Spiritual potency (CC and other books)

Expressions researched:
"spiritual potencies" |"spiritual potency"

CC Adi-lila

Faithless nonbelievers cannot make progress in spiritual realization, for they cannot understand the spiritual potency.

CC Adi 5.14, Purport:

The disease of the modern civilized man is his disbelief of everything in the revealed scriptures. Faithless nonbelievers cannot make progress in spiritual realization, for they cannot understand the spiritual potency. The small fruit of a banyan contains hundreds of seeds, and in each seed is the potency to produce another banyan tree with the potency to produce millions more of such fruits. This law of nature is visible before us, although how it works is beyond our understanding. This is but an insignificant example of the potency of Godhead; there are many similar phenomena that no scientist can explain.

"Mahā-Lakṣmī, the supreme energy of the Lord, is experienced in different ways. She is divided into material and spiritual potencies, and in both features she acts as the willing energy, creative energy and the internal energy. The willing energy is again divided into three, namely śrī, bhū and nīlā."

CC Adi 5.27-28, Purport:

There is the following reference to the śrī, bhū and nīlā energies in the Sītopaniṣad: mahā-lakṣmīr deveśasya bhinnābhinna-rūpā cetanācetanātmikā. sā devī tri-vidhā bhavati, śakty-ātmanā icchā-śaktiḥ kriyā-śaktiḥ sākṣāc-chaktir iti. icchā-śaktis tri-vidhā bhavati, śrī-bhūmi-nīlātmikā. "Mahā-Lakṣmī, the supreme energy of the Lord, is experienced in different ways. She is divided into material and spiritual potencies, and in both features she acts as the willing energy, creative energy and the internal energy. The willing energy is again divided into three, namely śrī, bhū and nīlā."

Unaffected by the reactions of work, You eternally exist with Your full spiritual potency. This we cannot fully understand.

CC Adi 5.41, Purport:

My dear Lord, You are entirely devoid of material qualities. Without anyone's help, You can create, maintain and dissolve the entire qualitative material manifestation, yet in all such activities You do not change. You do not accept the results of Your activities, unlike ordinary demons and demigods, who suffer or enjoy the reactions of their activities in the material world. Unaffected by the reactions of work, You eternally exist with Your full spiritual potency. This we cannot fully understand.

CC Adi 7.113, Translation:

“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."

CC Adi 7.119, Translation:

“"The potency of Lord Viṣṇu is summarized in three categories—namely, the spiritual potency, the living entities and ignorance. The spiritual potency is full of knowledge; the living entities, although belonging to the spiritual potency, are subject to bewilderment; and the third energy, which is full of ignorance, is always visible in fruitive activities.""

"Although I am unborn and My transcendental body never deteriorates, and although I am the Lord of all living entities, by My spiritual potency I still appear in every millennium in My original transcendental form."

CC Adi 7.119, Purport:

The spiritual potency is manifested in the spiritual world. Kṛṣṇa's form, qualities, activities and entourage are all spiritual. This is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā (4.6):

ajo ’pi sann avyayātmā bhūtānām īśvaro ’pi san

prakṛtiṁ svām adhiṣṭhāya sambhavāmy ātma-māyayā

(BG 4.6)

"Although I am unborn and My transcendental body never deteriorates, and although I am the Lord of all living entities, by My spiritual potency I still appear in every millennium in My original transcendental form." Ātma-māyā refers to the spiritual potency. When Kṛṣṇa comes to this or any other universe, He does so with His spiritual potency. We take birth by the force of the material potency, but as stated here with reference to the Viṣṇu Purāṇa, the kṣetra-jña, or living entity, belongs to the spiritual potency; thus when we free ourselves from the clutches of the material potency we can also enter the spiritual world.

A similar statement in the Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad declares that whatever one sees in the spiritual world is all an expansion of the spiritual potency of oṁkāra.

CC Adi 7.128, Purport:

In the Nārada-pañcarātra it is clearly said that the Supreme Personality of Godhead Nārāyaṇa personally appears before the chanter who engages in chanting the aṣṭākṣara, or eight-syllable mantra, oṁ namo nārāyaṇāya. A similar statement in the Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad declares that whatever one sees in the spiritual world is all an expansion of the spiritual potency of oṁkāra.

CC Adi 7.140, Translation:

“When we speak of the Supreme as impersonal, we deny His spiritual potencies. Logically, if you accept half of the truth, you cannot understand the whole."

"The external potency, māyā, who is of the nature of the shadow of the cit spiritual potency, is worshiped by all people as Durgā, the creating, preserving and destroying agency of this mundane world."

CC Adi 7.157, Purport:

Vaiṣṇavas can also worship all these demigods, but only on the principles of the Brahma-saṁhitā, which is recommended by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. We may note in this connection the mantras for worshiping Lord Śiva, Lord Brahmā, goddess Durgā, the sun-god and Gaṇeśa, as described in the Brahma-saṁhitā.

sṛṣṭi-sthiti-pralaya-sādhana-śaktir ekā

chāyeva yasya bhuvanāni bibharti durgā

icchānurūpam api yasya ca ceṣṭate sā

govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi

"The external potency, māyā, who is of the nature of the shadow of the cit spiritual potency, is worshiped by all people as Durgā, the creating, preserving and destroying agency of this mundane world. I adore the primeval Lord, Govinda, in accordance with whose will Durgā conducts herself." (Bs. 5.44)

CC Madhya-lila

CC Madhya 6.154, Translation:

“‘The internal potency of the Supreme Lord, Viṣṇu, is spiritual, as verified by the śāstras. There is another spiritual potency, known as kṣetra-jña, or the living entity. The third potency, which is known as nescience, makes the living entity godless and fills him with fruitive activity.'"

CC Madhya 6.158, Translation:

“The Supreme Personality of Godhead in His original form is full of eternity, knowledge and bliss. The spiritual potency in these three portions (sat, cit and ānanda) assumes three different forms."

CC Madhya 6.159, Translation:

“The three portions of the spiritual potency are called hlādinī (the bliss portion), sandhinī (the eternity portion) and samvit (the knowledge portion). We accept knowledge of these as full knowledge of the Supreme Personality of Godhead."

CC Madhya 6.160, Translation:

“The spiritual potency of the Supreme Personality of Godhead also appears in three phases—internal, marginal and external. These are all engaged in His devotional service in love."

The spiritual potency of the Lord is manifested in three phases—the internal or spiritual potency, the marginal potency, which consists of the living entities, and the external potency, known as māyā-śakti.

CC Madhya 6.160, Purport:

The spiritual potency of the Lord is manifested in three phases—the internal or spiritual potency, the marginal potency, which consists of the living entities, and the external potency, known as māyā-śakti. We must understand that in each of these three phases the original spiritual potencies of pleasure, eternity and knowledge remain intact. When the potencies of spiritual pleasure and knowledge are both bestowed upon the conditioned souls, the conditioned souls can escape the clutches of the external potency, māyā, which acts as a cover obscuring one's spiritual identity. When freed, the living entity awakens to Kṛṣṇa consciousness and engages in devotional service with love and affection.

CC Madhya 6.161, Translation:

“In His spiritual potency, the Supreme Lord enjoys six kinds of opulences. You do not accept this spiritual potency, and this is due to your great impudence."

As soon as one speaks of knowledge, there must be a person who is the knower, the knowledge itself and the object of knowledge. Māyāvāda philosophy combines these three categories; therefore the Māyāvādīs cannot understand how the spiritual potencies of the Supreme Personality of Godhead act.

CC Madhya 6.168, Purport:

Because of the temperament of the Māyāvādī philosophers, real knowledge is taken from them. Because they cannot receive the mercy of the Lord, they will always be bewildered by His transcendental form. Impersonal philosophy destroys the three phases of knowledge—jñāna, jñeya and jñātā. As soon as one speaks of knowledge, there must be a person who is the knower, the knowledge itself and the object of knowledge. Māyāvāda philosophy combines these three categories; therefore the Māyāvādīs cannot understand how the spiritual potencies of the Supreme Personality of Godhead act. Because of their poor fund of knowledge, they cannot understand the distinction in the spiritual world between knowledge, the knower and the object of knowledge. Because of this, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu considers the Māyāvādī philosophers more dangerous than the Buddhists.

CC Madhya 6.185, Translation:

“Even the self-satisfied sages perform devotional service to the Supreme Lord. Such are the transcendental qualities of the Lord. They are full of inconceivable spiritual potency."

CC Madhya 7.99, Translation:

After some time the Lord would embrace these people and bid them return home, having invested each of them with spiritual potency.

In his Amṛta-pravāha-bhāṣya, Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura explains that this spiritual potency is the essence of the pleasure potency and the knowledge potency.

CC Madhya 7.99, Purport:

In his Amṛta-pravāha-bhāṣya, Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura explains that this spiritual potency is the essence of the pleasure potency and the knowledge potency. By these two potencies, one is empowered with devotional service. Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself or His representative, the unalloyed devotee, can mercifully bestow these combined potencies upon any man. Being thus endowed with such potencies, one can become an unalloyed devotee of the Lord. Anyone favored by Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was empowered with this bhakti-śakti. Thus the Lord's followers were able to preach Kṛṣṇa consciousness by divine grace.

CC Madhya 7.109, Translation:

Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu did not manifest His spiritual potencies at Navadvīpa, but He did manifest them in South India and liberated all the people there.

The author has remarked that the spiritual potency Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu did not manifest at Navadvīpa was by His grace manifested in South India.

CC Madhya 7.109, Purport:

At that time there were many smārtas (nondevotee followers of Vedic rituals) at the holy place of Navadvīpa, which was also the birthplace of Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Followers of the smṛti-śāstra are called smārtas. Most of them are nondevotees, and their main business is following the brahminical principles strictly. However, they are not enlightened in devotional service. In Navadvīpa all the learned scholars are followers of the smṛti-śāstra, and Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu did not attempt to convert them. Therefore the author has remarked that the spiritual potency Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu did not manifest at Navadvīpa was by His grace manifested in South India. Thus everyone there became a Vaiṣṇava. By this it is to be understood that people are really interested in preaching in a favorable situation.

CC Madhya 8.151, Translation:

“Kṛṣṇa has unlimited potencies, which can be divided into three main parts. These are the spiritual potency, the material potency and the marginal potency, which is known as the living entities."

My dear Lord, You are the transcendental reservoir of all transcendental qualities. Your pleasure potency, existence potency and knowledge potency are actually all one internal spiritual potency.

CC Madhya 8.156, Translation:

“"My dear Lord, You are the transcendental reservoir of all transcendental qualities. Your pleasure potency, existence potency and knowledge potency are actually all one internal spiritual potency. The conditioned soul, although actually spiritual, sometimes experiences pleasure, sometimes pain and sometimes a mixture of pain and pleasure. This is due to his being touched by matter. But because You are above all material qualities, these are not found in You. Your superior spiritual potency is completely transcendental, and for You there is no such thing as relative pleasure, pleasure mixed with pain, or pain itself.""

The Supreme Personality of Godhead is never complete without His spiritual potencies; therefore unless one takes shelter of the gopīs, one cannot enter into the company of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa.

CC Madhya 8.206, Translation:

“"The pastimes of Śrī Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa are self-effulgent. They are happiness personified, unlimited and all-powerful. Even so, the spiritual humors of such pastimes are never complete without the gopīs, the Lord"s personal friends. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is never complete without His spiritual potencies; therefore unless one takes shelter of the gopīs, one cannot enter into the company of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa. Who can be interested in Their spiritual pastimes without taking their shelter?’"

In exactly the same way, the Lord, being anxious to revive the Vṛndāvana pastimes of Lord Kṛṣṇa, impregnated the heart of Rūpa Gosvāmī with spiritual potency.

CC Madhya 19.1, Translation:

Before the creation of this cosmic manifestation, the Lord enlightened the heart of Lord Brahmā with the details of the creation and manifested the Vedic knowledge. In exactly the same way, the Lord, being anxious to revive the Vṛndāvana pastimes of Lord Kṛṣṇa, impregnated the heart of Rūpa Gosvāmī with spiritual potency. By this potency, Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī could revive the activities of Kṛṣṇa in Vṛndāvana, activities almost lost to memory. In this way, He spread Kṛṣṇa consciousness throughout the world.

In the spiritual world, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, has expanded Himself by His spiritual potency. He has His eternal form of bliss and knowledge.

CC Madhya 19.154, Purport:

"I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord. He resides in His own realm, Goloka, with Rādhā, who resembles His own spiritual figure and who embodies the ecstatic potency (hlādinī). Their companions are Her confidantes, who embody extensions of Her bodily form and who are imbued and permeated with ever-blissful spiritual rasa." In the spiritual world, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, has expanded Himself by His spiritual potency. He has His eternal form of bliss and knowledge (sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha (Bs. 5.1)). Everything in the Goloka Vṛndāvana planet is a spiritual expansion of sac-cid-ānanda. Everyone there is of the same potency—ānanda-cinmaya-rasa. The relationship between the Supreme Personality of Godhead and His servitor is cinmaya-rasa. Kṛṣṇa and His entourage and paraphernalia are of the same cinmaya potency. In this way the Supreme Personality of Godhead is expanded throughout the spiritual world, and when that cinmaya-rasa potency expands through the material potency, it becomes all-pervading.

There are two worlds—the spiritual world and the material world—and you are situated between the material and spiritual potencies.

CC Madhya 20.108-109, Purport:

Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura explains these verses as follows: Śrī Sanātana Gosvāmī asked Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, "Who am I?" In answer, the Lord replied, “You are a pure living entity. You are neither the gross material body nor the subtle body composed of mind and intelligence. Actually you are a spirit soul, eternally part and parcel of the Supreme Soul, Kṛṣṇa. Therefore you are His eternal servant. You belong to Kṛṣṇa's marginal potency. There are two worlds—the spiritual world and the material world—and you are situated between the material and spiritual potencies. You have a relationship with both the material and the spiritual world; therefore you are called the marginal potency. You are related with Kṛṣṇa as one and simultaneously different. Because you are spirit soul, you are one in quality with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but because you are a very minute particle of spirit soul, you are different from the Supreme Soul.

CC Madhya 20.111, Translation:

“Lord Kṛṣṇa naturally has three energetic transformations, and these are known as the spiritual potency, the living entity potency and the illusory potency."

CC Madhya 21.33, Translation:

“"The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, is the master of the three worlds and the three principal demigods (Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Śiva). No one is equal to or greater than Him. By His spiritual potency, known as svārājya-lakṣmī, all His desires are fulfilled. While offering their dues and presents in worship, the predominating deities of all the planets touch the lotus feet of the Lord with their helmets. Thus they offer prayers to the Lord.""

CC Madhya 21.96, Translation:

“Kṛṣṇa is thus situated eternally in His spiritual potency, and the opulence of that spiritual potency is called ṣaḍ-aiśvarya, indicating six kinds of opulences."

CC Madhya 21.97, Translation:

“Because He possesses the spiritual potencies, which fulfill all His desires, Kṛṣṇa is accepted as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is the Vedic version."

CC Madhya 21.99, Translation:

When Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was describing the opulences and spiritual potencies of Kṛṣṇa in this way, there was an awakening of love of Kṛṣṇa within Him. His mind became immersed in the sweetness of conjugal love, and He quoted the following verse from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

CC Madhya 21.100, Translation:

“"To exhibit the strength of His own spiritual potency, Lord Kṛṣṇa manifested a form just suitable for His pastimes in the material world. This form was wonderful even for Him and was the supreme abode of the wealth of good fortune. Its limbs were so beautiful that they increased the beauty of the ornaments worn on different parts of His body.""

Kṛṣṇa is described as the source of all potencies, and He is also identified with the external potency, the material energy. Kṛṣṇa also has internal potencies, or spiritual potencies, which are always engaged in His personal service. His internal potency is different from His external potency.

CC Madhya 22.7, Purport:

The Lord has many potencies, and He is nondifferent from all these potencies. Because the potencies and the potent cannot be separated, they are identical. Kṛṣṇa is described as the source of all potencies, and He is also identified with the external potency, the material energy. Kṛṣṇa also has internal potencies, or spiritual potencies, which are always engaged in His personal service. His internal potency is different from His external potency. Kṛṣṇa's internal potency and Kṛṣṇa Himself, who is the potent, are always identical.

We are simply addressing the Lord and His spiritual potency, represented as Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa, Sītā-Rāma or Lakṣmī-Nārāyaṇa. The devotee always prays to the Lord and His internal energy (consort) so that he may engage in Their transcendental loving service.

CC Madhya 22.16, Purport:

This verse is also quoted in the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu (3.2.35). When we chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra we are saying, "Hare! O energy of the Lord! O my Lord Kṛṣṇa!" In this way we are simply addressing the Lord and His spiritual potency, represented as Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa, Sītā-Rāma or Lakṣmī-Nārāyaṇa. The devotee always prays to the Lord and His internal energy (consort) so that he may engage in Their transcendental loving service. When the conditioned soul attains his real spiritual energy and fully surrenders unto the Lord's lotus feet, he tries to engage in the Lord's service. This is the real constitutional position of the living entity.

CC Madhya 24.308, Translation:

“"The potency of Lord Viṣṇu is summarized in three categories—namely the spiritual potency, the living entities and ignorance. The spiritual potency is full of knowledge; the living entities, although belonging to the spiritual potency, are subject to bewilderment; and the third energy, which is full of ignorance, is always visible in fruitive activities.""

CC Madhya 25.34, Translation:

“The Vedas, the Upaniṣads, the Brahma-sūtra and the Purāṇas all describe the activities of the spiritual potency of the Lord. If one cannot accept the personal activities of the Lord, he jokes foolishly and gives an impersonal description."

The Bhagavad-gītā points out that foolish people think of Kṛṣṇa as one of them. Not understanding His spiritual potency, they simply decry the personal form of the Absolute Truth, foolishly thinking of themselves as jñānīs cognizant of the complete truth.

CC Madhya 25.34, Purport:

In the Vedic literatures, including the Purāṇas, there are full descriptions of the spiritual potency of Kṛṣṇa. All the pastimes of the Lord are eternal, blissful and full of knowledge, just as the form of Kṛṣṇa Himself is eternal, blissful and full of knowledge (sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha (Bs. 5.1)). Unintelligent people with a poor fund of knowledge compare their temporary bodies to the spiritual body of Kṛṣṇa, and by such foolishness they try to understand Kṛṣṇa as one of them. Avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā mānuṣīṁ tanum āśritam. The Bhagavad-gītā (9.11) points out that foolish people think of Kṛṣṇa as one of them. Not understanding His spiritual potency, they simply decry the personal form of the Absolute Truth, foolishly thinking of themselves as jñānīs cognizant of the complete truth. They cannot understand that just as the material energy of the Lord has a variety of activities, the spiritual energy has variety also. They consider activities in devotional service the same as activities in material consciousness. Under such a wrong impression, they sometimes dare joke about the spiritual activities of the Lord and His devotional service.

CC Madhya 25.133, Translation:

“"Before the cosmic manifestation was created, the creative propensity was merged in the Supreme Lord"s person. At that time all potencies and manifestations were preserved in His personality. The Lord is the cause of all causes, and He is the all-pervading, self-sufficient person. Before the creation, He existed with His spiritual potency in the spiritual world, wherein various Vaikuṇṭha planets are manifested.’"

CC Antya-lila

CC Antya 3.59, Translation:

“The letters of the holy name have so much spiritual potency that they act even when uttered improperly."

If one who is eager for devotional service utters the holy name even partially or improperly, the holy name, which is identical with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, exhibits its spiritual potency because of that person's offenseless utterance.

CC Antya 3.59, Purport:

Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura states that the word vyavahita ("improperly uttered") is not used here to refer to the mundane vibration of the letters of the alphabet. Such negligent utterance for the sense gratification of materialistic persons is not a vibration of transcendental sound. Utterance of the holy name while one engages in sense gratification is an impediment on the path toward achieving ecstatic love for Kṛṣṇa. On the other hand, if one who is eager for devotional service utters the holy name even partially or improperly, the holy name, which is identical with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, exhibits its spiritual potency because of that person's offenseless utterance. Thus one is relieved from all unwanted practices, and one gradually awakens his dormant love for Kṛṣṇa.

The holy name has so much spiritual potency that it can deliver one from all sinful reactions and material entanglements, but utterance of the holy name will not be very soon fruitful if done to facilitate sinning.

CC Antya 3.60, Purport:

Suppose one is using the two words halaṁ riktam. Now the syllable ha in the word halam and the syllable ri in riktam are separately pronounced, but nevertheless the holy name will act because one somehow or other utters the word hari. Similarly, in the word rāja-mahiṣī, the syllables rā and ma appear in two separate words, but because they somehow or other appear together, the holy name rāma will act, provided there are no offenses.

sarvebhyaḥ pāpebhyo ‘parādhebhyaś ca saṁsārād apy uddhārayaty eveti satyam eva, kintu nāma-sevanasya mukhyaṁ yat phalaṁ tan na sadyaḥ sampadyate. tathā deha-bharaṇādy-artham api nāma-sevanena mukhyaṁ phalam āśu na sidhyatīty āha, tac ced iti.

The holy name has so much spiritual potency that it can deliver one from all sinful reactions and material entanglements, but utterance of the holy name will not be very soon fruitful if done to facilitate sinning.

Chanting sixteen rounds does not take much time, nor is offering respects to the tulasī plant difficult. The process has immense spiritual potency. One should not miss this opportunity.

CC Antya 3.100, Purport:

Haridāsa Ṭhākura used to chant the holy name on his beads 300,000 times daily. Throughout the entire day and night, he would chant the sixteen names of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra. One should not, however, imitate Haridāsa Ṭhākura, for no one else can chant the holy name 300,000 times a day. Such chanting is for the mukta-puruṣa, or liberated soul. We can follow his example, however, by chanting sixteen rounds of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra on beads every day and offering respect to the tulasī plant. This is not at all difficult for anyone, and the process of chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra with a vow before the tulasī plant has such great spiritual potency that simply by doing this one can become spiritually strong. Therefore we request the members of the Hare Kṛṣṇa movement to follow Haridāsa Ṭhākura's example rigidly. Chanting sixteen rounds does not take much time, nor is offering respects to the tulasī plant difficult. The process has immense spiritual potency. One should not miss this opportunity.

Śrīla Rāmānanda Rāya was already spiritually situated in the order of renounced life; therefore he was able to turn sand into gold by spiritual potency, or, in other words, to elevate a person from a material to a spiritual position.

CC Antya 5.80, Purport:

Thus although Śrīla Rāmānanda Rāya acted as a gṛhastha and was accepted as an ordinary pounds-and-shillings man, he was always absorbed in the transcendental pastimes of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Therefore his mind was spiritually situated, and he was interested only in the subject of Kṛṣṇa. Rāmānanda Rāya was not among the Māyāvādī impersonalists or materialistic logicians who are opposed to the principles of Lord Kṛṣṇa's transcendental pastimes. He was already spiritually situated in the order of renounced life; therefore he was able to turn sand into gold by spiritual potency, or, in other words, to elevate a person from a material to a spiritual position.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya

When the marginal potency comes under the jurisdiction of the spiritual potency, it becomes eligible for love of Godhead.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 25:

The conditioned soul is the marginal potency overpowered by the external potency. However, when the marginal potency comes under the jurisdiction of the spiritual potency, it becomes eligible for love of Godhead. The Supreme Lord enjoys six kinds of opulences, and no one can establish that He is formless or that He is without energy. If someone claims so, his contention is completely opposed to the Vedic instructions. Actually the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the master of all energies. It is only the living entity, who is an infinitesimal part and parcel of Him, who is overpowered by the material energy.

As confirmed in Viṣṇu Purāṇa: "The pleasure potency of Kṛṣṇa gives Kṛṣṇa transcendental pleasure and bliss." Thus when Kṛṣṇa wants to enjoy pleasure, He exhibits His own spiritual potency known as hlādinī.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 31:

When spiritual energy is overwhelmed by ignorance, it is called marginal energy. As far as spiritual energy itself is concerned, it is exhibited in three forms because Kṛṣṇa is a combination of eternity, bliss and knowledge. As far as His bliss is concerned, His spiritual energy is manifested as the pleasure giving potency. His eternity is manifested as energy, and His knowledge is manifested as spiritual perfection. As confirmed in Viṣṇu Purāṇa (1.12.69): "The pleasure potency of Kṛṣṇa gives Kṛṣṇa transcendental pleasure and bliss." Thus when Kṛṣṇa wants to enjoy pleasure, He exhibits His own spiritual potency known as hlādinī.

Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead

Brahmā continued: "If I cannot estimate the spiritual potency of Your childlike body, then what can I understand about Your transcendental pastimes?"

Krsna Book 14:

Brahmā continued: “Your appearance as a cowherd child is for the benefit of the devotees, and although I have committed an offense at Your lotus feet by stealing away Your boys and calves, I can understand that You have bestowed Your mercy upon me. That is Your transcendental quality: You are very affectionate toward Your devotees. But in spite of Your great affection for me, I cannot estimate the potency of Your bodily activities. It is to be understood that when I, Lord Brahmā, the supreme personality of this universe, cannot estimate the childlike body of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, then what to speak of others? And if I cannot estimate the spiritual potency of Your childlike body, then what can I understand about Your transcendental pastimes? Therefore, as it is said in the Bhagavad-gītā, anyone who can understand a little of the transcendental pastimes, appearance and disappearance of the Lord becomes immediately eligible to enter into the kingdom of God after quitting the material body.

Śukadeva Gosvāmī continued to inform Mahārāja Parīkṣit that: Whenever Kṛṣṇa appears, He appears as He is, without change. This is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā, where the Lord says that He appears by His spiritual potency. He does not appear under the control of the material potency.

Krsna Book 29:

Śukadeva Gosvāmī continued to inform Mahārāja Parīkṣit that Kṛṣṇa is not an ordinary person but rather the Supreme Personality of Godhead—imperishable, immeasurable and without any material qualities but full of all spiritual qualities. He appears in this material world out of His causeless mercy, and whenever He appears, He appears as He is, without change. This is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā, where the Lord says that He appears by His spiritual potency. He does not appear under the control of the material potency. The material potency is under His control. In the Bhagavad-gītā it is stated that the material potency is working under His superintendence. It is also confirmed in the Brahma-saṁhitā that the material potency, known as Durgā, is acting just as a shadow which moves with the movement of the substance. The conclusion is that if one somehow or other becomes attached to Kṛṣṇa or attracted to Him, either because of His qualities of beauty, opulence, fame, strength, renunciation or knowledge, through affection or friendship, or even through lust, anger or fear, then one's salvation and freedom from material contamination are assured.

Kṛṣṇa is actually present everywhere by spiritual potency, and one simply has to surrender unto Him sincerely.

Krsna Book 49:

Although Kṛṣṇa was not present before her, Kuntī offered her prayers to Him as if she were in His presence face to face. This is possible for anyone following in the footsteps of Kuntī. Kṛṣṇa does not have to be physically present everywhere. He is actually present everywhere by spiritual potency, and one simply has to surrender unto Him sincerely.

The araṇi fire ignited by the spiritual potency of a brāhmaṇa who is dissatisfied can burn to ashes the whole family of a person who provokes such a brāhmaṇa.

Krsna Book 64:

Ordinary poison affects only those who drink it, and ordinary fire can be extinguished simply by pouring water on it, but the araṇi fire ignited by the spiritual potency of a brāhmaṇa who is dissatisfied can burn to ashes the whole family of a person who provokes such a brāhmaṇa. (Formerly, the brāhmaṇas used to ignite the fire of sacrifice not with matches or any other external fire but with their powerful mantras, called araṇi.) If someone even touches a brāhmaṇa's property, his family is ruined for three generations. However, if a brāhmaṇa's property is forcibly taken away, the taker's family for ten generations before him and ten generations after will be subject to ruination. On the other hand, if someone becomes a pure Vaiṣṇava, or devotee of the Lord, ten generations of his family before his birth and ten generations after will be liberated.

The individual soul, from Lord Brahmā down to the ant, exhibits his spiritual potency according to his present body.

Krsna Book 87:

The transcendental position of the Supreme Lord is that of eternity, bliss and full knowledge. His position of eka-rasa does not change in the slightest when He becomes a witness and advisor to the individual soul in each individual body. But the individual soul, from Lord Brahmā down to the ant, exhibits his spiritual potency according to his present body. The demigods are in the same category with the individual souls in the bodies of human beings or in the bodies of lower animals. Intelligent persons, therefore, do not worship different demigods, who are simply infinitesimal representatives of Kṛṣṇa manifest in conditioned bodies. The individual soul can exhibit his power only in proportion to the shape and constitution of the body.

The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, even when lying on the lap of His mother as a baby, could exhibit His full power by killing Pūtanā and other demons who attacked Him. Thus the spiritual potency of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is said to be eka-rasa, or without change.

Krsna Book 87:

The Māyāvādī philosophers' thesis that God and the individual soul are one and the same cannot be accepted because the individual soul has to develop his power according to the development of different types of bodies. The individual soul in the body of a baby cannot show the full power of a grown man, but the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, even when lying on the lap of His mother as a baby, could exhibit His full power by killing Pūtanā and other demons who attacked Him. Thus the spiritual potency of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is said to be eka-rasa, or without change. The Supreme Personality of Godhead, therefore, is the only worshipable object, and this is perfectly known to persons who are uncontaminated by the modes of material nature.

A Kṛṣṇa conscious person is fully electrified spiritually, and therefore anyone who touches or takes shelter of such a pure devotee becomes similarly electrified with spiritual potencies.

Krsna Book 87:

Devotees who are always situated in that position become electrified by the inconceivable potencies of the Lord, and thus they themselves become the source of liberation for their followers and devotees. A Kṛṣṇa conscious person is fully electrified spiritually, and therefore anyone who touches or takes shelter of such a pure devotee becomes similarly electrified with spiritual potencies. Such devotees are never puffed up with material opulences. Generally, the material opulences are good parentage, education, beauty and riches, but although a devotee of the Lord may possess all four of these material opulences, he is never carried away by the pride of possessing such distinctions.

Renunciation Through Wisdom

The source of Brahman is an eternal personality who has no material form but who has a transcendental form full of spiritual potencies and all divine qualities.

Renunciation Through Wisdom 2.2:

Brahman exists as the all-pervading energy in this phenomenal world. Therefore the Vedas have defined Brahman as formless, impersonal, pure, and so on. But the source of Brahman is an eternal personality who has no material form but who has a transcendental form full of spiritual potencies and all divine qualities. He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the embodiment of eternity, knowledge, and bliss. He possesses all six transcendental opulences to an infinite degree, He performs superexcellent divine pastimes, and He alone is to be searched out and known in all the scriptures.

By contrast, the potency that activates the inferior energy is known as the Lord's superior energy, or spiritual potency. On principle the energy cannot be the enjoyer; nor can one energy enjoy another energy.

Renunciation Through Wisdom 2.2:

The above-mentioned eight ingredients make up the material nature, or the Supreme Lord's external potency. These material ingredients—earth, water, fire, air, and so on—are devoid of any free will, and so they are known as the Lord's inferior energy. By contrast, the potency that activates the inferior energy is known as the Lord's superior energy, or spiritual potency. On principle the energy cannot be the enjoyer; nor can one energy enjoy another energy. Energy is the enjoyed, and the energetic is the enjoyer.

The potency of Lord Viṣṇu is summarized in three categories—namely, the spiritual potency, the living entities, and ignorance.

Renunciation Through Wisdom 2.2:

In the Viṣṇu Purāṇa (6.7.61) one reads about the three kinds of energy:

viṣṇu-śaktiḥ parā proktā

kṣetra jñākhyā tathā parā

avidyā-karma-saṁjñānyā

tṛtīyā śaktir iṣyate

(CC Madhya 6.154)

The potency of Lord Viṣṇu is summarized in three categories—namely, the spiritual potency, the living entities, and ignorance. The spiritual potency is full of knowledge; the living entities, although belonging to the spiritual potency, are subject to bewilderment; and the third energy, which is full of ignorance, is always visible in fruitive activities.

The philosophical school known as Viśiṣṭādvaita propounds the idea that the Supreme Lord eternally exists with His two principal potencies: the cit-śakti, or spiritual potency, and the acit-śakti, or material potency.

Renunciation Through Wisdom 3.3:

Vaiṣṇava mahātmās have explained the aphorism sarvaṁ khalv idaṁ brahma in this manner: The philosophical school known as Viśiṣṭādvaita propounds the idea that the Supreme Lord eternally exists with His two principal potencies: the cit-śakti, or spiritual potency, and the acit-śakti, or material potency. Though the Lord is one nondual entity, He exists dynamically, manifesting His multifarious energies under the main headings of the cit and acit potencies, which He absolutely controls. Although He is the source of unlimited potencies, He eternally exists in His transcendental, personal form.

Lord Kṛṣṇa naturally has three energetic transformations, and these are known as the spiritual potency, the living entity potency, and the illusory potency.

Renunciation Through Wisdom 3.3:

Lord Kṛṣṇa naturally has three energetic transformations, and these are known as the spiritual potency, the living entity potency, and the illusory potency... Forgetting Kṛṣṇa, the living entity has been attracted by the external feature from time immemorial. Therefore the illusory energy (māyā) gives him all kinds of misery in his material existence. In the material condition, the living entity is sometimes raised to higher planetary systems and material prosperity and sometimes drowned in a hellish situation. His state is exactly that of a criminal whom a king punishes by submerging him in water and then raising him again from the water.... If the conditioned soul becomes Kṛṣṇa conscious by the mercy of saintly persons who voluntarily preach scriptural injunctions and help him to become Kṛṣṇa conscious, the conditioned soul is liberated from the clutches of māyā, who gives him up. The conditioned soul cannot revive his Kṛṣṇa consciousness by his own effort. But out of causeless mercy, Lord Kṛṣṇa compiled the Vedic literature and its supplements, the Purāṇas.

Śrī Aurobindo pointed out that the activities of the inferior, material energy should not be mistaken for those of this spiritual potency.

Renunciation Through Wisdom 3.4:

When the jīva performs all his activities under the direction of the Lord's internal, spiritual energy, he enjoys eternal transcendental bliss, which is a billion times grater than the happiness of Brahman realization. The difference in transcendental joy between the two is like the difference between the vast ocean and the water collected in a calf's hoofprint. When Śrī Aurobindo wrote of "the Divine Mother," he was likely referring to this internal, spiritual energy, the predominating Deity of eternal transcendental bliss. He also pointed out that the activities of the inferior, material energy should not be mistaken for those of this spiritual potency. Once the famous impersonalist and monist sannyāsī Ramana Maharshi of Madras was asked by a foreign disciple, "What is the difference between God and man?" His cryptic reply was "God plus desire equals man, and man minus desire equals God." We say that man can never be free of desire.

This superior potency is quite different form the Lord's inferior, external potency, which is qualified by the three material modes. An example of the Lord's superior, spiritual potency is the jīvas.

Renunciation Through Wisdom 4.1:

Lord Brahmā did not receive this extraordinary Vedic knowledge after creation but before he began the work of creation. The knowledge that existed before the mundane nature came into being is transcendental and is known as saṁvit. The Viṣṇu Purāṇa delves into the subjects of sandhinī, saṁvit, and hlādinī, the Lord's potencies of existence, knowledge, and pleasure. All together, these are known as the Lord's internal potency, or spiritual potency. The Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam also discusses the subject of the Lord's internal potency. This superior potency is quite different form the Lord's inferior, external potency, which is qualified by the three material modes. An example of the Lord's superior, spiritual potency is the jīvas. One who can understand that the jīvas are a product of the Lord's internal potency, not His external potency, can immediately grasp the difference between these two potencies.

Delusion is the perverted image of reality and is the hallmark of māyā, the Lord's external energy. This delusion is totally absent in His internal, spiritual potency.

Renunciation Through Wisdom 4.1:

Delusion is the perverted image of reality and is the hallmark of māyā, the Lord's external energy. This delusion is totally absent in His internal, spiritual potency. The jīva is a product of the Lord's superior, transcendental energy, but he becomes deluded into identifying his body as his self. Once this ignorance is dissipated, he can immediately understand the actual nature of the body. Illusion is possible on the mundane plane but never in the spiritual energy.

Lord Kṛṣṇa came personally to teach that the highest Absolute Truth is not an impotent material concept. He is the full manifestation of absolute spiritual potencies.

Renunciation Through Wisdom 4.4:

The authorized scriptures have declared that Kṛṣṇa is the original Supreme Lord and the source of all incarnations. In the Bhagavad-gītā (7.7), He says in His own words, mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat: "O conqueror of wealth, there is no Truth superior to Me." Lord Kṛṣṇa came personally to teach that the highest Absolute Truth is not an impotent material concept. He is the full manifestation of absolute spiritual potencies. Those who cannot grasp this profound truth are fools spinning out endless speculations. That person who, although one, desires to expand and thus becomes many—can such a person be a human being or a formless impersonal entity?

The Lord says that His external potency—Mahā-māyā, or Kālī-serves Him in the form of the internal, spiritual potency. The jīva must allow this spiritual potency to influence him freely, without interference from the false ego, which makes the him think he is the doer.

Renunciation Through Wisdom 5.1:

Both the Vedas and the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam describe the conditioned soul with the same analogy: On the tree-like human body reside two similar birds. One is the Supreme Soul, the Paramātmā feature of the Supreme Lord, and the other is the jīva soul. One bird, the jīva, is enjoying the fruits of material existence, while the other remains aloof, replete with all His transcendental potencies. The jīva soul must surrender to the Supreme Soul and relish the fruits given to him by the Lord. The Lord says that His external potency—Mahā-māyā, or Kālī-serves Him in the form of the internal, spiritual potency. The jīva must allow this spiritual potency to influence him freely, without interference from the false ego, which makes the him think he is the doer. Thus surrendering to the Lord is the method prescribed to reach the highest stages of devotional service.

When the living entity is under the influence of the three modes of nature, his actions are conducted by the Lord's external energy, the material nature. But when he is in transcendental coonsciousness, the śuddha-sattva state, his actions are conducted by the Lord's internal, spiritual potency.

Renunciation Through Wisdom 5.1:

Success in any activity depends on five essential factors: the place, the doer, the tools or senses, the endeavor, and finally the sanction of the Supreme Lord. Of these, the Supreme Lord's blessing is the most important. This sanction is enacted through the Supreme Lord's favorable supervision of His material energy, for it is by the Lord's will that material nature acts. Material nature acts according to one's consciousness: when the living entity is under the influence of the three modes of nature, his actions are conducted by the Lord's external energy, the material nature. But when he is in transcendental coonsciousness, the śuddha-sattva state, his actions are conducted by the Lord's internal, spiritual potency. The living entity can choose to have his activities conducted by either the Lord's external energy or His internal energy. This is the extent of the jīva's minute independence.

The Lord is present in everyone's heart by His inconceivable spiritual potency. He also directs the movements of the jīvas by means of His material energy, consisting of the three modes of nature.

Renunciation Through Wisdom 5.1:

The Lord is present in everyone's heart by His inconceivable spiritual potency. He also directs the movements of the jīvas by means of His material energy, consisting of the three modes of nature. After placing the jīvas in a material body, the Lord controls their wanderings. The intelligence of those jīvas who surrender to the Lord is fixed in devotional service, and so they are never again attracted to mundane activities. Transcending the three modes, they dispassionately observe all activities within the realm of the three modes.

We have to become infused with His spiritual potency; thus strengthened, we then have to make the propagation of His transcendental glories our prime duty in life.

Renunciation Through Wisdom 5.1:

The objective of life is not simply a subject of debate or speculation. The ultimate aim of life is to realize that supreme object, the Personality of Godhead. Buddhi-yoga, or Kṛṣṇa consciousness, means to become absorbed in serving the Supreme Lord and His name, qualities, form, pastimes, etc. In other words, it means becoming an instrument for His satisfaction. We have to become infused with His spiritual potency; thus strengthened, we then have to make the propagation of His transcendental glories our prime duty in life. By means of such Potent missionary activities, innumerable jīvas can experience endless spiritual joy.

Sri Isopanisad

When one realizes the material potencies of the Lord but has little or no information of the spiritual potencies, he attains Paramātmā realization.

Sri Isopanisad 15, Purport:

The conclusion is that one who has no knowledge of the potencies of the Supreme Truth will realize the impersonal Brahman. Similarly, when one realizes the material potencies of the Lord but has little or no information of the spiritual potencies, he attains Paramātmā realization. Thus both Brahman and Paramātmā realization of the Absolute Truth are partial realizations. However, when one realizes the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, in full potency after the removal of the hiraṇmaya-pātra, one realizes vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti: (BG 7.19) Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, who is known as Vāsudeva, is everything—Brahman, Paramātmā and Bhagavān. He is Bhagavān, the root, and Brahman and Paramātmā are His branches.