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Material sky

Bhagavad-gita As It Is

BG Preface and Introduction

BG Introduction:

In the Bhagavad-gītā it is clearly explained that there are three kinds of activities according to the different modes of nature: the activities of goodness, of passion and of ignorance. Similarly, there are three kinds of eatables also: eatables in goodness, passion and ignorance. All of this is clearly described, and if we properly utilize the instructions of Bhagavad-gītā, then our whole life will become purified, and ultimately we will be able to reach the destination which is beyond this material sky. (BG 15.6)

That destination is called the sanātana sky, the eternal, spiritual sky. In this material world we find that everything is temporary. It comes into being, stays for some time, produces some by-products, dwindles and then vanishes.

BG Introduction:

In the effulgent rays of the spiritual sky there are innumerable planets floating. The brahmajyoti emanates from the supreme abode, Kṛṣṇaloka, and the ānanda-maya, cin-maya planets, which are not material, float in those rays. The Lord says, na tad bhāsayate sūryo na śaśāṅko na pāvakaḥ/ yad gatvā na nivartante tad dhāma paramaṁ mama (BG 15.6). One who can approach that spiritual sky is not required to descend again to the material sky.

BG Introduction:

In the material sky, even if we approach the highest planet (Brahmaloka), what to speak of the moon, we will find the same conditions of life, namely birth, death, disease and old age. No planet in the material universe is free from these four principles of material existence.

BG Introduction:

Not even all of the material world is manifested before us. Our senses are so imperfect that we cannot even see all of the stars within this material universe. In Vedic literature we can receive much information about all the planets, and we can believe it or not believe it. All of the important planets are described in Vedic literatures, especially Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, and the spiritual world, which is beyond this material sky, is described as avyakta, unmanifested.

BG Chapters 1 - 6

BG 6.15, Purport:

There is no void anywhere within the creation of the Lord. Rather, the cessation of material existence enables one to enter into the spiritual sky, the abode of the Lord. The abode of the Lord is also clearly described in the Bhagavad-gītā as that place where there is no need of sun, moon or electricity. All the planets in the spiritual kingdom are self-illuminated like the sun in the material sky. The kingdom of God is everywhere, but the spiritual sky and the planets thereof are called paraṁ dhāma, or superior abodes.

Srimad-Bhagavatam

SB Canto 1

SB 1.1.1, Purport:

Śrī Vyāsadeva says herein that the manifested internal potency is real, whereas the external manifested energy in the form of material existence is only temporary and illusory like the mirage in the desert. In the desert mirage there is no actual water. There is only the appearance of water. Real water is somewhere else. The manifested cosmic creation appears as reality. But reality, of which this is but a shadow, is in the spiritual world. Absolute Truth is in the spiritual sky, not the material sky.

SB 1.1.1, Purport:

In the material sky everything is relative truth. That is to say, one truth depends on something else. This cosmic creation results from interaction of the three modes of nature, and the temporary manifestations are so created as to present an illusion of reality to the bewildered mind of the conditioned soul, who appears in so many species of life, including the higher demigods, like Brahmā, Indra, Candra, and so on. In actuality, there is no reality in the manifested world.

SB 1.3.1, Purport:

When the creation is again set up, this mahat-tattva is again let loose. This mahat-tattva contains all the ingredients of the material manifestations, including the conditioned souls. Primarily this mahat-tattva is divided into sixteen parts, namely the five gross material elements and the eleven working instruments or senses. It is like the cloud in the clear sky. In the spiritual sky, the effulgence of Brahman is spread all around, and the whole system is dazzling in spiritual light. The mahat-tattva is assembled in some corner of the vast, unlimited spiritual sky, and the part which is thus covered by the mahat-tattva is called the material sky.

SB 1.3.1, Purport:

This part of the spiritual sky, called the mahat-tattva, is only an insignificant portion of the whole spiritual sky, and within this mahat-tattva there are innumerable universes. All these universes are collectively produced by the Kāraṇodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, called also the Mahā-Viṣṇu, who simply throws His glance to impregnate the material sky.

SB 1.5.20, Purport:

According to the Vedic version, the Lord is naturally fully powerful, and thus His supreme energies are always perfect and identical with Him. Both the spiritual and the material skies and their paraphernalia are emanations of the internal and external energies of the Lord. External energy is comparatively inferior, whereas the internal potency is superior.

SB 1.13.55, Purport:

By the yogic process, when his pure identity is realized in self-realization, one has to revert to the original position by amalgamating the five gross elements and the subtle elements, mind and intelligence, into the mahat-tattva again. Thus getting freed from the clutches of the mahat-tattva, he has to merge in the existence of the Supersoul. In other words, he has to realize that qualitatively he is nondifferent from the Supersoul, and thus he transcends the material sky by his pure identical intelligence and thus becomes engaged in the transcendental loving service of the Lord

SB 1.13.55, Purport:

A pure devotee of the Lord does not live on any planet of the material sky, nor does he feel any contact with material elements. His so-called material body does not exist, being surcharged with the spiritual current of the Lord's identical interest, and thus he is permanently freed from all contaminations of the sum total of the mahat-tattva. He is always in the spiritual sky, which he attains by being transcendental to the sevenfold material covering by the effect of his devotional service.

SB 1.14.35-36, Purport:

Thus Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira has compared the Yadu dynasty to the ocean of milk and Śrī Balarāma to the Ananta where Lord Kṛṣṇa resides. He has compared the citizens of Dvārakā to the liberated inhabitants of the Vaikuṇṭhalokas. Beyond the material sky, further than we can see with our eyes and beyond the sevenfold coverings of the universe, there is the Causal Ocean in which all the universes are floating like footballs, and beyond the Causal Ocean there is an unlimited span of spiritual sky generally known as the effulgence of Brahman.

SB 1.15.27, Purport:

In the Bhagavad-gītā the Lord and the living beings are both described as sanātana, or eternal, and the Lord's abode, far beyond the material sky, is also described as sanātana. The living being is invited to live in the sanātana existence of the Lord, and the process which can help a living being to approach the Lord's abode, where the liberated activity of the soul is exhibited, is called sanātana-dharma. One cannot, however, reach the eternal abode of the Lord without being free from the misconception of material identification, and the Bhagavad-gītā gives us the clue how to achieve this stage of perfection.

SB 1.15.46, Purport:

According to Śrī Viśvanātha Cakravartī, dharma, artha, kāma and mokṣa principles are accepted by persons who are not free from the results of impious action. Such persons affected with the contaminations of the above four principles cannot at once accept the lotus feet of the Lord in the spiritual sky. The Vaikuṇṭha world is situated far beyond the material sky.

SB 1.15.46, Purport:

The material sky is under the management of Durgā Devī, or the material energy of the Lord, but the Vaikuṇṭha world is managed by the personal energy of the Lord

SB 1.16.26-30, Purport:

On the assertion of the Vedic aphorism sarvaṁ khalv idaṁ brahma, we can understand that the Lord, by the omnipresent rays of His effulgence, called brahmajyoti, is all-pervading inside or outside of everything, like the omnipresent material sky, and thus He is also omniscient.

SB 1.18.45, Purport:

The Vedic civilization's destination is to go back to Godhead, back home, where there is no birth, no death, no old age and no disease. The Vedas direct everyone not to remain in the darkness of the material world but to go towards the light of the spiritual kingdom far beyond the material sky. The qualitative caste system and the orders of life are scientifically planned by the Lord and His representatives, the great ṛṣis. The perfect way of life gives all sorts of instruction in things both material and spiritual. The Vedic way of life does not allow any man to be like the monkeys and dogs

SB Canto 2

SB 2.2.8, Purport:

There are many other hundreds and scores of different forms of the Lord, and each and every one of them has a particular planet in the spiritual sky, of which this material sky is only a fragmental offshoot. The Lord exists as puruṣa, or the male enjoyer, although there is no comparing Him to any male form in the material world. But all such forms are advaita, nondifferent from one another, and each of them is eternally young.

SB 2.2.18, Purport:

In the Bhagavad-gītā, mad-dhāma ("My abode") is mentioned several times, and according to the version of the Supreme Personality of Godhead Śrī Kṛṣṇa there exists the unlimited spiritual sky, wherein the planets are called Vaikuṇṭhas, or the abode of the Personality of Godhead. In that sky, which is far, far beyond the material sky and its sevenfold coverings, there is no need of the sun or the moon, nor is there necessity of electricity for illumination, because the planets are self-illuminating and more brilliant than the material suns. pure devotees of the Lord are absolutely in harmony with the Personality of Godhead, or in other words, they always think of the Lord as their only dependable friend and well-wisher.

SB 2.2.31, Purport:

The bhāgavatas never accept merging in the impersonal rays of the Lord, but always aspire after personal association with the Supreme Lord in one of the Vaikuṇṭha spiritual planets in the spiritual sky. The whole of the spiritual sky, of which the total number of the material skies is only an insignificant part, is full of unlimited numbers of Vaikuṇṭha planets. The destination of the devotee (the bhāgavata) is to enter into one of the Vaikuṇṭha planets, in each of which the Personality of Godhead, in His unlimited personal expansions, enjoys Himself in the association of unlimited numbers of pure devotee associates.

SB 2.3.11, Purport:

However, the followers of the Vedas have a different method of acquiring knowledge. They accept the statements of the Vedic literatures as authority in toto, as we have already discussed in Canto One, and therefore they have full and reasonable knowledge of God and demigods and of their different residential planets situated within the compass of the material world and beyond the limit of the material sky.

SB 2.4.14, Purport:

The immeasurable spiritual sky is full of spiritual planets, named Vaikuṇṭhas, far beyond the material sky. The mundaners have insufficient information of even the mundane sky, so what can they think of the spiritual sky? Therefore the mundaners are always far, far away from Him. Even if in the future they are able to manufacture some machine whose speed may be accelerated to the velocity of the wind or mind, the mundaners will still be unable to imagine reaching the planets in the spiritual sky.

SB 2.4.22, Purport:

There is a gulf of difference between the two qualities of sound, namely prākṛta and aprākṛta. The physicist can deal only with the prākṛta sound, or sound vibrated in the material sky, and therefore we must know that the Vedic sounds recorded in symbolic expressions cannot be understood by anyone within the universe unless and until one is inspired by the vibration of supernatural (aprākṛta) sound, which descends in the chain of disciplic succession from the Lord to Brahmā, from Brahmā to Nārada, from Nārada to Vyāsa and so on. No mundane scholar can translate or reveal the true import of the Vedic mantras (hymns).

SB 2.5.26-29, Purport:

A perfect yogī can have command over death and quit the body at the right moment, when he is competent to transfer himself to a suitable planet. The bhakti-yogi, however, surpasses all the yogīs because, by dint of his devotional service, he is promoted to the region beyond the material sky and is placed in one of the planets in the spiritual sky by the supreme will of the Lord, the controller of everything.

SB 2.5.39, Purport:

Many times in these pages we have discussed the spiritual planets situated beyond the material sky, and the description is corroborated in this verse. The word sanātana is significant. This very idea of eternity is expressed in the Bhagavad-gītā (8.20), where it is said that beyond the material creation is the spiritual sky, where everything is eternal. Sometimes Satyaloka, the planet in which Brahmā resides, is also called Brahmaloka. But the Brahmaloka mentioned here is not the same as the Satyaloka planetary system.

SB 2.5.40-41, Purport:

The moon is situated in the third status of the upper planetary system, and in the Fifth Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam we shall be able to know the distant situation of the various planets scattered over the vast material sky. There are innumerable universes beyond the one in which we are put, and all these material universes cover only an insignificant portion of the spiritual sky, which is described above as sanātana Brahmaloka.

SB 2.6.18, Purport:

One mustard seed is calculated to be a universe itself. In one of the universes, in which we are now living, the number of planets cannot be counted by human energy, and so how can we think of the sum total in all the universes, which are compared to a bucketful of mustard seeds? And the planets in the spiritual sky are at least three times the number of those in the material sky. Such planets, being spiritual, are in fact transcendental to the material modes; therefore they are constituted in the mode of unalloyed goodness only. The conception of spiritual bliss (brahmānanda) is fully present in those planets.

SB 2.6.18, Purport:

Those liberated souls are engaged incessantly in singing songs mentioned in the Sāma Veda (vedaiḥ sāṅga-pada-kramopaniṣadair gāyanti yaṁ sāmagāḥ). All of them are personifications of the five Upaniṣads. Tripād-vibhūti, or the seventy-five percent known as the internal potency of the Lord, is to be understood as the kingdom of God far beyond the material sky; and when we speak of pāda-vibhūti, or the twenty-five percent comprising His external energy, we should understand that this refers to the sphere of the material world.

SB 2.6.19, Purport:

There may be a comparative extension of life, expansion of knowledge and sense of full bliss, but factual deathlessness, fearlessness and freedom from old age, diseases, etc., are possible only beyond the material spheres of the coverings of the material sky. Such things are situated on the head (adhāyi mūrdhasu).

SB 2.7.16, Purport:

Modern scientists have invented airships which are material, and the yogīs make a still finer material attempt to travel by mindships. The yogīs can reach any distant place very quickly with the help of mindships. But neither the airship nor the mindship has access to the kingdom of God in the Vaikuṇṭhaloka, situated far beyond the material sky. Since this is the situation, how was it possible for the prayers of the elephant to be heard from such an unlimitedly distant place, and how could the Lord at once appear on the spot?

SB 2.7.40, Purport:

He is known as Trivikrama because once, in His incarnation of Vāmana, He expanded His leg beyond the highest planetary system, Satyaloka, and reached the neutral state of the modes of nature called the covering of the material world. There are seven layers of material coverings over the material sky, and the Lord could penetrate even those coverings.

SB 2.7.40, Purport:

With His toe He made a hole through which the water of the Causal Ocean filters into the material sky, and the current is known as the sacred Ganges, which purifies the planets of the three worlds. In other words, no one is equal to the transcendentally powerful Viṣṇu. He is omnipotent, and no one is equal to or greater than Him.

SB 2.9.5, Purport:

Such knowledge of the spiritual sky far above this material sky and its paraphernalia can be known only by dint of devotional service, or bhakti-yoga. The power of creation by Lord Brahmā was also achieved by bhakti-yoga. Brahmājī was bewildered in the matter of creation, and he could not even trace out the source of his own existence. But all this knowledge was fully achieved by him through the medium of bhakti-yoga. By bhakti-yoga one can know the Lord, and by

SB 2.9.10, Purport:

The sane man, therefore, without being puffed up, as if he were the God of the universe, abides by the instructions of the Vedic literature, the easiest way to acquire knowledge in transcendence. So let us know through the authority of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam of the nature and constitution of the transcendental world beyond the material sky. In that sky the material qualities, especially the modes of ignorance and passion, are completely absent.

SB Canto 3

SB 3.4.33, Purport:

He is paramātmā, the Supersoul. Yet His appearance as one of the human beings and His disappearance again from the mortal world are subject matters for the research workers who execute research work with great perseverance. Such subject matters are certainly of increasing interest because the researchers have to search out the transcendental abode of the Lord, which He enters after finishing His pastimes in the mortal world. But even the great sages have no information that beyond the material sky is the spiritual sky where Śrī Kṛṣṇa eternally resides with His associates, although at the same time He exhibits His pastimes in the mortal world in all the universes one after another.

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.

SB 3.15.15, Purport:

The kingdom of the Supreme Personality of Godhead in the spiritual sky cannot be understood by any process other than hearing from the description of the Vedas. No one can go see it. In this material world also, one who is unable to pay to go to a far distant place by motorized conveyances can only understand about that place from authentic books. Similarly, the Vaikuṇṭha planets in the spiritual sky are beyond this material sky.

SB 3.15.15, Purport:

The modern scientists who are trying to travel in space are having difficulty going even to the nearest planet, the moon, to say nothing of the highest planets within the universe. There is no possibility that they can go beyond the material sky, enter the spiritual sky and see for themselves the spiritual planets, Vaikuṇṭha. Therefore, the kingdom of God in the spiritual sky can be understood only through the authentic descriptions of the Vedas and Purāṇas

SB 3.19.31, Purport:

The Lord descends from His abode to this world, and therefore He is called avatāra, which means "one who descends." Sometimes avatāra is understood to refer to an incarnation who assumes a material form of flesh and bone, but actually avatāra refers to one who descends from higher regions. The Lord's abode is situated far above this material sky, and He descends from that higher position; thus He is called avatāra.

SB Canto 4

SB 4.10.30, Purport:

By the grace of the Lord, if a devotee, at the time of death, can simply chant His holy name—Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare—simply by chanting this mahā-mantra, he immediately surpasses the great ocean of the material sky and enters the spiritual sky. He never has to come back for repetition of birth and death. Simply by chanting the holy name of the Lord, one can surpass the ocean of death, so Dhruva Mahārāja was certainly able to surpass the illusory magical feats of the Yakṣas, which for the time being disturbed his mind.

SB 4.12.36, Purport:

Here is a description of two aspects of the Vaikuṇṭha planets. The first is that in the Vaikuṇṭha sky there is no need of the sun and moon. This is confirmed by the Upaniṣads as well as Bhagavad-gītā (na tad bhāsayate sūryo na śaśāṅko na pāvakaḥ (BG 15.6)). In the spiritual world the Vaikuṇṭhalokas are themselves illuminated; there is therefore no need of sun, moon or electric light. It is in fact the illumination of the Vaikuṇṭhalokas which is reflected in the material sky.

SB 4.12.36, Purport:

Only by this reflection are the suns in the material universes illuminated; after the illumination of the sun, all the stars and moons are illuminated. In other words, all the luminaries in the material sky borrow illumination from Vaikuṇṭhaloka. From this material world, however, people can be transferred to the Vaikuṇṭhaloka, if they incessantly engage in welfare activities for all other living entities

SB 4.20.25, Purport:

Although when a pure devotee speaks the articulation of his voice may resemble the sound of this material sky, the voice is spiritually very powerful because it touches the particles of saffron dust on the lotus feet of the Lord. As soon as a sleeping living entity hears the powerful voice emanating from the mouth of a pure devotee, he immediately remembers his eternal relationship with the Lord, although up until that moment he had forgotten everything.

SB 4.20.35-36, Purport:

The followers of Vedic wisdom are fully aware of various planets inhabited by varieties of living entities such as the demigods, the sages, the Pitās, the Gandharvas, the Pannagas, the Kinnaras, the Cāraṇas, the Siddhas and the Apsarās. The Vedas give information that in all planets—not only within this material sky but also in the spiritual sky—there are varieties of living entities.

SB 4.20.35-36, Purport:

There are six planetary systems above Bhūrloka and seven planetary systems below it. Therefore the entire universe is known as caturdaśa-bhuvana, indicating that it has fourteen different planetary systems. Beyond the planetary systems in the material sky, there is another sky, which is known as paravyoma, or the spiritual sky, where there are spiritual planets.

SB 4.23.28, Purport:

There are five kinds of liberation, and one is called sāyujya-mukti, or merging into the existence of the Supreme, or the impersonal Brahman effulgence. However, since there is a chance of one's falling down again into the material sky from the Brahman effulgence, Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī advises that in this human form of life one's only aim should be to go back home, back to Godhead.

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta

CC Adi-lila

CC Adi 5.14, Purport:

Beyond the manifested and unmanifested existence of material nature (vyaktāvyakta) is the sanātana nature, which is called the paravyoma, or the spiritual sky. Since that nature is spiritual in quality, there are no qualitative differences there: everything there is spiritual, everything is good, and everything possesses the spiritual form of Śrī Kṛṣṇa Himself. That spiritual sky is the manifested internal potency of Śrī Kṛṣṇa; it is distinct from the material sky, manifested by His external potency.

CC Adi 5.14, Purport:

The all-pervading Brahman, composed of the impersonal glowing rays of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, exists in the spiritual world with the Vaikuṇṭha planets. We can get some idea of that spiritual sky by a comparison to the material sky, for the rays of the sun in the material sky can be compared to the brahmajyoti, the glowing rays of the Personality of Godhead. In the brahmajyoti there are unlimited Vaikuṇṭha planets, which are spiritual and therefore self-luminous, with a glow many times greater than that of the sun.

CC Adi 5.22, Purport:

There are unlimited Vaikuṇṭha planets in the spiritual sky, and the ratio of these planets to the material planets in the material sky is three to one. Thus the poor materialist is busy making political adjustments on a planet that is most insignificant in God's creation. To say nothing of this planet earth, the whole universe, with innumerable planets throughout the galaxies, is comparable to a single mustard seed in a bag full of mustard seeds.

CC Adi 5.22, Purport:

The best plan is to prepare oneself to return to the spiritual sky after leaving the body. However, if one is intent on enjoying material facilities, one can transfer himself to other planets in the material sky by utilizing yogic powers. The playful spaceships of the astronauts are but childish entertainments and are of no use for this purpose.

CC Adi 5.22, Purport:

By the grace of God, we have complete freedom. Because the Lord is kind to us, we can live anywhere—either in the spiritual sky or in the material sky, upon whichever planet we desire. However, misuse of this freedom causes one to fall down into the material world and suffer the threefold miseries of conditioned life.

CC Adi 5.40, Purport:

The Padma Purāṇa, as quoted by Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī in his Laghu-bhāgavatāmṛta, describes that in the spiritual sky there are four directions, corresponding to east, west, north and south, in which Vāsudeva, Saṅkarṣaṇa, Aniruddha and Pradyumna are situated. The same forms are also situated in the material sky.

CC Adi 6.76, Purport:

According to social convention one may be superior to Kṛṣṇa, but factually everyone engages in His service. Therefore in the spiritual sky or the material sky, in all the different planets, no one is able to supersede Lord Kṛṣṇa or demand service from Him. On the contrary, everyone engages in the service of Lord Kṛṣṇa.

CC Madhya-lila

CC Madhya 12.184, Purport:

The material world exists outside the spiritual sky, and a foolish materialist cannot estimate the extent of this material sky. What, then, can he know of the spiritual sky? Materialists simply believe their imperfect senses and do not take instructions from the revealed scriptures. According to Vedic civilization, one has to see through the authority of the revealed scriptures.

CC Madhya 21.18, Purport:

The spiritual planets in the spiritual sky are called Vaikuṇṭhas, and each of them has a predominating Deity (Nārāyaṇa) with a specific name. Similarly, in the material sky there are innumerable universes, and each is dominated by a specific deity, a Brahmā. Kṛṣṇa simultaneously created all these Vaikuṇṭha planets and universes within a moment after Brahmā’s return.

Other Books by Srila Prabhupada

Teachings of Lord Caitanya

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 9:

There are many different pastimes of Kṛṣṇa—such as His pastimes in the forms of Vāsudeva and Saṅkarṣaṇa—and in the material sky His pastimes are carried on as the first puruṣa incarnation, the creator of the material world. There are also pastimes in which He incarnates as a fish or a tortoise, and there are pastimes in which He takes the forms of Lord Brahmā and Lord Śiva, as incarnations of the material qualities.

Nectar of Devotion

Nectar of Devotion 15:

In the Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa it is stated, "Those who have achieved liberation from material contamination and those who are demons and are killed by the Supreme Personality of Godhead become absorbed in the Brahman concept of life and reside in the spiritual sky of the brahmajyoti." That spiritual sky is far beyond the material sky, and it is confirmed also in Bhagavad-gītā that beyond this material sky there is another, eternal sky.

Easy Journey to Other Planets

Easy Journey to Other Planets 1:

The gross materialist may try to approach the antimaterial worlds by endeavoring with spaceships, satellites, rockets, etc., which he throws into outer space, but by such means he cannot even approach the material planets in the higher regions of the material sky, and what to speak of those planets situated in the antimaterial sky, which is far beyond the material universe.

Easy Journey to Other Planets 1:

But the perfect yogīs know how to satisfy these unseen administrators of material affairs and, taking advantage of the good will of these administrators, leave their material bodies at will during opportune moments arranged for entrance into the antimaterial universe or into the highest planets of the material sky. In the higher planets of the material world, the yogīs can enjoy more comfortable and more pleasant lives for hundreds of thousands of years, but life in those higher planets is not eternal.

Easy Journey to Other Planets 1:

And in the same way, if one desires to enter into any other planet of the material sky, he can go there just after quitting the present body (i.e., after death). Thus if someone wants to go to the moon, the sun or Mars, he can do so simply by performing acts for that purpose.

Easy Journey to Other Planets 1:

The Vaikuṇṭhas are spiritual planets which are manifestations of the internal potency of the Lord, and the ratio of these planets to the material planets (external energy) in the material sky is three to one. So the poor materialist is busy making political adjustments on a planet which is most insignificant in God's creation.

Easy Journey to Other Planets 1:

But the best plan is to prepare oneself to return to the spiritual sky after leaving the body. However, if one is intent on enjoying material facilities, one can transfer himself to other planets in the material sky by utilizing yogic powers. The playful spaceships of the astronauts are but childish entertainments and are of no use for this purpose.

Easy Journey to Other Planets 1:

By the grace of God, we have complete freedom. Because the Lord is kind to us, we can live anywhere—either in the spiritual sky or in the material sky, upon whichever planet we desire. However, misuse of this freedom causes one to fall down into the material world and suffer the threefold miseries of conditioned life. The living of a miserable life in the material world by dint of the soul's choice is nicely illustrated by Milton in Paradise Lost.

Easy Journey to Other Planets 1:

Potentially, everything is eternal, but in the material world matter takes shape, remains for some time, develops into maturity, grows old, begins to dwindle and at last disappears again. This is the case with all material objects. The materialist's suggestion that beyond the material sky there is "some other form" which is beyond the boundary of visibility and which is strange and inconceivable is but a faint indication of the spiritual sky.

Easy Journey to Other Planets 1:

When a satellite is thrown into outer space, a child may not understand that there are scientific brains behind it, but an intelligent adult realizes that scientific brains on earth are controlling the satellite. Similarly, less intelligent persons do not have information of the creator and His eternal abode in the spiritual world, which is far beyond our range of visibility, but in actuality there is a spiritual sky, and spiritual planets which are more spacious and greater in number than planets in the material sky.

Easy Journey to Other Planets 1:

The Lord claims to be the father of all species of life. He claims that all living beings—regardless of what they are—are part and parcel of Him. Consequently, the Bhagavad-gītā is meant for all of them. In the Gītā there is information of this sanātana nature of the Supreme Lord. There is also information of His abode, which is far beyond the material sky, and of the sanātana nature of the living beings.

Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead

Krsna Book 28:

Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is always eager to give information to the conditioned soul that there is a spiritual sky far, far beyond this material sky, transcendental to the innumerable universes created within the total material energy. Kṛṣṇa is, of course, always very kind to every conditioned soul, but, as stated in the Bhagavad-gītā, He is especially inclined to the pure devotees. Hearing their inquiries, Kṛṣṇa immediately thought that His devotees in Vṛndāvana should be informed of the spiritual sky and the Vaikuṇṭha planets therein.

Light of the Bhagavata

Light of the Bhagavata 24, Purport:

This material world is a combination of matter and spirit, but the spiritual world, which is far, far away from the material sky, is purely spiritual and has no contact with matter. In the spiritual world, everything is spirit. We have already discussed this. The Personality of Godhead, the original source of all energies, is able to convert spirit into matter and matter into spirit.

Light of the Bhagavata 29, Purport:

The material sky is also the spiritual sky, but it is covered by the modes of material nature. This material nature is also a temporary creation of the Lord, as the cloud is a creation of the sun. When the cloud of the material modes is cleared off, the material nature is said to have been annihilated.

Light of the Bhagavata 29, Purport:

The material sky is also the spiritual sky, but it is covered by the modes of material nature. This material nature is also a temporary creation of the Lord, as the cloud is a creation of the sun. When the cloud of the material modes is cleared off, the material nature is said to have been annihilated.

Light of the Bhagavata 29, Purport:

The material sky is also the spiritual sky, but it is covered by the modes of material nature. This material nature is also a temporary creation of the Lord, as the cloud is a creation of the sun. When the cloud of the material modes is cleared off, the material nature is said to have been annihilated.

Lectures

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Introduction to Gitopanisad (Earliest Recording of Srila Prabhupada in the Bhaktivedanta Archives):

That information is given in the Bhagavad-gītā, that beyond this material sky, there is another spiritual sky; that is called sanātana sky. In this sky, this covered sky, we find everything temporary. It is manifested, it stays for some time, gives us some by-product, and then it becomes dwindling, and then vanishes. That is the law of this material world. You take this body, you take a fruit or anything what is created here, it has got its annihilation at the end.

Introduction to Gitopanisad (Earliest Recording of Srila Prabhupada in the Bhaktivedanta Archives):

Now anyone who can approach that spiritual sky will not be required to come back again in this material sky. So long we are in the material sky, what to speak of approaching the moon planet.... The moon planet, of course, is the nearest planet, but even we approach the highest planet, which is called Brahmaloka, there also we have the same miseries of material life, I mean to say, the miseries of birth, death, old age, and diseases.

Introduction to Gitopanisad (Earliest Recording of Srila Prabhupada in the Bhaktivedanta Archives):

We may believe or not believe, but all the important planets in which we have connection, they are described in the Vedic literature, especially in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. But the spiritual world, which is beyond this material sky, paras tasmāt tu bhāvo 'nyo (BG 8.20), but that avyakta, that nonmanifested spiritual sky, is the paramāṁ gatim, that is, one should desire, one should hanker after reaching that supreme kingdom.

Lecture on BG 2.12 -- Mexico, February 12, 1975:

Wherever you want, you can go. The descriptions are there in the śāstra. But there is another description, the kingdom of God. That kingdom of God is there beyond this material sky. So we have to take information where that spiritual world is there. You can have it from Vedic literature. In the Bhagavad-gītā it is said, paras tasmāt tu bhāvo 'nyo 'vyakto 'vyaktāt sanātanaḥ (BG 8.20).

Lecture on BG 2.16 -- London, August 22, 1973:

Cloud appears, exists for some time, again disappears. But the sky remains always. This is the distinction between sat and asat, try to understand. Sky, this material sky, this also does not exist, but so far our experience is concerned, we can understand the distinction between sat and asat. Permanent and temporary.

Lecture on BG 2.46-62 -- Los Angeles, December 16, 1968:

So Brahman means all-pervading. But this transcendental sound... Just like your radio message, television sound, they cannot go beyond this earthly planet, at most. But there is sound which can penetrate the whole universe and go to the spiritual world. Sound is all-pervading, that is a fact, scientific fact. If that sound is potent, then it can penetrate even this material sky and go to the spiritual sky and go to Kṛṣṇa directly. That sound is Hare Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture on BG 6.1 -- Los Angeles, February 13, 1969:

Devotee: Prabhupāda? You said that spirit soul is one ten-thousandth the tip of a hair. In the spiritual sky, is the spirit soul still just that big?

Prabhupāda: That is his constitutional position. Either in the spiritual sky or material sky, he's the same. But as you develop in the material world a material body, similarly in the spiritual world you can develop a spiritual body. You follow?

Lecture on BG 7.1-2 -- Bombay, March 28, 1971:

Anything created in the material world, it has got a period, a date, historical date of creation. And again it is annihilated, again it is created. That is the nature of material world. But transcendental to this material sky, there is another sky, which is called paravyoma. That paravyoma is called, in English word, "the kingdom of God."

Lecture on BG 7.8-14 -- New York, October 2, 1966:

When there is some illumination, when there is some illumination... (aside:) You want to come here? I ask this... All right. When there is some illumination, that illumination is also Kṛṣṇa. The original effulgence is brahmajyoti. That is in the spiritual sky. This material sky is covered; therefore the nature of this material sky is darkness. Now, at night we are experiencing the real nature of this material world—it is darkness. Artificially, it is being illuminated by the sun, by the moon, by the electricity. Otherwise, it is darkness. So this illumination is God. We have to understand—this illumination.

Lecture on BG 8.15-20 -- New York, November 17, 1966:

Ekāṁśa means one-fourth part. These manifestations are one-fourth part. And three-fourth part manifestation is beyond this material sky. This material sky is covered. The... When you see to the sky you'll find that ball-like covering. That is the covering. So millions and millions of miles, the covering is there. And after penetrating that covering, you can enter into the spiritual sky. That is open sky.

Lecture on BG 8.20-22 -- New York, November 18, 1966:

Because we are very minute, small, so a few hundred miles, if it is covered, this sky, we see that everything is covered. Similarly, this material sky is within the covering, with the covering of mahat-tattva, matter. And as this cloud, when it is clear, the original sky you can see, similarly, this covering of material matter, when it begins... Just like cloud has beginning and end, similarly, this material nature has beginning and end.

Lecture on BG 8.20-22 -- New York, November 18, 1966:

So there are many volumes of knowledge of this material sky and spiritual sky. In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Second Canto, you will find description of the spiritual sky, what nature it is, what kind of people remain there, what is their feature—everything. Even we get information that in spiritual sky there is aeroplane, spiritual

Lecture on BG 8.20-22 -- New York, November 18, 1966:

The description is... They travel just like lightning. So everything is there. This is only imitation. This material sky and everything, whatever you see—all imitation, shadow. It is shadow. Just like in cinematographic picture you see the shadow of the real thing behind, similarly, this is only shadow.

Lecture on BG 8.22-27 -- New York, November 20, 1966:

We have been discussing about the transcendental world. The transcendental world is above this material sky. The material sky is also a part of the transcendental sky or spiritual sky—it is covered only. This thing we have already explained. Just like the sky, some part of the sky is covered by cloud. The cloud cannot cover the whole sky.

Lecture on BG 8.22-27 -- New York, November 20, 1966:

Only insignificant portion of the cloud, er, sky, is covered by cloud. Similarly, the unlimited sky, spiritual sky, and some portion of it, when it is covered by mahat-tattva or a spiritual cloud, the portion which is covered, it is called material sky.

Lecture on BG 8.22-27 -- New York, November 20, 1966:

Only insignificant portion of the cloud, er, sky, is covered by cloud. Similarly, the unlimited sky, spiritual sky, and some portion of it, when it is covered by mahat-tattva or a spiritual cloud, the portion which is covered, it is called material sky.

Lecture on BG 8.22-27 -- New York, November 20, 1966:

Similarly, this material manifestation is only a very insignificant portion of the spiritual sky, and it is covered so that we may not go to the spiritual sky. That is not possible. We cannot go. We cannot travel even in the outer space of this material sky. So we have got very limited potency. But this is the situation.

Lecture on BG 8.22-27 -- New York, November 20, 1966:

Puruṣaḥ sa paraḥ pārtha. There, the Personality of Godhead, there is nobody rival. Just like here, the predominating personality, President Johnson, when the next election will come, there will be so many rivals. But in the spiritual sky there is no rival. In the spiritual sky the Supreme Lord is the Supreme. And those who wanted to become rival, they are put into this material sky, under condition of the material nature. This is the difference between spiritual sky and material sky.

Lecture on BG 9.24-26 -- New York, December 12, 1966:

We should try to go (to) that planet where going, no more coming back. That is Kṛṣṇaloka. That is Vaikuṇṭha, the spiritual sky. Paras tasmāt tu bhāvaḥ anyaḥ (BG 8.20). Beyond this material sky there is spiritual sky. There are spiritual planets, and Kṛṣṇaloka is there. So Kṛṣṇa gives here hint that mad-yājino 'pi mām: "As others are going, trying to go in other planets, similarly, those who are in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, those who are absolutely worshiper of the Supreme Lord, they will come to Me.

Lecture on BG 16.8 -- Hyderabad, December 16, 1976:

If we want to go to Vaikuṇṭha planet or Goloka Vṛndāvana planet, beyond this material sky... That is... There is another sky. Paras tasmāt tu bhāvaḥ anyaḥ avyakto 'vyaktāt sanātanaḥ (BG 8.20). These informations are there in the Bhagavad-gītā.

Lecture on BG 16.8 -- Hyderabad, December 16, 1976:

There is another sky which is called paravyoma. That is spiritual sky. That spiritual sky is eternal. When everything is annihilated within this material sky, that remains eternally. That is called sanātana-dhāma. So sanātana-jīva, sanātana. Mamaivāṁśo jīva-loke sanātanaḥ (BG 15.7).

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Lecture on SB 1.2.5 -- Melbourne, April 3, 1972, Lecture at Christian Monastery:

That is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā. Paras tasmāt tu bhāvo 'nyo 'vyakto 'vyaktāt sanātanaḥ (BG 8.20). That is perpetual, that anything in that sky is perpetual, and anything within this material sky, they are temporary. In the Brahmaloka there may be duration of life millions of millions of year, but that is also destructible. That is material nature.

Lecture on SB 1.3.1-3 -- San Francisco, March 28, 1968:

Upendra: (reading) "The mahat-tattva is assembled in some corner of the that vast unlimited spiritual sky and the part which is thus covered by the mahat-tattva is called the material sky."

Prabhupāda: This is also very important. The sky is one. Just like we can experience the sky, and suppose the sky on San Francisco is overcast with cloud. We say that then we are covered in cloud. Practically this San Francisco sky is only a fragmental portion of the whole sky. Similarly, the real sky is that spiritual sky, paravyoma. When that paravyoma partially is clouded with mahat-tattva, that is called material world. This is the position of material world.

Lecture on SB 1.8.21 -- Mayapura, October 1, 1974:

Prabhupāda: In the Bhagavad-gītā you'll find that... You are seeing this material world up to the sky. Your vision is up to the sky, although you do not know what are these planets, how they are existing. You have no knowledge. But still, at least, you can get experience that this universe is covered by this round sky, and within this universe there are so many planets. So... So Kṛṣṇa does not belong to these planets or this material sky. He belongs to the paravyoma. Again paravyoma means sky. And para means the superior, or spiritual. Therefore Kṛṣṇa does not... Kṛṣṇa belongs to everything because everything is Kṛṣṇa's, but He has got His special abode. That is Vaikuṇṭha, Goloka Vṛndāvana. That is situated in the spiritual sky, not in this material sky. A... In the material sky, the, that Goloka Vṛndāvana is there, replica, just Vṛndāvana, where we go. When Kṛṣṇa comes... Just like government, the governor or the king, when he is on tour in every city he has got a special house. What is that house called?

Devotee: Embassy.

Lecture on SB 1.14.43 -- New York, April 7, 1973 :

Nārada Muni is going from one planet to another. He is coming from the spiritual sky through the material sky, because he is perfect bhakta. So that is the ideal living entity. As Kṛṣṇa has got full freedom, similarly when we become perfect, Kṛṣṇa conscious, we also become free. This is our position.

Lecture on SB 1.15.42 -- Los Angeles, December 20, 1973:

And behind the intelligence, there is soul. So if you cannot see the mind and the finer gross material sky, you cannot see intelligence, how you will see the soul? Therefore you cannot understand your this gross situation. You cannot. Acintya. Acintya. It is beyond your... Anything which is beyond your conception, you don't try to speculate. That is simply waste of time.

Lecture on SB 1.16.23 -- Hawaii, January 19, 1974:

And Kṛṣṇa comes to mitigate. Dharmasya glānir bhavati bhārata, tadātmānaṁ sṛjāmy aham. Kṛtāvatārasya harer dharitri. This is the purpose of avatāra. Avatāra, this word is very significant. The tara, tara means movement; and ava, ava means down. Just like avanati. So avatāra. Kṛṣṇa lives in the spiritual sky, beyond this material sky, very high, and Kṛṣṇa-loka, the planet of Kṛṣṇa, is the topmost planet in the spiritual world.

Lecture on SB 2.1.5 -- Los Angeles, August 13, 1972:

Therefore a devotee is not allured by any of the opulences of this material world. They are not interested. They are interested to transfer themselves in the spiritual world where, it is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā, yad gatvā na nivartante tad dhāma paramaṁ mama (BG 15.6). That sphere, that sky, where going, nobody comes back to this sky... This is material sky, and there is spiritual sky. These informations are there. If you accept it, then it is all right.

Lecture on SB 2.3.11-12 -- Los Angeles, May 29, 1972:

However, the followers of the Vedas have a different method of acquiring knowledge. They accept the statements of the Vedic literatures as authority in toto, as we have already discussed in Canto One, and therefore they have full and reasonable knowledge of God and demigods and of their different residential planets situated within the compass of the material world and beyond the limit of the material sky. The most authentic Vedic literature, accepted by the great Indian ācāryas like Śaṅkara, Rāmānuja, Madhva, Viṣṇu Svāmī, Nimbārka and Caitanya and studied by all important personalities of the world, is the Bhagavad-gītā, in which the worship of the demigods and their respective residential planets are mentioned.

Lecture on SB 2.9.10 -- Tokyo, April 26, 1972:

Pradyumna: (reading) The sane man, therefore, without being puffed up as if he were the god of the universe, abides by the instructions of the Vedic literature, the easiest way to acquire knowledge in transcendence. So let us know through the authority of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam of the nature and the constitution of the transcendental world beyond the material sky. In that sky the material qualities..."

Prabhupāda: They are going to different planets... They cannot go. Suppose if they are going: so taking so much trouble, expending so much money, they are trying to study. But we study within this room, even up to Vaikuṇṭha planet. Huh? These rascals are taking so much trouble and still unsuccessful. And we are getting all clear idea. Vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ (BG 15.15).

Lecture on SB 2.9.10 -- Tokyo, April 26, 1972:

Just see how we are getting information about the space. Just see. Beyond this material sky this space is... Information of the space is there. They cannot have any information of this material space, what to speak of the spiritual space. How much our knowledge is perfect. Either we are crazy, all thinking, or we are in a very secure position than all these rascals. What do you think? Clear conception of everything.

Lecture on SB 2.9.11-15 -- Tokyo, April 28, 1972:

When clear sky, you see bluish sky. That is reflection of Kṛṣṇa's bodily effulgence. Yasya prabhā prabhavato jagad-aṇḍa-koṭi (Bs. 5.40). Yasya prabhā, by expansion of the bodily effulgence, the brahmajyoti... In that brahmajyoti there are many universes, in that brahmajyoti, jagad-aṇḍa-koṭi. The sky's bluish effulgence is there. Above this material sky there is another sky whose reflection you simply can see little. Just like outside there is a brilliant light, so you can get little reflection within your room, similarly, this universe is dark and covered. It is covered, round, surrounded. But outside that universe... Or this universe is floating in that effulgence. It is reflected. The sky is reflected bluish.

Lecture on SB 3.26.32 -- Bombay, January 9, 1975:

But if you can chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, then immediately you go to the spiritual planet. These are stated in the Bhagavad-gītā. Anta-kāle, at the time of death, if you can capture this sound, oṁkāra or Hare Kṛṣṇa... If you capture oṁkāra, then you are transferred to the spiritual sky. As it is said, the sky. Śabdāt... Śabda-mātram abhūt tasmān nabhaḥ. Nabha is sky. So there is a point wherefrom the sky, the material sky, begins and there is spiritual sky. The sky is spiritual wherefrom the śabda is resounded. Because there is sky, therefore there is sound. Because there is sound, therefore the instrument of hearing sound, the ear, is there.

Lecture on SB 3.26.47 -- Bombay, January 22, 1975:

So ether, the sky, we cannot see, we cannot touch, we cannot smell. But we can hear the sound. As soon as there is sound, that, we know that there is ether or sky. The sound vibration... As we have got experience of this material sound and therefore the material sky, similarly, there is spiritual sound and there is spiritual sky.

Lecture on SB 3.26.47 -- Bombay, January 22, 1975:

Without sky, there is no sound. So there is spiritual sky. We get information from śāstra: paravyoma. Vyoma is called sky, and there is another sky. This is material sky, what we have experience. There is spiritual sky. And about that spiritual realization, as this creation begins from the sky-ether, then air, then fire, and then water, then land, kṣitir āp tejo marud vyoma—similarly, the spiritual world also begins from the spiritual sky. After this sky ends, then the spiritual sky begins.

Lecture on SB 3.26.47 -- Bombay, January 22, 1975:

Therefore Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura has described this Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, "not of this material sky." Golokera prema-dhana, hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana. Hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana, this is not a material sound. And in the Vedānta it is stated, śabdād anāvṛtti. By chanting the spiritual sound... The impersonalists, they chant oṁkāra. Praṇavaḥ sarva-vedeṣu. All Vedic mantras are preceded by the spiritual oṁkāra. That oṁkāra... Kṛṣṇa says, akṣarāṇām akāro 'smi. Vedeṣu, praṇavaḥ sarva-vedeṣu, A, U, M, These are described in the Bhagavad-gītā. So either you vibrate oṁkāra or Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, they belong to the spiritual world. This sound does not belong to this material. Material sound, if you chant once, twice, thrice, you will feel disgusted. But spiritual sound, if you chant twenty-four hours, you will never feel disgusted, but you will feel more and more spiritual bliss.

Lecture on SB 5.5.35 -- Vrndavana, November 22, 1976:

Within the brahmajyoti there are innumerable koṭi, jagadaṇḍa-koṭi. And some of the portion is called material; some portion is called spiritual sky, paravyoma. But the whole spiritual and material sky is full of different planets, and each planet is full of living entities. Janakirna. This very word is used, janakirna, not vacant as these rascals are calculating that it is full of dust. (screeching noise—aside:) What is that? It is full of dust and rocks. (sounds of children playing) (aside:) Ask them to be... Nothing is full of dust. Dust is there, as well as living entities are also there. Janakirna. This is God's creation.

Lecture on SB 6.1.32 -- Surat, December 16, 1970:

Because in the material world nobody knows that there is a spiritual sky beyond this material sky... As it is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā, paras tasmād tu bhava anyaḥ: "There is another nature." This is one nature, material nature, where millions and trillions of universes are clustered together in the corner of the spiritual sky. This is only one universe, within which there are innumerable planets. But there are millions and trillions of universes also.

Lecture on SB 6.1.32 -- Surat, December 16, 1970:

Yes. In the spiritual sky you will find happiness, real happiness. In the material sky there is no happiness. How it can be happiness, because the four things are there, janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi (BG 13.9)? If you think it is happiness in spite of your death, then you are a fool. You do not want to be a dead man, but you are forced to accept death. You do not want to become old man, but you are forced to accept. And these things, if you accept—happiness—that is your foolishness. Vyādhi. Jarā-vyādhi, disease. If you are constantly suffering from various types of diseases and if you think you are happy, that is another foolishness.

Lecture on SB 6.1.34-39 -- Surat, December 19, 1970:

That's all right. (Hindi) So the constables of Yamarāja, they are describing the bodily features of the Viṣṇudūta. You can have an idea of the Viṣṇuloka, or Vaikuṇṭhaloka. From this study, we have to understand that there is a spiritual sky, and that is far, far extensive than the material sky. You cannot even measure the sky covered by one universe, and there are innumerable universes. That is... All together, that is one-fourth of the whole sky.

Lecture on SB 6.1.34-39 -- Surat, December 19, 1970:

It is a rough estimate only, according to the Vedic scripture. And the three-fourths of the sky is spiritual sky. The population in the spiritual sky is far, far greater than the material sky. Only a few living entities who are rebelled... Just like the population in the prison house is insignificant compared to the whole population of the state, similarly, the living entities who are here in this material world, they are very insignificant. Including all the universes, all the planets together, they are an insignificant portion of the whole living entities. Ananta. Hy anantāya kalpate. The living entities, there is no counting, ananta, unlimited number of living entities.

Lecture on SB 7.9.9 -- Montreal, July 4, 1968:

Yes. Kṛṣṇa is bluish. Kṛṣṇa's color is the sky. When you see the clear sky, bluish sky, are you not very happy? "Oh, today is very nice day, blue sky." Especially in this country, when the sky is always overcast with cloud. So why you appreciate the color of the sky so much? That is Kṛṣṇa's color. Kṛṣṇa's body, there is a ray, brahmajyoti. That brahmajyoti is reflected in the sky. That brahmajyoti is outside this material sky, but that is being reflected. Therefore the sky's color, it appears bluish. Yasya prabhā prabhavato jagad-aṇḍa-koṭi koṭiṣv aśeṣa-vasudādhi vibhūti-bhinnam (Bs. 5.40).

Lecture on SB 7.9.10-11 -- Montreal, July 14, 1968:

So somebody wants to be merged into the Brahman effulgence, so that is also a spiritual world. Somebody wants to go into the Viṣṇu planet, that is also in the spiritual world. And somebody wants to go to this Kṛṣṇa planet, that is also in the spiritual sky. But there are differences even in the spiritual sky. The difference between spiritual sky and material sky is that everything in the spiritual sky, they are eternal, and everything in the material sky, they are temporary. That's all. Oh, so many? You, you.

Lecture on SB 7.9.10-11 -- Montreal, July 14, 1968:

Brahmajyoti means spiritual sky. This material sky means brahmajyoti is covered by material cloud. Actually, everything is brahmajyoti. Just like clear sky, but some portion of the sky is sometimes covered by cloud. Some portion only. The whole sky is never covered by sky. Similarly, some portion which is covered by this material atmosphere, that is called material world. That's all. Actually, the original sky is spiritual.

Lecture on SB 7.9.10-11 -- Montreal, July 14, 1968:

Original sky is full of sunshine, but the covered portion means we cannot see the sunshine. Covered portion by cloud means we cannot see the sunshine. And similarly, this material sky means where we cannot see the spiritual effulgence. That is the difference. Otherwise, even this material sky is also a spiritual sky. The spiritual sky is the original status.

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 21.1-10 -- New York, January 3, 1967:

Now, Lord Caitanya says, all the expanded plenary manifestation of Kṛṣṇa has got a separate abode. Each and every one of them has got a separate abode. Sarva rūpera dhāma-paravyoma-dhāme. And where they are? That is in the paravyoma. Paravyoma means... Vyoma means sky, and para means transcendental, beyond this sky. This sky is called material sky, and beyond this there is paravyoma, spiritual sky. They have no information. The material scientists, they have no information.

Sri Isopanisad Lectures

Sri Isopanisad, Mantra 13-15 -- Los Angeles, May 18, 1970:

Ormerly, there was only one king on this planet, up to Mahārāja Parīkṣit. One king was. There was only one flag ruling over this whole planet. Similarly, in every planet there is a predominating Deity. So here it is said that the supreme predominating Deity is Kṛṣṇa, in the spiritual, in the topmost planet in the spiritual sky. This is material sky. In the material sky this is one of the universes. There are millions and trillions of universes. And within this universe there are millions and trillions of planets. Yasya prabhā prabhavato jagad-aṇḍa-koṭi (Bs. 5.40).

Festival Lectures

Ratha-yatra -- London, July 13, 1972:

There is planet beyond this material sky. There is another sky. That is also stated in the Bhagavad-gītā. Paras tasmāt tu bhavo 'nyo 'vyakto 'vyaktāt sanātanaḥ (BG 8.20). There is another sky, which is eternal. This sky is temporary. Just like your body, my body, or anything in this material world, they are temporary. They have got a date of birth, and they grow, they stay, they produce some by-products, then dwindle, and then vanishes. That is material nature. But there is another nature, which is called spiritual nature. Even when everything is annihilated, that nature stands.

Sri Sri Radha Gokulananda Deity Installation -- London, August 21, 1973:

There is a planet in the spiritual world. The material world, you can see the material sky, limit of the sky, the horizon, but you are not able to reach even the moon planet, the nearest planet. But within this universe, within this horizon, there are innumerable planets. Aśeṣa. Yasya prabhā prabhavato jagad-aṇḍa-koṭi koṭiṣv aśeṣa-vasudhādi vibhūti-bhinnam (Bs. 5.40).

Sri Sri Radha Gokulananda Deity Installation -- London, August 21, 1973:

Sṛṣṭi-sthiti-pralaya-sādhana-śaktir-eka chāyeva yasya bhuvanāni vibharti durgā (Bs. 5.44). This energy is also personified called Durgādevī. So above this planetary system there is Maheśa-dhāma. Maheśa-dhāma. In the border between spiritual sky and material sky. Above that, there are Hari-dhāma, the Vaikuṇṭha planets where Nārāyaṇa, in various forms is predominating. And above all of them there is Goloka-dhāma or Kṛṣṇa's dhāma.

Initiation Lectures

Initiation of Jayapataka Dasa -- Montreal, July 24, 1968:

Don't commit any sinful activities. And sāmyaṁ śubha-kriyā api pramādaḥ. This is another great offense. That don't accept this chanting as something auspicious activity. It is transcendental to auspicious and inauspicious activities. It is a vibration from the spiritual sky which will attract you gradually to the spiritual sky, beyond this material sky.

Initiation Lecture -- New York, July 28, 1971:

...athāpi manaso muni-puṅgavānām. Panthās tu koṭi-śata-vatsara-sampragamyo (Bs. 5.34). The sky is so vast. This is material sky. We cannot even travel all over the sky. The modern scientist says that you go to the end of the sky cover, it will take forty thousands of years by the light year. This sky is only insignificant portion of the whole sky. You have no information of the whole sky. Nobody has information, the unlimited. The balance sky is spiritual sky. So if you have got any plane which is running on the speed of mind and air... You know the speed of mind, it can run millions of miles in a second.

General Lectures

Lecture on Maha-mantra -- New York, September 8, 1966:

The root meaning of avatāra is "which comes from the transcendental sky, the spiritual sky to the material sky." That is called avatāra. Avataraṇa. Avataraṇa. Just like... Avataraṇa means "coming from up to down." That is called avatārana. And avatāra is understood that when God or His bona fide representative comes from that sky to this material plane, that is called avatāra.

Lecture -- Seattle, October 7, 1968:

That Brahma-saṁhitā is a, considerably a large book. The first verse in the Fifth Chapter it is said that the Lord, Govinda, He has got His particular planet, which is known as Goloka Vṛndāvana. It is beyond this material sky. This material sky you can see as far as your vision go, but beyond that material sky there is spiritual sky.

Lecture -- Seattle, October 7, 1968:

This material sky is covered by material energy, mahat-tattva, and there are seven layers of covering of earth, water, fire, air. And beyond that covering there is an ocean, and beyond that ocean the spiritual sky begins. And in that spiritual sky, the highest planet is called Goloka Vṛndāvana. These things are described in the Vedic literature, in the Bhagavad-gītā also. Bhagavad-gītā is very well known book.

Lecture -- Jakarta, February 28, 1973:

So sanātana, this word has been used in three or four places in the Bhagavad-gītā. Mamaivāṁśo jīva-bhūta jīva-loka sanātana (BG 15.7). Sanātana. These living entities, they are sanātana. And another place in the Eighth Chapter in Bhagavad-gītā this sanātana word is used: paras tasmāt tu bhāva 'nya 'vyakto 'vyaktāt sanātanaḥ (BG 8.20). There is another sky. Just like we are seeing this sky. This is called material sky, and we are seeing the sky in one universe.

Conversations and Morning Walks

1968 Conversations and Morning Walks

Press Interview -- December 30, 1968, Los Angeles:

Journalist: Oh, I know! No! I'm not implying that. But I just want to know where the...

Prabhupāda: My authority is Vedic literature, yes. You'll find Bhagavad-gītā... You have seen our book Bhagavad-gītā?

Journalist: Yes. We have it at the office. I've seen it.

Prabhupāda: There are descriptions. There are descriptions of these things. There is description of another nature which is called spiritual nature. This is material nature. The sky, as far as you can see, this is one universe. Similarly, there are millions of universes. And all these together, that is material sky. And beyond that, there is spiritual sky, which is far, far greater than this. And there are spiritual planets. So this information we have got from Bhagavad-gītā, what to speak of other Vedic literatures. Bhagavad-gītā, it is daily read by practically all over the world, but they do not understand it. Simply they become student of Bhagavad-gītā, or simply just to think falsely that "I am God." That's all. But they don't take any particular information.

1974 Conversations and Morning Walks

Morning Walk -- April 4, 1974, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: Suppose I am seeing this material sky. I cannot see what are there, not even the stars at the present moment, although we know there are millions and trillions of stars. So this is my power of seeing. So how can I see all the universes in the body of..., unless he gets a special power from Kṛṣṇa to see.

Room Conversation with Prof. Regamay, Professor of Sanskrit at the University of Lausanne -- June 4, 1974, Geneva:

Prabhupāda: So the sky is one. Sky is one. So in the sky, in the atmosphere, where God is forgotten, that is called material sky. And the sky where God is not forgotten, that is spiritual sky. Just like the sky is one, and the sun is one. But when your eyes are covered by cloud, you say the cloudy sky. The sky is not cloudy. The sky is one, it is always clear. But some portion of the sky there is cloud, and you say, "This is cloudy." (break) Similarly, materialism means when you forget Kṛṣṇa, that is material. And when you know Kṛṣṇa and act for Kṛṣṇa, that is spiritual.

1975 Conversations and Morning Walks

Morning Walk -- May 11, 1975, Perth:

Prabhupāda: Just see the sky, how big it is. So we have to cross this material sky, penetrate the covering, then go to the spiritual sky. Then you are safe. Paras tasmāt tu bhāvaḥ anyaḥ 'vyakto 'vyaktāt sanātanaḥ (BG 8.20). That place, even after destruction of this whole material world, that is safe. So we have to go there, plying the boat. Therefore Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā, "You rascal, give up everything. Surrender unto Me. And surrender unto Me. Follow My instruction as I have given. Then you are safe." But that they will not do. They will try to cheat Kṛṣṇa by interpretation, "This means this. This means that."

Morning Walk -- July 4, 1975, Chicago:

Satsvarūpa: Whatever they can't see, it's still more of the same, material sky and planets. There's nothing beyond it.

Prabhupāda: Then seeing and not seeing, the same thing? That is, means you see or not see... Is that mean, that seeing or not seeing? This is contradictory. Either you see or you don't see. These are two things. (laughter) But what is this "I see, I don't see"?

1976 Conversations and Morning Walks

Evening Darsan -- August 10, 1976, Tehran:

Prabhupāda: Kṛṣṇa says tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma mām eti (BG 4.9), as soon as you give up the body you immediately go to Kṛṣṇa. That is spiritual speed. Immediately. Not that so many miles, oh, Kṛṣṇaloka is far, far above this material sky, then spiritual sky. No. The spiritual speed is so high that tyaktvā dehaṁ, as soon as you give up this body, immediately. You can compare material speed and mental speed.

1977 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation -- October 2, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: The immeasurable spiritual sky is full of spiritual planets, named Vaikuṇṭhas, far beyond the material sky. The mundaners have insufficient information of even the mundane sky, so what can they think of the spiritual sky? Therefore the mundaners are always far, far away from Him.

Correspondence

1947 to 1965 Correspondence

Letter to Mr. Toshihiro Nakano -- Delhi 1 April, 1961:

The easy method is suggested in my book which is called Bhakti-yoga easy to be performed by any layman in any part of the world. By such pratice of Bhakti-yoga one can reach even the spiritual sky which is far far away from this material sky. But the propagation of Human Spiritual Culture, your institution the International Foundation for Cultural Harmony, can teach all the people of the world about the easy method of Bhakti-yoga which can carry the practitioner to any other planets even up to the spiritual sky. They are all results of cultivating Human Spirit.

1969 Correspondence

Letter to Swami Bhaktivedanta -- Hawaii 14 March, 1969:

The material activities are temporary, therefore if the living entities are trained to transform his activities from material to spiritual he regains his original spiritual nature. And after such achievements he is promoted to the spiritual world, which is far beyond this visible material sky. All these understandings are based on authentic Vedic knowledge. The Krishna Consciousness movement is for enlightenment of all human beings without any sectarian understanding of faith. Our principle is that the human being has to awaken his dormant love of God.

1970 Correspondence

Letter to Hamsaduta -- Los Angeles 23 January, 1970:

And there was creation. So, "said" means it was sound vibration; but this sound vibration is not material sound vibration because before creation of material sky and sound, transcendental sound was there. So actually the transcendental sound is the cause of creation, but material sound is not transcendental sound. We have to receive transcendental sound through the transcendental channel, therefore, Vedas are called Sruti. That means transcendental sound can be received through the ear.

Letter to Ekayani -- Los Angeles 25 July, 1970:

In the Spiritual sky and in the material sky also there is no question of separation from Krsna. Krsna is all pervading, so where can one be out of His presence? Whatever has to do with Krsna is on the spiritual platform and on that spiritual platform there is no difference between being together and being apart from Krsna. So even in the feeling of being separated from Krsna, Krsna is there.

Page Title:Material sky
Compiler:Visnu Murti, Lalita Devi Dasi
Created:10 of Jan, 2008
Totals by Section:BG=5, SB=42, CC=9, OB=16, Lec=56, Con=7, Let=4
No. of Quotes:139