The five primary rasas constantly remain within the heart of the pure devotee, and the seven secondary rasas sometimes appear and disappear to enrich the flavors and tastes of the primary ones. After enriching the primary rasas, they disappear.
Appearance and disappearance
Expressions researched:
"appear and disappear"
|"appearance and disappearance"
|"appearance and disappearances"
|"appearances and disappearance"
|"appearances and disappearances"
|"appears and disappears"
|"disappearance and appearance"
|"disappears and appears"
Bhagavad-gita As It Is
BG Chapters 1 - 6
BG 2.14, Translation:
O son of Kuntī, the nonpermanent appearance of happiness and distress, and their disappearance in due course, are like the appearance and disappearance of winter and summer seasons. They arise from sense perception, O scion of Bharata, and one must learn to tolerate them without being disturbed.
BG 2.14, Purport:
In the proper discharge of duty, one has to learn to tolerate nonpermanent appearances and disappearances of happiness and distress. According to Vedic injunction, one has to take his bath early in the morning even during the month of Māgha (January-February). It is very cold at that time, but in spite of that a man who abides by the religious principles does not hesitate to take his bath. Similarly, a woman does not hesitate to cook in the kitchen in the months of May and June, the hottest part of the summer season.
BG 4.6, Purport:
We never see a picture of Kṛṣṇa in old age because He never grows old like us, although He is the oldest person in the whole creation—past, present, and future. Neither His body nor His intelligence ever deteriorates or changes. Therefore, it is clear that in spite of His being in the material world, He is the same unborn, eternal form of bliss and knowledge, changeless in His transcendental body and intelligence. Factually, His appearance and disappearance are like the sun's rising, moving before us, and then disappearing from our eyesight.
BG 4.6, Purport:
When the sun is out of sight, we think that the sun is set, and when the sun is before our eyes, we think that the sun is on the horizon. Actually, the sun is always in its fixed position, but owing to our defective, insufficient senses, we calculate the appearance and disappearance of the sun in the sky.
BG 4.6, Purport:
And because Lord Kṛṣṇa's appearance and disappearance are completely different from that of any ordinary, common living entity, it is evident that He is eternal, blissful knowledge by His internal potency—and He is never contaminated by material nature. The Vedas also confirm that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is unborn yet He still appears to take His birth in multimanifestations. The Vedic supplementary literatures also confirm that even though the Lord appears to be taking His birth, He is still without change of body.
BG 4.6, Purport:
The Lord is conscious of all of His previous appearances and disappearances, but a common living entity forgets everything about his past body as soon as he gets another body.
BG 4.6, Purport:
He is the Lord of all living entities because He performs wonderful and superhuman activities while He is on this earth. Therefore, the Lord is always the same Absolute Truth and is without differentiation between His form and self, or between His quality and body. A question may now be raised as to why the Lord appears and disappears in this world.
BG Chapters 7 - 12
BG 11.2, Translation:
O lotus-eyed one, I have heard from You in detail about the appearance and disappearance of every living entity and have realized Your inexhaustible glories.
BG 11.2, Purport:
Arjuna addresses Lord Kṛṣṇa as "lotus-eyed" (Kṛṣṇa's eyes appear just like the petals of a lotus flower) out of his joy, for Kṛṣṇa has assured him, in the previous chapter, ahaṁ kṛtsnasya jagataḥ prabhavaḥ pralayas tathā: "I am the source of the appearance and disappearance of this entire material manifestation." Arjuna has heard of this from the Lord in detail.
BG 11.2, Purport:
Arjuna further knows that in spite of His being the source of all appearances and disappearances, He is aloof from them. As the Lord has said in the Ninth Chapter, He is all-pervading, yet He is not personally present everywhere. That is the inconceivable opulence of Kṛṣṇa which Arjuna admits that he has thoroughly understood.
BG Chapters 13 - 18
BG 14.27, Purport:
Devotional service to the Lord is very simple: one should always engage in the service of the Lord, should eat the remnants of foodstuffs offered to the Deity, smell the flowers offered to the lotus feet of the Lord, see the places where the Lord had His transcendental pastimes, read of the different activities of the Lord, His reciprocation of love with His devotees, chant always the transcendental vibration Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare, and observe the fasting days commemorating the appearances and disappearances of the Lord and His devotees. By following such a process one becomes completely detached from all material activities. One who can thus situate himself in the brahmajyoti or the different varieties of the Brahman conception is equal to the Supreme Personality of Godhead in quality.
Srimad-Bhagavatam
SB Canto 1
SB 1.3.35, Purport:
The living beings who take birth and then again accept death are bound by the laws of material nature. But the so-called appearance and disappearance of the Lord are not actions of material nature, but are demonstrations of the internal potency of the Lord.
SB 1.3.35, Purport:
The Supreme has nothing to do, but because He is omnipotent, everything is performed by Him naturally, as if done automatically. As a matter of fact, the appearance and disappearance of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and His different activities are all confidential, even to the Vedic literatures. Yet they are displayed by the Lord to bestow mercy upon the conditioned souls. We should always take advantage of the narrations of the activities of the Lord, which are meditations on Brahman in the most convenient and palatable form.
SB 1.3.37, Purport:
No one can properly describe the transcendental nature of the Absolute Truth. Therefore it is said that He is beyond the expression of mind and speech. And yet there are some men, with a poor fund of knowledge, who desire to understand the Absolute Truth by imperfect mental speculation and faulty description of His activities. To the layman His activities, appearance and disappearance, His names, His forms, His paraphernalia, His personalities and all things in relation with Him are mysterious.
SB 1.6.29, Purport:
The Personality of Godhead and His liberated devotees like Nārada appear in the material world by the same process. As it is said in the Bhagavad-gītā, the birth and activities of the Lord are all transcendental. Therefore, according to authorized opinion, the birth of Nārada as the son of Brahmā is also a transcendental pastime. His appearance and disappearance are practically on the same level as that of the Lord. The Lord and His devotees are therefore simultaneously one and different as spiritual entities. They belong to the same category of transcendence.
SB 1.6.30, Purport:
Śrī Nārada is eternally free to move in all parts of the transcendental and material creations of the Almighty. He appears and disappears in his own transcendental body, which is without distinction of body and soul, unlike conditioned beings.
SB 1.8.27, Purport:
The Supreme Personality of Godhead has no direct connection with material activities. All His acts and deeds, which are exhibited even in this material world, are spiritual and without affection for the modes of material nature. In the Bhagavad-gītā the Lord says that all His acts, even His appearance and disappearance in and out of the material world, are transcendental, and one who knows this perfectly shall not take his birth again in this material world, but will go back to Godhead.
SB 1.10.26, Purport:
The Lord appears in a particular family or place by His inconceivable potency. He does not take His birth as a conditioned soul quits his body and accepts another body. His birth is like the appearance and disappearance of the sun. The sun arises on the eastern horizon, but that does not mean that the eastern horizon is the parent of the sun.
SB 1.12.11, Purport:
The Lord is mentioned herein as one who is dressed in the ten directions. This means dressed with garments on ten sides, up and down. He is present everywhere and can appear and disappear at His will from everywhere and anywhere.
SB 1.15.32, Purport:
The mission of the Lord's appearance and disappearance in the mortal universe is completely dependent on His supreme will. He is not forced to appear or disappear by any superior energy, as the living beings appear and disappear, being forced by the laws of nature.
SB 1.15.32, Purport:
Whenever the Lord likes, He can appear Himself from anywhere and everywhere without disturbing His appearance and disappearance in any other place. He is like the sun. The sun appears and disappears on its own accord at any place without disturbing its presence in other places.
SB 1.15.32, Purport:
The sun is present everywhere and anywhere all over the solar system, but it so appears that in a particular place the sun appears in the morning and also disappears at some fixed time in the evening. The time limitation even of the sun is of no concern, and so what to speak of the Supreme Lord who is the creator and controller of the sun. Therefore, in the Bhagavad-gītā it is stated that anyone who factually understands the transcendental appearance and disappearance of the Lord by His inconceivable energy becomes liberated from the laws of birth and death and is placed in the eternal spiritual sky where the Vaikuṇṭha planets are.
SB 1.15.32, Purport:
In the spiritual sky the Lord and those who are eternally engaged in the transcendental loving service of the Lord are all eternally young because there is no old age and disease and there is no death. Because there is no death there is no birth. It is concluded, therefore, that simply by understanding the Lord's appearance and disappearance in truth, one can attain the perfectional stage of eternal life.
SB 1.15.32, Purport:
Since the appearance and disappearance of the Lord and His eternal associates are transcendental, one should not be bewildered by the external features of appearance and disappearance.
SB 1.15.35, Purport:
In this verse, the particular word dhatte ("eternally accepted," and not the word dhitvā, "accepted for the occasion") is used. The idea is that the Lord does not create the fish incarnation; He eternally has such a form, and the appearance and disappearance of such an incarnation serves particular purposes.
SB Canto 2
SB 2.1.38, Purport:
In the Bhagavad-gītā (9.10), the Supreme Personality of Godhead has verily explained that the material nature is only an order-carrying agent of His. She is one of the different potencies of the Lord, and she acts under His direction only. As the supreme transcendental Lord, He simply casts a glance over the material principle, and thus the agitation of matter begins, and the resultant actions are manifested one after another by six kinds of gradual differentiations. All material creation is moving in that way, and thus it appears and disappears in due course.
SB 2.5.21, Purport:
The real sky is the spiritual sky, eternally filled with the rays of the brahmajyoti, and a portion of this unlimited sky is covered by the mahat-tattva cloud of the material creation, in which the conditioned souls, who want to lord it against the will of the Lord, are put into play as they desire under the control of the Lord by the agency of His external energy. As the rainy season appears and disappears regularly, the creation takes place and is again annihilated under the control of the Lord, as confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā (8.19).
SB Canto 3
SB 3.2.7, Purport:
Lord Kṛṣṇa's appearance and disappearance are exactly like that of the sun. He appears and disappears in innumerable universes, and as long as He is present in a particular universe there is all transcendental light in that universe, but the universe from which He passes away is put into darkness. His pastimes, however, are everlasting.
SB 3.2.25, Purport:
Although there is no difference between the Lord's pastimes of appearance and disappearance, the devotees of the Lord do not generally discuss the subject matter of His disappearance.
SB 3.3.15, Purport:
The Lord and His associates appear and disappear by the will of the Lord. They are not subjected to the laws of material nature. No one was able to kill the family of the Lord, nor was there any possibility of their natural death by the laws of nature.
SB 3.4.12, Purport:
The Lord was sitting in a lonely place just about to disappear from the vision of the inhabitants of this universe, and Uddhava was fortunate to see Him even at that time and thus receive the Lord's permission to enter Vaikuṇṭha. The Lord is everywhere at all times, and His appearance and disappearance are merely the experience of the inhabitants of a particular universe.
SB 3.4.33, Translation:
Vidura also heard from Uddhava about the appearance and disappearance of Lord Kṛṣṇa, the Supersoul, in the mortal world, which is a subject matter sought after with great perseverance by the great sages.
SB 3.4.33, Purport:
The subject matter of the appearance and disappearance of the Supersoul, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, is a mystery even for the great sages.
SB 3.4.33, Purport:
This fact is confirmed in Brahma-saṁhitā (5.37): goloka eva nivasaty akhilātma-bhūtaḥ. "The Lord, by His inconceivable potency, resides in His eternal abode, Goloka, yet at the same time, as the Supersoul, He is present everywhere—in both the spiritual and material skies—by His multivarieties of manifestation." Therefore His appearance and disappearance are simultaneously going on, and no one can say definitely which of them is the beginning and which is the end. His eternal pastimes have no beginning or end, and one has to learn of them from the pure devotee only and not waste valuable time in so-called research work.
SB 3.4.34, Purport:
The Lord never reveals Himself to persons like the jñānīs and yogīs. And there are others who, because of their envying the Lord from the bottom of their hearts, are classified amongst the beasts, and for such envious beasts the subject matter of the Lord's appearance and disappearance is simply a mental disturbance. As confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā (7.15), the miscreants who are simply concerned with material enjoyment, who work very hard like beasts of burden, can hardly know the Personality of Godhead at any stage due to āsurika-bhāva, or a spirit of revolt against the Supreme Lord.
SB 3.4.34, Purport:
The transcendental bodily expansions manifested by the Lord for His pastimes in the mortal world, and the appearance and disappearance of such transcendental expansions, are difficult subject matters, and those who are not devotees are advised not to discuss the Lord's appearance and disappearance, lest they commit further offenses at the lotus feet of the Lord. The more they discuss the transcendental appearance and disappearance of the Lord in the asuric spirit, the more they enter into the darkest region of hell, as stated in Bhagavad-gītā (16.20).
SB 3.7.37, Purport:
In the Brahma-saṁhitā (5.47-48) it is said that all the material manifestations with innumerable universes appear and disappear with the breathing of Mahā-Viṣṇu lying in yoga-nidrā, or mystic sleep.
SB 3.11.26, Translation:
In the creation, during Brahmā's day, the three planetary systems—Svarga, Martya and Pātāla—revolve, and the inhabitants, including the lower animals, human beings, demigods and Pitās, appear and disappear in terms of their fruitive activities.
SB 3.14.4, Purport:
One who is actually faithful and inquisitive is qualified to hear the transcendental pastimes of the appearance and disappearance of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Vidura was a suitable candidate to receive such transcendental messages.
SB 3.20.25, Purport:
There are 8,400,000 spieces of living entities, but the incarnations of the Supreme Lord are innumerable. In the Bhāgavatam it is stated that as the waves in the sea cannot be counted but appear and disappear continually, the incarnations and forms of the Lord are innumerable.
SB 3.21.18, Purport:
In Bhagavad-gītā it is stated that only by understanding the transcendental nature of the Lord and His activities, His appearance and disappearance, can one stop the cycle of death and go back to Him.
SB 3.28.6, Purport:
As described in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the Lord appears and disappears according to His relationships with different devotees. The Vedic literatures contain many narrations of the Lord's pastimes, including the Battle of Kurukṣetra and historical facts relating to the life and precepts of devotees like Prahlāda Mahārāja, Dhruva Mahārāja and Ambarīṣa Mahārāja. One need only concentrate his mind on one such narration and become always absorbed in its thought. Then he will be in samādhi. Samādhi is not an artificial bodily state; it is the state achieved when the mind is virtually absorbed in thoughts of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
SB 3.29.36, Purport:
Janma karma ca me divyam: (BG 4.9) the activities and the appearance and disappearance of the Supreme Personality of Godhead are transcendental; they are not to be considered material. Anyone who knows this fact—that the appearance, disappearance and activities of the Lord are beyond material activities or material conception—is liberated.
SB Canto 4
SB 4.8.57, Purport:
The conditioned soul accepts a particular type of body, such as the body of a hog, by his work and by the superior authority of material nature. But when Lord Kṛṣṇa appears in the incarnation of a boar, He is not the same kind of hog as an ordinary animal. Kṛṣṇa appears as Varāha-avatāra in an expansive feature which cannot be compared to an ordinary hog's. His appearance and disappearance are inconceivable to us.
SB 4.9.15, Purport:
An atheistic argument against the supremacy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead states that if God, the Supreme Person, appears and disappears and sleeps and awakens, then what is the difference between God and the living entity? Dhruva Mahārāja is carefully distinguishing the existence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead from that of the living entities. He points out the following differences. The Lord is eternally liberated. Whenever He appears, even within this material world, He is never entangled by the three modes of material nature.
SB 4.24.3, Purport:
The demigods have the great mystic power of being able to appear and disappear according to their will, and since Indra was very pleased with Vijitāśva, he bestowed this mystic power upon him. Thus Vijitāśva became known as Antardhāna.
SB 4.24.67, Purport:
Although Lord Brahmā has a long life-span (4,320,000,000 years constitute twelve hours in a day of Brahmā), Brahmā is afraid of death and consequently engages in the devotional service of the Lord. Similarly, all the Manus who appear and disappear during the day of Brahmā are also engaged in the Lord's devotional service.
SB 4.24.67, Purport:
In Brahmā's one day, fourteen Manus appear and disappear. The first Manu is Svāyambhuva Manu. Each Manu lives for seventy-one yugas, each consisting of some 4,320,000 years. Although the Manus have such a long life-span, they still prepare for the next life by engaging in the devotional service of the Lord.
SB 4.28.35-36, Purport:
According to the Vaiṣṇava calendar, there are many fasts, such as Ekādaśī and the appearance and disappearance days of God and His devotees. All of these are meant to decrease the fat within the body so that one will not sleep more than desired and will not become inactive and lazy. Overindulgence in food will cause a man to sleep more than required. This human form of life is meant for austerity, and austerity means controlling sex, food intake, etc.
SB 4.29.35, Purport:
"O son of Kuntī, the nonpermanent appearance of happiness and distress, and their disappearance in due course, are like the appearance and disappearance of winter and summer seasons. They arise from sense perception, O scion of Bharata, and one must learn to tolerate them without being disturbed." Lord Kṛṣṇa thus informed Arjuna that all the distresses brought about by the body come and go. One has to learn how to tolerate them.
SB 4.31.16, Purport:
When one sleeps, the senses are inactive, but this does not mean that the senses are absent. When one is awakened, the senses become active again. Similarly, this cosmic creation is sometimes manifest and sometimes unmanifest, as stated in Bhagavad-gītā (bhūtvā bhūtvā pralīyate)(BG 8.19). When the cosmic manifestation is dissolved, it is in a kind of sleeping condition, an inactive state. Whether the cosmic manifestation is active or inactive, the energy of the Supreme Lord is always existing. Thus the words "appearance" and "disappearance" apply only to the cosmic manifestation.
SB Canto 5
SB 5.5.30, Purport:
When a person fully realizes that the material body and world are temporary, he is not concerned with pain and pleasures of the body. As Śrī Kṛṣṇa advises in Bhagavad-gītā (2.14):
- mātrā-sparśās tu kaunteya
- śītoṣṇa-sukha-duḥkha-dāḥ
- āgamāpāyino 'nityās
- tāṁs titikṣasva bhārata
"O son of Kuntī, the nonpermanent appearance of happiness and distress, and their disappearance in due course, are like the appearance and disappearance of winter and summer seasons. They arise from sense perception, O scion of Bharata, and one must learn to tolerate them without being disturbed."
SB 5.5.35, Translation:
O King Parīkṣit, just to show all the yogīs the mystic process, Lord Ṛṣabhadeva, the partial expansion of Lord Kṛṣṇa, performed wonderful activities. Actually He was the master of liberation and was fully absorbed in transcendental bliss, which increased a thousandfold. Lord Kṛṣṇa, Vāsudeva, the son of Vasudeva, is the original source of Lord Ṛṣabhadeva. There is no difference in Their constitution, and consequently Lord Ṛṣabhadeva awakened the loving symptoms of crying, laughing and shivering. He was always absorbed in transcendental love. Due to this, all mystic powers automatically approached Him, such as the ability to travel in outer space at the speed of mind, to appear and disappear, to enter the bodies of others, and to see things far, far away. Although He could do all this, He did not exercise these powers.
SB Canto 6
SB 6.1.13-14, Purport:
In text 14 the word dhīrāḥ, meaning "those who are undisturbed under all circumstances," is very significant. Kṛṣṇa tells Arjuna in Bhagavad-gītā (2.14):
- mātrā-sparśās tu kaunteya
- śītoṣṇa-sukha-duḥkha-dāḥ
- āgamāpāyino 'nityās
- tāṁs titikṣasva bhārata
"O son of Kuntī, the nonpermanent appearance of happiness and distress, and their disappearance in due course, are like the appearance and disappearance of winter and summer seasons. They arise from sense perception, O scion of Bharata, and one must learn to tolerate them without being disturbed." In material life there are many disturbances (adhyātmika, adhidaivika and adhibhautika). One who has learned to tolerate these disturbances under all circumstances is called dhīra.
SB 6.16.18-19, Purport:
"O son of Kuntī, the nonpermanent appearance of happiness and distress, and their disappearance in due course, are like the appearance and disappearance of winter and summer seasons. They arise from sense perception, O scion of Bharata, and one must learn to tolerate them without being disturbed." In the conditioned state of life, the body is used as our dress, and as one needs different dresses during the summer and winter, we conditioned souls are changing bodies according to our desires. However, because the body of the Supreme Lord is full of knowledge, it needs no covering.
SB Canto 7
SB 7.8.46, Translation:
The inhabitants of Vidyādhara-loka prayed: Our acquired power to appear and disappear in various ways according to varieties of meditation was banned by that foolish Hiraṇyakaśipu because of his pride in his superior bodily strength and his ability to conquer others. Now the Supreme Personality of Godhead has killed him just as if the demon were an animal. Unto that supreme pastime form of Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva, we eternally offer our respectful obeisances.
SB 7.13.6, Purport:
The living entities in the material world, not only at the present but also in the past, have been involved in trying to solve the problem of birth and death. Some stress death and point to the illusory existence of everything material, whereas others stress life, trying to preserve it perpetually and enjoy it to the best of their ability. Both of them are fools and rascals. It is advised that one observe the eternal time factor, which is the cause of the material body's appearance and disappearance, and that one observe the living entity's entanglement in this time factor.
SB Canto 8
SB 8.5.46, Purport:
ll 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 8.6.8, Translation:
Lord Brahmā said: Although You are never born, Your appearance and disappearance as an incarnation never cease. You are always free from the material qualities, and You are the shelter of transcendental bliss resembling an ocean. Eternally existing in Your transcendental form, You are the supreme subtle of the most extremely subtle. We therefore offer our respectful obeisances unto You, the Supreme, whose existence is inconceivable.
SB 8.18.1, Purport:
One should try to understand that the Lord's appearance and disappearance and His activities are all divyam, or transcendental. The Lord has nothing to do with material activities. One who understands the appearance, disappearance and activities of the Lord is immediately liberated. After giving up his body, he never again has to accept a material body, but is transferred to the spiritual world (tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti so 'rjuna (BG 4.9)).
SB Canto 9
SB 9.13.27, Purport:
"O son of Kuntī, the nonpermanent appearance of happiness and distress, and their disappearance in due course, are like the appearance and disappearance of winter and summer seasons. They arise from sense perception, O scion of Bharata, and one must learn to tolerate them without being disturbed." Those who are liberated, being on the transcendental platform of rendering service to the Lord, do not care about so-called happiness and distress. They know that these are like changing seasons, which are perceivable by contact with the material body.
SB Canto 10.1 to 10.13
SB 10.1.59, Purport:
"O son of Kuntī, the nonpermanent appearance of happiness and distress, and their disappearance in due course, are like the appearance and disappearance of winter and summer seasons. They arise from sense perception, O scion of Bharata, and one must learn to tolerate them without being disturbed." (BG 2.14) The self-realized soul is never disturbed by so-called distress or happiness, and this is especially true of an exalted devotee like Vasudeva, who showed this by his practical example. Vasudeva was not at all disturbed when delivering his first child to Kaṁsa to be killed.
SB 10.3.7-8, Purport:
Those who are not in full knowledge that the appearance and disappearance of the Lord are transcendental (janma karma ca me divyam (BG 4.9)) are sometimes surprised that the Supreme Personality of Godhead can take birth like an ordinary child. Actually, however, the Lord's birth is never ordinary. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is already situated within the core of everyone's heart as antaryāmī, the Supersoul. Thus because He was present in full potency in Devakī's heart, He was also able to appear outside her body.
SB 10.3.14, Purport:
Vasudeva begot the Supreme Personality of Godhead, yet he was in full knowledge of how the Supreme Lord appears and disappears. He was therefore tattva-darśī, a seer of the truth, because he personally saw how the Supreme Absolute Truth appeared as his son. Vasudeva was not in ignorance, thinking that because the Supreme Godhead had appeared as his son, the Lord had become limited. The Lord is unlimitedly existing and all-pervading, inside and outside. Thus there is no question of His appearance or disappearance.
SB 10.3.32, Purport:
"One who knows the transcendental nature of My appearance and activities does not, upon leaving the body, take his birth again in this material world, but attains My eternal abode, O Arjuna." One should try to understand the appearance and disappearance of the Supreme Personality of Godhead from Vedic authorities, not from imagination. One who follows his imaginations about the Supreme Personality of Godhead is condemned.
SB 10.4.19, Purport:
Even after the annihilation of a particular bodily form, the original source of the bodily elements does not change. The living entity enjoys the material body, which appears and disappears, but the five elements earth, water, fire, air and ether remain the same. The example given here is that pots and dolls are produced from the earth, and when broken or destroyed they mingle with their original ingredients. In any case, the source of supply remains the same.
SB Cantos 10.14 to 12 (Translations Only)
SB 10.44.48, Translation:
Lord Kṛṣṇa causes the appearance and disappearance of all beings in this world, and He is their maintainer as well. One who disrespects Him can never prosper happily.
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 11.31.11, Translation:
My dear King, you should understand that the Supreme Lord's appearance and disappearance, which resemble those of embodied conditioned souls, are actually a show enacted by His illusory energy, just like the performance of an actor. After creating this universe He enters into it, plays within it for some time, and at last winds it up. Then the Lord remains situated in His own transcendental glory, having ceased from the functions of cosmic manifestation.
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta
CC Adi-lila
CC Adi 3.10, Purport:
From the beginning of Brahmā’s day of 4,320,000,000 years, six Manus appear and disappear before Lord Kṛṣṇa appears. Thus 1,975,320,000 years of the day of Brahmā elapse before the appearance of Lord Kṛṣṇa. This is an astronomical calculation according to solar years.
CC Adi 4.33, Purport:
King Kulaśekhara has written similarly, in his book Mukunda-mālā-stotra (5):
- nāsthā dharme na vasu-nicaye naiva kāmopabhoge
- yad bhāvyaṁ tad bhavatu bhagavan pūrva-karmānurūpam
- etat prārthyaṁ mama bahu-mataṁ janma-janmāntare ’pi
- tvat-pādāmbho-ruha-yuga-gatā niścalā bhaktir astu
"I have no attraction for performing religious rituals or holding any earthly kingdom. I do not care for sense enjoyments; let them appear and disappear in accordance with my previous deeds. My only desire is to be fixed in devotional service to the lotus feet of the Lord, even though I may continue to take birth here life after life."
CC Adi 5.89, Purport:
The tendency to lord it over material nature, or māyā, cannot be a feature of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. When He descends to the material world, He maintains His transcendental nature, unaffected by the material qualities. In both the spiritual and material worlds, He is always the controller of all energies. The uncontaminated spiritual nature always exists within Him. The Lord appears and disappears in the material world in different features for His pastimes, yet He is the origin of all cosmic manifestations.
CC Madhya-lila
CC Madhya 20.397, Purport:
Kṛṣṇa appears and disappears in innumerable universes, just as the sun appears and disappears during the day. Although the sun appears to rise and set, it is continuously shining somewhere on the earth. Similarly, although Kṛṣṇa's pastimes seem to appear and disappear, they are continuously existing in one brahmāṇḍa (universe) or another. Thus all of Kṛṣṇa's līlās are present simultaneously throughout the innumerable universes. By our limited senses we cannot appreciate this; therefore Kṛṣṇa's eternal pastimes are very difficult for us to understand.
CC Madhya 24.323, Purport:
Bhagavad-gītā it is stated, janma karma ca me divyam. Kṛṣṇa's appearance and disappearance are transcendental, not mundane. A person is eligible to return home, back to Godhead, if he perfectly understands Kṛṣṇa and His appearance and disappearance. This is verified by Kṛṣṇa Himself in the Bhagavad-gītā (4.9): tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti so ‘rjuna (BG 4.9).
Other Books by Srila Prabhupada
Teachings of Lord Caitanya
Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 8:
The sun is eternally existing, although we see it rise and set, appear and disappear, according to our position on the planet. Similarly, the Lord's pastimes are going on, although we can see them manifest in this particular universe only at certain intervals.
Easy Journey to Other Planets
Easy Journey to Other Planets 1:
This description of a living body confirms the scientific discovery that energy exists in two forms. When one of them, the antimaterial particle, is separated from the material body, the latter becomes useless for all purposes. As such, the antimaterial particle is undoubtedly superior to the material energy.
No one, therefore, should lament for the loss of material energy. All varieties of sense perception in the categories of heat and cold, happiness and distress, are but interactions of material energy which come and go like seasonal changes. The temporary appearance and disappearance of such material interactions confirms that the material body is formed of a material energy inferior to the living force, or jīva energy.
Any intelligent man who is not disturbed by happiness and distress, understanding that they are different material phases resulting from the interactions of the inferior energy, is competent to regain the antimaterial world, where life is eternal, full of permanent knowledge and bliss.
The antimaterial world is mentioned here, and in addition information is given that in the antimaterial world there is no "seasonal" fluctuation. Everything there is permanent, blissful, and full of knowledge. But when we speak of it as a "world," we must remember that it has forms and paraphernalia of various categories beyond our material experiences.
Easy Journey to Other Planets 2:
Eternal life is with Kṛṣṇa. Therefore Kṛṣṇa says, "Everything belongs to Me, and I have the superexcellent abode, which is called Goloka Vṛndāvana." If one wants to go there, he must simply become Kṛṣṇa conscious and try to understand how Kṛṣṇa appears and disappears, what His constitutional position is, what our constitutional position is, what our relationship with Him is, and how to live. Simply try to understand these ideas scientifically. Everything in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is scientific. It is not bogus, whimsical, sentimental, fanatical or imaginary. It is truth, fact, reality. One must understand Kṛṣṇa in truth.
Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead
Krsna Book Preface:
But the Vedic histories, such as the Purāṇas and Mahābhārata, relate human histories which extend millions and billions of years into the past.
For example, from these literatures we are given the histories of Kṛṣṇa's appearances and disappearances millions and billions of years ago.
Krsna Book 3:
Only the foolish conclude that when the Supreme Lord appears He accepts the conditions of matter. Even if He appears to have accepted a material body, He is still not subjected to any material condition. Kṛṣṇa has therefore appeared and defeated all imperfect conclusions about the appearance and disappearance of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Krsna Book 14:
"It is to be understood that when I, Lord Brahmā, the supreme personality of this universe, cannot estimate the childlike body of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, then what to speak of others? And if I cannot estimate the spiritual potency of Your childlike body, then what can I understand about Your transcendental pastimes? Therefore, as it is said in the Bhagavad-gītā, anyone who can understand a little of the transcendental pastimes, appearance and disappearance of the Lord becomes immediately eligible to enter into the kingdom of God after quitting the material body."
Krsna Book 14:
"Similarly, You expand Yourself in different incarnations: among the demigods You incarnate as Vāmanadeva, among the great sages You incarnate as Paraśurāma, among the human beings You appear as Yourself, Lord Kṛṣṇa, or as Lord Rāma, among the animals You appear as the boar incarnation, and among the aquatics You appear as the fish incarnation. And yet You have no appearance or disappearance: You are always eternal. Your appearance and disappearance are made possible by Your inconceivable energy just to give protection to the faithful devotees and to annihilate the faithless demons."
Krsna Book 14:
"As confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā, simply by understanding Your constitutional position, appearance and disappearance, one can be immediately elevated to the spiritual kingdom after quitting this present body. Therefore to cross over the ocean of material nescience, an intelligent person takes shelter of Your lotus feet and is easily transferred to the spiritual world."
Krsna Book 54:
Similarly, the living entity has nothing to do with the next body he accepts. He is always free from the contact of this bodily contamination. "Therefore," continued Balarāma, "the appearance and disappearance of the body have nothing to do with the living entity, just as the waxing and waning of the moon have nothing to do with the moon." When the moon waxes we falsely think that the moon is developing, and when it wanes we think the moon is decreasing. Factually, the moon, as it is, is always the same; it has nothing to do with such visible activities of waxing and waning.
Krsna Book 63:
"In the phenomenal manifestation there are three stages: the stage of consciousness, the stage of semiconsciousness in dreaming, and the stage of unconsciousness. But Your Lordship is transcendental to all these different material stages of existence. You exist, therefore, in a fourth dimension, and Your appearance and disappearance do not depend on anything beyond Yourself."
Krsna Book 63:
"You are the supreme cause of everything, but of You there is no cause. You Yourself cause Your own appearance and disappearance. Despite Your transcendental position, my Lord, in order to show Your six opulences and advertise Your transcendental qualities, You have appeared in Your different incarnations—fish, tortoise, boar, Nṛsiṁha, Keśava and others—by Your personal manifestation; and You have appeared as different living entities by Your separated manifestations. By Your internal potency You appear as the different incarnations of Viṣṇu, and by Your external potency You appear as the phenomenal world."
Krsna Book 69:
Nārada replied, "My dear Lord, this kind of behavior by Your Lordship is not at all astonishing, for You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead and master of all species of living entities. 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."
Krsna Book 85:
"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."
Krsna Book 87:
The Lord is ever-existing, and the energies are ever-existing. Some of the energy is temporary—sometimes manifested and sometimes unmanifested—but this does not mean that it is false. The example may be given that when a person is angry he does things which are different from his normal condition of life, but the fact that the mood of anger appears and disappears does not mean that the energy of anger is false. As such, the argument of the Māyāvādī philosophers that this world is false is not accepted by the Vaiṣṇava philosophers. The Lord Himself confirms that the view that there is no supreme cause of this material manifestation, that there is no God, and that everything is only the creation of the interaction of matter is a view of the asuras.
Message of Godhead
Message of Godhead 1:
A learned man never laments over a subject which appears and disappears as a matter of course. The material body, which we get from the womb of our mother, becomes transformed after some time into ashes, earth, or stool, as the case may be. And the subtle mental body, which is also material and composed of false ego and intelligence, likewise vanishes when the soul is liberated. Therefore, those who are truly learned do not give much importance to this material body and mind, or to the happiness and distress that pertain only to the material body and mind.
Light of the Bhagavata
Light of the Bhagavata 15, Purport:
By His inconceivable energy, the Supreme Lord can appear and disappear like a rainbow, which appears and disappears without being affected by the roaring thunder and the cloudy sky. The Lord is eternally the biggest of the big and the smallest of the small. The living beings, who are His parts and parcels, are the smallest of the small, and He is the biggest of the big as the Absolute Truth, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Light of the Bhagavata 41, Purport:
The Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, appeared in the family of Yadu, and since then the Yadu dynasty has been luminous like the moon in autumn. The appearance and disappearance of the Lord are similar to the appearance and disappearance of the sun. The sun is first seen on the eastern horizon, but that does not mean that the sun is the son of that side. The sun is fixed in its own orbit, and it neither rises nor sets. But because we first see it on the eastern horizon we may say that the sun rises on that side. Similarly, the appearance of Godhead in some particular family does not mean that He is limited by obligations to that family. He is fully independent and may appear and disappear. anywhere and everywhere, because He is all-pervading.
Light of the Bhagavata 41, Purport:
Less intelligent persons cannot accommodate the appearance and disappearance of the Lord as an incarnation, but there is no sound reasoning to support such unbelievers. If God is all-pervading, like the power of electricity, He can manifest Himself at any place within His creation. When He is within we cannot see Him, but when He is without He is seen by everyone, although very few know Him as He is. Everyone sees the sun every day, but that does not mean that everyone knows what the sun actually is. Similarly, when Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa was present five thousand years ago, very few could know what He was.
Narada-bhakti-sutra (sutras 1 to 8 only)
Narada Bhakti Sutra 3, Purport:
When a person attains to the perfectional stage of love of Godhead, he becomes liberated even in his present body and realizes his constitutional position of immortality. In the Bhagavad-gītā (4.9), the Lord says,
- janma karma ca me divyam evaṁ yo vetti tattvataḥ
- tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti so 'rjuna
Here the Lord says that any person who simply understands His transcendental activities and His appearance and disappearance in this material world becomes liberated, and that after quitting his present body he at once reaches His abode. Therefore it is to be understood that one who has attained the stage of love of God has perfect knowledge, and even if he may fall short of perfect knowledge, he has the preliminary perfection of life that a living entity can attain.
Lectures
Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures
Lecture on BG 2.14 -- London, August 20, 1973:
Pradyumna: Translation: "O son of Kuntī, the nonpermanent appearance of happiness and distress, and their disappearance in due course, are like the appearance and disappearance of winter and summer seasons. They arise from sense perception, O scion of Bharata, and one must learn to tolerate them without being disturbed (BG 2.14)."
Prabhupāda: This is very important verse. In the previous verse it has been described, dehino 'smin yathā dehe (BG 2.13). Actually we living entities, we are within the body. The bodily pains and pleasure are not the pains and pleasure of the soul within.
Lecture on BG 4.3-6 -- New York, July 18, 1966:
Just like Kṛṣṇa's birth, Kṛṣṇa's appearance and disappearance, is just like the sun, is just like the sun. Now, sun, in the morning, you'll see that it, it appears as if it is born from the eastern horizon. It is not born. The sun is always in the sky. It is the position of the earth in which we understand that sun is now rising from the eastern horizon. He's neither rising, nor he's dipping into the sea. He is, the sun is as it is, in his position, but due to the position, changing position of this earth, we see that the sun is rising and sun is setting. Similarly, the Kṛṣṇa, when He comes as incarnation, He comes just like this, in the same way.
Lecture on BG 4.3-6 -- New York, July 18, 1966:
Now, here the sunset, and the sun... Similarly, if you inquire from Japan or any other country, the sun, the sun is somewhere in the meridian, sometimes it is, I mean to say, dead of night. So this timing difference is just like going on according to the position of the world movement. Similarly, Kṛṣṇa's appearance and disappearance is like that. It is not that Kṛṣṇa is born and Kṛṣṇa is gone. No, it is not like that. Somewhere is Kṛṣṇa there. Just like the sun is somewhere.
Lecture on BG 4.4 -- Bombay, March 24, 1974:
With the change of the body, the activities of my past body is forgotten. This is a fact. Similarly when we change this body we get another body. We forget. But why Kṛṣṇa has not forgotten? That means He does not change His body. This should be the conclusion. This should be the conclusion from right, logical point of view. I forget because I change my body. Kṛṣṇa does not forget. He does not change His body. This should be the conclusion.
And Kṛṣṇa says also that sambhavāmy ātma-māyayā (BG 4.6). "I appear and disappear by My own energy." We are forced by the other energy.
Lecture on BG 4.5 -- Montreal, June 10, 1968:
Now Kṛṣṇa is explaining to Arjuna the difference between a living entity and the Supreme Personality of Godhead. It is very distinct here that both you and Me had many, many, many other appearances and disappearances. "Birth and death," that is ordinary word. Actually, the word is "appearance and disappearance." Just like the sun. The sun sets and sun rise. This is our calculation. The sun is there always, twenty-four hours, but to our limited understanding, because we cannot see... Now just, this is sun-setting time. After setting of the sun the people on this part of the world, they will not see the sun. That does not mean that sun is not there. Sun is there, but this part of the world cannot see it, and that we say sunset.
Lecture on BG 4.5 -- Montreal, June 10, 1968:
Just like an experienced man knows that there is sun in the sky although it is invisible. Similarly, the actual word, here it is stated, bahūni me vyatītāni janmāni tava cārjuna. So God or the living entities, they're appearing and disappearing. Just try to understand the same example, sun. Sun is always existing, but it is appearing and disappearing. Similarly, we also appear and disappear.
Actually, we are eternal. Both God and the living entities they are qualitatively one, eternal.
Lecture on BG 4.5 -- Montreal, June 10, 1968:
So far appearance and disappearance is concerned, Arjuna and Kṛṣṇa are on the same level. Bahūni me vyatītāni janmāni. "My dear Arjuna, I have many many appearance and disappearance in the past. Similarly, you had also many appearance and disappearances in the past. But the difference is, tāny ahaṁ veda. My appearance and disappearances, I remember everything, past, present, future, everything.
Lecture on BG 4.5 -- Montreal, June 10, 1968:
There were millions and millions of births and appearances and disappearances in past. Because time is unlimited, nitya. There is no... The past, present, future, this is due to this body. Just like a small ant, it's calculation of past, present, and future, and my calculation of past, present, and future are different. Because he has got a different body, I have got a different body, the atom has got a different body. So it is according to the body, past, present, and future. But there is a life where there is no existence of this material body of past, present, and future. Therefore in the eternal world means there is no past, present and future. Because there is no, not this material body. This is the difference between past, present, and future. Therefore it is called nitya. Nitya means eternal, where there is no influence of this time.
Lecture on BG 4.5 -- Montreal, June 10, 1968:
Kṛṣṇa, just to clear, Arjuna, just to clear Kṛṣṇa's position, he is putting this question, that "Kṛṣṇa, both You and me, we were born some few years ago. How I can believe that You told this truth to sun-god?" In answer to that question, Kṛṣṇa says that bahūni me vyatītāni janmāni tava cārjuna. "Both you and Me had many, many births, or appearance and disappearance, in the past. I remember all those things as it is, without any mistake. But you do not know."
Lecture on BG 4.5 -- Montreal, June 10, 1968:
Now we should not consider that because the difference between God and the living entities, that our different appearance and disappearance is different. Just like in this life I may be an Indian, you may be an American. But next life, we do not know what body we are going to get next life. Because in the material existence the body and the soul is different. But in the spiritual existence... Just like Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa's body and Kṛṣṇa is nondifferent because it is completely spiritual.
Lecture on BG 4.5 -- Montreal, June 10, 1968:
Sunshine is not created. Wherever there is sun, there is sunshine. But if you get sunshine in the morning, if you say, "Now the sunshine is created," that is a mistake. It is our misconception. The sun and the sunshine are always there. It is a question of appearance and disappearance, that's all. Everything expansion of Kṛṣṇa. Without any exception. Some of them are expansion of His material energy, some of them are expansion of His spiritual energy, some of them are expansion of His marginal energy. So everything expansion of Kṛṣṇa.
Lecture on BG 4.6 -- Bombay, March 26, 1974:
So Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, explaining the method of His appearance and disappearance. People do not know it. Just like the sun. Because we do not see at night, formerly some people used to think "The sun is now dead, or gone." But later on, by scientific method, they have come to know the sun is always in the sky. Due to our different position, we do not see the sun at night. Otherwise, the sun is there. This is... If this is possible for an ordinary material thing, how much it is greatly possible for the Supreme Spirit.
Lecture on BG 4.6 -- Bombay, March 26, 1974:
Pradyumna: (reading) Factually, His appearance and disappearance are like the sun's rising, moving before us and then disappearing from our eyesight. When the sun is out of sight, we think that the sun has set, and when the sun is before our eyes, we think that the sun is on the horizon."
Prabhupāda: Kṛṣṇa does not appear or disappear. Our eyesight changes. Just like we are looking through the window. One horse race is going on. When the horse comes before the window, we can see. And when it passes through, from our eyesight, we think that horse is no longer existing. But the horse is running. This example should be taken. Kṛṣṇa is called nitya-līlā. He is taking His birth, He is fighting in the battle of Kurukṣetra, He's dancing with the gopīs. That is going on eternally in either of the so many, innumerable universes.
Lecture on BG 4.7-10 -- Los Angeles, January 6, 1969:
If one can understand the principles of appearance and disappearance of God, His activities, so simply by understanding these principles he will be liberated. It is said here that after quitting this body, he is no more coming to take birth again in this material world. So just like a layman does not know how the sun appears and disappears, but an astronomer, he knows very well the movements of the sun, moon, and other planets' appearance and disappearance. This is a science, astronomy. Similarly, there is a science of God by which you can understand how God appears, disappears, how He acts, how He works. Everything is there, but if you are not interested that does not mean that the science of God is false or there is no such science. There is. You must be interested to know; then you can understand. And if you simply understand this science, then you become liberated. It is open order. Simply by understanding, even not engaging yourself in transcendental service of the Lord, simply by understanding the process of appearance and disappearance. So why don't you try that?
Lecture on BG 4.9 -- Montreal, June 19, 1968:
Sun set and sun rise, it is simply adjustment of our own position. Actually, there is no sun set, there is no sun rise. The same example is applicable to our appearance and disappearance, as well as God's appearance and disappearance. We are eternal. We are eternally existing, but appearance means this body, appearance of this body.
Lecture on BG 4.9 -- Montreal, June 19, 1968:
The difference between the appearance of God and appearance of myself is that I appear in different bodies as it is offered by the material nature according to my karma; God appears in His own original body. That is the difference. And because God appears in His own original body, therefore He is not forgetful of the past, present and future. And so far we are concerned, because we appear in different material bodies, therefore we forget our past, present and future. This is the difference. And in this verse it is specifically mentioned here that janma karma me divyam (BG 4.9). Divyam means divine, spiritual, transcendental. Our appearance and disappearance is different from the Lord's appearance and disappearance.
Lecture on BG 4.9-11 -- New York, July 25, 1966:
Tyaktvā deham. Tyaktvā means by quitting, by giving up this present material body he at once is transferred to the spiritual world. Tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti (BG 4.9). He does not require to come back here in this material world to have this material body. He at once develops his own spiritual body just like Kṛṣṇa. This is the process. Simply by understanding the transcendental activities and the appearance and disappearance, he becomes fully spiritualized, and the result is that he at once... He does not get. The spiritual body is already existing. I am spirit; I have got my spiritual body, but that body is now covered by this matter.
Lecture on BG 4.9-11 -- New York, July 25, 1966:
So here the Lord says that janma karma me divyam: (BG 4.9) "My appearance and disappearance..." Mark this word, "appearance and disappearance." "Birth and death" is not applicable to Lord. "Birth and death" is applicable to this material body. The material body has its birth, and the material body has its death, dissolution. But the spiritual body is eternal. It has neither death nor birth. Therefore the spiritual body—the exact language to be used, "appearance and disappearance."
Lecture on BG 4.9-11 -- New York, July 25, 1966:
Just like the sun. The sun disappears and appears. For the sun there is no question of birth and death because sun is eternal. So anything eternal... So when the Lord comes it is just like the sun appear and sun disappears.
Lecture on BG 4.9-11 -- New York, July 25, 1966:
So janma karma me divyaṁ yo jānāti tattvataḥ (BG 4.9). And this inquisitiveness, the appearance and disappearance of Kṛṣṇa, and His activities, this inquisitiveness, is transcendental enquiries. So we must know it from persons who are in the knowledge. And that way we shall be able to put ourself constantly in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, and the result will be that tyaktvā deham, by quitting this body we shall be at once transferred to the transcendental world. This is the process.
Lecture on BG 4.19-25 -- Los Angeles, January 9, 1969:
The things does not change. Simply the consciousness changes. Just like the sunshine does not change. Simply the cloud changes. It appears and disappears. Bhūtvā bhūtvā pralīyate (BG 8.19). So if you keep yourself always in bright sunshine. Just like if you go above the cloud as you have experience by plane journey that you go above the cloud and there you will find simply sunshine, no more cloud, no more cloud. So just keep yourself in Kṛṣṇa consciousness and this cloud of material existence will disappear or you will be above, even you can see them, that will not affect you.
Lecture on BG 7.11-13 -- Bombay, April 5, 1971:
So although Kṛṣṇa takes birth, many, many times He appears, janma karma me divyam (BG 4.9), but such appearance and disappearance are divyam, transcendental. They are not ordinary. And if we accept Kṛṣṇa's birth or Kṛṣṇa's appearance and disappearance like us, then we are mistaken.
Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures
Lecture on SB 1.8.29 -- Los Angeles, April 21, 1973:
Prabhupāda: So the appearance and disappearance of Lord within this material world, that is called cikīrṣitam. What is the word meaning of cikīrṣitam?
Devotee: Pastimes.
Prabhupāda: Pastimes. It is Kṛṣṇa's pastime that He comes. He... When He comes, of course, He works something. The The work is to give protection to the sādhu and to kill the asādhu.
Lecture on SB 1.8.29 -- Los Angeles, April 21, 1973:
The rascal thinks like that. "Because Kṛṣṇa has come, descended, avatāra, so I am also avatāra." This rascaldom is going on. So here it is said: na veda kaścid bhagavaṁś cikīrṣitam. "Nobody knows what is the purpose of Your appearance and disappearance. Nobody knows." So tava, tava īhamānasya nṛṇāṁ viḍambanam. It is bewildering. Nobody can understand what is the real purpose. The real purpose is His free will. "Let Me go and see." He doesn't require to come to kill the demons. There are so many agents that if there is a strong wind, thousands of demons can be killed in a moment. So Kṛṣṇa does not require to come to kill the demons. And He does not require also to come to give protection to the devotee. By His simply will, everything is there. But He takes a pleasure pastime, "Let Me go and see."
Lecture on SB 1.8.29 -- Los Angeles, April 21, 1973:
At the same time, to teach us that becoming enemy, enemy of Kṛṣṇa is not very profitable. Better become friend. That will be profitable. Therefore it is said that: na veda kaścid bhagavaṁś cikīrṣitam. "Nobody knows what is the purpose of Your appearance and disappearance." Tava īhamānasya nṛṇāṁ viḍambanam. "You are in this world just like ordinary human being. This is bewildering." Therefore ordinary man cannot believe. "How God can become ordinary person like...?" Kṛṣṇa is playing. Although He was not playing ordinary person. He was playing as God.
Lecture on SB 1.8.30 -- Los Angeles, April 22, 1973:
So similarly there is the supreme vital force. Supreme vital force is Kṛṣṇa or the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore where is the question of His taking birth, appearance and disappearance? In the Bhagavad-gītā it is said: janma karma ca me divyam (BG 4.9). Divyam means it is spiritual. Ajo 'pi sann avyayātmā. Aja means unborn. Avyayātmā, without any destruction.
Lecture on SB 1.8.30 -- Los Angeles, April 22, 1973:
Just like Kṛṣṇa appeared as the Fish Incarnation. Tad atyanta-viḍambanam (SB 1.8.30). So Kṛṣṇa's disappearance and appearance, His taking birth, these are all bewildering. It is not that... We are forced to take birth. We are, we are , we living entities, conditioned souls, we are transmigrating from one body to another, being forced by the laws of nature. But Kṛṣṇa does not appear by being forced by the laws of nature. That is the difference.
Lecture on SB 1.8.30 -- Los Angeles, April 22, 1973:
So therefore Kṛṣṇa's, this plan of appearance and disappearance, they are to be very greatly understood. Not that whimsically Kṛṣṇa has come. He has got a great plan. Otherwise why He should come here? He is very much eager to take you back to home, back to Godhead. That is Kṛṣṇa's business.
Lecture on SB 2.3.20 -- Bombay, March 24, 1977, At Cross Maidan Pandal:
So we have to understand Kṛṣṇa tattvataḥ, as He is. This tattvataḥ word has been used in several places in Bhagavad-gītā. Janma karma ca me divyaṁ yo jānāti tattvataḥ (BG 4.9). Here is one tattvataḥ. Kṛṣṇa's appearance and disappearance is not ordinary thing. Yo jānāti tattvataḥ: "Anyone who understands in truth..." So what is the result? Tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti kaunteya (BG 4.9). Immediately becomes liberated. Immediately he becomes eligible not to accept any more this material body.
Lecture on SB 3.26.25 -- Bombay, January 2, 1975:
A Vaiṣṇava, they have got different functions of appearance and disappearance days of Vaiṣṇava and Viṣṇu. Āvirbhāva, tirobhāva. Just the rising sun and the setting sun. When the sun sets, it does not mean the sun is finished. Of course, some of the former theosophists and scientists, they used to think that this is..., at night the sun is dead. That is not fact. The sun is not visible to our limited eyes. Similarly, appearance and disappearance of incarnation of Godhead is like that. They are going on just like the, a horse is running in due course, but when it comes in front of your door or window, you can see. But that does not mean the running of horse is stopped when you cannot see.
Lecture on SB 6.1.6-8 -- New York, July 21, 1971:
One might think that he has solved all the problems of his life, but where is the solution of these four problems: birth, death, old age and disease? That is intelligence.
But there is a solution. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā,
- janma karma me divyaṁ
- yo jānāti tattvataḥ
- tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma
- naiti mām eti kaunteya
- (BG 4.9)
"If anyone understands about My appearance and disappearance and activities in truth, not superficially, in truth..." Janma karma me divyaṁ yo jānāti tattvataḥ. Tattvataḥ means truth, not superficially, ephemerally. Actually. What he gains? He gains that tyaktvā deham, after giving up this body... Because we have to give up this body, every one of us. We are giving up body every moment. So the last phase of giving up this body is called death. Kṛṣṇa says, tyaktvā deham... After giving up this body, punar janma naiti, he does not accept any more a material body. Why? Mām eti. Because he returns back to Kṛṣṇa.
Lecture on SB 6.1.27-34 -- Surat, December 17, 1970:
As Lord Kṛṣṇa's appearance and disappearance are all spiritual, transcendental, they are not ordinary things, similarly, Lord Kṛṣṇa's devotee, His representative, who is sent to this material world for preaching the glories of Lord Kṛṣṇa, their appearance and disappearance is also like Kṛṣṇa's. Therefore, according to Vaiṣṇava principles, the appearance and disappearance of Vaiṣṇava is considered all-auspicious.
Lecture on SB 7.6.1 -- New York, April 9, 1969:
We don't say born and died, no. (laughter) Appear and disappear. This is the actual explanation. None of us, either Kṛṣṇa or we or all living entities, they appear and disappear. It is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā, Lord Kṛṣṇa says in the battlefield, "My dear Arjuna, either you or Me or all the kings and soldiers who have assembled in this battlefield, don't think that they did not exist in the past and they'll not exist in the future." That means they existed in the past and they're existing at present and they would exist also in the future. That means eternal. Eternal, we are all eternal.
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures
Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.105 -- New York, July 11, 1976:
So today Sanātana Gosvāmī's birthday? Disappearance. Disappearance and appearance the same. His disappearance here, appearance somewhere. Just like sunset somewhere is immediately, sunset and sunrise, simultaneously. So for a Vaiṣṇava, because he is under the order of Kṛṣṇa, he appears somewhere and disappears somewhere because he is order-carrier. He says, "Now go there. Preach Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Go there." So appearance here, disappearance there. Therefore the same thing.
Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.245-255 -- New York, December 16, 1966:
Anyone who understands about the appearance and disappearance of God or His incarnation, simply by understanding this, one is liberated. And that person who understands, after quitting this material body, no more he comes here, but he goes back to Godhead to become one of His associates. Such persons who knows about the incarnations, they are not impersonalists. Therefore they do not merge in the impersonal Brahman feature, but they go to the different spiritual planets.
Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.385-394 -- New York, January 1, 1967:
Ordinary persons, common men, cannot understand how kṛṣṇa-līlā, Kṛṣṇa's appearance and disappearance, can be eternal. Generally, we think that Kṛṣṇa appeared five thousand years before; now He's no longer. So either He's dead or gone. Just like ordinary man takes his birth and stay here for some time and then he goes away—no more, no trace of that particular man's activities.
Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.385-394 -- New York, January 1, 1967:
s Supersoul of the individual soul, He knows. But we, the persons of a particular person's relatives, father, mother, brother, all these things—who knows? Nobody can give information. But Kṛṣṇa's appearance and disappearance is not like that, because He's not different from His body. We are, in our conditioned stage, we are different from our body. But Kṛṣṇa and Kṛṣṇa's body is the same thing. This is to be understood.
Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.385-394 -- New York, January 1, 1967:
So Lord Caitanya says, "Just like the time calculation of the sun is always present in the orbit of this earthly planet, similarly, in the orbit of Kṛṣṇa-līlā, everything is happening in some universe." That is called nitya-līlā. Because it is happening eternally and continually, in either of innumerable planets, which we cannot calculate, therefore His pastimes, appearance and disappearance are all eternal.
Festival Lectures
Janmastami Lord Sri Krsna's Appearance Day -- Montreal, August 16, 1968:
So today, the birth appearance ceremony of Lord Kṛṣṇa. In the Bhagavad-gītā the Lord says,
- janma karma me divyaṁ
- yo jānāti tattvataḥ
- tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma
- naiti mām eti kaunteya
- (BG 4.9)
"My dear Arjuna, any person who simply tries to understand about My transcendental birth or appearance and disappearance and activities, janma karma..." The Personality of Godhead is not niṣkriya, without activities. So anyone who can understand that what kind of activities the Lord has and what kind of birth He accepts, simply by understanding these two things one gets wonderful result.
His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Prabhupada's Disappearance Day, Lecture -- Los Angeles, December 9, 1968:
And a devotee he blessed, jīva va maro va: "My dear devotee, either you live or die, the same thing." And the butcher, he blessed him, ma jīva ma mara: "You don't live, don't die." What he's to do? His living condition is so abominable. From the morning, he has to slaughter so many animals, see the bloodstain, the ghastly scene. That is his livelihood. So what a horrible life this is. So "Don't live. And don't die also." Because after death, oh, he is going to be in so much hellish condition, nobody can describe. So both lives, living condition and death, after death, his condition is very horrible.
Anyway, apart from others, the devotee, for him, appearance and disappearance the same thing.
His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Prabhupada's Disappearance Day, Lecture -- Los Angeles, December 13, 1973:
So there are two phases, prakaṭa and aprakaṭa, appearance and disappearance. So we have nothing to lament on account of disappearance because Kṛṣṇa and Kṛṣṇa's devotee... Not only devotees, even the nondevotees, nobody disappears. Nobody disappears because every living entity... As Kṛṣṇa is eternal... It is confirmed in the Vedic literature, nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām (Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2.2.13). The description of the Supreme Lord is that He is also nitya, eternal, and the living entities are also eternal.
His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Prabhupada's Disappearance Day, Lecture -- Los Angeles, December 13, 1973:
So spiritually, appearance and disappearance, there is no difference. Just like in material point of view, if a person takes birth... Suppose you get a son born, you become very happy. The same son, when passes away, you become very unhappy. This is material. And spiritually, there is no such difference, appearance or disappearance. So although this is the disappearance day of Oṁ Viṣṇupāda Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, so there is nothing to be lamented. Although we feel separation, that feeling is there, but spiritually, there is no difference between appearance and disappearance.
His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Prabhupada's Appearance Day, Lecture -- Mayapur, February 8, 1977:
Kṛṣṇa is eternal, but still, He appears. The same example. Just like the sun is in the sky but we see in the morning it appears; in the evening it retires. That is defectness of our eyes. Actually the sun is always there. So similarly Vaiṣṇava, as Kṛṣṇa comes, yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānir. Similarly, a Vaiṣṇava means the confidential servant of Kṛṣṇa, he also comes for some purpose by the order of the master. So their life and Kṛṣṇa's life, it is same. There is no question of past, present, future. Nityaḥ. Nityaḥ śāśvato 'yam, na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre (BG 2.20). So they are the same thing as the appearance and disappearance of sun. And Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, our master, spiritual master, he also came in this world to execute some mission of life or mission of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. So he executed it, and when it was required, he left this place and went to another place to do the same business. Just like the sun rises at six o'clock and seven o'clock there is six o'clock in another place, and it is eight o'clock another place. It is going on. Nitya-līlā.
Six Gosvamis Lecture, Sri Sri Sad-govamy-astaka -- Los Angeles, November 18, 1968:
Actually, there is no material energy. Everything is spiritual. But when the spiritual energy is covered by ignorance... Just like when the sky is covered by cloud it becomes dark. Similarly, spiritual energy, when it is covered by material energy... The cloud has no separate existence. It is also creation of the sunshine. Similarly, the material energy has also no separate existence. It is also creation of Kṛṣṇa, but it appears and disappears. The spiritual energy remains. So when we dovetail ourself with the spiritual energy, then we become perfect. That is our perfection. So Kṛṣṇa consciousness is dovetailing ourself with the spiritual energy and thus become perfect. And this human form of life is meant for that purpose.
General Lectures
Lecture at Engagement -- Columbus, may 19, 1969:
We have published Bhagavad-gītā As It Is. Try to read it. In that Bhagavad-gītā in the Fourth Chapter it is said, janma karma me divyaṁ yo jānāti tattvataḥ: if simply tries to understand what is Kṛṣṇa, what is His business, what is His life, where does He live, what does He do...., janma karma. Janma means appearance and disappearance; karma means activities; divyam—transcendental. Janma karma me divyaṁ yo jānāti tattvataḥ. One who knows the appearance and activities of Kṛṣṇa in fact, in truth—not by sentiment but by scientific study—then the result is tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti kaunteya (BG 4.9). Simply by understanding Kṛṣṇa, you'll no more have to come back to this miserable condition of material existence. This is fact. Even in your life, in this life, you'll understand, you'll be happy.
Philosophy Discussions
Philosophy Discussion on Charles Darwin:
Śyāmasundara: Darwin did that. He made the appearance and disappearance of animals' bodies seem so mechanically arranged that God was removed from the picture, and it appeared as if combinations of ingredients created animals and they evolved from each other.
Prabhupāda: That is another foolishness. Combination means God. He is combining. Combination does not take automatically. Suppose I am cooking. There are so many ingredients for cooking—they are not combined together. I am the cooker; I am cooking, first of all oil, and the spices, then the rice, then the dahl, then the water. In this way nice foodstuff is coming out. So this combination means God. Otherwise where is the instant the combination is taking place? I place all the ingredients in the kitchen room, and after one hour if I go, "Oh, where is my food?" (laughing) You nonsense, who is cooking your food? You starve. Just take help of a living being, then he'll cook and then you can eat. This is our experience. So why does he say combination? Wherefrom the combination comes? He is such a fool he does not know how combination takes place.
Philosophy Discussion on William James:
Prabhupāda: I am a fragmental production of this time; therefore there is a beginning of my appearance, date. And when I disappear, there is a date of my disappearance. And within this date of appearance and disappearance, there is past, present and future. So my past, present and future and an ant's past, present and future and Brahmā's past, present... They are all different.
Conversations and Morning Walks
1972 Conversations and Morning Walks
Interview with the New York Times -- September 2, 1972, New Vrindaban:
Prabhupāda: This is the relative world, and we should know that what has happened in this world is not worthy of consideration in terms of universal affairs. Things are coming and going like seasonal changes. Arjuna put this question to Kṛṣṇa: "This is a catastrophe! I have to kill my own men." Although Arjuna believed this to be a catastrophe, Kṛṣṇa likened it to seasonal changes. Mātrā-sparśās tu kaunteya śītoṣṇa-sukha-duḥkha-dāḥ (BG 2.14). "O son of Kuntī, the non-permanent appearance of happiness and distress and their disappearance in due course are like the appearance and disappearance of winter and summer seasons."
1974 Conversations and Morning Walks
Morning Walk -- March 31, 1974, Bombay:
Prabhupāda: The jīvas and the Supreme Lord, both of them are permanent, nityā. Na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre (BG 2.20). Just like nityaḥ śāśvato 'yam. It is said in the Bhagavad-gītā, nityaḥ śāśvato 'yam. Eternal, always existing. And this material word has been described: asasvataḥ. Duḥkhālayam aśāśvataḥ.
Dr. Patel: Aśāśvatam.
Prabhupāda: Aśāś... It is not permanent. Bhūtvā bhūtvā pralīyate (BG 8.19). It appears and disappears. So because nityo nityānām, there is transaction between the nitya, the Supreme Nitya, Kṛṣṇa, and the...
Dr. Patel: Cetanaś cetanānām.
Prabhupāda: And the subordinate nityas, the living entities. So there must be one place also where this transaction takes place. Because this is anitya. This material world is anitya. So how the transaction between the nitya and nityānām can take place? Because the place is anitya. Therefore there must be a place which is nitya. There must be place. That is Vaikuṇṭha dhāma, spiritual world.
1976 Conversations and Morning Walks
Room Conversation About Blitz News Clipping -- August 21, 1976, Hyderabad:
Pradyumna: One man is trying to prove Sai Baba is fraud. One professor.
Hari-śauri: He's a scientist. He says he can prove that Sai Baba's making things appear and disappear is just a trick.
Prabhupāda: He is a fraud. What is this paper?
Hari-śauri: This is the same issue.
1977 Conversations and Morning Walks
Room Conversation -- January 21, 1977, Bhuvanesvara:
Rāmeśvara: But this is extraordinary. Lord Caitanya's movement, the ten thousand years of His movement, that is a special exception for the Kali-yuga.
Prabhupāda: Special for this millennium. But the thing is going on like that, rotating.
Rāmeśvara: But in general, first it gets more and more degraded. Then it's all finished.
Prabhupāda: Yes. Unless there is degradation, there is no question of improvement. So this is going on. This is nature's way, bhūtvā bhūtvā pralīyate (BG 8.19), appearance and disappearance.
Room Conversation with Ram Jethmalani (Parliament Member) -- April 16, 1977, Bombay:
Prabhupāda: No, no, there is no question of later or former. These are always existing. And They appear, disappear according to the necessity. Yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānir bhavati bhārata tadātmānaṁ sṛjāmy aham (BG 4.7). The mūrtis are there, permanently, and They appear and disappear according to the necessity. Suppose in a case you require the reference to a law. It is not that the law has appeared for the purpose. The law was there already. You have to simply bring it for your business.
Room Conversation -- October 17, 1977, Vrndavana:
Prabhupāda: We have no such difference, disappearance and appearance.
Girirāja: Except in your case. We don't want disappearance.
Prabhupāda: (chuckles) Jīvo vā māro vā. Because we are going to accept eternity, so appearance and disappearance of this body is no a very important thing. Nitya-līlā, eternal life—that is our Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
Correspondence
1970 Correspondence
Letter to Pradyumna -- Los Angeles 9 April, 1970:
Regarding the prayer verses, I have sent you immediately the Bengali prayer book and you will find all the prayers of Acaryas' there. I have also sent you one copy of Panjika which will help you to find out the list of names of Acaryas' Appearance and Disappearance Days. If you can, you can prepare conveniently the Panjika or ISKCON Almanac for next year, but not now, you have got many engagements, this is for leisure hours.
Letter to Rupanuga -- Los Angeles 15 June, 1970:
Your son, Sriman Ekendra, is living with us comfortably. He has now by this time overcome the shock and now he is pleasantly chanting and dancing. I hope your wife is also improving by this time. According to Bhagavad-gita we have simply to tolerate all these temporary appearances and disappearance, our main function being to make steady progress in Krsna consciousness.
1974 Correspondence
Letter to Bahudak -- Bombay 15 December, 1974:
Krishna says in the Bhagavad-gita, Ch. 2, text 14; matra-sparsas tu kaunteya, sitosna-sukha-duhkha-dah, agamapayino 'nityas, tams titiksasva bharata (BG 2.14) O son of Kunti, the nonpermanent appearance of happiness and distress, and their disappearance in due course, are like the appearance and disappearance of winter and summer seasons. They arise from sense perception, O scion of Bharata, and one must learn to tolerate them without being disturbed. So remember Krishna's instructions in the Bhagavad-gita and continue to work with all enthusiasm and encourage the others also to do the same.
1975 Correspondence
Letter to Dr. Jagadisa Bhardawaj -- Vrindaban 3 September, 1975:
Generally it is very difficult to understand Krishna tattvatah, as it is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita, manusyanam saharasresu/ kascid yatati siddhaye/ yatatam api siddhanam/ kascin mam vetti tattvatah. "Out of many thousands among men, one may endeavor for perfection, and of those who have achieved perfection, hardly one knows Me in truth." (BG 7.3) But, Krishna is available through the process of devotional service, bhakti yoga, bhaktya mam abhijanati (BG 18.55), and anyone who actually understands about Krishna, about His appearance and disappearance, he goes back to home, Back to Godhead, janma karma ca me divyam/ evam yo vetti tattvatah/ tyaktva deham punar janma/ naiti mam eti so 'rjuna (BG 4.9).
1977 Correspondence
Letter to Artists -- Unknown Place Unknown Date:
Regarding your question, how could Visnu appear from the nostril of Brahma? The answer is that Visnu being all pervading, He can appear from anyplace. He appeared as Nrsimhadeva from the pillar. So, one may question how Visnu may appear from pillar, but actually He appeared. He is all powerful with inconceivable potency, and therefore He can appear Himself from anywhere He likes. When Lord appeared as a small hog from the nostril of Brahma He began to expand Himself more and more and gradually He became a gigantic boar. So these are inconceivable energy of the Supreme Lord. It does not, however, mean that Brahma's nostril is the birthplace of Visnu. The sun rises from the eastern horizon. That does not mean that eastern horizon is the birthplace of the sun. I hope you will understand the transcendental appearance and disappearance of the transcendental Personality of Godhead as such. In the Bhagavad-gita therefore it is stated that anyone who understands the transcendental position of the appearance, disppearance, and activities of Krsna becomes liberated immediately after quitting the present body.
| Page Title: | Appearance and disappearance |
| Compiler: | Visnu Murti, Alakananda, Rishab |
| Created: | 11 of Dec, 2008 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=11, SB=58, CC=5, OB=20, Lec=47, Con=6, Let=5 |
| No. of Quotes: | 152 |