Mahājano yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ: (CC Madhya 17.186) "We have simply to see that great personalities, as they have taken up, we have to follow. That's all." Just like in your Christian religion you may not understand all the Biblical injunctions or you may not have the time, but you'll simply, if you follow the ideal life of Lord Jesus Christ, then you get the same result. Similarly, the Muhammadans, if they follow the ideal life of Muhammad, Hazrat Muhammad, so they get the result. Mahājano yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ (CC Madhya 17.186). Just like in a unknown path, in a village, especially when there is a field... Now, in, in the city, you can know that "I have come so far" because the streets are numbered and the, you have got the location and there are some symptoms, this house or that house. But in the country, everything, every, every place is of the same similar nature, the same jungle, the same field, the same grass. We do not know where I am going. Or in the sea. Or in the sea. I have got experience. Have you ever traveled in the sea? No. But when I was coming from India, so everywhere I see a round only, round of water. I do not know which way the ship is proceeding. You see? But they have got a chart. They have got a chart. By latitude, longitude, by time and by chart, they are calculating. Now, I was asking the Captain, "Where we have come?" He was saying, in the Mediterranean Sea, "Oh, we are so many miles from Italy. We are so many miles from..." Like this. "Tunisia. Now we are coming to Gibraltar." Like this. But I was seeing all vast of water only. I was seeing, "Just after ten miles I shall reach," but it never reaches. So then how, what are these charts? The charts are that experienced sailors, they have made the charts. The captain was also consulting that chart because it was made by experienced sailors. That is nothing. So similarly in calculating in which way we have to find out our salvation is to follow such liberated souls.
Location (Lectures)
Lectures
Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures
So everything has got a different type of calculation, measurement. But so far the soul is concerned, it is said here, aprameyasya, there is no source of measurement. There is no source. Therefore, the so-called materialist science, they say there is no soul. No, there is soul. This is the proof there is soul. This is the proof. What is that proof? First of all there is consciousness. This is the proof. But you cannot measure. The place is also located. The soul is there in the heart. Īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-deśe 'rjuna tiṣṭhati (BG 18.61).
So the soul is in the heart and Kṛṣṇa is also in the heart. Because they remain both together. So place is also located. You can perceive also by consciousness where there is presentation of soul, but if you want to measure by experiment, that is not possible. Therefore it is called aprameya. Prameya means direct perception. I can see or I can touch, I can handle. So that is... Kṛṣṇa says no, it is not possible. Aprameya. Then, how I shall accept? Now Kṛṣṇa says. So how I can believe Kṛṣṇa? Kṛṣṇa says ukta, it is already settled up by authorities.
He is such a puruṣa, He is such a person, that everything, whatever you see, is within Him, and He is without, all-pervading. He has got such energy. How it is, that? Just like the sun is fixed up in one place located, but the sun rays is, all over the universe is distributed, similarly, although God is there, still, His energy is distributed everywhere. And He is not different from His energy. Just like the sunshine and the sun is not different, the same, same illuminating substance, similarly, He is distributed all over by His energies, different energies, and He is not different from His energy.
Just like the sun globe is the source of sunshine. Sunshine is very big, all pervading. And sun appears to be located in some place. But which is important, the sunshine is important or the sun globe is important? Because the sunshine is emanating from the sun it has no independent existence. As soon as the sun disappears, there is no sunshine. So wherever there is sun, there is sunshine. Therefore sunshine is dependent on the sun.
Just like this bulb and the illumination. The illumination is broadcast all over the room. The bulb is located in a place.
Similarly Govinda is located in His planet which is known as Goloka Vṛndāvana. And from there, His bodily rays are being distributed. Sarvaṁ khalv idaṁ brahma. That is Brahman, impersonal Brahman. This impersonal Brahman is the bodily effulgence, rays of Kṛṣṇa.
Therefore when the soul goes away, these rascals says, "heart failure." Not heart failure, the soul has gone from the heart. Heart is also mechanical thing, but the sitting place of the soul is there. So heart failure means the soul has gone from the heart. Sarvasya cāhaṁ hṛdi—hṛdi means heart. The location also being specified—here is soul and Supersoul. Find out, if you have got such scientific method. But they cannot find it out. Therefore, the rascals say there is no God, there is no soul, simply this lump of matter, that's all.
The entanglement of this material world is compared here to a banyan tree. For one who is engaged in fruitive activities, there is no end to the banyan tree. He wanders from one branch to another, to another, to another. The tree of this material world has no end, and for one who is attached to this tree, there is no possibility of liberation. The Vedic hymns, meant for elevating oneself, are called the leaves of this tree. This tree's roots grow upward because they begin from where Brahmā is located, the topmost planet of this universe. If one can understand this indestructible tree of illusion, then one can get out of it.
Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures
Īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-deśe 'rjuna tiṣṭhati (BG 18.61). The location is given here in the Bhagavad-gītā, that you can see God, not you have to go far away from your place. Wherever you are, you can see, because God is within your heart. Īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-deśe (BG 18.61). Sarva-bhūtānām. Not only for human being, but also animals, beasts, trees, plants, aquatics, insects—everyone, beginning from Brahmā down to the ant. God is everywhere.
Sun is localized. You can see every day. Sun globe is located at a certain place in the outer space, but the sunshine is all-pervading. Sun is present everywhere by his all-pervasive sunshine. Similarly, Viṣṇu, or the Supreme Personality of Godhead, He is in His abode which is called Viṣṇuloka, or the kingdom of God, or Kṛṣṇaloka, whatever you may understand. He has got His particular abode. But at the same time, by His different energies, He is all-pervading. There is another example of this all-pervasiveness of God in the Viṣṇu Purāṇa that "Just like fire is located in one place, but its light and heat is distributed long, long distant, similarly, whatever we see within this cosmic manifestation, that is diffusion of the energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead."
Nectar of Devotion Lectures
Pradyumna: "For instance, if someone says, 'Give something to eat to the man with the weapons,' the eating process is done by the man and not by the weapons. Similarly, in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, a devotee may be interested in the paraphernalia and locations—such as the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra—which are associated with Kṛṣṇa, but he is not concerned with simply any battlefield. He is concerned with Kṛṣṇa—His speech, His instructions, etc. It is because Kṛṣṇa is there that the battlefield is so important."
Prabhupāda: Go on.
Pradyumna: "This is the summary understanding of what Kṛṣṇa consciousness is. Without this understanding one is sure to misunderstand why the devotees are interested in the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra."
Prabhupāda: Yes. Sometimes we are asked that "Why Kṛṣṇa induced Arjuna to become violent?" So then so many so-called scholars, they criticize Kṛṣṇa, but they do not know what is Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is absolute. In whichever way He acts, it is the same thing. God is good. It does not mean when He fights in the Battlefield of Kurkṣetra He becomes bad. No. He's still good. That is the conception of God: absolute. He can do anything and anything. Still, He continues to be the Absolute Truth. That is Absolute Truth. There is no relative understanding, "This is good for God, this is bad for God," as (if) God has come before me to be judged by me.
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures
So far the forms of Kṛṣṇa are concerned, they're also unlimited. Śākhā-candra-nyāye kari dig-daraśana. So śākhā-candra-nyāye. There is a logic, śākhā-candra logic. What is that? That the sun, uh, moon, at night, is far, far away, but one is pointing out that we can see the moon through the branches of the tree. So there is a location. So through that location one can see the moon. Similarly, although kṛṣṇa-līlā and Kṛṣṇa's pastimes, Kṛṣṇa's forms, no human being can describe, still, as far as possible, Lord Caitanya says, this śākhā-candra logic: just like the branch of a tree is far away from the moon, still, one can see it by perspective view through the branches of the tree.
Initiation Lectures
When Kṛṣṇa and Rādhārāṇī used to pass through the forest of Vṛndāvana, these deers and stags, they were looking with staring eyes—"When Kṛṣṇa will pass this way?" These animals were also attracted to Kṛṣṇa. The birds, everyone, the flowers, the fruits, everyone engage... Vṛndāvana means everything engaged in Kṛṣṇa. So if all of you similarly engage yourself always in Kṛṣṇa's service, this is Vṛndāvana. Vṛndāvana is not that... As Kṛṣṇa is not located... He is located, but by His inconceivable potency He can simultaneously become located and distributed. Akhilātma-bhūtaḥ. Goloka eva nivasaty akhilātma-bhūtaḥ (Bs. 5.37). He is always in Goloka Vṛndāvana, but still, He is everywhere. That is God's omnipotency. We say that God is omnipotent, but we do not know what does it mean. The omnipotency means simultaneously to do or to act or to remain everywhere. That is Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa... You may not think that "Kṛṣṇa is (in) Goloka Vṛndāvana. Here is an idol of Kṛṣṇa." No. He is Kṛṣṇa. Just like the electricity is distributed, but in the plug there is also electricity, similarly, Kṛṣṇa... That is Kṛṣṇa's inconceivable potency. He can remain in everyone's heart, He can remain everywhere. Just imagine. Everywhere He is. Goloka eva. But His location is Goloka Vṛndāvana, but still, He is everywhere.
General Lectures
The Supreme Lord is represented everywhere by His potency. There is a nice verse in the Viṣṇu Purāṇa. It is said like that: Just like a fire, the fire situated in one place, it distributes its heat and light. Just like... Take the example for the sun. The sun is located at a certain fixed-up place. That we can see. But the heat of the sun and the light of the sun is distributed all over the universe. Ekadeśa-sthitasyāgneḥ. Ah, yes. The verse is like...
- eka-deśa-sthitasyāgner
- jyotsnā vistāriṇī yathā
- tathā sarvam akhilaṁ jagat
- brahmaṇaḥ śaktiḥ brahmaṇaḥ
Akhilaṁ jagat. In this world, whatever you are seeing, it is nothing but distribution of the energy of the Supreme Lord.
If we have got thoughtful propensities, if we can little think over every matter, you will find that God is present everywhere, and still, He is personally present in His own place. The same example: the sun is present everywhere by heat and light; still, sun, the sun, has its own location. That you cannot deny. Similarly, God is present everywhere.
Just like this fire, this lamp, is located at a certain place but the illumination is distributed all over this room, similarly whatever you see, display of this cosmic manifestation, they are display of the energy of the Supreme Lord. The Supreme Lord is situated in one place. That we cite in our Brahma-saṁhitā: govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi **. He's a person. Just like your President, Mr. Johnson, he's sitting in his room in Washington, but his power, his energy, is acting all over the state. If it is possible materially, similarly Kṛṣṇa, or God, the Supreme Person, He is situated in His place, abode, Vaikuṇṭha or kingdom of God, but His energy is acting. Another example, the sun. The sun, you can see sun is located at a certain place, but you see the sunshine is overflooding the whole universe. The sunshine is within your room. So similarly, whatever you are using, you yourself also, we are all display of the energy of the Supreme Lord. We are not different from Him. But when the cloud of māyā or illusion covers my eye, we cannot see the sun. Similarly, when the material concept of life covers me, we cannot understand what is God.
Therefore your consciousness is individual, my consciousness is individual. But there is another consciousness, which is all-pervading. That consciousness is able to understand your feelings, my feelings, and everyone's feelings. The same example: The sun is located in one place, but five thousand miles away, you ask your friend where is sun, he will reply that "He is on my head." Similarly, you will say. Any direction. But the sun is one, but he is all-pervading. This is crude example. Similarly, the Kṛṣṇa consciousness means when you dovetail your consciousness with the supreme consciousness, then your life becomes perfect. Just like a motorcar is being driven at fifty miles speed, but a cyclist is going at ten miles speed. But if he catches the motorcar, he'll also have the fifty miles speed immediately. So the superconsciousness or Kṛṣṇa consciousness is all-pervading. If you dovetail your consciousness, then you get universal feeling.
Anyone who is in Kṛṣṇa consciousness and full in the understanding of science of Kṛṣṇa, he can become a spiritual master, a teacher. So in this Vṛndāvana, New Vrindaban, you should live in such a way, ideal way, that people will learn that what is actually human life, what is human civilization, how, what is, it is meant for. That we have to teach to the world. So those who are conducting this institution, my request is that you develop this place in such a nice way. And you can practically see. If we train... Just this child is dancing. This child is trying to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa with beads. Simply they are to be instructed. They must have the association. Then there will be a new growth of population, not like cats and dogs, but actually demigods, devatā. Demigods means devotees of Kṛṣṇa. That's all. And asura means nondevotee. So there is enough population of asura in this world. And the people are not happy because āsuriṁ bhāvam āśritāḥ. This demonic civilization is killing the human race. So it is the responsibility of the members of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness to save so many ignorant, innocent people. They have got this human form of life to end all miserable condition of material existence. They are being misguided simply just like animals. It is not a good civilization. So this place is out of contact. It is Kṛṣṇa's desire that here no man of ordinary interest will come here. It is in a very nice location. It is beyond the reach of the ordinary class of men.
Philosophy Discussions
Hayagrīva: Concerning the soul, Descartes concludes that...
Prabhupāda: Now in this connection, regarding the soul, if he has received the knowledge of soul from God, therefore at that time there is no chance of he is thinking. If, as soon as he thinks in his own way, then there may be mistakes, because he is imperfect, finite. But when Kṛṣṇa says directly that "Within this body the soul is there," so if we accept God's instruction, then immediately we understand that the soul is different from this body. Exactly just like if somebody inquires, "Where is Prabhupāda?" If somebody says that "He is in this room," it does not mean this room is Prabhupāda; Prabhupāda is within this room. Similarly, Kṛṣṇa says that this, the owner of the body, the soul, is within this body. So immediately the false impression that "I am this body," the fool's conclusion, immediately it is eradicated. The light is there, but he will not accept. He wants to continue to live as a fool and speculate and waste time and con..., give conclusion in so many ways, so many rascal jugglery, "The living force is like this, like that, like that." But Kṛṣṇa gives instruction immediately that the living force, soul, is within this body; he is not this body. And He gives complete instruction on this at... He says, na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre: (BG 2.20) "This soul is never killed even the body is killed." This is knowledge. In spite of this knowledge, if somebody sticks to his foolish theories, then he remains animal.
Hayagrīva: There was a lot of conjecture at this time on where the soul is located, and he writes, "It is likewise necessary to know that although the soul is joined to the whole body, there is yet in there a certain part in which it exercises its functions more particularly than in all the others, and that it is usually believed that this part is the brain or possibly the heart."
Prabhupāda: The heart.
| Page Title: | Location (Lectures) |
| Compiler: | Mayapur, ParthsarathyM |
| Created: | 10 of Oct, 2011 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=18, Con=0, Let=0 |
| No. of Quotes: | 18 |