What does vasudevah sarvam iti mean?

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
So, what does Vasudeva Sarvam Iti mean? Is it pointing to love or is it pointing to anything else? See, basically, we can have two conceptions of God. As I said, one conception of God, there is one God, which is true. But that is not the only understanding of God.
There is only God. There is also another understanding. Let me explain this.
Sometimes we think of God as the best of all beings. We have this much power, somebody has this much power, somebody has this much power. And God has the supreme power.
But that is just one way of looking at God. If you know the pastime of Prahalad and Hiranyakashipu. Hiranyakashipu tries to kill Prahalad in various different ways.
And he is not able to kill him at all. And finally, in exasperation, Hiranyakashipu asks Prahalad, what is the source of your strength? And at first glance, Prahalad’s reply can simply seem cheeky. Do you think somebody is angry and you are making him angry? He says, the source of my strength is also the source of your strength.
And is also the source of the source of your strength. That means you have got your strength from Brahma by worshipping Brahma. So the source of my strength and your strength and Brahma, so it is one.
And that is the supreme. So now, somebody is angry and you are aggravating that person. But if you see later, what he says in the next verses, that, oh father, understand that in this world, you have no enemies.
And Vishnu is not your enemy at all. He is the well-wisher of everyone. Your only enemy is your uncontrolled and misguided mind.
Control that and you will live happily. So what is he trying to say? Hiranyakashipu over here has this conception that there is a hierarchy of beings and on top is God. So like say, you have 100 tennis players.
Somebody is ranked 100, somebody is ranked 80, somebody is acting, somebody is 2, somebody is 1. Now if the second, if the player ranked 2 becomes good enough and wins more tournaments than the player ranked 1, then he can displace the one who is at 1 and then become himself 1. So Hiranyakashipu is thinking like that, I am this much powerful, Brahma is this much powerful. But if I do austerity, if I grab power, then I can become, I can kill Vishnu. And basically after that, I will become the supreme.
So he is telling him, you cannot do that. God is not just the best of all beings. God is the basis of all beings.
God is the basis of all beings. That means nothing can exist without him. Without me nothing could exist.
Krishna says in 10.39 in the Gita. That means that actually whoever exists, exists by the power of Krishna. And not only exists by the power of Krishna, whatever power anyone has, whatever ability anyone has, that ability and power are given to them by Krishna.
But also they are also energies of Krishna. And in that sense, they are not separate from Krishna. So Vasudeva Sarvamiti means that at one level, we understand Vasudeva to be a person.
So God is the best of all beings. That is one understanding of God. But that is not the only understanding of God.
God is also the basis of all beings. In the introduction to Nectar of Instruction, Nectar of Devotion, Prabhupada says that Krishna the absolute truth means he includes the material energy, the spiritual energy, he includes all living beings. So Krishna is not just one person in all of existence.
Krishna is all of existence also. Now of course, that doesn’t mean that Krishna is not a person. Krishna is all of existence and within existence he also has the manifestation of the all attractive absolute.
So that is how when we say Vasudeva Sarvamiti, at that point Krishna is telling Arjuna that if you look at the context of the verses, the previous verses 7.19, 7.16 talks about how there are different categories of people who come to be, some people come for money, some people come for relief from distress, some people because they are inquisitive and some people because they want knowledge. Krishna says those who get knowledge, they understand that I am everything, Vasudeva Sarvamiti. That means that they understand that ultimately nothing exists separate from Vasudeva and even I am not separate from Vasudeva.
Now, if it would mean absolutely that Vasudeva Sarvamiti, then they would say the same verse, if this oneness were in a sense of absolute oneness, then that same verse what is it, bahunam janmanam ante jnanavan mam prapadyate vasudeva sarvamiti samatma sudurlabha. So what does it mean? If Vasudeva itself is everything, is the absolute truth, then why does anyone have to surrender to anyone else? Because there is nothing existing on him. But he says he surrenders.
So that, now another example, when Prahlad tells Prahlad Nekashipu that Vishnu is existing everywhere. Where is your Vishnu? Is he in this pillar? Yes, he is everywhere, so he is in this pillar also. Then he breaks the pillar and Narasimhadev emerges from it.
Now, after Narasimhadev emerges and Narasimhadev delivers Hiranyakashipu, then Prahlad comes with a garland. Now, Prahlad does not go and garland the pillar. He goes and garlands Narasimhadev.
If Vishnu is present everywhere, then why doesn’t Prahlad go and garland the pillar? Why does he garland Narasimhadev? Because although everything is God, although God is present in everything and in a sense everything is God, but still God has a personal manifestation with which we can reciprocate love. So, Prabhupada says that God is everywhere, you can say sky is everywhere. But if I want to have personal relationship with the sky, what will I do? I look at the sky, what do I do with the sky? Oh sky, I love you.
But what after that? We need a personal manifestation for reciprocating love. So, not only do we need it, the Supreme also is filled with love. The Supreme also wants to reciprocate love.
So, there is the understanding of God as the basis of all beings, that is talked about Vasudeva Sarvamiti. And that same Vasudeva, who says Vasudeva, Vishnu is saying, I am everything, Vasudeva is everything. But he says, see, the wives surrender to me.
They don’t merge in me. They don’t become one with me. Although everything, so then what does it mean? What does oneness mean? Oneness there, that when we are in a pure state, we understand that we are actually not different from Krishna.
That doesn’t mean that we and Krishna are absolutely one. It simply means that our interest is not different from Krishna’s interest. Our highest interest is served by loving Krishna.
And that oneness is the understanding that I am one with Krishna in love. And that is my eternal state. Does this answer your question? Resides in the sky.
Similarly, all living beings reside in me. Yes, good example. Yes.
Any other questions or comments? Okay.