So we should not falsely claim that "I am as great as the Supreme God." No. We should understand this, aṇimānam. Svayaṁ-jyo... Etad jyotiḥ, I am as effulgent... Just like spark. Spark is jyoti, but not as brilliant, effulgent, as the original fire. The original fire—phat! phat!—there are some sparks. You have got experience. The spark is also jyoti. If a spark falls on your cloth, it will immediately burn. The burning capacity is there. But it is not as good as the original fire. Svayaṁ-jyotiḥ. Here it is said, nirantaram. So nirantaram means there is, so far jyoti is concerned, there is no difference, but the small, very small. Aṇimānam akhaṇḍitam. This is self-realization. Don't falsely claim that "Because I am qualitatively one with God, therefore I am God." No. You may be god. God means controller. But you are not the Supreme God. The Supreme God is Kṛṣṇa. Īśvaraḥ paramaḥ. Parama means Supreme. We are īśvara, we may be īśvara. I may be īśvara for few persons, another may be for a big nation, another may be for the... You can go on increasing. But you cannot reach the, I mean to say, position of God. That is aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ.
Therefore śāstra says, ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas tvayy asta-bhāvād aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ (SB 10.2.32). One who has advanced very much in spiritual knowledge, but he is thinking himself, "Now I have become liberated..." Sometimes they claim, "I have become Nārāyaṇa." Therefore Māyāvādīs, they address one another, "Namo nārāyaṇāya." Everyone has become Nārāyaṇa. So how everyone can become Nārāyaṇa? So many Nārāyaṇas? No. Nārāyaṇa is one. God is one, Nārāyaṇa. Therefore śāstra warns,
- yas tu nārāyaṇaṁ devaṁ
- brahma-rudrādi-daivataiḥ
- samatvenaiva vīkṣeta
- sa pāṣaṇḍī bhaved dhruvam
- (CC Madhya 18.116)
He's pāṣaṇḍī. If one compares Nārāyaṇa with other demigods... Now, unfortunately, it has come to so downtrodden position, the intelligence, that they are talking of "daridra-nārāyaṇa." What is this? This is farce. Nārāyaṇa is the exalted Supreme Personality of Godhead. Even Śaṅkarācārya, he says, nārāyaṇaḥ paraḥ avyaktāt: "Nārāyaṇa is beyond this universe." Paraḥ avyaktāt. Avyaktāt anya-sambhavaḥ. And the whole universe is product of this avyakta. So we should not compare Nārāyaṇa with anyone else, what to speak of darid ra. That is a foolishness. Nārāyaṇa is Lakṣmī-pati, the husband, the controller of the goddess of fortune, and how He can be daridra? This is misunderstanding. Therefore śāstra warns,
- yas tu nārāyaṇaṁ devaṁ
- brahma-rudrādi-daivataiḥ
- samatvenaiva vīkṣeta
- sa pāṣaṇḍī bhaved dhruvam
- (CC Madhya 18.116)
If anyone thinks that Nārāyaṇa is..., or other demigods are equal to Nārāyaṇa, sa pāṣaṇḍī. He is pāṣaṇḍī, atheist.
So we should not think like that. You may think that you have become liberated, you have got the position of Nārāyaṇa... That is all false thinking, aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ. They have been addressed as aviśuddha, nonpurified, buddhayaḥ, intelligence. Not intelligent. Ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas tvayy asta-bhāvāt (SB 10.2.32). This is... Why these things happen, one compares Nārāyaṇa with ordinary demigod or ordinary man? Because aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ, their intelligence is not purified. So āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ (SB 10.2.32). Such persons, by severe austerities and penances, may elevate oneself to the position of Brahman. Still, āruhya kṛcchreṇa param... Paraṁ padam means brahma-pada. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ (SB 10.2.32). Again he falls down. Why? Anādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ: "Because they neglected to worship Your lotus feet." So unless one becomes devotee, there is no secure position in the spiritual world. One may... Just like a very crude example. You may have very powerful sputnik. Just like these people are trying to go the moon with powerful... What is called, the machine?
Devotees: Rocket.
Prabhupāda: Rocket, yes. But then, going with great force, but āruhya kṛcchreṇa... Similarly, one can rise up to the Brahman effulgence, but if there is no shelter. Just like these people are going, but they don't get any shelter. But they come down again. Similarly, one, by severe austerities and penances, may go up to the Brahmaloka, but he has no position. He has no position. Because in the Brahmaloka, or Vaikuṇṭhaloka, in the Paravyoma, the spiritual sky, there are spiritual planets. They are called Vaikuṇṭhaloka. Hundreds and millions there are. Very, very big, big planets than these material planets. So unless you get a shelter in one of the planets, then you again fall down.