Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 3.26.39

Nitāi: Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. [devotees repeat] [leads chanting of verse, etc.]

dravyākṛtitvaṁ guṅatā vyakti-saṁsthātvam eva ca tejastvaṁ tejasaḥ sādhvi rūpa-mātrasya vṛttayaḥ [SB 3.26.39]

[break] [03:14]

"My dear mother, the characteristics of form are understood by dimension, quality and individuality. The form of fire is appreciated by its effulgence."

Prabhupāda:

dravyākṛtitvaṁ guṅatā vyakti-saṁsthātvam eva ca tejastvaṁ tejasaḥ sādhvi rūpa-mātrasya vṛttayaḥ [SB 3.26.39]

So little explanation is there. This is the transformation of the elements, how from sky, the air; from air, the fire; fire, water. Everything in that proportion is explained by Sāṅkhya philosophy, how one after another, the form, taste, smell, touch are appreciated in different objects differently. Just like some eatable things—the form is appreciated by taste. The flower—the form is estimated by its smelling, aroma. So that is being explained.

[aside:] You can read the purport.

Nitāi: "Every form that we appreciate has its particular dimensions and characteristics. The quality of a particular object is appreciated by its utility. But the form of sound is independent. Forms which are invisible can be understood only by touch; that is the independent appreciation of invisible form."

Prabhupāda: Just like the air. We cannot see, but we can touch. The air passes. It touches our body. We can understand, "Now the air is passing." Then?

Nitāi: "Visible forms are understood by analytical study of their constitution. The constitution of a certain object is appreciated by its internal action. For example, the form of salt is appreciated by the interaction of salty tastes, and the form of sugar is appreciated by the interaction of sweet tastes. Tastes and the qualitative constitution are the basic principles in understanding the form of an object."

Prabhupāda: So actually, everything has got form, and there is—why not?—the form of God also. He has got virāḍ-rūpa, and He has got small, also, rūpa. We have got experience of the virāḍ-rūpa in the Bhagavad-gītā. But that is not permanent rūpa. Permanent rūpa of Kṛṣṅa: dvi-bhuja-muralīdhara. He has got two hands and playing on flute. That is permanent rūpa. Virāḍ-rūpa, as it was shown to Arjuna, it is called naimittika, "under certain conditions." That is not eternal rūpa. Advaitam acyutam anādim ananta... Anādi, eternal.

The eternal rūpa is described in the śāstra,

veṅuṁ kvaṅantam aravinda-dalāyatākṣaṁ barhāvataṁsam asitāmbuda-sundarāṅgam kandarpa-koṭi-kamanīya-viśeṣa-śobhaṁ govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi [Bs 5.30]

[I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who is adept in playing on His flute, with blooming eyes like lotus petals with head decked with peacock's feather, with the figure of beauty tinged with the hue of blue clouds, and His unique loveliness charming millions of Cupids.]

The eternal form is veṅuṁ kvaṅantam: Kṛṣṅa is always playing on His flute. That is eternal form. His eternal pastimes and eternal form is in Vṛndāvana. He does not go anywhere personally, leaving Vṛndāvana. Padam ekaṁ na gacchati. He is always in Vṛndāvana, but at the same time He is everywhere. Goloka eva nivasaty akhilātma-bhūtaḥ [Bs 5.37]:

[I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, residing in His own realm, Goloka, with Rādhā, resembling His own spiritual figure, the embodiment of the ecstatic potency possessed of the sixty-four artistic activities, in the company of Her confidantes [sakhīs], embodiments of the extensions of Her bodily form, permeated and vitalized by His ever-blissful spiritual rasa.]

"Although He is always in His abode, Goloka Vṛndāvana, still He is present everywhere." How He is present? Aṅḍāntara-stha-paramāṅu-cayāntara-sthaṁ govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi [Bs 5.35].

[He is an undifferentiated entity as there is no distinction between potency and the possessor thereof. In His work of creation of millions of worlds, His potency remains inseparable. All the universes exist in Him and He is present in His fullness in every one of the atoms that are scattered throughout the universe, at one and the same time. Such is the primeval Lord whom I adore.]

Īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-deśe 'rjuna tiṣṭhati [Bg 18.61]:

[The Supreme Lord is situated in everyone's heart, O Arjuna, and is directing the wanderings of all living entities, who are seated as on a machine, made of the material energy.]

"He is situated in everyone's heart." He is situated in each and every universe. The universe is created by His breathing.

yasyaika-niśvasita-kālam athāvalambya jīvanti loma-vilajā jagad-aṅḍa-nāthāḥ viṣṅur mahān sa iha yasya kalā-viśeṣo [Bs 5.48]

[Brahmā and other lords of the mundane worlds, appearing from the pores of hair of Mahā-Viṣṅu, remain alive as long as the duration of one exhalation of the latter [Mahā-Viṣṅu]. I adore the primeval Lord Govinda of whose subjective personality Mahā-Viṣṅu is the portion of portion.]

So the eternal form is Kṛṣṅa, but Viṣṅu, Mahā-Viṣṅu, who is the origin of material creation, kalā-viśeṣa, He is the expansion of the plenary expansion of Kṛṣṅa: Vāsudeva, Saṅkarṣaṅa, Aniruddha, Pradyumna. In this way He is present everywhere. Aṅor aṅīyān mahato mahīyān. He is bigger than the biggest and the smaller than the smallest. Relativity. Now here we are small stature. So Kṛṣṅa is present in a stature so that we can touch Him, we can dress Him, we can decorate Him. Similarly, in other planets... It is relative. The law of relativity is going on everywhere. Aṅor aṅīyān mahato mahīyān.

So we have several times explained, bhakti means to engage all our senses in the service of the Lord. Our sense of seeing, eyes, nose, ears, tongue, hands, legs—everything should be engaged for Kṛṣṅa's service. All different parts of the body can be engaged. Hṛṣīkeṅa hṛṣīkeśa-sevanaṁ bhaktir ucyate [Cc Madhya 19.170].

[Bhakti, or devotional service, means engaging all our senses in the service of the Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the master of all the senses. When the spirit soul renders service unto the Supreme, there are two side effects. One is freed from all material designations, and one’s senses are purified simply by being employed in the service of the Lord.]

Kṛṣṅa can be served by all our senses according to the direction of the śāstra and guru—sādhu, śāstra, guru. Just like Ambarīṣa Mahārāja. He is devotee. We have to follow. Sa vai manaḥ kṛṣṅa-padāravindayoḥ [SB 9.4.18].

[Mahārāja Ambarīṣa always engaged his mind in meditating upon the lotus feet of Kṛṣṅa, his words in describing the glories of the Lord, his hands in cleansing the Lord's temple, and his ears in hearing the words spoken by Kṛṣṅa or about Kṛṣṅa. He engaged his eyes in seeing the Deity of Kṛṣṅa, Kṛṣṅa's temples and Kṛṣṅa's places like Mathurā and Vṛndāvana, he engaged his sense of touch in touching the bodies of the Lord's devotees, he engaged his sense of smell in smelling the fragrance of tulasī offered to the Lord, and he engaged his tongue in tasting the Lord's prasāda. He engaged his legs in walking to the holy places and temples of the Lord, his head in bowing down before the Lord, and all his desires in serving the Lord, twenty-four hours a day. Indeed, Mahārāja Ambarīṣa never desired anything for his own sense gratification. He engaged all his senses in devotional service, in various engagements related to the Lord. This is the way to increase attachment for the Lord and be completely free from all material desires.]

The senses... The mind is the chief of the senses, and immediately under the mind, ten senses are working, ten: five knowledge-gathering senses, jñānendriya, and five working senses, karmendriya. And they have got different types of activities—hands, legs, tongue, ear, eyes. And above these, there is ahaṅkāra, false ego in the material world. The eleven senses, and the twelfth is the false ego. The false ego means I am thinking, "I am this body. I am body." Then expansion of body: "I belong to this family"; "I am the husband of this body"; "I am the father of this body"; "I am the brother of this body." Or "I belong to this nation"; "I belong to this species." This is called twelfth conception. It is different consciousness according to different body. And then "It is mine." With all these eleven senses, I form an idea of "I" and then my possession, "mine." Ahaṁ mameti [SB 5.5.8]. Janasya moho 'yam. This is called illusion, māyā.

So mind. It is expansion of the mind, different way. Mānasa-vṛtti. This is called the characteristic of the mind. Then subtle action of mind: thinking, feeling, willing. And the mind is expanding in hundreds, thousands, millions of ideas. In this way I am becoming entangled. So when this mind is controlled... The yoga system is for that purpose. Those who are too much bodily concept of life, bodily consciousness, they should practice this yoga—haṭha-yoga, aṣṭāṅga-yoga—so that the mind can be purified. As soon as the mind is purified, then all this expansion into thousands and millions of ideas will be controlled, and the only idea will be Kṛṣṅa. This is called yoga system, concentrating. Dhyānāvasthita yogena paśyanti yaṁ yoginaḥ. Dhyānāvasthita-manasā: "The mind is controlled, and the focus of the mind is on Kṛṣṅa or Viṣṅu." Dhyānāvasthita-tad-gatena manasā paśyanti yaṁ yoginaḥ [SB 12.13.1].

[Sūta Gosvāmī said: Unto that personality whom Brahmā, Varuṅa, Indra, Rudra and the Maruts praise by chanting transcendental hymns and reciting the Vedas with all their corollaries, pada-kramas and Upaniṣads, to whom the chanters of the Sāma Veda always sing, whom the perfected yogīs see within their minds after fixing themselves in trance and becoming fully absorbed in thoughts of Him, and whose limit can never be found by any demigod or demon—unto that Supreme Personality of Godhead I offer my humble obeisances.]

Then we can see the effulgence, and the localized, and then the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

So any system of yoga, either haṭha-yoga, jñāna-yoga, or... Karma-yoga is in the lowest standard. And above all, bhakti-yoga. Then, when you come to the bhakti-yoga, that is the perfection of life. Bhakti-yogena manasa samyak praṅihite amale [SB 1.7.4]. Bhakti-yogena amala: "The mind becomes cleansed." Ceto-darpaṅa-mārjanam [Cc Antya 20.12].

[Let there be all victory for the chanting of the holy name of Lord Kṛṣṅa, which can cleanse the mirror of the heart and stop the miseries of the blazing fire of material existence. That chanting is the waxing moon that spreads the white lotus of good fortune for all living entities. It is the life and soul of all education. The chanting of the holy name of Kṛṣṅa expands the blissful ocean of transcendental life. It gives a cooling effect to everyone and enables one to taste full nectar at every step.]

This is the process of cleansing the mirror of the heart. Mirror, when it isThat is the effect of..., direct effect of bhakti-yoga. Because the mind is now contaminated, and under the creation of senses and sense activities, we are making millions and trillions of ideas and become entangled in that idea. We have to accept millions and trillions of body and then go on in the cycle of birth, death, old age and disease. This is implication. So purify the mind. That is the chanting of Hare Kṛṣṅa mahā-mantra. Ceto-darpaṅa-mārjanaṁ bhava-mahā-dāvāgni-nirvāpaṅam. When our mind is cleansed... This is mahā-dāvāgni. This expansion of mental ideas, thousands and millions, that is mahā..., bhava-mahā-dāvāgni. Bhava-mahā-dāvāgni. So it is the duty of guru to get out his disciple from the bhava-mahā-dāvāgni. Saṁsāra-dāvānala-līḍha-loka-trāṅāya kāruṅya-ghanāghanatvam. Kāruṅya, kāruṅya.

So what is the guru? Guru has received the kāruṅya. Kāruṅya means just like the cloud has received water from the sea, similarly, a guru, spiritual master, receives the cloud of mercy from the ocean of kindness of Kṛṣṅa. Ghanāghanatvam. And it is only the cloud that can extinguish the forest fire, saṁsāra. No other watering system will be helpful. If there is fire in the forest, your fire brigade or buckets of water will not help. It is impossible. Neither you can go there; neither you can render any service by your fire brigade and bucket. Then how the fire can be extinguished? Ghanāghanatvam. If there is cloud in the sky and if there is rainfall, then the expansive forest fire can immediately be extinguished. So that cloud is supposed to be the spiritual master. He pours water. He pours water. Śravaṅa-kīrtana-jale karaye secana [Cc Madhya 19.152].

[When a person receives the seed of devotional service, he should take care of it by becoming a gardener and sowing the seed in his heart. If he waters the seed gradually by the process of śravaṅa and kīrtana [hearing and chanting], the seed will begin to sprout.]

What is that water? The water is this śravaṅa-kīrtana. Bhava-mahā-dāvāgni, the fire, the forest fire of material existence, is blazing continually. So you have to extinguish it by the rainfall from cloud, and that rainfall means śravaṅa-kīrtana. Śravaṅa means hearing, and kīrtana means chanting. This is the only way. Śravaṅa-kīrtana-jale karaye secana.

In this way Caitanya Mahāprabhu has advised that harer nāma harer nāma harer nāmaiva kevalam [Cc Ādi 17.21].

[In this Age of Kali there is no other means, no other means, no other means for self-realization than chanting the holy name, chanting the holy name, chanting the holy name of Lord Hari.]

In this age, Kali-yuga, it is very difficult to perform the yoga system. This is also yoga, bhakti-yoga. Other yoga system is very difficult to execute. It is not possible. Even if it is possible—it may be possible for one or two persons—but bhakti-yoga is so nice that even a small child can practice it. We see practically the small children, they also taking part in it, without any education, without any culture, without any knowledge, automatically chanting, dancing, taking caraṅāmṛta, offering respect to the Vaiṣṅava. Automatically it is becoming. And that makes his life successful. Bhakti-yoga is so nice. Svalpam apy asya dharmasya trāyate mahato bhayāt [Bg 2.40].

[In this endeavor there is no loss or diminution, and a little advancement on this path can protect one from the most dangerous type of fear.]

Even little bit practiced, it will never go in vain. It will be an asset. Kṛta-puṅya-puñjāḥ [SB 10.12.11].

[All the boys would be differently engaged. Some boys blew their flutes, and others blew bugles made of horn. Some imitated the buzzing of the bumblebees, and others imitated the voice of the cuckoo. Some boys imitated flying birds by running after the birds' shadows on the ground, some imitated the beautiful movements and attractive postures of the swans, some sat down with the ducks, sitting silently, and others imitated the dancing of the peacocks.

Some boys attracted young monkeys in the trees, some jumped into the trees, imitating the monkeys, some made faces as the monkeys were accustomed to do, and others jumped from one branch to another. Some boys went to the waterfalls and crossed over the river, jumping with the frogs, and when they saw their own reflections on the water they would laugh. They would also condemn the sounds of their own echoes.

In this way, all the cowherd boys used to play with Kṛṣṅa, who is the source of the Brahman effulgence for jñānīs desiring to merge into that effulgence, who is the Supreme Personality of Godhead for devotees who have accepted eternal servitorship, and who for ordinary persons is but another ordinary child. The cowherd boys, having accumulated the results of pious activities for many lives, were able to associate in this way with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. How can one explain their great fortune?]

In this way... Just like if you put a one single paisa in the bank deposit, that is your money. It will be never lost. And when it becomes a lump sum, the bank asks you to... Credit you get, one hundred rupees or similar. Similarly, bhakti-yoga is so nice that whatever you acquire, intentionally or unintentionally, even if you neglectfully chant Hare Kṛṣṅa by imitating others, by joking others, it will have effect.

There is a verse in Nṛsiṁha-Purāṅa that one Muhammadan died calling hārāma. They say hārāma. Anything against their religion is called hārāma. So he was trapped by a boar, and the boars, the pigs, they... The Muhammadans, they call it hārāma. So when he was attacked, he said hārāma. So hārāma. But it was taken as "Hā Rāma," "O Rāma," and he was liberated. So it is so nice. Some way or other, practice "Hā Kṛṣṅa, Hā Rāma." Then your life is successful.

Thank you very much.

Devotees: Jaya Prabhupāda. [end]