? I always liked the number three.
Prabhupāda: (laughs) You must give at least four.
Dr. Patel: (indistinct) Why you are getting swelling or whether weakness of the heart. There are various reasons why did you get the swelling of he leg you know. We must find out by biochemical examination of the internal flesh. Such as the blood, urine, and stool, and put you on the right information. Now if you follow or not is your own sweet will, sir.
Prabhupāda: Nārtasya cāgadam udanvati majjato nauḥ, bālasya neha pitarau śaraṇaṁ nṛsiṁha. Na ārtasya ca agadam. Tāvad vibho tanu-bhṛtāṁ tvad-upekṣitānām (SB 7.9.19). If Kṛṣṇa neglects somebody then these things will not help.
Correspondence
1947 to 1965 Correspondence
In all humility I beg to differ with you that all men should be free to make their choices and interpretations in all things. Less intelligent men are always guided by those who are superior in knowledge in all spheres of life. This principle is applicable everywhere but the guidance must be right and bona fide. But it depends always on the sweet will of the guided to accept this principle or reject it.
I am glad that you have a copy of Gita with you. Apart from the Swamijee's learned interpretations—you can see for yourself what is written in the 18th Chapter 67th sloka. Empiric philosophers may call it a sophistry but is a fact substantiated after all human reasoning offered by Arjuna. It is clearly said here that one should follow Sri Krishna alone. If any body makes his choice not to follow him surely he will have relative result.
| Page Title: | Sweet will |
| Compiler: | Visnu Murti, RupaManjari |
| Created: | 16 of Dec, 2011 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=0, SB=20, CC=1, OB=2, Lec=7, Con=3, Let=1 |
| No. of Quotes: | 34 |