Different levels of seeing Krishna
Hare Krishna. So, today morning we are discussing from the Srimad Bhagavatam Chapter is about the children that are going to be born to Diti. And here it is being prophesied that because Diti had union at an inappropriate time, her sons will not be very auspicious.
In fact, they will be in auspiciousness personified. But still, because they are from a pious family, it was an indiscretion that happened momentarily. Eventually, because she begs forgiveness from her husband.
So, she is being told here that eventually your grandson will be a great devotee. And he will, how great will he be? He will directly see the Supreme Lord. And when this sort of prophetic statements come in scripture, we need to understand that the prophecy is itself not predestination.
Predestination means, some people have the idea that the Vedic philosophy holds that everything that is going to happen in the future is predestined. And, therefore nothing is in our hands. So, whatever is happening, everything is planned and we are just puppets moving along.
Actually, that is not the truth. Prophecies, when there is something in the future is prophesied, that is something like a weather forecast. So, a weather forecast tells us what kind of weather is going to be there.
But it doesn't determine everything in our life. When we still go out, if we are going to go out, we may be better prepared for going out. So, the weather forecast is not an absolute determiner of everything that is going to happen.
Similarly, predestination is not the Vedic understanding. When prophecies are given, the purpose of the prophecy is to give a broad outline of what is likely to happen. But within that, we all have free will.
And by our free will, we can choose to act, respond differently to the same situations. So, for example, astrology may tell us something like, okay, you are going through a bad period now, you may meet with an accident. That is a prophecy, we could say.
Or we could say a prediction. Now, if at that time I am driving rashly, then the accident's magnitude will be much worse. If I am driving carefully, still my car may skid or slip or whatever.
But the accident may be much lesser magnitude. So, prophecies are just like if it is going to rain, I will get wet. But if I am well prepared, if I have taken raincoat, if I have taken umbrella, then I will get less wet.
Less wet. So, similarly, prophecies are meant to not say that we are puppets where we have nothing in control, everything is determined. Rather, certain things are determined and we can, in that sense, prepare for them better.
So, this is the mood in which prophecies are gained. Prophecies don't completely imply that everything in life is determined. Rather, some things are determined by our past karma.
In the Parpotsha, Prabhupada focusses on how Prahlad Maharaj is going to see the Supreme Lord in a form, as per the desire of Prahlad Maharaj. So, I will focus in this class on the topic of different levels of seeing Krishna. We will culminate this discussion in how Prahlad Maharaj sees Krishna in the form of Narasimhadev.
But we will talk about different levels of seeing Krishna. So, it is said that an atheist sees God nowhere, a non-believer sees God nowhere and a believer sees God now here. Now here.
We see God actually everywhere and right now a devotee is able to see God. So, what is the reason for this difference? Actually, perception, there is perception and there is comprehension. So, for example, if somebody is a stockbroker and that stockbroker sees the graph of stock exchange just crashing down.
Now, the stockbroker or somebody who has invested money in the stocks may get a heart attack. And somebody else may say, hey, just some image, some line on a computer went down, why are you so worked up about it? So, perception automatically doesn't guarantee comprehension. The link between perception and comprehension, perception is what we see, comprehension is what we understand.
The link between perception and comprehension is established through education. So, if there is no education about what the graph on a computer screen means, it'll just be some signal going on over there. So, that's why Krishna says that when we have to understand spiritual truths, we need gyan chakshu, we need the eyes of knowledge.
So, education transforms perception into comprehension. Education transforms perception into comprehension. There was when the USSR was under communist rule, at that time they sent a cosmonaut into space and that cosmonaut went into space and he came back, I went into the sky, I did not see God anywhere.
So, therefore, God does not exist. So, now, actually at that time, the answer to such a question would be that, you know, if you cannot see God on earth, you are not going to see him in the skies. It's not that God is going to be visible in a miraculous vision to a person who is a non-believer.
So, seeing God, less like seeing a graph. Suppose, you know, I have got tuberculosis. Now, x-ray is done, I see my x-ray, I don't understand anything.
A doctor sees the x-ray, oh, you have to immediately get admitted in the hospital. So, what is the difference? That is education. So, just as in ordinary life, you know, education is what transforms perception to comprehension, similarly, to perceive God, education is required.
And there are different levels of education also. We will discuss them one by one. So, at the first level, we see God by seeing his connectedness with his energies.
Prabhupada gives the example that when there is a mother, and she sees her baby's small shoes or she sees her baby's toys, at that time, as soon as she sees any of those things, she remembers her baby. So, the baby is not there, but what she is seeing, this is connected with the baby. And when we see the connected object, we remember the person with whom it is connected.
And that's how there is recollection. So, even when a mother comes to the house and sees the whole room, it's very tidy. You say, oh, my baby has not yet woken up.
Or she'll make a lot of mess. Or she comes to a room and she's completely silent. Baby is still asleep.
So, it is not, she may not have seen the baby till now, but she's seen, because she's able to connect what she's seeing with what she's not yet seen. So, the first level where we see Krishna is when we observe the world and see the connectedness of the world with Krishna. So, therefore, when a devotee drinks water, Prabhupada explains, based on Bhagavad Gita, I am the taste of water.
So, everything in this world is Krishna's energy. So, when we see this, then we actually see that, now, we could say everything is Krishna's energy, but within that, certain things are attractive to us. So, then Krishna says, those things which attract your attention, their capacity to attract your attention comes from me.
yad yad vibhūti mad-sattvaṁ śrīma dūrjitaṁ eva vā tattva devā gacchatvaṁ mamate jyomaṁ śi sambhavaḥ In 10.41, in the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna says that whatever is attractive, its attractional potency comes from me. So, there's a huge building, so the Empire State Building or some other big building, you may have Sydney Opera House or whatever, the building which catches people's attention, this, its attractive potency comes from Krishna. So, this is Krishna's energy manifesting over here.
So, Srila Prabhupada, once he was going on a morning walk, and in America, and the devotees, they wanted to take him to a garden, but somehow they did not find the road, and they took him to slums. So, there's ghettos, basically, over there. So, it's not a very pleasing sight.
So, they said, Prabhupada, sorry we brought you here. Prabhupada said, this is also Vaikuntha. So, how is this Vaikuntha? They're shocked.
They said, you know, we are discussing about Krishna, and wherever we discuss about Krishna, that is Vaikuntha. So, there, Prabhupada is seeing this world is actually connected with Krishna because it is energy present, his energy is being engaged. So, this is where we see the connectedness of the world with Krishna.
This is one level. One level higher is that we see the world as the body of Krishna. This is the Virata Rupa conception that is described in the Srimad Bhagavatam's second canto, especially, where we see the big features of the world, and the earlier is, the previous level is that we see that, okay, the capacity, that this, all these things are sustained by God, and they are, their capacity for existence and attraction comes from God.
Another level is, where it is said, Bhagavatam says that the mountains are like the bones in the body of God, or the rivers are like, the ocean is like a navel with water in it. The trees are like the, the trees are like the hair on his body. So, now, this, there is no Virata Rupa Loka with this kind of Virata Rupa existing.
And if we see the specifics of the description, they vary, when the Virata Rupa is described at different times. Sometimes, one particular Loka is compared, say, to his thigh, another time it becomes compared to his legs, to his knees, another time it will be compared to his hips. So, there may be slight variation over here.
Here, the point is the conceptualisation. The conceptualisation means that we see the world in connection with the Lord, and we focus on not just God as an abstract principle, we understand that God has a form. Of course, here, the form is conceived of as material, and that's why this is considered imaginary.
Kalpitaha. There is no Virata Rupa. But it is an imagination used for the purpose of spiritual growth, for the purpose of gaining a better appreciation of God.
That is the second level, where we see the world, and we see the bigness of the world, the outstanding features of the world, and conceive of them not just as coming from God, but as having connected with the body of God. The third level, this is not a strict hierarchy, but it is a broad analytical framework here. The next level would be that where one sees the deity form of the Lord.
The deity form is the Archa Avatar. It is, Avatar is, Avatarati Iti Avatar, that which descends to this world. So, when the Lord descends as a worshipable deity, that is called as Archa Avatar.
So, the Archa Avatar is a way by which, we in this world, although our consciousness is presently at the material level, and Krishna exists at the spiritual level, so, with material consciousness, we cannot see spiritual reality, because the apparatus is not suited for the object. Just like if I have a black and white TV. Nowadays, practically, nobody has black and white TV.
But suppose, if somebody had a black and white TV, then no matter what they do, they cannot see a colour image on that. Why? Because the black and white, the apparatus has a particular limitation. So, with at material level of consciousness, we cannot perceive spiritual reality.
We cannot perceive God. But, the Sri Vaishnavacharya, especially, they give an example of how the Archa Avatar descends. And they say that, if there is a small child, and the child sees on the street, there is a giant elephant going.
The child wants to touch the head of the elephant. And no matter how much the trunk and the head, how much the child touches his or her hand, the child cannot touch the elephant's head. But, if the elephant sees the child's eagerness, and the elephant sits down, sits down and brings his head down, then the child can touch the head of the elephant.
So, like that, when the soul desires to perceive God, but the soul does not have the capacity to perceive God, at that time, God descends from the spiritual level to the material level. So, the Archa Avatar is a manifestation of the Anukampa of Bhagawan. It is a manifestation of the great mercy of the Supreme Lord, because of which He descends to the material level.
So, Krishna as the deity, Krishna is transcendental. But Krishna is manifesting in matter. The deity is made of material elements.
The deity is made of material elements, but the deity is itself not matter. So, that means Krishna is manifesting in a material form. So, somebody may say, this is just an idol, or this is just a statue.
Well, yes, there is a statue, no doubt. But, it is not just a statue. It is Krishna who has manifested over there.
Just like there can be an ordinary piece of paper, and there can be a currency note. Or somebody may play a business game, in which there is a hundred dollar note, which is just a fake note, basically, for the purpose of playing a game. And there is a real hundred dollar note.
Both of them are pieces of paper, but there is a big difference. One of them has by authorised agency been invested with value in it. So, like that, when we perceive the deity, we are also perceiving Krishna.
We are perceiving Krishna in His manifestation as Archa Avatar. The next level is that when Krishna descends as the Avatar Himself. So, when say Krishna, Ram, or various Avatars came in this world, the people who saw them, they were not all qualified to see the Avatars.
But still, they were living at the time when the Lord descended. And they saw the Lord. So now, when they see the Lord, sometimes people say that if God comes before me, then I will believe in Him.
If you show me God, I will believe in Him. But actually, this is not necessarily true. Even if we see God directly in His personal form, we may not believe Him.
And this is classically demonstrated in Duryodhana's seeing Krishna, when Krishna went as the Shanti Duta. So, Duryodhana saw directly Krishna. This is not just Archa Avatar.
This Krishna Himself has descended. And still, he did not understand Krishna. In fact, Krishna not only demonstrated His two-handed form, Krishna also revealed His Vishwaroopa.
And still, Duryodhana thought that you are just doing some magic. So, this is a higher level of perception because Krishna is Himself directly there. Sakshat.
He is there. So, Akshat. Akshat is eyes.
Sakshat means with these very eyes, we can see Krishna. Now, in the Chaitanya Charitamrita, there is a beautiful pastime where there is an associate of Lord Chaitanya, Mukunda, who somehow displeases Lord Chaitanya. And Lord Chaitanya says that, you will not be able to see me for 10 million lifetimes.
And then he becomes happy. After 10 million lifetimes, I will be able to see the Lord. And seeing his eagerness, seeing his faithfulness, the Lord becomes very pleased.
And the Lord says, come. You can see me right now. And then, when he comes, he offers prayers at that time.
And one of the prayers he says, my dear Lord, I am grateful to you that you have allowed me to see you. But this seeing is not real seeing. Even the demons saw you like this.
But the demons saw your worshipful form and they wanted to destroy that form. So, my dear Lord, the real seeing is with the eyes of devotion. So, you have given me your darshan, but please also give me the devotion by which I can benefit from the darshan.
So, this is… So, till now, in the previous levels, also there can be devotion. But the point is, the people who think that direct perception of the Lord is very important, it is important to know that without devotion, even direct perception may not lead to much transformation. Now, further, when we talk about devotion, there are, in the devotional vision, there are multiple levels of manifestation.
One is the devotional vision in the heart. That means the devotee closes the eyes and gets absorbed and perceives Krishna within. Now, this is very interesting because Shri Prabhupada gives an improvised version of Manas Puja over here.
In one lecture he says, a devotee can imagine there is a jewel thrown in my heart and on that throne, Radha Krishna is sitting. And then Prabhupada says, this is not imagination. Prabhupada uses the word imagination.
Imagine! A devotee can imagine and Prabhupada then says this is not imagination. What does it mean? Actually, this is imagination and it is used in Krishna's service. It is actually devotional service.
So, by meditating like this, is Krishna actually… is there actually a throne in our heart? Is Krishna actually there? That may not be the reality right now but by meditating like this, we are remembering Krishna and by remembering Krishna, gradually that reality will become manifest. So, this is envisioning that Krishna is there in my heart and trying to, not in a Sahajyik way, imagine that Krishna is… and I am performing very intimate pastime with Krishna but envisioning how I can serve Krishna. What can I do for Krishna? This is visualisation in the heart.
And now, within this visualisation, Jiva Goswami in his Gopal Champu explained that there are two levels. There is Smriti and there is Phurti. Smriti is conscious recollection.
It's consciously cultivated recollection. That means, suppose we meet someone and that person asks, Do you recognise me? Then he starts looking at them and trying to recognise. I remember we met somewhere.
Did we meet in Mayapur? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. And then what is the name? So, at that time, what is happening? There is consciously cultivated remembrance. That is called as Smriti.
Smriti means we strive to remember Krishna. The second level is Phurti. Phurti is spontaneously occurring recollection.
That means, it is not that the devotee is trying to remember Krishna. Just the remembrance of Krishna emerges in the heart. And Phurti is considered much higher.
Because Phurti is a result of affection. It's like going back to the earlier example of when a mother sees a baby playing something with a toy and then, maybe the baby falls down. So, at that time, the mother's thoughts immediately run.
Is her hand broken? Hand sprained? Last time when she fell down, this happened and we had to do this. Let me check this. And the thoughts just rush along because of the affection that is there.
So, there is Smriti and there is Phurti. As sadhakas, right now, we cultivate Smriti. But for the great devotees, advanced devotees, there is Phurti, spontaneous recollection.
So, it is said that for the great devotees, when the Lord gives His darshan, normally, when they are feeling so much separation, even when the Lord manifests as a deity, they feel so much separation from the Lord that when they see the Lord, they just faint in ecstasy. And they faint and they fall down. Now, for us as sadhakas, we can't faint, but we can still fall down.
We can offer dandavat. We can offer our obeisances to the Supreme Lord. So, what will happen spontaneously when we are advanced, when we are sadhakas, we strive to do it conscientiously.
So, in the recollection, there is cultivated recollection and there is spontaneous recollection. Now, within such recollection, there are further two levels. There is mystical vision and there is mystical transportation.
Mystical vision means actually a devotee is beholding, recollecting Krishna and suddenly the devotee sees Krishna in front of them. This would happen to Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu talking about Krishna to someone and while he was talking about Krishna, suddenly, sometimes he was talking with the devotees and the devotees were talking with him.
Suddenly, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu disappeared. Imagine, you know, you are talking with someone and suddenly I find, oh, you are gone. Where have you gone? And they saw, they looked around and saw Chaitanya Mahaprabhu running somewhere fast and they all ran after him and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu just, at that time, fallen near a tree and swooned.
What happened? What happened? And they chanted Hare Krishna and brought Chaitanya Mahaprabhu back to consciousness and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said, I saw Krishna in this tree. I saw Krishna playing his flute and I ran towards him but by the time I reached Krishna, Krishna had disappeared. So, within such recollection, sometimes there will be a mystical vision and this mystical vision is very special.
Now, we shouldn't imagine in a sahajiya like way that we have had mystical visions but we are trying to analytically understand what are the levels of consciousness. Now, another level is not just mystical vision, it is mystical transportation. Transportation means sometimes Chaitanya Mahaprabhu would faint and he would not come back to consciousness for a long time but when he would come back to consciousness, at that time, he would say, one time it happened that the devotees chanted loudly, vigorously and for a long time Chaitanya Mahaprabhu did not come back to external consciousness but finally when he came back to external consciousness, at that time, he said, I was in Govardhan and we were near Radhakund and Krishna was taking the gopis to cave for performing, I was observing how they were performing intimate pastime and finally Krishna and Radha were just going into a cave and that time you woke me up and called me back.
Why did you call me back? I was observing such wonderful pastimes. So here, it is not just, it is not just mystical, it is not just vision, it is not just occasional vision, it is actually Chaitanya Mahaprabhu transported to a higher level of consciousness. This sort of transportation can happen because of intense recollection and affection.
So, sometimes we may say that some people are absent-minded. The quintessential example of this is absent-minded professor they say. The absent-minded professor means you are talking with the professor and at that time, suddenly the professor just loses, maybe the professor is doing some experiment in physics and suddenly they start thinking, oh maybe I could do this with the experiment and at one moment they are there and the next moment they don't seem to be there at all.
So now what happens when you say absent-minded, the body is there, but the mind is absent in the body. The mind has gone somewhere else. So that absent-mindedness is usually because of attraction towards something in this world which manifests Krishna's attractiveness in a fragmental way.
But when somebody is attracted to Krishna, how much greater it will be. This is mystical transportation. Now beyond that is so now roughly to understand what is happening, see we are at the material level of consciousness, Krishna is at the spiritual level of consciousness.
So how are these levels related? First is that at the material level we see things and we raise our consciousness to Krishna. Then there is further where Krishna descends from the spiritual level to the material level and gives us vision. I'll summarise this all at the end of the class, but right now the next level I'm just trying to explain the flow, that beyond that what can happen is when a devotee desires to see Krishna, devotee is remembering Krishna, desires to see Krishna, at that time Krishna descends.
Krishna descends directly and this is Sanatana Goswami has written a commentary on the Damodara Ashtakam and in the Damodara Ashtakam, in the fourth and the fifth verses, there are prayers where the Satyavarta Muni is saying, let me remember you constantly. He says, my dear Lord, of what use is any other memory? Twice he says the same thing. My dear Lord, please, just let this vision, let this vision always be there in my heart, let me always see you in my heart.
What else do I want? In both these verses he says, I don't want anything else. That I don't want anything else means actually, I don't want anything material. So for this, the example is often given that, suppose there is a mother, she is doing some work and sometimes, you know, babies they cry, not because they need something, they just want their mother's attention.
So when the baby is crying, an expert mother also knows, when the mother, when the baby is doing some drama and when the baby actually needs me. So when the baby does some drama, the mother just comes, just smiles at them, maybe gives a little toy and goes away. And then after the baby cries again, the mother may come and again give some toy and again go back and start doing the housework.
But if the baby, when the mother gives a toy and still the baby keeps crying, another toy, baby keeps crying. And then finally the mother says, what do you want? I want you. Then the mother will put everything else, pick up the baby.
So like that, when we worship Krishna, Krishna may give us various toys. You know, Krishna may give us wealth, Krishna may give us power, Krishna may give us fame. Now if you become satisfied with this, you know, if you become famous, if I'm giving class, hundreds of devotees come for the class.
Now I have become a great devotee. If I start thinking like that, then I am settling for a toy. And I cannot become a very advanced devotee.
The advancement of devotion is based not on how much popularity we get, it is based on how much we are remembering Krishna. And of course if we are remembering Krishna, then we infuse remembrance of Krishna in others also. Now, moving forward, so like this, there is the recollection of Krishna and there is the vision of Krishna.
So in the fourth and fifth verses of the Damodarashtakam, there is a desire, constant recollection, and it says, what else do I want? I don't want anything else. That means, like saying, mother, I want only you, I don't want anything else. But wanting the mother is also at two levels.
Or wanting Krishna's vision is at two levels. And so the sixth verse in the Damodarashtakam goes to a next level. And the next level says, Namo Deva Damodarananta Vishno Prasida Prabho Dukha Jala Abdimagnam Krupa Drishti Vishtya Tidhinam Vatano Grahanesha Mamagyam Edhyakshi Drishyam.
So here the last line is, Edhyakshi Drishyam. Akshi means eyes, Edhyam means these, Drishyam means please become visible. Satyavrata Muni is not just praying, let me remember you always, oh Lord.
But he is saying, my dear Lord, please become visible to these eyes. So, the direct darshan of Krishna is considered very very special. And to have that is a matter of great fortune.
And Sanatana Goswami explains that because this request is so lofty, so, because the request is so lofty, so, in this verse, Sanatana Goswami explains that Satyavrata Muni makes the request right at the end of the verse. Suppose, maybe, sometimes I say there are beggars, say we are going in a car, and the car stops at a signal, and the beggar knocks. And then we ask, we roll down the window, what do you want? The beggar says, give me this car.
What? How dare you ask for something like this? You are a beggar, you can ask for something small. How can you ask for a car? So like that, the request that, oh Krishna, show yourself to me, is such an outrageous request that it cannot be made without a proper preface. And that's why, what is the preface? He says, he actually chants the name of the Lord.
So he uses six names of the Lord. So, He uses six names to glorify the Lord, to praise the Lord, and then after that he says, my dear Lord, I am very fallen. So, it's like, normally when we go for a job, it's all about, getting a job is all about boasting.
I have this much experience, I have this much qualification, I can do this, I can do that, I can do that, and therefore, I should get this job. But when we approach Krishna, the mood has to be entirely different. When we go to Krishna, we are accepted by Krishna not based on our qualification.
We are accepted based on our disposition. Our disposition is, when we are begging, if the beggar says, you know, I have a big house and I have a big car, now please give me some alms. If you have a big house and a big car, why do you need my alms? So normally, if a beggar wants something, what does a beggar do? Beggar praises the potential donor, and the beggar describes one's own destitute condition, one's own fallen condition, one's own poor condition, afflicted condition, and by highlighting the asymmetry between the two, then the call for alms attains fervency, attains urgency.
Similarly, when we approach the Lord, if we start talking about our own qualifications, if you have so many qualifications, then you'll be happy with yourself. So, therefore, what does Satyarth Muni do over here? He says that, oh, I am dukkha-jala-abdhi-magnam. I am drowning in an ocean of misery.
And Sri Radhan Goswami explains that this ocean of misery is not the ocean of material existence. Yes, material existence is miserable. But Satyarth Muni is drowning, not in the ocean of material existence.
The misery that he is experiencing is not the misery of material existence. The misery that he is experiencing is the misery of separation from Krishna. The misery of not being able to perceive Krishna.
And therefore, he says, my dear Lord, please relieve me from this misery by appearing before me. And he says, athi dhenam, I am very fallen, oh Lord. This is the request for the Lord to appear in front of our eyes.
And this is a very extraordinary request. If somebody is blessed by such a vision, those souls are very special. And it is at this level that Lord Narasimhadev blessed Prahlad Maharaj.
So, now, when Prahlad Maharaj was asked by Hiranyakashipu that, so, you say Vishnu is everywhere? Is he there in this pillar? So, at that time, he said that, he said, yes, he is there everywhere. He is there in this pillar also. So, the Acharyas explained that actually Prahlad saw the Lord in the pillar and therefore he said this Lord is there.
But when he saw the Lord in the pillar, he did not see him in the form of Narasimhadev. He saw him in the principle of Vishnu. Vishnu is there everywhere and Vishnu is there in this pillar also.
And then when the Lord appeared through the pillar, see, at that time, what happened? Eventually, the Lord delivered Hiranyakashipu and then afterwards Prahlad went and the classic picture of Narasimhadev that we have is, Prahlad is going and garlanding Narasimhadev. Now, Krishna is everywhere. At the same time, a devotee worships Krishna.
Now, Prahlad says that the Lord is present in the pillar also. But that does not mean that Prahlad went and garlanded the pillar. So, in one of the early days, when the devotees were just very new, at that time, one of Prabhupada's disciples, he was typing on a typewriter.
The Prabhupada's books which he had handwritten, he was typing. And the typewriter was just in front of him. He was sitting on the ground.
And at that time, Prabhupada entered the room. So, they were just new and they were learning the rules that we should offer obeisances when the spiritual master comes. So, immediately he started offering obeisances.
And while offering obeisances, the typewriter was in the way. So, he moved the typewriter with his leg. So, Prabhupada says, don't touch it with your leg.
He says, this typewriter is sacred. So, then, he was new. He said, Prabhupada, do you mean that this typewriter is sacred and my leg is not sacred? My body is also being used in Krishna's service.
If the typewriter is sacred because it is used in Krishna's service, my leg is also being used in Krishna's service. So, why should the typewriter be considered sacred and the leg not considered sacred? Prabhupada said, your leg is also sacred, but there is a way in which sacred objects are to be respectfully handled. And that way involves we don't touch them with our legs.
So, for example, someone may argue, let's say, when we are sitting in the temple, we should not point our feet towards the Lord. Somebody may argue, God is everywhere. So, does that mean that I should not point my feet in any direction? The feet always have to point in some direction.
So, there is a, see, there is, yes, the principle God is everywhere is true. But God is manifest in some places for us. And where God is manifest, where God becomes accessible to us, those are special places.
And we need to give special regard to those places. Just as you may say that, people say, if God exists everywhere, why do we need to go to the temple? Yes, that is true. God exists everywhere.
But can we perceive Him everywhere? In principle, we can say, water vapour exists everywhere. Water is present everywhere in the form of water vapour. But whenever I am thirsty, can I just open my tongue and take water vapour? That won't satisfy my thirst.
So, water is present everywhere as water vapour, but as everywhere as water vapour, it is not accessible to us. It becomes accessible to us through a tap. And that's why when we want to drink water, we go through a tap, in which we collect the water and we drink it.
So, like that, Krishna is present everywhere, but He is not perceivable everywhere. That's why we need to come to a temple where we can perceive God. So, the point I was making here is that when Prahlad saw Narasimha, so, in principle he knew that Narasimha is everywhere.
But then, when Narasimha appeared in Sakshatrupa, he did not go and garland the pillar. He garlanded Narasimhadev. And, there's a famous verse in the 9th chapter, 3rd canto, in the prayers for creative energy, which is, Prabhupada is paraphrasing that in this purport over here.
yad yad dhiyā tūrugāyavibhāvayanti tattarvapuhuktranyase sadanugrahāya He says, yad yad dhiyā, with whatever consciousness, with whatever disposition, one desires to worship and see the Supreme Lord. tūrugāyavibhāvayanti One desires to worship. What happens? tattarvapuhuktranyase sadanugrahāya In that form, the Lord manifests, bestowing mercy on His devotees.
So, now this is the highest level of perception, which will conclude the class. When Krishna gives a Sakshat Darshan, that is very special. But when Krishna gives a Sakshat Darshan in the form that the devotee desires, that is more special.
And this is endearingly illustrated in a pastime associated with the Rasleela. We know that the Rasleela is described in the five chapters of the Ras Panchadhyay in the tenth canto, chapters 29 to 33. So in chapter 29, Krishna plays the flute and calls the gopis.
Chapter 30, the gopis come and there is a conversation between them. And after the conversation, the gopis just start the rasa dance, but at that time, Krishna disappears. And the gopis frantically search for Krishna.
And in the 31st chapter, the gopis' song of separation from Krishna, the Gopi Gita. In the 32nd chapter again, Krishna and the gopis are reunited. Krishna reappears.
And then there is a discussion. And the 33rd chapter is the performance of the rasa dance. Now in this, the ācāryas have taken these five chapters and they expanded unlimitedly.
The Gaudiya Vishnu ācārya has almost written over 50 books on just these five chapters, different books, elaborately describing what all happens in the Rasleela. So now, it is described that actually when Krishna disappears, and the gopis are frantically searching for Krishna. So Krishna is hiding at one particular place.
And then when Krishna sees that the gopis are coming over, he says, what to do? So Krishna immediately assumes the Vishnu form. And he assumes the Vishnu form, and the gopis actually, they are looking from a distance, there is a blue complexioned person. They just run desperately, delighted that they have seen Krishna.
And then when they see it is Vishnu, they are actually disappointed. You know, even the best of yogis, if they get the sight of Vishnu, they will be elated. It will be the perfection of their life.
For the gopis, the sight of Vishnu is the cause of disappointment. And then they offer their obeisances to Vishnu and they ask Krishna, have you seen Krishna? Where is Krishna? So at that time, Vishnu has four arms and now Krishna, or rather it is Krishna who is the form of Vishnu who has four arms and he says that actually Krishna doesn't want to speak because when he sees how intensely the gopis love, he feels that his intimate voice as Krishna will come. So he doesn't speak anything, he just points.
He just points in that direction. And all the gopis start running in that direction. And actually Radharani is so much disconsolate, so heartbroken in separation from Krishna, that she just can't tolerate.
She is somehow trudging along. And she is the last gopi who comes along. And then she comes there and she says, Vishnu, she offers, have you seen Krishna? Please tell me where is Krishna? The desperation in her heart, the intensity, the purity of her love is so great, it is as if if she will not see Krishna, she will die at that very moment.
When Krishna sees that, he cannot maintain his disguise. He tries to point his figure in the same direction where he has pointed for the earlier gopis. But the intensity of Krishna's love, of Radharani's love, causes the two hands of Vishnu to disappear.
And Radharani sees that it is her beloved Krishna present before her. That is, Krishna's mercy manifests at various levels. At the highest level, it manifests for the devotee that whatever is the mood, whatever is the disposition in which the devotee desires to appear before, the devotee desires the Lord to appear, the Lord appears before him in that devotee, in that form.
In the Anandanandavan Champu, Kavi Karnapur describes that if Krishna is Kishore, Krishna is 15-16 year old, then how does Yashodamaya reciprocate with Balakrishna? He describes that Krishna by his Yoga Maya, that same Krishna manifests in different forms for different devotees. So, Krishna is youthful, eternal. But that youthful form of Krishna is also the source of the baby form, is also the source of the boy form.
So, when Krishna is performing a particular pastime, when the young gopis are associating with him, Krishna manifests as a young man for them. But when Yashodamaya is performing pastime with Krishna, Krishna appears as a small baby to her. Not exactly a baby on the infant, but a small child.
And in that way, Krishna manifests whatever form is appropriate for invoking the maximum devotion in the heart of that devotee. And in this way, his bhaktavatsalya, his supreme love for his devotee is manifest. And that's how that wonderful manifestation of Krishna in this world, in a form which satyam vidhatam nijabhrityabhashitam that form that will keep through the words of the devotees, that form of Narasimhadeva will be manifesting.
So, actually Narasimhadeva manifested through that form. He kept the word true of three devotees. First is Prahlad said, yes, Vishnu is there in this form also.
So, in this pillar also. So, Lord Narasimhadeva proved that his word is true. Second is that Narada Muni had told Prahlad's mother, Kayadu, that your son will always be protected.
So, your son will always be protected. And that Narada Muni's word that your son will always be protected, that word was fulfilled by Narasimhadeva when he appeared to protect Prahlad Maharaj. And third is, Brahmaji had told Hiranyakashipu that you will not be killed by any being created by me.
So, Narasimhadeva appeared in a form in which it was not a form created by Brahma, it was a Adhrishtapurvam Adbudham. It was a form you have never seen before. Extraordinary form.
He appeared in that form. And this way the Lord fulfils the aspirations, the pure aspirations of His devotees. And when the devotee, this is one way the Lord appears, and of course when we become purified, we return to Krishna, at that time we see Krishna directly in the form in which in our Swarupa we are attracted to Him.
So, I'll summarise. I talked about firstly, about how prophecy is not predestination. Prophecy is like a weather forecast which gives us some guidelines of how we should act.
It prepares us for the future. It does not determine our future. And I focused on different levels of seeing Krishna.
So, first of all we discussed how it is education that forms a link between perception and comprehension. And that's why we need Jnana Chakshu to be able to see Krishna. So, Krishna exists at the spiritual level.
Just as the black and white TV cannot see colour image, so with our material eyes we cannot see Krishna. Therefore, Krishna descends to the material level. Krishna can be perceived with the eyes of knowledge.
We see the world as energy. We see the attractive things in the world as manifesting His attractiveness. Then, next is that we see the huge things of the world as manifesting His body.
That is the Virat Rupa, vision. Then, we see the Lord descending as the Archa Avatar. And then, there is the Lord descending as the Sakshada Avatar.
In the Sakshada Avatar, there is vision without devotion and there is vision with devotion. And the vision with devotion is so important that the vision with devotion, so that is the sixth level we are talking about now, the vision with devotion is such that there can be cultivated remembrance, that is Smriti, and there can be spontaneous remembrance, that is Spurti. And this spontaneous recollection, there is vision of the Lord at various levels.
There is a mystical vision where the Lord appears in front of one's eyes and disappears. Another is the Lord attracts one's consciousness to the spiritual level. And attracting the consciousness to the spiritual level, one perceives the Lord in an altered level of reality and is transported to another level.
Then, we discussed about how when the Lord descends to this world that the Sakshad Darshan is higher than the recollected Darshan. And let me discuss elaborately, the principle of Sakshad Darshan is that it is so big, it is like a beggar asking you to give me the car. It is not a cheap thing.
We need to actually, we can never be qualified for it. But by our humility, by our fervent begging, the Lord may manifest. And when the Lord manifests, the Lord can manifest in any form that He wants, but especially when He manifests in a form that the devotee desires.
And that is a very choice and special blessing that the Lord gives. So we discussed how the Lord preserved the words of Brahma, Prahlad and Narada Muni when He appeared in Narasimhadeva. And how the Lord manifests for the Gopis, not in the form of Vishnu, especially for Radharani, because of her love, He appears, He tries to appear in the form of Vishnu, but He appears in the form of Krishna.
And this phenomenal journey to exalted levels of consciousness, it all can begin and move onwards by our perceiving Krishna at the level that He is accessible to us. So we come to the temple, that's where we see Krishna right now. Just as we cannot access water through the water vapour by opening our tongue, so we cannot just imagine I am perceiving Krishna everywhere.
Right now, we need to reverentially approach Krishna in whatever manifestations He is accessible to us. And by reverentially approaching Krishna, thus gradually we will become purified and these higher levels of vision of Krishna will also become manifest by His mercy. Thank you very much.
Any questions? Yes, please. We understood that this is our attachment to Krishna and not that level. It feels sometimes I feel quite slow that I need to be there.
So how to overcome that and actually be in… So when we hear about exalted levels of devotion and we find ourselves struggling at very preliminary levels of devotion, we can become disheartened. So how to overcome the disheartenment and keep moving onwards? If we feel disheartened, we should look not at how far we have to go, we should look at how far we have come. If we look at our own lives, maybe 5 years ago, 10 years ago, 15 years ago, the level of bhakti that we are practising now, it would probably be very unlikely that we would have practised, we would have thought that we would practise this.
Chanting Hare Krishna regularly, 16 rounds, following the four aggregate principles, orienting our life around Krishna. So if you think of it, we have come a long, long, long way from where we were. How did we come along? If we look at our own lives, yes, we have done some practise, we have had some sincerity.
But actually it is Krishna who has led us along. There may be a few special souls who actually went out, went out in the world to search for God, going to holy places, going to holy saints. But most of us, you know, we did not go out in search of God.
It is devotees who came out in search for us. And they gave them books, they called us for some programmes. So basically even without much effort from our part, Krishna has brought us so far.
And that same Krishna who has brought us so far will also take us all along the way. So we focus even if we start becoming proud and thinking, oh, I am already an advanced devotee, then we can remember how far we have to go. That will make us humble.
But if we start feeling very dejected, oh, I am such a fallen person, I am so far away from Krishna. At that time we should remember that Krishna has already brought us so far. And by His mercy, He will take us all along the way.
So if we focus either, if we focus too much on ourselves, bhakti is based on Krishna consciousness, not on self-consciousness. Self-consciousness can either be I am so fallen or self-consciousness can be I am so great. But both are self-consciousness.
And self-consciousness is undesirable. We want to be Krishna conscious. So Krishna, you have brought me so far, you will take me all along the way.
Whatever level I am right now, how can I serve you? And we focus on serving Krishna. And if we keep serving Krishna, Krishna will take us all along the way. Okay? Thank you.
Any other questions? Yes. I am intrigued about these forms that the Lord is saying that because some devotees say that this form is not eternally existing and running in this world. And other devotees say that it is an eternal form, but there are also other forms.
Okay. So forms of Narasimha, are they eternally there in the spiritual world? Are they they are not there and they just descend here for a particular purpose? Here, our Acharyas have not given one clear stand. And that's why this matter falls in the arena of Achin Tattva.
It forms a matter of something which is inconceivable. So basically, the Bhagavatam is very clear that when Narasimha Deva appeared first, that form was never seen before. That it was never it was not just invisible, it was Purvam.
Before this, it was never seen. And that's why it is also said that Lakshmi Deva also did not recognise Narasimha Deva. Who is this person? I never see him.
Who is he? So now, some Acharyas take this to mean that this form is not present in the spiritual world. It is manifested for a particular purpose. And some devotees try to support this also by saying that even when Prabhupada himself and nobody asked this question to Prabhupada directly.
When Prabhupada made the cover of the Bhagavatam for Scanto, at that time he depicted the various Vaikuntha Lokas. And in the Vaikuntha Lokas that he depicted, one of the Lokas is also Narasimha. But in the Narasimha Loka, he depicts Narasimha in the form of Vishnumurti.
And similarly, in Chaitanya Charitamruta, in the instructions, Sanatana Goswami when Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is talking, at that time he talks about the various Vishnumurtis in the various Vaikuntha Lokas. There also Narasimha is mentioned as one of the Vishnumurtis. So based on this, one can say that actually, there is a form of the Lord by the name Narasimha who exists in the spiritual world.
But he is in a Vishnumurti. He is not in the form of Narasimha specifically. Now of course, there is the other line of thought also and that line of thought holds that actually, the forms of the Lord are all eternal.
And Avatar means that which is present in the spiritual world and that descends to this world. So if Narasimha descended to this world as Avatar, that means he should be present there also. So now, this is also a defensible line of thought.
At the same time, it is not very it is not necessary that when Narasimha descends to this world that the principle of Avatar is that that which is there descends over here. But it does not necessarily mean that the Lord has to be present there in that specific form alone. He can be in some other, he can be in the Vishnumurti there and he can descend here.
So in that sense, both points of view are defensible from the Shastra. And the important thing to recognise here also is that the Lord is Bhakta Vatsala. So the Lord reciprocates to the devotees according to their desires.
So it is also possible, I mean to support the second point, Prahlad has an eternal relationship with Narasimha. That is the form in which the Lord delivered him. So in the spiritual world, does he relate with him as Narasimha or does he relate with him as Vishnu? From the bhava point of view, it is more likely that he will relate with him as Narasimha.
So the second perspective is also supportable from scripture. And there are some inferences from the Brihad Bhagavata Amrut which seem to say that in fact, there in one section in the Bhagavata Amrut and Brihad Bhagavata Amrut, it is said that actually if one meditates on a particular form of the Lord and desires Sarupya Mukti, so in Narasimha Loka, there can be not only Narasimha there, there can be other Parashyaths who are also in the form of Narasimha. And their form of half man, half lion will manifest because of their absorption in that form.
So now, Sanatana Goswami doesn't say that exactly in his commentary over there. What he says is that whichever form a devotee desires to meditate and desires Sarupya Mukti, can achieve that. And whichever form, he mentions the list of forms like Varaha, Vamana, Narasimha, Matsya.
Now the question is that is it that there is a Vaikuntha where there are every, the Lord is in the fish form and everyone else is in the fish form? These are inconceivable subject matters. And because our Acharyas are not elaborate on them, we recognise that these are things which we will not be able to definitively resolve. The humility in the intellectual realm means accepting not just that I don't know, but also accepting that I can't know.
Humility in the spiritual realm means accepting that I can't know. That's why those devotees who insist on one position in subjects which are, in subjects where our Acharyas have taken multiple positions, to insist on one position as the Siddhantic position and the other position as a deviation, that actually is not proper. Because these are inconceivable subject matters.
And if we are sincerely practising Bhakti, the Lord may guide us with a particular understanding. And we accept that understanding as anukul for our Bhakti. Now for some other devotees, some other understanding may be anukul and they will be guided accordingly.
Any other questions? Yes, Mataji. Sorry, my English is not very good. Okay.
Okay, you mean? Yeah. So, when I was young, I liked reading and I was very good at it when I was my age. My ability to teach and the philosophy is to learn.
But this helped me. What I did that helped me is I come to the class, remind me to remember what to do. And if you have suggestions on how to help me to get the remember sharper thing like this.
Okay. So how can we remember Krishna more and more? How can we sharpen our remembrance of Krishna? Yes, Krishna is a person. We are a person.
So each of us has a personal relationship with Krishna. And we need to find out what aspects of Krishna Bhakti attract us personally. So if we find out that say a particular Darshan of the Deities that really attracts us.
That attracts us very much. Then we can keep that picture with us. If a particular tune of the Hare Krishna Mahamantra attracts us.
A particular Vaishnava song attracts us. So we have to find out within the realm of Krishna Bhakti, what is it that stimulates our remembrance of Krishna. So this is called in Bhakti Rasambha Siddhu as Uddhipan.
Uddhipan means spiritual stimulus. And all of us will have our own Uddhipan. So somebody will be very attracted by the philosophy.
Somebody will be more attracted by the Deities. Somebody will be more attracted by Kirtans. We can't mandate that everybody has to be attracted this way only.
So whatever way one is attracted, that is fine. And we have to find out what is it that attracts us most. And then we strive to systematically cultivate remembrance around that.
So for example, if you say someone likes Vaishnava songs, then memorise Vaishnava songs. Recite Vaishnava songs. Keep recording the Vaishnava songs.
Contemplate Vaishnava songs. So if we say remember Krishna, there are so many ways in which we can remember Krishna. And we cannot do all of them.
So we take one way in which we can remember Krishna strongly and make a strong commitment to that. And by that commitment, a tangible connection with Krishna will be established. And gradually through that connection, our affection to Krishna will awaken more and more.
And then we will be able to remember Krishna in other manifestations also. So we begin with focussing on one manifestation of Krishna which we can connect with and make a strong commitment to cultivate a connection with that manifestation more and more. And through that, our recollection will increase more.
Thank you. Do we have time? Should we continue tomorrow? We have one question and answer session also. So I don't want to extend everyone's time.
Whatever you say. Okay. One more question.
Okay. Sorry, I didn't understand. You understood the question? Okay.
Okay. Since there are many senior devotees and if you are not able to offer obeisances physically to all of them, is it a matter of pride? No. See, Krishna is not an unreasonable God.
He never demands something which is not possible for us to do. So the mood of offering obeisances is to offer our respect. So we do it physically as much as is possible for us.
But if there are some physical limitations, it's not possible. Then we offer in the mind. We fold our hands and we offer obeisances with folded hands.
That's perfectly fine. In the Bhagavad Gita it says, There are principles of bhakti but they have to be applied according to time, place, circumstance. So when Nishmadevi is lying on his arrow bed at that time, he is not in the condition to offer obeisances to the sages who come.
So he just moves his eyes, eyebrows, and he offers his regard and respect to them. And that is considered, he is a dharmagya. He is a knower of religious principles and accordingly what he does is right.
So certainly our spiritual master should offer obeisances as much as possible physically. And if we are personally meeting some senior devotees, some sannyasis, if it is physically possible, we can offer obeisances to them when we are meeting them. But if there is a general community of devotees and there are many seniors, it is not practical to offer obeisances to everyone.
So I was in Alachua last year. Alachua is in America which is a community of Prabhupada disciples, more like a retired community where devotees stay together. So there practically everybody is a Prabhupada disciple.
So how can one possibly offer obeisances to everyone over there? We just fold hands over there. So we don't have to think of this as offensive and if we have a particular if there is a particular devotee to whom we are regularly offering obeisances earlier and now we stop offering obeisances, then we can clarify because of my health or because of physical limitation or whatever I am not offering obeisances. So we should not we should not do it in a way that seems disrespectful to someone.
So it is not that everybody else is offering obeisances and we are not at all, not even looking at that person. We can also fold our hands and offer obeisances. So devotees are understanding about this.
We don't have to worry too much about that. Thank you very much. Kuntraj Srimad Bhagavatam ki Vishwa Prabhupada ki Gaur Bhakta Vrindaki.