Ultimate cause (Books)

Expressions researched:
"ultimate cause"

SB Canto 1

SB 1.1.7, Purport:

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is a natural commentation on the Brahma-sūtra, or the Bādarāyaṇi Vedānta-sūtras. It is called natural because Vyāsadeva is author of both the Vedānta-sūtras and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, or the essence of all Vedic literatures. Besides Vyāsadeva, there are other sages who are the authors of six different philosophical systems, namely Gautama, Kaṇāda, Kapila, Patañjali, Jaimini and Aṣṭāvakra. Theism is explained completely in the Vedānta-sūtra, whereas in other systems of philosophical speculations, practically no mention is given to the ultimate cause of all causes. One can sit on the vyāsāsana only after being conversant in all systems of philosophy so that one can present fully the theistic views of the Bhāgavatam in defiance of all other systems. Śrīla Sūta Gosvāmī was the proper teacher, and therefore the sages at Naimiṣāraṇya elevated him to the vyāsāsana. Śrīla Vyāsadeva is designated herein as the Personality of Godhead because he is the authorized empowered incarnation.

SB 1.10.5, Purport:

To make economic development by our own endeavors on the strength of tools and machinery is not all. The sanction of the Supreme Lord must be there, otherwise despite all instrumental arrangements everything will be unsuccessful. The ultimate cause of success is the daiva, the Supreme. Kings like Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira knew perfectly well that the king is the agent of the Supreme Lord to look after the welfare of the mass of people. Actually the state belongs to the Supreme Lord. The rivers, oceans, forests, hills, drugs, etc., are not creations of man. They are all creations of the Supreme Lord, and the living being is allowed to make use of the property of the Lord for the service of the Lord. Today's slogan is that everything is for the people, and therefore the government is for the people and by the people. But to produce a new species of humanity at the present moment on the basis of philosophy and religion, justice and peace, God consciousness and the perfection of human life—in short, the ideology of godly communism—the world has to again follow in the footsteps of kings like Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira or Parīkṣit. There is enough of everything by the will of the Lord, and we can make proper use of things to live comfortably without enmity between man and man, or man and animal, or man and nature. The control of the Lord is everywhere, and if the Lord is pleased, every part of nature will be pleased. The river will flow profusely to fertilize the land; the oceans will supply sufficient quantities of minerals, pearls and jewels; the forest will supply sufficient wood, drugs and vegetables, and the seasonal changes will effectively help produce fruits and flowers in profuse quantity.

SB 1.17.18, Purport:

According to the Padma Purāṇa, our present trouble is due to the fructifying of seedling sins, but even those seedling sins also gradually fade away by execution of pure devotional service. Thus even if the devotees see the mischief-mongers, they do not accuse them for the sufferings inflicted. They take it for granted that the mischief-monger is made to act by some indirect cause, and therefore they tolerate the sufferings, thinking them to be God-given in small doses, for otherwise the sufferings should have been greater.

Mahārāja Parīkṣit wanted to get a statement of accusation against the direct mischief-monger, but they declined to give it on the abovementioned grounds. Speculative philosophers, however, do not recognize the sanction of the Lord; they try to find out the cause of sufferings in their own way, as will be described in the following verses. According to Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī, such speculators are themselves bewildered, and thus they cannot know that the ultimate cause of all causes is the Supreme Lord, the Personality of Godhead.

SB 1.17.19, Translation:

Some of the philosophers, who deny all sorts of duality, declare that one's own self is responsible for his personal happiness and distress. Others say that superhuman powers are responsible, while yet others say that activity is responsible, and the gross materialists maintain that nature is the ultimate cause.

SB 1.17.19, Purport:

So one should not entangle oneself in matter by the mind's material affections. Thus one's own mind is one's friend or enemy in one's material happiness and distress.

Atheistic, materialistic Sāṅkhyaites conclude that material nature is the cause of all causes. According to them, combinations of material elements are the causes of material happiness and distress, and disintegration of matter is the cause of freedom from all material pangs. Gautama and Kaṇāda find that atomic combination is the cause of everything, and impersonalists like Aṣṭāvakra discover that the spiritual effulgence of Brahman is the cause of all causes. But in the Bhagavad-gītā the Lord Himself declares that He is the source of impersonal Brahman, and therefore He, the Personality of Godhead, is the ultimate cause of all causes. It is also confirmed in the Brahma-saṁhitā that Lord Kṛṣṇa is the ultimate cause of all causes.

SB Canto 2

SB 2.5.2, Purport:

The inquiries by Nārada Muni on the basis of factual cause and effect appear very reasonable. The atheists, however, put forward many self-made theories without any touch of cause and effect. The manifested world, as well as the spirit soul, is still unexplained by the godless atheists through the medium of experimental knowledge, although they have put forward many theories manufactured by their fertile brains. Contrary to such mental speculative theories of creation, however, Nārada Muni wanted to know all the facts of creation in truth, and not by theories.

Transcendental knowledge regarding the soul and the Supersoul includes knowledge of the phenomenal world and the basis of its creation. In the phenomenal world three things are factually observed by any intelligent man: the living beings, the manifest world, and the ultimate control over them. The intelligent man can see that neither the living entity nor the phenomenal world are creations of chance. The symmetry of creation and its regulative actions and reactions suggests the plan of an intelligent brain behind them, and by genuine inquiry one may find out the ultimate cause with the help of one who knows them factually.

SB 2.5.11, Purport:

One should not expect the Lord to create like a blacksmith with a hammer and other instruments. The Lord creates by His potencies. He has His multifarious potencies (parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate (Cc. Madhya 13.65, purport)). Just as the small seed of a banyan fruit has the potency to create a big banyan tree, the Lord disseminates all varieties of seeds by His potential brahma-jyoti (sva-rociṣā), and the seeds are made to develop by the watering process of persons like Brahmā. Brahmā cannot create the seeds, but he can manifest the seed into a tree, just as a gardener helps plants and orchards to grow by the watering process. The example cited here of the sun is very appropriate. In the material world the sun is the cause of all illumination: fire, electricity, the rays of the moon, etc. All luminaries in the sky are creations of the sun, the sun is the creation of the brahma-jyoti, and the brahma-jyoti is the effulgence of the Lord. Thus the ultimate cause of creation is the Lord.

SB 2.5.12, Purport:

"The Supreme Lord is the Personality of Godhead Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the primeval Lord in His transcendental body, the ultimate cause of all causes. I worship that primeval Lord Govinda."

Brahmājī is conscious of his actual position, and he knows how less intelligent persons, bewildered by the illusory energy of the Lord, whimsically accept anyone and everyone as God. A responsible personality like Brahmājī refuses to be addressed as the Supreme Lord by his disciples or subordinates, but foolish persons praised by men of the nature of dogs, hogs, camels and asses feel flattered to be addressed as the Supreme Lord. Why such persons take pleasure in being addressed as God, or why such persons are addressed as God by foolish admirers, is explained in the following verse.

SB 2.10.37-40, Purport:

The material nature is compared to the mother. Although every living being is seen to come out of the mother's body, it is still a fact that the mother is not the ultimate cause of such a birth. The father is the ultimate cause of birth. Without the father's seed, no mother can give birth to a child. Therefore the living beings in different varieties of forms and positions within the innumerable universes are all born of the seeds of the Almighty Father, the Personality of Godhead, and only to the man with a poor fund of knowledge they appear to be born of the material nature. Being under the material energy of the Supreme Lord, all living entities beginning from Brahmā down to the insignificant ant are manifested in different bodies according to their past deeds.

SB 2.10.45, Purport:

Gross materialists without any knowledge of Brahman, Paramātmā or Bhagavān conclude material nature to be the ultimate cause of the material manifestation, and the modern scientist also shares this view that the material nature is the ultimate cause of all the manifestations of the material world. This view is refuted by all Vedic literature. The Vedānta philosophy mentions that Brahman is the fountainhead of all creation, maintenance and destruction, and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the natural commentation on the Vedānta philosophy, says, janmādy asya yato 'nvayād itarataś cārtheṣv abhijñaḥ svarāṭ (SB 1.1.1), etc.

Inert matter is undoubtedly energy with potential to interact, but it has no initiative of its own. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam therefore comments on the aphorism janmādy asya by saying abhijñaḥ and svarāṭ, i.e., the Supreme Brahman is not inert matter, but He is supreme consciousness and is independent. Therefore inert matter cannot be the ultimate cause of the creation, maintenance and destruction of the material world. Superficially material nature appears to be the cause of creation, maintenance and destruction, but material nature is set into motion for creation by the supreme conscious being, the Personality of Godhead. He is the background of all creation, maintenance and destruction, and this is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā (9.10):

SB Canto 3

SB 3.6.2, Purport:

"O Arjuna, there is no necessity of your knowing about My innumerable energies, which act in various ways. I enter into the material creation by My partial plenary expansion (Paramātmā, or the Supersoul) in all the universes and in all the elements thereof, and thus the work of creation goes on." The wonderful activities of material nature are due to Lord Kṛṣṇa, and thus He is the final cause, or the ultimate cause of all causes.

SB 3.8.18, Purport:

The subject matter of the speculations of Brahmā in the beginning regarding the creation of the cosmic manifestation is still a subject matter for mental speculators. The most intelligent man is he who tries to find the cause of his personal existence and that of the whole cosmic creation and thus tries to find the ultimate cause. If his attempt is properly executed with penances and perseverance, it is sure to be crowned with success.

SB 3.8.21, Purport:

Samādhi involves concentrating the mind upon the supreme cause of all, even if one is unaware of whether His actual nature is personal, impersonal or localized. Concentration of the mind on the Supreme is certainly a form of devotional service. To cease from personal sense endeavors and to concentrate on the supreme cause is a sign of self-surrender, and when self-surrender is present, that is a sure sign of devotional service. Each and every living entity needs to engage in devotional service to the Lord if he wishes to understand the ultimate cause of his existence.

SB Canto 4

SB 4.1.57, Purport:

The Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is the origin of the cosmic manifestation, is covered by the wonderful activities of material nature, just as outer space or the illumination of the sun and moon is sometimes covered by clouds or dust. It is very difficult to find the origin of the cosmic manifestation; therefore material scientists conclude that nature is the ultimate cause of all manifestations. But from śāstra, or authentic literature like Bhagavad-gītā and other Vedic scriptures, we understand that behind this wonderful cosmic manifestation is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and in order to maintain the regular procedures of the cosmic manifestation and to be visible to the eyes of persons who are in the mode of goodness, the Lord appears. He is the cause of the creation and dissolution of the cosmic manifestation. The demigods therefore prayed for His merciful glance upon them in order to be blessed.

SB 4.12.3, Translation:

Actually, you have not killed the Yakṣas, nor have they killed your brother, for the ultimate cause of generation and annihilation is the eternal time feature of the Supreme Lord.

SB 4.23.17, Purport:

The sense objects are forms, tastes, smells, sounds, etc. Sound is the ultimate source of the sense objects. The mind was attracted by the senses and the senses by the sense objects, and all of them were ultimately amalgamated in the sky. The creation is so arranged that cause and effect follow one after the other. The merging process involves amalgamating the effect with the original cause. Since the ultimate cause in the material world is mahat-tattva, everything was gradually wound up and amalgamated with the mahat-tattva. This may be compared to śūnya-vāda, or voidism, but this is the process for cleansing the real spiritual mind, or consciousness.

When the mind is completely washed of all material contamination, the pure consciousness acts. The sound vibration from the spiritual sky can automatically cleanse all material contaminations, as confirmed by Caitanya Mahāprabhu: ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanam (CC Antya 20.12). We need only take the advice of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu and chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra to cleanse the mind of all material contamination, and this may be considered the summary of this difficult verse. As soon as the whole material contamination is washed away by this process of chanting, all desires and reactions to material activities become immediately vanquished, and real life, peaceful existence, begins. In this age of Kali it is very difficult to adopt the yogic process mentioned in this verse.

SB 4.26.20, Purport:

By sincerely rendering service to a bona fide spiritual master, one begins his spiritual life in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Touching the lotus feet of a spiritual master means giving up one's false prestige and unnecessarily puffed-up position in the material world. Those who remain in the darkness of material existence due to their falsely prestigious positions-so-called scientists and philosophers—are actually atheists. They do not know the ultimate cause of everything. Although bewildered, they are not ready to surrender themselves to the lotus feet of a person who knows things in their proper perspective. In other words, one cannot arouse Kṛṣṇa consciousness simply by his own mental speculation. One must surrender to a bona fide spiritual master. Only this process will help one.

SB 4.31.17, Purport:

Material nature may be a helping factor in the creation of this cosmic manifestation, but it is not the ultimate cause. In Bhagavad-gītā (9.10) the Lord therefore says:

mayādhyakṣeṇa prakṛtiḥ

sūyate sa-carācaram

"This material nature is working under My direction, O son of Kuntī, and producing all moving and unmoving beings."

The Supreme Lord casts His glance over material energy, and His glance agitates the three modes of nature. Creation then takes place. The conclusion is that nature is not the cause of the material manifestation. The Supreme Lord is the cause of all causes.

SB Canto 5

SB 5.12.8, Purport:

The material energy is Kṛṣṇa's energy, but it is separated from Him. The spiritual energy is also His energy, but it is not separated from Him. When the material energy is engaged in the service of the Supreme Spirit, so-called material energy is also transformed into spiritual energy, just as an iron rod becomes fire when placed in contact with fire. When we can understand by an analytical study that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the cause of all causes, our knowledge is perfect. Simply understanding the transformations of different energies is partial knowledge. We must come to the ultimate cause. Na te viduḥ svārtha gatiṁ hi viṣṇum (SB 7.5.31). The knowledge of those who are not interested in knowing the original cause of all emanations is never perfect knowledge. There is nothing in the phenomenal world that is not produced by the supreme energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Aromas from the earth are different scents manufactured and used for different purposes, but the original cause is the earth, nothing else. A waterpot made of earth can be used to carry water for some time, but ultimately the pot is nothing but earth. Therefore there is no difference between the pot and its original ingredient, earth. It is simply a different transformation of the energy. Originally the cause or primary ingredient is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and the varieties are only by-products. In the Chāndogya Upaniṣad it is stated: yathā saumy ekena mṛt-piṇḍena sarvaṁ mṛnmayaṁ vijñātaṁ syād vācārambhaṇaṁ vikāro nāmadheyaṁ mṛttikety eva satyam.

SB 5.12.9, Purport:

The ultimate cause is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and only those in ignorance try to find out other causes by posing different theories.

SB 5.12.10, Purport:

This is described in Bhagavad-gītā (3.27), ahaṅkāra-vimūḍhātmā kartāham iti manyate: due to being covered by the illusory external energy, the living entity tries to take credit for the differentiated creations within the material world. Actually all these are being created automatically by the material force set in motion by the energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore the ultimate cause is the Supreme Person. As stated in Brahma-saṁhitā:

īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ

sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ

anādir ādir govindaḥ

sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam

(Bs. 5.1)

He is the cause of all causes, the ultimate cause. In this regard Śrīla Madhvācārya says: evaṁ sarvaṁ tathā prakṛtvayai kalpitaṁ viṣṇor anyat. evaṁ prakṛtyādhāraḥ svayam ananyādhāro viṣṇur eva ataḥ sarva-śabdāś ca tasminn eva. Actually the original cause is Lord Viṣṇu, but out of ignorance people think that matter is the cause of everything.

SB Canto 6

SB 6.4.31, Purport:

All speculators must disagree with other speculators; otherwise, why should there be so many opposing parties concerned with ascertaining the supreme cause?

Philosophy means finding the ultimate cause. As Vedānta-sūtra very reasonably says, athāto brahma jijñāsā: human life is meant for understanding the ultimate cause. Devotees accept that the ultimate cause is Kṛṣṇa because this conclusion is supported by all Vedic literature and also by Kṛṣṇa Himself, who says, ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavaḥ: (BG 10.8) "I am the source of everything." Devotees have no problem understanding the ultimate cause of everything, but nondevotees must face many opposing elements because everyone who wants to be a prominent philosopher invents his own way. In India there are many parties of philosophers, such as the dvaita-vādīs, advaita-vādīs, vaiśeṣikas, mīmāṁsakas, Māyāvādīs and svabhāva-vādīs, and each of them opposes the others. Similarly, in the Western countries there are also many philosophers with different views of creation, life, maintenance and annihilation. Thus it is undoubtedly a fact that there are countless philosophers throughout the world, each of them contradicting the others.

SB 6.4.31, Purport:

Now, one might ask why there are so many philosophers if the ultimate goal of philosophy is one. Undoubtedly the ultimate cause is one—the Supreme Brahman. As Arjuna told Kṛṣṇa in Bhagavad-gītā (10.12):

paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma

pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān

puruṣaṁ śāśvataṁ divyam

ādi-devam ajaṁ vibhum

"You are the Supreme Brahman, the ultimate, the supreme abode and purifier, the Absolute Truth and the eternal divine person. You are the primal God, transcendental and original, and You are the unborn and all-pervading beauty." Nondevotee speculators, however, do not accept an ultimate cause (sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam (Bs. 5.1)). Because they are ignorant and bewildered concerning the soul and its activities, even though some of them have a vague idea of the soul, many controversies arise, and the philosophical speculators can never reach a conclusion. All of these speculators are envious of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and as Kṛṣṇa says in Bhagavad-gītā (16.19-20):

SB 6.4.32, Translation:

There are two parties—namely, the theists and the atheists. The theist, who accepts the Supersoul, finds the spiritual cause through mystic yoga. The Sāṅkhyite, however, who merely analyzes the material elements, comes to a conclusion of impersonalism and does not accept a supreme cause—whether Bhagavān, Paramātmā or even Brahman. Instead, he is preoccupied with the superfluous, external activities of material nature. Ultimately, however, both parties demonstrate the Absolute Truth because although they offer opposing statements their object is the same ultimate cause. They are both approaching the same Supreme Brahman, to whom I offer my respectful obeisances.

SB 6.4.47, Purport:

"Learned transcendentalists who know the Absolute Truth call this nondual substance Brahman, Paramātmā or Bhagavān." Consideration of the Paramātmā and impersonal Brahman arose after the creation; before the creation, only the Supreme Personality of Godhead existed. As firmly declared in Bhagavad-gītā (18.55), the Lord can be understood only by bhakti-yoga. The ultimate cause, the supreme cause of creation, is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who can be understood only by bhakti-yoga. He cannot be understood by speculative philosophical research or by meditation, since all such processes came into existence after the material creation. The impersonal and localized conceptions of the Supreme Lord are more or less materially contaminated. The real spiritual process, therefore, is bhakti-yoga. As the Lord says, bhaktyā mām abhijānāti: (BG 18.55) "Only by devotional service can I be understood." Before the creation, the Lord existed as a person, as indicated here by the word aham. When Prajāpati Dakṣa saw Him as a person, who was beautifully dressed and ornamented, he actually experienced the meaning of this word aham through devotional service.

SB 6.5.17, Purport:

The entire cosmic manifestation is an expansion of the Supreme Lord. Therefore if one does not conduct research to find the supreme cause but instead falsely engages in frivolous, temporary activities, what is the use of demanding recognition as an important scientist or philosopher? If one does not know the ultimate cause, what is the use of his scientific and philosophical research?

The puruṣa, the original person—Bhagavān, Viṣṇu—can be understood only by devotional service. Bhaktyā mām abhijānāti yāvān yaś cāsmi tattvataḥ: (BG 18.55) only by devotional service can one understand the Supreme Person, who is behind everything. One must try to understand that the material elements are the separated, inferior energy of the Lord and that the living entity is the Lord's spiritual energy. Whatever we experience, including matter and the spirit soul, the living force, is but a combination of two energies of Lord Viṣṇu—the inferior energy and the superior energy. One should seriously study the facts concerning creation, maintenance and devastation, as well as the permanent place from which one never need return (yad gatvā na nivartante (BG 15.6)). Human society should study this, but instead of culturing such knowledge, people are attracted to temporary happiness and sense gratification, culminating in bottomless, topless passion. There is no profit in such activities; one must engage himself in the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement.

SB Canto 8

SB 8.14.10, Purport:

Whatever actions and reactions take place for the creation, maintenance and annihilation of this material world are actually brought about by the one Supreme Person. There are many varieties of philosophers trying to search for the ultimate cause under different names and forms, but they are unable to find the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, who explains in Bhagavad-gītā that He is the origin of everything and the cause of all causes (ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavaḥ (BG 10.8)). This inability is due to the illusory energy of the Supreme Lord. Devotees, therefore, accept the Supreme Personality of Godhead as He is and remain happy simply by chanting the glories of the Lord.

SB Canto 9

SB 9.4.69, Purport:

Every action taken by Hiraṇyakaśipu against his son Prahlāda Mahārāja was taken very seriously by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and thus when Hiraṇyakaśipu was on the verge of killing Prahlāda, the Lord personally appeared and killed Hiraṇyakaśipu. Service to a Vaiṣṇava gradually accumulates and becomes an asset for the devotee. Similarly, harmful activities directed against the devotee gradually become the ultimate cause of the performer's falldown. Even such a great brāhmaṇa and mystic yogī as Durvāsā was in a most dangerous situation because of his offense at the lotus feet of Mahārāja Ambarīṣa, a pure devotee.

SB Cantos 10.14 to 12 (Translations Only)

SB 10.41.46, Translation:

You two Lords are the ultimate cause of this entire universe. To bestow sustenance and prosperity upon this realm, You have descended with Your plenary expansions.

SB 10.69.45, Translation:

Lord Hari is the ultimate cause of universal creation, maintenance and destruction. My dear King, anyone who chants about, hears about or simply appreciates the extraordinary activities He performed in this world, which are impossible to imitate, will surely develop devotion for the Supreme Lord, the bestower of liberation.

SB 11.18.45, Translation:

My dear Uddhava, I am the Supreme Lord of all worlds, and I create and destroy this universe, being its ultimate cause. I am thus the Absolute Truth, and one who worships Me with unfailing devotional service comes to Me.

SB 11.28.18, Translation:

Real spiritual knowledge is based on the discrimination of spirit from matter, and it is cultivated by scriptural evidence, austerity, direct perception, reception of the Purāṇas' historical narrations, and logical inference. The Absolute Truth, which alone was present before the creation of the universe and which alone will remain after its destruction, is also the time factor and the ultimate cause. Even in the middle stage of this creation's existence, the Absolute Truth alone is the actual reality.

CC Adi-lila

CC Adi 2.37, Translation:

“As the earth is the original cause and shelter of all pots made of earth, so You are the ultimate cause and shelter of all living beings.

CC Adi 5.51, Purport:

Since materialistic scientists ignore the Personality of Godhead, it is as if they were concerned with the potter's wheel and its rotation, the potter's tools and the ingredients for the pots, but had no knowledge of the potter himself. Therefore modern science has created an imperfect, godless civilization that is in gross ignorance of the ultimate cause. Scientific advancement should have a great goal to attain, and that great goal should be the Personality of Godhead. In the Bhagavad-gītā it is said that after conducting research for many, many births, great men of knowledge who stress the importance of experimental thought can know the Personality of Godhead, who is the cause of all causes. When one knows Him perfectly, one surrenders unto Him and then becomes a mahātmā.

Easy Journey to Other Planets

Easy Journey to Other Planets 1:

There are two worlds—the material and anti-material. The material world is composed of inferior qualitative energy divided into eight material principles. The anti-material world is made of superior qualitative energy. Because both the material and anti-material energies are emanations of the Supreme Transcendence, the Personality of Godhead, it is proper to conclude that I (Lord Kṛṣṇa) am the ultimate cause of all creations and annihilations.

Because the Lord's two energies (inferior and superior) manifest the material and anti-material worlds, He is called the Supreme Absolute Truth. Lord Kṛṣṇa explains this in the Bhagavad-gītā thus:

I am, Arjuna, the highest principle of transcendence, and there is nothing greater than Me. Everything that be rests on My energies exactly like pearls on a thread.

Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead

Krsna Book 63:

The original cause of the cosmic manifestation is not the impersonal Brahman effulgence. That impersonal Brahman effulgence rests on Your personality.” As confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā, the cause of the impersonal Brahman is Lord Kṛṣṇa. This Brahman effulgence is likened to the sunshine, which emanates from the sun globe. Therefore, impersonal Brahman is not the ultimate cause. The ultimate cause of everything is the supreme eternal form of Kṛṣṇa. All material actions and reactions take place in the impersonal Brahman, but in the personal Brahman, the eternal form of Kṛṣṇa, there is no action and reaction.

The Śiva-jvara continued: “Therefore, my Lord, Your body is completely peaceful, completely blissful and devoid of material contamination. In the material body there are actions and reactions of the three modes of material nature. The time factor is the most important element, above all others, because the material manifestation is effected by the agitation of time. Thus natural phenomena come into existence, and as soon as phenomena appear, fruitive activities are visible. As the result of these fruitive activities, a living entity takes his form. He acquires a particular nature packed up in a subtle body and gross body formed by the life air, the ego, the ten sense organs, the mind and the five gross elements. These then create the type of body which later becomes the root cause of various other bodies, which are acquired one after another by means of the transmigration of the soul. All these phenomenal manifestations are the combined actions of Your material energy.

Krsna Book 87:

He glanced over the material energy, and thus innumerable living entities became manifest. Everything is created by His superior energy, and everything in His creation appears to be perfectly done, without deficiency. Those who aspire for liberation from this material world must therefore worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the ultimate cause of all causes. He is just like the total mass of earth, from which varieties of earthly pots are manufactured: the pots are made of earthly clay, they rest on earth, and after being destroyed, their elements ultimately merge back into earth,the original cause of all varieties of manifestation.

Employing this analogy of Brahman with earth, the impersonalists especially stress the Vedic statement sarvaṁ khalv idaṁ brahma: "Everything is Brahman." The impersonalists do not take into account the varieties of manifestation emanating from the supreme cause, Brahman. They simply consider that everything emanates from Brahman and after destruction merges into Brahman and that the intermediate stage of manifestation is also Brahman. But although the Māyāvādīs believe that prior to its manifestation the cosmos was in Brahman, after creation it remains in Brahman, and after destruction it merges into Brahman, they do not know what Brahman is. The Brahma-saṁhitā, however, clearly describes Brahman: “The living entities, space, time and the material elements like fire, earth, sky, water and mind constitute the total cosmic manifestation, known as Bhūḥ, Bhuvaḥ and Svaḥ, which is manifested by Govinda.

Krsna Book 87:

This fact is corroborated by the Vedic injunction sad vā saumyedam agra āsīt, which means that the origin of the creation existed before the cosmic manifestation. Therefore, the material elements cannot be the cause of the material creation. Although the material elements are accepted as immediate causes, the ultimate cause is the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself. The Bhagavad-gītā says, therefore, that material nature works under the direction of Kṛṣṇa.

The conclusion of the atheistic Sāṅkhya philosophy is that because the effects—the phenomena of this material world—are temporary, or illusory, the cause is therefore also illusory. The Sāṅkhya philosophers are in favor of voidism, but the actual fact is that the original cause is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and that this cosmic manifestation is the temporary manifestation of His material energy. When this temporary manifestation is annihilated, its cause, the eternal existence of the spiritual world, continues as it is, and therefore the spiritual world is called sanātana-dhāma, the eternal abode. The conclusion of the Sāṅkhya philosophers is therefore invalid.

Krsna Book 87:

The atheistic Sāṅkhyaite philosophers will of course offer their arguments that the material cosmic manifestation is due to prakṛti and puruṣa—material nature and the living entity, or the material cause and the effective cause. But Kṛṣṇa is the cause of all causes. He is the cause of both the material and the effective causes. Prakṛti and puruṣa are not the ultimate cause. Superficially it appears that a child is born due to the combination of the father and mother, but the ultimate cause of both the father and the mother is Kṛṣṇa. He is therefore the original cause, or the cause of all causes, as confirmed in the Brahma-saṁhitā.

Both the Supreme Lord and the living entities enter into the material nature. The Supreme Lord, Kṛṣṇa, by one of His plenary expansions, manifests as Kāraṇodakaśāyī, Mahā-Viṣṇu, the gigantic Viṣṇu form lying in the Causal Ocean. Then from that gigantic form of Mahā-Viṣṇu, Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu expands and enters into every universe. From Him, Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Śiva expand. Viṣṇu as Kṣīrodakaśāyī enters into the hearts of all living entities, as well as into all material elements, including the atom. The Brahma-saṁhitā says, aṇḍāntara-stha-paramāṇu-cayāntara-stham: (Bs. 5.35) "The Lord is within this universe and also within every atom."

Renunciation Through Wisdom

Renunciation Through Wisdom 2.2:

Thus all phenomena in this material world are simply interactions of the Supreme Lord's superior, spiritual energy with His inferior, material energy. The material energy is known as the kṣetra, or field of activity, and the spiritual energy is known as the kṣetra-jña, or the knower of the field of activity. All the different species of living entities, with their varied characteristics, are produced by the interaction of the kṣetra and the kṣetra-jña. The energetic principle, the controller of both these energies, is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa. He must be recognized as the ultimate cause of the creation, maintenance, and annihilation of this cosmic manifestation. As He says in the Bhagavad-gītā (7.6-7),

etad yonīni bhūtāni

sarvāṇīty upadhāraya

ahaṁ kṛtsnasya jagataḥ

prabhavaḥ pralayas tathā

mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat

kiñcid asti dhanañjaya

mayi sarvam idaṁ protaṁ

sūtre maṇi-gaṇā iva

All created beings have their source in these two natures (the inferior and the superior energies of the Lord). Of all that is material and all that is spiritual in this world, know for certain that I am both the origin and the dissolution. O conqueror of wealth, there is no truth superior to Me. Everything rests upon Me, as pearls are strung on a thread.

Renunciation Through Wisdom 2.10:

In India, the Hindus worship many gods—the sun-god, the moon-god, and so on. But the rituals of worship always begin with the worship of Lord Viṣṇu, and in the end everything is offered to Lord Viṣṇu's lotus feet because He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. A brāhmaṇa, a member of the priestly class, must start every ritual of worship by invoking Lord Viṣṇu as the Supreme Being; otherwise all his worship and rituals will be rendered useless. This same Lord Viṣṇu is, in fact, a partial expansion of Lord Kṛṣṇa, who is the ultimate cause of all causes and the original Supreme Lord. Therefore Lord Kṛṣṇa is the receiver of all oblations and sacrifices and is the ultimate benefactor of all worship. As He says in the Bhagavad-gītā (9.24),

ahaṁ hi sarva-yajñānāṁ

bhoktā ca prabhur eva ca

na tu mām abhijānanti

tattvenātaś cyavanti te

I am the only enjoyer and master of all sacrifices. Therefore, those who do not recognize My true transcendental nature fall down.