Bhagavān means six opulences. Nobody is richer than Bhagavān, nobody is stronger than Bhagavān, nobody is more beautiful than Bhagavān, nobody is wiser than Bhagavān, and nobody is more renouncer than Bhagavān. That is Bhagavān. Aiśvaryasya samagrasya vīryasya yaśasaḥ śriyaḥ (Viṣṇu Purāṇa 6.5.47). That is Bhagavān. Svayam bhagavān. He is opulent—ṣaḍ-aiśvarya-pūrṇa—not partially. He knows everything. Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā, vedāhaṁ samatītāni (BG 7.26). He knows past, present, and future. He says, therefore, that "All these, My dear Arjuna—yourself, Myself and all the soldiers and kings who have assembled here—it is not that we were not existing before. We are existing at the present moment also, and in future also we shall continue to exist." And how we shall exist? Individually. Otherwise Kṛṣṇa would have said that in future, when we become liberated, then we shall become one. No. He says, "Even in future also, we shall continue to exist like this. You are individual. You are Arjuna. I am Kṛṣṇa. And all other living entities..." That is real understanding. Every one of us living entities, we are all individual persons, and Kṛṣṇa is also individual person. This is knowledge. Nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām eko yo bahūnāṁ vidadhāti kāmān (Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2.2.13). Kṛṣṇa, or God, He's also nitya, eternal. We are also nitya, eternal. Na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre (BG 2.20). We do not die. That is the preliminary knowledge of spiritual understanding, that "I am not this body, I am spirit soul, ahaṁ brahmāsmi, but I am individual." Nityo nityānām. Kṛṣṇa is individual person; I am also individual person. When Kṛṣṇa says that sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja (BG 18.66), it does not mean that I become one with Kṛṣṇa or merge into the existence of Kṛṣṇa. I keep my individuality, Kṛṣṇa keeps His individuality, but I agree to abide by His order. Therefore Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā to Arjuna that "I have spoken to you everything. Now what is your decision?" Individual. It is not that Kṛṣṇa is forcing Arjuna. Yathecchasi tathā kuru: (BG 18.63) "Now whatever you like, can do." That is individuality.
So this is the ultimate knowledge, that, this Māyāvāda philosophy, that to become one, merge into the existence, merge into the existence means we merge into the order of Kṛṣṇa. Our individuality at the present moment is māyā, because we are planning so many things. Therefore your individuality and my individuality clashes. But when there will be no more clashing—we shall agree, "Central point is Kṛṣṇa"—that is oneness, not that we lose our individuality. So as it is stated in all Vedic literature and spoken by Kṛṣṇa, we are all individual, all individual. Svayaṁ bhagavān ekale īśvara. But the difference is that He is the supreme ruler, īśvara. Īśvara. Īśvara means ruler. Actually He is ruler, and we are also ruler, but we are subordinate ruler . Therefore He is ekale īśvara, one ruler. Īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇa, in the Brahma-saṁhitā. Ekale īśvara. Īśvara cannot be many. That is not īśvara. The Māyāvāda philosophy that everyone is God, that is not very right conclusion. That is rascaldom. Kṛṣṇa says, mūḍha. Na māṁ prapadyante mūḍhāḥ (BG 7.15). One who does not submit to the supreme īśvara, the Supreme Lord, you should know it perfectly well that "Here is a mūḍha, rascal," because it is not that everyone, we can become īśvara. That is not possible. There is then no meaning of īśvara. Īśvara means the ruler. Suppose we are in a group, this, our International Society. If everyone becomes ruler or ācārya, then how it can be managed? No. There must be some head. That is the principle in our practical life. We follow our political leaders. We cannot say that "I belong to this party" unless I follow a leader. That is natural.
So that is the Vedic statement, nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām (Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2.2.13). There must be one leader, the leader of the same quality, nitya. I am nitya, Kṛṣṇa is nitya. Kṛṣṇa is also living entity; I am also living entity. Nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām. So what is the difference between Kṛṣṇa and me? The difference is that there are two nityas or two cetanaś. One is described as singular number, and the other is described as plural number. Nityo nityānām. This nityānām is plural number, and nitya is singular number. So God is nitya, one, singular number, and we, we are being ruled. We are plural number. This is the difference. And how He is ruling the plural number? Because eko yo bahūnāṁ vidadhāti kāmān. He's supplying all the necessities of life of all these plural number; therefore He's īśvara, He's Kṛṣṇa, He's God. One who provides all the necessities of life, He's īśvara, He's Kṛṣṇa, He's God. So we can very well understand that we are being maintained by Kṛṣṇa, and why we should not be ruled by Him? This is a fact. Now, you can see in this country, in this village, Māyāpur, their so many food grains are growing, but who is supplying? That is Kṛṣṇa. It is not possible to grow these food grains in your factory. No. That is not possible. He's helping us. He has stated in the Bhagavad-gītā, annād bhavanti bhūtāni (BG 3.14). Unless you eat sufficiently, unless you have food grains in stock, you cannot flourish. Bhutani. Bhavanti. Bhavanti means flourishing. So both animals and men, they must eat sufficiently. There must be food grain sufficiently. So that food grain you cannot manufacture in your factory. You may start a very big factory, Goodyear Tire factory, but that tire also will not move when there is no supply of petrol. This is your position. You are dependent even for this tire and petrol, and what to speak of this food grain. So who is supplying the food grain? The supplying person is... Eko yo bahūnāṁ vidadhāti kāmān. That singular number individual person, He is supplying. You can say prakṛti, nature, is supplying. No. Nature is not supplying. Nature is the agent of supply. Real supplier is Kṛṣṇa. Eko yo bahūnāṁ vidadhāti kāmān. And that is also stated in the Bhagavad-gītā. Mayādhyakṣeṇa prakṛtiḥ sūyate sa-carācaram (BG 9.10). Nature is working under the instruction or the indication of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa.