Indian man: In my class I run into lot of arguments, especially from our Indian people, and this is one of the biggest arguments people pose. They say, "Why are you calling yourselves Vaiṣṇavas and not Kṛṣṇayas?"
Prabhupāda: Hm?
Indian man: If I call Kṛṣṇa, I accept Kṛṣṇa as Supreme Personality of Godhead. Then the question comes to me, "Why are you calling yourself Vaiṣṇavas? Why not Kṛṣṇayas?"
Prabhupāda: That already is explained, that Kṛṣṇa or Rāma, Viṣṇu, Nārāyaṇa, They are all viṣṇu-tattva. Therefore Viṣṇu is the common word for everyone. Just like candle. Everyone is candle, but still, this is first candle, this is second candle, this is third candle, like that. So Godhead means all viṣṇu-tattva. They are not jīva-tattva. So therefore those who are devotee of God, they are called Vaiṣṇava.
Hari-śauri: This specific Vaiṣṇava, that refers to Viṣṇu? Worshipers of Viṣṇu?
Prabhupāda: Yes. Viṣṇu asyra devataḥ iti vaiṣṇavaḥ.(?)
Indian man: Throughout Vedas also, Viṣṇu is the yajñeśvara.
Prabhupāda: The supreme, yes.
Indian man: Yajño vai viṣṇuḥ.
Prabhupāda: Viṣṇur ārādhyate. Viṣṇur ārādhyate, nānyat tat-toṣa-kāraṇam. Varṇāśramācāravatā puruṣeṇa paraḥ pumān viṣṇur ārādhyate (CC Madhya 8.58). Viṣṇor ārādhanam. Ārādhanānāṁ sarveṣāṁ viṣṇor ārādhanaṁ param **. These are the śāstric..., that viṣṇor ārādhana. Kṛṣṇa-ārādhana is also viṣṇu-ārādhana.
Indian man: In fact, even Brahma-saṁhitā, Brahmājī says,
- yaḥ kāraṇārṇava-jale bhajati sma yoga-
- nidrām ananta-jagad-aṇḍa-saroma-kūpaḥ
- ādhāra-śaktim avalambya parāṁ sva-mūrtiṁ
- govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi
- (Bs. 5.47)
"So Viṣṇu is creating all the planetary systems. He's in His yoga-nidrā, He is the original Govinda, and I worship Him." So that is why both names are used so synonymously. And that is why people are questioning me, and I have difficulty to answer them. Although I accept Kṛṣṇa as original Personality of Godhead, but how to explain to them?
Prabhupāda: No, these are the references.
Jayādvaita: In here also. Should I read the verse? "All other incarnations are potentially situated in the original body of the primeval Lord. Thus, according to one's opinion, one may address Him as any one of the incarnations." Purport: "It is not contradictory for a devotee to call the Supreme Lord by any one of the various names of His plenary expansions, because the original Personality of Godhead includes all such categories. Since the plenary expansions exist within the original person, one may call Him by any of these names. In Śrī Caitanya-bhāgavata Lord Caitanya says, 'I was lying asleep in the ocean of milk, but I was wakened by the call of Nāḍā, Śrī Advaita Prabhu.' Here the Lord refers to His form as Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu." Translation: "Some say that Śrī Kṛṣṇa is directly Nara-Nārāyaṇa, others say that He is directly Vāmana. Some say that Kṛṣṇa is the incarnation of Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu. None of these statements is impossible. Each of them is as correct as the others." Purport: "Laghu-bhāgavatāmṛta states,
- ataeva purāṇādau kecin nara-sakhātmatāṁ
- mahendrānujatāṁ kecit kecit kṣīrābdhi-śāyitām
- sahasra-śīrṣatāṁ kecit kecid vaikuṇṭha-nāthatāṁ
- brūyuḥ kṛṣṇasya munayas tat-tad-vṛtty-anugāminaḥ
'According to the intimate relationships between Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the primeval Lord, and His devotees, the Purāṇas describe Him by various names. Sometimes He is called Nārāyaṇa; sometimes Upendra (Vāmana), the younger brother of Indra, King of heaven; and sometimes Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu...' "
Prabhupāda: They are all viṣṇu-tattva.
Indian man: In fact, I remember very vividly that in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam you wrote that it was Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu who came down to bless Dhruva Mahārāja when the planetary system started trembling due to his tapasya here. Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu. This is why people are questioning me continuously that "How can you call Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Personality of Godhead and not Viṣṇu?" And I say "All are viṣṇu-tattva." But it is very difficult to explain to them the actual position of Kṛṣṇa, because only through chanting...
Prabhupāda: That is decided by Bhāgavatam, ete cāṁśa-kalāḥ puṁsaḥ kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam (SB 1.3.28), that tu, the name Kṛṣṇa, in the incarnation of God, Kṛṣṇa is also included, but this Kṛṣṇa is the origin.
Indian man:
- īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ
- sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ
- anādir ādir govindaḥ
- sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam
- (Bs. 5.1)
Prabhupāda: So we have to take the direction. So that is also explained. Even if you say, "Kṛṣṇa is Vāmana," there is nothing wrong. If you believe that Kṛṣṇa is incarnation of Viṣṇu, there is nothing wrong.
Indian man: I don't believe that.
Prabhupāda: No, no, others. Others...
Indian man: I believe Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Prabhupāda: Others. We simply accept, "Yes it is all right." That's all. So that's a fact, because when Kṛṣṇa comes, He comes through Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu.
Indian man: I ask them then that "Explain the three Viṣṇus-Mahā Viṣṇu, Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu and Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu. Even Viṣṇu Himself has expanded, what to talk of Kṛṣṇa." And then I ask them that "Kṛṣṇa came from which Viṣṇu? You tell me. If you can tell me that, then I will accept that Kṛṣṇa came from Viṣṇu. But if not, you have to accept my statement that Kṛṣṇa is the original Supreme Personality of Godhead. And you will not know Him unless you chant. Unless you chant."
Prabhupāda: Sometimes Mahā-Viṣṇu wanted to see Kṛṣṇa. That is mentioned in the Bhāgavata, and He took Arjuna with Him.