Why is Krishna considered as Supreme?

Disclaimer: This transcript was generated using AI and may contain occasional errors or inaccuracies.

So, as I said, we will discuss about the basic understanding of why there are so many devatas, so many worshipful gods, and what is their real relationship. So, the first part will be a recap, a re-summarization of what we have discovered. Briefly, in the Discover Yourself session 6. We have to remember the four levels of religion.

Any other members? Fear. Desire. Beauty.

Excellent. So, many times, people approach gods because they feel like, no, if I don’t worship god, god will punish me. Then, he will send me to hell or something like that.

It’s a religion. On the other hand, if I worship god, then he is a god. There are two primary levels of worshipping god.

Fear and desire. Now, higher than that is that god is a companion. He is providing me so much, it’s my duty to serve him.

It’s duty. Everyone does this now. But you notice, these four levels are non-sectarian.

These are not differentiated based on whether one is a Hindu or a Muslim or a Christian. A Hindu may be approaching at the level of desire. A Muslim may be approaching at the level of fear.

And a Christian may be approaching god at the level of beauty. So, these are non-sectarian criteria. So, the various scriptures don’t judge people by their religious labels.

By their religious labels, they actually grade people by their levels of consciousness. So, the highest among all these is the level of love. When we approach god, selfless and for the purpose of serving him.

So, this gives you an understanding of the various religions in proper context. Now, within all the religious traditions of the world, there is the indication that scientifically we should develop love for god and approach him with a pure heart. And that may not be the emphasis all the time.

And the Vedic plan is something much more sophisticated. So, as we ascend from fear, desire, beauty to love. This is one way of looking at the various spiritual paths, various religions in the world.

Now, coming to the Vedic path also, there are these four levels. But the Vedic path is much more sophisticated. And again, the Vedic culture analyzes people not based on their religious labels.

Again, it analyzes based on the levels of consciousness. So, how do we know these three modes? Goodness, passion and ignorance. So, goodness, I will use an example to illustrate these three modes.

Suppose a person is travelling in a bus. So, there are three people sitting in window seats of a bus. And just as we can see, some beautiful greenery on the back side of the bus.

Holy place, they know. So, three people are in three different modes. One is in goodness.

One is in passion. Third is in ignorance. But the person in goodness is trying to read a book.

And he looks out. And he sees some nice trees, gardens, soft grass. And he thinks, oh, this bus is so comfy.

And as I just go to these meadows, I sit and draw myself into the wisdom of this bus. The person behind him is in passion. Now, he is also looking at the same greenery, same forest.

And immediately his mind goes to the latest romance movie that he has seen. And then he remembers how he was dancing in the greenery of the forest. And he thinks, oh, if only I had some partners, I would have so much fun with this.

The third person is in the mode of ignorance. And he is just lazy. He is trying to go to sleep.

And the bus is moving. He is nodding in his sleep. And he looks out.

It is such a nice place. I just go there and sleep. So now, you see, it is the same forest, same greenery, but it stimulates different desires in different people.

Why? Because these people themselves are influenced by different modes. So these different modes affect our entire conception of this world. And that is why the Vedic culture recognizes that even when we talk about God, God is one Supreme Person.

But because different people have different mindsets based on their modes, they will not be attracted to the same Supreme Person. Then that Supreme Person is not before them. Therefore, the Vedic scriptures prescribe worship according to the modes.

So here you see, in the center is Lord Vishnu. To your right is Lord Shiva. And to your left is Brahmaji.

He is in another perspective. So, Brahmaji is in charge of creation. And Lord Shiva is in charge of destruction.

So creation and destruction are balanced by maintenance. So Lord Vishnu is the balancer of the two. Just like in our own body, the cells are dying constantly.

The cells are being created. But if the cells are instantaneously taking birth and dying, then there would be no life span. And we wouldn’t have life span.

So, the sustenance of the body is done by the maintenance. So, Lord Vishnu is in charge of maintenance. He is the balance between the two modes of creation and destruction.

Now, the scriptures describe that creation, they call it passion. When you create something, there is a lot of excitement. Yes.

Everything we talk about now. There is a lot of passion, excitement, passion, anticipation. And in destruction also there is passion.

In destruction also there is excitement. There is anger. It’s not excitement in the positive sense.

Love of God may destroy. So, maintenance is much more sedate. It requires calmness, thoughtfulness, sobriety.

So, that’s why creation and activity in passion, maintenance and activity in goodness, and destruction and activity in ignorance. And accordingly there are devatas. So, there is worship in the mode of ignorance.

As we know that there are people who offer animal sacrifices and they eat the meat. So, meat-eating, which is given, for example, there is a Kali temple where goats are sacrificed. How can this be a holy place? There is a plant looking over there.

Animals are being cared for. What kind of place is this? You have to understand there is enormous compassion involved. There are some people who are addicted to meat-eating.

If you tell them, no meat-eating, they will tell them, no God, I don’t want anything to do with God. So, when scriptures talk about meat-eating, those statements are not recommendations. They are concessions.

What is the difference between a recommendation and a concession? If a patient has diabetes, and he goes to a doctor, and the doctor tells him, take this medicine morning, afternoon, evening, and don’t take any sugar. No sugar? I can’t live without it. I can’t live without it.

See, this is where the doctor says, you can take once a week, once a week. Now, among these two, which is the recommendation and which is the concession? Goat sugar. Yeah, sorry? Goat sugar is the recommendation, and the concession is the meat-eating.

Yeah, correct. Concession means that which another person wants to do, and we allow him to do it. Recommendation means that it is good for that person, and we insist that he do it.

So, the recommendation is, take the medicine twice a day. The concession is, okay, take it once a week. Now, if the patient says that, the doctor told me to take it, the doctor told me to take it, the doctor’s instruction.

Is it correct? So, the statements about meat-eating in the scriptures are like that. Meat-eating only once a month. Along with that, the people do puja, they do sumarthi, they chant some verses, they recite some mantras.

So, that is actually the purification part, and that is the recommendation. And along with that, the person says that, okay, you can sacrifice animal. Actually, originally, only an animal was charity, only a goat, and that also has become largely charity and a small part community.

So, it’s a concession. For those people who are in the mode of this passion, where they like the taste of blood, and they don’t mind killing animals for that, to regulate them is there. This is worship in the mode of ignorance.

And beyond that, there is worship in the mode of passion. So, there, a person performs a lot of physical austerity, but for the purpose of gaining power, and prestige, and fame, and influence. So, here’s an example.

Who? Who? Worship Brahma. So that, make me immortal, so that I can enjoy and all that. So, here you see, his body was destroyed, eaten up, by ants and other creatures.

On one side, you can see the bones, on the other side, you can see his body being destroyed by the mind-mind possessions. So, this is worship in the mode of passion, where one wants to achieve great things in this world, and one wants to take help of higher powers for that purpose. Beyond that, it’s worship in the mode of goodness.

So, the classic example of this is Hanuman. So, what is the nature of this mode of worship? One doesn’t want anything, except to serve in peace, you know. After Hanuman came back, along with Lord Ram, to Lanka, to Ayodhya, from Lanka, at that time, one of the citizens, came and gave a necklace, a jewelry necklace to Lord Ram, as a tribute.

And Lord Ram handed it over to Sita. And Mother Sita, remembering how wonderfully Hanuman had served her, had come as the center of Lord Ram’s worship in Lanka, she called him to come again. When he came, she offered him the necklace.

And Hanuman took the necklace, and went and sat in his place. When he sat in his place, what happened? All the citizens were observing. They were cracking, breaking and throwing them.

Now, as these precious jewels were cracking, all the courtiers’ hearts were cracking. They said, these precious jewels, how could you do this? Finally, one of them said, Hanuman, what are you doing? Some of the courtiers were gossiping, it’s a monkey, what can he understand about jewels? Finally, one of them said, Hanuman, what are you doing? Why are you breaking these precious jewels like this? Hanuman said, for me, they are nothing precious, except my worship to the Lords, Sita and Rama. Mother, see, if they have given me this gift, there must be something wrong in this.

So, I am searching, which of these jewels is there wrong in it? Otherwise, we have no value for it. That’s why, if I don’t find it’s wrong, why am I looking for it? So, you need to say that it’s Sita and Rama everywhere, other than in your heart. It’s in your heart.

Open your heart. It’s all beautiful, Sita and Rama over there. And suddenly, I missed it again, it’s this devotion.

And then, Lord Rama came and embraced him, just like a normal being. So, in the next letter, a devotee wants to serve the Lord, simply to serve and please the Lord. For now, until here, I am going to be a devotee.

Now, moving forward, so, worship in the Lord of Goodness, as we expressed, goodness is the balance. Goodness is what creates. The harmony between act, destruction and creation, between ignorance and passion.

So, this is a story from the Shiva Thala of Mahabharata, which describes the nature of these different devatas and their worshippers. So, at one time, all the great sages were assembled and the banks of the river, and they were discussing, there are so many devatas, who among them is supreme? And how do we decide it? So, all the devatas chose Guru-Gurushi, who is a great sage, as their representative. And he said that, you go and test the devatas, to find out who is supreme.

And they decided, among the so many devatas that are there, three are the highest, Brahma, Vishnu and Vishnu. So, we should go and test them. And they decided according to the criteria of history.

They said that, anger is created by material energy, by maya. So, if somebody is under maya, if somebody becomes angry, that means he is not supreme. Because maya is able to influence him and make him angry.

That means he is under the influence of maya, that means he is not supreme. So, Guru-Gurushi decided to go and provoke all of them, to see what happens. So, when Guru-Gurushi went first to Brahma, now from the point of view of the universal genealogy, Brahma is the father of Guru-Gurushi.

So, normally when a son sees a father, the son should offer respects. Deliberately, Brahmaji did not offer any respects. And seeing this disrespect, Brahmaji got annoyed.

He almost got angry. Why? Using his intelligence, he could provoke all of them. However, Guru-Gurushi was very alertly observing.

And he could see his face turning red, his eyes becoming big and reddish. And then, he went forward. He went from the Uttar Gopal, which is the abode of Brahmaji, to Kailash, which is the abode of Lord Shiva.

So, when he went there, there he saw Lord Shiva was sitting with Parvati. And Lord Shiva saw Guru-Gurushi. Now, Lord Shiva, in this world, appears from Brahma.

So, in essence, Shiva and Bhrigu are brothers. So, when Lord Shiva saw Bhrigu, Oh, my dear Bhrigu, my dear brother, you have come after such a long time. Welcome.

Then he got up and came forward with spread out hands to embrace Bhrigu. And Guru-Gurushi said, Stop! He said, You, I am a Brahmana. And you put a cushion on your body, you put a snake around your head.

So unclear, dirty. You live in crematoriums. If you touch me, I will become contaminated.

Don’t touch me. And Lord Shiva heard this. So, he got up.

And somebody came to him and said, Don’t touch me. He was so angry. Very angry.

And he got so angry seeing this, that actually took his position. He said, I want to attack you. And Bhagavan said, You got it.

Stop! He is your brother. I am your brother. Now Guru-Gurushi from his heart was praying that I don’t want to offend these great personalities but I have been given a service by the great sages.

So, he departed from there. And then he went to Vaikuntha. There were Lord Vishnu.

When he reached Vaikuntha, Lord Vishnu was there with Lakshmi Devi, massaging his feet. And without any previous intimidation, Guru just barged in and he went and raised his hand. He kicked Lord Vishnu in his chest.

And then he stood by himself. And he reached Lord Vishnu Gowda, Lakshmi Devi Gowda. He said, I am angry.

You can’t do this. Somebody can’t kick my Lord like this. But what did Lord Vishnu do? He pointed his hand and said, Oh great Shiva, I did not realize that you were coming so I could not receive you properly.

Please forgive me for that. And my chest is hard like a mountain and your feet are soft like a lotus. Therefore, the contact of my chest and your feet must have caused pain to your feet.

Therefore, let me massage your feet and let you feel that pain. Then he started massaging the feet of Lord Vishnu. And Lord Vishnu’s heart is clear and he understood that this person is completely beyond the reach of Ananda.

And then he went back to all the sages and told them the whole story. And they said that Lord Vishnu is beyond the reach of Ananda. So, this is the nature of worship in the Udapanas.

Now, sometimes some people think that these are competitors. You are a Vaishnavite and he is a Ganesh worshipper and that person is a Kshatriya worshipper and they are all competitors. It’s not that they are competitors.

They are all actually guiding people to get their actual ability. Everybody has the same purpose. So, if somebody worships any of these devatas, all of you know from your conversations that there is one universal government and you should always feel like the Prime Minister, the Supreme Head of State and all the other devatas are like cabinet ministers.

They are assisting you. So, their whole purpose is to have the harmony with the state and the development of the citizens. So, whenever when he was a middle-aged man, at that time he used to sometimes go to Shiva temples, sometimes go to Vishnu temples, but he was a great devotee of Lord Shiva.

And one day, because of certain upheavals in his life, he became very distressed, terribly distressed and went to the temple of Lord Shiva and started fervently praying to Lord Shiva for help. And because of the intensity and fervency of his prayers, Shiva appeared right in front of him and asked, what do you want? He was scared for that. He was intelligent.

He said, please give that which is nearest to you, that which you think is the most valuable, please give that to me. He smiled at him and he gave him a mask. A beautiful piece of Lord Krishna.

He says, this is my Lord, this is what I value the most. How do you know that famous verse? Lord Shiva said, no, I see that you are having peace in your hands and you are chanting somebody’s name. Millions of people all over the world, they chant Lord Shiva’s name.

So Lord Shiva replied, repeat this verse. So, she said, Rama, Rama is another name for Parvati, Rama, Rama, Rama, Diti, I’m chanting this as a name, Rama. Why? Rama, Rame, Rame, this name of Rama.

No word. This gives me a very joy in my heart. That’s why I’m chanting this name.

This name is the treasure of my heart and my life. Sahasrara Naam Tat Pariyan. A thousand names of Lord Vishnu are equal to one name of Lord Rama.

So sweet. So, Lord Rama, Lord Vishnu, Lord Krishna. There are many words.

We can discuss about that a little later. Let’s focus on this. So, the point here is that, you know, this is the real treasure of God Shiva.

If somebody were to touch you, asking, give me this, give me that, give me that, if somebody were to touch you, ask you, please give me that, it’s the best food. And also, a guy, a person, he’s a creature called Krishna. There are a very well-known story.

This is of Keshav Krishnadevi. He was a very great Pandit. So, you see him sleeping over there.

Krishnadevi said to him, how could there be Sarvam Saraswati over there? And Keshav Krishnadevi was a great worshipper of Saraswati. And by realizing the Saraswati, wherever he would be sleeping, he would be undefeatable in logic and literature. And in scripture learning.

So, when he came to Navadvip, in Mayapur, in West Bengal or elsewhere, at that time he met Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, he had a discussion with him, but it was completely backfired. He couldn’t speak anything.

All the arguments were completely reputable of Chaitanya. And then that night when he went, Saraswati, there is deity, and he went up. Now, if you had promised me, why did you go back on your promise? Why did you not protect me? Why did you not empower me? Please tell me.

Kindly, bitterly, in disappointment and disgrace, he fell asleep. That night, Saraswati Devi came and slept. And she told him, you know, I told you that I will bless you.

And I have indeed blessed you. My real blessing is not just to meet some champion debater who can teach everyone. Because throughout history, there have always been some champion debaters.

But what is the use? They will grow old and they will see that they are done. Yet the thing is that I will give you the perfection of your learning. So, yes, I told you that I will never be defeated.

I will never let you be defeated against anybody. But the person you met today was my Lord. Therefore, the perfection of our learning is not to dominate others.

The perfection of our learning is to understand the glory of God and to celebrate God. Therefore, it is to give up your pride and learn from Chaitanya Mahaprabhu how to perform devotion. How to become a true devotee of Krishna.

And it is Keshavashweti who becomes a great devotee of Krishna. And he has written many books to outmine Krishna. And he is grateful to Saraswati Devi as her guide.

Another beautiful story of Chaitanya Das. Chaitanya Das was a great poet. And his name is Chandi.

Chandi is a form of Durga Devi. He used to worship Durga. And he had a brother who he used to worship.

Vishnu. And they used to live close to each other. Chandi Das was very rich.

Comparatively speaking. And his brother was quite poor. And Chandi Das had a beautiful garden in which there were many wonderful flowers which were growing.

And his brother did not have much wealth with him. So, one day his brother asked him, See, you have so many flowers in your garden. Can I just take one flower and offer it to my Vishnu? He disturbed him.

He said, No. The whole garden is mine only because I cannot take even one flower. His brother smiled.

He did not insist. But he was disappointed. And one day, early morning, when he came back after taking bath, his brother saw the beautiful garden.

And his heart dropped. Only I could offer one flower to my Lord. And he, in his mind, Vishnu said, I take one flower.

And I offer it to the Lord. There are only so many flowers. Now, if we are not able to physically offer anything to the Lord, if we mentally offer it, it is called Manas Puja.

If we mentally offer something to the Lord, the Lord accepts the mood of devotion in which we offer it. So, after that, Chandigarh students say, I offer you to Chandigarh. And then, as you are chanting the prayers, you start chanting in front of him.

I am pleased with you. What blessing do you want? I ask for a blessing later. But please tell me one thing.

I have been worshipping you for so many years. How is it that you became pleased with me today? He said, today you offered me the Maha Prasad of my Lord. What do you mean? He told the whole story.

The flower which you offered to me was properly offered to Vishnu. And Vishnu is not just my Lord. He is the Lord of my Lord.

My Lord is Shiva. And his Lord is Vishnu. So, you have given me the Maha Prasad.

And because you gave me the Maha Prasad, I am very grateful. You mean to say, that worshipping Vishnu is higher than worshipping you? Of course. Vishnu is the Lord of my Lord.

Then why didn’t you tell this to me earlier? He said, you never asked this to me. You are so busy asking Janam Devi, Janam Devi, Muthuram Devi, Malayam Devi. You are asking, give me this, give me that.

I never asked you the truth. That’s why I didn’t tell you. But today, because you pleased me in a special way, I decided to go out of my way and give you something good for you, even if you are not asking for it.

And after that, Vishwamitra became one of the greatest poets in medical history of India. So now, he went on to become a devotee poet for Lord Vishnu. Although he was a devotee of Krishna eventually, still he kept his name as Chandigarh.

Because he considered Chandigarh to be like his Guru. She guided him to Krishna. And this illustrates a very important point, that even when we consider, when we understand Krishna to be supreme, that does not mean we suspect any of the Devatas.

We understand that they are also God’s personalities. That’s right. We understand the practice to be supreme.

That doesn’t mean that we suspect any of them. They are important beings, and we have to respect them. So we respect the Devatas.

And we consider them blessing. Here comes the Lotus Feet of Supreme Lord. So now let’s try to understand this whole system a bit more.

So, there is a very ancient Upanishad called the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad. And in that, in Upanishads, the format is that some students are asking questions and the sages are answering the questions. So Yajnavalkya is a very famous sage in the Upanishads.

Yajnavalkya is asked this question, that Katideva Katideva means, how many Gods are there? So, first he says, 3003. Then Yajnavalkya says, Katidevaha. Then he replies, 303.

Katidevaha. Then he says, 33. Then 6, 3, 2, and finally 1. And the whole narration goes on as if there is no contradiction.

How can there be no contradiction? Here there are 3003 Devas. So how is both there? Sometimes people say that the Vedic culture is in worship of many Gods. Logically, there cannot be many Gods.

God is supreme. And supreme can only be one. So why are there so many Gods like this? There is a reason for that.

So, these are four verses from the Bhagavad Gita. We will try to recite some of them. And we will understand this principle of why there are so many Gods.

The first verse is the 7th chapter verses 20 to 23 in the Bhagavad Gita. So, I will explain the meaning of the first verse then we will recite the second verse. And I will let you do it for the next two verses also.

So, Lord Krishna is saying, Kaamai sthai sthai viddha jnana prapadyante anudevata Tantam niyamasthaya prakrutyaniyata svaya He says that those whose Kaamai sthai sthai viddha jnana jnana means knowledge is stored away by Kaam. What do they do? prapadyante anudevata anudevata means they worship other Gods. And tantam niyamasthaya they follow their particular rules.

For what purpose? prakrutyaniyata svaya according to their own nature. They like to eat meat. They have a lot of fame and wealth and power.

And there are other Gods who have to worship apart from that. And then what happens? So, whichever form somebody wants to worship shraddhaya ityam ityati one desires to worship. So, tachanam shraddham So, Lord, if you want to worship this particular person I will make your faith strong for worshipping that particular person.

If you want to worship this person, I will make your faith strong. And dham, dham means to give. I will give.

You can understand this after me. sraddhaya shraddhaya yukta sraddhaya shraddhaya yukta tasyaradhana vivete tasyaradhana vivete labhate jatatah kama labhate jatatah kama mayai vavita anhita mayai vavita anhita So, sraddhaya shraddhaya yukta So, when one is equipped by such faith, what happens? tasyaradhana vivete which is to worship that particular Deva and labhate jatatah kama which is to achieve whatever he desires but who is giving it? mayai vavita anhita Who is giving it? In the past also, it is Krishna only who is empowering Devatas to give the result. Let’s understand this with an example.

All of you remember from the Discourses of Session 5 that we all have the relation with the spiritual world. And then we left from there because we wanted to be separate from God. And then we have come to this world.

So, now God is the Supreme Lord, the Supreme King of all kings. So, all of us are like Rajkumars. All of us are like princes.

Imagine that a king very powerful and wealthy but he suddenly leaves his home and goes away. And goes away to a distant kingdom. And he is struggling to earn a living over there.

Getting some job, getting some bed, facilities of life. So, that prince who has left the kingdom and gone far away out of the kingdom that person is like an atheistic materialist. He has given up all connection with God.

Now, suppose that person, another father says, where is my son gone? When is he going to come back? He comes back to the kingdom. He comes back to the kingdom but still I quarrel with my father, I don’t want to go back to my father. I don’t want to go back.

So, he stays in the kingdom but the father is watching. So, what the father does, he knows if I go in front of him the son is still not having a good relation with me. So, he just goes away.

He doesn’t want to go out of the kingdom. So, what does he do? He sends one of his ministers. He says, you go and you approach him.

And the minister goes back. He asks, why are you suffering? You are not a man. Just give me a job, I need some money.

Okay, okay. You do the job, I’ll give you some money. And now, actually, the prince is the inheritor of the kingdom.

The father’s wealth is his. But he is working. Now, when the minister is giving the salary, how is he going to give the salary? Because the king wants it.

The king is giving him an apartment to manage and then he has the revenues. That’s how he gets the salary. That’s what Krishna is saying.

May I give up? No, no. So, the minister is like the devatas. The devatas give the fruits of their desire.

The fruits of the mercy. The fruits they are able to give by the mercy of the Supreme Lord. But still, the father is happy.

Because at least, he is in my kingdom. So, indirectly, he is in my safety. Of course, but what will the father now? If the minister sees this particular son, he is ready to go back to his father.

When the minister can have it, why not stop serving him? No, he will be happy. He will be happy because he wants him to tend up to his father. That’s a good word.

Now, what is the difference between serving the minister and serving the father? That Krishna is telling in the next words. antavantu palam tesha antavantu palam tesha tad bhavatyal pamedhasam devan devayajo yanti madhvata yanti mam api madhvata yanti mam api So, for antavat, antavat means jiska ant hoone wala hai. That is just temporary.

So, the phala which one gets by the worship of the devatas, the fruits of the worship of the demigods is temporary. Whereas, because the minister gives salary, he gives salary for some time but it is going to be over. But if he has developed a relationship with his father, that is for full lifetime.

So, like that, the fruit that he gets by worshiping devatas is temporary. As if you develop a relationship with Krishna, you develop another relationship. And that’s why the demigod Varsheya is a transitional phase.

From being outside the kingdom, it is better to be inside the kingdom. But better to be inside the kingdom is being in the palace with the father there. So, being in the kingdom and worshiping devatas is a transitional phase for the person to ultimately come to the worship of the Supreme Lord in love.

So now, this is a very important point to understand. So, in some of the western religious traditions like Islam, Christianity, Judaism, they have the idea that the God is chalice and you should not worship any other God except the Supreme Lord. They have that idea.

So, the Vedic religion says that God is not chalice. God is compassionate. Because He is compassionate, yes, worshiping devata is not the highest.

But it is a step towards coming to the highest. Imagine that a father has two sons. One of them is a mediocre student and he just barely gets 40% marks passing.

The other is outstanding, he gets 80% marks all the time. And today, the results are wrong for both of them. And both of them have got 60%.

So, the first one says, I got 60%. Well done! I am proud of you, my son. He says, father, I have got 60%.

What have you done? He says, you also got 60%, I also got 60%. Are you crazy? You just raised me. Why? Because for him to come to 60% is rising up.

For you to get 60% is going down. Isn’t it? So, similarly, for somebody who is a materialist, somebody who is an atheist, for him to become a worshipper of Devatas is a step up. Therefore, in the Vedic literature, talk about worshipping of the Devatas.

And they glorify that also. Somebody is a Shubhankara, somebody is a Devangarka, somebody is a Ganesha. It is very good.

It is much better than being a materialist or an atheist. Now, for somebody who can love God purely, he is like at 80% level. And he says, oh, I am worshipping Krishna but I am not worshipping Shiva.

What does Krishna say? Stop doing this. Stop doing this. Because for him, it is coming down from 80%, 60%.

Therefore, it is a very profound system. Now, has Krishna created this whole system? The Vedic system of worship is what? Multi-level worship. There are different levels according to the people’s capacities.

So, one multi-level worship system has two aspects. First one, who does it belong to? A unique person for the individuality of the worshipper. Everybody is individual.

So, I can say that everybody will worship this particular God and nobody else. But what if either person’s nature is not attracted to that God? How will it become multilevel? Okay, not attracted. It is not subhudhi, but there are individualities.

Everybody is an individual. As an individual, everybody has their own likes and their interests. And accordingly, God has subhudhis.

So, now, remember the earlier example. How many Gods are there? So, there are one and three also. What does that mean? That is explained in the next point.

Yes, worshipable is God. So, God is very flexible. If you want me to be available, I will make myself available.

So, now, Indra, Chandra, Vaibhav, they are not God. They are the representations of God. But through them, God makes himself available.

Isn’t it? The minister is not the king. But, the king makes himself available to his estranged son, to his son who has gone away through his minister. So, in this way, action is a very profound and compassionate system.

So, that can be gradually elevated to the highest level. So, now, Now, in India, there is a notion that Vishnu has three ten avatars and one of them is Krishna. So, now, let’s start first by understanding how Narayan or Vishnu are supreme.

There are many verses. This is Mahabhishan. At that time, Eko vai nirnarayan At that time, only Narayan was there.

Neither Brahma, nor Ishaan, nor Agni. Brahma was not there. Shiva was not there.

Agni was not there. Only Narayan was there. So, there are many verses which show how Narayan is supreme.

So, from Narayan, come on. So, Narayan is supreme. That’s clear.

Now, whose personality line now? Narayan? Yes, Vishnudama. So, and Vishnudama is line now. Vishnudama, he gives huge amount of instructions in Buddhism.

In fact, the Shanti Parva, in the Mahabharat, where the instructions are given by Vishuddha, huge, several volumes of books. After the elaborate instructions about how the country should be managed, then Vishnu starts to give such instructions. And he says, he tells Vishnu, and what does he say? That, you know, this particular personality is standing in front of us.

He points to Krishna. What does he say? He says, So, he says, Krishna, this person who is right in front of you, he is Madhavan Saksha. Don’t think this Krishna is an ordinary person.

He is just another prince from the Vishnu dynasty or the Yantra dynasty. No, he is Madhavan Saksha. And he is Adi Narayan.

He is the original Narayan. The source of Narayan. Adi Narayan.

And, Muni Krishna says, I don’t know what is my cursing. He says, no, that is illusion. By his maya, he is creating the illusion by which you often think that, you are thinking that he is a servant of our royal dynasty.

Supreme Lord, the source of Narayan also. So, now the very story is, many of you know the Brahma Vimohan Dila. When Brahmaji tried to steal the cows and cows, then at that time, Krishna expanded himself as the Gopas and the cows.

How many of you know the story? I will tell the story briefly. When Krishna was in Vrindavan, at that time, many terrible demons came and started very big havoc. But Krishna had furiously killed and delivered all of them.

So that time, Brahmaji was surprised and out of it. Since Krishna was a small child, he thought, will they be gone? So he had a test. Krishna used to go out in the jungles every day.

The cows, and his cowherd boyfriends. So when he would go out, every day, they would play. So at that time, when the cows had gone a little distance, Brahmaji took away the cows.

And then, Gopas were anxious. Krishna went to search for the cows. At that time, Brahmaji took away the Gopas also.

And hid them in a cave. When Krishna understood that Brahmaji has done this thing, Krishna expanded himself all over them. And Brahmaji was completely thrilled.

I have taken all of them and they are still there. And then Brahmaji realized something seriously wrong. That Krishna, from his, in front of his eyes, or in front of Brahmaji’s eyes, all the Gopas and all the cows turned into Vishnu forms.

So now, if you see, all these cows and all these cowherd boys, they had expanded from Krishna’s form. And now they are just in the Vishnu form. That means, Vishnu is coming from Krishna, not that Krishna is coming from Krishna.

So, let’s understand this a little bit more. Actually, many times people say that Vishnu is the source of all incarnations. But, if you understand, there is not one Vishnu, there are three Vishnus.

So, there is Mahavishnu, Garbhodakshay Vishnu and Vishyodakshay Vishnu. So, Mahavishnu is the personality from whom all the universes come. Garbhodakshay Vishnu is the person who lies down within the universe and from whom Brahmaji is born.

You can see the lotus over there. And Vishyodakshay Vishnu is the personality who resides in the hearts every one of us, as the Paramatma, the Supersoul. So now, there is a complicated hierarchy that from Krishna comes Balarama, from Balarama comes Vasudeva, then comes Narayana, then again Satyogya expands into there.

And then from there comes Mahavishnu, Garbhodakshay Vishnu and Vishyodakshay Vishnu. So, you see, Vishnu is over there and Krishna is over there. Now, still, why is there this notion, and this is based on the scriptures, and why is there this notion that Krishna comes from Vishnu rather than Vishnu comes from Krishna? That notion is not wrong, it is correct, partially.

We will try to understand how this is. So now, here, as I said, there is a new hierarchy. See, we discussed earlier about Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh.

These three are the maintainer, are the administrator of the universe, creator, maintainer, destroyer. So, now, whenever there is any disorder in the universe, then all the devatas go to Vishnu, and they pray to Vishnu, please, there is so much disturbance in the universe, please help us. And then, what does Vishnu tell? Okay, some avatar will come.

So, for example, now Rama is coming, they have to do the cleaning up now. So, the devatas went, and then the lord Vishnu said, yes, an avatar will come. Rama will come.

Now, sometimes people ask, if lord Rama came at the time of Ramayana, or lord Krishna came at the time of Mahabharata, then who were the people worshipping before Krishna and Rama? Isn’t it logical? If God came at that time, who were the people worshipping before that? We have to understand, it is not that Krishna is born at the time of Mahabharata, or lord Rama is born at the time of Ramayana. Actually, Krishna exists eternally in the spiritual world. So, you see, this is like the axis.

This is the material world, this is the spiritual world. So, now, from the material world, people approach Vishnu. Please help us.

And Vishnu says, now, yes, the incarnation of the lord will come. So, now, it doesn’t mean that the incarnation is created at that time. The incarnation exists eternally.

So, in the spiritual world, there is Krishna existing in Goloka Vrindavan, in the spiritual world. So, when the prayer goes to Vishnu, at that time, if there is a time for the incarnation of Krishna, then Krishna descends in the spiritual world. That means, there is one form of Krishna who is existing eternally in the spiritual world.

He is the avatar. Avatar means the source of all the avatars. The other form of Krishna who manifests in the spiritual world.

He is the avatar. That means, from the point of view of this world, whom did the prayer go to? To Vishnu. And in response to the prayer, Vishnu, as a prayer to Vishnu, an incarnation came.

So, from the point of view of this world, it’s correct. The prayer went to Vishnu as an incarnation came. So, you can say that Vishnu is the source of all incarnations.

So, in that perspective, it’s correct. But beyond that, there is a complete Vishnu. When the prayer went to Vishnu, Vishnu created another incarnation.

There is a person who is already living in the spiritual world, Krishna, and he descended to this world. But when you have avatar, in avatar you think the avatar, but he descends down. That’s why it’s avatar.

So, therefore, yes, if somebody argues that Vishnu is the source of Krishna, maybe. It’s true. From the point of view of this world, and from the point of view of the spiritual world included, then Krishna is the source of Vishnu.

Now, we have to understand one very important point here, that Krishna and Vishnu are not two different persons. Krishna and Shiva, they are different persons. Krishna and Brahma, they are different persons.

Like the minister and the prime minister. But Krishna and Vishnu are the same person, but in different moods. Different moods.

The prime minister in office, very brave, sober, respected, honoured. But the same prime minister when he goes home, you know, when the prime minister comes into the prime minister’s office, Dr. Manmohan Singh is here now. I should be prepared for this interview.

Prime minister of India, Dr. Manmohan Singh. But, when he goes back home, you know, if his mother is there, if she goes to the prime minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, you know, please come home. Because you call him by his nickname.

And then he has a grandson who will knock him down and sit on his back and play around as if he were a horse. So now they will be more informed. The same person, but different mood.

So like that, Krishna and Vishnu are the same persons, but their moods are different. So Vishnu is like God in all this. Now why does God need any weapons? God doesn’t need any weapons.

God doesn’t have fear anyone, God doesn’t have fear anyone. But because he is the administrator, to reassure his devotees and to remind the demons that he has strong powers, he keeps the weapons. If he wants, he can deliver and destroy.

Just put a touch on his hand. But, because he is an administrative person, he has no weapons. But, on the other hand, when he goes home, no, he doesn’t have any weapons.

Krishna, is simply playing his flute and attracting the hearts of all his devotees. So that means, Krishna and Vishnu are the same person. Same God, but Vishnu has got an office, Krishna is called at home.

And the same person is at home and in the office they exhibit different moods. Now we want to, you remember there are four levels, fear, desire, love. Which level do we want to approach? Love.

Now, whom? Which person is more lovable? The person in the office or the person at home? The person at home. Yes, because he is more informal, more personal over there. So therefore, if we want to develop our bhakti, then to develop our bhakti to Krishna is more easy as much because Krishna is more lovable, more personal, more intimate qualities.

So in that sense, we focus on the worship of Krishna. But it’s not that we insist on Krishna or Ram or anybody else, you know. We celebrate Ram Ram also, we celebrate Ram Krishna also.

But for our bhakti together, we focus on the worship of Krishna. So now, in this way, Krishna is the source of everything. He is the source of all the avatars.

On the right is, on the left you see all the avatars that come. And here you see Jesus also, you see Mohammed also. They are all messengers that come from one God.

And he is the source of all the devatas who are looking after the universe in different administrative positions. And similarly, some people say if you ask, what is the goal of spiritual life? They say, to leave the world. There is a big white light and you are not able to access it.

Yes, there is a big white light, but that light has a source. Just like the sunlight is all-pervading. The sunlight has a source.

The Surya Jyotis come to the Surya Jyotis. So like that, the Brahma Jyotis, the spiritual repulsions come from the Supreme Lord, Supreme Brahman, who is Bhagavan Sri Krishna. Brahmano hi patishaham in the 14th chapter, how the procession describes, that this all-pervading Surya Jyoti, I am the source of that, I am the support of that.

So in this way, Krishna is the source of the all-pervading repulsions also. Light comes from a source. Like that, the supreme spiritual light comes from a source.

That is the word of the Supreme Lord, Sri Krishna. And therefore, Krishna is the Supreme Universal Lord. He is personal and universal.

And then Bhagavan Krishna says how, you know, he is the source of everything materialistic. He is the eternal universal. He is the Vishwaroop, which Krishna shows.

The whole Brahma, the whole universe is there within him. You know, how he shows the whole universe, because there is form of Mother Vishwota. And how he gets magical properties.

Somebody gave him a million fruits and he gives them twelve in return. In this way, you know Krishna has got six opulences. Beauty, face, strength, knowledge and prestige.

This is the concluding part of Bhagavan Krishna. Sometimes, when Shri Krishna goes to the rest and you preach there, some Christians would come and say, you know, Shri Krishna was a Jesus, you may accept him. He was a great creator.

But Jesus never told who is the father. They said, Jesus is saying, I am the son. And Krishna is saying, I am the father of everyone.

You put two and two together. Krishna is the father. But if Jesus was the son and Krishna was the father, why didn’t he tell us that? And Shri Prabhupada would say, he told me a few things, thou shalt not kill.

And for that, he was himself killed. Therefore, in the Bible, it is said that I have many more things to say but you have not the ears to hear. So, we have simple logic.

If you ask any person from any religion, does your religion teach that God is all powerful? Yes. Does your religion teach that God is all beautiful? Yes. Is all wealthy? Is all intelligent? Is all famous? Is all renounced? Yes.

So, then, if you want to see somebody who is very powerful, very powerful, becomes attractive. Somebody who is very beautiful, doesn’t become attractive. Somebody who is very wealthy, in this case, becomes very attractive.

Somebody who is very wise, maybe somebody like Abraham Lincoln or somebody who is very wise, becomes very attractive. Somebody who is very renounced, like Gandhiji or Mother Teresa, doesn’t become attractive. Now, what if there is one person who is stronger than Charles A. Lincoln, wealthier than Gates, wiser than Lincoln, more renowned than Mother Teresa, more beautiful than the most famous star, and more famous than all of them together.

How much will it attract them? So, now, if you look at it in this way, somebody just walks in, door opens, somebody comes in and says, I am the Prime Minister of India. What? Prime Minister of India? Ok, let us see. Now, let us see, if we try our command, let us see if we press a command, now the army starts moving.

Does it happen? Now, so, if somebody claims, I am God, then there is certain powers associated with that position. If that person has that power, then we can say he is God. Krishna Prabhupada has a simple logic.

He will say that, here are the powers associated with God. Wealth, strength, fame, knowledge, renunciation, beauty. And, according to any religion, these characteristics are universal.

God will have these characteristics. Krishna Prabhupada will say that here, we are talking about the attributes and the powers of God. And here, we show you a personality who exhibits these powers.

So, put two and two together, here is God. This is the power of God. This is the person who has those powers.

Therefore, he is God. You say, no, no, no, but Bible didn’t tell that Krishna is God. Fine, Bible didn’t tell that Krishna is God.

But you tell us that you have a better conception of God. Do you have a better conception of God? If you don’t know who God is, then how can you be so sure that Krishna is not a God? Then you have to ask yourself, are you interested in God? Are you interested in religion itself? See, imagine, all of you are studying engineering. Some of you are studying computer engineering.

And then after you complete your engineering degree over here, you get an opportunity to study computer engineering in the best college in the world, say MIT. When you get an opportunity to study computer engineering in MIT, do you think, God, no, no, I am studying in this college. I cannot leave this college and go anywhere else.

I will study only in this college. Does that make sense? You will be grateful to your college. But if you are interested in your subject of computer engineering, whenever computer engineering knowledge allows you to take that, it can benefit, isn’t it? So, same applies to God.

Religion is like an institute. Religion is like an institute where you can give knowledge about God. So, if you are interested in religion only and not in God, then your priorities are wrong.

So, if we find out there is more knowledge of God somewhere else, in some other religion, then we should be open to that. Let’s learn and let’s put a bit of better knowledge about God. Let’s try to think like this.

So, some of you might have been worshipping Shri Shiva, Adi Shri Shiva, Saraswati or Ganesh or whatever. You should never think that you are giving them up and coming to Krishna. You should see that it is by their blessing that you have come to Krishna.

And if you are still not clear, still not convinced, you have your full freedom. What if I do this? You can chant Hare Krishna, you can do that also. And if you pray to him, he is guiding you in understanding of what is the highest truth.

If you pray sincerely, just like you saw Pallabhacharya, Chandira, Keshav Kasturi, they were guided. You will also be guided. We will come to that.

The ultimate purpose of religion is there, not only in the Vedic scriptures, but in all the scriptures. Pure love, all loving and all-loving Supreme Lord is Krishna. So, let me summarize.

We started first by talking about why are there so many gods? We want to discuss. So, first we discussed the four levels, the pure desire that we know. Then we discussed Vaishnavism, we discussed the difference between conception and determination with respect to nudity, by the example of sugar for degradation.

Then we discussed about how there is the historical story of Dhruva Rishi finding that Vishnu alone is beyond the limits of Maya, therefore he is supreme. Then we discussed how if somebody has to be supreme, if he is sincere, then he will be guided to the Supreme God. We discussed from Shiva to Krishna was Vallabhacharya.

From Saraswati to Krishna was Keshav Kasturi. And from Chandu, Durga to Krishna was Chaitanya. Then we discussed why is this whole system there? This is one example, if you remember and understand the whole class.

The prince gives his father’s palace and gives his father’s kingdom. Outside the kingdom, somebody else is the minister. In the kingdom, serving a minister is a demigod worship.

He starts serving his father and returns home. So we discussed the example of 40%, 50%, 80%. For those who are ministers, demigod worship is good.

So if any of your friends are doing demigod worship, you should not criticize them and challenge them and confuse them. You should not do that. You should not do that.

You are very sensitive, respectful, and kind. Yes, you are following something. Whatever we follow should be based on scriptures.

You are following by yourself. It is not good. You are sensitive.

You are relatives that follow something else. And our goal is to elevate it. That is the goal of God also.

So if somebody has a higher understanding, he is a native person, he should not go down this path. That’s why Krishna says, Krishna only used every god to worship in the scriptures. But in the Bhagavad Gita, in the highest dharma, he says, Arjuna, you should not do this.

And the same applies to all of us also. And then we discussed with Bihar Dharaniya Gopalakrishna, how all the Devatas are represented as one God. And then we discussed about how Krishna is the source of even Vishnu.

They are the same person, but one is God at home, one is God in office. Krishna is the Avatari, and then there is Vishnu, and then Krishna is the Avatar. And then we discussed about how Krishna is the source of Brahmajyoti, and Krishna is satisfying the non-sectarian criteria of who is God.

That is, one who has the six opulences. Thank you very much. Take kind attention.

Does anyone have any questions? We don’t have much time, but you can take one question if you want. Yes, please, one question. Krishna possesses six opulences, and he is an enticed almighty.

So why has Lord Ganesha offered the prayers before all these worshippers? Oh, that’s a difficult question. The question is, why has Ganesha offered the prayers before starting any worship? As I said, do not reject or minimize the role of the Devatas. So Lord Ganesha is actually, as you know, Vedas and Ashas, Vinayaka.

So when we start something, we seek his blessings. So now, just because we seek somebody’s blessings, that doesn’t mean that person is supreme. See, whenever something has to be started, he is the person in charge of that.

And therefore his blessings are sought. That is natural. But if you see, Lord Ganesha is only… Mahabhyasmi was dictated by Ganesha as the Mahabharata.

And the Mahabharata is the Bhagavad Gita. In the Bhagavad Gita only this verse is taught. So Ganesha is not a guy who says, stop this, you are lying now.

I am Supreme, you are lying, I am Supreme. Why do you have competition? Many times, you just see one part of the story, then it becomes a little confusing. Yes, because Ganesha is given that particular department of being in charge of removing obstacles at the start.

So, whether he starts at the material or starts at the spiritual, it is your imagination. So, thank you very much for your kind attention. Now we will have a five-minute break.

And then we will have an interactive session, where you will be given some sheets, the notes which you have calculated. And then what we have to do with those notes is, you can read them. And based on those notes…