SB 01.02.01 iti samprasna-samhrsto... cited

Expressions researched:
"iti samprasna-samhrsto" |"pratipujya vacas tesam" |"pravaktum upacakrame" |"vipranam raumaharsanih"

SB Canto 1

SB 1.2.1, Translation and Purport:

Ugraśravā (Sūta Gosvāmī), the son of Romaharṣaṇa, being fully satisfied by the perfect questions of the brāhmaṇas, thanked them and thus attempted to reply.

The sages of Naimiṣāraṇya asked Sūta Gosvāmī six questions, and so he is answering them one by one.

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Lecture on SB 1.2.1 -- New Vrindaban, September 1, 1972:

Prabhupāda:

iti sampraśna saṁhṛṣṭo

viprāṇāṁ raumaharṣaṇiḥ

pratipūjya vacas teṣāṁ

pravaktum upacakrame

(SB 1.2.1)

These are Sanskrit verses. I know most of you are not conversant with this language, but the significance is that simply by vibration (children crying—aside:) They should leave.

Pradyumna: People who have young children, perhaps they could take them away when the lecture is going on so they don't make noise and disturb people from hearing.

Prabhupāda: So simply by vibration the atmosphere will be cleansed and purified. Just like when there is thundering sound in the sky, it does not require to understand by any particular language. That very vibration And the origin of creation is sound. The grosser elements are visible, but the creation takes place from finer elements. The sound is the symptom of the sky. By sound we can understand that there is sky, ether. Then, by sound vibration, there is circulation of air. And you have got practical experience. When there is very loud sound vibration, sometimes there is very strong wind also. So by sound vibration, the wind is started, and by strong wind electricity is produced. From electricity, water is produced, perspiration. And from water, earth is produced.

So sound is the original element of creation. In Sanskrit language it is called śabda-brahma. Brahman, or the Absolute Truth, is first appeared Absolute Truth becomes knowable by sound. In the Bhagavad-gītā it is said, the Lord says, raso 'ham apsu kaunteya prabhāsmi śaśi-sūryayoḥ (BG 7.8), śabdaḥ khe. Śabda means sound. If we want to see God, so let us hear first of all the sound vibration, because that is the beginning. In the Bible also it is said, "The Lord said, 'Let there be creation,' and there was creation." So "Let there be creation," this is sound, transcendental sound. So one who says this word, "Let there be creation," He is not within the creation. Because He, God, is speaking, "Let there be creation" means He is existing before creation.

So God is not within the creation. In the Vedic literature, therefore, description of God's body is given as sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ. Vigraha means form. Sac-cid-ānanda vigrahaḥ. Isvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ (Bs. 5.1). He is not formless. He has got His form, but it is a different form. How we can understand? Because we have got experience of this material world. We cannot see anything subtle. Gross things we can see. Therefore we can understand by our thoughts what kind of form God has got. Sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ (Bs. 5.1). Sat means eternal, cit means knowledge, and ānanda means blissful. So if we compare with our body, then we can understand what is sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ (Bs. 5.1). Sat means eternal. So if we compare with our body, this body is not eternal; it is destructible. It has got a history, it is produced at a certain period, it exists for a certain period, it grows, it gives some by-product, then it becomes older and older, and then vanquished, no more. That is our practical experience, we know. But God's body is eternal. Therefore He hasn't got a body like this. This body is not eternal. Everyone can understand. But His body is eternal. Another symptom, sat, cit. Cit means knowledge. So we have got also knowledge, but not full knowledge. That has been described in the beginning of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, what is the nature of God. Nature of God is described, janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1). Nature of God means He is the supreme source of everything. Whatever, janma... Janmādy asya (SB 1.1.1). Janma ādi. Ādi means "beginning with janma."

Lecture on SB 1.2.6 -- Rome, May 24, 1974:

Nitāi: (leads chanting, etc.)

sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmo

yato bhaktir adhokṣaje

ahaituky apratihatā

yayātmā suprasīdati

(SB 1.2.6)

Translation: "The supreme occupation, dharma, for all humanity is that by which men can attain to loving devotional service unto the transcendent Lord. Such devotional service must be unmotivated and uninterrupted to completely satisfy the self."

Prabhupāda: So we are reading chapter the Second Chapter of the First Canto, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, "Divinity and Divine Service." So just now we have recited the sixth verse. We can begin from the first verse. The first verse is,

iti sampraśna-saṁhṛṣṭo

viprāṇāṁ raumaharṣaṇiḥ

pratipūjya vacas teṣāṁ

pravaktum upacakrame

There was a great meeting and..., meeting means... In those days, there was no political meeting. Political meeting was not necessary because there was no democracy. It was monarchy. The kings, they were so trained up that there was no necessity of democracy. Actually, the modern government, democracy... We are experiencing, especially the great democratic country, America. So the democracy, the president elected by popular vote, is now being condemned. So what is the value of this democracy? You elect somebody by your vote, again condemn. That means the electors, the voters, have also no experience, and neither the man who is voted, he is also very good man. Otherwise, why you should change your opinion once you have elected a person to act as your head executive? So the democracy has proved a farce. It has no meaning, because people are not educated. People are mostly śūdras. There must be four classes of men. So brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya, śūdra, first class, second class, third class, fourth class. So at the present moment there is no first-class men, neither second-class men. All third class, fourth class. All of them. So on the votes of third-class and fourth-class men, how you can expect good government? That is not possible.

So there was no need of this democratic meeting, but there was meeting of the first-class brāhmaṇas. For the benefit of the whole human society they used to meet sometimes, and that meeting is still continuing in India. It is called Kumbha-melā. Kumbha-melā. Recently this meeting took place in Haridwar. All the saintly person used to come and in four places: one at Prayāga, Allahabad, one at Vṛndāvana, and one at Haridwar, and another at Rāmeśvaram, something like that. Four places. So similar meeting was held at Naimiṣāraṇya. Naimiṣāraṇya, that place is still existing, very nice place.

General Lectures

Lecture -- Jakarta, February 27, 1973:

So what is that religion? That is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā very clearly: sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja (BG 18.66). This is religion. Your man-made, so-called, manufactured religion you give up. (indistinct). It has got some temporary value. It has not permanent value. The permanent value of religion is that religion which is given by God. And that is... What is that? Sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ, you simply surrender unto God. When I speak of Kṛṣṇa, we mean God. And Kṛṣṇa is the best name of God. Kṛṣṇa means "all-attractive." God must be all-attractive. God cannot be attractive for a few men or few, for a..., by a community. No. God must be attractive by everyone. That is God. So, Kṛṣṇa, by His opulences, by His strength, by His beauty, by His knowledge, by His renouncement—everything complete. Therefore He's God. Kṛṣṇa has... These are the attractive features. If one is very rich, he's attractive. If one is very powerful, he's attractive. If one is very beautiful, then he's attractive. If one is very wise, he's attractive. If one is in the renounced order of life, first-class, he's attractive. So Kṛṣṇa has all these opulences; therefore He's accepted as God—not superficially—by great, great saintly persons. Therefore Arjuna accepted Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Lord: paraṁ brahma, paraṁ dhāma pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān (BG 10.12). It is not that because he was Kṛṣṇa's friend, therefore, out of his sentiments he accepted Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He accepted on the authority of the Vedas. That is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā. So according to Vedic system, all sages, all the great saintly persons, all the great kings, everyone accepts Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. There are many instances.

Now here it is inquired by the sages, saintly persons, from Sūta Gosvāmī,

brūhi yogeśvare kṛṣṇe

brahmaṇye dharma-varmaṇi

svāṁ kāṣṭhām adhunopete

dharmaḥ kaṁ śaraṇaṁ gataḥ

After the departure of Kṛṣṇa... So long Kṛṣṇa was here, the religious principles were being properly executed. Now, after His departure, who has taken charge of this religious department? This is the question. "Who has taken charge of this religious department?" This is the question by the great sages, saintly persons at the Naimiṣāraṇya. You have heard the name of Naimiṣāraṇya. Then this is the last śloka of the First Chapter of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Then in the next chapter, Second Chapter, vyāsa uvāca, Vyāsadeva said,

iti sampraśna-saṁhṛṣṭo

viprāṇāṁ raumaharṣaṇiḥ

pratipūjya vacas teṣāṁ

pravaktum upacakrame

Sūta Gosvāmī was very much engladdened that they had questioned about Kṛṣṇa. The question was, "Who has taken charge of the religious system after departure of Kṛṣṇa from this planet?" This is the question. So because the question was about Kṛṣṇa, therefore Sūta Gosvāmī was explaining bhāgavata-dharma in that (indistinct) assembly. He became very much engladdened, "Ah, you have put questions about Kṛṣṇa. Very nice." Because if we simply question about Kṛṣṇa, and hear the answers about Kṛṣṇa, our life (indistinct) life. This is the (indistinct). To become spiritually advanced means, "Just try to question about Kṛṣṇa and try to understand the answers about Kṛṣṇa." Then your life is successful. It is so nice.

Lecture -- Jakarta, February 27, 1973:

So you can make so many questions—intelligent questions must be, of course—about (indistinct), and the answers are there in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam or Bhagavad-gītā. So every (indistinct) this Kṛṣṇa consciousness is there, that not just in this meeting we shall discuss about Kṛṣṇa but at every home, every family, you can sit down together at the end of their work and simply question about Kṛṣṇa and try to understand the answers. The books are already there. Answers are already there. So this is our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. Because people are contaminated by the three qualities. This material world is running on under the influence of three qualities of the modes of material nature, sattva-guṇa, raja-guṇa, tamo-guṇa. There are three qualities. (break) Therefore you do not find one kind of living entity, because there are three qualities, and again multiplied three by three, it becomes nine qualities, then again multiplied nine into nine, then it becomes eighty-one qualities. Just like an expert artist, he's using three colors: blue, red and yellow. You mix the colors and he will manifest thousands of colors, thousands of colors. So actually the basic position of this material world is the three qualities: sattva-guṇa, raja-guṇa, tamo-guṇa. Now they are mixed up. Here you cannot find out purely sattva-guṇa. Sattva-guṇa is the topmost quality in this material world. But here in the material world also, you cannot find pure sattva-guṇa. When you come to the pure state of sattva-guṇa, that is transcendental stage, spiritual life. Pure sattva-guṇa means there is no more attack by the other two guṇas. That is pure, śuddha-sattva. That is called śuddha-sattva, pure goodness. In that stage one can understand what is Kṛṣṇa. First of all one has to come to the goodness quality platform. Then he has to transcend that quality of (indistinct), and that position means no more attacked by the other two lower qualities, namely passion and ignorance. So, sattvaṁ viśuddhaṁ vāsudeva sarve, that stage is called vāsudeva. Vāsudeva means that Vāsudeva, Kṛṣṇa, appears. That's why Kṛṣṇa's father's name was Vasudeva.

So he was very... Iti sampraśna saṁhṛṣṭo viprāṇāṁ raumaharṣaṇam, Sūta Gosvāmī, he's called Romaharṣaṇa. His father's name was Roma; therefore he's called Romaharṣaṇa. Pratipūjya, when they inquired... Just like we say, "Thank you very much." So pratipūjya, he also offered his respectful obeisances, put very nice proposal, Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa question (indistinct). It is very nice. Pratipūjya vacas teṣāṁ pravaktum upacakrame, began to speak, began to answer the question of the sages that "Unto whom the charge of religious principles have been given after the departure of Kṛṣṇa from this planet?" So he's speaking again, nārāyaṇaṁ namaskṛtya (SB 1.2.4)—these are all formalities—"Before speaking anything one should remember the mercy of Nārāyaṇa." Nārāyaṇaṁ namaskṛtya naraṁ caiva narottamam, devīṁ sarasvatīṁ vyāsam. Vyāsadeva is the guru of Vedic knowledge. Therefore Vyāsadeva or his representative, they are... Therefore, according to our system, when you observe the birthday anniversary of spiritual master it is called Vyāsa-pūjā. Actually the worship is going to Vyāsadeva, and his representative is accepting the pūjā. The honor offered to the spiritual master is transferred to Vyāsadeva because Vyāsadeva is the original guru. Therefore it is stated, devīṁ sarasvatīṁ vyāsam. Sarasvatī-devi, knowledge, or the goddess of education, devīṁ sarasvatīṁ vyāsam tato jayam udīrayet. After offering respects to Nārāyaṇa, then Vyāsadeva, Sarasvatī-devi.