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Certain philosophers say, however, that when Krsna comes He accepts a material body

Expressions researched:
"Certain philosophers say, however, that when Kṛṣṇa comes He accepts a material body"

Other Books by Srila Prabhupada

Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead

Certain philosophers say, however, that when Kṛṣṇa comes He accepts a material body. But even if it is accepted that when He comes to the material world He accepts a material body, it should be concluded also that because the material energy is not different from Him, this body does not act materially. In the Bhagavad-gītā it is said, therefore, that He appears by His own internal potency, ātma-māyā.

The bodily limitation whereby one part of the body cannot act as another part is totally absent from the Supreme Personality of Godhead. There is no difference between His body and Himself. He is completely spiritual, and therefore there is no difference between His body and His soul. Similarly, He is not different from His millions of incarnations and plenary expansions. Baladeva is the first expansion of Kṛṣṇa, and from Baladeva expand Saṅkarṣaṇa, Vāsudeva, Pradyumna and Aniruddha. From Saṅkarṣaṇa there is an expansion of Nārāyaṇa, and from Nārāyaṇa there is a second quadruple expansion of Saṅkarṣaṇa, Vāsudeva, Pradyumna and Aniruddha. Similarly, there are innumerable other expansions of Kṛṣṇa, but all of them are one. Kṛṣṇa has many incarnations, such as Lord Nṛsiṁha, Lord Boar, Lord Fish and Lord Tortoise, but there is no difference between Kṛṣṇa’s original two-handed form, like that of a human being, and these incarnations of gigantic animal forms. Nor is there any difference between the action of one part of His body and that of another. His hands can act as His legs, His eyes can act as His ears, or His nose can act as another part of His body. Kṛṣṇa’s smelling and eating and hearing are all the same. We limited living entities have to use a particular part of the body for a particular purpose, but there is no such distinction for Kṛṣṇa. In the Brahma-saṁhitā it is said, aṅgāni yasya sakalendriya-vṛttimanti: Kṛṣṇa can perform the activities of one limb with any other limb. So by analytical study of Kṛṣṇa and His person, it is concluded that He is the complete whole. When He meditates, therefore, He meditates on Himself. Self-meditation by ordinary men, designated in Sanskrit as so ’ham, is simply imitation. Kṛṣṇa may meditate on Himself because He is the complete whole, but we cannot imitate Him and meditate on ourselves. Our body is a designation superimposed upon our self, the soul. Kṛṣṇa’s body is not a designation: Kṛṣṇa’s body is also Kṛṣṇa. There is no existence of anything foreign in Kṛṣṇa. Whatever there is in Kṛṣṇa is also Kṛṣṇa. He is therefore the supreme, indestructible, complete existence, or the Supreme Truth.

Kṛṣṇa’s existence is not relative existence. Everything else but Kṛṣṇa is a relative truth, but Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Absolute Truth. Kṛṣṇa does not depend on anything but Himself for His existence. Our existence, however, is relative. For example, only when there is the light of the sun, the moon or electricity are we able to see. Our seeing, therefore, is relative, and the light of the sun and moon and electricity is also relative; they are called illuminating only because we see them as such. But dependence and relativity do not exist in Kṛṣṇa. His activities are not dependent on anyone else’s appreciation, nor does He depend on anyone else’s help. He is beyond the existence of limited time and space, and because He is transcendental to time and space He cannot be covered by the illusion of māyā, whose activities are limited. In the Vedic literature we find that the Supreme Personality of Godhead has multipotencies. Since all such potencies are emanations from Him, there is no difference between Him and His potencies. Certain philosophers say, however, that when Kṛṣṇa comes He accepts a material body. But even if it is accepted that when He comes to the material world He accepts a material body, it should be concluded also that because the material energy is not different from Him, this body does not act materially. In the Bhagavad-gītā it is said, therefore, that He appears by His own internal potency, ātma-māyā.

Kṛṣṇa is called the Supreme Brahman because He is the cause of creation, the cause of maintenance and the cause of dissolution. Lord Brahmā, Lord Viṣṇu and Lord Śiva are different expansions of these material qualities. All these material qualities can act upon the conditioned souls, but there is no such action and reaction upon Kṛṣṇa because these qualities are all simultaneously one with and different from Him. Kṛṣṇa Himself is simply sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha (BS 5.1), the eternal form of bliss and knowledge, and because of His inconceivable greatness, He is called the Supreme Brahman. His meditation on Brahman or Paramātmā or Bhagavān is on Himself only and not on anything else beyond Himself. This meditation cannot be imitated by the ordinary living entity.

After His meditation, the Lord would regularly bathe early in the morning with clear, sanctified water. Then He would change into fresh clothing, cover Himself with a wrapper and engage Himself in His daily religious functions. Out of His many religious duties, the first was to offer oblations into the sacrificial fire and silently chant the Gāyatrī mantra. Lord Kṛṣṇa, as the ideal householder, executed all the religious functions of a householder without deviation. When the sunrise became visible, the Lord would offer specific prayers to the sun-god. The sun-god and other demigods mentioned in the Vedic scriptures are described as different limbs of the body of Lord Kṛṣṇa, and it is the duty of the householder to offer respects to the demigods and great sages, as well as the forefathers.

Page Title:Certain philosophers say, however, that when Krsna comes He accepts a material body
Compiler:Iswaraj
Created:2017-04-07, 16:42:07
Totals by Section:BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=1, Lec=0, Con=0, Let=0
No. of Quotes:1