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Unborn (CC and Other Books)

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta

CC Preface and Introduction

CC Preface:

By so doing, the Lord says, one is sure to go to Him in His transcendental abode. But the scholarly demons misguide the masses of people by directing them to surrender not to the Personality of Godhead but rather to the impersonal, unmanifested, eternal, unborn truth. The impersonalist Māyāvādī philosophers do not accept that the ultimate aspect of the Absolute Truth is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. If one desires to understand the sun as it is, one must first face the sunshine and then the sun globe, and then, if one is able to enter into that globe, one may come face to face with the predominating deity of the sun. Due to a poor fund of knowledge, the Māyāvādī philosophers cannot go beyond the Brahman effulgence, which may be compared to the sunshine. The Upaniṣads confirm that one has to penetrate the dazzling effulgence of Brahman before one can see the real face of the Personality of Godhead.

CC Adi-lila

CC Adi 2.21, Translation:

(Grandfather Bhīṣma said:) "As the one sun appears differently situated to different seers, so also do You, the unborn, appear differently represented as the Paramātmā in every living being. But when a seer knows himself to be one of Your own servitors, no longer does he maintain such duality. Thus I am now able to comprehend Your eternal forms, knowing well the Paramātmā to be only Your plenary portion."

CC Adi 2.21, Purport:

This verse from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.9.42) was spoken by Bhīṣmadeva, the grandfather of the Kurus, when he was lying on a bed of arrows at the last stage of his life. Arjuna, Kṛṣṇa and numberless friends, admirers, relatives and sages had gathered on the scene as Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira took moral and religious instructions from the dying Bhīṣma. Just as the final moment arrived for him, Bhīṣma spoke this verse while looking at Lord Kṛṣṇa.

Just as the one sun is the object of vision of many different persons, so the one partial representation of Lord Kṛṣṇa who lives in the heart of every living entity as the Paramātmā is a variously perceived object. One who comes intimately in touch with Lord Kṛṣṇa by engaging in His eternal service sees the Supersoul as the localized partial representation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Bhīṣma knew the Supersoul to be a partial expansion of Lord Kṛṣṇa, whom he understood to be the supreme, unborn transcendental form.

CC Adi 5.41, Purport:

"Although the Supreme Personality of Godhead has nothing to do, He nevertheless acts; although He is always unborn, He nevertheless takes birth; although He is time, fearful to everyone, He flees Mathurā in fear of His enemy to take shelter in a fort; and although He is self-sufficient, He marries 16,000 women. These pastimes seem like bewildering contradictions, even to the most intelligent." Had these activities of the Lord not been a reality, sages would not have been puzzled by them. Therefore such activities should never be considered imaginary. Whenever the Lord desires, His inconceivable energy (yogamāyā) serves Him in creating and performing such pastimes.

CC Adi 5.41, Purport:

Worshiping the expansions for pastimes, such as Nṛsiṁha, Rāma, Śeṣa and Kūrma, promotes one to the worship of the Saṅkarṣaṇa quadruple. From that position one is raised to the platform of worshiping Vāsudeva, the Supreme Brahman. In the Pauṣkara-saṁhitā it is said, "If one fully worships according to the regulative principles, one can attain the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vāsudeva." It is to be accepted that Saṅkarṣaṇa, Pradyumna and Aniruddha are as good as Lord Vāsudeva, for They all have inconceivable power and can accept transcendental forms like Vāsudeva. Saṅkarṣaṇa, Pradyumna and Aniruddha are never born, but They can manifest Themselves in various incarnations before the eyes of pure devotees. This is the conclusion of all Vedic literature. That the Lord can manifest Himself before His devotees by His inconceivable power is not against the teaching of the Pañcarātras. Since Saṅkarṣaṇa, Pradyumna and Aniruddha are, respectively, the predominating Deities of all living entities, the total mind and the total ego, the designation of Saṅkarṣaṇa, Pradyumna and Aniruddha as "jīva," "mind" and "ego" is never contradictory to the statements of the scriptures. These terms identify these Deities, just as the terms "sky" and "light" sometimes identify the Absolute Brahman.

CC Adi 5.132, Purport:

"When pure devotees of the Lord like Vasudeva are greatly disturbed by dangerous demons like Kaṁsa, Lord Kṛṣṇa joins with all His pastime expansions, such as the Lord of Vaikuṇṭha, and, although unborn, becomes manifest, just as fire becomes manifest by the friction of araṇi wood." Araṇi wood is used to ignite a sacrificial fire without matches or any other flame. Just as fire appears from araṇi wood, the Supreme Lord appears when there is friction between devotees and nondevotees. When Kṛṣṇa appears, He appears in full, including within Himself all His expansions, such as Nārāyaṇa, Vāsudeva, Saṅkarṣaṇa, Aniruddha and Pradyumna. Kṛṣṇa is always integrated with His other incarnations, like Nṛsiṁha-deva, Varāha, Vāmana, Nara-Nārāyaṇa, Hayagrīva and Ajita. In Vṛndāvana Lord Kṛṣṇa sometimes exhibits the functions of such incarnations.

CC Adi 7.119, Purport:

"Although I am unborn and My transcendental body never deteriorates, and although I am the Lord of all living entities, by My spiritual potency I still appear in every millennium in My original transcendental form." Ātma-māyā refers to the spiritual potency. When Kṛṣṇa comes to this or any other universe, He does so with His spiritual potency. We take birth by the force of the material potency, but as stated here with reference to the Viṣṇu Purāṇa, the kṣetra-jña, or living entity, belongs to the spiritual potency; thus when we free ourselves from the clutches of the material potency we can also enter the spiritual world.

The material potency is the energy of darkness, or complete ignorance of spiritual activities. In the material potency, the living entity engages himself in fruitive activities, thinking that he can be happy through expansion in terms of material energy. This fact is prominently manifest in this Age of Kali because human society, not understanding the spiritual nature, is busily expanding in material activities. The men of the present day are almost unaware of their spiritual identity.

CC Adi 17.1, Purport:

As we have discussed several times, it is to be understood that by the supremely powerful potency of the Lord, as described by Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī, everything is possible. Caitanya Mahāprabhu is as fully independent as Kṛṣṇa. Therefore no one can interfere with His activities. If He wants, by His mercy He can convert even a yavana, an unclean follower of non-Vedic principles, into a perfectly well behaved gentleman. This is actually happening in our propagation of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. The members of the present Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement were not born in India, nor do they belong to the Vedic culture, but within the short time of four or five years they have become such wonderful devotees simply by chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra that even in India they are well received as perfectly well behaved Vaiṣṇavas wherever they go.

CC Adi 17.266, Purport:

According to the Vedic injunctions, only a brāhmaṇa may be offered sannyāsa. The Śaṅkara-sampradāya (ekadaṇḍa-sannyāsa-sampradāya) awards the sannyāsa order only to caste brāhmaṇas, or born brāhmaṇas, but in the Vaiṣṇava system even one not born in a brāhmaṇa family may be made a brāhmaṇa according to the direction of the Hari-bhakti-vilāsa (tathā dīkṣā-vidhānena dvijatvaṁ jāyate nṛṇām). Any person from any part of the world may be made a brāhmaṇa by the regular process of initiation, and when he follows brahminical behavior, observing the principle of abstaining from intoxication, illicit sex, meat-eating and gambling, he may be offered sannyāsa. All the sannyāsīs in the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, who are preaching all over the world, are regular brāhmaṇa-sannyāsīs. Thus the so-called caste brāhmaṇas should not object to offering them respectful obeisances. By offering such obeisances, as recommended by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, they will diminish their offenses and automatically awaken to their natural position of devotional service. As it is said, nitya-siddha kṛṣṇa-prema sādhya kabhu naya: (Cc. madhya 22.107) kṛṣṇa-prema can be awakened in a purified heart. The more we offer obeisances to sannyāsīs, especially Vaiṣṇava sannyāsīs, the more we diminish our offenses and purify our hearts. Only in a purified heart can kṛṣṇa-prema awaken. This is the process of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu's cult, the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement.

CC Madhya-lila

CC Madhya 1.41, Purport:

In the Laghu-bhāgavatāmṛta there are descriptions of His partial incarnations, a description of the impersonal Brahman effulgence (actually the bodily effulgence of Śrī Kṛṣṇa), the superexcellence of Śrī Kṛṣṇa's pastimes as an ordinary human being with two hands and so forth. There is nothing to compare with the two-armed form of the Lord. In the spiritual world (vaikuṇṭha-jagat) there is no distinction between the owner of the body and the body itself. In the material world the owner of the body is called the soul, and the body is called a material manifestation. In the Vaikuṇṭha world, however, there is no such distinction. Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa is unborn, and His appearance as an incarnation is perpetual. Kṛṣṇa's pastimes are divided into two parts—manifest and unmanifest. For example, when Kṛṣṇa takes His birth within this material world, His pastimes are considered to be manifest. However, when He disappears, one should not think that He is finished, for His pastimes are going on in an unmanifest form. Varieties of humors, however, are enjoyed by the devotees and Lord Kṛṣṇa during His manifest pastimes. After all, His pastimes in Mathurā, Vṛndāvana and Dvārakā are eternal and are going on perpetually somewhere in some part of the universe.

CC Madhya 6.81, Purport:

"I am never manifest to the foolish and unintelligent. For them I am covered by My eternal creative potency (yogamāyā); and so the deluded world knows Me not, who am unborn and infallible." The Supreme Personality of Godhead reserves the right of not being exposed to nondevotees. He can only be understood by bona fide devotees. Lord Kṛṣṇa says elsewhere in the Bhagavad-gītā (18.55), bhaktyā mām abhijānāti: "One can understand Me only by the devotional process." In the Fourth Chapter of the Bhagavad-gītā (4.3) Lord Kṛṣṇa says, bhakto ’si me sakhā ceti rahasyaṁ hy etad uttamam. Here Lord Kṛṣṇa informs Arjuna that He is disclosing the secrets of the Bhagavad-gītā to him because he is His devotee. Arjuna was not a sannyāsī, nor was he a Vedāntist or brāhmaṇa. He was, however, a devotee of Kṛṣṇa. The conclusion is that we have to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead from the devotees. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu Himself says, guru-kṛṣṇa-prasāde pāya bhakti-latā-bīja (CC Madhya 19.151).

CC Madhya 8.128, Purport:

One who is actually advanced in spiritual knowledge of Kṛṣṇa is never a śūdra, even though he may have been born in a śūdra family. However, even if a vipra, or brāhmaṇa, is very expert in the six brahminical activities (paṭhana, pāṭhana, yajana, yājana, dāna, pratigraha) and is also well versed in the Vedic hymns, he cannot become a spiritual master unless he is a Vaiṣṇava. But if one is born in the family of caṇḍālas yet is well versed in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he can become a guru. These are the śāstric injunctions, and strictly following these injunctions, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, as a gṛhastha named Śrī Viśvambhara, was initiated by a sannyāsī-guru named Īśvara Purī. Similarly, Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu was initiated by Mādhavendra Purī, a sannyāsī. According to others, however, He was initiated by Lakṣmīpati Tīrtha. Advaita Ācārya, although a gṛhastha, was initiated by Mādhavendra Purī, and many devotees born in caste brāhmaṇa familes were initiated by Śrī Rasikānanda (a disciple of Śrī Śyāmānanda Prabhu), although Rasikānanda was not born in a brāhmaṇa family. There are many instances in which a born brāhmaṇa took initiation from a person who was not born in a brāhmaṇa family.

CC Madhya 8.285, Purport:

"I am never manifest to the foolish and unintelligent. For them I am covered by My internal potency (yogamāyā), and so they do not know Me, who am unborn and infallible."

The Lord always reserves the right of not being exposed to everyone. The devotees, however, are always engaged in the service of the Lord, serving with the tongue by chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra and tasting mahā-prasādam. Gradually the sincere devotee pleases the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and the Supreme Lord reveals Himself. One cannot see the Supreme Lord by making personal efforts. Rather, when the Lord is pleased by the service of a devotee, He reveals Himself.

CC Madhya 19.138, Purport:

"For the soul there is neither birth nor death at any time. He has not come into being, does not come into being, and will not come into being. He is unborn, eternal, ever-existing and primeval. He is not slain when the body is slain."

Since the living entities are never annihilated, they simply transmigrate from one life form to another. Thus there is an evolution of forms according to the degree of developed consciousness. One experiences different degrees of consciousness in different forms. A dog's consciousness is different from a man's. Even within a species we find that a father's consciousness is different from his son's and that a child's consciousness is different from a youth's. Just as we find different forms, we find different states of consciousness. When we see different states of consciousness, we may take it for granted that the bodies are different. In other words, different types of bodies depend on different states of consciousness. This is also confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā (8.6):

CC Madhya 19.151, Purport:

This is called guru-kṛṣṇa-prasāda. Kṛṣṇa is prepared to bestow His mercy upon all living entities, and as soon as a living entity desires the Lord's mercy, the Lord immediately gives him an opportunity to meet a bona fide spiritual master. Such a fortunate person is fortified by both Kṛṣṇa and the spiritual master. He is helped from within by Kṛṣṇa and from without by the spiritual master. Both are prepared to help the sincere living being become free from material bondage.

How one can become this fortunate can be seen in the life of Śrīla Nārada Muni. In his previous life he was born of a maidservant. Although he was not born into a prestigious position, his mother was fortunately engaged in rendering service to some Vaiṣṇavas. When these Vaiṣṇavas were resting during the Cāturmāsya period, the boy Nārada took the opportunity to engage in their service. Taking compassion upon the boy, the Vaiṣṇavas offered him the remnants of their food. By serving these Vaiṣṇavas and obeying their orders, the boy became the object of their sympathy, and by the Vaiṣṇavas' unknown mercy, he gradually became a pure devotee. In the next life he was Nārada Muni, the most exalted of Vaiṣṇavas and the most important guru and ācārya of Vaiṣṇavas.

CC Madhya 23.105, Purport:

What is possible in one country may not be possible in another. The ācārya's duty is to accept the essence of devotional service. There may be a little change here and there as far as yukta-vairāgya (proper renunciation) is concerned. Dry renunciation is forbidden by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, and we have also learned this from our spiritual master, His Divine Grace Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Gosvāmī Mahārāja. The essence of devotional service must be taken into consideration, and not the outward paraphernalia.

Sanātana Gosvāmī wrote his Vaiṣṇava smṛti, Hari-bhakti-vilāsa, which was specifically meant for India. In those days, India was more or less following the principle of smārta-vidhi. Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī had to keep pace with this, and his Hari-bhakti-vilāsa was compiled with this in mind. According to smārta-brāhmaṇas, a person not born in a brāhmaṇa family could not be elevated to the position of a brāhmaṇa. Sanātana Gosvāmī, however, says in the Hari-bhakti-vilāsa (2.12) that anyone can be elevated to the position of a brāhmaṇa by the process of initiation.

CC Madhya 24.330, Purport:

"Peacefulness, self-control, austerity, purity, tolerance, honesty, knowledge, wisdom and religiousness—these are the natural qualities by which the brāhmaṇas work."

Unless one is qualified with all these attributes, he cannot be accepted as a brāhmaṇa. It is not a question of simply taking birth in a brāhmaṇa family. In this regard, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura remarks that Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura and Śyāmānanda Gosvāmī, although not born in brāhmaṇa families, are accepted as bona fide spiritual masters because they were brāhmaṇas by qualification. Personalities like Śrī Gaṅgā-nārāyaṇa, Rāmakṛṣṇa and many others, who were actually born in brāhmaṇa families, accepted Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura and Śyāmānanda Gosvāmī as their spiritual masters.

CC Madhya 24.330, Purport:

When one has attained the topmost position of mahā-bhāgavata, he is to be accepted as a guru and worshiped exactly like Hari, the Personality of Godhead. Only such a person is eligible to occupy the post of a guru. However, if one is highly qualified but is not a Vaiṣṇava, he cannot be accepted as a guru. One cannot be a brāhmaṇa unless one is a Vaiṣṇava. If one is a Vaiṣṇava, he is already a brāhmaṇa. If a guru is completely qualified as a Vaiṣṇava, he must be accepted as a brāhmaṇa even if he is not born in a brāhmaṇa family. The caste system method of distinguishing a brāhmaṇa by birth is not acceptable when applied to a bona fide spiritual master. A spiritual master is a qualified brāhmaṇa and ācārya. If one is not a qualified brāhmaṇa, he is not expert in studying the Vedic literatures. Nānā-śāstra-vicāraṇaika-nipuṇau. Every Vaiṣṇava is a spiritual master, and a spiritual master is automatically expert in brahminical behavior. He also understands the Vedic śāstras.

CC Antya-lila

CC Antya 3.84, Translation:

“Kṛṣṇa, the unborn Supreme Personality of Godhead, master of all masters of mystic power, delivers all living entities, moving and nonmoving. Nothing is astonishing in the activities of the Lord.’

CC Antya 16.29, Purport:

This is a statement by Nārada Muni to Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira, wherein Nārada says that the symptoms of a brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya and vaiśya are all described in the śāstra. Therefore, if one is found exhibiting the symptoms and qualities of a brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya or vaiśya and serving in a brahminical, kṣatriya or vaiśya occupation, even if he is not born a brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya or vaiśya he should be considered such according to his qualifications and occupation.

Similarly, in the Padma purāṇa it is said:

na śūdrā bhagavad-bhaktās te tu bhāgavatā matāḥ
sarva-varṇeṣu te śūdrā ye na bhaktā janārdane

"A devotee should never be considered a śūdra. All the devotees of the Supreme Personality of Godhead should be recognized as bhāgavatas. If one is not a devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa, however, even if born in a brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya or vaiśya family, he should be considered a śūdra."

Other Books by Srila Prabhupada

Teachings of Lord Caitanya

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter Preface:

The Lord demands that one surrender unto Him by following these six guidelines, but the unintelligent so-called scholars of the world misunderstand these demands and urge the general mass of people to reject them. At the conclusion of the Ninth Chapter of the Bhagavad-gītā, Lord Kṛṣṇa directly orders, "Always think of Me, become My devotee, worship Me alone, and offer obeisances unto Me alone." By so doing, the Lord says, one is sure to go to Him in His transcendental abode. But the scholarly demons misguide the masses of people by directing them to surrender not to the Personality of Godhead but rather to the impersonal, unmanifested, eternal, unborn truth. The impersonalist Māyāvādī philosophers do not accept that the ultimate aspect of the Absolute Truth is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. If one desires to understand the sun as it is, one must first face the sunshine and then the sun globe, and then, if one is able to enter into that globe, one may come face to face with the predominating deity of the sun. Due to a poor fund of knowledge, the Māyāvādī philosophers cannot go beyond the Brahman effulgence, which may be compared to the sunshine. The Upaniṣads confirm that one has to penetrate the dazzling effulgence of Brahman before one can see the real face of the Personality of Godhead.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 16:

This is confirmed in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, when Nārada speaks of the different symptoms characterizing the four divisions of social life. Nārada therein states that brāhmaṇas, kṣatriyas, vaiśyas and śūdras should be selected by their individual qualifications. In his commentary, Śrīdhara Svāmī has noted that birth in a family of brāhmaṇas does not necessarily mean that one is a brāhmaṇa. One must be qualified with a brāhmaṇa's symptoms, which are described in the śāstras. In the disciplic succession of the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava sampradāya, there are two great ācāryas (Ṭhākura Narottama and Śyāmānanda Gosvāmī) who were not born in brāhmaṇa families but were accepted as spiritual masters by many famous brāhmaṇas, including Gaṅgānārāyaṇa and Rāmakṛṣṇa.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 18:

When Lord Caitanya received news of this criticism from His students and disciples, He simply smiled and started for Mathurā and Vṛndāvana. When He returned to Benares on His way from Mathurā to Jagannātha Purī, He stayed at the house of Candraśekhara, who was considered a śūdra because he was a clerk. In spite of this, Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu made His residence at his home. Lord Caitanya made no distinctions between brāhmaṇas and śūdras; He accepted anyone who was devoted. Customarily, a sannyāsī is supposed to take shelter and eat in the home of a brāhmaṇa, but Caitanya Mahāprabhu, as the independent Supreme Personality of Godhead, used His own discretion and decided to stay at Candraśekhara's house.

In those days, by misusing their brahminical heritage, the brāhmaṇas had created a law to the effect that anyone not born in a brāhmaṇa family was to be considered a śūdra. Thus even the kṣatriyas and vaidyas were also considered śūdras. Because the vaidyas were said to be descendants of brāhmaṇa fathers and śūdra mothers, they were sometimes called śūdras. Thus Candraśekhara, although born in a vaidya family, was called a śūdra in Benares. As long as Lord Caitanya stayed in Benares, He remained at Candraśekhara's home, and He took His food at the home of Tapana Miśra.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 31:

Becoming such a spiritual master does not depend on a particular position in society or on birth. This is the conclusion of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, and it is in accordance with the Vedic injunctions. On the strength of this conclusion, Lord Caitanya, previously known as Viśvambhara, accepted a spiritual master, Īśvara Purī, who was a sannyāsī. Similarly, Lord Nityānanda Prabhu and Śrī Advaita Ācārya also accepted a sannyāsī as their spiritual master, namely Mādhavendra Purī, who was a disciple of Lakṣmīpati Tīrtha. Similarly, another great ācārya, Śrī Rasikānanda, accepted Śrī Śyāmānanda as his spiritual master, although Śyāmānanda was not born in a brāhmaṇa family. So also did Gaṅgānārāyaṇa Cakravartī accept Narottama Dāsa Ṭhākura as his spiritual master. In ancient days there was even a hunter named Dharma who became a spiritual master for many people. There are clear instructions in the Mahābhārata and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (7.11.32) stating that a person should be accepted as a brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya or śūdra according to his personal qualifications and not his birth. For example, if a man is born in a brāhmaṇa family but his personal qualifications are those of a śūdra, he should be accepted as a śūdra. Similarly, if a person is born in a śūdra family but has the qualifications of a brāhmaṇa, he should be accepted as a brāhmaṇa. All śāstric injunctions, as well as the versions of great sages and authorities, establish that a bona fide spiritual master is not necessarily a brāhmaṇa by caste.

Nectar of Devotion

Nectar of Devotion 5:

It is on the basis of his position that anyone can now become a Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava, from any part of the world or any part of the universe. Anyone who is a pure Vaiṣṇava is situated transcendentally, and therefore the highest qualification in the material world, namely to be in the mode of goodness, has already been achieved by such a person. Our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement in the Western world is based on the above-mentioned proposition of Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Prabhupāda, our spiritual master. On his authority, we are claiming members from all sections of the Western countries. The so-called brāhmaṇas claim that one who is not born into a brāhmaṇa family cannot receive the sacred thread and cannot become a high-grade Vaiṣṇava. But we do not accept such a theory, because it is not supported by Rūpa Gosvāmī nor by the strength of the various scriptures.

Nectar of Devotion 10:

Some way or other, if someone establishes in his mind his continuous relationship with Kṛṣṇa, this relationship is called remembrance. About this remembrance there is a nice statement in the Viṣṇu Purāṇa, where it is said, "Simply by remembering the Supreme Personality of Godhead all living entities become eligible for all kinds of auspiciousness. Therefore let me always remember the Lord, who is unborn and eternal." In the Padma Purāṇa the same remembrance is explained as follows: "Let me offer my respectful obeisances unto the Supreme Lord Kṛṣṇa, because if someone remembers Him, either at the time of death or during his span of life, he becomes freed from all sinful reactions."

Nectar of Devotion 22:

This was clearly proved when Kṛṣṇa went to the place of Yamarāja, the Lord of death, to reclaim the dead son of His teacher. Kṛṣṇa's teacher had requested Kṛṣṇa to bring back his dead son, and to do so Kṛṣṇa went to the place of Yamarāja to claim that soul, who had been brought there by Yamarāja and was being kept under his control. Kṛṣṇa immediately ordered Yamarāja, "Be benefited by My order and return that soul unto Me!" The purport of this incident is that even a person who is under the regulative principles of the laws of nature, and is therefore punishable by Yamarāja under these laws, can be granted complete immunity by the grace of Kṛṣṇa.

Kṛṣṇa's inconceivable potencies have been described by Śukadeva Gosvāmī as follows: "Kṛṣṇa is bewildering my intelligence because, although He is unborn, He has appeared as the son of Nanda Mahārāja. He is all-pervading, but still He is held on the lap of Yaśodā. In spite of His being all-pervasive, He has become limited by the love of Yaśodā. Although He has innumerable forms, still He is moving as one Kṛṣṇa before His father and mother, Nanda and Yaśodā." In the Brahma-saṁhitā also it is said that although Kṛṣṇa is eternally living in Goloka Vṛndāvana, His transcendental abode, He is still present everywhere, even within the atoms.

Nectar of Instruction

Nectar of Instruction 6, Purport:

"Oh, here is an American gosvāmī," and discriminate against him. Nor should one think, "Here is a nityānanda-vaṁśa-gosvāmī." There is an undercurrent of protest against our awarding the title gosvāmī to the American Vaiṣṇavas of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. Sometimes people flatly tell the American devotees that their sannyāsa or title of gosvāmī is not bona fide. However, according to the statements of Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī in this verse, an American gosvāmī and a gosvāmī in a family of ācāryas are nondifferent.

On the other hand, a devotee who has attained the title of gosvāmī but is not born of a brāhmaṇa father or of a gosvāmī in the family of Nityānanda or Advaita Prabhu should not be artificially puffed up by thinking that he has become a gosvāmī. He should always remember that as soon as he becomes materially puffed up, he immediately falls down. This Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is a transcendental science, and there is no room for jealousy. This movement is meant for the paramahaṁsas who are completely free from all jealousy (paramaṁ nirmatsarāṇām). One should not be jealous, whether he is born in a family of gosvāmīs or has the title of gosvāmī awarded to him. As soon as anyone becomes envious, he falls from the platform of paramahaṁsa.

Easy Journey to Other Planets

Easy Journey to Other Planets 1:

Everything that is created is annihilated at a certain stage. Both the material body and the material world are created, and they are therefore subject to annihilation. The anti-material particle, however, is never created, and consequently it is never annihilated. This also is corroborated in the Bhagavad-gītā:

The anti-material particle, which is the vital force, is never born or created. It exists eternally. It has neither birth dates nor death dates. It is neither repeatedly created nor repeatedly destroyed. It is eternally existing, and therefore it is the oldest of the old, and yet it is always fresh and new. Although the material particle is annihilated, the anti-material particle is never affected.

The principle is also applicable to the anti-material universe as well as to the anti-material particle. When the material universe is annihilated, the anti-material universe exists in all circumstances. This will be explained in more detail later.

Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead

Krsna Book 2:

“Our dear Lord, O supreme controller, when You appear on earth, all the demons like Kaṁsa and Jarāsandha will be vanquished, and all good fortune will be ushered into the world. When You walk on the globe, Your lotus feet will impress on the ground the marks of Your soles, such as the flag, the trident and the thunderbolt. Thus You will grace both the earth and us on the heavenly planets who shall see those marks.

"O dear Lord," the demigods continued, "You are unborn; therefore we do not find any reason for Your appearance other than for Your pleasurable pastimes." Although the reason for the appearance of the Lord is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā (He descends just to give protection to the devotees and vanquish the nondevotees), actually He descends for His pleasure-meeting with the devotees, not really to vanquish the nondevotees. The nondevotees can be vanquished simply by one kick of material nature. "The actions and reactions of material nature (creation, maintenance and annihilation) are being carried out automatically. But simply by taking shelter of Your holy name, the devotees are fully protected, because Your holy name and Your personality are nondifferent." The protection of the devotees and the annihilation of the nondevotees are actually not the business of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Krsna Book 21:

While Kṛṣṇa was engaged in tending the cows in the forest of Vṛndāvana or on Govardhana Hill, the gopīs in the village were always absorbed in thinking of Him and discussing His different pastimes. This is the perfect example of Kṛṣṇa consciousness: to somehow or other remain always engrossed in thoughts of Kṛṣṇa. The vivid example is always present in the behavior of the gopīs; therefore Lord Caitanya declared that no one can worship the Supreme Lord by any method which is better than the method of the gopīs. The gopīs were not born in very high brāhmaṇa or kṣatriya families; they were born in the families of vaiśyas, and not in big mercantile communities but in the families of cowherd men. They were not very well educated, although they heard all sorts of knowledge from the brāhmaṇas, the authorities of Vedic knowledge. The gopīs' only purpose was to remain always absorbed in thoughts of Kṛṣṇa.

Krsna Book 59:

“You possess all beauty, strength, fame, property, knowledge and renunciation; You are the shelter of all six opulences. Although You are all-pervading, You have appeared as the son of Vasudeva. Please, therefore, accept my respectful obeisances. You are the original Supreme Personality of Godhead and the supreme cause of all causes. Only Your Lordship is the reservoir of all knowledge. Let me offer my respectful obeisances unto You. Personally You are unborn; still, You are the father of the whole cosmic manifestation. You are the reservoir and shelter of all kinds of energies. The manifested appearance of this world is caused by You, and You are both the cause and effect of this cosmic manifestation. Please therefore accept my respectful obeisances.

“My dear Lord, as for the three gods Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Śiva, they are not independent of You. When there is a necessity of creating this cosmic manifestation, You create Your passionate appearance of Brahmā, and when You want to maintain this cosmic manifestation You expand Yourself as Lord Viṣṇu, the reservoir of all goodness. Similarly, You appear as Lord Śiva, master of the mode of ignorance, and thus dissolve the whole creation. You always maintain Your transcendental position, in spite of creating these three modes of material nature. You are never entangled in these modes of nature, as the ordinary living entities are.

Krsna Book 81:

The brāhmaṇa, feeling great obligation to Kṛṣṇa, thought, "I pray to have the friendship of Lord Kṛṣṇa and to engage in His service, and to surrender fully unto Him in love and affection, life after life. I do not want any opulence. I only desire not to forget His service. I simply wish to be associated with His pure devotees. May my mind and activities be always engaged in His service. The unborn Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, knows that many great personalities have fallen from their positions because of extravagant opulence. Therefore, even when His devotee asks for some opulence from Him, the Lord sometimes does not give it. He is very cautious about His devotees. Because a devotee in an immature position of devotional service may, if offered great opulence, fall from his position due to being in the material world, the Lord does not offer opulence to him. This is another manifestation of the causeless mercy of the Lord upon His devotee. His first interest is that the devotee not fall. He is exactly like a well-wishing father who does not give much wealth into the hand of his immature son, but who, when the son is grown up and knows how to spend money, gives him the whole treasury house."

Krsna Book 85:

“The different material phases that are manifest from the beginning to the end of the cosmos under different formulas of time are also Your Self because You are both the cause and effect of this manifestation. The two features of this material world, the predominator and the predominated, are also You, and You are the supreme transcendental controller who stands above them. Therefore, You are beyond the perception of our senses. You are the Supreme Soul, unborn and unchanging. You are not affected by the six kinds of transformations which occur in the material body. The wonderful varieties of this material world are also created by You, and You have entered as the Supersoul into all of them, down to the atom. You are the vital force of all these manifestations and also their supreme cognition. As such, You are the maintainer of everything.

Krsna Book 85:

“For a long time I have simply considered this body to be myself, and although You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead, I have considered You my son. My dear Lord, at the very moment when You first appeared in Kaṁsa's prison house, You informed me that You were the Supreme Personality of Godhead and that You had descended for the protection of the principles of religion as well as the destruction of the unfaithful. Although unborn, You descend in every millennium to execute Your mission. My dear Lord, as in the sky there are many forms, appearing and disappearing, You also appear in many eternal forms and then disappear. Who, therefore, can understand Your pastimes or the mystery of Your appearance and disappearance? Our only business should be to glorify Your supreme greatness.”

When Vasudeva was addressing his divine sons in that way, Lord Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma were smiling. Because They are very affectionate to Their devotees, They accepted all the appreciation of Vasudeva with a kindly, smiling attitude. Kṛṣṇa then confirmed all of Vasudeva's statements as follows: "My dear Father, whatever you may say, We are, after all, your sons. What you have said about Us is certainly a highly philosophical understanding of spiritual knowledge. I accept it in toto, without exception."

Krsna Book 87:

The theory of the asuras is that the living entities are born of material nature, or prakṛti, in touch with the puruṣa. This theory also cannot be accepted, because both the material nature and the Supreme Personality of Godhead are eternally existing. Neither the material nature nor the Supreme Personality of Godhead can be born. The Supreme Lord is known as aja, or unborn. Similarly, the material nature is called ajā. Both these terms, aja and ajā, mean "unborn." Because both the material nature and the Supreme Lord are unborn, it is not possible that they can beget the living entities. But it is accepted in the Vedic literature that as water in contact with air sometimes presents innumerable bubbles, so a combination of the material nature and the Supreme Person causes the appearance of the living entities within this material world. As bubbles in the water appear in different shapes, the living entities also appear in the material world in different shapes and conditions, influenced by the modes of material nature. Therefore it is not improper to conclude that the living entities appearing within this material world in different shapes, such as human beings, demigods, animals, birds and beasts, all get their respective bodies due to different desires.

Renunciation Through Wisdom

Renunciation Through Wisdom 2.7:

Many, many births both you and I have passed. I can remember all of them, but you cannot, O subduer of the enemy! Although I am unborn and My transcendental body never deteriorates, and although I am the Lord of all living entities, I still appear in every millennium in My original transcendental form.

As for those unfortunate souls who do not strive for the supreme goal of entering the eternal pastimes of the Supreme Lord and instead become attracted to the mundane practices of karma, jñāna, and yoga, which ultimately elevate one to the heavenly planets—such souls must once again take birth in this material world. Although they may reach a high status in this cosmic system, they must come down as if on a ferris wheel. Kṛṣṇa describes this phenomenon in the Bhagavad-gītā (8.16):

Renunciation Through Wisdom 2.11:

There is no mention anywhere that worship of Lord Kṛṣṇa has to be conducted with large expenditures and pomp. Nor is there any restriction of time, place, or circumstance. Just as everyone has the right to bathe in the Ganges, so everyone has the right to serve Lord Kṛṣṇa. Flowers, fruit, leaves, and water are available everywhere. Even a pauper can arrange to find these four things with very little effort and at no cost. Thus the process of worshiping Lord Kṛṣṇa is so simple that anyone from anywhere can participate.

Lord Kṛṣṇa is unborn, yet He can accept any form imaginable. And because He is the supreme father of every living being, anyone—whether a high-born brāhmaṇa or a social outcast—can offer Him a flower, a fruit, a leaf, and water with love and devotion. Then Lord Kṛṣṇa, the cause of all causes, will accept this offering, and by such spiritual activity the worshipper becomes eligible to enter His eternal abode. Who could be more foolish than the person who rejects this easy and joyful process and, becoming captivated by the mirage of material existence and craving for temporary mundane facilities, takes shelter of demigods? Recent times have witnessed a concerted and noble effort on all fronts to bring about unity, peace, and harmony in the world, but these are possible only when people worship Lord Kṛṣṇa and render Him devotional service.

Renunciation Through Wisdom 4.1:

The brahmacārī was especially shocked and hurt by Dr. Radhakrishnan's misinterpretation of Text 34 of Chapter 9, which appears in his book on page 254. He came to us very depressed, wanting to discuss this passage. The following words were found in the book:

It is not the personal Kṛṣṇa to whom we have to give ourselves up utterly but the Unborn, Beginningless, Eternal who speaks through Kṛṣṇa.

We have not the slightest intention of confronting a world-famous philosopher like Dr. Radhakrishnan with arguments, yet on the brahmacārī's repeated request we have to scrutinize the text and point out the discrepancies. We have great respect for Dr. Radhakrishnan, not only because he is the vice-president of our country but also because of his scholarship and his position as an erudite master of Hindu philosophy. Furthermore, he is faithful to the brahminical tradition he hails from and is a follower of the Māyāvāda school. Going by the oft-quoted dictum that it is better to have a learned enemy than a foolish friend, I feel encouraged in this matter. An intelligent opponent will present reasonable rebuttals, but an ignorant friend may bring about disaster with his floundering. Therefore we feel no compunction about strongly arguing against the points Dr. Radhakrishnan makes in his Bhagavad-gītā commentary.

Renunciation Through Wisdom 4.1:

A well-known Bengali saying goes, "After reading the whole Rāmāyaṇa, you want to know whose father Sītā is?" This question is ludicrous, since Sītā is Lord Rāma's wife, and thus such a query will naturally invite quips and laughter. We find the same absurdity in Dr. Radhakrishnan's English commentary on the Gītā. He writes that we do not have to surrender to the person Kṛṣṇa but to "the Unborn, Beginningless, Eternal" within Kṛṣṇa. This implies that Lord Kṛṣṇa and His "inner self" are two separate identities. According to Dr. Radhakrishnan, since there is a difference between Kṛṣṇa's body and His soul, we must surrender to Kṛṣṇa's soul and not His body. This new discovery in the field of religious philosophy reminds us of the "paṇḍita" of the Rāmāyaṇa referred to above. Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa's sole purpose in speaking the Bhagavad-gītā is to convince us to surrender to His lotus feet. Yet right at the outset Dr. Radhakrishnan is unwilling to accept this point. Lord Kṛṣṇa gives the central instruction in the Bhagavad-gītā (18.66):

Renunciation Through Wisdom 4.2:

The main instruction in the Bhagavad-gītā is to take complete shelter of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Yet this cardinal conclusion, which emanated from Lord Kṛṣṇa's own lotus lips, is reversed by Dr. Radhakrishnan when he writes that one should surrender not to the person Kṛṣṇa but to the "Unborn, Beginningless, Eternal who speaks through Kṛṣṇa." It is an exercise in futility to take up the Gītā for discussion only in order to ostentatiously display one's erudition, and thus to foolishly misinterpret the text so much that one concludes that the speaker of the Bhagavad-gītā, Lord Kṛṣṇa, is a mere mortal. This use of Vedic knowledge to pronounce that God does not exist is a clear example of serving Kṛṣṇa unfavorably.

How does Lord Kṛṣṇa describe sholars like Dr. Radhakrishnan, who have an atheistic understanding of the Vedas? In the Bhagavad-gītā (7.15) we find this statement:

Renunciation Through Wisdom 4.2:

Only saintly souls can perceive the truth of these statements; those whose intelligence has been corrupted by Māyāvāda philosophy cannot understand.

In general, the monists cannot grasp the intricate philosophy of nondualism. So Dr. Radhakrishnan has spun out of his imagination a theory by which he tries to establish dualism in nondualism. When Dr. Radhakrishnan writes that we must surrender to "the Unborn, Beginningless, Eternal who speaks through Kṛṣṇa," he implies that it is the impersonal Brahman within Kṛṣṇa who is speaking about surrender. Once it is established that the impersonal Brahman can speak, then He must also possess the instrument of speech, namely the tongue. Thus we see that Dr. Radhakrishnan's whole concept of impersonalism is immediately undermined. There is sufficient evidence in the scriptures to conclude that one who talks can also walk. And a being capable of speaking and walking must indeed be endowed with all the senses. Then He must also be able to perform other activities, such as eating and sleeping. So how can Dr. Radhakrishnan claim that his beginningless, eternal object is impersonal?

Renunciation Through Wisdom 4.3:

Since Dr. Radhakrishnan implies that the impersonal Brahman alone possesses such transcendental qualities as being inexhaustible, imperishable, and unborn, we must turn to the Gītā for a proper reply. In truth, all the divine expansions of the nondual Supreme Being are endowed with these same superexcellent qualities. As Arjuna declares in the Bhagavad-gītā (11.18),

tvam akṣaraṁ paramaṁ veditavyaṁ
tvam asya viśvasya paraṁ nidhānam
tvam avyayaḥ śāśvata-dharma-goptā
sanātanas tvaṁ puruṣo mato me

You are the supreme primeval objective. You are the ultimate resting place of all this universe. You are inexhaustible, and You are the oldest. You are the maintainer of the eternal religion, the Personality of Godhead. This is my opinion.

Renunciation Through Wisdom 4.3:

We should understand that those passages in the Gītā which describe Para-brahman as akṣara ("indestructible") are references to Lord Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Controller Godhead. Not once is Lord Kṛṣṇa equated with the kṣara, the conditioned jīvas. Not only big philosophers like Dr. Radhakrishnan, but even mighty demigods like Lord Brahmā and Lord Indra are in the category of kṣara. The Lord maintains the entire cosmic manifestation merely by His separated energy. Just as fire, though situated in one place, spreads its light and heat in all directions, so the unborn Supreme Lord, Kṛṣṇa, while maintaining His full personality, eternality, and imperishability, expands Himself into countless Viṣṇu forms, jīvas, and internal and external potencies. Expanding Himself in this way never diminishes or in any way affects His status as the Absolute Whole. As the Īśopaniṣad, Invocation declares, pūrṇasya pūrṇam ādāya pūrṇam evāvaśiṣyate:

Whatever is produced of the complete whole is also complete in itself. Because He is the complete whole, even though so many complete units emanate from Him, He remains the complete balance.

Message of Godhead

Message of Godhead 1:

"The spirit soul which pervades this body is eternal, and thus one should understand that no one can destroy the eternal, ever-existing spirit soul. Although this material body is subject to annihilation, the proprietor of the body is eternal. Therefore, O scion of Bharata, knowing this eternal truth, you can go on with your fighting engagement.

"Both the person who thinks the spirit soul can slay and the person who thinks that the spirit soul can be slain are ignorant of the fact that the spirit soul is neither slayer nor slain at any time. The spirit soul is never born, nor can he ever die. He has no past, present, or future, because he is eternal. And although very old, he is always fresh and does not become annihilated even after the annihilation of the body. One who understands the soul as eternal and indestructible—how can he hurt or kill anyone? It is only the outward body and mind that are destroyed.

Message of Godhead 1:

The living spirit is eternal—he has no end and no beginning and thus can never be created by any method whatsoever. After all, it is within our experience that every created thing is subject to annihilation. The eternality of the spirit soul is proved through its noncreatability by material means.

And thus one who thinks that he can destroy the living spark also does not know anything about it. The Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, therefore emphatically declares that the living entity, being spirit, is never born. The living entity exists eternally and has no past, present, or future tenses. The spirit is never annihilated, nor can anyone annihilate him, even after the annihilation of the material body. He therefore has no birth and no death. Nor does he grow or diminish by repeated material births and deaths. The spiritual entity is ever fresh and new, although he is the oldest of all. He is always different from the material body and mind, which are always subject to death and annihilation.

Mukunda-mala-stotra (mantras 1 to 6 only)

Mukunda-mala-stotra mantra 2, Purport:

The Lord's birth on the face of the earth is certainly very mysterious, and therefore it is difficult for ordinary men to believe in His birth. How can the all-powerful Lord take birth, seemingly like an ordinary man? The matter is explained in the Bhagavad-gītā (4.6), where the Lord says,

ajo 'pi sann avyayātmā bhūtānām īśvaro 'pi san
prakṛtiṁ svām adhiṣṭhāya sambhavāmy ātma-māyayā

"Although I am unborn and My transcendental body never deteriorates, and although I am the Lord of all living entities, by My transcendental potency I still appear in every millennium in My original transcendental form." From the śāstra we learn that the Lord takes birth not only in the family of human beings but also in the families of demigods, aquatics, animals, and so on. One may argue that an ordinary living being is eternal and unborn like the Lord and also takes birth in different species of life, and so there is no difference between the Lord and an ordinary living being.

Page Title:Unborn (CC and Other Books)
Compiler:Mayapur, RupaManjari
Created:06 of Oct, 2011
Totals by Section:BG=0, SB=0, CC=20, OB=27, Lec=0, Con=0, Let=0
No. of Quotes:47