Svetasvatara Upanisad

Expressions researched:
"Svetasvatara Upanisad" |"Svetasvatara Upanisads" |"Svetasvatara"

BG Chapters 1 - 6

BG 2.12, Purport:

In the Vedas—in the Kaṭha Upaniṣad as well as in the Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad—it is said that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the maintainer of innumerable living entities, in terms of their different situations according to individual work and reaction of work. That Supreme Personality of Godhead is also, by His plenary portions, alive in the heart of every living entity. Only saintly persons who can see, within and without, the same Supreme Lord can actually attain to perfect and eternal peace.

BG 2.22, Purport:

Forgetfulness of this relationship by the atomic soul is the cause of one's changing his position from one tree to another, or from one body to another. The jīva soul is struggling very hard on the tree of the material body, but as soon as he agrees to accept the other bird as the supreme spiritual master—as Arjuna agreed to do by voluntary surrender unto Kṛṣṇa for instruction—the subordinate bird immediately becomes free from all lamentations. Both the Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad (3.1.2) and Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad (4.7) confirm this:

samāne vṛkṣe puruṣo nimagno

'nīśayā śocati muhyamānaḥ

juṣṭaṁ yadā paśyaty anyam īśam

asya mahimānam iti vīta-śokaḥ

"Although the two birds are in the same tree, the eating bird is fully engrossed with anxiety and moroseness as the enjoyer of the fruits of the tree. But if in some way or other he turns his face to his friend who is the Lord and knows His glories—at once the suffering bird becomes free from all anxieties." Arjuna has now turned his face towards his eternal friend, Kṛṣṇa, and is understanding the Bhagavad-gītā from Him. And thus, hearing from Kṛṣṇa, he can understand the supreme glories of the Lord and be free from lamentation.

BG 3.22, Purport:

"He does not possess a bodily form like that of an ordinary living entity. There is no difference between His body and His soul. He is absolute. All His senses are transcendental. Any one of His senses can perform the action of any other sense. Therefore, no one is greater than Him or equal to Him. His potencies are multifarious, and thus His deeds are automatically performed as a natural sequence." (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 6.7-8)

Since everything is in full opulence in the Personality of Godhead and is existing in full truth, there is no duty for the Supreme Personality of Godhead to perform. One who must receive the results of work has some designated duty, but one who has nothing to achieve within the three planetary systems certainly has no duty. And yet Lord Kṛṣṇa is engaged on the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra as the leader of the kṣatriyas because the kṣatriyas are duty-bound to give protection to the distressed. Although He is above all the regulations of the revealed scriptures, He does not do anything that violates the revealed scriptures.

BG 4.9, Purport:

"One can attain the perfect stage of liberation from birth and death simply by knowing the Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and there is no other way to achieve this perfection." (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 3.8) That there is no alternative means that anyone who does not understand Lord Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Personality of Godhead is surely in the mode of ignorance and consequently he will not attain salvation simply, so to speak, by licking the outer surface of the bottle of honey, or by interpreting the Bhagavad-gītā according to mundane scholarship. Such empiric philosophers may assume very important roles in the material world, but they are not necessarily eligible for liberation. Such puffed-up mundane scholars have to wait for the causeless mercy of the devotee of the Lord. One should therefore cultivate Kṛṣṇa consciousness with faith and knowledge, and in this way attain perfection.

BG 5.13, Purport:

"The Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is living within the body of a living entity, is the controller of all living entities all over the universe. The body consists of nine gates (two eyes, two nostrils, two ears, one mouth, the anus and the genitals). The living entity in his conditioned stage identifies himself with the body, but when he identifies himself with the Lord within himself, he becomes just as free as the Lord, even while in the body." (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 3.18)

Therefore, a Kṛṣṇa conscious person is free from both the outer and inner activities of the material body.

BG 5.29, Purport:

The conditioned souls within the clutches of the illusory energy are all anxious to attain peace in the material world. But they do not know the formula for peace, which is explained in this part of the Bhagavad-gītā. The greatest peace formula is simply this: Lord Kṛṣṇa is the beneficiary in all human activities. Men should offer everything to the transcendental service of the Lord because He is the proprietor of all planets and the demigods thereon. No one is greater than He. He is greater than the greatest of the demigods, Lord Śiva and Lord Brahmā. In the Vedas (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 6.7) the Supreme Lord is described as tam īśvarāṇāṁ paramaṁ maheśvaraṁ. Under the spell of illusion, living entities are trying to be lords of all they survey, but actually they are dominated by the material energy of the Lord.

BG 6.15, Purport:

A consummate yogī, who is perfect in understanding Lord Kṛṣṇa, as is clearly stated herein by the Lord Himself (mat-cittaḥ, mat-paraḥ, mat-sthānam), can attain real peace and can ultimately reach His supreme abode, Kṛṣṇaloka, known as Goloka Vṛndāvana. In the Brahma-saṁhitā (5.37) it is clearly stated, goloka eva nivasaty akhilātma-bhūtaḥ: the Lord, although residing always in His abode called Goloka, is the all-pervading Brahman and the localized Paramātmā as well by dint of His superior spiritual energies. No one can reach the spiritual sky (Vaikuṇṭha) or enter into the Lord's eternal abode (Goloka Vṛndāvana) without the proper understanding of Kṛṣṇa and His plenary expansion Viṣṇu. Therefore a person working in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is the perfect yogī, because his mind is always absorbed in Kṛṣṇa's activities (sa vai manaḥ kṛṣṇa-pādāravindayoḥ (SB 9.4.18)). In the Vedas also (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 3.8) we learn, tam eva viditvāti mṛtyum eti: "One can overcome the path of birth and death only by understanding the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa." In other words, perfection of the yoga system is the attainment of freedom from material existence and not some magical jugglery or gymnastic feats to befool innocent people.

BG Chapters 7 - 12

BG 7.7, Purport:

These authorities leave no doubt that the Absolute Truth is the Supreme Person, the cause of all causes. The impersonalist, however, argues on the strength of the Vedic version given in the Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad (3.10): tato yad uttarataraṁ tad arūpam anāmayam/ ya etad vidur amṛtās te bhavanti athetare duḥkham evāpiyanti. "In the material world Brahmā, the primeval living entity within the universe, is understood to be the supreme amongst the demigods, human beings and lower animals. But beyond Brahmā there is the Transcendence, who has no material form and is free from all material contaminations. Anyone who can know Him also becomes transcendental, but those who do not know Him suffer the miseries of the material world."

BG 7.14, Purport:

Consequently, his release from the clutches of material nature is very difficult, even though that material nature is an inferior energy, because material energy is ultimately conducted by the supreme will, which the living entity cannot overcome. Inferior, material nature is defined herein as divine nature due to its divine connection and movement by the divine will. Being conducted by divine will, material nature, although inferior, acts so wonderfully in the construction and destruction of the cosmic manifestation. The Vedas confirm this as follows: māyāṁ tu prakṛtiṁ vidyān māyinaṁ tu maheśvaram. "Although māyā (illusion) is false or temporary, the background of māyā is the supreme magician, the Personality of Godhead, who is Maheśvara, the supreme controller." (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 4.10)

BG 7.14, Purport:

The words mām eva are also significant. Mām means unto Kṛṣṇa (Viṣṇu) only, and not Brahmā or Śiva. Although Brahmā and Śiva are greatly elevated and are almost on the level of Viṣṇu, it is not possible for such incarnations of rajo-guṇa (passion) and tamo-guṇa (ignorance) to release the conditioned soul from the clutches of māyā. In other words, both Brahmā and Śiva are also under the influence of māyā. Only Viṣṇu is the master of māyā; therefore He alone can give release to the conditioned soul. The Vedas (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 3.8) confirm this in the phrase tam eva viditvā, or "Freedom is possible only by understanding Kṛṣṇa." Even Lord Śiva affirms that liberation can be achieved only by the mercy of Viṣṇu. Lord Śiva says, mukti-pradātā sarveṣāṁ viṣṇur eva na saṁśayaḥ: "There is no doubt that Viṣṇu is the deliverer of liberation for everyone."

BG 8.22, Purport:

The Brahma-saṁhitā (5.37) also confirms that although the Lord is always in the supreme abode, Goloka Vṛndāvana, He is all-pervading, so that everything is going on nicely (goloka eva nivasaty akhilātma-bhūtaḥ). As stated in the Vedas (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 6.8), parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate/ svābhāvikī jñāna-bala-kriyā ca: (Cc. Madhya 13.65, purport) His energies are so expansive that they systematically conduct everything in the cosmic manifestation without a flaw, although the Supreme Lord is far, far away.

BG 11.43, Purport:

The Lord is being paid obeisances in all respects. He is of immeasurable greatness. No one can be greater than the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, because no one is equal to or higher than Kṛṣṇa within any manifestation, spiritual or material. Everyone is below Him. No one can excel Him. This is stated in the Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad (6.8):

na tasya kāryaṁ karaṇaṁ ca vidyate

na tat-samaś cābhyadhikaś ca dṛśyate

The Supreme Lord, Kṛṣṇa, has senses and a body like the ordinary man, but for Him there is no difference between His senses, His body, His mind and Himself. Foolish persons who do not perfectly know Him say that Kṛṣṇa is different from His soul, mind, heart and everything else. Kṛṣṇa is absolute; therefore His activities and potencies are supreme. It is also stated that although He does not have senses like ours, He can perform all sensory activities; therefore His senses are neither imperfect nor limited. No one can be greater than Him, no one can be equal to Him, and everyone is lower than Him.

BG 11.54, Purport:

So if one gives some amount of his money to persons involved in distributing Kṛṣṇa consciousness, that charity, given to spread Kṛṣṇa consciousness, is the greatest charity in the world. And if one worships as prescribed in the temple (in the temples in India there is always some statue, usually of Viṣṇu or Kṛṣṇa), that is a chance to progress by offering worship and respect to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. For the beginners in devotional service to the Lord, temple worship is essential, and this is confirmed in the Vedic literature (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 6.23):

yasya deve parā bhaktir

yathā deve tathā gurau

tasyaite kathitā hy arthāḥ

prakāśante mahātmanaḥ

(ŚU 6.23)

One who has unflinching devotion for the Supreme Lord and is directed by the spiritual master, in whom he has similar unflinching faith, can see the Supreme Personality of Godhead by revelation. One cannot understand Kṛṣṇa by mental speculation. For one who does not take personal training under the guidance of a bona fide spiritual master, it is impossible to even begin to understand Kṛṣṇa. The word tu is specifically used here to indicate that no other process can be used, can be recommended, or can be successful in understanding Kṛṣṇa.

BG Chapters 13 - 18

BG 13.3, Purport:

One should not confuse the three in their different capacities. One should not confuse the painter, the painting and the easel. This material world, which is the field of activities, is nature, and the enjoyer of nature is the living entity, and above them both is the supreme controller, the Personality of Godhead. It is stated in the Vedic language (in the Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 1.12), bhoktā bhogyaṁ preritāraṁ ca matvā/ sarvaṁ proktaṁ tri vidham-brahmam etat. There are three Brahman conceptions: prakṛti is Brahman as the field of activities, and the jīva (individual soul) is also Brahman and is trying to control material nature, and the controller of both of them is also Brahman, but He is the factual controller.

BG 13.13, Purport:

The Supreme Lord as the Supersoul is also stated in the Vedic literature (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 6.16) to be pradhāna-kṣetrajña-patir guṇeśaḥ, the chief knower of the body and the master of the three modes of material nature. In the smṛti it is said, dāsa-bhūto harer eva nānyasyaiva kadācana. The living entities are eternally in the service of the Supreme Lord. This is also confirmed by Lord Caitanya in His teachings. Therefore the description of Brahman mentioned in this verse is in relation to the individual soul, and when the word Brahman is applied to the living entity, it is to be understood that he is vijñāna-brahma as opposed to ānanda-brahma. Ānanda-brahma is the Supreme Brahman Personality of Godhead.

BG 13.15, Purport:

The Supreme Lord, although the source of all the senses of the living entities, doesn't have material senses like they have. Actually, the individual souls have spiritual senses, but in conditioned life they are covered with the material elements, and therefore the sense activities are exhibited through matter. The Supreme Lord's senses are not so covered. His senses are transcendental and are therefore called nirguṇa. Guṇa means the material modes, but His senses are without material covering. It should be understood that His senses are not exactly like ours. Although He is the source of all our sensory activities, He has His transcendental senses, which are uncontaminated. This is very nicely explained in the Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad (3.19) in the verse apāṇi-pādo javano grahītā.

BG 13.18, Purport:

It is clearly stated in the Vedic literature that because of His luminous effulgence, everything is illuminated. It is clear, therefore, that His situation is not in the material world. He is situated in the spiritual world, which is far, far away in the spiritual sky. That is also confirmed in the Vedic literature. Āditya—varṇaṁ tamasaḥ parastāt (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 3.8). He is just like the sun, eternally luminous, but He is far, far beyond the darkness of this material world.

His knowledge is transcendental. The Vedic literature confirms that Brahman is concentrated transcendental knowledge. To one who is anxious to be transferred to that spiritual world, knowledge is given by the Supreme Lord, who is situated in everyone's heart. One Vedic mantra (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 6.18) says, taṁ ha devam ātma-buddhi-prakāśaṁ mumukṣur vai śaraṇam ahaṁ prapadye. One must surrender unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead if he at all wants liberation. As far as the goal of ultimate knowledge is concerned, it is also confirmed in Vedic literature: tam eva viditvāti mṛtyum eti. "Only by knowing Him can one surpass the boundary of birth and death." (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 3.8)

BG 13.18, Purport:

He is situated in everyone's heart as the supreme controller. The Supreme has legs and hands distributed everywhere, and this cannot be said of the individual soul. Therefore that there are two knowers of the field of activity—the individual soul and the Supersoul—must be admitted. One's hands and legs are distributed locally, but Kṛṣṇa's hands and legs are distributed everywhere. This is confirmed in the Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad (3.17): sarvasya prabhum īśānaṁ sarvasya śaraṇaṁ bṛhat. That Supreme Personality of Godhead, Supersoul, is the prabhu, or master, of all living entities; therefore He is the ultimate shelter of all living entities. So there is no denying the fact that the Supreme Supersoul and the individual soul are always different.

BG 15.17, Purport:

The idea of this verse is very nicely expressed in the Kaṭha Upaniṣad (2.2.13) and Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad (6.13). It is clearly stated there that above the innumerable living entities, some of whom are conditioned and some of whom are liberated, there is the Supreme Personality, who is Paramātmā. The Upaniṣadic verse runs as follows: nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām. The purport is that amongst all the living entities, both conditioned and liberated, there is one supreme living personality, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who maintains them and gives them all the facility of enjoyment according to different work. That Supreme Personality of Godhead is situated in everyone's heart as Paramātmā. A wise man who can understand Him is eligible to attain perfect peace, not others.

SB Canto 2

SB 2.4.14, Purport:

The Vaikuṇṭha planets and the Goloka Vṛndāvana planet are all self-illuminating, and the rays scattered by those sva-dhāma of the Lord constitute the existence of the brahma-jyotir. As further confirmed in the Vedas like the Muṇḍaka (2.2.10), Kaṭha (2.2.15) and Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣads (6.14):

na tatra sūryo bhāti na candra-tārakaṁ

nemā vidyuto bhānti kuto 'yam agniḥ

tam eva bhāntam anu bhāti sarvaṁ

tasya bhāsā sarvam idaṁ vibhāti

In the sva-dhāma of the Lord there is no need of sun, moon or stars for illumination. Nor is there need of electricity, so what to speak of ignited lamps? On the other hand, it is because those planets are self-illuminating that all effulgence has become possible, and whatever there is that is dazzling is due to the reflection of that sva-dhāma.

SB 2.6.36, Purport:

Therefore the men of this insignificant planet should kindly accept the instruction of Brahmājī and would do well to surrender unto the lotus feet of the Lord rather than try to estimate the length and breadth of the Lord's potencies. His potencies are immeasurable, as confirmed in the Vedas. Parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate svābhāvikī jñāna-bala-kriyā ca (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 6.8 (Cc. Madhya 13.65, purport)). He is the greatest of all, and all others, even the greatest of all living beings, namely Brahmājī, admits that the best thing for us is to surrender unto Him. Therefore only those persons with a very poor fund of knowledge claim that they themselves are lords of all that they survey.

SB 2.9.43, Purport:

Arjuna was advised to receive transcendental knowledge from the realized person by surrender, questions and service. Receiving transcendental knowledge is not like exchanging dollars; such knowledge has to be received by service to the spiritual master. As Brahmājī received the knowledge directly from the Lord by satisfying Him fully, similarly one has to receive the transcendental knowledge from the spiritual master by satisfying him. The spiritual master's satisfaction is the means of assimilating transcendental knowledge. One cannot understand transcendental knowledge simply by becoming a grammarian. The Vedas declare (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 6.23):

yasya deve parā bhaktir

yathā deve tathā gurau

tasyaite kathitā hy arthāḥ

prakāśante mahātmanaḥ

(ŚU 6.23)

"Only unto one who has unflinching devotion to the Lord and to the spiritual master does transcendental knowledge become automatically revealed." Such relationship between the disciple and the spiritual master is eternal. One who is now the disciple is the next spiritual master. And one cannot be a bona fide and authorized spiritual master unless one has been strictly obedient to his spiritual maste

SB Canto 3

SB 3.6.9, Purport:

The mental speculators can reach the point of buddhi-yoga after many, many lifetimes of speculation, but the intelligent person who begins from the platform of intelligence above the mind makes rapid progress in self-realization. Because the buddhi-yoga process entails no fear of deterioration or retrogression at any time, it is the guaranteed path to self-realization, as confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā (2.40). The mental speculators cannot understand that the two birds (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad) sitting in one tree are the soul and the Supersoul. The individual soul eats the fruit of the tree, while the other bird does not eat the fruit but only observes the activities of the eating bird. Without attachment, the witnessing bird helps the fruit-eating bird perform fruitful activities. One who cannot understand this difference between the soul and the Supersoul, or God and the living entities, is certainly still in the entanglement of the cosmic machinery and thus must still await the time when he will be free from bondage.

SB 3.18.4, Purport:

The demon used the word abhavāya, which means "for killing." Śrīdhara Svāmī comments that this "killing" means liberating, or, in other words, killing the process of continued birth and death. The Lord kills the process of birth and death and keeps Himself invisible. The activities of the Lord's internal potency are inconceivable, but by a slight exhibition of this potency, the Lord, by His grace, can deliver one from nescience. Śucaḥ means "miseries"; the miseries of material existence can be extinguished by the Lord by His potential energy of internal yogamāyā. In the Upaniṣads (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 6.8) it is stated, parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate (Cc. Madhya 13.65, purport). The Lord is invisible to the eyes of the common man, but His energies act in various ways. When demons are in adversity, they think that God is hiding Himself and is working by His mystic potency. They think that if they can find God they can kill Him just by seeing Him. Hiraṇyākṣa thought that way, and he challenged the Lord: "You have done tremendous harm to our community, taking the part of the demigods, and You have killed our kinsmen in so many ways, always keeping Yourself hidden.

SB 3.24.33, Purport:

The material world, which is moving under the spell of the three modes of nature, is also a manifestation of His energy. parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate: everything that we see is an interaction of His energies (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 6.8 (Cc. Madhya 13.65, purport)). parasya brahmaṇaḥ śaktis tathedam akhilaṁ jagat. This is the version of the Viṣṇu Purāṇa. We can understand that whatever we see is an interaction of the three modes of material nature, but actually it is all an interaction of the Lord's energy. Loka-pālam: He is actually the maintainer of all living entities. Nityo nityānām: He is the chief of all living entities; He is one, but He maintains many, many living entities. God maintains all other living entities, but no one can maintain God. That is His svacchanda-śakti; He is not dependent on others. Someone may call himself independent, but he is still dependent on someone higher. The Personality of Godhead, however, is absolute; there is no one higher than or equal to Him.

SB 3.26.2, Purport:

It is said that by proper understanding of the pure self, or by self-realization, one can be freed from material attachment. Knowledge leads one to attain the ultimate perfection of life and to see oneself as he is. The Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad (3.8) also confirms this. Tam eva viditvāti-mṛtyum eti: simply by understanding one's spiritual position, or by seeing oneself as he is, one can be freed from material entanglement. In various ways, the seeing of oneself is described in the Vedic literatures, and it is confirmed in the Bhāgavatam (puruṣasya ātma-darśanam) that one has to see oneself and know what he is. As Kapiladeva explains to His mother, this "seeing" can be done by hearing from the proper authoritative source. Kapiladeva is the greatest authority because He is the Personality of Godhead, and if someone accepts whatever is explained as it is, without interpretation, then he can see himself.

SB Canto 4

SB 4.24.52, Purport:

Thus the Vedas (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 6.23) enjoin that for one who has unflinching faith in the lotus feet of the Lord, as well as in the spiritual master, the real import of Vedic knowledge can be revealed.

SB 4.28.65, Purport:

As stated by Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura, yasya prasādād bhagavat-prasādaḥ: ** if one wants actual success in life, he must strictly follow the instructions of the spiritual master. By following such instructions, one is sure to make rapid progress in spiritual life. This statement by Viśvanātha Cakravartī is in pursuance of the following injunction from the Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad (6.23):

yasya deve parā bhaktir

yathā deve tathā gurau

tasyaite kathitā hy arthāḥ

prakāśante mahātmanaḥ

(ŚU 6.23)

"Only unto those great souls who have implicit faith in both the Lord and the spiritual master are all the imports of Vedic knowledge automatically revealed." In the Chāndogya Upaniṣad it is said, ācāryavān puruṣo veda: "One who approaches a bona fide spiritual master can understand everything about spiritual realization."

SB Canto 5

SB 5.1.6, Purport:

"If one has unflinching faith in the Supreme Lord and the spiritual master, the essence of all Vedic knowledge is revealed to him. (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 6.23) A devotee always thinks of the Lord continuously. While chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, the words Kṛṣṇa and Hare immediately remind him of all the Lord's activities. Since his entire life is engaged in the service of the Lord, a devotee cannot forget the Lord at any time. Just as an ordinary man always engages his mind in material activities, a devotee always engages his mind in spiritual activities. This is called brahma-satra, or meditating upon the Supreme Lord always. Prince Priyavrata was perfectly initiated into this practice by Śrī Nārada.

SB 5.3.17, Purport:

Similarly, whatever a brāhmaṇa speaks cannot be changed. It must act. The learned sages who were priests at Mahārāja Nābhi's sacrifice were not only brāhmaṇas but were so qualified that they were like devas, demigods, or God Himself. If this were not the case, how could they invite Lord Viṣṇu to come to the sacrificial arena? God is one, and God does not belong to this or that religion. In Kali-yuga, different religious sects consider their God to be different from the God of others, but that is not possible. God is one, and He is appreciated according to different angles of vision. In this verse the word kaivalyāt means that God has no competitor. There is only one God. In the Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad (6.8) it is said, na tat-samaś cābhyadhikaś ca dṛśyate: "No one is found to be equal to Him or greater than Him." That is the definition of God.

SB 5.18.36, Purport:

When one understands that the Lord is situated in everyone's heart and actually sees the Lord present everywhere, he has perfect knowledge. The word jāta-vedaḥ means "fire which is produced by rubbing wood." In Vedic times, learned sages could bring forth fire from wood. Jāta-vedaḥ also indicates the fire in the stomach, which digests everything we eat and which produces an appetite. The word gūḍha is explained in the Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad. Eko devaḥ sarva-bhūteṣu gūḍhaḥ: The Supreme Personality of Godhead is understood by chanting the Vedic mantras. Sarva-vyāpī sarva-bhūtāntar-ātmā: He is all-pervading, and He is within the heart of living entities. Karmādhyakṣaḥ sarva-bhūtādhivāsaḥ: He witnesses all activities of the living entity. Sākṣī cetā kevalo nirguṇaś ca: The Supreme Lord is the witness as well as the living force, yet He is transcendental to all material qualities.

SB Canto 6

SB 6.16.18-19, Purport:

Nivṛtta-dvaita-dṛṣṭaye: in our conditioned life our bodies have different parts, but although Kṛṣṇa apparently has different bodily parts, no part of His body is different from any other part. Kṛṣṇa can see with His eyes, and Kṛṣṇa can see without His eyes. Therefore in the Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad it is said, paśyaty acakṣuḥ. He can see with His hands and legs. He does not need a particular bodily part to perform a particular action. Aṅgāni yasya sakalendriya-vṛttimanti: He can do anything He desires with any part of His body, and therefore He is called almighty.

SB Canto 7

SB 7.5.32, Purport:

"Only unto those great souls who have implicit faith in both the Lord and the spiritual master are all the imports of Vedic knowledge automatically revealed." (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 6.23)

yam evaiṣa vṛṇute tena labhyas

tasyaiṣa ātmā vivṛṇute tanūṁ svām

"The Lord is obtained only by one whom He Himself chooses. To such a person He manifests His own form." (Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad 3.2.3)

These are Vedic injunctions. One must take shelter of a self-realized spiritual master, not a materially educated scholar or politician. One must take shelter of a niṣkiñcana, a person engaged in devotional service and free from material contamination. That is the way to return home, back to Godhead.

SB 7.7.17, Purport:

"Unto those great souls who have implicit faith in both the Lord and the spiritual master, all the imports of Vedic knowledge are automatically revealed." (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 6.23)

ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi

na bhaved grāhyam indriyaiḥ

sevonmukhe hi jihvādau

svayam eva sphuraty adaḥ

"No one can understand Kṛṣṇa as He is by the blunt material senses. But He reveals Himself to the devotees, being pleased with them for their transcendental loving service unto Him."

SB 7.7.29, Purport:

"Unto those great souls who have implicit faith in both the Lord and the spiritual master, all the imports of Vedic knowledge are automatically revealed." (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 6.23) One must accept the pure devotee, the representative of God, as one's guru and then offer him all the respects one would offer the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is the secret of success. For one who adopts this method, the perfect process is revealed. In this verse, the words yair añjasā ratiḥ indicate that by offering service and surrendering to the spiritual master, one is elevated to devotional service, and by performing devotional service one gradually becomes attached to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Because of this attachment to the Lord, one can understand the Lord. In other words, one can understand what the Lord's position is, what our position is and what our relationship is. All this can be understood very easily by the simple method of bhakti-yoga. As soon as one is situated on the platform of bhakti-yoga, the root cause of one's suffering and material bondage is destroyed. This is clearly explained in the next verse, which gives the secret of success.

SB 7.15.28, Purport:

"Only unto those great souls who have implicit faith in both the Lord and the spiritual master are all the imports of the Vedic knowledge automatically revealed." (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 6.23) It is further stated, tuṣyeyaṁ sarva-bhūtātmā guru-śuśrūṣayā and taranty añjo bhavārṇavam. Simply by rendering service to the spiritual master, one crosses the ocean of nescience and returns home, back to Godhead. Thus he gradually sees the Supreme Lord face to face and enjoys life in association with the Lord. The ultimate goal of yoga is to come in contact with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Unless this point is achieved, one's so-called yoga practice is simply labor without any benefit.

SB Canto 8

SB 8.1.11, Purport:

Therefore it is said, the Lord's vigilance is never diminished. This is also confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā (15.15). Sarvasya cāhaṁ hṛdi sanniviṣṭo mattaḥ smṛtir jñānam apohanaṁ ca: the Supreme Personality of Godhead in His Paramātmā feature is always present within the hearts of all living entities, and from Him come memory, knowledge and forgetfulness. This is also indicated in this verse by the word suparṇam, which means "friend." In the Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad (4.6) it is therefore said, dvā suparṇa-sayujā sakhāyā samānaṁ vṛkṣaṁ pariṣasvajāte: two birds are sitting on the same tree as friends. One bird is eating the fruit of the tree, and the other is simply observing. This observing bird is always present as a friend to the eating bird and giving him remembrance of things he wanted to do. Thus if we take into account the Supreme Personality of Godhead in our daily affairs, we can see Him or at least perceive His presence everywhere.

SB Canto 10.1 to 10.13

SB 10.1.25, Purport:

Parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 6.8 (Cc. Madhya 13.65, purport)). In the Vedas it is said that the potencies of the Supreme Personality of Godhead are called by different names, such as yogamāyā and mahāmāyā. Ultimately, however, the Lord's potency is one, exactly as electric potency is one although it can act both to cool and to heat. The Lord's potency acts in both the spiritual and material worlds. In the spiritual world the Lord's potency works as yogamāyā, and in the material world the same potency works as mahāmāyā, exactly as electricity works in both a heater and a cooler. In the material world, this potency, working as mahāmāyā, acts upon the conditioned souls to deprive them more and more of devotional service.

SB 10.2.26, Purport:

Devotees, therefore, following in the footsteps of Lord Brahmā, pray, govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi **, worshiping the ādi-puruṣa, the supreme truth, Govinda. Everything, everywhere, is performed in terms of three principles, jñāna-bala-kriyā—knowledge, strength and activity. In every field, if there is not full knowledge, full strength and full activity, an endeavor is never successful. Therefore, if one wants success in everything, one must be backed by these three principles. In the Vedas (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 6.8) there is this statement about the Supreme Personality of Godhead:

na tasya kāryaṁ karaṇaṁ ca vidyate

na tat samaś cābhyadhikaś ca dṛśyate

parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate

svābhāvikī jñāna-bala-kriyā ca

(Cc. Madhya 13.65, purport)

The Supreme Personality of Godhead does not need to do anything personally, for He has such potencies that anything He wants done will be done perfectly well through the control of material nature (svābhāvikī jñāna-bala-kriyā ca). Similarly, those who are engaged in the service of the Lord are not meant to struggle for existence.

SB 10.3.19, Purport:

"The Supreme Lord has nothing to do, and no one is found to be equal to or greater than Him, for everything is done naturally and systematically by His multifarious energies." (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 6.8) Creation, maintenance and annihilation are all conducted personally by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and this is confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā (mayādhyakṣeṇa prakṛtiḥ sūyate sa-carācaram (BG 9.10)). Yet ultimately the Lord does not need to do anything, and therefore He is nirvikāra, changeless. Because everything is done under His direction, He is called sṛṣṭi-kartā, the master of creation. Similarly, He is the master of annihilation. When a master sits in one place while his servants work in different duties, whatever the servants are doing is ultimately an activity of the master, although he is doing nothing (na tasya kāryaṁ karaṇaṁ ca vidyate). The Lord's potencies are so numerous that everything is nicely done. Therefore, He is naturally still and is not directly the doer of anything in this material world.

SB 10.12.42, Purport:

Kṛṣṇa has many potencies: parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 6.8 (Cc. Madhya 13.65, purport)). The description of Aghāsura was disclosed after one year. Some act of Kṛṣṇa's potency must have been involved. Therefore Mahārāja Parīkṣit was very curious to know about this, and he requested Śukadeva Gosvāmī to explain it.

SB 10.13.14, Purport:

The Vedas (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 6.8) assert that the Supreme Personality of Godhead has nothing to do personally (na tasya kāryaṁ karaṇaṁ ca vidyate) because He is doing everything through His energies and potencies (parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate (Cc. Madhya 13.65, purport)). Nonetheless, here we see that He took personal care to find the calves of His friends. This was Kṛṣṇa's causeless mercy. Mayādhyakṣeṇa prakṛtiḥ sūyate sa-carācaram: (BG 9.10) all the affairs of the entire world and the entire cosmic manifestation are working under His direction, through His different energies. Still, when there is a need to take care of His friends, He does this personally. Kṛṣṇa assured His friends, "Don't be afraid. I am going personally to search for your calves." This was Kṛṣṇa's causeless mercy.

SB 10.13.54, Purport:

One description given of Brahman is satyaṁ brahma, ānanda-rūpam: "Brahman is the Absolute Truth and complete ānanda, or bliss." The forms of Viṣṇu, the Supreme Brahman, were one, but They were manifested differently. The followers of the Upaniṣads, however, cannot understand the varieties manifested by Brahman. This proves that Brahman and Paramātmā can actually he understood only through devotion, as confirmed by the Lord Himself in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam: bhaktyāham ekayā grāhyaḥ (SB 11.14.21). To establish that Brahman indeed has transcendental form, Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura gives various quotations from the śāstras. In the Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad (3.8), the Supreme is described as āditya-varṇaṁ tamasaḥ parastāt, "He whose self-manifest form is luminous like the sun and transcendental to the darkness of ignorance."

SB 10.13.57, Purport:

Kṛṣṇa's energy—His māyā-śakti, or svarūpa-śakti—is one, but it is manifested in varieties. parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 6.8 (Cc. Madhya 13.65, purport)). The difference between Vaiṣṇavas and Māyāvādīs is that Māyāvādīs say that this māyā is one, whereas Vaiṣṇavas recognize its varieties. There is unity in variety. For example, in one tree, there are varieties of leaves, fruits and flowers. Varieties of energy are required for performing the varieties of activity within the creation. To give another example, in a machine all the parts may be iron, but the machine includes varied activities. Although the whole machine is iron, one part works in one way, and other parts work in other ways.

CC Adi-lila

CC Adi 2.22, Purport:

(1) From the Caitanya Upaniṣad (5): gauraḥ sarvātmā mahā-puruṣo mahātmā mahā-yogī tri-guṇātītaḥ sattva-rūpo bhaktiṁ loke kāśyati. "Lord Gaura, who is the all-pervading Supersoul, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, appears as a great saint and powerful mystic who is above the three modes of nature and is the emblem of transcendental activity. He disseminates the cult of devotion throughout the world."

(2) From the Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad (6.7 and 3.12):

tam īśvarāṇāṁ paramaṁ maheśvaraṁ

taṁ devatānāṁ paramaṁ ca daivatam

patiṁ patīnāṁ paramaṁ parastād

vidāma devaṁ bhuvaneśam īḍyam

"O Supreme Lord, You are the Supreme Maheśvara, the worshipable Deity of all the demigods and the Supreme Lord of all lords. You are the controller of all controllers, the Personality of Godhead, the Lord of everything worshipable."

CC Adi 2.103, Purport:

The internal potency of the Lord, which is called cit-śakti or antaraṅga-śakti, exhibits variegatedness in the transcendental Vaikuṇṭha cosmos. Besides ourselves, there are unlimited numbers of liberated living beings who associate with the Personality of Godhead in His innumerable features. The material cosmos displays the external energy, in which the conditioned living beings are provided all liberty to go back to the Personality of Godhead after leaving the material tabernacle. The Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad (6.8) informs us:

na tasya kāryaṁ karaṇaṁ ca vidyate

na tat-samaś cābhyadhikaś ca dṛśyate

parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate

svābhāvikī jñāna-bala-kriyā ca

(Cc. Madhya 13.65, purport)

"The Supreme Lord is one without a second. He has nothing to do personally, nor does He have material senses. No one is equal to Him or greater than Him. He has unlimited, variegated potencies of different names, which exist within Him as autonomous attributes and provide Him full knowledge, power and pastimes."

CC Adi 7.48, Purport:

One who is not taught by a bona fide spiritual master cannot understand the Vedic literature. To emphasize this point, Lord Kṛṣṇa, while instructing Arjuna, clearly said that it was because Arjuna was His devotee and confidential friend that he could understand the mystery of the Bhagavad-gītā. It is to be concluded, therefore, that one who wants to understand the mystery of revealed scriptures must approach a bona fide spiritual master, hear from him very submissively and render service to him. Then the import of the scriptures will be revealed. It is stated in the Vedas (Śvetāśvatara Up. 6.23):

yasya deve parā bhaktir yathā deve tathā gurau

tasyaite kathitā hy arthā prakāśante mahātmanaḥ

(ŚU 6.23)

"The real import of the scriptures is revealed to one who has unflinching faith in both the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the spiritual master." Śrīla Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura advises, sādhu-śāstra-guru-vākya, hṛdaye kariyā aikya

CC Adi 7.95-96, Purport:

A person who cannot keep his faith in the words of his spiritual master but acts independently never receives the authority to chant the holy name of the Lord. It is said in the Vedas (Śvetāśvatara Up. 6.23):

yasya deve parā bhaktir yathā deve tathā gurau

tasyaite kathitā hy arthāḥ prakāśante mahātmanaḥ

(ŚU 6.23)

"Only unto those great souls who have implicit faith in both the Lord and the spiritual master are all the imports of Vedic knowledge automatically revealed." This Vedic injunction is very important, and Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu supported it by His personal behavior. Believing in the words of His spiritual master, He introduced the saṅkīrtana movement, just as the present Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement was started with belief in the words of our spiritual master.

CC Adi 7.108, Purport:

Regarding the Upaniṣads, the following eleven Upaniṣads are considered to be the topmost: Īśa, Kena, Kaṭha, Praśna, Muṇḍaka, Māṇḍūkya, Taittirīya, Aitareya, Chāndogya, Bṛhad-āraṇyaka and Śvetāśvatara. However, in the Muktikopaniṣad, verses 30–39, there is a description of 108 Upaniṣads.

CC Adi 7.112, Purport:

His original spiritual body remains as it is.” Similarly, elsewhere it is stated, vicitra-śaktiḥ puruṣaḥ purāṇaḥ: "The Supreme Personality of Godhead, the original person (puruṣa), has multifarious energies." And the Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad declares, sa vṛkṣa-kālākṛtibhiḥ paro ’nyo yasmāt prapañcaḥ parivartate ’yaṁ dharmāvahaṁ pāpanudaṁ bhageśam: “He is the origin of material creation, and it is due to Him only that everything changes.

CC Adi 7.112, Purport:

As stated in the Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad (3.19), apāṇi-pādo javano grahītā. This verse describes the Absolute Truth as having no legs or hands. Although this is an impersonal description, it does not mean that the Absolute Personality of Godhead has no form. He has a spiritual form that is distinct from the forms of matter. In this verse Caitanya Mahāprabhu clarifies this distinction.

CC Adi 7.121, Purport:

In the Chāndogya Upaniṣad there is the following mantra: aitad-ātmyam idaṁ sarvam. This mantra indicates without a doubt that the entire world is Brahman. The Absolute Truth has inconceivable energies, as confirmed in the Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad (parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate (Cc. Madhya 13.65, purport)), and the entire cosmic manifestation is evidence of these different energies of the Supreme Lord. The Supreme Lord is a fact, and therefore whatever is created by the Supreme Lord is also factual. Everything is true and complete (pūrṇam), but the original pūrṇam, the complete Absolute Truth, always remains the same. Pūrṇāt pūrṇam udacyate pūrṇasya pūrṇam ādāya (Īśo Invocation). The Absolute Truth is so perfect that although innumerable energies emanate from Him and manifest creations which appear to be different from Him, He nevertheless maintains His personality. He never deteriorates under any circumstances.

CC Adi 17.257, Purport:

In the Bhagavad-gītā it is said, māyayāpahṛta-jñānā āsuraṁ bhāvam āśritāḥ: when one becomes inimical to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, adopting an atheistic attitude (āsuraṁ bhāvam), even if one is a learned scholar the essence of knowledge does not become manifested in him; in other words, the essence of his knowledge is stolen by the illusory energy of the Lord. In this connection Śrī Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura quotes a mantra from the Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad (6.23):

yasya deve parā bhaktir yathā deve tathā gurau

tasyaite kathitā hy arthāḥ prakāśante mahātmanaḥ

(ŚU 6.23)

CC Madhya-lila

CC Madhya 6.141, Purport:

There are many impersonal statements about the Supreme Personality of Godhead. As stated in the Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad (3.19):

apāṇi-pādo javano grahītā

paśyaty acakṣuḥ sa śṛṇoty akarṇaḥ

sa vetti vedyaṁ na ca tasyāsti vettā

tam āhur agryaṁ puruṣaṁ mahāntam

Although the Supreme Lord is described as having no hands and legs, He nonetheless accepts all sacrificial offerings. He has no eyes, yet He sees everything. He has no ears, yet He hears everything. When it is stated that the Supreme Lord has no hands and legs, one should not think that He is impersonal. Rather, He has no mundane hands or legs like ours. "He has no eyes, yet He sees." This means that He does not have mundane, limited eyes like ours. Rather, He has such eyes that He can see past, present and future, everywhere, in every corner of the universe and in every corner of the heart of every living entity. Thus the impersonal descriptions in the Vedas intend to deny mundane characteristics in the Supreme Lord. They do not intend to establish the Supreme Lord as impersonal.

CC Madhya 6.144, Purport:

From this we can understand that the Absolute Truth can be categorized in three cases—ablative, instrumental and locative. According to these three cases, the Absolute Truth is positively personified. In this connection, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī quotes the Aitareya Upaniṣad (1.1.1): ātmā vā idam eka evāgra āsīn nānyat kiñcana miṣat sa īkṣata lokān nu sṛjā iti. Similarly, in the Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad (4.9) it is stated:

chandāṁsi yajñāḥ kratavo vratāni

bhūtaṁ bhavyaṁ yac ca vedā vadanti

yasmān māyī sṛjate viśvam etat

tasmiṁś cānyo māyayā sanniruddhaḥ

And in the Taittirīya Upaniṣad (3.1): yato vā imāni bhūtāni jāyante, yena jātāni jīvanti, yat prayanty abhisaṁviśanti, tad vijijñāsasva tad brahma. This was the answer given by father Varuṇa when questioned by his son Vāruṇi Bhṛgu about the Absolute Truth.

CC Madhya 6.151, Purport:

This Vedic mantra clearly states, puruṣaṁ mahāntam. The word puruṣa means "person." In the Bhagavad-gītā (10.12) Arjuna confirms that this person is Kṛṣṇa when he addresses Kṛṣṇa as puruṣaṁ śāśvatam: "You are the original person." Thus the puruṣaṁ mahāntam mentioned in the verse from the Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad is Śrī Kṛṣṇa. His hands and legs are not mundane but are completely transcendental. However, when He comes, fools take Him to be an ordinary person (avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā mānuṣīṁ tanum āśritam (BG 9.11)). One who has no Vedic knowledge, who has not studied the Vedas from a bona fide spiritual master, does not know Kṛṣṇa. Therefore he is a mūḍha. Such fools take Kṛṣṇa to be an ordinary person (paraṁ bhāvam ajānantaḥ). They do not actually know what Kṛṣṇa is. Manuṣyāṇāṁ sahasreṣu kaścid yatati siddhaye (BG 7.3). It is not possible to understand Kṛṣṇa simply by studying the Vedas perfectly. One must have the mercy of a devotee (yat-pādam). Unless one is favored by a devotee, he cannot understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Arjuna also confirms this in the Bhagavad-gītā (10.14): "My Lord, it is very difficult to understand Your personality." The less intelligent class of men cannot understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead without being favored by His devotee.

CC Madhya 6.152, Purport:

If the Supreme Personality of Godhead is formless, how can He be said to walk very fast and accept everything offered to Him? Rejecting the direct meaning of the Vedic mantras, the Māyāvādī philosophers interpret them and try to establish the Absolute Truth as formless. Actually, the Supreme Lord has an eternal personal form full of all opulence. The Māyāvādī philosophers try to interpret the Absolute Truth as being without potency. However, in the Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad (6.8) it is clearly said, parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate: (Cc. Madhya 13.65, purport) "The Absolute Truth has multipotencies."

CC Madhya 8.264, Purport:

The heart of Brahmā was enlightened by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is Vedic information given in the Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad (6.18):

yo brahmāṇaṁ vidadhāti pūrvaṁ

yo vai vedāṁś ca prahiṇoti tasmai

taṁ ha devam ātma-buddhi-prakāśaṁ

mumukṣur vai śaraṇam ahaṁ prapadye

“Because I desire liberation, let me surrender unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who first enlightened Lord Brahmā in Vedic knowledge through Lord Brahmā’s heart. The Lord is the original source of all enlightenment and spiritual advancement.” In this connection one may also refer to Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 2.9.30–35, 11.14.3, 12.4.40 and 12.13.19.

CC Madhya 9.98, Purport:

"Only unto those great souls who have implicit faith in both the Lord and the spiritual master are all the imports of Vedic knowledge automatically revealed."(Śvetāśvatara Up. 6.23)

Actually the meaning of the words of the Bhagavad-gītā or Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam are revealed to one strictly following the orders of the spiritual master. They are also revealed to one who has equal faith in the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In other words, being faithful to both Kṛṣṇa and the spiritual master is the secret of success in spiritual life.

CC Madhya 9.102, Purport:

To one who reads the Bhagavad-gītā with faith and devotion, the essence of Vedic knowledge is revealed. And according to the Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad (6.23):

yasya deve parā bhaktir yathā deve tathā gurau

tasyaite kathitā hy arthāḥ prakāśante mahātmanaḥ

(ŚU 6.23)

"Only unto those great souls who have implicit faith in both the Lord and the spiritual master are all the imports of Vedic knowledge automatically revealed."

CC Madhya 11.51, Purport:

"Only unto those great souls who have implicit faith in both the Lord and the spiritual master are all the imports of Vedic knowledge automatically revealed." (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 6.23)

Mahārāja Pratāparudra had firm faith in the Bhaṭṭācārya, who declared Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu to be the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Having firm faith in the Bhaṭṭācārya as his spiritual master, King Pratāparudra immediately accepted Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu as the Supreme Lord. Thus he began worshiping Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu in his mind. This is the process of devotional service.

CC Madhya 12.38, Purport:

"Only unto those great souls who have implicit faith in both the Lord and the spiritual master are all the imports of Vedic knowledge automatically revealed." (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 6.23)

Thus following in the footsteps of Mahārāja Pratāparudra and other devotees, we should learn to worship everything belonging to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is referred to by Lord Śiva as tadīyānām. In the Padma Purāṇa it is said:

ārādhanānāṁ sarveṣāṁ viṣṇor ārādhanaṁ param

tasmāt parataraṁ devi tadīyānāṁ samarcanam

"O Devī, the most exalted system of worship is the worship of Lord Viṣṇu. Greater than that is the worship of tadīya, or anything belonging to Viṣṇu." Śrī Viṣṇu is sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha (Bs. 5.1). Similarly, the most confidential servant of Kṛṣṇa, the spiritual master, and all devotees of Viṣṇu are tadīya. The sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha, guru, Vaiṣṇavas and things used by them must be considered tadīya and without a doubt worshipable by all living beings.

CC Madhya 13.65, Purport:

"The Supreme Lord has multipotencies, which act so perfectly that all consciousness, strength and activity are being directed solely by His will." (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 6.8)

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu exhibited His mystic power in presenting Himself simultaneously in each and every saṅkīrtana group. Most people thought that He was one, but some saw that He was many. The internal devotees could understand that the Lord, although one, was exhibiting Himself as many in the different saṅkīrtana groups. When Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu danced, He forgot Himself and was simply absorbed in ecstatic bliss. But His internal potency arranged everything perfectly.

CC Madhya 19.141, Purport:

The first three padas of this verse from the Pañcadaśī-citra-dīpa (81) are taken from the Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad (5.9).

CC Madhya 20.273, Purport:

Together, Lord Śiva's genitals and the vagina of goddess Durgā are worshiped as the śiva-liṅga. This is the origin of the material creation. Thus Lord Śiva's position is between that of the living entity and that of the Supreme Lord. In other words, Lord Śiva is neither the Supreme Personality of Godhead nor a living entity. He is the form through which the Supreme Lord works to beget living entities within this material world. As yogurt is prepared when milk is mixed with a culture, the form of Lord Śiva expands when the Supreme Personality of Godhead is in touch with material nature. The impregnation of material nature by the father, Lord Śiva, is wonderful because at one time innumerable living entities are conceived. Bhāgo jīvaḥ sa vijñeyaḥ sa cānantyāya kalpate (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 5.9).

Teachings of Lord Caitanya

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 1:

The Lord then explained that within this brahmāṇḍa, or universe, there are innumerable living entities who, according to their own fruitive activities, are transmigrating from one species of life to another and from one planet to another. In this way their encagement in material existence has continued since time immemorial. In actuality, these living entities are atomic parts and parcels of the Supreme Spirit. It is said in the Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad Śrīmad-Bhāgavatamthat the length and breadth of the individual soul is 1/10,000th part of the tip of a hair.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 19:

If, however, we accept the import of the Upaniṣads directly, it is clear that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is a person with unlimited potency. For example, in the Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad it is stated, “The Supreme Personality of Godhead is the origin of everything, and He has multiple potencies. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is transcendental to the cosmic manifestation. He is the origin of all religion, the supreme deliverer, and the possessor of all opulences. I understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead to be just like the sun, profusely distributing His energies while situated beyond the cloud of this material cosmic manifestation.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 20:

Only in the state of ignorance can one accept the Māyāvāda conclusion that this cosmic manifestation and the living entities are false or illusory. No sane man would attempt to impose ignorance and illusion upon the Supreme Absolute Truth, who is absolute in everything. There is no possibility of change, ignorance or illusion in Him. The Supreme Brahman, the Supreme Absolute Truth, is transcendental, completely different from all material conceptions, and full of inconceivable potencies. The Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad confirms that the Supreme Absolute Personality of Godhead is full of inconceivable energies and that no one else possesses such energies.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 24:

According to the Muktikā Upaniṣad, there are 108 Upaniṣads. Among these are the (1) Īśa, (2) Kena, (3) Kaṭha, (4) Praśna, (5) Muṇḍaka, (6) Māṇḍūkya, (7) Taittirīya, (8) Aitareya, (9) Chāndogya, (10) Bṛhad-āraṇyaka, (11) Brahma, (12) Kaivalya, (13) Jābāla, (14) Śvetāśvatara, (15) Haṁsa, (16) Āruṇeya, (17) Garbha and (18) Nārāyaṇa Upaniṣad. The 108 Upaniṣads contain all knowledge about the Absolute Truth. Sometimes people ask why Vaiṣṇavas use 108 prayer beads for chanting the holy names. We think it is because there are 108 Upaniṣads containing full knowledge of the Absolute Truth. On the other hand, some Vaiṣṇava transcendentalists think that the 108 beads represent the 108 companions of Lord Kṛṣṇa in His rāsa dance.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 24:

Whenever we speak of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, we add the word śrī, indicating that He is full with six opulences. This means that He is eternally a person; if He were not a person, the six opulences could not be present in fullness. Therefore, whenever it is said that the Supreme Absolute Truth is impersonal, what is meant is that His personality is not material. To distinguish His transcendental body from material bodies, some philosophers have explained Him as having no material personality. In other words, His material personality is denied and His spiritual personality is established. In the Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad (3.19) this is clearly explained: "The Absolute Truth has no material legs and hands, but He has spiritual hands by which He accepts everything offered to Him. He has no material eyes, but He has spiritual eyes by which He can see everything and anything. He has no material ears, but He can hear everything and anything with His spiritual ears. Having perfect senses, He knows past, future and present. Indeed, He knows everything, but no one can understand Him, for by material senses He cannot be understood. Being the origin of all emanations, He is the supreme, the greatest, the Personality of Godhead."

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 25:

According to the verse beginning apāṇi-pādo javano grahītā (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 3.19), although Brahman has no material hands and legs, He nonetheless walks in a very stately way and accepts everything that is offered to Him. This suggests that He has transcendental limbs and is therefore not impersonal. One who does not understand the Vedic principles simply stresses the impersonal, material features of the Supreme Absolute Truth and thus unceremoniously calls the Absolute Truth impersonal. The impersonalist, Māyāvādī philosophers want to establish the Absolute Truth as impersonal, but this contradicts the Vedic literature. Although the Vedic literature confirms the fact that the Supreme Absolute Truth has multiple energies, the Māyāvādī impersonalists still try to establish that the Absolute Truth has no energy. The fact remains, however, that the Absolute Truth is full of energy and is a person as well. It is not possible to establish Him as impersonal.

Renunciation Through Wisdom

Renunciation Through Wisdom 4.2:

The Māyāvādīs are always eager to merge with the nondual Supreme Brahman and become God. But their small brains cannot understand how the Supreme Personality of Godhead can become the charioteer of His devotee and carry out his orders. In truth the Supreme Lord and the jīvas are eternally related, and because of this relationship many wonderful things are possible. But the Māyāvādīs cannot understand this truth, and many who have tried to make them understand have failed miserably. In the śruti (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 6.23) we find this statement:

yasya deve parā-bhaktir

yathā deve tathā gurau

tasyaite kathitā hy arthāḥ

prakāśante mahātmanaḥ

(ŚU 6.23)

Only unto those great souls who have implicit faith in both the Lord and the spiritual master, all the imports of Vedic knowledge are automatically revealed.

Renunciation Through Wisdom 5.1:

The Śvetāṣvatara Upaniśad says, parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate: (Cc. Madhya 13.65, purport) "The Supreme Lord's potencies are multifarious." These potencies act in different capacities at different levels: On the platform of jṇāna, empirical knowledge, they manifest in a particular way, different from any other. On the spiritual, transcendental platform, these potencies produce variegated spiritual manifestations. These potencies can be known if one attains perfection in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. On the platform of material nature, the senses are superior to the body as a whole, mind is superior to the senses, the intelligence is superior to the mind, and the soul is subtler and better than the intelligence. On the spiritual platform, when the pure soul is situated in his original spiritual identity, he renders devotional service to the absolute embodiment of sweet transcendence, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This devotional service is imbued with the partial expansion of hlādinī-śakti, the Lord's pleasure-giving potency.

Mukunda-mala-stotra (mantras 1 to 6 only)

Mukunda-mala-stotra mantra 2, Purport:

ng affected by the material modes in any way.

The Lord's different potencies remain tightly under His control. In fact, the Lord actually has only one potency—namely, the internal potency—which He employs for different purposes. The situation is similar to how one uses electricity. The same electricity can be used for both heating and cooling. Such contradictory results are due to the expert handling of a technician. In the same way, by His supreme will the Lord employs His one internal potency to accomplish many different purposes. That is the information we get from the śrutis (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 6.8): parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate (Cc. Madhya 13.65, purport).

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Lecture on BG 2.8-12 -- Los Angeles, November 27, 1968:

Devotee: "Never was there a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor all these kings. Nor in the future shall any of us cease to be (BG 2.12)." Purport: "In the Vedas, in the Kaṭha Upaniṣad, as well as in the Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad, it is said that..."

Prabhupāda: (correcting pronunciation) Śvetāśvatara. There are many Upaniṣads, they are called Vedas. Upaniṣads are the headlines of the Vedas. Just like in a chapter there is a headline, similarly these Upaniṣads are the headlines of the Vedas. There are 108 Upaniṣads, principal. Out of that, nine Upaniṣads are very important. So out of those nine Upaniṣads, Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad, Taittireya Upaniṣad, Aitareya Upaniṣad, Īśopaniṣad, Īśa Upaniṣad, Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad, Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad, Kaṭhopaniṣad, these Upaniṣads are very important. And whenever there is argument on some point, one has to give reference from these Upaniṣads. If one can give reference from the Upaniṣads, then his argument is very strong. Śabda-pramāṇa. Pramāṇa means evidence. Evidence... If you want to gain in your case... Just like you have to give very nice evidence in a court, similarly, according to Vedic culture, the evidence is pramāṇa. Pramāṇa means evidence.

Lecture on BG 2.8-12 -- Los Angeles, November 27, 1968:

In the Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad it is said that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the maintainer of innumerable living entities, in terms of their different situations according to individual work and reaction to work. That Supreme Personality of Godhead is also, by His plenary portions, alive in the heart of every living entity. Only saintly persons, who can see within and without the same Supreme Personality of Godhead, can actually attain to perfect peace eternal. The same Vedic truth enumerated herein is given to Arjuna and in that connection to all persons in the world who pose themselves as very learned but factually have very poor fund of knowledge. The Lord says clearly that He Himself, Arjuna, and all the kings who are assembled in the battlefield are eternally individual beings and that the Lord is eternally the maintainer of the individual living entities."

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

"In the Vedas, in the Kaṭha Upaniṣad as well as in the Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad, it is said that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the maintainer of innumerable living entities..." The Supreme Personality of Godhead... Nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām eko bahūnāṁ vidadhāti kāmān (Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2.2.13). There is eka and bahu. The bahu, they are also nitya and cetana. That means we living entities, we are also cetana and eternal. And Kṛṣṇa is also eternal and cetana. So so far the living symptoms and the eternity is concerned, both the living entities and God, Kṛṣṇa, they are one. But the difference is that eko bahūnāṁ vidadhāti kāmān, that one, that chief one, although He's eternal and living force as we are, but He is the chief. He maintains all others. That is the version.

Lecture on BG 2.18 -- London, August 24, 1973:

It is in the Upaniṣad, Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad. This is called Vedic evidence. In another, in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, there is evidence. What is that? Keśāgra-śata-bhāgasya śatadhā, sadṛśaṁ jīvaḥ sūkṣma (CC Madhya 19.140). Sūkṣma, very fine. Jīvaḥ sūkṣma-svarūpo 'yaṁ saṅkhyātītaḥ kalpate. This jīva, not one, two, three, four—you cannot calculate. Asaṅkhya. So these are evidences in the Vedic literature. So we have to accept it. Kṛṣṇa confirms it and actually also you cannot measure. But we get evidence, the presence of the soul, presence of the soul. Still, how we can say there is no soul? No. This is foolishness. The whole world is going on under this foolishness. Not only now, before also. Like Cārvāka Muni, he was atheist, he did not believe.

Lecture on BG 2.20-25 -- Seattle, October 14, 1968:

Viṣṇujana: "Change of body by the atomic individual soul is an accepted fact. Even some of the modern scientists who do not believe in the existence of the soul but at the same time cannot explain the source of energy from the heart, they have to accept continuous changes of body which appear from childhood to boyhood and from boyhood to youth and again from youth to old age. From old age the change is transferred to another body. This has already been explained in the previous verse. Transference of the atomic individual soul to another body is also made possible by the grace of the Supersoul. The Supersoul fulfills the desire of the soul as one friend fulfills the desire of another. The Vedas, such as the Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad, as well as the Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad..."

Prabhupāda: Śvetāśvatara.

Viṣṇujana: "...confirm this concept of two kinds of souls by comparing them to two friendly birds sitting on the same tree. One of the birds, the individual atomic soul, is eating the fruit of the tree, and the other bird is simply watching his friend. Of these two birds, although they are the same in quality, one is captivated by the fruits of the material tree, while the other is simply witnessing his activity. Kṛṣṇa is the witnessing bird and Arjuna is the eating bird. Although they are friends, one is still the master and the other is the servant."

Prabhupāda: That is the eternal relationship. These are confirmed in Vedic literature just like Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad, Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad. The system is whatever is mentioned in the Vedas, that is authoritatively accepted. That is the Vedic understanding. If there is some evidence in the Vedas... Just like in law court, if there is some section in the lawbook, then the lawyers, the judge, accept it. "Yes, it is like this." Similarly knowledge. Vedas means knowledge. So perfect knowledge is there. Therefore if the evidence is there in the statement of Vedas, that is the proof.

Lecture on BG 2.20-25 -- Seattle, October 14, 1968:

So out of all evidences, the evidence which is called, derived from Vedic statement, that is accepted as most authoritative. Therefore Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad and Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad, they are Vedas. There is statement that two birds are sitting on the same tree. The tree is compared, the body is compared with the tree. And two birds, namely the Supersoul, Kṛṣṇa, and the living entity, individual soul, they are sitting together. And one is eating the fruit of the tree and the other is simply witnessing. This is our position. The other friendly bird, Kṛṣṇa or Supersoul, is giving us opportunity to act with this body as I like. He's giving us opportunity. Kṣetra-jña. I am the proprietor of this body. I have been allowed to utilize this body as I like. And the facility is given by the Supersoul.

Lecture on BG 10.1 -- New York, December 30, 1966:

In the Vedic literature also, in Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad, it is stated,

yasya deve parā bhaktir

yathā deve tathā gurau

tasyaite kathitā hy arthāḥ

prakāśante mahātmanaḥ

(ŚU 6.23)

It is said there that one who has got firm faith in God and similar faith in God's representative. Yasya deve parā bhaktiḥ. Deve means God. Yasya deve parā bhaktir yathā deve tathā gurau. Gurau means spiritual master. Spiritual master means a perfect devotee of God. He's spiritual master. Tasyaite kathitā hy arthāḥ. So all this, I mean to say, import of the Vedic language will be revealed to him. Will be revealed to him. We cannot understand Vedas simply by academic qualification. We have to, we must have the qualification of becoming a devotee of the Supreme Lord and His representative, the spiritual master or the saintly persons. These are recommended in all Vedic scripture.

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Lecture on SB 3.25.21 -- Bombay, November 21, 1974:

So we generally say, "Not a blade of grass moves without the sanction of God." Similarly, we cannot do anything. Daivī hy eṣā. God does not take as the supervision personally. Parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate (Cc. Madhya 13.65, purport). Na tasya kāryaṁ karaṇaṁ ca vidyate—in the Vedas, Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad. He hasn't got to do personally, but He has got so many agents to do. Parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate. He has got so ma... They will do. You are not free even to twinkle with your eyelids. That is also being controlled. That information... You are moving this hand very freely. It can be immediately paralyzed. I am claiming that "I... It is my hand." What is your hand? It can be stopped immediately. Your eyes, it can be stopped.

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures

Lecture on CC Adi-lila 7.113-17 -- San Francisco, February 22, 1967:

Similarly, in the Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad there is another statement that tad viṣṇoḥ paramaṁ padaṁ sadā paśyanti sūrayaḥ. Viṣṇuṁ padam. Viṣṇu is the highest Supreme Personality of Godhead. In this material world, which is being conducted by three modes of material nature, so Brahma, Viṣṇu, Maheśvara... Brahmā is in charge of the creation, Viṣṇu is in charge of maintenance, and Lord Śiva is in charge of destruction, dissolution. Janma, janma-sthiti-pralaya. Everything material, it has got a fixed date of its birth, its duration and its dissolution. So the Viṣṇu, in the Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad, out of these three Deities, viṣṇoḥ tat-paramaṁ padam, that He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Tad viṣṇuṁ paramaṁ padaṁ viṣṇuṁ paramaṁ padam, Viṣṇu.

Those who are sūrayaḥ... Sūrayaḥ. Sūrayaḥ means those who are demigods. There are two kinds of people: sura and asura. Asura means demons, and sura means godly. So sūrayaḥ tad viṣṇuṁ paramaṁ padaṁ sadā paśyanti. Those who are demigods, those who are godly, they are simply searching after the Supreme Absolute Truth. They are focusing their concentration, their meditation, on the lotus feet of Viṣṇu. This is the statement of Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad.

Lecture on CC Adi-lila 7.113-17 -- San Francisco, February 22, 1967:

So tad vā īśan vijato tebhya ha prabhur babhūva. In this way, there are so many instances, so many quotations. Apāṇi-pādaḥ. In the Śvetāśvatara, apāṇi-pādaḥ. He has no, I mean to say, hands and legs. If He has no hands and legs, then how can He see? Is there any instance in your experience that something which has no hands and legs, he can see? No. He has no... Whenever... This is impersonal... The impersonalists quotes these authorities, that "He has no hands and... Therefore He's impersonal." No, it is not... If He sees, sa aikṣata, if He sees, if He hears, if He creates, then there is hand, there is eyes. But another place, if it is said, apāṇi-pādaḥ: "He has no hands and legs." That means He has no hands and legs like us. Because we have got material hands and legs, but the... "He saw; therefore there was creation." Therefore His seeing power existed before this material creation. So it is natural that He has no material hands and legs. So when it is denied that "He has no hands and legs," it is to be understood that He has no material limited hands and legs, but He has spiritual.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 6.149-50 -- Gorakhpur, February 13, 1971:

This is the process is describing a spiritual understanding, with reference to the Vedic injunction. Now, Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahāprabhu is giving Vedic reference. He says, apāṇi-pāda. This is a reference from the Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad. In the Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad there is statement, impersonally, but referring to the person, transcendental person. The mantra is like this:

apāṇi-pādo javano grahītā

paśyaty acakṣuḥ sa śṛnoty akarṇaḥ

sa vetti vedyaṁ na ca tasyāsti vettā

tam āhur agryaṁ puruṣaṁ mahāntam

Puruṣam. Puruṣam means person, but the Vedic mantra begins, apāṇi-pāda: "Person, but has no leg and no hand." There are two kinds of statements: that He is person, puruṣa, mahānta, the greatest person, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, He is a person; but apāṇi-pāda, but He has no legs and no hands.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 6.151-154 -- Gorakhpur, February 14, 1971:

The oldest, but nava-yauvana, just beginning of youthful life. That is the description in the Brahma-saṁhitā. And Caitanya Mahāprabhu confirms that brahma saviśeṣa. Saviśeṣa means person with varieties of energy. Not imperson. Ataeva śruti kahe. According to Vedic evidence from the Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad, apāṇi pāda, He has proved that when the Upaniṣad says that "The Absolute Truth has no hands and legs, this means that He has no material hands and legs. But He has His hands and legs." (shouting in background) (aside:) Who is shouting? Why they do not come? Why they are shouting there? All right.

1974 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation with Christian Priest -- June 9, 1974, Paris:

Prabhupāda: Yes, Rāma is all right. Rāma we chant. Hare Rāma we chant. Hare Kṛṣṇa and Hare Rāma. Rāma also we chant.

Priest: Or Śiva. I mean, you see, in the Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad.

Devotee: (Sanskrit)

Priest: I mean, what devotees? You have got bhakti also in the Śaivite , all the others.

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: The argument, if you say that it is not special, then you will say that you can chant any name.

Priest: Yes.

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: We say that God's name is special, whatever name it is. Not that we eliminate God, saying He's not special. He is special. Whether you call Him by this authorized name or that authorized name, His name is special because it's nondifferent from Him. So not that we should just overlook the name of God because we're overlooking God. We do that, so we have to...

Prabhupāda: Harer nāma (CC Adi 17.21). Harer nāma means God's name.

Reporters Interview -- June 29, 1974, Melbourne:

Satsvarūpa: " ...and according to their own fruitive activities they are transmigrating from one species of life to another and from one planet to another. In this way their engagement in material existence is being continued since time immemorial. The living entities are atomic parts and parcels of the supreme spirit. There is, however, a measurement for the length and breadth of the atomic spiritual spark. It is said in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Tenth Canto, Eighty-seventh Chapter, thirty-sixth verse, that if you divide the top of a hair into one hundred parts and again if you divide one part of that into another one hundred parts, such 1/10,000th part of the tip of a hair is the length and breadth of the individual soul. This is also confirmed in the Vedas in the Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad. This atomic magnitude of the individual living entity is again described in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Eleventh Canto, Sixteenth Chapter, eleventh verse, as follows. This is a speech given by one of the four Kumāras known as Sunanda on the occasion of performing a great sacrifice. He said, 'O supreme truth, if the living entities were not infinitesimal sparks of the supreme spirit, then each minute spark would have been all-pervading and there would be no necessity of its being controlled.' "

Prabhupāda: That is very... Otherwise... If the living entity is equal to the Supreme Being, then... Suppose you are a living entity. You could speak everything of what is going on in others' mind or body. You cannot say what I am thinking. I cannot say what you are thinking. Therefore I or you are not all-pervading. We are limited. And that is living entity. This is a very nice example.

1977 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation -- October 2, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: The Lord's sva-dhāma does not require any sunlight or moonlight or electricity for illumination. That dhāma, or place, is supreme, and whoever goes there never comes back to this material world.

The Vaikuṇṭha planets and the Goloka Vṛndāvana planet are all self-illuminating, and the rays scattered by those sva-dhāma of the Lord constitute the existence of the brahma-jyotir. As further confirmed in the Vedas like the Muṇḍaka (2.2.10), Kaṭha (2.2.15) and Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣads (6.14):

na tatra sūryo bhāti na candra-tārakaṁ

nemā vidyuto bhānti kuto 'yam agniḥ

tam eva bhāntam anu bhāti sarvaṁ

tasya bhāsā sarvam idaṁ vibhāti

In the sva-dhāma of the Lord there is no need of sun, moon or stars for illumination. Nor is there need of electricity, so what to speak of ignited lamps? On the other hand, it is because those planets are self-illuminating that all effulgence has become possible, and whatever there is that is dazzling is due to the reflection of that sva-dhāma.