Observer

Expressions researched:
"observer" |"observer's" |"observers"

SB Canto 1

SB 1.8.19, Purport:

Being beyond the range of limited sense perception, You are the eternally irreproachable factor covered by the curtain of deluding energy. You are invisible to the foolish observer, exactly as an actor dressed as a player is not recognized.

SB Canto 2

SB 2.5.17, Purport:

The Battle of Kurukṣetra, or any other battle at any place or at any time, is made by the will of the Lord, for no one can arrange such mass annihilation without the sanction of the Lord. The party of Duryodhana insulted Draupadī, a great devotee of Kṛṣṇa, and she appealed to the Lord as well as to all the silent observers of this unwarranted insult.

SB 2.6.36, Purport:

Lord Brahmā, the greatest of all learned living beings, the greatest sacrificer, the greatest observer of the austere life, and the greatest self-realized mystic, advises us, as the supreme spiritual master of all living beings, that one should simply surrender unto the lotus feet of the Lord in order to achieve all success, even up to the limit of being liberated from the miseries of material life and being endowed with all-auspicious spiritual existence.

SB Canto 4

SB 4.29.17, Purport:

The queen of Purañjana is described herein as intelligence itself. Intelligence acts both in the dream state and in the waking state, but it is contaminated by the three modes of material nature. Since the intelligence is contaminated, the living entity is also contaminated. In the conditioned state, the living entity acts according to his contaminated intelligence. Although he simply remains an observer, he nonetheless acts, being forced by a contaminated intelligence, which in reality is a passive agent.

SB Canto 6

SB 6.12.15, Translation:

One who knows that the three qualities—goodness, passion and ignorance—are not qualities of the soul but qualities of material nature, and who knows that the pure soul is simply an observer of the actions and reactions of these qualities, should be understood to be a liberated person. He is not bound by these qualities.

SB 6.16.10, Translation:

For this living entity, no one is dear, nor is anyone unfavorable. He makes no distinction between that which is his own and that which belongs to anyone else. He is one without a second; in other words, he is not affected by friends and enemies, well-wishers or mischief-mongers. He is only an observer, a witness, of the different qualities of men.

SB Canto 7

SB 7.6.20-23, Translation:

The Supreme Personality of Godhead, the supreme controller, who is infallible and indefatigable, is present in different forms of life, from the inert living beings (sthāvara), such as the plants, to Brahmā, the foremost created living being. He is also present in the varieties of material creations and in the material elements, the total material energy and the modes of material nature (sattva-guṇa, rajo-guṇa and tamo-guṇa), as well as the unmanifested material nature and the false ego. Although He is one, He is present everywhere, and He is also the transcendental Supersoul, the cause of all causes, who is present as the observer in the cores of the hearts of all living entities. He is indicated as that which is pervaded and as the all-pervading Supersoul, but actually He cannot be indicated. He is changeless and undivided. He is simply perceived as the supreme sac-cid-ānanda (eternity, knowledge and bliss). Being covered by the curtain of the external energy, to the atheist He appears nonexistent.

SB 7.7.22, Translation:

The Lord's eight separated material energies, the three modes of material nature and the sixteen transformations (the eleven senses and the five gross material elements like earth and water)—within all these, the one spiritual soul exists as the observer. Therefore all the great ācāryas have concluded that the individual soul is conditioned by these material elements.

SB 7.7.26, Purport:

As already explained, there are three states to our existence, namely wakefulness, dreaming and deep sleep. In all three states, we have different experiences. Thus the soul is the observer of these three states. Actually, the activities of the body are not the activities of the soul. The soul is different from the body.

SB Canto 8

SB 8.3.4, Translation:

The Supreme Personality of Godhead, by expanding His own energy, keeps this cosmic manifestation visible and again sometimes renders it invisible. He is both the supreme cause and the supreme result, the observer and the witness, in all circumstances. Thus He is transcendental to everything. May that Supreme Personality of Godhead give me protection.

SB 8.3.4, Purport:

The Supreme Personality of Godhead has multipotencies (parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate (Cc. Madhya 13.65, purport)). Therefore, as soon as He likes, He uses one of His potencies, and by that expansion He creates this cosmic manifestation. Again, when the cosmic manifestation is annihilated, it rests in Him. Nonetheless, He is infallibly the supreme observer. Under any circumstances, the Supreme Lord is changeless. He is simply a witness and is aloof from all creation and annihilation.

SB 8.3.14, Translation:

My Lord, You are the observer of all the objectives of the senses. Without Your mercy, there is no possibility of solving the problem of doubts. The material world is just like a shadow resembling You. Indeed, one accepts this material world as real because it gives a glimpse of Your existence.

SB Canto 10.1 to 10.13

SB 10.2.35, Purport:

Sometimes You are called Giridhārī because You lifted the hill known as Govardhana. You are sometimes called Nanda-nandana or Vāsudeva or Devakī-nandana because You appear as the son of Mahārāja Nanda or Devakī or Vasudeva. Impersonalists think that Your many names or forms are according to a particular type of work and quality because they accept You from the position of a material observer.

SB Cantos 10.14 to 12 (Translations Only)

SB 10.16.41, Translation:

Obeisances unto You, who are time itself, the shelter of time and the witness of time in all its phases. You are the universe, and also its separate observer. You are its creator, and also the totality of all its causes.

SB 11.7.49, Translation:

The flames of a fire appear and disappear at every moment, and yet this creation and destruction is not noticed by the ordinary observer. Similarly, the mighty waves of time flow constantly, like the powerful currents of a river, and imperceptibly cause the birth, growth and death of innumerable material bodies. And yet the soul, who is thus constantly forced to change his position, cannot perceive the actions of time.

SB 11.22.50, Translation:

One who observes the birth of a tree from its seed and the ultimate death of the tree after maturity certainly remains a distinct observer separate from the tree. In the same way, the witness of the birth and death of the material body remains separate from it.

CC Adi-lila

CC Adi 5.83, Purport:

The plenary portion of the Lord through whom Lord Kṛṣṇa executes such actions is called Mahā-Viṣṇu, who is the primal beginning of all incarnations. Inexperienced observers presume that the material energy provides both the cause and the elements of the cosmic manifestation and that the living entities are the enjoyers of material nature.

CC Madhya-lila

CC Madhya 16.74, Purport:

Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura says that if an observer immediately remembers the holy name of Kṛṣṇa upon seeing a Vaiṣṇava, that Vaiṣṇava should be considered a mahā-bhāgavata, a first-class devotee. Such a Vaiṣṇava is always aware of his Kṛṣṇa conscious duty, and he is enlightened in self-realization.

CC Antya-lila

CC Antya 20.28, Purport:

The prākṛta-sahajiyās sometimes criticize pure devotees by calling them philosophers, learned scholars, knowers of the truth, or minute observers, but not devotees. On the other hand, they depict themselves as the most advanced, transcendentally blissful devotees, deeply absorbed in devotional service and mad to taste transcendental mellows.

Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead

Krsna Book 2:

You are sometimes called Nandanandana or Vāsudeva or Devakīnandana because You appear as the son of Mahārāja Nanda or Vasudeva or Devakī. Impersonalists think that Your many names or forms are given according to a particular type of work and quality because they accept You from the position of a material observer.

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Lecture on BG 4.5 -- Bombay, March 25, 1974:

They are sitting, two birds... That is stated in the Upaniṣads. Sitting on one tree. This body is tree, and Paramātmā and jīvātmā, both of them are sitting on the same tree. The jīvātmā is relishing the fruit of the tree, and Paramātmā is only observer. Paramātmā is observer. Anumantā upadraṣṭā. Upadraṣṭā, simply seeing our activities. Kṛṣṇa is so kind, God is so kind, that He is living with me just to turn my face towards Him.

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Lecture on SB 1.7.40 -- Vrndavana, October 1, 1976:

So Kṛṣṇa, as an impartial observer, He advised Arjuna to kill Aśvatthāmā on the ground of so many offenses. He was also trying to see how Arjuna decides. But Arjuna's decision was very right. Arjuna's decision was right because, naicchad dhantuṁ guru-sutam. He thought that "Although Aśvatthāmā is criminal, he should be killed. But I am going to kill him on account of my sons's or our sons' being killed by him. We are so much aggrieved. So if I kill Aśvatthāmā, then his mother is there. She would be very much unhappy."

Lecture on SB 1.8.28 -- Mayapura, October 8, 1974:

He's not the skin-observer. He is observed the within. Dehino 'smin yathā dehe kaumāraṁ yauvanaṁ jarā (BG 2.13). Within this body the spirit soul is there. This is the education of spiritual education in the beginning—just see inside, introspective, not outward seeing. Those who are seeing outwardly, yasyātma-buddhiḥ kuṇape tri-dhātu..., they are asses.

Nectar of Devotion Lectures

The Nectar of Devotion -- Bombay, January 11, 1973:

So we are in this condition now, in māyā. We can practically experience. I have several times explained. Just like while we are asleep we forget everything of our day's life, and during daytime, we forget everything, what we saw in dream. So these two stages... So this is also dream, this is also dream, and I am observer of the dream.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Bombay, January 11, 1973:

At night, I am dreaming something, forgetting night's dream, uh, day's dream. And in day, daytime, I am dreaming something. I am forget the night's dream. So actually both of them are dreams, and I am the observer.

General Lectures

Lecture at Bharata Chamber of Commerce 'Culture and Business' -- Calcutta, January 30, 1973:

We are taken away from our home, from our bed, to some other place, and completely forget this body. And when the sleep is over, we forget about the dream and we become attached to this gross body. This is going on—in our daily experience. So I am the observer. I am sometimes in this gross body and sometimes in the subtle body. But it is changing. But I am the observer. Therefore the inquiry should be that "What is my position? At night I forget my gross body, and during daytime I forget my subtle body. Then what is my real body?" These are the questions.

Philosophy Discussions

Philosophy Discussion on Edmund Husserl:

Śyāmasundara: So here, Husserl reaches the point of understanding, of observing, of analyzing the transcendental observer, or transcendental ego. He comes to the understanding that there is a spiritual basis for everything. But still, we're talking about how he reaches that point. So he describes...

Prabhupāda: Transcendental observer, that is sometimes known as conscience—something dictating. I reject or may accept. Something dictating from within. That is transcendental.

1973 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation with Sanskrit Professor -- August 13, 1973, Paris:

Professor: But did you, did you build a Mahā-ratha?

Prabhupāda: Yes. I'll show the pictures.

Professor: Oh, I see.

Prabhupāda: It was published in, what is that, Observer paper?

Śrutakīrti: Oh, yes.

Yogeśvara: Yeah, the Observer, in London, the London Observer.

Prabhupāda: "Rival of Nelson."

1976 Conversations and Morning Walks

Interview with Religion Editor of The Observer -- July 23, 1976, London:

Cline Cross: Yes, I know a little about you, but it's only in the last hour that I've really begun to learn.

Jayatīrtha: We showed him the movie,

Prabhupāda: Your paper is Observer. Why did you not observe for the last seven years? (laughter)

Interview with Religion Editor of The Observer -- July 23, 1976, London:

Cline Cross: Oh, it was very interesting. Again it taught me a lot that I did not previously know.

Prabhupāda: We are trying to give real life. The present civilization is... (to someone else): Hare Kṛṣṇa, but... How are you? (converses in Hindi) So you are religious observer. What is your idea of religion?