SB 10.02.32 ye 'nye 'ravindaksa vimukta-maninas... cited

SB 3.25.41, Translation and Purport:

The most lamentable falldown of the impersonalist is due to his false and unreasonable claim of being one with the Supreme.

The terrible fear of birth and death can never be forsaken by anyone who resorts to any shelter other than Myself, for I am the almighty Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the original source of all creation, and also the Supreme Soul of all souls.

Teachings of Lord Kapila, the Son of Devahūti, Verse 41

It is indicated herein that the cycle of birth and death cannot be stopped unless one is a pure devotee of the Supreme Lord. It is said, hariṁ vinā na mṛtim taranti. One cannot surpass the cycle of birth and death unless one is favored by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The same concept is confirmed herewith: one may take to the system of understanding the Absolute Truth by one's own imperfect sensory speculation, or one may try to realize the self by the mystic yoga process; but whatever one may do, unless he comes to the point of surrendering to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, no process can give him liberation. One may ask if this means that those who are undergoing so much penance and austerity by strictly following the rules and regulations are endeavoring in vain. The answer is given by Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.2.32): ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninaḥ. Lord Brahmā and other demigods prayed to the Lord when Kṛṣṇa was in the womb of Devakī: "My dear lotus-eyed Lord, there are persons who are puffed up with the thought that they have become liberated or one with God or have become God, but in spite of thinking in such a puffed-up way, their intelligence is not laudable. They are less intelligent." It is stated that their intelligence, whether high or low, is not even purified. In purified intelligence a living entity cannot think otherwise than to surrender. Bhagavad-gītā, therefore, confirms that purified intelligence arises in the person of a very wise man. Bahūnāṁ janmanām ante jñānavān māṁ prapadyate (BG 7.19). After many, many births, one who is actually advanced in intelligence surrenders unto the Supreme Lord.

SB Canto 4

SB 4.9.29, Purport:

Here in this verse the Lord is described as mukti-pati, which means "one under whose lotus feet there are all kinds of mukti." There are five kinds of mukti-sāyujya, sārūpya, sālokya, sāmīpya and sārṣṭi. Out of these five muktis, which can be achieved by any person engaged in devotional service to the Lord, the one which is known as sāyujya is generally demanded by Māyāvādī philosophers; they demand to become one with the impersonal Brahman effulgence of the Lord. In the opinion of many scholars, this sāyujya-mukti, although counted among the five kinds of mukti, is not actually mukti because from sāyujya-mukti one may again fall down to this material world. This information we have from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.2.32), wherein it is said, patanty adhaḥ, which means "they again fall down." The monist philosopher, after executing severe austerity, merges into the impersonal effulgence of the Lord, but the living entity always wants reciprocation in loving affairs. Therefore, although the monist philosopher is elevated to the status of being one with the effulgence of the Lord, because there is no facility for associating with the Lord and rendering service unto Him, he again falls into this material world, and his service propensity is satisfied by materialistic welfare activities like humanitarianism, altruism and philanthropy. There are many instances of such falldowns, even for great sannyāsīs in the Māyāvāda school.

SB 4.21.7, Purport:

There are different types of great personalities—some are positive great personalities, some comparative and some superlative—but King Pṛthu exceeded all of them. He is therefore described here as mahattamaḥ, greater than the greatest. Mahārāja Pṛthu was a kṣatriya, and he discharged his kṣatriya duties perfectly. Similarly, brāhmaṇas, vaiśyas and śūdras can discharge their respective duties perfectly and thus at the ultimate end of life be promoted to the transcendental world, which is called paraṁ padam. Paraṁ padam, or the Vaikuṇṭha planets, can be achieved only by devotional service. The impersonal Brahman region is also called paraṁ padam, but unless one is attached to the Personality of Godhead one must again fall down to the material world from the impersonal paraṁ padam situation. It is said, therefore, āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ: (SB 10.2.32) the impersonalists endeavor very strenuously to achieve the paraṁ padam, or impersonal brahmajyoti, but unfortunately, being bereft of a relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, they come down again to the material world. If one flies in outer space, he can go very high up, but unless he reaches a planet he must come down again to earth. Similarly, because the impersonalists who reach the paraṁ padam of the impersonal brahmajyoti do not enter into the Vaikuṇṭha planets, they come down again to this material world and are given shelter in one of the material planets. Although they may attain Brahmaloka, or Satyaloka, all such planets are situated in the material world.

SB 4.23.11, Purport:

Because of his regular discharge of devotional service, a devotee attains the transcendental stage of life. Since his mind is transcendentally situated, he cannot think of anything but the lotus feet of the Lord. This is the meaning of the word saṁsmaraṇa-anupūrtyā. By constantly thinking of the lotus feet of the Lord, the devotee immediately becomes situated in śuddha-sattva. Śuddha-sattva refers to that platform which is above the modes of material nature, including the mode of goodness. In the material world, the mode of goodness is considered to be representative of the highest perfection, but one has to transcend this mode and come to the stage of śuddha-sattva, or pure goodness, where the three qualities of material nature cannot act.

Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura gives the following example: If one has strong digestive power, after eating he automatically lights a fire within his stomach to digest everything and does not need to take medicine to aid his digestion. Similarly, the fire of devotional service is so strong that a devotee does not need to act separately to attain perfect knowledge or detachment from material attractions. A jñānī may become detached from material attractions by prolonged discussions on subjects of knowledge and may in this way finally come to the brahma-bhūta stage, but a devotee does not have to undergo so much trouble. By virtue of his devotional service, he attains the brahma-bhūta (SB 4.30.20) stage without a doubt. The yogīs and jñānīs are always doubtful about their constitutional position; therefore they mistakenly think of becoming one with the Supreme. However, a devotee's relationship with the Supreme becomes manifest beyond all doubt, and he immediately understands that his position is that of eternal servant of the Lord. Jñānīs and yogīs without devotion may think themselves liberated, but actually their intelligence is not as pure as that of a devotee. In other words, the jñānīs and yogīs cannot become factually liberated unless they become elevated to the position of devotees.

āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ

patanty adho 'nādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ

The jñānī and yogīs may rise to the highest position, Brahman realization, but because of their lack of devotion unto the lotus feet of the Lord, they again fall down into material nature. Therefore jñāna and yoga should not be accepted as the real processes for liberation. By discharging devotional service, Mahārāja Pṛthu automatically transcended all these positions. Since Mahārāja Pṛthu was a śaktyāveśa incarnation of the Supreme Lord, he did not have to act in any way to attain liberation. He came from the Vaikuṇṭha world, or spiritual sky, in order to execute the will of the Supreme Lord on earth. Consequently he was to return home, back to Godhead, without having to execute jñāna, yoga or karma. Although Pṛthu Mahārāja was eternally a pure devotee of the Lord, he nonetheless adopted the process of devotional service in order to teach the people in general the proper process for executing the duties of life and ultimately returning home, back to Godhead.

SB 4.24.56, Purport:

In Bhagavad-gītā (10.34) it is said that the Lord in the shape and form of death destroys all a person's possessions. Mṛtyuḥ sarva-haraś cāham: "I am all-devouring death." The Lord in the shape of death takes away everything that is created by the conditioned soul. Everything in this material world is subject to perish in due course of time. However, all the strength of time cannot hamper the activities of a devotee, for a devotee takes complete shelter under the lotus feet of the Lord. For this reason only is a devotee free from formidable time. All the activities of the karmīs and jñānīs, which have no touch of devotional service, are spoiled in due course of time. The material success of the karmīs is destined to be destroyed; similarly, the impersonal realization attained by the jñānīs is also destroyed in the course of time.

āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ

patanty adho 'nādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ

SB 6.1.12, Translation and Purport:

To say nothing of the karmīs, the jñānīs undergo severe austerities to attain the impersonal brahmajyoti, but because they do not find the lotus feet of the Lord, they fall down again into this material existence. Unless one is fully situated in unalloyed devotional service, there is no guarantee of liberation, even if one is elevated to the heavenly planets or to the impersonal Brahman effulgence. A devotee's achievement, however, is never lost by the influence of time. Even if a devotee cannot completely execute devotional service, in his next life he begins from the point where he left off. Such an opportunity is not given to the karmīs and jñānīs, whose achievements are destroyed. The bhakta's achievement is never destroyed, for it goes on perpetually, be it complete or incomplete. This is the verdict of all Vedic literatures. Śucīnāṁ śrīmatāṁ gehe yoga-bhraṣṭo'bhijāyate (BG 6.41). If one is unable to complete the process of bhakti-yoga, he is given a chance in his next life to take birth in a pure family of devotees or in a rich family. In such families a person can have a good opportunity to further progress in devotional service.

SB 4.30.31, Purport:

The Lord asked the Pracetās to pray for some benediction, and they said, "What kind of benediction should we pray for? The Lord is unlimited, and there are unlimited benedictions." The purport is that if one must ask for benediction, he must ask for unlimited benediction. The words tvat parataḥ are very significant in this verse. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is parataḥ parāt. The word para means "transcendental, beyond this material world." The impersonal Brahman effulgence is beyond this material world, and this is called paraṁ padam. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padam (SB 10.2.32). Merging into the impersonal effulgence of the Lord is called paraṁ padam, but there is a higher transcendental position, which is the association of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Brahmeti paramātmeti bhagavān iti śabdyate (SB 1.2.11). The Absolute Truth is realized first as impersonal Brahman, then as Paramātmā, and finally as Bhagavān. Thus the Personality of Godhead, Bhagavān, is parataḥ parāt, beyond Brahman and Paramātmā realization. In this connection, Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī points out that parataḥ parāt means "better than the best." The best is the spiritual world, and it is known as Brahman. The Supreme Personality of Godhead, however, is known as Parabrahman. Therefore parataḥ parāt means "better than Brahman realization."

SB Canto 5

SB 5.5.5, Purport:

Unless one understands the self and its activities, one has to be considered in material bondage. In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.2.32) it is also said: ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas tvayy asta-bhāvād aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ. A person who doesn't have knowledge of devotional service may think himself liberated, but actually he is not. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adho 'nādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ: (SB 10.2.32) such people may approach the impersonal Brahman effulgence, but they fall down again into material enjoyment because they have no knowledge of devotional service. As long as one is interested in karma and jñāna, he continues enduring the miseries of material life—birth, old age, disease and death. Karmīs certainly take on one body after another. As far as jñānīs are concerned, unless they are promoted to the topmost understanding, they must return to the material world. As explained in Bhagavad-gītā (7.19): bahūnāṁ janmanām ante jñānavān māṁ prapadyate. The point is to know Kṛṣṇa, Vāsudeva, as everything and surrender unto Him. Karmīs do not know this, but a devotee who is one hundred percent engaged in the devotional service of the Lord knows fully what is karma and jñāna; therefore a pure devotee is no longer interested in karma or jñāna. Anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam (CC Madhya 19.167). The real bhakta is untouched by any tinge of karma and jñāna. His only purpose in life is to serve the Lord.

SB Canto 6

My dear King, if a diseased person eats the pure, uncontaminated food prescribed by a physician, he is gradually cured, and the infection of disease can no longer touch him. Similarly, if one follows the regulative principles of knowledge, he gradually progresses toward liberation from material contamination.

One is gradually purified if one cultivates knowledge, even through mental speculation, and strictly follows the regulative principles enjoined in the śāstras and explained in the next verse. Therefore the platform of jñāna, speculative knowledge, is better than the platform of karma, fruitive action. There is every chance of falling from the platform of karma to hellish conditions, but on the platform of jñāna one is saved from hellish life, although one is still not completely free from infection. The difficulty is that on the platform of jñāna one thinks that he has been liberated and has become Nārāyaṇa, or Bhagavān. This is another phase of ignorance.

ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas

tvayy asta-bhāvād aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ

āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ

patanty adho 'nādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ

SB 7.7.26, Translation and Purport:

Because of ignorance, one speculatively thinks himself liberated from material contamination although actually he is not. Therefore even if one rises to brahma jñāna, understanding of Brahman, one nevertheless falls down because of not taking shelter of the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa. Nonetheless, jñānīs at least know what is sinful and what is pious, and they very cautiously act according to the injunctions of the śāstras.

SB 6.14.5, Purport:

There are two kinds of jñānīs. One is inclined to devotional service and the other to impersonal realization. Impersonalists generally undergo great endeavor for no tangible benefit, and therefore it is said that they are husking paddy that has no grain (sthūla-tuṣāvaghātinaḥ). The other class of jñānīs, whose jñāna is mixed with bhakti, are also of two kinds—those who are devoted to the so-called false form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and those who understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead as sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha (Bs. 5.1), the actual spiritual form. The Māyāvādī devotees worship Nārāyaṇa or Viṣṇu with the idea that Viṣṇu has accepted a form of māyā and that the ultimate truth is actually impersonal. The pure devotee, however, never thinks that Viṣṇu has accepted a body of māyā; instead, he knows perfectly well that the original Absolute Truth is the Supreme Person. Such a devotee is actually situated in knowledge. He never merges in the Brahman effulgence. As stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.2.32):

ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas

tvayy asta-bhāvād aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ

āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ

patanty adho 'nādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ

"O Lord, the intelligence of those who think themselves liberated but who have no devotion is impure. Even though they rise to the highest point of liberation by dint of severe penances and austerities, they are sure to fall down again into material existence, for they do not take shelter at Your lotus feet." Evidence of this same point is also given in Bhagavad-gītā (9.11), wherein the Lord says:

avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā

mānuṣīṁ tanum āśritam

paraṁ bhāvam ajānanto

mama bhūta-maheśvaram

(BG 9.11)

"Fools deride Me when I descend in the human form. They do not know My transcendental nature and My supreme dominion over all that be." When rascals (mūḍhas) see that Kṛṣṇa acts exactly like a human being, they deride the transcendental form of the Lord because they do not know the paraṁ bhāvam, His transcendental form and activities. Such persons are further described in Bhagavad-gītā (9.12) as follows:

moghāśā mogha-karmāṇo

mogha-jñānā vicetasaḥ

rākṣasīm āsurīṁ caiva

prakṛtiṁ mohinīṁ śritāḥ

"Those who are thus bewildered are attracted by demoniac and atheistic views. In that deluded condition, their hopes for liberation, their fruitive activities and their culture of knowledge are all defeated." Such persons do not know that Kṛṣṇa's body is not material. There is no distinction between Kṛṣṇa's body and His soul, but because less intelligent men see Kṛṣṇa as a human being, they deride Him. They cannot imagine how a person like Kṛṣṇa could be the origin of everything (govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi **). Such persons are described as moghāśāḥ, baffled in their hopes. Whatever they desire for the future will be baffled. Even if they apparently engage in devotional service, they are described as moghāśāḥ because they ultimately desire to merge into the Brahman effulgence.

SB Canto 7

SB 7.1.35, Purport:

Of course, a living entity who desires sāyujya-mukti remains in Kṛṣṇa's Brahman effulgence, which is dependent on Kṛṣṇa's body (brahmaṇo hi pratiṣṭhāham (BG 14.27)). Such an impersonalist who takes shelter of the Brahman effulgence must surely fall down. This is stated in the śāstra (SB 10.2.32):

ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas

tvayy asta-bhāvād aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ

āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ

patanty adho 'nādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ

"O Lord, the intelligence of those who think themselves liberated but who have no devotion is impure. Even though they rise to the highest point of liberation by dint of severe penances and austerities, they are sure to fall down again into material existence, for they do not take shelter at Your lotus feet." The impersonalists cannot reach the Vaikuṇṭha planets to become associates of the Lord, and therefore, according to their desires, Kṛṣṇa gives them sāyujya-mukti. However, since sāyujya-mukti is partial mukti, they must fall again to this material world. When it is said that the individual soul falls from Brahmaloka, this applies to the impersonalist.

As one can understand the presence of the air by the aromas it carries, so, under the guidance of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one can understand the living soul by these three divisions of intelligence. These three divisions, however, are not the soul; they are constituted of the three modes and are born of activities.

As already explained, there are three states to our existence, namely wakefulness, dreaming and deep sleep. In all three states, we have different experiences. Thus the soul is the observer of these three states. Actually, the activities of the body are not the activities of the soul. The soul is different from the body. Just as aromas are distinct from the material vehicle in which they are carried, the soul is unattached to material activities. This analysis can be considered by a person who is fully under the shelter of the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord. This is confirmed by the Vedic injunction yasmin vijñāte sarvam evaṁ vijñātaṁ bhavati (Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad 1.3). If one can understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one can automatically understand everything else. Because of not taking shelter of the Lord's lotus feet, even great scholars, scientists, philosophers and religionists are always bewildered. This is confirmed in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.2.32):

ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas

tvayy asta-bhāvād aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ

Even though one may artificially think himself liberated from material contamination, if he has not taken shelter of the Lord's lotus feet his intelligence is polluted. As stated in Bhagavad-gītā (3.42):

indriyāṇi parāṇy āhur

indriyebhyaḥ paraṁ manaḥ

manasas tu parā buddhir

yo buddheḥ paratas tu saḥ

Above the senses is the mind, above the mind is the intelligence, and above the intelligence is the soul. Ultimately, when one's intelligence becomes clear through devotional service, one is situated in buddhi-yoga. This also is explained in Bhagavad-gītā (dadāmi buddhi-yogaṁ taṁ yena mām upayānti te). When devotional service develops and one's intelligence becomes clear, one can use his intelligence to return home, back to Godhead.

SB 7.7.37, Translation and Purport:

The real problem of life is the repetition of birth and death, which is like a wheel rolling repeatedly up and down. This wheel, however, completely stops when one is in touch with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In other words, by the transcendental bliss realized from constant engagement in devotional service, one is completely liberated from material existence. All learned men know this. Therefore, my dear friends, O sons of the asuras, immediately begin meditating upon and worshiping the Supersoul within everyone's heart.

Generally it is understood that by merging into the existence of Brahman, the impersonal feature of the Absolute Truth, one becomes completely happy. The words brahma-nirvāṇa refer to connecting with the Absolute Truth, who is realized in three features: brahmeti paramātmeti bhagavān iti śabdyate (SB 1.2.11). One feels brahma-sukha, spiritual happiness, by merging into the impersonal Brahman because the brahmajyoti is the effulgence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Yasya prabhā prabhavato jagad-aṇḍa-koṭi (Bs. 5.40). Yasya prabhā, the impersonal Brahman, consists of the rays of Kṛṣṇa's transcendental body. Therefore whatever transcendental bliss one feels from merging in Brahman is due to contact with Kṛṣṇa. Contact with Kṛṣṇa is perfect brahma-sukha. When the mind is in touch with the impersonal Brahman one becomes satisfied, but one must advance further to render service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, for one's remaining merged in the Brahman effulgence is not always assured. As it is said, āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adho 'nādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ: (SB 10.2.32) one may merge in the Brahman feature of the Absolute Truth, but there is a chance that one may fall because of not being acquainted with Adhokṣaja, or Vāsudeva. Of course, such brahma-sukha undoubtedly eliminates material happiness, but when one advances through impersonal Brahman and localized Paramātmā to approach the Supreme Personality of Godhead in relationship with Him as a servant, friend, parent or conjugal lover, one's happiness becomes all-pervading. Then one automatically feels transcendental bliss, just as one becomes happy seeing the shining of the moon. One acquires natural happiness upon seeing the moon, but when one can see the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one's transcendental happiness increases hundreds and thousands of times. As soon as one is very intimately connected with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one surely becomes free from all material contamination. Yā nirvṛtis tanu-bhṛtām.

SB 7.13.27, Translation and Purport:

The actual form of life for the living entities is one of spiritual happiness, which is real happiness. This happiness can be achieved only when one stops all materialistic activities. Material sense enjoyment is simply imagination. Therefore, considering this subject matter, I have ceased from all material activities and am lying down here.

The difference between the philosophy of the Māyāvādīs and that of the Vaiṣṇavas is explained herein. Both the Māyāvādīs and Vaiṣṇavas know that in materialistic activities there is no happiness. The Māyāvādī philosophers, therefore, adhering to the slogan brahma satyaṁ jagan mithyā, want to refrain from false, materialistic activities. They want to stop all activities and merge in the Supreme Brahman. According to the Vaiṣṇava philosophy, however, if one simply ceases from materialistic activity one cannot remain inactive for very long, and therefore everyone should engage himself in spiritual activities, which will solve the problem of suffering in this material world. It is said, therefore, that although the Māyāvādī philosophers strive to refrain from materialistic activities and merge in Brahman, and although they may actually merge in the Brahman existence, for want of activity they fall down again into materialistic activity (āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ (SB 10.2.32)). Thus the so-called renouncer, unable to remain in meditation upon Brahman, returns to materialistic activities by opening hospitals and schools and so on. Therefore, simply cultivating knowledge that materialistic activities cannot give one happiness, and that one should consequently cease from such activities, is insufficient. One should cease from materialistic activities and take up spiritual activities. Then the solution to the problem will be achieved. Spiritual activities are activities performed according to the order of Kṛṣṇa (ānukūlyena kṛṣṇānuśīlanam (CC Madhya 19.167)). If one does whatever Kṛṣṇa says, his activities are not material. For example, when Arjuna fought in response to the order of Kṛṣṇa, his activities were not material. Fighting for sense gratification is a materialistic activity, but fighting by the order of Kṛṣṇa is spiritual. By spiritual activities one becomes eligible to go back home, back to Godhead, and then enjoy blissful life eternally. Here, in the material world, everything is but a mental concoction that will never give us real happiness. The practical solution, therefore, is to cease from materialistic activities and engage in spiritual activities. Yajñārthāt karmaṇo 'nyatra loko 'yaṁ karma-bandhanaḥ (BG 3.9)). If one works for the sake of pleasing the Supreme Lord—Yajña, or Viṣṇu—one is in liberated life. If one fails to do so, however, he remains in a life of bondage.

SB 7.15.35, Translation and Purport:

When one's consciousness is uncontaminated by material lusty desires, it becomes calm and peaceful in all activities, for one is situated in eternal blissful life. Once situated on that platform, one does not return to materialistic activities.

Brahma-sukha-spṛṣṭam is also described in Bhagavad-gītā (18.54):

brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā

na śocati na kāṅkṣati

samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu

mad-bhaktiṁ labhate parām

"One who is transcendentally situated at once realizes the Supreme Brahman and becomes fully joyful. He never laments nor desires to have anything; he is equally disposed toward every living entity. In this situation, he begins transcendental activities, or devotional service to the Lord." Generally, once elevated to the transcendental platform of brahma-sukha, transcendental bliss, one never comes down. But if one does not engage in devotional service, there is a chance of his returning to the material platform. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adho 'nādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ: (SB 10.2.32) one may rise to the platform of brahma-sukha, transcendental bliss, but even from that platform one may fall down to the material platform if he does not engage himself in devotional service.

SB 7.15.45, Purport:

The word tattvataḥ, meaning "in reality," is very important. Tato māṁ tattvato jñātvā. Unless one understands Kṛṣṇa in truth by the mercy of the spiritual master, one is not free to give up his material body. As it is said, āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adho 'nādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ: (SB 10.2.32) if one neglects to serve the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, one cannot become free from the material clutches simply by knowledge. Even if one attains the stage of brahma-padam, merging in Brahman, without bhakti he is prone to fall down. One must be very careful in regard to the danger of falling down again into material bondage. The only insurance is to come to the stage of bhakti, from which one is sure not to fall. Then one is free from the activities of the material world. In summary, as stated by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, one must get in touch with a bona fide spiritual master coming in the paramparā of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, for by his mercy and instructions one is able to get strength from Kṛṣṇa. Thus one engages in devotional service and attains the ultimate goal of life, the lotus feet of Viṣṇu.

SB Canto 8

SB 8.4.13, Purport:

When a devotee gets liberation, he becomes free from material contamination and engages as a servant of the Lord. This is explained in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (2.10.6): muktir hitvānyathā rūpaṁ svarūpena vyavasthitiḥ. The word svarūpa refers to sārūpya-mukti—going back home, back to Godhead, and remaining the Lord's eternal associate, having regained a spiritual body exactly resembling that of the Lord, with four hands, holding the śaṅkha, cakra, gadā and padma. The difference between the mukti of the impersonalist and that of the devotee is that the devotee is immediately appointed an eternal servant of the Lord, whereas the impersonalist, although merging in the effulgence of the brahmajyoti, is still insecure and therefore generally falls again to this material world. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adho 'nādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ (SB 10.2.32). Although the impersonalist rises to the Brahman effulgence and enters into that effulgence, he has no engagement in the service of the Lord, and therefore he is again attracted to materialistic philanthropic activities. Thus he comes down to open hospitals and educational institutions, feed poor men and perform similar materialistic activities, which the impersonalist thinks are more precious than serving the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Anādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ. The impersonalists do not think that the service of the Lord is more valuable than serving the poor man or starting a school or hospital. Although they say brahma satyaṁ jagan mithyā—"Brahman is real, and the material world is false"—they are nonetheless very eager to serve the false material world and neglect the service of the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

SB Canto 9

SB 9.11.19, Purport:

"I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who is endowed with great power. The glowing effulgence of His transcendental form is the impersonal Brahman, which is absolute, complete and unlimited and which displays the varieties of countless planets, with their different opulences, in millions and millions of universes." (Bs. 5.40) The brahmajyoti is the beginning of the spiritual world, and beyond the brahmajyoti are the Vaikuṇṭha planets. In other words, the brahmajyoti stays outside the Vaikuṇṭha planets, just as the sunshine stays outside the sun. To enter the sun planet, one must go through the sunshine. Similarly, when the Lord or His devotees enter the Vaikuṇṭha planets, they go through the brahmajyoti. The jñānīs, or monistic philosophers, because of their impersonal conception of the Lord, cannot enter the Vaikuṇṭha planets, but they also cannot stay eternally in the brahmajyoti. Thus after some time they fall again to this material world. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adho 'nādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ (SB 10.2.32). The Vaikuṇṭha planets are covered by the brahmajyoti, and therefore one cannot properly understand what those Vaikuṇṭha planets are unless one is a pure devotee.

SB 9.24.58, Purport:

"The living entities in this conditioned world are My eternal, fragmental parts. Due to conditioned life, they are struggling very hard with the six senses, which include the mind." All the living entities are part and parcel of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and are as good as the Lord qualitatively, but quantitatively there is a great difference between them, for the Lord is unlimited whereas the living entities are limited. Thus the Lord possesses unlimited potency for pleasure, and the living entities have a limited pleasure potency. Ānandamayo 'bhyāsāt (Vedānta-sūtra 1.1.12). Both the Lord and the living entity, being qualitatively spirit soul, have the tendency for peaceful enjoyment, but when the part of the Supreme Personality of Godhead unfortunately wants to enjoy independently, without Kṛṣṇa, he is put into the material world, where he begins his life as Brahmā and is gradually degraded to the status of an ant or a worm in stool. This is called manaḥ ṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṇi prakṛti-sthāni karṣati. There is a great struggle for existence because the living entity conditioned by material nature is under nature's full control (prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ (BG 3.27)). Because of his limited knowledge, however, the living entity thinks he is enjoying in this material world. Manaḥ ṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṇi prakṛti-sthāni karṣati. He is actually under the full control of material nature, but still he thinks himself independent (ahaṅkāra-vimūḍhātmā kartāham iti manyate). Even when he is elevated by speculative knowledge and tries to merge into the existence of Brahman, the same disease continues.

Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ (SB 10.2.32). Even having attained that paraṁ padam, having merged into the impersonal Brahman, he falls again to the material world.

SB Canto 10.1 to 10.13

SB 10.2.32, Translation and Purport:

(Someone may say that aside from devotees, who always seek shelter at the Lord's lotus feet, there are those who are not devotees but who have accepted different processes for attaining salvation. What happens to them? In answer to this question, Lord Brahmā and the other demigods said:) O lotus-eyed Lord, although nondevotees who accept severe austerities and penances to achieve the highest position may think themselves liberated, their intelligence is impure. They fall down from their position of imagined superiority because they have no regard for Your lotus feet.

Aside from devotees, there are many others, nondevotees, known as karmīs, jñānīs or yogīs, philanthropists, altruists, politicians, impersonalists and voidists. There are many varieties of nondevotees who have their respective ways of liberation, but simply because they do not know the shelter of the Lord's lotus feet, although they falsely think that they have been liberated and elevated to the highest position, they fall down. As clearly stated by the Lord Himself in Bhagavad-gītā (9.3):

aśraddadhānāḥ puruṣā

dharmasyāsya parantapa

aprāpya māṁ nivartante

mṛtyu-saṁsāra-vartmani

"Those who are not faithful on the path of devotional service cannot attain Me, O conqueror of foes, but return to birth and death in this material world." It doesn't matter whether one is a karmī, jñānī, yogī, philanthropist, politician or whatever; if one has no love for the lotus feet of the Lord, one falls down. That is the verdict given by Lord Brahmā in this verse.

There are persons who advocate accepting any process and who say that whatever process one accepts will lead to the same goal, but that is refuted in this verse, where such persons are referred to as vimukta-māninaḥ, signifying that although they think they have attained the highest perfection, in fact they have not. In the present day, big, big politicians all over the world think that by scheming they can occupy the highest political post, that of president or prime minister, but we actually see that even in this life such big prime ministers, presidents and other politicians, because of being nondevotees, fall down (patanty adhaḥ). To become president or prime minister is not easy; one must work very hard (āruhya kṛcchreṇa) to achieve the post. And even though one may reach his goal, at any moment one may be kicked down by material nature. In human society there have been many instances in which great, exalted politicians have fallen from government and become lost in historical oblivion. The cause of this is aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ: (SB 10.2.32) their intelligence is impure. The śāstra says, na te viduḥ svārtha-gatiṁ hi viṣṇum (SB 7.5.31). One achieves the perfection of life by becoming a devotee of Viṣṇu, but people do not know this. Therefore, as stated in Bhagavad-gītā (12.5), kleśo 'dhikataras teṣām avyaktāsakta-cetasām. Persons who do not ultimately accept the Supreme Personality of Godhead and take to devotional service, but who instead are attached to impersonalism and voidism, must undergo great labor to achieve their goals.

śreyaḥ-sṛtiṁ bhaktim udasya te vibho

kliśyanti ye kevala-bodha-labdhaye

(SB 10.14.4)

To achieve understanding, such persons work very hard and undergo severe austerities, but their hard labor and austerities themselves are their only achievement, for they do not actually achieve the real goal of life.

Dhruva Mahārāja at first wanted to achieve the greatest material kingdom and greater material possessions than his father, but when he was actually favored by the Lord, who appeared before him to give him the benediction he desired, Dhruva Mahārāja refused it, saying, svāmin kṛtārtho'smi varaṁ na yāce: (CC Madhya 22.42) "Now I am fully satisfied. I do not want any material benediction." (Hari-bhakti-sudhodaya 7.28) This is the perfection of life. Yaṁ labdhvā cāparaṁ lābhaṁ manyate nādhikaṁ tataḥ (BG 6.22). If one achieves the shelter of the Lord's lotus feet, one is fully satisfied and does not need to ask for any material benediction.

At night, no one can see a lotus, for lotuses blossom only during the daytime. Therefore the word aravindākṣa is significant. One who is not captivated by the lotus eyes or transcendental form of the Supreme Lord is in darkness, exactly like one who cannot see a lotus. One who has not come to the point of seeing the lotus eyes and transcendental form of Śyāmasundara is a failure. premāñjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena santaḥ sadaiva hṛdayeṣu vilokayanti (Bs. 5.38). Those who are attached to the Supreme Personality of Godhead in love always see the Lord's lotus eyes and lotus feet, whereas others cannot see the Lord's beauty and are therefore classified as anādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ, or neglectful of the Lord's personal form. Those who neglect the Lord's form are surely failures on every path in life, but if one develops even a little love for the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one is liberated without difficulty (svalpam apy asya dharmasya trāyate mahato bhayāt). Therefore the Supreme Personality of Godhead recommends in Bhagavad-gītā (9.34), man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru: (BG 18.65) "Simply think of Me, become My devotee, worship Me and offer some slight homage to Me." Simply by this process, one is guaranteed to return home, back to Godhead, and thus attain the highest perfection. The Lord further affirms in Bhagavad-gītā (18.54-55):

brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā

na śocati na kāṅkṣati

samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu

mad-bhaktiṁ labhate parām

bhaktyā mām abhijānāti

yāvān yaś cāsmi tattvataḥ

tato māṁ tattvato jñātvā

viśate tad-anantaram

"One who is thus transcendentally situated at once realizes the Supreme Brahman and becomes fully joyful. He never laments nor desires to have anything; he is equally disposed to every living entity. In that state he attains pure devotional service unto Me. One can understand the Supreme Personality as He is only by devotional service. And when one is in full consciousness of the Supreme Lord by such devotion, he can enter into the kingdom of God."

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta

CC Adi-lila

CC Adi 7.74, Purport:

A name that represents an object of this material world may be subjected to arguments and experimental knowledge, but in the absolute world a name and its owner, the fame and the famous, are identical, and similarly the qualities, pastimes and everything else pertaining to the Absolute are also absolute. Although Māyāvādīs profess monism, they differentiate between the holy name of the Supreme Lord and the Lord Himself. For this offense of nāmāparādha they gradually glide down from their exalted position of brahma-jñāna, as confirmed in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.2.32):

āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ

patanty adho ’nādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ

Although by severe austerities they rise to the exalted position of brahma-jñāna, they nevertheless fall down due to imperfect knowledge of the Absolute Truth. Although they profess to understand the Vedic mantra sarvaṁ khalv idaṁ brahma (Chāndogya Up. 3.14.1), which means "Everything is Brahman," they are unable to understand that the holy name is also Brahman. If they regularly chant the mahā-mantra, however, they can be relieved from this misconception. Unless one properly takes shelter of the holy name, he cannot be relieved from the offensive stage in chanting the holy name.

CC Adi 7.113, Translation and Purport:

“The Supreme Personality of Godhead is full of spiritual potencies. Therefore His body, name, fame and entourage are all spiritual. The Māyāvādī philosopher, due to ignorance, says that these are all merely transformations of the material mode of goodness.

In the Seventh Chapter of the Bhagavad-gītā the Supreme Personality of Godhead has classified His energies in two distinct divisions—namely, prākṛta and aprākṛta, or parā-prakṛti and aparā-prakṛti. In the Viṣṇu Purāṇa the same distinction is made. The Māyāvādī philosophers cannot understand these two prakṛtis, or natures—material and spiritual—but one who is actually intelligent can understand them. Considering the many varieties and activities in material nature, why should the Māyāvādī philosophers deny the spiritual varieties of the spiritual world? The Bhāgavatam (10.2.32) says:

ye ’nye ’ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas

tvayy asta-bhāvād aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ

The intelligence of those who think themselves liberated but have no information of the spiritual world is not yet clear. In this verse the term aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ refers to unclean intelligence. Due to unclean intelligence or a poor fund of knowledge, the Māyāvādī philosophers cannot understand the distinction between material and spiritual varieties; therefore they cannot even think of spiritual varieties because they take it for granted that all variety is material.

CC Adi 7.114, Purport:

Why the daivī-māyā, or illusory energy of Kṛṣṇa, takes away the knowledge of the Māyāvādī philosophers is also explained in the Bhagavad-gīta by the use of the words āsuraṁ bhāvam āśritāḥ, which refer to a person who does not agree to the existence of the Lord. The Māyāvādīs, who are not in agreement with the existence of the Lord, can be classified in two groups, exemplified by the impersonalist Śaṅkarites of Vārāṇasī and the Buddhists of Saranātha. Both groups are Māyāvādīs, and Kṛṣṇa takes away their knowledge due to their atheistic philosophies. Neither group agrees to accept the existence of a personal God. The Buddhist philosophers clearly deny both the soul and God, and although the Śaṅkarites do not openly deny God, they say that the Absolute is nirākāra, or formless. Thus both the Buddhists and the Śaṅkarites are aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ (SB 10.2.32), or imperfect and unclean in their knowledge and intelligence.

CC Adi 7.114, Purport:

Vyāsadeva composed the Vedānta-sūtra to deliver the conditioned souls from this material world, but Śaṅkarācārya, by presenting the Vedānta-sūtra in his own way, has clearly done a great disservice to human society, for one who follows his Māyāvāda philosophy is doomed. In the Vedanta-sūtra, devotional service is clearly indicated, but the Māyāvādī philosophers refuse to accept the spiritual body of the Supreme Absolute Person and refuse to accept that the living entity has an individual existence separate from that of the Supreme Lord. Thus they have created atheistic havoc all over the world, for such a conclusion is against the very nature of the transcendental process of pure devotional service. The Māyāvādī philosophers' unrealizable ambition to become one with the Supreme through denying the existence of the Personality of Godhead results in a most calamitous misrepresentation of spiritual knowledge, and one who follows this philosophy is doomed to remain perpetually in this material world. Therefore the Māyāvādīs are called aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ, or unclean in knowledge. Because they are unclean in knowledge, all their austerities and penances end in frustration. Thus although they may be honored at first as very learned scholars, ultimately they descend to physical activities of politics, social work, etc. Instead of becoming one with the Supreme Lord, they again become one with these material activities. This is explained in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.2.32):

āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ

patanty adho ’nādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ

In actuality the Māyāvādī philosophers very strictly follow the austerities and penances of spiritual life and in this way are elevated to the impersonal Brahman platform, but due to their negligence of the lotus feet of the Lord they again fall down to material existence.

CC Adi 7.142, Translation and Purport:

“By practicing this regulated devotional service under the direction of the spiritual master, certainly one awakens his dormant love of Godhead. This process is called abhidheya.

By the practice of devotional service, beginning with hearing and chanting, the impure heart of a conditioned soul is purified, and thus he can understand his eternal relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That eternal relationship is described by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu: jīvera "svarūpa" haya kṛṣṇera "nitya-dāsa." (CC Madhya 20.108). "The living entity is an eternal servitor of the Supreme Personality of Godhead." When one is convinced about this relationship, which is called sambandha, he then acts accordingly. That is called abhidheya. The next step is prayojana-siddhi, or fulfillment of the ultimate goal of one's life. If one can understand his relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead and act accordingly, automatically his mission in life is fulfilled. The Māyāvādī philosophers miss even the first stage in self-realization because they have no conception of God's being personal. He is the master of all, and He is the only person who can accept the service of all living entities, but since this knowledge is lacking in Māyāvāda philosophy, Māyāvādīs do not have knowledge even of their relationship with God. They wrongly think that everyone is God or that everyone is equal to God. Therefore, since the real position of the living entity is not clear to them, how can they advance further? Although they are very much puffed up at being liberated, Māyāvādī philosophers very shortly fall down again to material activities due to their neglecting the lotus feet of the Lord. That is called patanty adhaḥ:

ye ’nye ’ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas

tvayy asta-bhāvād aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ

āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ

patanty adho ’nādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ

CC Madhya 6.235, Translation and Purport:

Here it is said that persons who think themselves liberated but do not execute devotional service, not knowing their relationship with the Lord, are certainly misled. One must know his relationship with the Lord and act accordingly. Then the fulfillment of his life's mission will be possible.

CC Adi 8.19, Purport:

While executing devotional service, one must be naturally inclined to serve Kṛṣṇa in one of these transcendental relationships. That is the actual success of life. For a devotee, to get liberation is not very difficult. Even one who is unable to establish a relationship with Kṛṣṇa can achieve liberation by merging into the Brahman effulgence. This is called sāyujya-mukti. Vaiṣṇavas never accept sāyujya-mukti, although sometimes they accept the other forms of liberation, namely sārūpya, sālokya, sāmīpya and sārṣṭi. A pure devotee, however, does not accept any kind of mukti. He wants only to serve Kṛṣṇa in a transcendental relationship. This is the perfectional stage of spiritual life. Māyāvādī philosophers desire to merge into the existence of the Brahman effulgence, although this aspect of liberation is always neglected by devotees. Śrīla Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, describing this kind of mukti, which is called kaivalya, or becoming one with the Supreme, has said, kaivalyaṁ narakāyate: "Becoming one with the Supreme is as good as going to hell." Therefore the ideal of Māyāvāda philosophy, becoming one with the Supreme, is hellish for a devotee; he never accepts it. Māyāvādī philosophers do not know that even if they merge into the effulgence of the Supreme, this will not give them ultimate rest. An individual soul cannot live in the Brahman effulgence in a state of inactivity; after some time, he must desire to be active. However, since he is not aware of his relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead and therefore has no spiritual activity, he must come down for further activities in this material world. This is confirmed in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.2.32):

āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ

patanty adho ’nādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ

Because Māyāvādī philosophers have no information regarding the transcendental service of the Lord, even after attaining liberation from material activities and merging into the Brahman effulgence, they must come down again to this material world to open hospitals or schools or perform similar philanthropic activities.

CC Madhya-lila

CC Madhya 6.168, Purport:

Although the Buddhists are directly opposed to Vaiṣṇava philosophy, it can easily be understood that the Śaṅkarites are more dangerous because they accept the authority of the Vedas yet act contrary to Vedic instruction. Vedāśraya nāstikya-vāda means "agnosticism under the shelter of Vedic culture" and refers to the monistic philosophy of the Māyāvādīs. Lord Buddha abandoned the authority of the Vedic literature and therefore rejected the ritualistic ceremonies and sacrifices recommended in the Vedas. His nirvāṇa philosophy means stopping all material activities. Lord Buddha did not recognize the presence of transcendental forms and spiritual activities beyond the material world. He simply described voidism beyond this material existence. The Māyāvādī philosophers offer lip service to Vedic authority but try to escape the Vedic ritualistic ceremonies. They concoct some idea of a transcendental position and call themselves Nārāyaṇa, or God. However, God's position is completely different from their concoction. Such Māyāvādī philosophers consider themselves above the influence of karma-kāṇḍa (fruitive activities and their reactions). For them, the spiritual world is equated with the Buddhist voidism. There is very little difference between impersonalism and voidism. Voidism can be directly understood, but the impersonalism enunciated by Māyāvādī philosophers is not very easily understandable. Of course, Māyāvādī philosophers accept a spiritual existence, but they do not know about the spiritual world and spiritual beings. According to Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.2.32):

ye ’nye ’ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas

tvayy asta-bhāvād aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ

āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ

patanty adho ’nādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ

The intelligence of the Māyāvādīs is not purified; therefore even though they practice austerities for self-realization, they cannot remain within the impersonal brahmajyoti. Consequently, they fall down again into this material world.

""When a person takes shelter of the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead without reservation, the unlimited, merciful Lord bestows His causeless mercy upon him. Thus he can pass over the insurmountable ocean of nescience. Those whose intelligence is fixed in the bodily conception, who think, "I am this body," are fit food for dogs and jackals. The Supreme Lord never bestows His mercy upon such people.""

The Supreme Lord never bestows His benediction upon those fixed in the bodily conception. As Kṛṣṇa clearly states in the Bhagavad-gītā (18.66):

sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja

ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo mokṣayiṣyāmi mā śucaḥ

"Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do not fear."

The verse that Caitanya Mahāprabhu quoted (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 2.7.42) explains the meaning of Śrī Kṛṣṇa's statement. Kṛṣṇa bestowed His causeless mercy upon Arjuna just to get him out of the bodily conception. This was done at the very beginning of the Second Chapter of the Bhagavad-gītā (2.13), where Kṛṣṇa says, dehino ’smin yathā dehe kaumāraṁ yauvanaṁ jarā. In this body, there is an owner, and one should not consider the body to be the self. This is the first instruction to be assimilated by a devotee. If one is under the bodily conception, he is unable to realize his true identity and engage in the loving devotional service of the Lord. Unless one comes to the transcendental position, he cannot expect the causeless mercy of the Supreme Lord, nor can he cross over the vast ocean of material nescience. Lord Kṛṣṇa confirms this in the Bhagavad-gītā (7.14): mām eva ye prapadyante māyām etāṁ taranti te. Without surrendering unto the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, one cannot expect release from the clutches of māyā, the illusory energy. According to Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.2.32), Māyāvādī sannyāsīs who falsely think of themselves as liberated from the clutches of māyā are called vimukta-māninaḥ. Actually, they are not liberated, but they think that they have become liberated and have become Nārāyaṇa Himself. Although they have apparently realized that they are not the material body but spirit soul, they nonetheless neglect the duty of the spirit soul, which is to render service to the Supreme Soul. Therefore their intelligence remains unsanctified. Unless one's intelligence is sanctified, one cannot apply it to understanding devotional service. Devotional service begins when the mind, intelligence and ego are completely purified. Māyāvādī sannyāsīs do not purify their intelligence, mind and ego, and consequently they cannot engage in the service of the Lord or expect the causeless mercy of the Lord. Although they rise to a very high position by executing severe austerities and penances, they still hover in the material world without the benediction of the lotus feet of the Lord. Sometimes they rise to the Brahman effulgence, but because their minds are not completely purified, they must return to material existence.

CC Madhya 6.269, Purport:

The word siddha is very significant. Siddha refers to one who has realized the Brahman effulgence and who has complete knowledge that the living entity is not a material atom but a spiritual spark. This understanding is described in the Bhagavad-gītā as brahma-bhūta (SB 4.30.20). In the conditioned state, the living entity is known as jīva-bhūta, or "the living force within matter." Brahma-bhūta living entities are allowed to stay in Brahmaloka or Siddhaloka, but unfortunately they sometimes again fall into the material world because they are not engaged in devotional service. This is supported by the verse in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam beginning ye ’nye ’ravindākṣa. (SB 10.2.32) These semiliberated souls falsely claim to be liberated, but unless one engages in devotional service to the Lord, he is still materially contaminated. Therefore these living entities have been described as vimukta-māninaḥ, meaning that they falsely consider themselves liberated although their intelligence is not yet purified. Although these living entities undergo severe austerities to rise to the platform of Siddhaloka, they cannot remain there perpetually, for they are bereft of ānanda (bliss). Even though these living entities attain the brahma-bhūta stage and realize the Supreme Personality of Godhead through His bodily effulgence, they nonetheless fall down due to neglecting the Lord's service. They do not properly utilize whatever little knowledge they have of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Not attaining ānanda, or bliss, they come down to the material world to enjoy. This is certainly a falldown for one who is actually liberated. The bhaktas consider such a falldown equal to achieving a place in hell.

CC Madhya 19.148, Translation and Purport:

“Out of many millions of such wise men, one may actually become liberated (mukta), and out of many millions of such liberated persons, a pure devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa is very difficult to find.

In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.2.32) it is said that due to their poor fund of knowledge, the jñānīs are not actually liberated. They simply think that they are liberated. The perfection of knowledge culminates when one comes to the platform of knowing the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Brahmeti paramātmeti bhagavān iti śabdyate (SB 1.2.11). The Absolute Truth (satya-vastu) is described as Brahman, Paramātmā and Bhagavān. Knowledge of impersonal Brahman and the Supersoul is imperfect until one comes to the platform of knowing the Supreme Personality of Godhead. It is therefore clearly said in this verse, koṭi-mukta-madhye "durlabha" eka kṛṣṇa-bhakta. Those who search after the knowledge of impersonal Brahman or localized Paramātmā are certainly accepted as liberated, but due to their imperfect knowledge they are described in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam as vimukta-māninaḥ. Since their knowledge is imperfect, their conception of liberation is imperfect. Perfect knowledge is possible when one knows the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is supported by Lord Kṛṣṇa in the Bhagavad-gītā (5.29):

bhoktāraṁ yajña-tapasāṁ sarva-loka-maheśvaram

suhṛdaṁ sarva-bhūtānāṁ jñātvā māṁ śāntim ṛcchati

"A person in full consciousness of Me, knowing Me to be the ultimate beneficiary of all sacrifices and austerities, the Supreme Lord of all planets and demigods, and the benefactor and well-wisher of all living entities, attains peace from the pangs of material miseries."

CC Madhya 20.135, Purport:

The mystic yoga process is compared to a black snake that devours the living entity and injects him with poison. The ultimate goal of the yoga system is to become one with the Absolute. This means finishing one's personal existence. But the spiritual part and parcel of the Supreme Personality of Godhead has an eternal individual existence. The Bhagavad-gītā confirms that the individual soul existed in the past, is existing in the present and will continue to exist as an individual in the future. Artificially trying to become one with the Absolute is suicidal. One cannot annihilate his natural condition.

A yakṣa, a protector of riches, will not allow anyone to take away riches for enjoyment. Such a demon will simply create disturbances. In other words, a devotee will not depend on his material resources but on the mercy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who can give real protection. This is called rakṣiṣyatīti viśvāsaḥ or (in the Bengali poetry of Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura's Śaraṇāgati) "avaśya rakṣibe kṛṣṇa"—viśvāsa pālana. The surrendered soul must accept the fact that his real protector is Kṛṣṇa, not his material acquisitions.

Considering all these points, devotional service to Kṛṣṇa is the real treasure house for the living entity. When one comes to the platform of devotional service, he always remains opulent in the association of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. One who is bereft of devotional service is swallowed by the black snake of the yoga system and bitten by the wasps and drones of fruitive activity, and he suffers consequent material miseries. Sometimes the living entity is misled into trying to merge into spiritual existence, thinking himself as good as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This means that when he comes to the spiritual platform, he will be disturbed and will again return to the material platform. According to Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.2.32):

ye ’nye ’ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas

tvayy asta-bhāvād aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ

āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ

patanty adho ’nādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ

Such people may become sannyāsīs, but unless they take shelter of Kṛṣṇa's lotus feet, they will return to the material platform to perform philanthropic activities. In this way, one's spiritual life is lost. This is to be understood as being devoured by the black snake.

CC Madhya 22.30, Translation and Purport:

“"O lotus-eyed one, those who think they are liberated in this life but do not render devotional service to You must be of impure intelligence. Although they accept severe austerities and penances and rise to the spiritual position, to impersonal Brahman realization, they fall down again because they neglect to worship Your lotus feet."

This verse is quoted from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.2.32).

CC Madhya 24.131, Translation and Purport:

“"O lotus-eyed one, those who think they are liberated in this life but are without devotional service to You are of impure intelligence. Although they accept severe austerities and penances and rise to the spiritual position, to impersonal Brahman realization, they fall down again because they neglect to worship Your lotus feet."

This is a quotation from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.2.32).

CC Madhya 24.141, Translation and Purport:

“"O lotus-eyed one, those who think they are liberated in this life but are without devotional service to You are of impure intelligence. Although they accept severe austerities and penances and rise to the spiritual position, to impersonal Brahman realization, they fall down again because they neglect to worship Your lotus feet."

This is a verse from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.2.32).

CC Madhya 25.32, Translation and Purport:

“"O lotus-eyed one, those who think they are liberated in this life but who are devoid of devotional service to You are of impure intelligence. Although they accept severe austerities and penances and rise to the spiritual position, to impersonal Brahman realization, they fall down again because they neglect to worship Your lotus feet."

This is a verse from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.2.32).

CC Antya-lila

CC Antya 3.257, Translation and Purport:

“The holy name of Lord Rāma certainly gives liberation, but the holy name of Kṛṣṇa transports one to the other side of the ocean of nescience and at last gives one ecstatic love of Kṛṣṇa.

In an indirect way, this verse explains the chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra. The Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra—Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare—includes both the holy name of Lord Kṛṣṇa and the name of Lord Rāma. Lord Rāma gives one the opportunity to be liberated, but simply by liberation one does not get actual spiritual benefit. Sometimes if one is liberated from the material world but has no shelter at the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, one falls down to the material world again. Liberation is like a state of convalescence, in which one is free from a fever but is still not healthy. Even in the stage of convalescence, if one is not very careful, one may have a relapse. Similarly, liberation does not offer as much security as the shelter of the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa. It is stated in the śāstra:

ye ‘nye ‘ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas

tvayy asta-bhāvād aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ

āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ

patanty adho ‘nādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ

"O Lord, the intelligence of those who think themselves liberated but who have no devotion is impure. Even though they rise to the highest point of liberation by dint of severe penances and austerities, they are sure to fall down again into material existence, for they do not take shelter at Your lotus feet." (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.2.32) Yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ refers to the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa. If one does not take shelter of Kṛṣṇa's lotus feet, he falls down (patanty adhaḥ), even from liberation. The Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, however, gives liberation and at the same time offers shelter at the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa. If one takes shelter at the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa after liberation, he develops his dormant ecstatic love for Kṛṣṇa. That is the highest perfection of life.

CC Antya 8.26, Translation and Purport:

Rāmacandra Purī was thus denounced by Mādhavendra Purī. Due to his offense, gradually material desire appeared within him.

The word vāsanā ("material desires") refers to dry speculative knowledge. Such speculative knowledge is only material. As confirmed in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.14.4), a person without devotional service who simply wants to know things (kevala-bodha-labdhaye) gains only dry speculative knowledge but no spiritual profit. This is confirmed in the Bhakti-sandarbha (111), wherein it is said:

jīvan-muktā api punar yānti saṁsāra-vāsanām

yady acintya-mahā-śaktau bhagavaty aparādhinaḥ

"Even though one is liberated in this life, if one offends the Supreme Personality of Godhead he falls down in the midst of material desires, of which dry speculation about spiritual realization is one."

In his Laghu-toṣaṇī commentary on Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.2.32), Jīva Gosvāmī says:

jīvan-muktā api punar bandhanaṁ yānti karmabhiḥ

yady acintya-mahā-śaktau bhagavaty aparādhinaḥ

"Even if one is liberated in this life, he becomes addicted to material desires because of offenses to the Supreme Personality of Godhead."

A similar quotation from one of the Purāṇas also appears in the Viṣṇu-bhakti-candrodaya:

jivān-muktāḥ prapadyante kvacit saṁsāra-vāsanām

yogino na vilipyante karmabhir bhagavat-parāḥ

"Even liberated souls sometimes fall down to material desires, but those who fully engage in devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead are not affected by such desires."

These are references from authoritative revealed scriptures. If one becomes an offender to his spiritual master or the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he falls down to the material platform to merely speculate.

CC Antya 9.68, Purport:

One should be completely free from all material desires and should serve Kṛṣṇa simply to please Him. When people become interested in their own sense gratification (bhukti-mukti-siddhi-kāmī), some of them desire to enjoy the material world to the fullest extent, some of them desire to be liberated and merge into the existence of Brahman, and others want to perform magic through mystic power and thus become incarnations of God. These are all against the principles of devotional service. One must be free from all material desires. The desire of the impersonalist to merge into the existence of Brahman is also material because such an impersonalist wants to gratify his senses by merging into the existence of Kṛṣṇa instead of serving His lotus feet. Even if such a person merges into the Brahman effulgence, he falls down again into material existence. As stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.2.32):

āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ

patanty adho ‘nādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ

Because Māyāvādī philosophers have no information regarding the transcendental service of the Lord, even after attaining liberation from material activities and merging into the Brahman effulgence, they must come down again to this material world.

Other Books by Srila Prabhupada

Teachings of Lord Caitanya

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 11:

There are eight divisions of human society created to facilitate the execution of duty (the brāhmaṇas, or intellectuals; the kṣatriyas, or administrators; the vaiśyas, or businessmen and farmers; and the śūdras, or laborers—as well as the four āśramas: the brahmacārī, or student; the gṛhastha, or householder; the vānaprastha, or retired person; and the sannyāsī, or the person in renounced life), but if a person is lacking in devotion or Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he cannot be released from material bondage, even if he executes his prescribed duty. On the contrary, even by discharging his prescribed duty he will glide down into hell due to material consciousness. Therefore whoever is engaged in his occupational duty must simultaneously cultivate Kṛṣṇa consciousness in devotional service if he wants liberation from material clutches.

In this regard, Lord Caitanya recited a verse from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam which was delivered by Nārada Muni to indicate the path of bhāgavata cultivation. Nārada Muni pointed out that the four divisions of human society, as well as the four orders of life, are born out of the gigantic form of the Lord. The brāhmaṇas are born from the mouth of the universal form of the Lord, the kṣatriyas are born out of the arms, the vaiśyas out of the waist, and the śūdras out of the legs. As such, they are qualified in the different modes of material nature within the form of the virāṭ-puruṣa. If a person is not engaged in the devotional service of the Lord, he falls from his position, regardless of whether he executes his prescribed occupational duty or not.

Lord Caitanya further points out that those who belong to the Māyāvādī or impersonalist school consider themselves to be one with God, or liberated, but according to Caitanya Mahāprabhu Himself and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, they are not actually liberated. In this regard Caitanya Mahāprabhu again quotes Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.2.32):

ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas

tvayy asta-bhāvād aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ

āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ

patanty adho 'nādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ

"Those who think that they are liberated according to Māyāvādī philosophy, but who do not take to the devotional service of the Lord, fall down for want of devotional service, even after they undergo the severest types of penances and austerities and even after they sometimes approach the supreme position."

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 15:

There are two kinds of liberated souls having material bodies: the soul liberated by devotional service and the soul liberated by the cultivation of knowledge. The liberated soul in devotional service, attracted by the transcendental qualities of Kṛṣṇa, becomes more and more elevated, whereas those who engage in dry speculation and simply cultivate knowledge without devotion fall due to their many offenses. This is confirmed in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.2.32) where it is stated:

ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas

tvayy asta-bhāvād aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ

āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ

patanty adho 'nādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ

"O Lord, the intelligence of those who think themselves liberated but who have no devotion is not pure. Even though they rise to the highest point of liberation by dint of severe penances and austerity, they are sure to fall down again into this material existence, for they do not take shelter at Your lotus feet." This is also confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā:

brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā

na śocati na kāṅkṣati

samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu

mad-bhaktiṁ labhate parām

"One who is transcendentally situated at once realizes the Supreme Brahman. He never laments nor desires to have anything; he is equally disposed to every living entity. In that state, he attains pure devotional service unto Me." (BG 18.54)

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 21:

After Lord Caitanya explained the Vedānta-sūtra by directly interpreting the verses, the chief disciple of Prakāśānanda Sarasvatī stood up in the assembly and began to praise Lord Caitanya as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Nārāyaṇa. He not only very much appreciated the explanation of Vedānta-sūtra by Lord Caitanya, but he stated publicly that the direct explanation of the Upaniṣads and Vedānta-sūtra "is so pleasing that we forget ourselves and forget that we belong to the Māyāvādī sect." Thus it is herein admitted that Śaṅkarācārya's explanations of the Upaniṣads and Vedānta-sūtra are all imaginary. We may sometimes accept such imaginary explanations for the sake of sectarian feuds, but actually such explanations do not satisfy us. It is not that one becomes free from material entanglements simply by accepting the order of sannyāsa. Yet if we actually understand the explanations given by Lord Caitanya, we will be helped. For instance, when Lord Caitanya explains the meaning of harer nāma harer nāma harer nāmaiva kevalam (CC Adi 17.21), everyone is pleased, for it is a fact that there is no alternative to devotional service. Without devotional service no one can attain liberation from the material clutches. Especially in this age, one can achieve the highest liberation simply by chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare. In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.14.4) it is stated that when a person abandons the path of devotional service and simply labors for knowledge, he has no profit other than the trouble he takes to understand the difference between matter and spirit. It is useless labor to try to get grains from empty husks. Thus it is stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.2.32) that a person who gives up the transcendental loving service of the Supreme Lord and superficially considers himself liberated, never attains to liberation. With great labor, austerity and penance, he may be elevated to the liberated platform, but for want of shelter at the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord, he falls down again into material contamination.

Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead

Krsna Book 87:

The Māyāvādī philosopher claims to be equal to God, but he cannot reply to the question of why he has fallen into material entanglement. If he is the Supreme God, then how is it that he has been overtaken by impious activities and thereby subjected to the tribulations of the law of karma? When the Māyāvādīs are asked about this, they cannot properly answer. The speculation that one is equal to the Supreme Personality of Godhead is another symptom of sinful life. One cannot take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness unless one is completely freed from all sinful activities. The very fact that the Māyāvādī claims to be one with the Supreme Lord means that he is not yet freed from the reactions of sinful activities. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam says that such persons are aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ (SB 10.2.32), which means that because they falsely think themselves liberated and at the same time think themselves equal with the Absolute Truth, their intelligence is not purified. The personified Vedas said that if the yogīs and the jñānīs do not free themselves from sinful desires, then their particular process of self-realization will never be successful.

Renunciation Through Wisdom

Renunciation Through Wisdom 4.4:

The goddess of learning, Sarasvatī, inspired Dr. Radhakrishnan to say "Man cannot become God." We would like to clarify this statement by saying "Even after becoming liberated, a man cannot become God." A liberated person can become a pure devotee of God, but he cannot become God or merge into God and lose his identity. There are innumerable instances in which a liberated soul, failing to become God, also refused to become God's devotee. The only option then open to him is aptly described in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.2.32):

ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas

tvayy asta-bhāvād aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ

āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ

patanty adho 'nādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ

O lotus-eyed Lord, although nondevotees who accept severe austerities and penances to achieve the highest position may think themselves liberated, their intelligence is impure. They fall down from their position of imagined superiority because they have no regard for Your lotus feet.

Attracted by material nature's external glare, such "liberated" souls have to come down to this earth and become wrapped up in some sociopolitical or altruistic work.

Renunciation Through Wisdom 5.1:

The Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.2.32) states:

ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas

tvayy asta-bhāvād aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ

āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ

patanty adho 'nādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ

O lotus-eyed Lord, although nondevotees who accept severe austerities and penances to achieve the highest position may think themselves liberated, their intelligence is impure. They fall down from their position of imagined superiority because they have no regard for Your lotus feet."

Thus the yogic process a surrendered servant of the Supreme Lord practices is altogether different form Patañjali's eightfold yoga system, beginning with sense control, yogic postures, and breath control. These practices are, in a sense, meant to increase physical prowess for better sense enjoyment. The devotee, on the other hand, follows the best yoga system of God-realization, which is enunciated in the Bhagavad-gītā. His activities are not selfishly motivated, aimed at realizing his own cherished dreams, but are directed toward fulfilling the will of God on earth. This yoga is known as buddhi-yoga, wherein lies the entire world's good fortune.

Narada-bhakti-sutra (sutras 1 to 8 only)

Narada Bhakti Sutra 2, Translation and Purport:

Devotional service manifests as the most elevated, pure love for God.

As stated before, after attaining the highest stage of self-realization, one becomes situated in devotional service to the Lord. The perfection of devotional service is to attain love of God. Love of God involves the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the devotee, and the process of devotional service. Self-realization, the brahma-bhūta (SB 4.30.20) stage, is the beginning of spiritual life; it is not the perfectional stage. If a person understands that he is not his body and that he has nothing to do with this material world, he becomes free from material entanglement. But that realization is not the perfectional stage. The perfectional stage begins with activity in the self-realized position, and that activity is based on the understanding that a living entity is eternally the subordinate servitor of the Supreme Lord. Otherwise, there is no meaning to self-realization. If one is puffed up with the idea that he is the Supreme Brahman, or that he has become one with Nārāyaṇa, or that he has merged into the brahmajyoti effulgence, then he has not grasped the perfection of life. As the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.2.32) states,

ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas

tvayy asta-bhāvād aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ

āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ

patanty adho 'nādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ

Persons who are falsely puffed up, thinking they have become liberated simply by understanding their constitutional position as Brahman, or spirit soul, are factually still contaminated. Their intelligence is impure because they have no understanding of the Personality of Godhead, and ultimately they fall down from their puffed-up position.

Lectures

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Lecture on BG 2.12 -- Hyderabad, November 17, 1972:

That is the real position. Otherwise, without surrendering to Kṛṣṇa, if you think yourself, that you are Kṛṣṇa, that is in illusion, aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ, contaminated intelligence. Aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ. Ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas tvayy asta-bhāvād aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ (SB 10.2.32). Because they cannot understand Kṛṣṇa, so their knowledge is not perfect, or not purified. Knowledge perfect is there in every living entity, but it is contaminated by the contact of māyā.

Lecture on BG 2.13 -- Hyderabad, November 18, 1972:

Actually when one becomes wise, he surrenders to Kṛṣṇa. Jñānavān māṁ prapadyate. Otherwise, who is Kṛṣṇa? "I am as good as Kṛṣṇa. I am God." That is māyā. That is not actually knowledge. In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is said, ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninaḥ. They are thinking that they have become liberated, become Nārāyaṇa, or God. Māninaḥ, they are thinking like that. Actually, they are not, because they're subjected to the rules of the material nature. They cannot get out of these clutches.

Lecture on BG 2.20 -- Hyderabad, November 25, 1972:

Because it is said, āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty (SB 10.2.32). Even after great austerities and penance, one may rise, paraṁ padam, in the, merging into the Brahman effulgence. Still, from there, he falls down. He falls down. Because Brahman, the spirit soul, is ānandamaya.

Lecture on BG 2.20 -- Hyderabad, November 25, 1972:

So in impersonal zero standard there cannot be any ānanda. But because we have no information, the Māyāvādī philosophers, of the Vaikuṇṭha planets, they come back again to these material planets. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ (SB 10.2.32). Adhaḥ means in this material world. That I have explained many times. There are so many big, big sannyāsīs. They give up this material world as mithyā, jagan mithyā, and take sannyāsa, and then again, after a few days, they come to social service, politics.

Lecture on BG 2.20 -- Hyderabad, November 25, 1972:

So āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ (SB 10.2.32). So for this pleasure only we are making so many plans. According to our own brain, teeny brain, we are making plans. Just the, in the state also, they're making plans. Personally, individually, and commercially, everyone is making plan. The plan-making means becoming entangled.

Lecture on BG 2.23 -- Hyderabad, November 27, 1972:

So that pleasure of life cannot be had in the spiritual effulgence. Therefore in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam we get this information that āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padam (SB 10.2.32). Kṛcchreṇa, after undergoing severe austerity and penance, one may merge into the Brahman effulgence...

Lecture on BG 2.23 -- Hyderabad, November 27, 1972:

So āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padam. Even one goes up to that point, to merge into the Brahman existence after severe austerity and penances, still, they fall down. Patanty adhaḥ. Adhaḥ means again comes into this material world. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ (SB 10.2.32). Why they fall down? Anādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ. They'll never agree God is person. They'll never agree.

Lecture on BG 2.25 -- Hyderabad, November 29, 1972:

But when you think that you have become free... Vimukta-māninaḥ. Vimukta-māninaḥ, falsely thinking that "I have now become liberated." Aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ (SB 10.2.32). But the intelligence is not very clear. This is last snare of māyā. When one thinks that "I am God. I have become God," that is the last snare of māyā. That is also māyā. How you can become God? What capacity you have got? God has created so many things.

Lecture on BG 2.62-72 -- Los Angeles, December 19, 1968:

So voidism means to fly in the sky and be puffed up, "I have come so high, I have come so high, so high." (laughs) That foolish man does not know how long he'll keep in that high position. You see? He will come down. This is māyā's attraction. He'll have to come down. There is a verse,

ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas

tvayy asta-bhāvād aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ

āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ

patanty adho 'nādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ

Lecture on BG 2.62-72 -- Los Angeles, December 19, 1968:

This is the prayer by Prahlāda Mahārāja. He says, "My dear Lord, lotus-eyed, Aravindākṣa," ye anye. "Some third-class men, they are very much proud of ending this material life, these nirvāṇa or these impersonalists." Vimukta-māninaḥ. Vimukta-māninaḥ means they are simply falsely thinking that they have surpassed the clutches of māyā. Falsely. Vimukta-māninaḥ.

That māyā is very strong. You may be puffed up by such false prestige. Vimukta-māninaḥ. Bhāgavata says, tvayy asta-bhāvād aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ (SB 10.2.32). "But because they have not searched out Your lotus feet, therefore their consciousness is impure, thinking 'I am something.' " Aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ. "Their intelligence, consciousness is not purified." Therefore āruhya kṛcchreṇa. "They perform very severe practice." Just like the Buddhists, they have got very... Now, those who are not practicing, that is different thing. But rules and regulations, Lord Buddha himself, he showed.

Lecture on BG 3.27 -- Madras, January 1, 1976:

Why? They could not stay in the Brahman stage. That is stated in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninaḥ. By concentrating on the impersonal form they think that they have become liberated but actually that is not. Aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ. So impersonal conception is not purified intelligence. Ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninaḥ. You may think that "I have become liberated," but it is not. Why? Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ (SB 10.2.32). After so much trouble and austerity, penances, you may acquire the position in the impersonal Brahman, but there is chance of falling down from there. Patanty adhaḥ.

But if you don't get any planet, then you have to come back again on this planet. Similarly, the śūnyavāda philosophy will not make you happy unless you...

Therefore in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is stated,

ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas

tvayy asta-bhāvād aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ

āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ

patanty adho 'nādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ

The meaning is that "My Lord, Aravindākṣa..." Kṛṣṇa is addressed... Because His eyes are just like the petals of lotus flower, He's called Aravinda, and Aravindākṣa. Barhāvataṁsa, aravindākṣa.

So "My dear Aravindākṣa, lotus-eyed Kṛṣṇa, "Ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa. "The persons who are thinking that they have become liberated, now they have become Nārāyaṇa..." Oh. Ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninaḥ. They are thinking like that. Māninaḥ means falsely thinking. Ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas tvayy asta-bhāvād... "They have no information of Your lotus feet or You. They do not accept Your personality." Tvayy asta-bhāvād aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ (SB 10.2.32). "Their intelligence is not clear." Aviśuddha. It is still impure. Because they could not understand.

This is Vedic injunction. If you understand Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, then you understand Brahman and Paramātmā. But if you simply understand Brahman or Paramātmā, you do not understand Kṛṣṇa. Therefore it is said aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ, intelligence is not yet pure. Ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas tvayy asta-bhāvād aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ, āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ (SB 10.2.32). They, after undergoing severe penances and austerities, they approach the Brahman effulgence, param... Patanty adhaḥ. Again falls down.

Lecture on BG 4.11 -- Geneva, June 1, 1974:

The same example. You may go very high. Just like nowadays, the attempt is being made. They are going to the moon planet or Venus planet. We do not know whether they are going or not, but we hear from the advertisement. So because they do not get any shelter, they come back. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ anādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ (SB 10.2.32). Because they do not get any shelter, the shelter of lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, from this impersonal conception of philosophy, they again come to this material world.

Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ anādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ: (SB 10.2.32) "Unless you become elevated to the position of serving the Supreme Personality of Godhead face to face, simply by impersonal Brahman realization you cannot become happy. Therefore for enjoyment..." Enjoyment means variety, the varieties of enjoyment. "You come down again to the material world." We have seen it practically.

Svarūpa Dāmodara: Yes.

Prabhupāda: So how the molecules can become the whole sea? Therefore in the Bhagavad-gītā it is said, ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas tvayy asta-bhāvād aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ (SB 10.2.32). The Māyāvādī philosophers, they are thinking that "Being merged into the, existence of Brahman, I become Brahman." No, this is a wrong. You cannot become Brahman. You remain the same.

It has actually not merged. And because it does not merge, therefore they fall down. They again come out. That is explained in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam that ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninaḥ... Vimukta-māninaḥ. They are thinking, "Now I have become one with the Supreme." But actually, that is a false impression. Māninaḥ. Māninaḥ means actually it is not fact, but he's thinking like that. Vimukta-māninaḥ.

That is not possible. Therefore Bhāgavata says, "They think like that, but actually it is not the fact." And if you question why they are thinking like that—aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ, means intelligence is not very sharp. Ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas tvayy asta-bhāvād aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ, āruhya kṛcchreṇa... āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ (SB 10.2.32).

Lecture on BG 4.17 -- Bombay, April 6, 1974:

So therefore, āruhya kṛcchreṇa, by undergoing... Āruhya kṛcchreṇa, by severe penances and exercises... Just like the yogis, they also exercise. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa. Kṛcchreṇa means severe practices. So they reach, they realize Brahman, but after realization also, they fall down. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ (SB 10.2.32). Because there is no shelter.

The real purpose is whether you are satisfying Kṛṣṇa. If your, that aim is lost, that you do not require to satisfy Kṛṣṇa, you simply satisfy your senses, then it has no meaning.

ya eṣāṁ puruṣaṁ sākṣād

ātma-prabhavam īśvaram

na bhajanty avajānanti

sthānād bhraṣṭāḥ patanty adhaḥ

Sthānād bhraṣṭāḥ... I claim... It is very simple to understand. Suppose this hand, my hand, but how long it is hand? So long it is attached to the service of the body. If this hand is cut off from this body, it may be called hand, but it has no meaning. Similarly, head also.

Lecture on BG 4.19-25 -- Los Angeles, January 9, 1969:

So they may merge into that existence of brahma-jyotir but because every individual living entity has got individual desires, therefore they cannot exist very long in that individual condition, I mean to say, impersonal condition. That is stated in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas tvayy asta-bhāvād aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ (SB 10.2.32). Any person who is thinking that by merging, or one who has already merged into the brahma-jyotir, he has become liberated. Bhāgavata says that is not intelligence, what to speak of liberation. He says ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninaḥ. Vimukta-māninaḥ means he is simply falsely thinking that he is liberated. Māninaḥ. Just like you think yourself, just like so many rascals, he is thinking, "I am God," you see. "I am God."

Lecture on BG 4.19-25 -- Los Angeles, January 9, 1969:

Similarly, these impersonalists they are closing their eyes. That's all. Just like voidists, they are also doing that. "Now I have become free by smoking or by gāñjā eating, drinking, or smoking." You see? These things are simply false imagination. Therefore they are less intelligent. They are not intelligent. Bhāgavata says ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninaḥ. They are self-complacent that "I have become free, liberated," this and that. But actually their intelligence is very contaminated.

Lecture on BG 4.19-25 -- Los Angeles, January 9, 1969:

Ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninaḥ. They are simply thinking like that. Māninaḥ. Māninaḥ means actually he is not, but he's thinking. You can think that "I am the proprietor of all the banks of this Los Angeles city." You can think. Who checks you? But are you actually the proprietor of all the banks of this Los Angeles city? Anyone can think intoxication like anything. He has got the liberty. But that is not the fact.

Lecture on BG 4.19-25 -- Los Angeles, January 9, 1969:

So ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas tvayy asta-bhāvād aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ (SB 10.2.32). Their intelligence is contaminated because they have no information of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. So long one does not reach to that point, vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti (BG 7.19), "Oh, Kṛṣṇa is everything." It can take some time but unless you reach to that point your all intelligence is imperfect.

Lecture on BG 4.19-25 -- Los Angeles, January 9, 1969:

Your knowledge is imperfect. That you must know. Therefore one who takes Kṛṣṇa, he is most intelligent. Tvayy asta-bhāvād aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ, āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ (SB 10.2.32).

Lecture on BG 4.24 -- Bombay, April 13, 1974:

That is described in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas tvayy asta-bhāvād aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ: (SB 10.2.32) "Anyone who has neglected Your personality," aravindākṣa, "O the lotus-eyed Kṛṣṇa," aravindākṣe, ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa tvayy asta-bhāvāt, "they cannot understand what You are." Aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ: "Their intelligence is still contaminated, not purified." Aviśuddha.

Lecture on BG 4.24 -- Bombay, April 13, 1974:

Then what is the result? The result is āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ: (SB 10.2.32) "After severe austerities, penances, they may come to the impersonal understanding of Your brahma-jyotir, but patanty adhaḥ, again comes to the material world."

Lecture on BG 4.24 -- Bombay, April 13, 1974:

Therefore the impersonalists, without understanding of Kṛṣṇa, even very much advanced, they do not get any occupation. They again come down to the material platform to open hospital, school, college. Why? Because the impersonalist says that this material world is false. If the material world is false, why you come down again to the false platform to open schools and hospitals? That means āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ patanty adho 'nādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ (SB 10.2.32).

Lecture on BG 4.26 -- Bombay, April 15, 1974:

That is required. Not that finishing. It cannot be finished. Therefore in the śāstra (it) says, ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas tvayy asta-bhāvād aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ: (SB 10.2.32) "Those who are thinking that 'Now we have brahma-jñāna, knowledge, and we have become one with Brahman, therefore we are now liberated,' vimukta-māninaḥ, that is not liberation." The liberation is not there because tvayy asta-bhāvāt, because the senses are not yet engaged in the service of the Lord."

Lecture on BG 4.26 -- Bombay, April 15, 1974:

Why not? They have already become liberated? No. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adho 'nādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ (SB 10.2.32). Āruhya. They have undergone severe penances, austerities. That is right. And they have come to the paraṁ padam, brahmapāda, but patanty adhaḥ, because... ānandamayo 'bhyāsāt (Vedānta-sūtra 1.1.12). Everyone wants ānanda, and part and parcel of ānanda, Kṛṣṇa, he wants ānanda.

Lecture on BG 4.37-40 -- New York, August 21, 1966:

There will be no lamentation and no hankering. But the difficulty is that even if we rise up to the brahma-bhūtaḥ stage and if we do not take to the service of Kṛṣṇa then there is possibility of falling down again. That information we have got. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ anādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ (SB 10.2.32). Just like you may rise very high in the sky, but if you have no shelter there, if your aeroplane or sputnik fails, then you again you fall down. Again you fall down.

Lecture on BG 7.2 -- Nairobi, October 28, 1975:

I have become now..." Vimukta-māninaḥ. They have been called as rascals, wrongly thinking that they are vimukta. Vimukta-mānī. Ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninaḥ. There are so many rascals, they are thinking that they have become mukta, liberated Nārāyaṇas. They're thinking like that. Ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninaḥ. So why they are...? Now, if they have become liberated, so advanced, and feeling that they have become Nārāyaṇa, so what is the objection? The objection is ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas tvayy asta-bhāvāt (SB 10.2.32). They do not know what is Nārāyaṇa, these rascals. Śaṅkarācārya admits, nārāyaṇaḥ paraḥ avyaktāt: "Nārāyaṇa is not a being within this material world." That is Nārāyaṇa. And they have become Nārāyaṇa, namo nārāyaṇāya. Nārāyaṇa is so cheap thing? Therefore śāstra says, ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninaḥ. These rascals, they are thinking they have become Nārāyaṇa, but they do not know what is Nārāyaṇa. Ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninaḥ. Why they do not under...? Tvayy asta-bhāvāt. They never tried to understand what is really God. They thought, "God is very cheap thing. Everyone can become God." So therefore they have become vimukta-māninaḥ.

Lecture on BG 7.3 -- Vrndavana, October 31, 1973:

Some of them are thinking that by merging into the existence of the Supreme, that is siddhi. That is not siddhi. That is partial siddhi, and it will not exist. That is explained in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ anādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ (SB 10.2.32). If you do not engage yourself in the service of the lotus feet of the Lord, then you cannot eternally remain in the brahma-jyotir. You cannot remain in the brahma-jyotir. You'll fall down.

Lecture on BG 7.3 -- Vrndavana, October 31, 1973:

That is the verdict of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Actually, it is a fact. Bhāgavata, whatever it says, that is real fact. Ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninaḥ. If one thinks that "Now I am merged in the brahma-jyotir, so I am now vimukta. I am now mukta. I am now liberated," so that Bhāgavata says, "He is thinking like that, he's liberated.

Lecture on BG 7.3 -- Vrndavana, October 31, 1973:

He is not liberated." Vimukta-mānina. Just like if I think am millionaire, does it mean I have become millionaire. I am not millionaire. Vimukta-mānina. Why? Tvayy asta-bhāvād aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ (SB 10.2.32). Because these persons who are thinking that he has become liberated, their buddhi is not yet cleansed. Aviśuddha. Śuddhāśuddha. Aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ. Ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninaḥ, vimukta-māninas tvayy asta-bhāvāt. Asta-bhāvāt. No information of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He is thinking that the Absolute is imperson. Therefore, asta-bhāvāt, he has no information of the Supreme Person.

Lecture on BG 8.12-13 -- New York, November 15, 1966:

That is our nature. So similarly, if we merge into the impersonal effulgence of the Supreme Lord, then there is chance of falling down again in this material world. That is stated in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas

tvayy asta-bhāvād aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ

āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ

patanty adho 'nādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ

Lecture on BG 8.12-13 -- New York, November 15, 1966:

Just like this sputnik man, the aeronautics, they go higher and higher, twenty-five thousand or thirty thousand or hundred thousand miles away. But if they cannot take rest in some planet, they'll fall down, at once fall down again. So the rest is required. In the impersonal form the rest is uncertain, uncertain. Therefore in the Bhāgavata says that āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ (SB 10.2.32). Even after so much endeavor, if he gets into the spiritual world and remains in that impersonal form, the risk is that patanty adhaḥ: he comes down again into this material world. Why? Anādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ, because he has neglected to serve in love and devotion the Supreme Lord.

Lecture on BG 8.14-15 -- New York, November 16, 1966:

This point we have discussed. And the risk is that if we do not have any rest in the spiritual planet, if we remain in the outer space only, then there is risk of coming down again in this material world.

The Bhāgavata confirms it:

ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas

tvayy asta-bhāvād aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ

āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ

patanty adho 'nādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ

Lecture on BG 8.14-15 -- New York, November 16, 1966:

It is said that "Persons who are interested of becoming liberated," ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninaḥ, "simply by the concept of impersonal merging into the spiritual existence," so ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa, "they consider themselves that they are liberated." That is also point of liberation, but the Bhāgavata says that "Although they consider themself as liberated, the aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ..." Aviśuddha means their knowledge is not very pure, not yet pure.

Lecture on BG 8.14-15 -- New York, November 16, 1966:

Aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ. The result is āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ: (SB 10.2.32) "They can rise up to the Supreme Absolute platform by their penances and austerities, meditation." That is right.

Lecture on BG 8.14-15 -- New York, November 16, 1966:

Āruhya kṛcchreṇa. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa means "raising themselves, elevating themselves by severe penances to that platform," āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padam (SB 10.2.32), the Supreme Absolute platform. But patanty adhaḥ: "They again fall down in this material world." Why? Anādṛta: "Because they have not taken seriously about Your personal feature." Anādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ: "Without worshiping Your lotus feet, the result is that they come down again in this material world."

Lecture on BG 9.11 -- Calcutta, June 30, 1973:

Unless one is engaged in devotional service, there is no question of purification. Then you'll fall down. These are the statements in the śāstras. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ (SB 10.2.32). You can elevate yourself to the Brahman effulgence, brahma-jñāna, āruhya kṛcchreṇa, with tapasya, with severe austerities.

Lecture on BG 9.11 -- Calcutta, June 30, 1973:

Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ anādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ (SB 10.2.32). So a devotee, if you become a devotee, you'll never fall down. Kṛṣṇa will give you protection. Kṛṣṇa says, kaunteya pratijānīhi na me bhaktaḥ praṇaśyati (BG 9.31). He will give you protection. Otherwise you are helpless.

Lecture on BG 13.3 -- Bombay, September 26, 1973:

Just like the Māyāvādī philosophers, they are thinking themselves that they are Kṛṣṇa. "I am God." That is unclean. Vimukta-māninaḥ. Tvayy asta-bhāvād aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ (SB 10.2.32). Because their intelligence is not yet clear, it is still with dirty things, therefore they are thinking that they are Kṛṣṇa. No. Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and we are eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa. This is the philosophy.

Lecture on BG 13.26 -- Delhi, September 22, 1974:

So similarly, going to the higher planetary system, you have to undergo so many austerities, penances... Or even if you can go to the Brahmaloka or Brahman effulgence... Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ (SB 10.2.32). There is no security in any place. But Kṛṣṇa says, yad gatvā na nivartante tad dhāma paramaṁ mama: (BG 15.6) "But you can go at a place wherefrom you haven't got to return. That is My paraṁ dhāma." So why not that? Mad-yājino 'pi yānti mām (BG 9.25).

Lecture on BG 15.1 -- Bombay, October 28, 1973:

So simply to realize that "I am Brahman," ahaṁ brahmāsmi, that is not perfection. That is aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ, uncleansed intelligence. Ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas tvayy asta-bhāvād aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ (SB 10.2.32). Simply understanding ahaṁ brahmāsmi will not help us because it is stated in the śāstra that āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ (SB 10.2.32), even by severe austerities and penances one comes to the stage of merging into Brahman, sāyujya mukti, still, there is chance of falling down. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ (SB 10.2.32). Why? Now anādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ. One who has not realized the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead Kṛṣṇa, he falls down.

Lecture on BG 15.1 -- Bombay, October 28, 1973:

Why? If this world is mithyā, jagan mithyā, you have rejected it, then why you are again coming to politics? Why you are coming in the mithyā world? Because there is no realization. Aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ. Ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninaḥ. They are thinking that "We have now become liberated," māninaḥ. Actually, they are not liberated. Because aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ, their intelligence is not yet clear, therefore, even after severe austerities, penances, they come to the point of Brahman realization, because they have no realization of the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, they fall down.

Lecture on BG 16.2-7 -- Bombay, April 8, 1971:

That is also stated in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adho 'nādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ (SB 10.2.32). These impersonalists, after undergoing severe austerities... To come to the Brahman platform, impersonal Brahman platform, that is also not very easy. One has to undergo severe austerities. Tapasya. Nothing can be achieved with(out) tapasya.

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Lecture on SB 1.1.2 -- London, August 15, 1971:

So because it is not fully realized, therefore such living entities who take sāyujya-mukti, they again fall down in due course of time. Because he doesn't get in the sāyujya-mukti the other two parts, component parts of his life, blissfulness and knowledge, full knowledge. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ anādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ (SB 10.2.32). The impersonalist Māyāvādīs, they undergo severe austerities, penances, and rise up to the Brahman effulgence, becomes merged into it, but again falls down. Just like the spark: it enters the flame of the fire, but there is again chance of falling down.

Lecture on SB 1.2.3 -- London, August 24, 1971:

And marginal stage means we may fall down in this material condition. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adho 'nādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ (SB 10.2.32). Āruhya kṛcchreṇa. Kṛcchreṇa means with great difficulty. The philosophers, they try to understand the Absolute Truth by mental speculation. But simply by mental speculation you cannot stay in that understanding.

Lecture on SB 1.2.3 -- London, August 24, 1971:

So in our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement we are putting the candidate into practice. Without practice, simply knowledge is no good. That is... Simply foolishly to become puffed up that "I am now liberated," no. That is not liberation. That is explained in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam elsewhere. Ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninaḥ. Vimukta-māninaḥ. They're thinking that they have become liberated. Just like the Māyāvāda sannyāsīs, they address amongst themselves as "Nārāyaṇa." That means everyone has become Nārāyaṇa. The modern increase of incarnation of God means this Māyāvāda philosophy. Because in the Māyāvāda philosophy everyone thinks that he is God, Nārāyaṇa. "I have become Nārāyaṇa." Brahma-bhūta (SB 4.30.20). "Now I have become Nārāyaṇa." No. You cannot become Nārāyaṇa. You can become Nārāyaṇa's dāsa, servant. That is your healthy state.

Lecture on SB 1.2.12 -- Delhi, November 18, 1973:

That is stated in the Bhāgavata. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ anādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ. Ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas tvayy asta-bhāvād aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ (SB 10.2.32). There are certain persons, they are thinking, "Now I have become liberated." Ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninaḥ. Vimukta-māninaḥ means "thinking that they have become liberated." But aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ, their intelligence is not yet clear.

Lecture on SB 1.2.12 -- Delhi, November 18, 1973:

So what is the result? Suppose one realizes Brahman realization. He is not mukta? Yes, he is mukta. That's all right. But the intelligence is not yet purified. Why? Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ (SB 10.2.32). After undergoing sever austerities and penances, they rise up to the Brahmaloka, paraṁ padam. Patanty adhaḥ, again falls down, again falls down. Why? Anādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ. Just like the impersonal sky. You can go in the sky with your seedy airplane, but if you don't get a shelter in any planet, you will have to come again.

Lecture on SB 1.2.12 -- Delhi, November 18, 1973:

The brahma-pada, the Supreme, paraṁ padam, it is called paraṁ padam... Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ (SB 10.2.32). Adhaḥ. They fall down. Therefore we see sometimes, big, big sannyāsīs, brahma satyaṁ jagan mithyā, they give up this world, take sannyāsa, but after some time they come to politics, to sociology. Why? If the jagat is mithyā, why you are interested in politics and sociology an welfare acts? That means anādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ: He could not get ānanda without being in touch with the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa. Therefore they come this ānanda. Ānanda. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa. This is practical.

Lecture on SB 1.2.20 -- Vrndavana, October 31, 1972:

Then we become very restless. Although it is very high in the sky, but we cannot remain in that way. Therefore śāstra says,

...āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ

patanty adho 'nādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ

Lecture on SB 1.2.32 -- Vrndavana, November 11, 1972:

One who does not take shelter of the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, he may rise up very high by austerity and penance, but he cannot remain in that position. He may give up artificially this material world, jagan mithyā, but he has to come down again to this mithyā jagat and open schools and hospitals, because he cannot remain in that impersonal way.

Only the Supreme God, Supreme Person, Īśvara, supreme controller, is Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam (SB 1.3.28). You are, why you are, rascal, trying to become Bhagavān, God? This is māyā. He does not know. He's thinking that "I have become God." This is māyā. Aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ (SB 10.2.32). Aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ means his intelligence is not yet cleansed. It's still dirty. Although he has undergone good austerities, penances or taken sannyāsa, but the mind is dirty. Mind is dirty. So that will not help.

Lecture on SB 1.5.14 -- New Vrindaban, June 18, 1969:

That enjoyment cannot be done in the impersonal or void philosophy. That is not possible. Therefore Bhāgavata says, ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninaḥ: "If somebody thinks that he has become liberated after undergoing the process of impersonal philosophy and austerities and penances..." The impersonalists, they also practice severe penances to attain to that Brahman stage. That is also nice thing. But they cannot stay there, because there is no enjoyment.

Lecture on SB 1.5.14 -- New Vrindaban, June 18, 1969:

Therefore, as I was saying the other day, that many sannyāsīs, they say that "This world is false; Brahman is truth." So in spite of their rising to that platform of Brahman understanding, they again come down. That is described in the Bhāgavatam, āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ: (SB 10.2.32) "After undergoing severe penances and austerities, they may rise to the Brahman platform but again falls down." Why falls down? Anādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ: "Because they do not enjoy Your association." They have neglected the association of Kṛṣṇa and company. Therefore they have no, I mean to say, shelter.

Lecture on SB 1.5.17-18 -- New Vrindaban, June 21, 1969:

Śama means controlling the mind. Satya, śama, dama, titikṣā, tolerance (BG 18.42) There are so many nice qualification. So if a brāhmaṇa does not discharge his duties, it is said that he becomes a śūdra, or falls down. Sthānād bhraṣṭaḥ patanty adhaḥ. So Nārada Muni says that "Suppose next life a brāhmaṇa falls down. He takes to Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

Lecture on SB 1.5.32 -- Vrndavana, August 13, 1974:

There must be knowledge and ānanda. So this monist theory, Advaitavāda, eternity, that may be achieved. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa, by severe penances and austerities, they can be attained. But patanty adhaḥ anādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ. That is the statement of Bhāgavata. They again fall down. Why? Anādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ. They could not get the information of the shelter of Kṛṣṇa, lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa. Without taking shelter of Kṛṣṇa, they fall down again. Patanty adhaḥ. Again.

Lecture on SB 1.7.6 -- Hyderabad, August 18, 1976:

Brahmeti paramātmeti bhagavān iti śabdyate. So if you want to understand Bhagavān... Brahman realization is possible. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padam (SB 10.2.32). This paraṁ padam, Brahman realization... And Paramātmā realization: dhyānāvasthita-tad-gatena manasā paśyanti yaṁ yoginaḥ (SB 12.13.1). But if you want to realize the last phase of the Absolute Truth it requires bhakti.

Lecture on SB 1.7.26 -- Vrndavana, September 2, 1976:

Sometimes we go to this demigod, to that demigod for some material perfection or ultimate liberation. But Kṛṣṇa can give you liberation within a second. That is Kṛṣṇa. Within a second. Otherwise, it is not very easy. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adho 'nādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ (SB 10.2.32). The jñānīs, they are trying for liberation and undergoing very severe type of austerity and penances. Kṛcchreṇa. Kṛcchreṇa means very severe type of austerities they undergo.

Lecture on SB 1.7.26 -- Vrndavana, September 2, 1976:

Kṛcchreṇa means very severe type of austerities they undergo. But still they fall down. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adho 'nādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ (SB 10.2.32). One who does not understand Kṛṣṇa, then his knowledge, his so-called jñāna... Maybe to some extent it is perfect, but it is not completely perfect. Completely perfect will be possible when you understand Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture on SB 1.7.41-42 -- Vrndavana, October 2, 1976:

That is the last snare of māyā. Therefore they fall down. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adho 'nādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ (SB 10.2.32). Anādṛta. With great austerity, penances and vairāgya, they can go up to the paraṁ padam.

Lecture on SB 1.7.41-42 -- Vrndavana, October 2, 1976:

Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ (SB 10.2.32). Why? Anādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ. Because one does not know, as Caitanya Mahāprabhu teaches, that gopī-bhartuḥ pada-kamalayor dāsa-dāsānudāsaḥ (CC Madhya 13.80). He falls down. He has no shelter. Anādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ.

Lecture on SB 1.8.18 -- Mayapura, September 28, 1974:

The māyā's influence is so strong that at the last stage... Therefore they fall down. These people, these Māyāvādīs who are trying to become God... Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ (SB 10.2.32). To merge into the existence of the Supreme. You can merge, but you cannot be equal. That is not possible. Asamordhva. But the Māyāvādīs, they are thinking, "We are as good as Kṛṣṇa."

Lecture on SB 1.8.18 -- Mayapura, September 28, 1974:

Therefore they do not go to the temple of Kṛṣṇa. Because they think self, Nārāyaṇa, Kṛṣṇa. But that is a mistake. Therefore śāstra says that ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninaḥ. They are thinking that they have become liberated, become Nārāyaṇa, Nārāyaṇa, God, but that is aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ. Because... They are thinking like that because their intelligence is not yet cleansed. Aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ. Therefore āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ anādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ (SB 10.2.32). Āruhya kṛcchreṇa, by performing severe austerities, penances, they come to the stage of merging in the Brahman effulgence, but that (does) not solve the problem. In the Brahman effulgence they fall down again.

Lecture on SB 1.8.32 -- Mayapura, October 12, 1974:

So Brahman realization without activity of Brahman will not allow you to stay in the Brahman position. You'll fall down. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ anādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ (SB 10.2.32). Patanty adhaḥ. By great austerities and penance, they can rise up to the paraṁ padam, ahaṁ brahmāsmi, brahma-pada. But āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ, from that place, patanty adhaḥ, again falls down in this material world. Why? Anādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ: "Because they did not learn how to honor Your lotus feet." Because they are impersonalists, they are—"God, or the Brahman, has no leg." So how they will take shelter of the leg or lotus feet? Impersonal.

Lecture on SB 1.8.42 -- Los Angeles, May 4, 1973:

Variety is the mother of enjoyment. That's a common saying. The Māyāvādī philosophers, they spoil the varieties, impersonalists. So what the result is? The result is āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ anādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ (SB 10.2.32). Bhāgavata says. They labor hard. They undergo severe penances. Just like our sannyāsīs, they can sit down here although there are many women.

Lecture on SB 1.8.42 -- Los Angeles, May 4, 1973:

Because they neglected to see the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, therefore, despite their severe penances and austerities, on account of not seeing the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, they come back again to this material world. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ (SB 10.2.32).

Lecture on SB 1.8.42 -- Mayapura, October 22, 1974:

That's, that's all right. Then Brahma satyam. That is theoretical. If you do not engage yourself as Brahman, then again you'll fall down. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ anādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ (SB 10.2.32). That you give up disgusting—"This is mithyā"—that's all right. But that is zero. And what is your positive engagement? That they do not know. Therefore, after some time they again come to be positively engaged in opening hospital and daridra-nārāyaṇa-sevā and this and that and so many things.

Lecture on SB 1.8.45 -- Mayapura, October 25, 1974:

The māyā is so strong. Therefore Bhāgavata says, "The impersonalists, Māyāvādīs, although they think that they have become one with the Supreme, but their intelligence is not yet complete." Ye 'nye, ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninaḥ. They think like that: "Now we have become perfect, Nārāyaṇa." But Bhāgavata says, "Sir, you may think like that, that you have become liberated, but you are not liberated because you are still in ignorance, because you are thinking one with the Supreme." Aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ: "Your intelligence is not yet perfect."

Lecture on SB 1.8.45 -- Mayapura, October 25, 1974:

Therefore Kṛṣṇa says, yatatām api siddhānāṁ kaścin māṁ vetti tattvataḥ (BG 7.3). Siddha... Jñānīs are siddhas. Yogis are siddhas. Although they are trying their best to become perfect, but still, they are missing Kṛṣṇa on account of aviśuddha-buddhi. And therefore āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ (SB 10.2.32). Although, by austerities, they come to that platform of brahma-anubhāva, Brahman realization, still, they fall down, anādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ, on account of neglecting to worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Lecture on SB 1.8.47 -- Mayapura, October 27, 1974:

You'll fall down. You'll fall down. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adho 'nādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ (SB 10.2.32). Simply negative process will not help you. You must take the positive position. So that is required. Otherwise, devotional service means vairāgya-vidyā. It is the transcendental education to become unattached to this material world. This is called vairāgya.

Lecture on SB 1.16.5 -- Los Angeles, January 2, 1974:

So going to the Brahman effulgence, simply realizing that "I am a spirit soul, I have nothing to do," that will not be beneficial. You will again come down. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adho 'nādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ (SB 10.2.32). If you do not get shelter, simply to remain in the impersonal Brahman effulgence will not make you happy. Artificially, you can stay there for some time; otherwise, you will again fall down in this material world for varieties of enjoyment.

Lecture on SB 1.16.6 -- Los Angeles, January 3, 1974:

So this negative process will not help us, śūnyavādi. Śūnyavādi. Nirviśeṣavādi. It will not be helpful. Therefore in the śāstra it is said that āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ anādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ (SB 10.2.32). The same example I have given several times, that these rascals, they are going to the moon planet and sun planet, but they do not get any shelter, and they come down again.

Lecture on SB 1.16.6 -- Los Angeles, January 3, 1974:

So this kind of artificial going up and making things negation will not help us. That is not possible. Therefore they are failure. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ (SB 10.2.32). These Māyāvādī philosophers, they may go very high by knowledge, by speculation, but they will again fall down. Why? Anādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ: "Because they could not get the shelter of Your lotus feet, therefore they will fall down." That is not secure.

Lecture on SB 1.16.17 -- Los Angeles, January 12, 1974:

Ultimately, that mental speculator remains in darkness, but he thinks that he has become liberated. This is another darkness. Another darkness. That is described in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam: ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninaḥ. He Aravindākṣa. Kṛṣṇa's name is... (baby starts crying) (aside:) You take him out. (long pause in lecture and everyone starts chanting while baby is crying and being taken out)

ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas

tvayy asta-bhāvād aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ

āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ

patanty adho 'nādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ

Lecture on SB 1.16.17 -- Los Angeles, January 12, 1974:

Prahlāda Mahārāja says, "My Lord," Aravinda-akṣa. Kṛṣṇa's another name... As I explained yesterday, God has no name, but He has got thousands and millions of names according to His relationship with the devotee or the world, like that. As I explained yesterday, Kṛṣṇa is called Devakī-nandana because He has got relationship with Devakī.

So here Kṛṣṇa is addressed, he aravindākṣa. Ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa. Ye anye. Anye means neglectfully, others. Prominent men are especially mentioned, "Here is Mr. such and such and such," and there are others. So these others, he aravindākṣa, ye 'nye. Who are that others? Ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninaḥ. The others means less intelligent class of men who are thinking that "I am now liberated. I have now become God by mystic yoga, by meditation." So therefore it is called māninaḥ. Māninaḥ means they are thinking wrongly like that.

Lecture on SB 1.16.17 -- Los Angeles, January 12, 1974:

This is their meditation. Perhaps you know. These rascals, these dogs, not gods, they think like that: "I am moving the sun, I am moving the earth..." Therefore it is called vimukta-māninaḥ. Mānina, thinking, foolishly thinking. Ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninaḥ.

Lecture on SB 1.16.17 -- Los Angeles, January 12, 1974:

If he has not surrendered to God, or Kṛṣṇa, then he is mūḍha. That is also explained in the Bhāgavata that ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninaḥ. Why they are so mūḍhas? Just like cause and effect. If a man has no money, he is called poor, poor man.

Lecture on SB 1.16.17 -- Los Angeles, January 12, 1974:

Similarly, if a man has no such sense to surrender unto God, he is mūḍha. He is mūḍha. So ye 'nye... But thinking that he has become liberated, he has become one with God, and he is God Himself, everyone is God. Therefore they are mūḍha. Ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninaḥ.

Lecture on SB 2.1.3 -- Vrndavana, March 18, 1974:

So Māyāvādī's position is like that. Māyāvādīs, they have got a... Because we are sure that we are going to Kṛṣṇa. But they have no Kṛṣṇa. Aiye. They have no Kṛṣṇa. Therefore they again come to this material world. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ (SB 10.2.32). Patanty adhaḥ anādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅ... Because they have no shelter, therefore they'll come back again within this material world.

Lecture on SB 2.9.3 -- Melbourne, April 5, 1972:

Again coming down. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa... Even if you go to the impersonal Brahman effulgence, from there also, you have to come back. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ (SB 10.2.32). So, madhya-dhāma gatvā punar janma na... But anyone who reaches The jīva, another reason of falling down.

Lecture on SB 3.25.5-6 -- Bombay, November 5, 1974:

So that is tattva-jñāna. Unless we understand the varieties of the Absolute Truth, if we simply stick to the indefinite, impersonal feature of the Absolute Truth, then there is chance of falling down. Generally, they fall down. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ anādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ (SB 10.2.32). Because they are not allowed to enter into the Vaikuṇṭha planets, they simply remaining in the Brahman effulgence, and that does not stay. They fall down.

Lecture on SB 3.25.17 -- Bombay, November 17, 1974:

And if you analyze, you'll find all the same ingredients, chemicals, within the small particle. But the small particle is never equal to the sea, small particle of the water. This is said... If I think, "Because I am qualitatively one with God, therefore I have become God," that is mistake. That is aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ (SB 10.2.32). They have been described in the śāstras as aviśuddha, unclean intelligence. Unclean intelligence. Ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninaḥ. The, some Māyāvādī philosophers, they think that "I am the same, so 'ham." So 'ham does not mean that I am equal to God. Nobody can be equal to God or greater than God. That is not God. Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad..., mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat kiñcid asti dhanañjaya (BG 7.7).

Lecture on SB 3.25.17 -- Bombay, November 17, 1974:

Therefore śāstra says, ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas tvayy asta-bhāvād aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ (SB 10.2.32). One who has advanced very much in spiritual knowledge, but he is thinking himself, "Now I have become liberated..." Sometimes they claim, "I have become Nārāyaṇa." Therefore Māyāvādīs, they address one another, "Namo nārāyaṇāya." Everyone has become Nārāyaṇa.

Lecture on SB 3.25.17 -- Bombay, November 17, 1974:

So we should not think like that. You may think that you have become liberated, you have got the position of Nārāyaṇa... That is all false thinking, aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ. They have been addressed as aviśuddha, nonpurified, buddhayaḥ, intelligence. Not intelligent. Ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas tvayy asta-bhāvāt (SB 10.2.32). This is... Why these things happen, one compares Nārāyaṇa with ordinary demigod or ordinary man? Because aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ, their intelligence is not purified.

Lecture on SB 3.25.17 -- Bombay, November 17, 1974:

So āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ (SB 10.2.32). Such persons, by severe austerities and penances, may elevate oneself to the position of Brahman. Still, āruhya kṛcchreṇa param... Paraṁ padam means brahma-pada. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ (SB 10.2.32). Again he falls down. Why? Anādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ: "Because they neglected to worship Your lotus feet." So unless one becomes devotee, there is no secure position in the spiritual world.

Lecture on SB 3.25.17 -- Bombay, November 17, 1974:

You cannot be happy. You want some planet, but if you cannot get planet, then again you come back in this planet. So āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ (SB 10.2.32). Again in this material world. Therefore we have to take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That is real self-realization. And what is that? Very simple thing. Kṛṣṇa says, janma karma me divyaṁ yo jānāti tattvataḥ.

Lecture on SB 3.25.22 -- Bombay, November 22, 1974:

I have repeatedly said that cure of disease is all right, but after curing, if you are not engaged in your healthy activities, then means, that means that your disease is again, will be relapsed. The śāstra says therefore, āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ (SB 10.2.32). One sometimes, after practicing much severe austerities and penances, he can approach the Brahman, paraṁ padam, that is Brahman realization, or Brahmaloka. Patanty adhaḥ. But from there also you will fall down. Why? Anādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ. Because they did not care to worship the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Lecture on SB 3.25.29 -- Bombay, November 29, 1974:

Na śocati na..., samaḥ sarveṣu. But you have to enter into the parā-bhakti. Then your self-realization will stand. Otherwise again you will fall down. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ anādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ (SB 10.2.32).

Lecture on SB 3.25.33-34 -- Bombay, December 3, 1974:

And those who are not full in knowledge, in full knowledge, and, but thinking that they have become liberated, conception of this body... That is theoretical, not practical. Theoretical. Ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninaḥ. They are thinking that they have become now liberated, Nārāyaṇa. Now he has become equal with Nārāyaṇa. Therefore the Māyāvādīs, because they have become Nārāyaṇa, one with Nārāyaṇa, they are addressing one another, "Namo nārāyaṇāya." "You are Nārāyaṇa, I am Nārāyaṇa, and the everyone is Nārāyaṇa." Then daridra-nārāyaṇa, rich Nārāyaṇa, this Nārāyaṇa.

Lecture on SB 3.25.33-34 -- Bombay, December 3, 1974:

No pure devotee will desire like that. It is foolish proposal. Aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ. They are called aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ, whose intelligence is not yet clear or purified. Ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninaḥ. They are thinking, "Now we have become spiritually realized, vimukta, liberated from material bondage." Ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninaḥ. Aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ (SB 10.2.32). Patanty adhaḥ. Now, they are thinking, "Now we are liberated. We have become Nārāyaṇa." Vimukta-māninaḥ.

Lecture on SB 3.25.33-34 -- Bombay, December 3, 1974:

So if you want oneness, so you will be allowed outside the Vaikuṇṭha planet in the brahma-jyotir. But there you cannot stay. That is the difficulty. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ (SB 10.2.32). Because we want varieties of enjoyment... In the brahma-jyotir you are simply live eternally, but there is no varieties. But because these persons, they have no information of the Vaikuṇṭha varieties, they have to come down again to these material varieties. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ anādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ (SB 10.2.32). This is the process.

Lecture on SB 3.25.36 -- Bombay, December 5, 1974:

It is not perfect knowledge. Therefore I have said several times that the Brahman realization, those who are Brahman realized souls, they are not in perfect knowledge. Aviśuddha-buddhi. They have been described as aviśuddha. Viśuddha means very purified, and "a" means "not." Aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ (SB 10.2.32). Their intelligence is not yet perfectly purified. Aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ. Ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa.

Lecture on SB 3.26.9 -- Bombay, December 21, 1974:

Buddhi means intelligence. They have no intelligence. We cannot say no intelligence, but aviśuddha. Aviśuddha, means it is not purified. Anyone who is claiming to be on the equal level with the Supreme, their intelligence is not yet purified. Aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ. Ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas tvayy asta-bhāvād aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ (SB 10.2.32). Because these Māyāvādī philosophers, they have no knowledge of the Supreme Personality of... They cannot believe that the Absolute Truth can be a person. They cannot believe it.

Lecture on SB 3.26.30 -- Bombay, January 7, 1975:

So even these Siddhalokas, the inhabitants who are by nature born perfect in yoga-siddhis, they also could not enter into the Vaikuṇṭhaloka. And karmīs, they go up to the heavenly planet. And jñānīs, they may go up to Brahman effulgence. Paraṁ padam. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padam (SB 10.2.32). Āruhya kṛcch... They elevate themself very high, so much so that they enter the spiritual world, paraṁ padam.

Lecture on SB 3.26.30 -- Bombay, January 7, 1975:

So why if they have gone to the spiritual world and stays in the Brahman effulgence and still they are māninaḥ, not certain? Yes. Why? Because they cannot stay there. This is very logical argument and statement of the Vedic literature. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ (SB 10.2.32). They fall down because they do not get ānanda.

Lecture on SB 3.26.30 -- Bombay, January 7, 1975:

Therefore, śāstra says, āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ anādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ (SB 10.2.32). This class of men, although after severe penance and austerities, āruhya kṛcchreṇa, very severe penance and austerities performing... The Māyāvādī sannyāsī, those who are really following the principles, their life is very strict, stricter than the Vaiṣṇavas'.

Lecture on SB 3.26.42 -- Bombay, January 17, 1975:

Even artificially we try to become nirviśeṣa, variety-less, our constitutional position is that we want variety. How it can be stopped? Therefore in the śāstra it is said, the so-called Māyāvādī, impersonalist, monist, āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ (SB 10.2.32), although they get up to the position of oneness, monist, but from that position they fall down. Why? Anādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ anādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ (SB 10.2.32). Because they have no information of the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, where to enjoy ānanda, ānandamayo 'bhyāsāt (Vedānta-sūtra 1.1.12), and they are by nature seeking after ānanda, this so-called oneness, monism, that will not please them.

Lecture on SB 3.26.42 -- Bombay, January 17, 1975:

Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ (SB 10.2.32). And as soon as you are engaged in the service of māyā, that is your adhaḥ patanti. Adhaḥ patanti. As we, all these materialistic person who are within this material, you are serving māyā... Everyone is serving.

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

You can become qualitatively one with Kṛṣṇa, but if you think that you have become Kṛṣṇa, Māyāvāda philosophy, that means your heart is not yet cleansed. Ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas tvayy asta-bhāvād aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ (SB 10.2.32). Those who are thinking that... It is called ahaṅgrahopāsanā, ekatvena, to become one. One in quality, not in quantity. We cannot become God. That is not possible.

Lecture on SB 5.5.1 -- Vrndavana, October 23, 1976:

So I can eat. That is enjoyment. But if I lose my existence, I become the food, then where is the enjoyment? No. The enjoyment is: "The food is there, I am there, I shall eat and enjoy." That means dvaita. Monism is not enjoyment, and therefore they fall down: āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adho (SB 10.2.32). Brahma-sukha, do not think to become Brahman or to become one with Brahman...

Lecture on SB 5.5.1 -- Vrndavana, October 23, 1976:

If it is actually sukha, then why in the śāstra it is said, āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adho (SB 10.2.32)? By very severe austerities they come to the Brahman platform, monism, to become one with the Supreme, but from there he falls down. Why falls down? Anādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ. Because they have no information of the shelter of the lotus feet of the Lord.

Lecture on SB 5.5.2 -- Hyderabad, April 11, 1975:

That is explained in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam: āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adho 'nādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ (SB 10.2.32). They may rise up to the paraṁ padam, brahma-pada, but anādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ, because they could not take up the service of the lotus feet of the Lord, they fall down.

Lecture on SB 5.5.2 -- Hyderabad, April 11, 1975:

They give up this world as mithyā and again come to politics, again come to philanthropic work. Why? If jagat is mithyā, why you are coming to politics and philanthropic work? That is āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ (SB 10.2.32). Again they fall down.

Lecture on SB 5.5.18 -- Vrndavana, November 6, 1976:

The whole center is how to satisfy Kṛṣṇa. That oneness is required. Not that I become one with Kṛṣṇa. That is not possible. Therefore śāstra says, āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ anādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ: (SB 10.2.32) when they do not agree to serve Kṛṣṇa, then they come back in this material world, again they begin to serve the society, to serve the country, to serve the daridra-nārāyaṇa, to serve this, that, that, that, that. So āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ, even they go to the Brahman effulgence, because they do not agree to serve Kṛṣṇa, anādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ they again come back to serve the society, friendship, and daridra-nārāyaṇa, so on, so on, so on.

Lecture on SB 5.5.21-22 -- Vrndavana, November 9, 1976:

Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adho anādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ (SB 10.2.32). That means consciousness is fully developed when he is a devotee, when one adores the lotus feet of the Lord. Yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ. So those who are promoted even to the Brahmajyoti, they are also not fully conscious. Fully conscious means a devotee.

Lecture on SB 5.5.25 -- Vrndavana, November 12, 1976:

Kṣīṇe puṇye punar martya-lokaṁ viśanti. Similarly, even you go to the Brahman effulgence, brahma-jyotir, āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padam (SB 10.2.32). That is called paraṁ padam. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ. Again you fall down.

Lecture on SB 5.5.34 -- Vrndavana, November 21, 1976:

The Māyāvāda philosophy means stop doing. Jagat mithyā: there is no more activities. That cannot stay. That is artificial. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tathā patanty adhaḥ (SB 10.2.32). If you give up this world as material—you have nothing to do—then you'll fall down again. Patanty adhaḥ. This is the śāstra injunction. So therefore our Gosvāmīs, under the śāstra..., that "Engage yourself in Kṛṣṇa activities; otherwise you will fall down." Īhā yasya harer dāsye karmaṇā manasā vacā.

Lecture on SB 6.1.15 -- Honolulu, May 15, 1976:

Then athāto brahma jijñāsā, jñāna. Jñāna also, theoretical. It has been seen that theoretical knowledge, even one has come to the platform of Brahman... Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adho (SB 10.2.32). There are many examples. Simply theoretical knowledge will not help us. Our main aim is how to become perfect.

Lecture on SB 6.1.22 -- Indore, December 13, 1970:

Similarly, brahma-jyotir is like that, just like sunshine, but you cannot rest there. If you want rest, then you have to take shelter under the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa. That is stated in the Bhāgavatam. Ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas: (SB 10.2.32) Those who are in the impersonal situation, they think themselves that they have become liberated. Exactly the same example. Suppose you are very high in the sunshine. Do you think, "Now I am liberated from worldly connection.

Lecture on SB 6.1.22 -- Indore, December 13, 1970:

That is stated in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Because they have no rest, they become perturbed. Therefore this śloka says, ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas tvayy asta-bhāvād aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ: (SB 10.2.32) "Because these impersonalists, although they are almost liberated, still, on account of their negligence to the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord, without having shelter, their intelligence is not purified still." They are simply accepting something opposite to these imperfect varieties of this material world.

Lecture on SB 6.1.25 -- Chicago, July 9, 1975:

So the kingdom of God is not devoid of varieties. There are the real varieties. Therefore ordinary man cannot understand what is Kṛṣṇa. They do not understand, because they have been described in the śāstra as aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ: their core of heart is not yet cleansed. Aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ (SB 10.2.32). It is said in the śāstra, in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, that ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninaḥ. These jñānīs, they are thinking that "Now we have become liberated because we have learned to distinguish between the shadow and reality." So... But they cannot enjoy reality because they are śūnyavādī, nirviśeṣa. They cannot believe that here there is ball dance and there is Kṛṣṇa dancing with the gopīs—it is the same thing.

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

Just like there are many molecular particles in the sunshine, similarly, the living entities also can cluster together and live as a small particle of spiritual shining, and that is called brahma-sāyujya-mukti. But that kind of existence is subjected to fall down again.

ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas

tvayy asta-bhāvād aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ

āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ

patanty adho...

Lecture on SB 6.1.55 -- London, August 13, 1975:

Because the living entities, they want varieties of enjoyment, but in that impersonal existence there is no varieties of enjoyment, therefore, when they desire varieties of enjoyment, they have come to this material world.

Even if you give up for the time being, that jagat mithyā—"We have no business with the jagat"—it may be sentimentally enduring for some time, but because you are not purified, therefore Bhāgavata says, ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas tvayy asta-bhāvād aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ (SB 10.2.32). Simply to understand that "I am not this material body, so I have nothing to do with this body, and I am spirit soul," simply this much knowledge is not perfect.

Lecture on SB 6.1.55 -- London, August 13, 1975:

Ahaṁ brahmāsmi: I am Brahman," but they do not understand the Supreme Brahman, Para-brahman, Kṛṣṇa. They do not understand. Therefore śāstra says, ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninaḥ. Because they have understood what is the difference between spirit and matter, that knowledge is not perfect. He aravindākṣa. Anye. They are thinking, "Now we have understood what is spirit and what... Therefore we are liberated. We are the... Aham. So 'ham: I have become the same." So for them the śāstra says, ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas tvayy asta-bhāvād (SB 10.2.32). Tvayy means "unto You, Kṛṣṇa." They have not understood yet what is Kṛṣṇa, the Puruṣa, the Supreme Puruṣa. Tvayy asta-bhāvād aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ. Therefore their intelligence is not yet clear.

Lecture on SB 6.2.14 -- Vrndavana, September 17, 1975:

I am spirit." But that much understanding will not help. It may be helpful for some time, but because he is bereft of ānanda, he will fall down. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adho 'nādṛta yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ (SB 10.2.32). Ānanda you cannot get without being a servant of the Supreme Lord. That is ānanda, reciprocation(?). That is Vṛndāvana. There is ānanda, cinmāya, ānanda, because everyone is engaged in the service of Kṛṣṇa. The cowherd boys, the calves, the cows, the birds, the beasts, the trees, the water, the father, mother, playmates—everyone—Kṛṣṇa is the center.

Lecture on SB 6.3.16-17 -- Gorakhpur, February 10, 1971:

Everyone will be engaged in his individual activity. Therefore, according to Bhagavat-siddhānta, āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanti (SB 10.2.32). The individual soul who simply tries to merge into the effulgence, Brahman effulgence...

Lecture on SB 6.3.16-17 -- Gorakhpur, February 10, 1971:

Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padam (SB 10.2.32). That is called paraṁ padam. But again says, patanty adhaḥ: "But they still, again they are prone to fall down." Why they fall down? Anādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ: "Because they do not care for Your lotus feet."

Lecture on SB 6.3.16-17 -- Gorakhpur, February 10, 1971:

Therefore this devotional service is Brahman activity. One can stay. Without this Brahman activity, even one is elevated to the Brahman position, he falls down. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adho anādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ (SB 10.2.32). They are not very much inclined or decline practically to accept this devotional service.

Lecture on SB 7.6.1 -- Madras, January 2, 1976:

They think that they have become mukta. But actually they are not muktas. Ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninaḥ. He is thinking like that. Why? Aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ (SB 10.2.32). His intelligence is not yet purified. As soon as it is purified, then it is bhakti.

Lecture on SB 7.6.2 -- Vrndavana, December 3, 1975:

So there is no question of oneness. This oneness is false. There must be separate existence. Then there is satisfaction. A friend loves his friend and the other friend exchanges love. That is satisfaction, not that, "You are my friend and I am your friend. Let us become one." That is not possible and that is not satisfaction. Therefore those who are Māyāvādīs to become one with the Supreme, they do not know what is satisfaction really. Artificially they try to become one. That is not satisfaction. Ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas tvayy asta-bhāvād aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ (SB 10.2.32). The Māyāvādī thinks that "Now I have realized Brahman. I am Brahman, spirit soul. So I'll become one with the supreme spirit soul as soon as this body is finished."

Lecture on SB 7.6.2 -- Vrndavana, December 3, 1975:

Gatākāśa potakāśa, it is said. But that is not real satisfaction. Ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninaḥ. They think, "Now I am liberated. I am one with the Supreme." But actually he is artificially thinking that. Ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas tvayy asta-bhāvād aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ. Because they have no right information how to become satisfied fully, therefore they are aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ. Their intelligence is not yet pure. It is impure, again material. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adho anādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ (SB 10.2.32).

Lecture on SB 7.6.2 -- Vrndavana, December 3, 1975:

The service cannot be rejected. But because aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ, not properly trained up, still his unclean state of mind, instead of serving Kṛṣṇa, because he is hankering after giving service but being nirākāra, nirviśeṣa, without Kṛṣṇa, then where he will serve? The service spirit, how it will be utilized? Therefore they come back again—country, society... Once they give up, brahma satyaṁ jagan mithyā: "These are all mithyā." But they do not know that actually giving service is real blissful life. That they do not know. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ (SB 10.2.32). Therefore they fall down, again material activities.

Lecture on SB 7.6.9 -- Vrndavana, December 11, 1975:

One who is already mixed, or merged into the Brahman, they fall down. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ (SB 10.2.32). Why? Anādṛta yusmad aṅghrayaḥ. Unless one is very rigid devotee, even he has approached the other feature—that means the Brahman feature: Brahman, Paramātmā and Bhagavān—so he falls down, very, very easily. And why? That is this attachment—sneha-pāśair dṛḍhair baddham. Dṛḍhair baddham.

Lecture on SB 7.9.1 -- Mayapur, February 8, 1976:

If he wants to become so, then he falls down. Then whatever little light was there, fire, it becomes extinguished. If the spark out of impudency wants to try to become the big fire, then he falls down. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ (SB 10.2.32). Āruhya kṛcchreṇa, by severe austerities and penances you can rise up to the impersonal Brahman, but you'll fall down again. That is the fact.

Lecture on SB 7.9.1 -- Mayapur, February 8, 1976:

So many persons, they are trying to become merged into the existence of the Supreme Brahman, but the result is they are falling down. They must fall down. It is not possible. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adho anādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ (SB 10.2.32). Without taking care to worship the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, they are falling down. So we should be very, very careful not to try to become equal or greater than Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture on SB 7.9.3 -- Mayapur, February 17, 1977:

In this way one gets his original position. But if we do not take to bhakti, then we may enter into the Brahman effulgence, but there is chance of falling down. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adho 'nādṛta-yusmad-aṅghrayaḥ (SB 10.2.32). So those who are impersonalist, they may enter into the spiritual kingdom. That is called paraṁ padaṁ. Padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadāṁ na teṣām (SB 10.14.58).

Lecture on SB 7.9.8 -- Calcutta, March 5, 1972:

Actually, they could not stay there. Why they come back? Why they come back? That is either false or they have no qualification to stay there. So who cannot stay in the Brahman platform? The nondevotee. That is stated. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ (SB 10.2.32). Just like as you go to the moon planet but if you cannot stay there, you must have to come down again to this planet; similarly, one may rise up to the Brahman platform, paraṁ-pada, which is called paraṁ-pada, but if you cannot stay there, then again you fall down.

Lecture on SB 7.9.8 -- Calcutta, March 5, 1972:

So brahma-pada, you can rise up. But if you do not engage yourself in the service of Bhagavān, then again you come down. āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adho 'nādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ (SB 10.2.32). Because they could not engage their service to the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, therefore, these so-called sannyāsīs again come down to this material platform and engage their service to the mithyā.

Lecture on SB 7.9.21 -- Mayapur, February 28, 1976:

The Māyāvādīs, they persist on this point, that "I am God." The māyā is working there. Māyā is working there still, although he is thinking that "I am now liberated. I have become Nārāyaṇa." Ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninaḥ. He is thinking that "I am God." That means he is in the darkest region of māyā, and still, he is thinking that he's liberated. He is thinking what he's not. At the present moment, you'll find, the whole world is filled up with these rascals.

Lecture on SB 7.9.29 -- Mayapur, March 7, 1976:

And because they cannot enter into the Vaikuṇṭha planet, they again fall down, again fall down in this material world. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adho 'nādṛta-yusmad-aṅghrayaḥ (SB 10.2.32). Patanty adhaḥ. Adhaḥ means in this material world. Those who are impersonalists, they may enter into the Brahman effulgence, āruhya kṛcchreṇa, with severe execution of penance and austerities. The Māyāvādīs, they perform severe austerity.

Lecture on SB 7.9.29 -- Mayapur, March 7, 1976:

So even after severe penances and austerities one enters into the Brahman effulgence, there is no security. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ (SB 10.2.32). Why they come down? Now, anādṛta-yusmad-aṅghrayaḥ: "Because they did not get the information about Your lotus feet." That means person.

Nectar of Devotion Lectures

The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, October 17, 1972:

So this so-called sannyāsī, brahma satyaṁ jagan mithyā... (Break) ...in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tato patanty adhaḥ (SB 10.2.32). These ...(pause, fumbling with the microphone, Hindi) Brahma satyaṁ jagan mithyā. Jagat is not mithyā. To the Vaiṣṇava, to the devotee, we cannot accept that this jagat, this world is false. No. How it can be false? Suppose you enter in a very beautiful garden, very nicely trees, (indistinct) so many nice flowers, building.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, October 17, 1972:

The nondevotees, the karmīs, jñānīs, yogis, they actually do not relish the sweetness of the creation of Kṛṣṇa. Therefore Bhāgavata says, ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninaḥ. "So persons who are thinking that they have become liberated by their own ways," ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa, ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninaḥ tvay asta-bhāvād aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ (SB 10.2.32), "actually they have not tasted the Absolute Truth. Therefore their intelligence is not yet purified." Aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ. Anyone who has not reached to the point of surrendering to Kṛṣṇa, it is to be understood that his intelligence is in, still incomplete.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Bombay, December 27, 1972:

Therefore śūnyavādi, or nirviśeṣa-vādi, they are not liberated. They are still in māyā. Vimukta-māninaḥ. In the Bhāgavata it is said that they are thinking, concocting that they have become liberated. Actually they are not liberated. Ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninaḥ. Māninaḥ. Say somebody thinks that "I'm the proprietor of all the banks." Let him think like that. But that does not mean he has become the proprietor of the banks.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Bombay, December 27, 1972:

That is a different thing. Similarly, one may think that "I have become liberated," but actually he's not liberated. Liberated is he who is engaged in the service of the Lord. He's liberated. Nobody's liberated. Ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas tvayy asta-bhāvād aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ (SB 10.2.32). Just like they are going to the Moon planet. They have got very high speed sputniks. Simply riding on, boarding on high-speed sputnik does not mean he has gone to the moon planet.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Bombay, December 27, 1972:

Actually he has to go there and live there. Then it is successful. But what they are doing? They are going and coming back. They are going and coming back. Similarly, āruhya kṛcchṛeṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanti adhaḥ (SB 10.2.32). If you have to stay in the higher status of life, brahma anubhūti, then you'll have to come back again.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Bombay, December 27, 1972:

Similarly, āruhya kñcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ, patanti adhaḥ anādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ. Because they cannot get shelter under the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, they have to come down again to these material activities. And we have seen practically, so many big, big sannyāsīs, they give up this material world, take sannyāsa to understand Brahman, but because they could not understand Brahman, they again come to open hospital and schools. That is their business. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanti adhaḥ (SB 10.2.32).

The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, October 20, 1972:

Similarly, the so-called mukti, jñānīs, they merge into the existence, Brahman existence, of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Nirbheda-brahmānusandhana. Nirbheda, without any distinction, enter, merge into the Brahman. That is also bandhana, bondage. Why? Because we find in the śāstras: āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ (SB 10.2.32). Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padam. Paraṁ padam means brahma-pada, to merge into the effulgence, brahma-jyotir. That is called paraṁ pada.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, October 20, 1972:

That is called āruhya kṛcchreṇa. Kṛcchreṇa, with great difficulty, they merge into the Brahman effulgence. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padam (SB 10.2.32). They attain in the perfectional stage. Not perfectional. Paraṁ padam. In the spiritual realm. But patanty adhaḥ. Again falls down. Again falls down means because in the effulgence there is no varieties. The example is just like you have got a nice sputnik or, what is called...?

The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, October 20, 1972:

Similarly, the nondevotees, the impersonalists, they undergo severe penances and austerities undoubtedly, and they rise up to the brahma-jyotir... Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ (SB 10.2.32). From there, he again falls down. Same example. Why? Anādhṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ. Because they did not care for the shelter under the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, therefore they have to come back again to this material world.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, October 20, 1972:

Otherwise, if one artificially renounce this material world, and he does not get real shelter unto the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, he'll fall down. That's a fact. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ anādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ (SB 10.2.32). So if you want to stay attached to the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, then you must always keep yourself busy in the transcendental loving service of Lord.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Bombay, December 28, 1972:

So that is not our ultimate goal. The ultimate goal is to take shelter unto the lotus feet of the Lord. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ. Ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas (SB 10.2.32). Simply to concoct that I become, I have become liberated. And, that... Ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninaḥ tvayy asta-bhāvād aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ. They, those who are thinking that they have become liberated simply by merging into the Brahman effulgence, they are aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ, they are still, their intelligence is not very clear, not purified.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Bombay, December 28, 1972:

Why? Now, although they have gone there, and thinking that they are liberated, āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ patanti (SB 10.2.32), they'll fall down. They cannot remain there. Because there is no varieties. And our life, because we are living entities, we want varieties.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, October 21, 1972:

I have several times explained that many persons on the platform of liberation also falls down. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ anādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ (SB 10.2.32). One who does not take shelter of the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, even he is raised to the platform of liberation, there is chance of fall down.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, October 21, 1972:

Āruhya kṛcchṛena paraṁ padam. Paraṁ padam means liberation, not material platform, but paraṁ padam. spiritual platform. Spiritual platform means liberation. So unless one is attached to... Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ (SB 10.2.32), why they fall down? Anādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ. One who neglects to worship the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, even he is on the liberation platform, mukti, there is chance of falling down. And there are many examples. Go on.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Bombay, January 2, 1973:

That is the verdict of, I mean to, Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ anādṛtaḥ-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ (SB 10.2.32). Because they could not search out the shelter of the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, they have to come down again to this material existence, which they left as mithyā.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Bombay, January 2, 1973:

There is God. "Who is God? Who is Viṣṇu?" No information. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ (SB 10.2.32). So without understanding Viṣṇu, without understanding Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, all other attempts, they are not successful. That is the verdict of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninaḥ. Without understanding Kṛṣṇa, if one is thinking that "I have become liberated," that is vimukta-maninaḥ. He's thinking like that.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Bombay, January 2, 1973:

Aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ. Because his intelligence is not yet clear. Still it is contaminated by māyā. Therefore āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ anādṛtaḥ-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ (SB 10.2.32). Āruhya kṛcchreṇa. The, they take too much hardship for rising to the Brahman platform, nirviśeṣa Brahman platform. Kṛccha sādhana.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Bombay, January 7, 1973:

So, so if you want to fulfill all the pleasures of life, sat-cit-ānanda, then you have to take shelter of Kṛṣṇa. The śāstra says, āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ anādṛtaḥ-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ (SB 10.2.32). One who has no information of Kṛṣṇa, one who does not take shelter of the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, he may take the sāyujya-mukti after severe penances and austerities, but again he'll fall down, because he wants ānanda.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Bombay, January 7, 1973:

So for want of spiritual variety, you'll again like to come into the material variety. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ anādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ. Ye 'nye ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas (SB 10.2.32). So this kind of mukti is not first-class mukti. Therefore Vaiṣṇavas, they do not want it. Vaiṣṇava does not want any kind of mukti. This Vaiṣṇava wants simply to remain in the service of the Lord.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Bombay, January 7, 1973:

You must act as Brahman. You must get pleasure acting as Brahman. Then there will be ānanda. Otherwise, it is not possible. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ (SB 10.2.32). These are the śāstric injunctions.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, October 27, 1972:

Our philosophy is go back to home, back to Godhead. Not in the spiritual sky. Paravyoma. Spiritual sky, there is chance of falling down. Why chance? It is sure. Those who are merging into the Brahman effulgence, the śāstra says that they again fall down. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ (SB 10.2.32). Āruhya kṛcchreṇa. They, jñānīs, they undergo severe austerities, penances to merge into the existence of impersonal Brahman. But they fall down again. They fall down again because they have no shelter. Anādhṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ. As, as in this sky, there are many planets.

The shark fish is within the water of the sea, and there is no question of evaporation. The water may be evaporated. So our point is, from śāstra we can understand,

ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas

tvayy asta-bhāvād aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ

āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ

patanty adho 'nādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ

The point is that simply mixing with the sea water is not final salvation. Because the same example. The water is evaporated, again turns into cloud, then again falls, the same water again falls on the ground, then again glides down.

Just like the fish, the comparison of the fish, the shark fish. He has taken shelter of the ocean. Therefore the, for him there is no evaporation. The water, although it is also sea water, that, that is subjected to be evaporated. So simply by entering into the Brahman effulgence is not safe. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adho (SB 10.2.32).

So our Bhakti-rasāmṛta teaches, just, just become a shark fish or even small fish. Actually there are many types of fishes, even a small fish, that also not become evaporated. That remains in this water, because it has taken shelter completely of the ocean. Similarly, if you take shelter of Kṛṣṇa, of the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, there is no chance of falling down. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adho 'nādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ (SB 10.2.32). Those who are not taking shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, there is chance of falling down. Brahmā satyaṁ jagan mithyā, they take shelter of Brahman, and reject this world, material world as mithyā, but unless they take shelter of the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, he cannot stay there. He has to again come back. That is the position.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, November 2, 1972:

Similarly, Americans are feeling, Chinese are feeling, identifying, that we have made compartment. No, if you feel as Kṛṣṇa conscious, that feeling is perfect. Otherwise, these feeling, temporary āruhya, patanty adhaḥ. This is a fact. Now I have got Indian body, suppose, but next life there is no guarantee in human body. Next life, even if I get Indian body, if I become a cow or goat, then I'll be sent to the slaughterhouse. So, this, these are not guarantees.

So many sages and saintly persons are trying to become liberated, mukta, to merge into the existence of impersonal Brahman. But because they have no information of Kṛṣṇa, or they do not like to surrender to Kṛṣṇa, they fall down. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ (SB 10.2.32).

The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, November 8, 1972:

That is stated in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam: āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ anādṛta yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ (SB 10.2.32). Āruhya kṛcchreṇ... By great austerity, auspici..., and penance, one may rise up to the platform of Brahman realization, paraṁ padam. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ patanty adhaḥ (SB 10.2.32). Again he falls down. We have seen many big, big sannyāsī. they give up this world as brahma satyaṁ jagan mithyā, false. But after some time, when they cannot actually realize Brahman, they again come to this jagat for humanitarian work, for welfare activities.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, November 8, 1972:

Therefore those who are impersonalists, they think that they have become liberated. Actually, they are not liberated. The Bhāgavata says, vimukta-māninaḥ. Ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa, ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninaḥ. They are thinking like that. Actually, their intelligence is not yet completely purified. Aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ (SB 10.2.32). So even Brahma-sukha, the happiness derived from realization of Brahman, is not perfect.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, November 8, 1972:

That brahma-bhūtaḥ state is a preliminary qualification to enter into devotional service. But if one does not enter into devotional service, anādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ, neglects the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, then patanty adhaḥ. These are the statements, authoritative statements.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, November 9, 1972:

They simply think that they have become liberated. Actually, they are not liberated. Otherwise, how they come down again to the platform of bondage? This is the answer. Ye 'nye ravindākṣa vimukta-māninaḥ. Vimukta-māninaḥ. These impersonalists, they are thinking falsely that they have become Nārāyaṇa, or liberated. Actually, it is not so? Why? Aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ, their intelligence is not yet purified. Because there is material attachment, that means the intelligence is still materially affected.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, November 9, 1972:

The intelligence is not yet purified. Why it is not purified? That is also explained: āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padam (SB 10.2.32). By severe austerities, penances, they follow very strictly the rules and regulation of renouncement. That is called kṛccha sādhana, difficult procedure for self-realization. But despite all these endeavors, because their intelligence is not purified, they fall down. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padam (SB 10.2.32). They realize, actually, the impersonal Brahman, nirbheda-brahmānusandhana. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ patanty adhaḥ. Again they fall down from that platform. Why? Anādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ. Because they could not adore the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa. On account of their impersonal impression, they could not appreciate the transcendental, sac-cid-ananda vigraha (Bs. 5.1) of Kṛṣṇa, and could not surrender there. Kṛṣṇa therefore says, bahūnāṁ janmanām ante jñānavān māṁ prapadyate (BG 7.19).

The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, November 9, 1972:

The Absolute Truth is realized as impersonal Brahman, then Paramātmā, then the Supreme Personality of Godhead. So unless a wise jñānavān, jñānī, does not reach to the platform of understanding the personality, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, his intelligence is still not very much purified.

ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninaḥ

tvayy asta-bhāvād aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ

āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ

patanty adhaḥ anādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ

The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, November 9, 1972:

Because unless we get some shelter, we cannot stay in the impersonal feature. Just like yesterday I spoke that you may go very high on your sputnik or airplane, but if you don't get any shelter in some planet, then you have to come back again on this planet.

So unless and until we have got a stay in the Vaikuṇṭha planets, which are situated in the Brahman effulgence, then simply in the impersonal Brahman effulgence we cannot stay, because there is no variety. Therefore to enjoy variety, one has to come down again to this material variety. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ anādṛta, anādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ (SB 10.2.32). Because we are living entities, part and parcel of the supreme living entity, Param Brahman, Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa, so, as Śrī Kṛṣṇa is by nature joyful, ānandamayo 'bhyāsāt (Vedānta-sūtra 1.1.12), similarly we are also joyful. We are also seeking after that joyful life.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, November 9, 1972:

So āruhya kṛcchrena paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ (SB 10.2.32). Because they have no information of the spiritual varieties in the Vaikuṇṭha planets, in the Goloka Vṛndāvana planet, they come down, because there is no bhakti. In the Vaikuṇṭha planets or Goloka Vṛndāvana planet, nobody can enter unless he's a pure devotee.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, November 9, 1972:

And they cannot remain perpetually in the impersonal Brahman effulgence. They come down again to these material varieties. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ (SB 10.2.32). They cannot go upwards. They come, come down. That we have practically seen. All big, big swamis, all Vedantists, but they could not find. Even big, big swamis, they are now taking to Bhāgavata and other Vaiṣṇava literature at the present moment. Because their own literature is finished.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, November 10, 1972:

That is also not actual happiness, because, as I was explaining this morning, that even one merges into the Brahman effulgence after severe penances and austerity, there is chance of falling down. There is chance. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanti (SB 10.2.32). Paraṁ pada is to merge into the Brahman effulgence existence. But from there also, one falls down, as I was giving the example of many big sannyāsīs in the modern age. They are very learned scholar.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Calcutta, January 29, 1973:

This kind of conception, that "I shall become God," or "I shall declare myself God," this is also material conception. This is not spiritual conception. Spiritually, nobody can become God except God. But he has no knowledge of God. He's thinking that he's God. Vimukta-māninaḥ. Tvayy asta-bhāvād. Ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninaḥ. Māninaḥ means taking for granted that "I've become liberated. I have become God." And I advertise, and some foolish people, they adore me: "Oh, here is God. Here is Bala-yogi incarnation, God." So such cheap God, we don't accept. We want to see that Kṛṣṇa, at seven years old, He lifted Govardhana Hill.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Calcutta, January 29, 1973:

Bhavānanda: "One must know that he is finite and that the Lord is infinite. Thus it is not possible to actually become one with the Lord even if one aspires for this."

Prabhupāda: Yes. Simply desiring... Tvayy aviśuddha-bhāva. Ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninaḥ. Māninaḥ. Maliya (Hindi) Ne. Not like that. Go on.

Bhavānanda: "Therefore anyone who has any desire or aspiration for satisfying his senses by becoming more and more important, either in the material sense or in the spiritual sense, cannot actually relish the really sweet taste of devotional service.

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures

Lecture on CC Adi-lila 7.3 -- Mayapur, March 3, 1974:

He was the biggest yogi, Viśvāmitra Muni. Similarly, there are many so-called jñānīs also, trying to become one with the Supreme. That is also not possible. Ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas (SB 10.2.32). Vimukta-māninas, they are thinking that they have become liberated, but that is not the fact. Why it is not fact? Tvayy asta-bhāvād aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ. Because they did not take to the devotional service.

Lecture on CC Adi-lila 7.3 -- Mayapur, March 3, 1974:

Therefore despite their severe austerities and penances and rising to the platform of Brahman realization—āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty (SB 10.2.32)—they fall down.

Lecture on CC Adi-lila 7.5 -- Mayapur, March 7, 1974:

Therefore those who are satisfied with impersonal Brahman, their knowledge is not perfect. Ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas tvayy asta-bhāvād aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ (SB 10.2.32). The realization of the Absolute Truth is the platform of viśuddha-sattva. So unless one comes to the platform of personal realization of the Lord, one is supposed to be aviśuddha-buddhi: intelligence is not yet perfectly pure.

Lecture on CC Adi-lila 7.5 -- Mayapur, March 7, 1974:

The Māyāvādī philosophers, they cannot understand. Therefore they have been described in the Bhāgavata, vimukta-māninaḥ, aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ (SB 10.2.32). They are thinking that now they have become one with the Supreme, Nārāyaṇa. They address between themselves, "Namo nārāyaṇa," that "Everyone has become Nārāyaṇa." This is their... "Everyone is Nārāyaṇa," that's all right, but still, different. That distinction is made by the Vaiṣṇavas.

Lecture on CC Adi-lila 7.5 -- Mayapur, March 7, 1974:

Therefore they fall down. It is not our version, but it is stated in the Vedic literature, āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adho 'nādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ: (SB 10.2.32) "By severe penance and austerities, these Māyāvādīs, they go up to the Brahman effulgence, but from there they fall down, fall down." Because for want of varieties.

Lecture on CC Adi-lila 7.108 -- San Francisco, February 18, 1967:

That means they have no taste. They come to hospital-making or this philanthropy. This come again. Sthānād bhraṣṭād patanty adhaḥ. Ye 'nye aravindākṣa vimukta-māninaḥ. "Those fools who are thinking that 'Simply by thinking myself, "I am God, I am Brahman, I have become liberated," ' " but ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas tvayy asta-bhāvāt (SB 10.2.32), "but there is no knowledge about You, Kṛṣṇa," āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padam, "they, after performing so much austerity and penances, they rise up to the highest position, Brahman realization, but," patanty adhaḥ, "they fall down." We have got so many instances. They take sannyāsa. They say that brahma satyaṁ jagan mithyā: "This world is false. Brahman is truth." But after some days, they come to politics, they come to sociology, they come to hospital, they come to this and that. That's all. Finished. Brahman finished. Patanty adhaḥ. They must fall down because they have no shelter in Kṛṣṇa. Just like the sputnik goes very high, clap, hear clap. Uh, come down again. Where you'll go? Yes. Simply for the time being clapping, that's all. (laughs) But the fools, they are so nonsense, they are satisfied with that temporary clapping. That's all.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 6.154-155 -- Gorakhpur, February 19, 1971 (Krsna Niketan):

Those sannyāsīs following the principles of Śaṅkarācārya, they strictly follow austerities, lie down on the ground, and taking three times bath even in very severe cold, and simply have a kamaṇḍalu, nothing more, and lying down on the earth without any bedding, so many austerities. They are going, undergoing, severe austerities. Why? Now, to rise up to the Brahman realization—āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padam (SB 10.2.32)—paraṁ padam, that impersonal Brahman effulgence. But patanty adhaḥ, they fall down. Just see. After so much severe austerities, performing, they rise themselves to the brahma-pada, but they again fall down.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 6.154-155 -- Gorakhpur, February 19, 1971 (Krsna Niketan):

He has come to the position of Brahman realization, but because he has no information of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, nirākāra-vādī, he falls down. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adho anādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ (SB 10.2.32). They don't care, this worshiping, or bhakti-mārga. They say, "Oh, these things are meant for the lower class of men or ignorant men, uneducated persons. Bhakti-mārga is for the uneducated persons." Their allegation is like that.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.106 -- New York, July 12, 1976:

So śāstra therefore forbids or gives warning, āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ (SB 10.2.32). The same example. With great endeavor, with much expenditure you may go eighty thousand miles per hour, but unless you get shelter, you have to again come back to this, either in America or Russia. They tried, but they could not get shelter.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.110 -- New York, July 17, 1976:

So it is not possible. Therefore those who merge into the Brahman effulgence, they again fall down, because they have no engagement in Kṛṣṇa's business. They never cultivated such knowledge. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adho 'nādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ (SB 10.2.32). Because the Māyāvādīs, they think, "What is this nonsense, serving Kṛṣṇa? Kṛṣṇa is māyā. We are not going to serve māyā.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.110 -- New York, July 17, 1976:

After your whims are fulfilled or you become disgusted... But because you have no information of serving Kṛṣṇa, then come down again to this material world and serve māyā—so-called hospitals and other things, philanthropic work. Because they have no information to serve Kṛṣṇa, the result is āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padam (SB 10.2.32). The Brahman is also paraṁ padam. It is not material; it is spiritual world. But because they have no shelter at the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, they fall down again at the shelter of the māyā.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 22.27-31 -- New York, January 15, 1967:

So Lord Caitanya says, vastutaḥ buddhi 'śuddha' nahe: "That sort of conception is not purified intelligence. That is still contaminated intelligence."

Then He is giving an evidence again from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam:

ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas

tvayy asta-bhāvād aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ

āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ

patanty adho 'nādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 22.27-31 -- New York, January 15, 1967:

This is prayer to the Lord by Brahmā, who says that ye 'ravindākṣa... Kṛṣṇa is sometimes addressed as the lotus-eyed because His eye... He's very beautiful. So anyone who has got his eyes just like petals of the lotus flower, it is considered very beautiful.

So what is the result for such persons? Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ (SB 10.2.32). They might come to the highest position, because Brahman realization is also very high position. It is not ordinary thing, that "I am not this body. I am Brahman." This realization is not ordinary realization. It is also realized after purification of the mind.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 22.27-31 -- New York, January 15, 1967:

So āruhya kṛcchreṇa, after undergoing severe penances and philosophical research, even though he has risen up to the point of perfection, to the point of perfection, still, patanty adhaḥ, he has the chance of falling down. And that we have seen in many instances. Many sannyāsīns, they were very educated, and they have undergone severe penances, but without Kṛṣṇa realization they fall down.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 22.27-31 -- New York, January 15, 1967:

So those who are not fixed up in Kṛṣṇa, however he may be advanced in spiritual realization, that, there is falldown. It is stated in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ (SB 10.2.32). Again falls down.

kṛṣṇa-sūrya-sama; māyā haya andhakāra

yāhāṅ kṛṣṇa, tāhāṅ nāhi māyāra adhikāra

Kṛṣṇa-sūrya-sama. If you are actually in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, there is full light, full light. Everything will be seen in its pure perspective. Kṛṣṇa consciousness means to know everything as it is.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 25.29 -- San Francisco, January 21, 1967:

Ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas tvayy asta-bhāvād aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ (SB 10.2.32). There is another verse from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Tenth Canto, Second Chapter, twenty-sixth verse. It is said there, ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa. God is addressed, Kṛṣṇa is addressed as lotus-eyed. His eyes are very nice, so His another name is Aravinda, Aravinda-akṣa.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 25.29 -- San Francisco, January 21, 1967:

You are being kicked by the laws of nature. Why do you think foolishly that you are one with God?" So ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninaḥ. Vimukta-māninaḥ means they are thinking that "I am now liberated. I have become one with the Supreme."

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 25.29 -- San Francisco, January 21, 1967:

So their strict, I mean to say, renounced order is very strict. So they perform austerity. So Bhāgavata accepts their austerity. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ (SB 10.2.32). By their severe penances and austerity they come to the supreme position.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 25.29 -- San Francisco, January 21, 1967:

Supreme position means to come to the point of realization of Brahman. Impersonal realization of Brahman, that is not also a joke. It may be impersonal, but that position is very high. That is accepted. That Vaiṣṇavas, or the personalists, they also accept, "Oh, their position is very high." But the difficulty is that Bhāgavata says, āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ (SB 10.2.32). Although they come to the almost nearer, but, anādṛtaḥ patanty adhaḥ. Anādṛta, because they have no shelter. Just like... It is not joke. If you go up by a sputnik some few hundreds and thousands of miles, that is not joke.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 25.29 -- San Francisco, January 21, 1967:

What is the use of your sannyāsa, renouncing this world? Brahmā satyaṁ jagan mithyā. Śaṅkarācārya's first principle is, "Give up this material world. This is all false, nonsense. Come to the Brahman platform." So if you go to the Brahman platform, why again you come to this nonsense platform? That means patanty adhaḥ. That means patanty adhaḥ.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 25.29 -- San Francisco, January 21, 1967:

Why not purified? Because they have no shelter. So in spite of their so much austerity, penance, Vedānta reading and jugglery of words, they come back again to the hospital. That's all. That is their business. So ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas tvayy asta bhāvād aviśuddha... (SB 10.2.32). They are simply thinking they are liberated. This is not liberation. Liberation means to have Kṛṣṇa consciousness. This is liberation.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 25.31-38 -- San Francisco, January 22, 1967:

We may not be haṭha-yogi or dhyāna-yogi or this yogi or that yogi or a very learned scholar, that we can distinguish and interpret that "Not to Kṛṣṇa but to myself." In this way I can waste my time. But if I do not apply myself (to) the purpose, then what is the use of? That is stated:

ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas

tvayy asta-bhāvād aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ

āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ

anādṛta-yuṣmad...

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 25.31-38 -- San Francisco, January 22, 1967:

Such class of men simply trying to understand what is Brahman, what is not Brahman, but practically, he will simply be engaged in material sense enjoyment. He'll not give up anything, even not smoking.

So one who does not know this simple fact, then he may go on indulging, wasting his time by meditation, by cultivation of knowledge, by exercise, by pressing nose, or so many things. He is not in the, actually in the factual position. So such persons, in spite of their austerity, in spite of their severe penances... Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ (SB 10.2.32). Although they realize that "Here is the Absolute Truth," or "Here is the light," or "Here is the essence," but because they do not engage in the devotional service of the Lord, or because they have no shelter under the lotus feet of the Lord, they fall down. Surely they fall down.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 25.31-38 -- San Francisco, January 22, 1967:

Surely they fall down. The same example: you may go very high on a sputnik, ten thousand miles off from this earth, but if you have no shelter there, then naturally, you have to come back again here. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ (SB 10.2.32). You may go high, very high. That's all right. But if you don't approach the moon planet or the Venus planet, or any other planet for which you started But these people, they are so foolish they are taking simply clap by wandering in the space a few thousand miles. They think, "This is our perfection.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 25.31-38 -- San Francisco, January 22, 1967:

Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ (SB 10.2.32). This is falldown. Patanty adho anādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ. "My dear Lord, because they have neglected Your lotus feet."

'brahma'-śābde kahe 'ṣaḍ-aiśvarya-pūrṇa bhagavān'

tāṅre nirviśeṣa sthāpi, 'pūrṇatā' haya hāna

And Caitanya Mahāprabhu said that... Not Caitanya Mahāprabhu, I'm sorry. That disciple, the chief disciple of Prakāśānanda Sarasvatī, he's repeating what Caitanya Mahāprabhu explained about the Vedānta-sūtra.

Sri Isopanisad Lectures

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

The idea is that Kṛṣṇa planet or the Vaikuṇṭha planets, they are beyond this Brahman effulgence, and those who are devotees, they are permitted to enter into these spiritual planets. Those who are not devotees, simply jñānīs or demons... The jñānīs and demons, they are offered the same place. The jñānīs... Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ (SB 10.2.32). They practice severe austerities, penances, to enter into the Brahman effulgence. But the demons, simply by becoming enemy of Kṛṣṇa, they immediately get that place.

Festival Lectures

Janmastami Lord Sri Krsna's Appearance Day -- Bhagavad-gita 7.5 Lecture -- Vrndavana, August 11, 1974:

The Māyāvādīs, they think that they have become one with God. That is not education. That is described in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam: ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninaḥ. They are thinking that they have become liberated, but actually, aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ (SB 10.2.32), their intelligence is not purified. Therefore falsely claiming. If one is God, then how he has become dog? This much common sense there is not.

Radhastami, Srimati Radharani's Appearance Day -- Bhagavad-gita 18.5 -- London, September 5, 1973:

So śāstra says that ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas tvayy asta-bhāvād aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ: (SB 10.2.32) "So these people, although they are thinking of themself as liberated, they have become liberated..." The Māyāvādī sannyāsīs address amongst themselves: namo nārāyaṇa. "Namo nārāyaṇa" means every one of them has become a Nārāyaṇa.

His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Prabhupada's Appearance Day, Evening -- Gorakhpur, February 15, 1971:

Let us open schools and college..." If the brahma satyaṁ jagan mithyā... If the world is mithyā, false, why you are again, a sannyāsī, you are coming again back to this platform? That means he's not satisfied in so-called brahma satyam. Practically, he has no realization of Brahman. Therefore he comes back again. And that is, I mean to say, indicated in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, that ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninaḥ. Persons who are thinking that "I have become liberated. I have become Nārāyaṇa. I have become God. I have become Brahman." Brahman, everyone is Brahman. That's a fact. But there is another Param Brahman. Paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān (BG 10.12)—Kṛṣṇa.

His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Prabhupada's Appearance Day, Evening -- Gorakhpur, February 15, 1971:

So the Māyāvādī philosophers, they mistake that "Param Brahman or myself—all the same." No. That is not the fact. Therefore, without having shelter of the Param Brahman, he falls down again in this material world. Ārūhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adho 'nādṛta yuṣmad aṅghrayaḥ (SB 10.2.32). Because he has no information of the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, he falls down again to the material platform.

General Lectures

Lecture at Engagement -- Boston, May 8, 1968:

We go deep into the water and become one of the aquatics in the water. Therefore we haven't got to come back again. And if you remain water, then you have to come back. Even you think that "I am mixed with water in the vast sea," that is your false identity. You have to come out. Therefore in the Bhāgavata says that,

ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas

tvayy asta-bhāvad aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ

āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ

patanty adho 'nādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ

Lecture Excerpt -- Montreal, July 18, 1968:

It is a very nice verse. It is said that those persons are thinking that they have become liberated by Brahman realization, their thoughts are not yet purified, because after severe austerities they may come to the brink of the water, but being given shelter by the water, he comes back again.

And the highest stage is to associate with the Supreme. Just like this picture, they are associating person to person. Another point is, as individual soul we require association, person to person. That is our nature. The Bhāgavata replies, ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas tvayy asta-bhāvad aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ (SB 10.2.32). If somebody thinks by simple impersonal realization of Brahman, if he thinks that he has become liberated, then his intelligence is polluted. Ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas tvayy asta-bhāvad aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ. Aviśuddha means not free from contamination. His intelligence is not free. Why? Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adho (SB 10.2.32).

Lecture Excerpt -- Montreal, July 18, 1968:

He wants to render some service, but there is no service to Kṛṣṇa. He comes to give service to the nonsense māyā. So āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padam (SB 10.2.32). After accepting sannyāsa and all this renunciation, because he has no shelter to render service to the Supreme Lord, he comes down to render service to this nonsense thing which he left. Mithyā, it is false. He again comes to the false. I have seen one sannyāsī in India, very learned, very good scholar. Now he's rotting in the jail.

Lecture Excerpt -- Montreal, July 18, 1968:

He wants to render service, but because he has not found out where to render service, he has to come to engage himself in this mithyā platform, which he has rejected as mithyā. So āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adho (SB 10.2.32). Even by their austerity and penances they go so up... Just the same example. A very nice sputnik, and running 20,000 miles an hour...

Lecture Excerpt -- Los Angeles, February 9, 1969:

Therefore, just like if electric bulbs are separated from the powerhouse, practically it has no value, similarly, so long we are separated from Kṛṣṇa, we have no value. Sthānād bhraṣṭāḥ patanty adhaḥ. Sthānād bhraṣṭāḥ patanty adhaḥ. Sthānāt means from the right position one falls down. So by Kṛṣṇa consciousness, by reviving your Kṛṣṇa consciousness, by engaging yourself in Kṛṣṇa's service, you revive your original position.

Lecture -- London, September 26, 1969:

So simply by Brahman realization, you cannot stay on the platform of understanding that "I am not this body." You'll fall down again. You'll fall down again and accept this body, "Yes, I am this body." Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ (SB 10.2.32). After much meditation or hard work, you realize that you are Brahman. But if you do not go further—Brahman, Paramātmā, and Bhagavān—then you'll fall down again. Again fall down. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa. Just like, take a crude example.

Pandal Lecture -- Delhi, November 20, 1971:

Harāv abhaktasya kuto mahad-guṇā (SB 5.18.12). Even one has got brahma-jñāna, even one is elevated to become mixed or amalgamated with the brahma-jyotir, still he is not pure. That is the statement of śāstra.

ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas

tvayy asta-bhāvād aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ

āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ

patanty adhaḥ...

Lecture -- Nellore, January 4, 1976:

They will fall down. We have seen many sannyāsīs, they have given up this world, brahma satyaṁ jagan mithyā, but they are still coming to politics, also to social organization, welfare activity.

So you must get shelter. So the Bhāgavata therefore advises that āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adho anādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ (SB 10.2.32). You can go very high in the sky, but if you don't get any shelter in any other planet... So similarly, you can make your spiritual progress understanding of Brahman, but if you do not get any shelter at the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, then you'll fall down.

Lecture -- Nellore, January 4, 1976:

And if this world is mithyā, then why you are interested with the schools and hospitals? That means they could not get any Brahman realization. They again come to taste. So therefore śāstra says, āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padam (SB 10.2.32). One can rise up to the paraṁ pada, brahma pada, but patanty tataḥ. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adho. Adho means this material world. Why? Anādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ.

Evening Lecture -- Bhuvanesvara, January 23, 1977:

After few years they come down again in social work, in political work. That means they could not understand what is Brahman. That is stated, confirmed in the śāstra, that

ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas

tvayy asta-bhāvād aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ

āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ

patanty adho 'nādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ