Vapu

Expressions researched:
"vapu" |"vapuh"

BG Chapters 7 - 12

BG 11.50, Purport:

When Kṛṣṇa appeared as the son of Vāsudeva and Devakī, He first of all appeared as four-armed Nārāyaṇa, but when He was requested by His parents, He transformed Himself into an ordinary child in appearance. Similarly, Kṛṣṇa knew that Arjuna was not interested in seeing a four-handed form, but since Arjuna asked to see this four-handed form, Kṛṣṇa also showed him this form again and then showed Himself in His two-handed form. The word saumya-vapuḥ is very significant. Saumya-vapuḥ is a very beautiful form; it is known as the most beautiful form. When He was present, everyone was attracted simply by Kṛṣṇa's form, and because Kṛṣṇa is the director of the universe, He just banished the fear of Arjuna, His devotee, and showed him again His beautiful form of Kṛṣṇa. In the Brahma-saṁhitā (5.38) it is stated, premāñjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena: only a person whose eyes are smeared with the ointment of love can see the beautiful form of Śrī Kṛṣṇa.

SB Canto 4

SB 4.28.47, Purport:

Figuratively the queen is supposed to be the disciple of the king; thus when the mortal body of the spiritual master expires, his disciples should cry exactly as the queen cries when the king leaves his body. However, the disciple and spiritual master are never separated because the spiritual master always keeps company with the disciple as long as the disciple follows strictly the instructions of the spiritual master. This is called the association of vāṇī (words). Physical presence is called vapuḥ. As long as the spiritual master is physically present, the disciple should serve the physical body of the spiritual master, and when the spiritual master is no longer physically existing, the disciple should serve the instructions of the spiritual master.

SB 4.28.51, Purport:

Since the Lord is in the heart, He can advise a sincere disciple from within. This is also confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā (10.10):

teṣāṁ satata-yuktānāṁ

bhajatāṁ prīti-pūrvakam

dadāmi buddhi-yogaṁ taṁ

yena mām upayānti te

"To those who are constantly devoted and worship Me with love, I give the understanding by which they can come to Me."

In conclusion, if a disciple is very serious to execute the mission of the spiritual master, he immediately associates with the Supreme Personality of Godhead by vāṇī or vapuḥ. This is the only secret of success in seeing the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Instead of being eager to see the Lord in some bush of Vṛndāvana while at the same time engaging in sense gratification, if one instead sticks to the principle of following the words of the spiritual master, he will see the Supreme Lord without difficulty.

CC Antya-lila

CC Antya Concluding Words:

Although according to material vision His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda passed away from this material world on the last day of December, 1936, I still consider His Divine Grace to be always present with me by his vāṇī, his words. There are two ways of association-by vāṇī and by vapuḥ. Vāṇī means words, and vapuḥ means physical presence. Physical presence is sometimes appreciable and sometimes not, but vāṇī continues to exist eternally. Therefore we must take advantage of the vāṇī, not the physical presence. The Bhagavad-gītā, for example, is the vāṇī of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Although Kṛṣṇa was personally present five thousand years ago and is no longer physically present from the materialistic point of view, the Bhagavad-gītā continues.

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Lecture on SB 1.3.7 -- Los Angeles, September 13, 1972:

So saukaraṁ vapuḥ. Dvitīyaṁ tu bhavāyāsya rasātala-gatāṁ mahīm, rasātala. We do not know what are the down planets. This is called... Bhūr bhuvaḥ svaḥ. This is bhūr-loka. Above this, there is bhuvar-loka, svarga-loka; above that, there is jana-loka; above that, there is mahar-loka; above that, there is siddha-loka. In this way, seven upper planetary system, and similarly, there are seven downwards. That is called tala, atala, talātala, rasātala, like that. Tala, atala, vitala, talātala, rasātala. So rasātala, the lowest, that means down the water, rasātala-gatām. Just like this morning we were calculating the depth of the Pacific Ocean. They are sometimes seven miles. So similarly, that Garbhodakaśāyī, Garbhodaka-samudra. Just imagine how deep it is. So within that deep water, the earth was put, and Kṛṣṇa in the shape of Varāha saved it. So Kṛṣṇa will save you. Others may disturb you, put you into the difficulty, but Kṛṣṇa will save you. Be assured. Don't be disappointed.

Lecture on SB 3.25.15 -- Bombay, November 15, 1974:

Kṛṣṇa comes Himself, Kṛṣṇa leaves behind Him His word. Vapu and vāṇī. Vāṇī means the words. That is also Kṛṣṇa. That is also... Just like we do not see Kṛṣṇa now. We can see Kṛṣṇa if we actually advance. Here is Kṛṣṇa. But they will say, "Oh, this is an idol. This is an idol. This is not Kṛṣṇa." But Kṛṣṇa, if you think that you have not seen Kṛṣṇa, so Kṛṣṇa is present by His word also, Bhagavad-gītā. That is vāṇī, kṛṣṇa-vāṇī.

Lecture on SB 7.9.2 -- Mayapur, February 12, 1977:

Kṛṣṇa's body is the same, sat, always the same. Kṛṣṇa's another name is narakṛti. Our body is imitation of Kṛṣṇa's body, not that Kṛṣṇa's body is imitation of our body. No. Kṛṣṇa has got His body, narakṛti, nara-vapu. These things are there. But that vapu is not like this asat. Our body is asat. It will not stay. His body is sac-cid-ānanda. Our body is asat, acit and nirānanda, just opposite. It will not stay, and there is no knowledge, acit, and there is no bliss. Always we are unhappy. So nirākāra means not a body like this. His body is different. Ānanda cinmāyā rasa pratibhavitabhis (Bs. 5.37). Ānanda-cinmāyā. Aṅgāni yasya sakalendriya vṛtti-manti paśyanti pānti kalayanti ciraṁ jaganti (Bs. 5.32). His aṅgāni, aṅgāni, parts of the body, are described, sakalendriya-vṛtti-manti. I can see with my eyes. My, this special function of my, this part of the body is to see. But Kṛṣṇa, sakalendriya-vṛtti-manti—He can not only see, but He can eat also. That is import. By seeing, we cannot eat, but whatever we offer, if Kṛṣṇa sees, He eats also. Aṅgāni yasya sakalendriya-vṛtti-manti. So how we can compare Kṛṣṇa's body with our body? But avajānanti māṁ mūḍhāḥ (BG 9.11). Those who are rascals, they think that "Kṛṣṇa has two hands, two legs; therefore I am also Kṛṣṇa. I am also." So don't be misled by the rascals, pāṣaṇḍi. Take as there in the śāstra, learn it from authorized sources, and be happy.

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures

Lecture on CC Adi-lila 7.49-65 -- San Francisco, February 3, 1967:

So Caitanya Mahāprabhu, although He was God Himself, but His behavior and His etiquette was excellent. At once He saw the sannyāsīs, He offered His respect. Pāda prakṣālana kari vasilā sei sthāne. And it is the system that when one comes from outside, he has to wash his feet before he enters room, especially for the sannyāsīs. So He washed His feet and sat down outside where the other sannyāsīs were sitting, a little off, just the place where He washed His feet.

vasiyā karilā kichu aiśvarya prakāśa

mahātejomaya vapu koṭi-sūryābhāsa

And while He was sitting in that place, He was so nice and beautiful. He was only twenty-four years old, and, or twenty-five years old, and very beautiful, very fair complexion, and He has accepted the sannyāsa order, the saffron cloth, and with tilaka. Everything looked so very nice that other sannyāsīs became attracted, "Oh, very nice."

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.164-173 -- New York, December 13, 1966:

Cintāmaṇi-prakara-sadmasu kalpa-vṛkṣa-lakṣāvṛteṣu surabhīr abhipālayantam (Bs. 5.29). Surabhī means transcendental cows. He is engaged in that pastime. So svayaṁ-rūpa eka kṛṣṇa vraje gopa-mūrti. Gopa-mūrti means cowherd boy.

'prābhava-vaibhava'-rūpe dvividha prakāśe

eka-vapu bahu rūpa yaiche haila rāse

Then prakāśa, expansion. From expansion, there are two kinds of division, prābhava and vaibhava. So prābhava, what is the prābhava expansion? It is given: eka-vapu bahu rūpa yaiche haila. Prābhava expansion means the same feature, the same body, but it is distributed in innumerable places. That is called prābhava expansion. The example is, eka-vapu bahu rūpa yaiche haila rāse. In the rāsa dance, Kṛṣṇa performed the rāsa dance, not exactly the ball dance... But it is an imitation of that rāsa dance. Because you cannot have any idea of anything without its being originally in Kṛṣṇa. Janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1). That is the version of Vedānta-sūtra.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.164-173 -- New York, December 13, 1966:

In the rāsa dance there were hundreds of gopīs, but Kṛṣṇa expanded Himself to dance with each one of them. That is called vaibhava-vilāsa. He expanded.

'prābhava-vaibhava'-rūpe dvividha prakāśe

eka-vapu bahu rūpa yaiche haila rāse

The same Kṛṣṇa, I mean to say, expanded Himself in many Kṛṣṇas. That is expansion, vaibhava expansion. Another expansion is,

mahiṣī-vivāhe haila bahu-vidha mūrti

'prābhava prakāśa'-ei śāstra-parasiddhi

So one expansion is vaibhava at Vṛndāvana, and another expansion was made by Kṛṣṇa at Dvārakā when He was grown up and He was obliged to marry sixteen thousand wives, sixteen thousand wives. He had actually... Because the kṣatriyas, the administrator, the royal family, royal class, they are allowed to marry more than one wife, not other class.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.164-173 -- New York, December 13, 1966:

Dvy-aṣṭa-sāhasram. Dvy means double, and aṣṭa means eight, and sāhasra means thousand. That means double eight thousand, or sixteen thousand. Dvy-aṣṭa-sāhasraṁ striya eka udāvahat. And Kṛṣṇa, one, He married, and He was expanded in sixteen thousand forms and features.

sei vapu, sei ākṛti pṛthak yadi bhāse

bhāvāveśa-bhede sa 'vaibhava-prakāśe'

Now, the feature, the body, is the same, but in different house with different devotees, the exchange of feelings is different. That is called vaibhava-prakāśa. So it is a very complicated idea, which of them is vaibhava, which of them is prābhava, which of them is vilāsa, which of them is tad-ekātmā, āveśa... There are different divisions of Kṛṣṇa's expansions. But we can note down if we like from original Kṛṣṇa how many, I mean to say, expansions, innumerable expansions Kṛṣṇa has got.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.172 -- New York, December 14, 1966:

The beauty, beauty of Kṛṣṇa, is fully manifested in Vṛndāvana. As sixteen-years boy and playing flute, the beauty was so attractive that even Vāsudeva Himself became attracted by the beauty.

sei vapu bhinnābhāse kichu bhinnākāra

bhāvāveśākṛti-bhede 'tad-ekātma' nāma tāṅra

Now, that original feature of Lord Kṛṣṇa, when there is a little difference, that is called tad-ekātma.

Festival Lectures

His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Prabhupada's Appearance Day, Lecture -- Atlanta, March 2, 1975:

So in front of Caitanya Mahāprabhu you are chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, and you are taking part in it very seriously. So my Guru Mahārāja will be very, very much pleased upon you and bless you with all benefits. So he wanted this, and he is not... It is not that he is dead and gone. That is not spiritual understanding. Even ordinary living being, he does not die. Na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre (BG 2.20). And what to speak of such exalted, authorized personality like Bhaktisiddhānta. He is seeing. I never feel that I am alone. Of course, when I came to your country without any friend, without any means... Practically, just like a vagabond I came. But I had full faith that "My Guru Mahārāja is with me." I never lost this faith, and that is fact. There are two words, vāṇī and vapuḥ. Vānī means words, and vapuḥ means this physical body. So vāṇī is more important than the vapuḥ. Vapuḥ will be finished. This is material body. It will be finished. That is the nature. But if we keep to the vāṇī, to the words of spiritual master, then we remain very fixed up. It doesn't matter. Just like Bhagavad-gītā. It was spoken five thousand years ago. But if you keep to the words of Kṛṣṇa, then it is always fresh and guiding.

General Lectures

Lecture Excerpt -- Los Angeles, January 13, 1969:

So we have spoken many times in various meetings in this hall about these things. Whole Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is meant for this, to get out of this material stage-playing. We are playing in a stage under different bodies. Just like in a stage, we play—somebody is playing the part of a king, somebody is playing the part of a queen, and so many things—similarly, we are, on the material stage, playing different parts, but we are all living entities, pure soul. Antavanta ime dehā: (BG 2.18) "This body is perishable." Nityasyoktāḥ śarīriṇaḥ: "But the proprietor of the body, that is eternal." (break) ...vāṇī and vapu, and vapu means the physical body, and vāṇī means the vibration. So we are not concerned about the physical body. Not concerned means... We are concerned, of course, because the spiritual master, those who are ācāryas, their body is not considered as materiel. Arcye śilā-dhīr guruṣu nara-matir. Just like the statue of Kṛṣṇa, to consider that "This is a stone..." Similarly, arcye śilā-dhīr guruṣu na... Guruṣu means those who are ācāryas, to accept their body as ordinary man's body, this is denied in the śāstras. So although a physical body is not present, the vibration should be accepted as the presence of the spiritual master, vibration.

Philosophy Discussions

Philosophy Discussion on John Stuart Mill:

Prabhupāda: Nayanaṁ galad-aśru-dhārayā, cakṣuṣā prāvṛṣāyitam. What is that verse? Nayanaṁ galad-aśru-dhārayā? Pulakair nicitaṁ vapuḥ. Gadgada-girā. Kadā tava-nāma-grahaṇe bhaviṣyati. There is dissatisfaction, that "When My heart will be throbbing? When torrents of rain will come out from My eyes? When My speech will be faltering? When that day will come?" That means this ordinary way He's not satisfied. That is the ecstatic summit: one becomes like a madman, chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa. So He is expecting, "When that stage will come?" This stage comes when one is in the summit of chanting, this stage, aṣṭa-śakti-vidhā, eight kinds of transformation. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu is putting forward that "When that stage will come?" Dissatisfaction. This is dissatisfaction. He says, "I have not a pinch of devotion to Kṛṣṇa." Even after crying, even coming to that stage of crying, He says, "No, it is not the stage. I am crying just to make a show that I am a great devotee. I do not love Kṛṣṇa. The evidence is that I am still living. Without Kṛṣṇa and still I'm living. That is My imperfection. If I would have been really lover of Kṛṣṇa, without Kṛṣṇa I would have long, long ago died. But that I have not done. I am still living." So who can show dissatisfaction like this? He says that "I am still living. This is the evidence that I do not love Kṛṣṇa."

1975 Conversations and Morning Walks

Morning Walk -- July 21, 1975, San Francisco:

Prabhupāda: Yes. Yasya prasādād bhagavat-prasādaḥ **. If you get guru's kṛpā, then automatically you get Kṛṣṇa.

Nārāyaṇa: Guru-kṛpā only comes by pleasing the spiritual master, Śrīla Prabhupāda?

Prabhupāda: Otherwise how?

Nārāyaṇa: Excuse me?

Prabhupāda: Otherwise how it can come?

Nārāyaṇa: So those disciples who don't have opportunity to see you or speak with you...

Prabhupāda: That he was speaking, vāṇī and vapuḥ. Even if you don't see his body, you take his word, vāṇī.

Nārāyaṇa: But how do they know they're pleasing you, Śrīla Prabhupāda?

Prabhupāda: If you actually follow the words of guru, that means he is pleased. And if you do not follow, how he can be pleased?

Room Conversation -- October 14, 1975, Johannesburg:

Prabhupāda: We saw one advertisement. So we are remaining these three, four only?

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: There's three of us. We're flying, and then Rūpa and Gokulendra will drive the gray car back to Johannesburg. One devotee will drive to the airport, Vapu.

Harikeśa: I'm almost finished.

Prabhupāda: They are making so many wonderful things, but they cannot stop death.

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: They just make it quicker.

Prabhupāda: After all, they are going to die. In Bengal it is said the topmost ill-naming, what is that? Ill-naming?

Harikeśa: Defamy?

Prabhupāda: Defamy. Gali. Just like I say, "You rascal fool, you...," so many things. I rebuke. What is that?

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: Defamy.

1970 Correspondence

Letter to Hamsaduta -- Los Angeles 22 June, 1970:

We are not separated actually. There are two—vani or vapu. So vapu is physical presence and vani is presence by the vibration, but they are all the same. So Krsna when He was physically present before Arjuna is the same when He is present before us by His vani of Bhagavad-gita. So far I am concerned, I do not factually feel any separation from my Spiritual Master because I am trying to serve Him according to His desire. That should be the motto. If you kindly try to fulfill my mission for which you have been sent there, that will be our constant association.

1972 Correspondence

Letter to Tusta Krsna -- Ahmedabad 14 December, 1972:

Next you ask if I am present in my picture and form? Yes. In form as well as in teachings. To carry out the teachings of guru is more important than to worship the form, but none of them should be neglected. Form is called vapu and teachings is called vani. Both should be worshiped. Vani is more important than vapu.

1975 Correspondence

Letter to Suci -- Bombay 4 November, 1975:

I am in due receipt of your letter as I was leaving the temple to come here to Bombay. You have rightly said that the best way to associate with the spiritual master is to follow his instructions. There are two ways of associating, by vani and by vapu. Vani means words and vapu means physical presence. Physical presence is sometimes appreciable and sometimes not. Therefore we should take advantage of the vani, not the physical presence, because the vani continues to exist eternally. Bhagavad-gita for example is the vani of Lord Krishna. Although Krishna was personally present 5,000 years ago and is no longer present physically from the materialistic viewpoint, still Bhagavad-gita continues. So you have correctly concluded.