The Māyāvāda philosophers, impersonalists, they answer the Bhagavad-gītā's word that kleśo 'dhikataras teṣām avyaktāsakta-cetasām . . . (BG 12.5). One who is attached to impersonal views, their process of meditation or execution of spiritual activities is very troublesome. Now, therefore Māyāvāda philosopher, they say that "God has no form. But because you cannot meditate upon the formless, so you just imagine any form you like." So God is not subjected to your imagination. That is not God's form. If we imagine something . . . and that has been degraded. Śaṅkarācārya limited such imaginative forms to five only. Five. What is that five? Viṣṇu, Lord Śiva, and Sun, and Gaṇeśa, and Devī, Durgā. He limited that, "Any of these five forms you can meditate upon, you worship. And ultimately, it is formless." But at the present moment, unauthorized person has degraded in such a way that, "You can imagine any form. You can imagine even stool." They say like that. You see.
So . . . so neither God is limited to any five imaginative forms or this form or that form. His form nobody can imagine, neither He is within our perception. But He is as He is. Paraṁ bhāvam ajānanto mama bhūta-maheśvaram (BG 9.11). Therefore we have to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead from authoritative sources, just like the Bhagavad-gītā. The Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself speaking, "What I am." This is the science of God. If we take Him as He is saying, then we become perfect knower of God. There is no difficulty. But if we deny, then we are in difficulty. Those who have accepted Kṛṣṇa as He is, God as He is, they have attained perfection also. It is practical. Not that we are. There are millions and billions followers of Kṛṣṇa in India. Not only ordinary followers. Just like many great stalwarts, educationists, I mean to say, saintly person like Śaṅkarācārya, Madhvācārya, Rāmānujācārya, great educated and learned scholars, they have accepted. Lord Caitanya has accepted. And . . . there are so many others also. And there are millions and millions of temples of Kṛṣṇa. They are being worshiped by millions and billions of devotees still. Still, if you go some Kṛṣṇa temple in South India, you'll find thousands of thousands of people always assembled. You have no imagination. You see? In Jaipur temple, Jaipur temple, the king's palace . . . within the king's palace there is Jaipur temple. So whenever you go in that Jaipur temple, you'll find at least one thousand men assembled. At least. If you go Jagannātha Purī, you'll find at least two thousand men, daily coming and going. If you go to Vṛndāvana, you'll find at least five thousand men, daily coming and going. So . . . and in Vṛndāvana itself there are five thousand temples. Out of that only seven or eight temples are very big temples. Other . . . other wor . . . in other words, each and every house is Kṛṣṇa temple. So it is not that . . . somebody asked me, "How many there are in India Kṛṣṇa conscious people?" Oh, the Kṛṣṇa conscious men in India, at least, the Hindus, oh, they are ninety percent, at least, all Kṛṣṇa conscious.
So His form . . . His form, His name, His quality, His pastimes—everything transcendental. Therefore in the Bhagavad-gītā it is said, anta-kāle ca mām eva. Mām eva (BG 8.5). "Only unto Me." If you simply practice the Kṛṣṇa's form to see . . . just like if you chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, at once you see the form of Kṛṣṇa within your mind. Therefore Bhagavad-gītā says: "One who is thinking of Me, Kṛṣṇa, always, He is the greatest yogi." He's the greatest yogi. Yoginām api sarveṣām. There are many kinds of yogis, but Kṛṣṇa says that, "Of all the yogis . . ." Yoginām api sarveṣām. Sarveṣām means you can count as many millions of yogis. But of all them, all of them . . . yoginām api sarveṣāṁ mad-gatenāntar-ātmanā: (BG 6.47) "One who is always thinking of Me," antar-ātmanā, "within himself, within the heart, within the mind," śraddhāvān, "with faith and love," bhajate yo mām . . . bhajate means engaged in devotional service. "Kṛṣṇa, please be kind upon me. I am fallen. Kindly accept me." This is yoga. That's all. Very simple thing. "Kṛṣṇa, I am in . . ."
That Lord Caitanya has said. Ayi nanda-tanuja. He has especially mentioned nanda-tanuja, "Oh, the son of Mahārāja Nanda." Because in Vṛndāvana Kṛṣṇa appeared Himself as the cowherd boy, son of Mahārāja Nanda. So Lord Caitanya is teaching us, ayi nanda-tanuja: "Oh, the beloved son of Mahārāja Nanda." Ayi nanda-tanuja patitaṁ kiṅkaraṁ mām. "I am Your eternal servant. Now, somehow or other, I am fallen into this material existence." Ayi nanda-tanuja patitaṁ kiṅkaraṁ māṁ viṣame bhavāmbudhau, the great ocean of material existence. Don't you see the biggest, outer space? It is . . . what to speak of ocean. We cannot compare with even ocean. So many millions of oceans can be pushed in this space, of material space. So patitaṁ kiṅkaraṁ māṁ viṣame bhavāmbudhau kṛpayā, "By Your causeless mercy," kṛpayā tava pāda-paṅkaja-sthita-dhūlī-sadṛśaṁ vicintaya. Paṅkaja. Paṅkaja means a lotus flower. A lotus flower, you'll find some dust, saffron. So the devotee is praying that, "As in the lotus flower there are so many dusts, You kindly accept me as one of the particles of that dust."
So this is very nice. Bhakti-yoga. Simply surrender and pray. And that is the best and the highest type of yoga. If you accept this Bhagavad-gītā, if you believe in this Bhagavad-gītā, if you follow the footprints of great personalities who have followed this Bhagavad-gītā, then your life is perfect. There is no doubt about it. Mahājano yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ (CC Madhya 17.186). You cannot . . . Everyone is following the footprints of great personalities in every department of knowledge. Even scientific, scientific . . . ah . . . scientists, they are also following the law of gravitation, basing their further progress on the law of gravitation. There are so many laws. How the laws are there they do not know, but that law is found out and scientific advancement is going on. So mahājano yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ. So as in the material field also we are following the great personalities and authorities, similarly, in spiritual realization, if you follow the great personalities . . . there are specifically mentioned, the great personalities in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. If you cannot find out who is great personality, the list is there. And who are they?
- svayambhūr nāradaḥ śambhuḥ
- kumāraḥ kapilo manuḥ
- prahlādo janako bhīṣmo
- balir vaiyāsakir vayam
- (SB 6.3.20)
They're given there. Just like Prahlāda Mahārāja. Prahlāda Mahārāja is a great authority in the devotional service. A five-years-old boy, he was chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa. His only fault was that. His father became enemy. His father insistently wanted, "You stop this nonsense, Hare Kṛṣṇa." He would not. So the father wanted to kill him—put him into so many tortures. At last he came out successful, and he was blissful. So therefore he is mahājana. In spite of so much tortures by his father, he did not give it up. Similarly, if we stick to the principle, as it was done by great personalities, Brahmā, Lord Śiva, Nārada, Prahlāda Mahārāja, Janaka Mahārāja . . . their stories, their life history is there everywhere in the Purāṇas.