Supreme Brahman (SB Lectures)

Expressions researched:
"Supreme Brahman"

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

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

So if after liberation... Liberation means sufficient knowledge to understand that one is not this body. That is called liberation. So after liberation there is activity. That they do not know. They think after liberation there is no other activity. Some of them say that when the waterpot is full, there is no more sound. It is solid. But our philosophy is that when one is liberated, his actual life begins. What is that actual life? The actual life is to be engaged in the transcendental loving service of the Lord. That is actual life. Therefore in the Bhagavad-gītā it is said,

brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā

na śocati na kāṅkṣati

samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu

mad-bhaktiṁ labhate parām

(BG 18.54)

After being brahma-bhūtaḥ, not simply by knowing ahaṁ brahmāsmi. No. One must realize, assimilate, how he is Brahman. Brahman means the same thing as the Absolute Truth. So we, all living entities, being part and parcel of the Supreme Brahman, Kṛṣṇa, certainly we are Brahman. There is no doubt about it. But if one stops activities of Brahman realization, then he falls down.

Lecture on SB 1.2.6 -- Mauritius, October 5, 1975:

We are all Brahman. The Māyāvādī philosophers, they are very busy to realize his Brahman position. So we are Brahmans. That is a... Because we are part and parcel of God. God is Para-brahman. So we are part and parcel of God. We are not parabrahman, the Supreme Brahman, but we are Brahman. Ahaṁ brahmāsmi, this realization, "I am not this body," that is called brahma-bhūtaḥ. So brahma-bhūtaḥ, when you realize this, this is called knowledge, brahma-jñāna, that "I am not this body but I am spirit soul, part and parcel of God. My duty is to assist God, to serve God." That is called brahma-bhūtaḥ. Otherwise, being jīva-bhūtaḥ, we are engaged in this material world, struggling with the material energy. That is called jīva-bhūtaḥ. And brahma-bhūtaḥ means to realize that "Why I am unnecessarily struggling with this material world? I do not belong to this material world. I am spirit soul. My business is spiritual." That is brahma-bhūtaḥ. And as soon as one understands this position, then prasannātmā, he becomes immediately happy, joyful. Just like if you are doing something for which you have no necessity, and when you come to realize that "I am unnecessarily wasting my time in this way," naturally, if you become joyful that "Why I am wasting my time in this way?" that is brahma-bhūtaḥ stage. Brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā (BG 18.54). Prasannātmā means joyful stage, no more anxiety.

Lecture on SB 1.2.7 -- Vrndavana, October 18, 1972:

"You learn from guru by praṇipāta, surrendering." The whole system is surrender. So vāsudeve bhagavati bhakti-yogaḥ (SB 1.2.7). Bhakti-yogaḥ prayojitaḥ means in order to enter into bhakti-yoga one has to first of all surrender to a bona fide spiritual master. Ādau gurvāśrayam. This is the beginning of bhakti-yoga. And what kind of guru? An... That is also explained in the śāstras: śābde pare ca niṣṇātaṁ brahmaṇy upaśamāśrayam. Guru must be śābde pare ca niṣṇātam (SB 11.3.21). Śābde means śabda-brahman, Vedic knowledge. He must be dipped into the Vedic knowledge, śābde pare ca, and in devotional service, śābde pare ca niṣṇātam, brahmaṇy upaśamāśrayam. And accepting the Supreme Brahman, Paraṁ Brahman, as the ultimate goal of life. Not he has got any other goal of life. These are the signs of guru.

Lecture on SB 1.2.9 -- Hyderabad, April 23, 1974:

Śukadeva Gosvāmī is remarking... When he saw, means he came to the position of Kṛṣṇa's playing with the cowherds boys, so the cowherd boys are playing. Sometimes Kṛṣṇa is defeated. He has to take one cowherd boy on His shoulder. So Śukadeva Gosvāmī is studying that "Who are these cowherd boys? They're playing with Kṛṣṇa. They are not ordinary cowherd..." kṛta-puṇya-puñjāḥ: "After many, many births accumulation of pious activities, now they have come to play with Kṛṣṇa."

So this is the position. Itthaṁ satāṁ brahma-sukhānubhūtyā. Here is Kṛṣṇa. Who is that? The Supreme Brahman, Para-brahman. The jñānīs, they want to appreciate the Supreme Brahman. Satām. Brahma-sukha, brahma-sukha. They are after brahma-sukha. Here is the source of brahma-sukha. Brahmaṇo 'haṁ pratiṣṭhā. So here is the... Just like the light, illumination—there is a source of light, the sunshine, illumination. The source is the sun globe. Similarly, the brahma-jyotir, what is the source? Kṛṣṇa says, brahmaṇaḥ ahaṁ pratiṣṭhā: "I am the source. From Me it is coming." Therefore the same thing is... Itthaṁ brahma-sukhānubhūtyā: "the source of brahma-sukha."

Lecture on SB 1.2.16 -- Vrndavana, October 27, 1972:

"My dear Kṛṣṇa, whatever You say, I accept them as it is." Then others may say, "Well, Arjuna was Kṛṣṇa's friend. So just to flatter Him, he might have said like that." No. Arjuna gave immediately evidences that "I..., not only I accept You, but great personalities like Vyāsa, Nārada, Devala, Asita, and many others." Authorities. Just like when you speak something in the legal court, you give evidences from other judgement, authorities. That is a good case. Similarly, Arjuna accepted Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān (BG 10.12). "My dear Kṛṣṇa, I accept You. You are the Supreme Brahman." Brahmeti bhagavān, paramātmeti bhagavān iti śabdyate. Brahmeti bhagavān, paramātmeti bhagavān iti śabdyate. Therefore Bhagavān is paraṁ brahma. Simply impersonal Brahman-realization is not finishing the business. You have to go further, further, further. In the Īśopaniṣad, it is said, "My dear Lord, kindly wind up Your blazing effulgence so that I can see You actually." That is stated in the Īśopaniṣad.

Lecture on SB 1.2.19 -- Vrndavana, October 30, 1972:

Because sattva-guṇa means knowledge, rajo-guṇa means passion, and tamo-guṇa means ignorance. So this world is being carried on by these three guṇas. Those who are accepting the tamo-guṇa, they are kāma, lusty, too much lusty. And those who are in rajo-guṇa, they're too much greedy. And those are in the sattva-guṇa, they know things. That is brahminical qualification. Veda jānāti iti brāhmaṇaḥ. Veda-pāṭhād bhaved vipro brahma jānāti iti brāhmaṇaḥ. By reading Vedas, one becomes a vipra. Then not only vipra, but when... Vipra means brāhmaṇa. So to become brāhmaṇa by qualification is not sufficient. One must know the Brahman, the Supreme Brahman, Para-brahman. Just like Arjuna understood Kṛṣṇa, paraṁ brahma, paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān (BG 10.12). That is real stage. That is brahminical stage. Don't think that Arjuna was a kṣatriya. He, after studying Bhagavad-gītā, he became brāhmaṇa, because he understood Kṛṣṇa. He says, paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān (BG 10.12). He understood Kṛṣṇa rightly. Others, they, that story of the yājñika-brāhmaṇas... Not story, fact. They could not understand Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture on SB 1.5.28 -- Vrndavana, August 9, 1974:

So here Nārada Muni says that "During the four months..." In India there are six seasons. There is summer season, and there is spring. There is autumn. Then there is winter, there is fall. In this way, there are six seasons. So the saintly persons, in the, during the autumn and rainy season, they keep together; they do not move. Because saintly persons, sannyāsīs, their business is to move... Gṛhiṇāṁ dīna-cetasām, mahad-vicalanam. Mahad-vicalanam. Mahat means mahātmā, great souls. Great soul means not crippled souls, those who are anxious to meet the great, or the Supreme Brahman, or the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Those who are crippled souls, they are entangled with the limited circle of material enjoyment. But mahātmā... Mahātmā is described in the Bhagavad-gītā, mahātmānas tu māṁ pārtha daivīṁ prakṛtim āśritāḥ (BG 9.13). Mahātmās are not interested within this material world. They are not under the influence of the external energy. Of course, nowadays it is... Sometimes politicians are called "mahātmā." But that is not the purpose of mahātmā. Mahātmā is not interested with politics or sociology or... They are all material things. Or philanthropy. They are interested with the Supreme: Brahman, Paramātmā and Bhagavān. Brahmeti paramātmeti bhagavān iti śabdyate (SB 1.2.11). They're interested. Especially mahātmā is he who is interested with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture on SB 1.7.18 -- Vrndavana, September 15, 1976:

If you want to know the real life, then you have to go to guru. Jijñāsuḥ śreya uttamam. Then what is the sign, what is the symptom of such guru where I shall get real information? That is also stated. Jijñāsuḥ śreya uttamam, śābde pare ca niṣṇātam. One who is fully aware of the transcendental science or words, śabda, śabda-brahma. Śabda-brahma means Vedic literature. One is completely in awareness of Vedic knowledge. Śābde pare ca niṣṇātam. Niṣṇātam means one has taken a dip in the ocean of this Vedic literature. Niṣṇātam. And what is the result? Śābde pare ca niṣṇātaṁ brahmaṇy upaśamāśrayam. The Supreme Brahman... Brahman, Paramātmā, Bhagavān. Brahmaṇi, either of them. But Bhagavān is the best. Or, if you cannot approach Bhagavān, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Brahman is also. Because if one is in Brahman, he has a chance to make further progress.

Lecture on SB 1.8.30 -- Mayapura, October 10, 1974:

The soul is never cut into pieces by any weapon, neither it is burned by the fire, soul. That is eternity. Anything material, it will burn, it will be cut into pieces, it can be dried up, it can be moistened. Because we cannot see the soul, so Kṛṣṇa has explained in a negative definition what is the characteristic of the soul. Nainaṁ chindanti śastrāṇi nainaṁ dahati pāvakaḥ, na śoṣayati mārutaḥ (BG 2.23). Like that.

So aja... We are also aja because we are part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa. And nitya. Nityaḥ śāśva... Ajo nityaḥ. Nitya... The Māyāvāda philosophy is that we are aja, and Supreme Brahman is aja. So when we are uncovered by this material body, we mix with the aja. That is their theory, monist. We merge into the existence of aja. But that is not fact. You merge. That is like merging a green bird into a green tree. When a green bird enters a green tree it appears that the green bird is now merged and he, it has no more existence. No. That is not... One can understand. The bird enters into the green tree does not mean the bird has lost his existence. His individuality is still there. Similarly, when we merge, even in Brahman effulgence, we do not lose our individuality. Although it appears that we have lost our identity, individuality, but actually that is not the fact. And because it is not fact, therefore our another quality is ānandamayo 'bhyāsāt: (Vedānta-sūtra 1.1.12) we want ānanda.

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

"This working hard and bank balance could not make me anyway happy, so therefore this is false, all these activities, what I am..." The brahma satyaṁ jagan mithyā. So they become disgusted and take to Brahman. Brahma satyam.

But brahma satyam is fact, but because they are trying to understand Brahman by their speculative method, they cannot understand Brahman. Athāpi te deva padāmbuja-dvaya-prasāda-leśānugṛhīta eva hi, jānāti tattvam (SB 10.14.29). You can understand the Supreme Brahman... Simply understanding Brahman will not give you satisfaction. Simply understanding ahaṁ brahmāsmi, this will not... Suppose if you have got money, and you are aware that you are very rich man. So simply thinking that you are very rich man and you see your money in the treasury, you'll be happy? No. When the money is utilized in so many ways for your gratification, then you are happy. Similarly, simple understanding, ahaṁ brahmāsmi, this realization, will not make you happy. You have to utilize his Brahman's position. That means bhakti. This is called śānta-rasa, simply to understand ahaṁ brahmāsmi. This is called śānta-rasa. You must develop further. That is called dāsya-rasa, to become the servant of the Supreme Brahman. Then further advance. Simply to understand that "I am Brahman" will not give you...

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

"Who is this person, taking His friend on His shoulder?" Now, itthaṁ satāṁ brahma-sukhānubhūtyā. The great, great sages, impersonalists, they merge into the brahma-sukha. So brahma-sukha... Brahman is the effulgence of the body of Kṛṣṇa. Yasya prabhā prabhavato jagad-aṇḍa-koṭi (Bs. 5.40). Brahman, impersonal Brahman, is the rays of the body of Kṛṣṇa. Therefore Śukadeva Gosvāmī's pointing out that "Here is the source of brahma-sukha. The impersonalists, they take pleasure to merge into brahma-sukha, but here the Personality, Kṛṣṇa, who is taking His friend on His shoulder, He is the source of brahma-sukha." In other words, the impersonalists enjoy brahma-sukha, and the devotee enjoys that Supreme Brahman by rising up on His shoulder. That is the position of the devotee.

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

Caitanya Mahāprabhu has said that "Out of many, many karmīs, one who is jñānī..." Jñānī means one who knows that "I am not this body. I am spirit." But still, there is some mistake. They think that "I am the Supreme Spirit." So 'ham. Māyā is so strong. Even after so much austerities, coming practically on the verge of perfection, they are misled by māyā. This so 'ham. So 'ham means "I am the same." But "I am the same" does not mean "I am the same Supreme." "I am the same in quality." So 'ham does not mean that "I am as good as the Supreme Brahman." It does not mean. Part is never equal to the whole. We are part of the Supreme Brahman. Mamaivāṁśaḥ. So in quality, just like a small particle of gold is also gold-quality is the same. A small drop of sea water is the same quality, salty. But that does not mean the drop of sea water becomes the sea. 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 1.10.3 -- Mayapura, June 18, 1973:

The first instruction. The so-called spiritual institution, spiritual system, but they do not know that what he is, what they are. The bodily identification. Anyone who is bodily identified, there is no question of spiritual instruction. He is an ass. Yasyātma-buddhiḥ kuṇape tri-dhātuke, sa eva go-kharaḥ (SB 10.84.13). The first spiritual instruction is, one must be convinced thoroughly, vijñāna-vidhūta-vibhramaḥ, that he is not this body. "I am not this body. Ahaṁ brahmāsmi." This realization, "I am spirit soul. I am part and parcel of the Supreme Brahman." Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Brahman. Paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān (BG 10.12).

So mamaivāṁśo jīva-bhūtaḥ (BG 15.7). Kṛṣṇa says, "All the living entities, they are My part and parcels." So when the living entity understands that "I am part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is Para-brahman. So I am not Para-brahman. I am the of the Supreme Brahman..." The Māyāvāda philosophy, they mistake this: "Because I am Brahman, therefore I am Supreme Brahman." No. Supreme Brahman is Kṛṣṇa. I am Brahman, because I am part and parcel of the Supreme Brahman.

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

They do not know. Kṛṣi-go-rakṣya-vāṇijyaṁ, go-rakṣya, vāṇijyam, vaiśya-karma svabhāva-jam. This is the duty of the mercantile class of men: to improve agriculture, to give protection to the cows, kṛṣi-go-rakṣya. And vāṇijyam. And if you have got excess food, you can trade, vāṇijyam. This is the business. The brāhmaṇa is meant for doing the brain work. He will give advice. Just like we, Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, we, we are not meant for the ksatriya's business or vaisya's business, the devotees, but if required they can take. Real business is, brāhmaṇa's business is to know the Vedas, the Brahman, the Supreme Brahman, the Absolute Truth. He, he must know, and he must distribute the knowledge. This is brāhmaṇa. Kīrtayanto. Satataṁ kīrtayanto māṁ yatantaś ca dṛḍha-vratāḥ. This is brāhmaṇa's business.

So, we have taken this business that preach that there is God. We have got an intimate relationship with God. So if you act, act accordingly, then they will be happy. This is our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. These rascals, they have forgotten, or they do not care to know, God, and that is the cause of their suffering. Yesterday that press reporter asked... What was the question?

Lecture on SB 1.15.28 -- Los Angeles, December 6, 1973:

Why you are so much attached to Kṛṣṇa? Why you are attached? Unless you are attached to Kṛṣṇa, you cannot sacrifice your valuable time in this temple or for preaching Kṛṣṇa's glory. You have developed a love for Kṛṣṇa. Otherwise nobody is so fool that he's wasting time. No. How it is possible? One may say that Kṛṣṇa is Indian, Kṛṣṇa is Hindu. So why the Christians are interested? Are they Hindu? No. Kṛṣṇa is neither Hindu nor Muslim nor Christian. Kṛṣṇa is Kṛṣṇa. And you are part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa. This understanding—"I'm Hindu," "I'm Muslim," "I'm Christian," "I'm American," "I'm Indian"—these are all designations. Actually I am spirit soul, ahaṁ brahmāsmi. And Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Brahman, paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān (BG 10.12).

Lecture on SB 2.1.5 -- Delhi, November 8, 1973:

I am going from this door to door and begging," then he comes to his consciousness. That is called brahma-bhūta (SB 4.30.20) stage. "Oh, I am, I am not this matter. I am spirit soul, part and parcel of God. Oh." That is consciousness.

This consciousness we are trying to arouse. This is the best welfare service to the people, to awaken his lost consciousness. He is foolishly thinking that "I am of the material product, and I have to adjust my things in this material world." This is the foolishness. Actual intelligence is that is Brahma-bhūta, ahaṁ brahmāsmi. Bhāgavata.: "I am part and parcel of God. God is supreme Brahman. I am, being part and parcel..." Just like part and parcel of the gold, gold mine, it may be small earring, it is also gold. Similarly, the small particle of sea water is also the same quality, salty. Similarly, we, being part and parcel of God, we have got the same qualities. Qualitatively, we are one. Why we are hankering after loving? Because there is love in Kṛṣṇa. We are worshiping here Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa. Originally there is love. Therefore we, being part and parcel of God, we are also trying to love. A man is trying to love another woman, woman is trying to love another man. This is natural. This is not artificial. But it is perverted in the material covering. That is the defect.

Lecture on SB 2.4.3-4 -- Los Angeles, June 27, 1972:

So there is, actually. So the higher inquiry should be that "Then what is the position of this sex life?" The position of this sex life is eternal. The sex life is from Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa. Cin-mithuna, cin-mithuna, spiritual. But there the sex life is not like this abominable sex life. There is sex impulse in the original. Otherwise how we have got this sex impulse? In the Vedānta-sūtra it is said, janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1). "Supreme Brahman, Absolute Truth, is there, is that from whom everything comes." So if there is sex life there in the Absolute Truth ... There must be sex life. Otherwise where you have got it? Wherefrom we get it? Everything is there, but the difference is that here, everything is contaminated, abominable, and there, everything is without inebrieties; it is happy, healthy, and eternal blissful. That is the difference. The things are there.

Lecture on SB 2.9.4 -- Japan, April 22, 1972:

They are lost. Only the fifth chapter was found in a temple in a handwritten leaf. And Caitanya Mahāprabhu collected it, and He gave it to His disciple, that "This Brahma-saṁhitā is the summary of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. So you take..." So Brahmā learned this, what is Kṛṣṇa, what is Bhagavān, from Bhagavān. So you have to learn also from Bhagavān. So Bhagavān is teaching Himself to Arjuna, Kṛṣṇa. And you try to understand as Arjuna understood. Then you also directly learn what is taught by Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa was accepted by Arjuna, paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān: (BG 10.12) "You are Para-brahman. You are the Supreme Brahman." Paraṁ dhāma: "You are the rest of everything." Paraṁ dhāma. Pavitram is the supreme pure. Paramaṁ bhavān śāśvataṁ puruṣam: "You are puruṣam, enjoyer." So these things were accepted by Arjuna. So if we simply accept as Arjuna accepted, then we also learn what is Bhagavān. (break)

Lecture on SB 2.9.13 -- Melbourne, April 12, 1972:

This is the difference. Everything, there is also tree, there is also flower, there are also palaces, there are aeroplanes, there are chariots, men, women, but they are real, and here it is unreal.

The same example, the mirage. It appears exactly like water, but it is not water. It is false. But there is real water. We should not think that because it is false water, therefore there is no water. Water is illu... That is Māyāvādī theory. Because here... Brahma satyaṁ jagan mithyā: Śaṅkarācārya, that "Only Brahman, impersonal Brahman, is fact, and everything, all varieties, they are mithyā." No. They have no full information of Brahman. When we get full information of Brahman, the Supreme Brahman, Kṛṣṇa He is ānanda-cinmaya-rasa-pratibhāvitābhiḥ (Bs. 5.37). He is always engaged in celestial Not celestial. Spiritual bliss. Ānanda-cinmaya-rasa. His līlā, His rasa-līlā, He is playing with the cowherds boy, but there is no defects or the, what is called, inebrieties. There is no such thing. Everything is fact, and everything is real. Therefore ānandamāyā. Ānanda-cinmaya-rasa. There is rasa. Here is also rasa. Here rasa is not ānanda-cinmaya. This is material. There everything is real. So bhrājiṣṇubhir yaḥ parito virājate lasad-vimānāvalibhir mahātmanām. Those vimānas, aeroplanes, belong to the mahātmanām, great liberated devotees. So devotees are not going to be zero. They will have also aeroplane there, but not this third class aeroplane.

Lecture on SB 3.25.3 -- Bombay, November 3, 1974:

"Yes, I have learned the best thing is that these materialistic persons, who have accepted the asad-vastu..." Sat and asat. Sad gama asato mā: "Don't keep yourself in the asat; go to the sat." Oṁ tat sat. That is the Vedic injunction. So... Material world means asad-vastu. Asad-vastu means not good or which will not stay. Asat. Sat means which exists, and asat means not existing. So in the material world nothing will exist. It exists for some time, temporary. The Māyāvādī philosopher says that brahma satyaṁ jagan mithyā. We Vaiṣṇavas, we do not say mithyā, because God, or the Supreme Brahman, is truth, so there can be anything untruth from the truth. That is not possible. Just like if you prepare something from gold, an earring, that earring is also gold. You cannot say it is something else. So yato vā imāni bhūtāni jāyante. That is the Vedic instruction. Janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1). So Supreme Absolute Truth is that from whom, or from which, everything has emanated. So if everything has emanated from the Absolute Truth, it cannot be untruth. How it can be untruth? It may be temporary. Therefore we Vaiṣṇava philosophers, we do not accept this jagat as the Māyāvādī philosopher says, jagan mithyā. No, we don't say mithyā. We say jagat is also satyam.

Lecture on SB 3.25.43 -- Bombay, December 11, 1974:

This is the difference between bhakti-yogī and ordinary karmīs. Therefore ordinary karmīs, they cannot understand that the bhaktas are on the transcendental platform. They think, "They are like us. By sentiment, they are chanting and dancing." No. That is not. It is bhakti-yoga. And that is based on jñāna and vairāgya.

One cannot be bhakti-yogī without jñāna and vairāgya. It is not a sentimental thing; it is based on pure knowledge. What is that pure knowledge? Pure knowledge means "I do not belong to this material world. I am spirit soul. Ahaṁ brahmāsmi. Therefore my business is to serve the Supreme Brahman, or Para-brahman." Paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān (BG 10.12). Arjuna agreed to serve Kṛṣṇa. Why? Because he understood Kṛṣṇa, paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān, śāśvataṁ puruṣam: puruṣam (BG 10.12), the Supreme Personality of Godhead, not impersonal. Impersonal feature is one of the features of Kṛṣṇa. But Kṛṣṇa factually is the Supreme Person, vekti.(?) That is called jñāna. And without this knowledge, vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ (BG 15.15), by studying all the Vedas and Vedāntas, if one cannot understand what is the nature of Kṛṣṇa, what is actually Kṛṣṇa, then he is not in perfect knowledge. Ajñāna.

Lecture on SB 3.26.2 -- Bombay, December 14, 1974:

That is not niḥśreyasārthāya, that is simply a temporary appeasement. That because I am disgusted with this material varieties, let it be zero, void. That is a temporary solace. We cannot remain without varieties. That is not possible. If there is nobody here, and you sit down, make meditation, you can sit down for fifteen minutes or twenty minutes, then you will go away. This is not possible because the spirit soul, either the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Supreme Soul, or the living entity, he is also spirit, both of them are Brahman. Para-brahman and ordinary Brahman. We are ordinary Brahman and Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Brahman. So Brahman, either Supreme or ordinary is seeking after happiness. That is Brahman life. Seeking after happiness. Just like Kṛṣṇa is Para-brahman, but He is also seeking happiness with Rādhārāṇī and the gopīs and the cowherds boy and the cows and the calves.

Lecture on SB 3.26.3 -- Bombay, December 15, 1974:

So, so long the sun is there, the sunshine is there. Sunshine means the combination of the bright molecules, molecular part. Similarly, we are parts of the brahma-jyotir. Brahmajyoti means combination of unlimited living entities. Svayaṁ-jyotiḥ, it is said. Svayaṁ-jyotir viśvam. Svayaṁ-jyotir viśvaṁ yena samanvitam. That jyoti is spread all over the universe, all over the universe. So the living entities are there just like sunshine is spread all over the universe. And what is the sunshine? A combination of small bright particles. Similarly, we are also bright, jyoti. And that is realization, ahaṁ brahmāsmi, that "I am also small particle jyoti, and the Supreme Brahman is also jyoti..." Yasya prabhā (Bs. 5.40). And what is this prabhā, this prabhā, this jyoti? It is Kṛṣṇa's bodily rays.

Lecture on SB 3.26.15 -- Bombay, December 24, 1974:

That is spiritual. These are all material, analytical study of the material composition of this cosmic manifestation. This is called Sāṅkhya philosophy.

So here there is one word, brahmaṇaḥ saguṇasya. These twenty-four or twenty-five material elements is covering the Brahman, and therefore he is called saguṇa. There are two words generally used, saguṇa and nirguṇa. Saguṇa means material, and nirguṇa means spiritual. So in the Bhagavad-gītā Arjuna is advised to come to the platform of nirguṇa. Traiguṇya-viṣayā vedā nistraiguṇyo bhavārjuna. That is the aim of life. We are also Brahman. We are part and parcel of Brahman, Supreme Brahman; therefore we are also Brahman. Brahman realization is not very difficult thing, provided we want to realize. And how we want? You take instruction from the Bhagavad-gītā, and if you accept it, then immediately your Brahman realization is there. Kṛṣṇa says that "These jīvas, they are My part and parcel." So if Kṛṣṇa is Brahman, Para-brahman, then we are Brahman. If we accept this... We have to accept because that is the constitutional position. We are part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture on SB 3.26.15 -- Bombay, December 24, 1974:

So Kṛṣṇa is always nirguṇa in any condition, any circumstances. But those who are mūḍhas, avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā mānuṣīṁ tanum āśritam (BG 9.11). But because Kṛṣṇa incarnates or comes, tadātmānaṁ sṛjāmy aham, He comes, we think, because we are foolish person, mūḍha, we think that "Kṛṣṇa is also one of us." That is not the fact. Saguṇa Brahman, nirguṇa Brahman, we should distinguish, that Kṛṣṇa is always nirguṇa Brahman, but we are saguṇa Brahman. We are Brahman, but because we are not Para-brahman or Supreme Brahman, we are subjected, we are prone to be covered by these material qualities. Therefore our business is again to recover ourself from these twenty-five elements, material elements. And that is only possible, as it is prescribed by Kṛṣṇa, sa guṇān samatītyaitān brahma-bhūyāya kalpate. What is that? Māṁ ca yo 'vyabhicāreṇa bhakti-yogena sevate (BG 14.26). You just engage yourself in bhakti-yoga process, mām avyabhicāreṇa, without any mixture, without any deviation. And how it can be, deviation?

Lecture on SB 3.26.46 -- Bombay, January 21, 1975:

Nitāi: "The characteristics of the functions of earth can be perceived by modeling forms of the Supreme Brahman, by constructing places of residence, by preparing pots to contain water, etc. In other words, the earth is the place of sustenance for all elements."

Prabhupāda:

bhāvanaṁ brahmaṇaḥ sthānaṁ

dhāraṇaṁ sad-viśeṣaṇam

sarva-sattva-guṇodbhedaḥ

pṛthivī-vṛtti-lakṣaṇam

(SB 3.26.46)

So brahmaṇaḥ sthānam. This temple is brahmaṇaḥ sthānam, the residential place for the Supreme Personality of Godhead, brahmaṇaḥ. Brahmaṇaḥ means the Absolute Truth. Absolute Truth is understood in three different features: brahmeti paramātmeti bhagavān iti śabdyate (SB 1.2.11). So Supreme Brahman means Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, as it was accepted by Arjuna after understanding Bhagavad-gītā.

Lecture on SB 3.26.46 -- Bombay, January 21, 1975:

That was the Vedic culture. Still in old cities you will find in lanes and streets, there are so many temples. I have seen, especially in Kanpur. Even within the lane there are so many temples, Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa temple, Viṣṇu temples, Śiva temple. So all over India you will find the temples. People were so spiritually advanced, even Muslim. They are also. They have constructed so many mosques. So that should be utilized. If we have got the tendency for making a house or construction of some building with stones and bricks, let it be utilized for constructing temple of the Supreme Brahman.

Nirbandhaḥ kṛṣṇa-sambandhe yuktaṁ vairāgyam ucyate. We do not give up anything; everything Kṛṣṇa's. Prāpañcikatayā buddhyā hari-sambandhi-vastunaḥ. Hari-sambandhi-vastunaḥ. Hari means God, the Supreme Lord. So He has got sambandha, relationship, because everything is His energy. Therefore it has got some relationship. Earth, water, air, fire, sky—these are all different energies of Kṛṣṇa. Bhinnā prakṛtir me aṣṭadhā. So it has got some relationship. So when it is utilized for Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa's energy is utilized for Kṛṣṇa, that is bhakti. And when Kṛṣṇa's energy is utilized for our sense gratification, that is called demonism. The same thing. Same thing you utilize for Kṛṣṇa—that is bhakti.

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

"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... That is not sukha. That they do not know. Therefore my Guru Mahārāja used to say, a poor fund of knowledge. By becoming one with the Brahman, Supreme Brahman, that is not actually sukha. 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. Unless you come to that point, then there is no possibility of eternal happiness.

Therefore it is said, tapasya, tapo divyam (SB 5.5.1). That is divyam. Kṛṣṇa has explained, janma karma ca me divyam (BG 4.9). That means activities, transcendental activities. Not that Kṛṣṇa is a zero, full stop. No. Actual activities begins when there is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. These activities, they're my activities temporarily. They will not give us real happiness. Real happiness means when we come to the platform to be engaged in Kṛṣṇa's activities. Tapo divyam putrakā yena (SB 5.5.1). Then we will get eternal happiness.

Lecture on SB 5.5.2 -- Vrndavana, October 24, 1976:

Therefore I am advising you again. You take it. So if we take Bhagavad-gītā in that way—or any śāstra—through the paramparā channel, then it is all right. Just like this example. This is Vedic instruction, Vedic order: "Yes, cow dung is pure." We have to take it. This is paramparā. "Yes, conchshell is pure. Although it is bone, never mind. It is pure." The order.

So spiritual master's order, because we do not know, therefore we have to approach mahātmā who can give me right instruction. So mahat-sevā. So if you go to spiritual master... Mahātmā and durātmā. Two words are there opposite: brāhmaṇa and a kṛpana. Brāhmaṇa mean one who has understood the Lord, the Supreme Brahman, Kṛṣṇa, Parambrahman. He is brāhmaṇa. And means one who is bhakta, he is brāhmaṇa. A bhakta is brāhmaṇa, and a brāhmaṇa is not a bhakta, not necessarily. Because if he does not know... A brāhmaṇa may know what is Brahman, but he may not know what is Kṛṣṇa. So a brāhmaṇa has to become a Vaiṣṇava Then he is perfect. Brāhmaṇa-Vaiṣṇava. Brāhmaṇa-paṇḍita. Otherwise, if he remains simply a brāhmaṇa, then he cannot become guru. That is the instruction.

Lecture on SB 5.6.3 -- Vrndavana, November 25, 1976:

This is brahmacārī, not for his personal benefit, but guror hitam. Then he is brahmacārī. Not that a brahmacārī has to become a very learned scholar in grammar and turīya... These are secondary things. First thing, he has to learn how to control the senses, dānta, how to control the mind. Śamo damaḥ. This is the beginning of brahminical life. If you cannot control your mind, if you cannot control your senses, there is no question of becoming brahmacārī. Brahmacārī, brahme cārati iti brahmacārī. And brāhmaṇa means brahma jānāti iti brāhmaṇaḥ. So these are the beginning, brahmacārī. Brahmacari means who is always in Brahman activities. That is brahmacārī. Or brāhmaṇa means one who knows the Supreme, Supreme Brahman, Parambrahman. So if you understand Kṛṣṇa, then immediately you are liberated. Paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān (BG 10.12). So if we understand Kṛṣṇa, then we are both brahmacārī or brāhmaṇa, brahma-jñāna, brahma-bhūtaḥ. These words are there in the śāstra: athāto brahma jijñāsā. Therefore the real life is to inquire about Brahman. Inquiring, inquiring, when the conditioned soul... Now it is jīva-bhūtaḥ. So long we are conditioned by the material nature—prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ (BG 3.27), bhuṅkte prakṛtijān guṇān—then we are jīva-bhūtaḥ. Otherwise when we come to our real position, that is brahma-bhūtaḥ.

Lecture on SB 6.1.15 -- Auckland, February 22, 1973:

So purificatory process. Our disease is... Try to understand very patiently. The living entity, he is under diseased condition. What is that diseased condition? Accepting birth, death, old age and disease. This is diseased condition. We living entity, we are eternal, pure. Because we are part and parcel of God, therefore... God is the purest. Paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān (BG 10.12). Kṛṣṇa when realized... Arjuna, when he realized the teachings of Bhagavad-gītā, he accepted Lord Kṛṣṇa that "You are Parabrahma. You are the Supreme Brahman." We are all Brahmans, but He is Supreme Brahman, paraṁ brahma. We are īśvaras or... It is very now popular to become God. We are God. That's all right. But the Godhead, He is Godhead. Therefore we use the word "Godhead," "Back to Godhead," not "Back to God." That God is everyone. That's a fact. Just like there are clerks and head clerk in the office. There are many clerks, hundreds of clerks, but one of them is the head clerk. Similarly, the atheistic persons, they are declaring themselves as God. We accept that we are all god—not theoretically, practically. God means controller. So everyone controls. So in that sense everyone is god. Everyone is opulent. In his relative position, everyone is opulent. I have got one thousand, you have got ten thousand, he has got hundred thousand. But we have got something. So in that way everyone is opulent.

Lecture on SB 6.1.15 -- Auckland, February 22, 1973:

So there is nothing to change, nothing to give up. Simply it is clearing process. Sarvopādhi-vinirmuktam (CC Madhya 19.170). This clearing process is we should we free from the designations. Just like these boys, American and European or Australian, Japanese, so many... We have got all kinds of students, but they are now devoid of all designations. They are not thinking that "I am American." They are not thinking, "I am Indian." They are thinking always, "I am Kṛṣṇa's servant." This is purification. This is purification. Sarva upādhi. Upādhi. This is designation. I am not American, nor Indian. This is body. This is circumstantial. I am, ahaṁ brahmāsmi, and Kṛṣṇa is Supreme Brahman, and I am Brahman, His eternal servant. This is self-realization. This is called mukti. Muktiḥ hitvānyathā rūpaṁ sva-rūpeṇa avasthitiḥ. This is mukti. Now we are anyathā rūpam. I am thinking Even there are so many human beings here, suppose in Auckland Somebody is thinking, "I am Indian." Somebody is thinking, "I am American." Somebody is thinking, "I am Englishman." So upādhi, that is upādhi. But if we give up this upādhi, designation, that "I am not this..." Just like Caitanya Mahāprabhu taught that "I am not a brāhmaṇa. I am not a kṣatriya. I am not a vaiśya. I am not a śūdra. I am not a sannyāsī. I am not a brahmacārī." These are all upādhi. Then what You are, Sir? Gopī-bhartuḥ pada-kamalayor dāsa-dāsānudāsaḥ: (CC Madhya 13.80) "I am the servant of the servant of the servant of Kṛṣṇa." This is called upādhi-less, or free from all designation. When we become free from all designation, then, in that purified state, if we engage ourself in Kṛṣṇa activities, that is our success of life.

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

"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. They want to make the spiritual world without varieties because they have got a very bad experience of this material varieties. So their conception is just the opposite. Just the opposite. There must not be any varieties. Just like there are... They say Kṛṣṇa... Because they are convinced the Supreme Brahman is impersonal, brahma-jyotir, so when brahma-jyotir appears, He must take a form of this material world. Just like we are spiritual sparks, but we have taken this material form in this material world, so they take it also that God, when He comes, appears, He also accepts a material body. That is called Māyāvādī. But Kṛṣṇa says that janma karma me divyam: (BG 4.9) "When I come I do not accept a material body." Divyam, janma divyam. It is completely spiritual. And yo jānāti tattvataḥ: "Anyone who knows it, he becomes liberated." But these Māyāvādī philosophers, they do not know Him; therefore they are not liberated. Do you follow? Yes. They are not liberated. Kṛṣṇa says, "One who knows perfectly well about Me, he becomes liberated." But they do not know. They accept Kṛṣṇa as ordinary man.

Lecture on SB 6.1.22 -- Honolulu, May 22, 1976:

So in this way, Ajāmila, he practiced this unfair way of livelihood, bandy-akṣaiḥ kaitavaiś cauryair garhitāṁ vṛttim āsthitaḥ. So vṛtti means livelihood. If one adopts abominable livelihood, there is no, I mean to say, hope of spiritual advancement. Finished. Because we have learned from Bhagavad-gītā, Arjuna says Kṛṣṇa, paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān: (BG 10.12) "Kṛṣṇa, You are the Supreme Brahman," paraṁ dhāma, "the supreme resort to everything," and pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān, "and the supreme pure." So nobody can approach Kṛṣṇa if he is impure. That is not possible. In the Bhagavad-gītā here it is said yeṣāṁ anta-gataṁ pāpam: one who is free from all contamination of sinful activities. Yeṣāṁ tv anta-gataṁ pāpaṁ janānāṁ puṇya-karmāṇām: simply engaged in pious activities. Te, such persons, dvanda-moha-nirmuktā, nirmuktā, without any doubt and duality, bhajante māṁ dṛdha-vratāḥ, with fixed-up mind we can become Kṛṣṇa conscious. So this Ajāmila, he learned all this nonsense, abominable way of livelihood, therefore his example is there: how he was downtrodden and fallen, still by the grace of Nārāyaṇa, how he was elevated. That is the history which is Sūta Goswami is citing. How Kṛṣṇa consciousness is powerful, that is the motive of narrating Ajāmila uddha, delivering Ajāmila.

Lecture on SB 6.1.23 -- Honolulu, May 23, 1976:

So in this way the Ajāmila, he practiced this unfair way of livelihood. Bandy-akṣaiḥ kaitavaiś cauryair garhitāṁ vṛttim āsthitaḥ. So vṛtti means livelihood. If one adopts abominable livelihood, there is no, I mean to say, hope of spiritual advancement, finished because... We have learned from Bhagavad-gītā. Arjuna says Kṛṣṇa, paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān (BG 10.12). "Kṛṣṇa, you are the Supreme Brahman, param dhāma, the supreme resort of everything, and pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān, and the supreme pure." So nobody can approach Kṛṣṇa if he's impure. That is not possible. In the Bhagavad-gītā still it is said, yeṣāṁ tu anta-gataṁ pāpam: "One who is free from all contamination of sinful activities, yeṣāṁ anta-gataṁ pāpam janānām puṇya-karmaṇām, "simply engaged in pious activities only," te, "such persons," dvanda-moha-nirmukta, "without any doubt and duality," bhajante māṁ dṛḍha-vratāḥ, "with fixed up mind he can become Kṛṣṇa conscious."

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

How? Īśa-saṅga. Associate with Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement and you will be able to give up this false misconception of life. The whole world, material world, is going on. You can see any city, any big town you go, or even in the village in these countries. Everyone, from the morning to night, they are simply trying how to enjoy the material world: "How to enjoy? How to enjoy?" This is called karma-jñāna. When they are fed up, then "the grapes are sour." They give up: brahma satyaṁ jagan mithyā. But that will not stay. If you... 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.

Therefore, sometimes the Māyāvādīs, they think, "Now we have understood that I am not this body. I have nothing to do with the material world. Ahaṁ brahmāsmi: I am Brahman," but they do not understand the Supreme Brahman, Para-brahman, Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture on SB 6.2.5-6 -- Vrndavana, September 9, 1975:

So we have to engage our senses. It is not our senses; it is Kṛṣṇa's. We have forgotten it. I am seeing with my eyes. I am very much proud I can see. But why you cannot see when you are blind? The eyes are there. Because the master has withdrawn the sight power. You can be happy with your decoration of the eyes, but you cannot see. So actually I do not see. Just like I have got this spectacle. The spectacle does not see; I am seeing. Similarly, with my eyes I am not seeing; Kṛṣṇa is seeing. Because Kṛṣṇa is seeing, therefore I am seeing. This is the Vedic version. You will find in Upaniṣad. Because the Supreme Brahman is seeing, therefore we are seeing. Because the Brahman is walking... There are many evidences. Just like this ear. Now I am hearing with this ear. You are also hearing. But when I am unconscious, this ear is there, and you call me, "Mr. Mo..., Mr. Sir, Mr. Sir," but I cannot hear. The machine is there. Why you cannot hear? Therefore the Brahman is withdrawn.

Lecture on SB 7.6.7 -- Vrndavana, December 9, 1975:

So if one is expert in understanding, in analyzing this body, neti neti—"This is blood. This is skin. This is this. This is this. This is urine. This is stool"—then whole body we analyze. Then where is that "I"? We cannot see. But why you cannot see? As soon as the "I" is off, then whose stool, whose skin, whose bone? So in this way, if we analyze, then we can understand that asmin dehe, within this body, the "I" is there. And what is this "I"? Again, ahaṁ brahmāsmi. This is further advancement. But these rascal—"Ahaṁ brahmāsmi means 'I am God.' " No. Take, consult Bhagavad-gītā what is this aham. Aham means the part and parcel of the Supreme Brahman, Para-brahman. Kṛṣṇa is Para-brahman. Paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān (BG 10.12). So Kṛṣṇa says, "These Brahmans, these living entities, they are My part and parcel." That is aham understanding, "I." What I am? I am part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa.

So one has to study the body, where is the "I," then what is the relationship of the "I," what is the position of the "I," "What I am?" This is intelligence. This is intelligence.

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

Just like spark and the whole fire. Both of them are fire, but spark is spark, and the big fire is big fire. So the spark cannot become big fire. 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. 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. There are some rascals, they say that "Such and such rascal is greater than Kṛṣṇa." I do not wish to mention their name. That rascals, they say that "Aurobindo is greater than Kṛṣṇa."

Lecture on SB 7.9.12 -- Montreal, August 18, 1968:

Of course, in the Vedic language, when we speak nirākāra, ni, ni means negative, and ākāra, ākāra means form. So negative form. Negative form means not that He has no form but He has no form like you and me. That is negative. Form means just like we have got form. So what is the value of this form? This form will be changed after few years. As soon as I give up this body this form is changed. Just like we change our dress. Therefore He hasn't got a form like this to be changed. Therefore He's sometimes called nirākāra. Ākāra is there, and that is also explained in the Brahma-saṁhitā that īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ (Bs. 5.1). "Oh, Kṛṣṇa has got a form, sir? How you say that He is the Supreme? Brahman is the Supreme." No. He has form certainly. Sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ. His form is not like you and me. Sac-cid-ānanda. His form is eternal, full of bliss, and full of knowledge. Sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ. Īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ anādir. He has no source. He has no source. He is original. He is the source of everything, anādir ādir, and He is the original Govinda. Govinda means He gives pleasure. How do you perceive pleasure? Through your senses. So therefore go means senses and vinda means pleasure. So if you serve Kṛṣṇa in your purified senses, then you really become happy. Therefore His name is Govinda. Īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ, anādir ādir govinda sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam (Bs. 5.1). The cause of all causes. So He is therefore Jagadīśa. Jagadīśa.

Lecture on SB 7.9.13-14 -- Montreal, August 22, 1968:

If we act according to the regulative principle, then we can enjoy. Not actually enjoy, but we think we enjoy. Because in the material world, there is nothing enjoyable for the spirit soul. Just like a fish, it is an animal of the water. It has nothing to enjoy on the land. So if, by mistake, a fish thinks that "I shall become an elephant and enjoy in the land," that is not possible. Similarly, we spirit soul, ahaṁ brahmāsmi, we are all Brahman, and we have nothing to do with this material world. But because we are Brahman... Brahman means ānandamaya. Ānanda-cinmaya-rasa. The Supreme Brahman is sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ. Īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ (Bs. 5.1). And we are part and parcel of the Supreme Brahman. Therefore we are also sac-cid-ānanda, eternal, blissful, and full of knowledge. But somehow or other, icchā-dveṣa-samutthena... (BG 7.27).

Lecture on SB 7.9.20 -- Mayapur, February 27, 1976:

The cooler is also working under electric energy, and the heater is also working. So ephemerally heat is opposite to coolness, and coolness is opposite to heat. But both of them are working under the same energy; simply it is a question of adjustment by the expert electrician. So God is one, and His energy is also one, and there is no separation of energy from the energetic. Just like fire and heat. Heat cannot be separated from fire. But still, heat is not fire. I may be heated by high temperature, but if there is fire, then I will be burned—different action—although both of them are the same, heat and fire. Therefore the conclusion should be sarvedam akhilaṁ jagat parasya brahmaṇaḥ śakti. Parasya. Parasya means "of the Supreme Brahman." Supreme Brahman is Kṛṣṇa. Īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ (Bs. 5.1). And Arjuna also accepts Kṛṣṇa as Para-brahman. So everything is Kṛṣṇa. Therefore Kṛṣṇa said, mayā tatam idaṁ sarvaṁ jagad avyakta-mūrtinā: (BG 9.4) "I am spread all over the creation.' Avyakta-mūrtinā. But you cannot see Kṛṣṇa. Here we know there is air, there is ether, there is light, there is heat—everything is here. We can see it, experience it, but avyakta-mūrtinā—Kṛṣṇa is invisible, imperson. That is the difference between person and imperson. There are philosophers who think that the Absolute Truth is person, and there are other philosophers, they think the Absolute Truth is imperson. But we followers of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, we accept both. He is person and imperson also at the same time, simultaneously. Acintya-bhedābheda-tattva.

Lecture on SB 7.9.33 -- Mayapur, March 11, 1976:

So from this false ego, when we come to real ego... What is that real ego? That "I am servant of Kṛṣṇa." Gopī-bhartur pada-kamalayor dāsa-dāsa-dāsa-dāsānudāsaḥ (CC Madhya 13.80). That is real ego. So our, this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is teaching people how to come to the real ego, real constitutional position. The Māyāvādī philosophy, they are also trying to do that, but they're another false ego: ahaṁ brahmāsmi. Ahaṁ brahmāsmi—"I am Brahman"—that is a fact, but I am not Supreme Brahman, Para-brahman. The Māyāvādī, they take it: "Because I am Brahman, I am Supreme Brahman." No. Suppose you are all coming from America. You can claim that you are American, but that does not mean you are Mr. Ford, the President. So similarly, this is false ego. If somebody thinks, "Because I am American, therefore I am equal to Mr. Ford," that is false. That is not... So our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is how to bring back these, I mean to say, insane, crazy fellows to their real consciousness. These crazy fellows, they are thinking, "I am God," "I am master," "I am this," "I am that," "I am prime minister," "I am president." This false ego. The real ego is, "I am servant of Kṛṣṇa." That is the beginning of Caitanya Mahāprabhu's teaching.

Lecture on SB 7th Canto -- Calcutta, March 7, 1972:

There is no beginning of spiritual life. Spiritual life begins when one understands that he is not this body. Brahma-bhūtaḥ, brahma-bhūtḥ. So long one identifies with the body, he is jīva-bhūtaḥ. Jīva-bhūtāṁ mahā-bāho yayedaṁ dhāryate jagat (BG 7.5). And when one realizes ahaṁ brahmāsmi, "I am Brahman..." But unfortunately Māyāvādī philosophers, they take it ahaṁ brahmāsmi means "I am the Supreme Brahman." No. Brahmāsmi means "I am spirit soul." Spirit soul is Brahman, and the Supreme Brahman is different. Supreme Brahman, paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān (BG 10.12), that is Kṛṣṇa, Viṣṇu-tattva. So unfortunately these Māyāvādī philosophers, they accept brahmāsmi means "I am the Supreme." We are not the Supreme. We are subordinate. So long this knowledge lacks, one is not completely in knowledge. Kṛṣṇa says, therefore, bahūnāṁ janmanām ante jñānavān māṁ prapadyate (BG 7.19). Amongst the persons who are realized themselves as Brahman, as spirit soul, they also, after trying many, many births, that means they are not muktas, that is still baddha, conditioned. Bahūnāṁ janmanām ante jñānavān māṁ prapadyate. Not ordinary person; those who are wise. Wise means those who are in the spiritual platform to understand his position as spirit soul, not this body, such persons, after many, many births surrenders to Kṛṣṇa. That is the ultimate knowledge. Bahūnāṁ janmanām ante jñānavān māṁ prapadyate, vāsudevaḥ (BG 7.19)—to make it clear more—vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti. Vāsudeva, Kṛṣṇa, is the Supreme. He is everything.

Lecture on SB 7th Canto -- Calcutta, March 7, 1972:

One with the Supreme, how it is possible? The Supreme is puruṣa and I am prakṛti. There must be difference between puruṣa and prakṛti. The prakṛti cannot..., a female cannot artificially become a male. That is not possible. And because we are trying artificially to become the supreme male, therefore, that is māyā. That is māyā. Māyā means which is not fact. Mā-yā, it is false. So falsely we are trying to be puruṣa, enjoyer. This whole world is struggling to become puruṣa, enjoyer, everyone. Nation-wide, society-wide, they are trying to be puruṣa.

So, therefore, these material qualities will not help us to become..., to approach the Supreme Brahman. How? Bhaktyā tutoṣa bhagavān gaja-yūtha-pāya. Gaja-yūtha-pāya, the Gajendra, he was in danger. But although it was animal, but by simple devotional service, he satisfied the Supreme Lord and he was saved. And another thing is that we should not think that opposite, as it is said, dhana jana, dhanābhijana-rūpa-tapaḥ-śruta. Now Prahlāda Mahārāja says that material wealth is not sufficient qualification to become a devotee to approach the Lord.

Lecture on SB 11.3.21 -- New York, April 13, 1969:

The first thing is that one should very nicely understand the position of material existence. Sanātana Gosvāmī, who approached Lord Caitanya, he presented himself that "My dear Lord, people in general, they speak of me that I am very learned man," grāmya vyavahāre kaha paṇḍita, "I am very learned man. But actually when I think of myself, what kind of learned man I am, I do not know what I am." So this type of advancement of knowledge, simply for material comforts, without knowing about oneself, "What I am?" they're simply useless labor. One should try to understand what he is. That is also the beginning of Vedānta-sūtra. Athāto brahma jijñāsā: one should be inquisitive to understand about himself, Brahman, or the Supreme Brahman. That is the real necessity of this human form of life. The animals, they cannot inquire about himself or about the Supreme. But a human being can inquire, that "I want to become happy, but miseries are coming upon me one after another." At least, one should know what are the miseries. The miseries are three kinds of miseries. It is not the question of one religion or another religion. The miserable condition of life is for everyone, either he is Hindu or he is Muslim or Christian or Jew.

Lecture on SB 11.3.21 -- New York, April 13, 1969:

That is stated in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, in the Vedas and Bhagavad-gītā—everywhere the same thing is. Here also it is said that you should approach a bona fide spiritual master. Jijñāsuḥ śreya uttamam, to whom? Śābde pare ca niṣṇātam: (SB 11.3.21) one who has actually taken full bath in the ocean of transcendental knowledge. Śābde pare ca niṣṇātam. Śābde means the transcendental sound. The Vedic words, hymns, are called transcendental sound, and the gist of all such sound is om, or Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma... So one has to take bath in the ocean of this transcendental sound, then he is bona fide spiritual master. Śābde pare ca niṣṇātam. And what is the symptom? Everyone can say that "I have taken full bath in this transcendental sound," but the symptom is there. What is that symptom? Śābde pare ca niṣṇātaṁ brahmaṇy upaśamāśrayam. He has taken shelter of the Supreme Brahman, finishing all material activities. He has no more any material activities. He is simply after the Supreme Brahman or Kṛṣṇa. This is the qualification.