Kṛṣṇa · Sanskrit §92 · English §97
Source[९२] तथैवम् अथाहम् अंश-भागेन [भ्प् १०.२.९] इत्य् आदाव् अप्य् एवं व्याख्येयम् । अंशानां भागो भजनं प्रवेशो यत्र तेन परिपूर्ण-रूपेण । अंशानां भजनेन लक्षितो वा प्राप्स्यामीति प्रकट-लीलाभिप्रायेण भविष्यन्-निर्देशः । अतएव तद्-अवतार-समये युगावताराश् च स एवेत्य् अभिप्रेत्याह - आसन् वर्णास् त्रयो ह्य् अस्य गृह्णतो ऽनुयुगं तनूः । शुक्लो रक्तस् तथा पीत इदानीं कृष्णतां गतः ॥ [भ्प् १०.८.१३] अस्य तव पुत्रस्य प्रति-युगं तनुः युगावतार-लीलावतारान् गृह्णतः प्रकटयतो यद्यपि शुक्लादयस् त्रयोऽप्य् अन्ये वर्णा आसन् तथापि इदानीम् अस्य प्रादुर्भाववति अस्मिन् द्वापरे तु स शुक्लो युगावतारस् तथा रक्तः पीतोऽपि । एतद् अप्य् उपलक्षणम् अन्य-द्वापर-युगावतारः (पगे ४०) शुक- पक्ष-वर्णोऽपि कृष्णताम् एव गत एतस्मिन्न् अन्तर्भूत इत्य् अर्थः । तस्मात् कृष्णी-कर्तृत्वात् स्वयं कृष्णत्वात् सर्वाकर्षकत्वाच् च कृष्ण इत्य् एकम् अस्य नामेति प्राकरणिकोऽप्य् अर्थः श्रेयान् । तदानीं श्री-कृष्णस्यैव द्वापर- युगावतारत्वं श्री-करभाजनेन युगावतारोपासनायाम् उक्तम्, न तु द्वापरान्तरवच्-छुक-पक्ष-वर्णस्यान्यस्य - द्वापरे भगवाञ् श्यामः पीत-वासा निजायुधः । श्रीवत्सादिभिर् अङ्कैश् च लक्षणैर् उपलक्षितः ॥ तं तदा पुरुषं मर्त्या महाराजोपलक्षणम् । यजन्ति वेद-तन्त्राभ्यां परं जिज्ञासवो नृप ॥ नमस् ते वासुदेवाय नमः सङ्कर्षणाय च । प्रद्युम्नायानिरुद्धाय तुभ्यं भगवते नमः ॥ [भ्प् ११.५.२७-२९] इति । [वृ. अद्द्स् हेरे:] अत्र श्री-कृष्णत्वे लिङ्गं महाराजोपलक्षणम् इति वासुदेवायेत्य् आदि च श्री-हरि-वंशोक्त-राज-राजाभिषेकाद् द्वारकायां चतुर्- व्यूहत्व-प्रसिद्धेश् च । [एन्द् ओफ़् वृ. अद्दितिओन्.] ॥ १०.८ ॥ गर्गः श्री-नन्दम् ॥ ९२ ॥
[92] tathaivam athāham aṃśa-bhāgena [BhP 10.2.9] ity ādāv apy evaṃ vyākhyeyam | aṃśānāṃ bhāgo bhajanaṃ praveśo yatra tena paripūrṇa-rūpeṇa | aṃśānāṃ bhajanena lakṣito vā prāpsyāmīti prakaṭa-līlābhiprāyeṇa bhaviṣyan-nirdeśaḥ | ataeva tad-avatāra-samaye yugāvatārāś ca sa evety abhipretyāha - āsan varṇās trayo hy asya gṛhṇato 'nuyugaṃ tanūḥ | śuklo raktas tathā pīta idānīṃ kṛṣṇatāṃ gataḥ || [BhP 10.8.13] asya tava putrasya prati-yugaṃ tanuḥ yugāvatāra-līlāvatārān gṛhṇataḥ prakaṭayato yadyapi śuklādayas trayo'py anye varṇā āsan tathāpi idānīm asya prādurbhāvavati asmin dvāpare tu sa śuklo yugāvatāras tathā raktaḥ pīto'pi | etad apy upalakṣaṇam anya-dvāpara-yugāvatāraḥ (page 40) śuka- pakṣa-varṇo'pi kṛṣṇatām eva gata etasminn antarbhūta ity arthaḥ | tasmāt kṛṣṇī-kartṛtvāt svayaṃ kṛṣṇatvāt sarvākarṣakatvāc ca kṛṣṇa ity ekam asya nāmeti prākaraṇiko'py arthaḥ śreyān | tadānīṃ śrī-kṛṣṇasyaiva dvāpara- yugāvatāratvaṃ śrī-karabhājanena yugāvatāropāsanāyām uktam, na tu dvāparāntaravac-chuka-pakṣa-varṇasyānyasya - dvāpare bhagavāñ śyāmaḥ pīta-vāsā nijāyudhaḥ | śrīvatsādibhir aṅkaiś ca lakṣaṇair upalakṣitaḥ || taṃ tadā puruṣaṃ martyā mahārājopalakṣaṇam | yajanti veda-tantrābhyāṃ paraṃ jijñāsavo nṛpa || namas te vāsudevāya namaḥ saṅkarṣaṇāya ca | pradyumnāyāniruddhāya tubhyaṃ bhagavate namaḥ || [BhP 11.5.27-29] iti | [Vṛ. adds here:] atra śrī-kṛṣṇatve liṅgaṃ mahārājopalakṣaṇam iti vāsudevāyety ādi ca śrī-hari-vaṃśokta-rāja-rājābhiṣekād dvārakāyāṃ catur- vyūhatva-prasiddheś ca | [end of Vṛ. addition.] || 10.8 || gargaḥ śrī-nandam || 92 ||
English translation
English witness · section(s) 97
Anuccheda 97
The same son of Devaki described as Krsna (krsnavatara) in this verse (Srimad Bhagavatam 10.3.11) is described as Visnu in the following verse (Srimad Bhagavatam 10.3.8): “Then the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Visnu, who is situated in the core of everyone’s heart, appeared from the heart of Devaki in the dense darkness of night, like the full moon rising on the eastern horizon, because Devaki was of the same category as Sri Krsna.”*
Kṛṣṇa · Sanskrit §93 · English §98
Source[९३] तद् एवं श्री-कृष्णस्य स्वयं भगवत्त्वे सुष्ठु निर्धारिते नित्यम् एव तद्- रूपत्वेनावस्थितिर् अपि स्वयम् एव सिद्धा । तथापि मन्द-धियां भ्रान्ति- हानार्थम् इदं विविरियते । तत्र तावद् आराधना-वाक्येनैव सा सिध्यति । आराध्यस्याभावे आराधनानोदनाया विप्रलिप्सा-जन्यत्वापत्तेः । तच् च परमाप्ते शास्त्रे न सम्भवति । सम्भवे च पुरुषार्थाभावात् शास्त्रानर्थक्यम् । सर्व-संवादिनी - अथ द्वि-नवतितम-वाक्यानन्तरं नित्यत्व-प्रकरणे ôशास्त्रानर्थक्यम्ö इत्य् अस्यानन्तरम् इदं विवेचनीयम् । ननु बालातुराद्य्- उपच्छन्दन-वाक्यवत् तज्-ज्ञान-मात्रेणापि पुरुषार्थ-सिद्धिर् दृश्यते । ततो नार्थान्तर-सद्-भावे तत्-स्मारक-वाक्यं कारणम् । किन्तु प्रथमतस् तद्- अभिरुचिते तदानीम् असत्य् अपि वस्तु-विशेषे तदीय-हित-वस्त्व्-अन्तर- चित्तावताराय बालादीन् इव मात्रादि-वाक्यं स-गुण-विशेषे साधकान् प्रवर्तयति शास्त्रम् । पश्चाद् यथा स्व-हिते क्रमेण स्वयम् एव प्रवर्तन्ते बालादयस् तथा बलवच् छास्त्रान्तरं दृष्ट्वा निर्गुणे वा नित्य-प्राकट्य- वैकुण्ठ-नाथ-लक्षण-गुणे वा प्रवर्तस्यन्त इति । तन् न । अनन्त-गुण- रूपादि-वैभव-नित्यास्पदत्वात् । तद्-रूपेणावस्थितिर् नासम्भवितेति । यद् गतं भवच् च भविष्यच् च [बौ ३.८.३] इति श्रुतेः । सम्भावितायां तु तस्याम् अवतार-वाक्यं चावतारस्य प्रपञ्च-गत-तदीय- प्रकाश-मात्र-लक्षणत्वात् । नारायणादीनां च तत्रैवावतारे प्रवेश- मात्र-विवक्षातो न विरुध्यते । किं चोत्तर-मीमांसायां तत्-तद्-उपासना- शास्त्रोक्ता या या मूर्तिस् तद्वती एव देवता इति सिद्धान्त-ग्रहः । ततश् च तं पीठगं ये तु यजन्ति धीरास् तेषां सुखं शाश्वतं नेतरेषाम् [ग्तु १.२०] इत्य् आदिका गोपाल-तापन्य्-उपनिषदि येनायथार्था मन्यते तस्य तु महद् एव साहसम् । अत्र च शाश्वत-सुख-फल-प्राप्ति-श्रवणात् तत्-पीठस्य यजनं विना ज्ञानम् अयं ज्ञानात् मोक्ष इति श्रुतेः । तत्रैव घोरा इति विशेषणात् बालातुरवद् भावस् तेषां दूर एवोत्सारितः । नेतरेषाम् इति निर्धारणे तद्-यजनस्य परम्परा-हेतुत्वम् अपि निषिध्यते । अतएव नाम ब्रह्मेत्य् उपासीत [छाउ ७.१.५] इतिवद् अत्रारोपोऽपि न मन्तव्यः । तस्माद् आराधन-वाक्येन तस्य नित्यत्वं सिध्यत्य् एव स्वाध्यायादिष्ट-देवता- सम्प्रयोग इति स्मरणं चात्रोपष्टम्भकम् इति । [एन्द् सर्व-संवादिनी] आरोपश् च परिच्छिन्न-गुण-रूप एव वस्तुनि कल्प्यते नानन्त-गुण-रूपे । श्री-स्वामि-चरणैर् अपीदम् एव पुष्टम् एकादश-समाप्तौ धारणा-ध्यान- मङ्गलम् [भ्प् ११.३१.६] इत्य् अत्र धारणाया ध्यानस्य च मङ्गलं शोभनं विषयम् इतरथा तयोर् निर्विषयत्वम् । दृश्यते चाद्याप्य् उपासकानां साक्षात्कारस् तत्-फलस्-प्राप्तिश् चेति भावः । श्रूयते चैवं पञ्चमे नवसु वर्षेषु तत्-तद्-अवतारोपासनादि । यथोक्तं - नवस्व् अपि वर्षेषु भगवान् नारायणो महा-पुरुषः पुरुषाणां तद्-अनुग्रहायात्म-तत्त्व- व्यूहेनात्मनाद्यापि सन्निधीयते । [भ्प् ५.१७.१४] इति । सन्निधानं चेदं साक्षाद्-रूपेण श्री-प्रद्युम्नादौ गति-विलासादेर् वर्णितत्वात् । तत्र चात्मना स्वयम् एवेत्य् उक्तम् । तथा नित्यत्वे एव शालग्राम-शिलादिषु नरसिंहत्वादि-भेदश् च संगच्छते । तत्-तद्-अवतार- सान्निध्याद् एव हि तत्-तद्-भेदः । तथा श्री-कृष्णम् अधिकृत्यापि गीतं श्री- कृष्ण-सहस्र-नाम-प्रारम्भे श्री-विष्णु-धर्मोत्तरे -- तस्य हृष्टाशयः स्तुत्या विष्णुर् गोपाङ्गनावृतः । तापिञ्छ-श्यामलं रूपं पिञ्छोत्तंसम् अदर्शयत् ॥ इति । अग्रे च तद्-वाक्यम् - माम् अवेहि महाभाग कृष्णं कृत्य-विदां वर । पुरस्कृतोऽस्मि त्वद्-भक्त्या पूर्णाः सन्तु मनोरथाः ॥ इति । तथा पाद्मे निर्माण-खण्डे - पश्य त्वं दर्शयिष्यामि स्वरूपं वेद- गोपितम् इति श्री-भगवद्-वाक्यानन्तरं ब्रह्म-वाक्यम् - ततोऽपश्यम् अहं भूप बालं कालाम्बुद-प्रभम् । गोप-कन्यावृतं गोपं हसन्तं गोप-बालकैः ॥ कदम्ब-मूल आसीनं पीत-वाससम् अद्भुतम् । वनं वृन्दावनं नाम नव-पल्लव-मण्डितम् ॥ इत्य् आदि । त्रैलोक्य-संमोहन-तन्त्रे श्रीमद्-अष्टादशाक्षर-जप-प्रसङ्गे - अहर्-निशं जपेद् यस् तु मन्त्री नियत-मानसः । स पश्यति न सन्देहो गोप-वेश-धरं हरिम् ॥ इति । [सर्व-संवादिनी: त्रैलोक्य-संमोहन-तन्त्र-वचनानन्तरं चैवं व्याख्येयम् । यदि वा श्री-कृष्णादीनां स्वयं-भगवत्त्वादिकम् अननुसन्धायैव प्रलापिभिर् उपासनानुसारेणान्यदापि कश्चिन् मूल-भूत- भगवान् तद्-रूपेणोपासकेभ्यो दर्शनं ददातीति मन्तव्यम् । तथापि श्रुत्य्-आदि-प्रसिद्धानां तत्-तद्-उपासना-प्रवाहाणां स्वयं समुत्तीर्य सुदुस्तरं द्युमन् भवार्णवं भीमम् अदभ्र-सौहृदाः । भवत्-पदाम्भोरुह-नावम् अत्र ते निधाय याताः सद्-अनुग्रहो भवान् ॥ [भ्प् १०.२.३१] इत्य् अनुसारेणाविच्छिन्न-सम्प्रदायत्वेनादि-सिद्धत्वात् अनन्तत्वात् केषांचित् तच्-चरणारविन्दैक-सेवा-मात्र-पुरुषार्थानां ये यथा मां प्रपद्यन्ते [गीता ४.११] इति न्यायेन नित्य-तद्-एकोपलब्धत्वात् श्री-भगवतः सर्वदैव तत्-तद्-रूपेणावस्थितिर् गम्यते एव । अतएव भगवत्-पदाम्भोरुह- नावमात्र ते निधायेत्य् उक्तम् । तद् एताम् अपि परिपाटीं पश्चाद् विधायाह । [एन्द् स्स्.] गौतमीये च सद्-आचार-प्रसङ्गे - अहर्-निशं जपेन् मन्त्रं मन्त्री नियत-मानसः । स पश्यति (पगे ४१) न सन्देहो गोप-वेश-धरं हरिम् ॥ इति । श्री-गोपाल-तापनी-श्रुतिश् चैवम् - तदु होवाच ब्रह्मणोऽसाव् अन्वरतं मे ध्यातः स्तुतः परमेश्वरः परार्धान्ते सोऽबुध्यत । गोपवेशो मे पुरुषः पुरस्तादाविर्बभूव ॥ [ग्तु १.२९] इति सिद्ध-निर्देशोऽपि श्रूयते यथा वन्दे वृन्दावनासीनम् इन्दिरानन्द-मन्दिरम् [नार्प् १.१.१] इति बृहन्- नारदीयारम्भे मङ्गलाचरणम् । गृहं सन्तिष्ठते यस्य माहात्म्यं दैत्य-नायक । द्वारकायाः समुद्भूतं सान्निध्यं केशवस्य च । रुक्मिणी-सहितः कृष्णो नित्यं निवसते गृहे ॥ इति स्कान्दे द्वारका-माहात्म्ये बलिं प्रति श्री-प्रह्लाद-वाक्यम् । व्रतिनः कार्त्तिके मासि स्नातस्य विधिवन् मम । गृहाणार्घ्यं मया दत्तं दनुजेन्द्र-निषूदन ॥ [पद्मप् ६.९३.२४] इति पाद्म-कार्त्तिक-माहात्म्ये तत्-प्रातः-स्नानार्घ्य-मन्त्रः । एवं च श्रीमद्-अष्टादशाक्षरादयो मन्त्रास् तत्-तत्-परिकरादि- विशिष्टतयिवाराध्यत्वेन सिद्ध-निर्देशम् एव कुर्वन्ति । तद्-आवरणादि-पूजा- मन्त्राश् च । किं बहुना कर्म-विपाक-प्रायश्चित्त-शास्त्रेऽपि तया श्रूयते । यद् आह बोधायनः - होमस् तु पूर्ववत् कार्यो गोविन्द-प्रीतये ततः इत्य् आद्य् अनन्तरं ---- गोविन्द गोपीजन-वल्लभेश कंसासुरघ्न त्रिदशेन्द्र-वन्द्य । गोदान-तृप्तः कुरु मे दयालो अंशो-विनाशं क्षपितारि-वर्ग ॥ इति । अन्यत्र च यथा -- गोविन्द गोपीजन-वल्लभेश विध्वस्त-कंस त्रिदशेन्द्र-वन्द्य । गोवर्धनादि-प्रवरैक-हस्त संरक्षिताशेष-गव-प्रवीण ॥ गो-नेत्र-वेणु-क्षपण प्रभूतम् आन्ध्यं तथोग्रं तिमिरं क्षिपांशु ॥ इति । स्पष्टं च तथात्वं श्री-गोपाल-तापन्यां - गोविन्दं सच्-चिद्-आनन्द- विग्रहं वृन्दावन-सुर-भूरुह-तलासीनं सततं स-मरुद्-गणोऽहं तोषयामि [ग्तु १.३७] इति । अतएव पुरस्कृतोऽस्मि त्वद्-भक्त्या इत्य् एवोक्तम् इति । अलं चैवां-विध- प्रमाण-सङ्ग्रह-प्रपञ्चेन । यतश् चिच्-छक्त्य्-एक-व्यञ्जितानां तत्- परिच्छदादीनां अपि तथा नित्यावस्थितित्वेनाविर्भाव-तिरोभावाव् एव द्वितीय- सन्दर्भे साधितौ स्तः । सर्वथोत्पत्ति-नाशौ तु निषिद्धौ । ततस् तद्- अवताराणां किम् उत स्वयं भगवतो वा तस्य किम् उततराम् इति । यथा च व्याख्यातं जगृहे पौरुषं रूपम् इत्य् अत्र तत्त्व-वाद-गुरुभिः । व्यक्त्य्- अपेक्षया जगृहे । तथा च तन्त्र-भागवते - अहेयम् अनुपादेयं यद् रूपं नित्यम् अव्ययम् । स एवापेक्ष्य-रूपाणां व्यक्तिम् एव जनार्दनः ॥ अगृह्णाद् व्यसृजच् चेति राम-कृष्णादिकां तनुम् । पठ्यते भगवान् ईशो मूढ-बुद्धि-व्यपेक्षया ॥ तमसा ह्य् उपगूढस्य यत् तमः-पानम् ईशितुः । एतत् पुरुष-रूपस्य ग्रहणं समुदीर्यते ॥ कृष्ण-रामादि-रूपाणां लोके व्यक्ति-व्यपेक्षया ॥ इति । एवम् एव प्रथमे द्वादशाध्याये विधूय [भ्प् १.१२.११] इत्य्-आदि-पद्ये स्वामिभिर् अपि व्याख्यातम् - यत्र दृष्टस् तत्रैवान्तर्हितः न त्व् अन्यत्र गतः । यतो विभुः सर्व-गत इति । तथा माध्व-भाष्य-प्रमाणिता श्रुतिश् च वासुदेवः सङ्कर्षणः प्रद्युम्नोऽनिरुद्धोऽहं मत्स्यः कूर्मो वराहो नरसिंहो वामनो रामो रामो रामः कृष्णो बुद्धः कल्किर् अहं शतधाहं सहस्रधाहम् इतोऽहम् अनन्तोऽहं नैवैते जायन्ते नैते म्रियन्ते । नैषाम् अज्ञान-बन्धो न मुक्तिः सर्व एव ह्य् एते पूर्णा अजरा अमृताः परमा परमानन्दा इति चतुर्वेद-शिखायाम् । तथा च श्री-नृसिंह-पुराणे - युगे युगे विष्णुर् अनादि-मूर्तिम् आस्थाय विश्वं परिपाति दुष्टहा इति । तथा च नृसिंह-तापन्यां तद्-भाष्य-कृद्भिर् व्याख्यातम् - एतन् नृसिंह- विग्रहं नित्यम् इति । श्रुतिश् च सेयं ऋतं सत्यं परं ब्रह्म पुरुषं नृ- केशरि-विग्रहम् इति । एवं च ब्राह्म-पाद्मोत्तर-खण्डादाव् अपि श्री-मत्स्य- देवादीनां च पृथक् पृथग् वैकुण्ठादि-लोकाः श्रूयन्ते । एवम् एव जलेषु मां (पगे ४२) रक्षतु मत्स्य-मूर्तिर् इति नारायण-वर्माद्य्-उक्तम् अपि सङ्गच्छते । तस्मात् स्वयं भगवति श्री-कृष्णेऽप्य् अन्यथासम्भावनम् अनादि-पाप- विक्षेप एव हेतुः । तद् एवम् अभिप्रेत्य तान् दुर्बुद्धीन् अपि बोधयितुं तस्य स्वोपास्यत्वं प्रतिपादयन्न् आह पतिर् गतिश् चान्धक-वृष्णि-सात्वतां प्रसीदतां मे भगवान् सतां पतिः ॥ [भ्प् २.४.२०] इति । स्पष्टम् । ॥ २.४ ॥ श्री-शुकः ॥ ९३ ॥
[93] tad evaṃ śrī-kṛṣṇasya svayaṃ bhagavattve suṣṭhu nirdhārite nityam eva tad- rūpatvenāvasthitir api svayam eva siddhā | tathāpi manda-dhiyāṃ bhrānti- hānārtham idaṃ viviriyate | tatra tāvad ārādhanā-vākyenaiva sā sidhyati | ārādhyasyābhāve ārādhanānodanāyā vipralipsā-janyatvāpatteḥ | tac ca paramāpte śāstre na sambhavati | sambhave ca puruṣārthābhāvāt śāstrānarthakyam | Sarva-saṃvādinī - atha dvi-navatitama-vākyānantaraṃ nityatva-prakaraṇe ôśāstrānarthakyamö ity asyānantaram idaṃ vivecanīyam | nanu bālāturādy- upacchandana-vākyavat taj-jñāna-mātreṇāpi puruṣārtha-siddhir dṛśyate | tato nārthāntara-sad-bhāve tat-smāraka-vākyaṃ kāraṇam | kintu prathamatas tad- abhirucite tadānīm asaty api vastu-viśeṣe tadīya-hita-vastv-antara- cittāvatārāya bālādīn iva mātrādi-vākyaṃ sa-guṇa-viśeṣe sādhakān pravartayati śāstram | paścād yathā sva-hite krameṇa svayam eva pravartante bālādayas tathā balavac chāstrāntaraṃ dṛṣṭvā nirguṇe vā nitya-prākaṭya- vaikuṇṭha-nātha-lakṣaṇa-guṇe vā pravartasyanta iti | tan na | ananta-guṇa- rūpādi-vaibhava-nityāspadatvāt | tad-rūpeṇāvasthitir nāsambhaviteti | yad gataṃ bhavac ca bhaviṣyac ca [BAU 3.8.3] iti śruteḥ | sambhāvitāyāṃ tu tasyām avatāra-vākyaṃ cāvatārasya prapañca-gata-tadīya- prakāśa-mātra-lakṣaṇatvāt | nārāyaṇādīnāṃ ca tatraivāvatāre praveśa- mātra-vivakṣāto na virudhyate | kiṃ cottara-mīmāṃsāyāṃ tat-tad-upāsanā- śāstroktā yā yā mūrtis tadvatī eva devatā iti siddhānta-grahaḥ | tataś ca taṃ pīṭhagaṃ ye tu yajanti dhīrās teṣāṃ sukhaṃ śāśvataṃ netareṣām [GTU 1.20] ity ādikā gopāla-tāpany-upaniṣadi yenāyathārthā manyate tasya tu mahad eva sāhasam | atra ca śāśvata-sukha-phala-prāpti-śravaṇāt tat-pīṭhasya yajanaṃ vinā jñānam ayaṃ jñānāt mokṣa iti śruteḥ | tatraiva ghorā iti viśeṣaṇāt bālāturavad bhāvas teṣāṃ dūra evotsāritaḥ | netareṣām iti nirdhāraṇe tad-yajanasya paramparā-hetutvam api niṣidhyate | ataeva nāma brahmety upāsīta [ChāU 7.1.5] itivad atrāropo'pi na mantavyaḥ | tasmād ārādhana-vākyena tasya nityatvaṃ sidhyaty eva svādhyāyādiṣṭa-devatā- samprayoga iti smaraṇaṃ cātropaṣṭambhakam iti | [end Sarva-saṃvādinī] āropaś ca paricchinna-guṇa-rūpa eva vastuni kalpyate nānanta-guṇa-rūpe | śrī-svāmi-caraṇair apīdam eva puṣṭam ekādaśa-samāptau dhāraṇā-dhyāna- maṅgalam [BhP 11.31.6] ity atra dhāraṇāyā dhyānasya ca maṅgalaṃ śobhanaṃ viṣayam itarathā tayor nirviṣayatvam | dṛśyate cādyāpy upāsakānāṃ sākṣātkāras tat-phalas-prāptiś ceti bhāvaḥ | śrūyate caivaṃ pañcame navasu varṣeṣu tat-tad-avatāropāsanādi | yathoktaṃ - navasv api varṣeṣu bhagavān nārāyaṇo mahā-puruṣaḥ puruṣāṇāṃ tad-anugrahāyātma-tattva- vyūhenātmanādyāpi sannidhīyate | [BhP 5.17.14] iti | sannidhānaṃ cedaṃ sākṣād-rūpeṇa śrī-pradyumnādau gati-vilāsāder varṇitatvāt | tatra cātmanā svayam evety uktam | tathā nityatve eva śālagrāma-śilādiṣu narasiṃhatvādi-bhedaś ca saṃgacchate | tat-tad-avatāra- sānnidhyād eva hi tat-tad-bhedaḥ | tathā śrī-kṛṣṇam adhikṛtyāpi gītaṃ śrī- kṛṣṇa-sahasra-nāma-prārambhe śrī-viṣṇu-dharmottare -- tasya hṛṣṭāśayaḥ stutyā viṣṇur gopāṅganāvṛtaḥ | tāpiñcha-śyāmalaṃ rūpaṃ piñchottaṃsam adarśayat || iti | agre ca tad-vākyam - mām avehi mahābhāga kṛṣṇaṃ kṛtya-vidāṃ vara | puraskṛto'smi tvad-bhaktyā pūrṇāḥ santu manorathāḥ || iti | tathā pādme nirmāṇa-khaṇḍe - paśya tvaṃ darśayiṣyāmi svarūpaṃ veda- gopitam iti śrī-bhagavad-vākyānantaraṃ brahma-vākyam - tato'paśyam ahaṃ bhūpa bālaṃ kālāmbuda-prabham | gopa-kanyāvṛtaṃ gopaṃ hasantaṃ gopa-bālakaiḥ || kadamba-mūla āsīnaṃ pīta-vāsasam adbhutam | vanaṃ vṛndāvanaṃ nāma nava-pallava-maṇḍitam || ity ādi | trailokya-saṃmohana-tantre śrīmad-aṣṭādaśākṣara-japa-prasaṅge - ahar-niśaṃ japed yas tu mantrī niyata-mānasaḥ | sa paśyati na sandeho gopa-veśa-dharaṃ harim || iti | [Sarva-saṃvādinī: trailokya-saṃmohana-tantra-vacanānantaraṃ caivaṃ vyākhyeyam | yadi vā śrī-kṛṣṇādīnāṃ svayaṃ-bhagavattvādikam ananusandhāyaiva pralāpibhir upāsanānusāreṇānyadāpi kaścin mūla-bhūta- bhagavān tad-rūpeṇopāsakebhyo darśanaṃ dadātīti mantavyam | tathāpi śruty-ādi-prasiddhānāṃ tat-tad-upāsanā-pravāhāṇāṃ svayaṃ samuttīrya sudustaraṃ dyuman bhavārṇavaṃ bhīmam adabhra-sauhṛdāḥ | bhavat-padāmbhoruha-nāvam atra te nidhāya yātāḥ sad-anugraho bhavān || [BhP 10.2.31] ity anusāreṇāvicchinna-sampradāyatvenādi-siddhatvāt anantatvāt keṣāṃcit tac-caraṇāravindaika-sevā-mātra-puruṣārthānāṃ ye yathā māṃ prapadyante [Gītā 4.11] iti nyāyena nitya-tad-ekopalabdhatvāt śrī-bhagavataḥ sarvadaiva tat-tad-rūpeṇāvasthitir gamyate eva | ataeva bhagavat-padāmbhoruha- nāvamātra te nidhāyety uktam | tad etām api paripāṭīṃ paścād vidhāyāha | [end SS.] gautamīye ca sad-ācāra-prasaṅge - ahar-niśaṃ japen mantraṃ mantrī niyata-mānasaḥ | sa paśyati (page 41) na sandeho gopa-veśa-dharaṃ harim || iti | śrī-gopāla-tāpanī-śrutiś caivam - tadu hovāca brahmaṇo'sāv anvarataṃ me dhyātaḥ stutaḥ parameśvaraḥ parārdhānte so'budhyata | gopaveśo me puruṣaḥ purastādāvirbabhūva || [GTU 1.29] iti siddha-nirdeśo'pi śrūyate yathā vande vṛndāvanāsīnam indirānanda-mandiram [NārP 1.1.1] iti bṛhan- nāradīyārambhe maṅgalācaraṇam | gṛhaṃ santiṣṭhate yasya māhātmyaṃ daitya-nāyaka | dvārakāyāḥ samudbhūtaṃ sānnidhyaṃ keśavasya ca | rukmiṇī-sahitaḥ kṛṣṇo nityaṃ nivasate gṛhe || iti skānde dvārakā-māhātmye baliṃ prati śrī-prahlāda-vākyam | vratinaḥ kārttike māsi snātasya vidhivan mama | gṛhāṇārghyaṃ mayā dattaṃ danujendra-niṣūdana || [PadmaP 6.93.24] iti pādma-kārttika-māhātmye tat-prātaḥ-snānārghya-mantraḥ | evaṃ ca śrīmad-aṣṭādaśākṣarādayo mantrās tat-tat-parikarādi- viśiṣṭatayivārādhyatvena siddha-nirdeśam eva kurvanti | tad-āvaraṇādi-pūjā- mantrāś ca | kiṃ bahunā karma-vipāka-prāyaścitta-śāstre'pi tayā śrūyate | yad āha bodhāyanaḥ - homas tu pūrvavat kāryo govinda-prītaye tataḥ ity ādy anantaraṃ ---- govinda gopījana-vallabheśa kaṃsāsuraghna tridaśendra-vandya | godāna-tṛptaḥ kuru me dayālo aṃśo-vināśaṃ kṣapitāri-varga || iti | anyatra ca yathā -- govinda gopījana-vallabheśa vidhvasta-kaṃsa tridaśendra-vandya | govardhanādi-pravaraika-hasta saṃrakṣitāśeṣa-gava-pravīṇa || go-netra-veṇu-kṣapaṇa prabhūtam āndhyaṃ tathograṃ timiraṃ kṣipāṃśu || iti | spaṣṭaṃ ca tathātvaṃ śrī-gopāla-tāpanyāṃ - govindaṃ sac-cid-ānanda- vigrahaṃ vṛndāvana-sura-bhūruha-talāsīnaṃ satataṃ sa-marud-gaṇo'haṃ toṣayāmi [GTU 1.37] iti | ataeva puraskṛto'smi tvad-bhaktyā ity evoktam iti | alaṃ caivāṃ-vidha- pramāṇa-saṅgraha-prapañcena | yataś cic-chakty-eka-vyañjitānāṃ tat- paricchadādīnāṃ api tathā nityāvasthititvenāvirbhāva-tirobhāvāv eva dvitīya- sandarbhe sādhitau staḥ | sarvathotpatti-nāśau tu niṣiddhau | tatas tad- avatārāṇāṃ kim uta svayaṃ bhagavato vā tasya kim utatarām iti | yathā ca vyākhyātaṃ jagṛhe pauruṣaṃ rūpam ity atra tattva-vāda-gurubhiḥ | vyakty- apekṣayā jagṛhe | tathā ca tantra-bhāgavate - aheyam anupādeyaṃ yad rūpaṃ nityam avyayam | sa evāpekṣya-rūpāṇāṃ vyaktim eva janārdanaḥ || agṛhṇād vyasṛjac ceti rāma-kṛṣṇādikāṃ tanum | paṭhyate bhagavān īśo mūḍha-buddhi-vyapekṣayā || tamasā hy upagūḍhasya yat tamaḥ-pānam īśituḥ | etat puruṣa-rūpasya grahaṇaṃ samudīryate || kṛṣṇa-rāmādi-rūpāṇāṃ loke vyakti-vyapekṣayā || iti | evam eva prathame dvādaśādhyāye vidhūya [BhP 1.12.11] ity-ādi-padye svāmibhir api vyākhyātam - yatra dṛṣṭas tatraivāntarhitaḥ na tv anyatra gataḥ | yato vibhuḥ sarva-gata iti | tathā mādhva-bhāṣya-pramāṇitā śrutiś ca vāsudevaḥ saṅkarṣaṇaḥ pradyumno'niruddho'haṃ matsyaḥ kūrmo varāho narasiṃho vāmano rāmo rāmo rāmaḥ kṛṣṇo buddhaḥ kalkir ahaṃ śatadhāhaṃ sahasradhāham ito'ham ananto'haṃ naivaite jāyante naite mriyante | naiṣām ajñāna-bandho na muktiḥ sarva eva hy ete pūrṇā ajarā amṛtāḥ paramā paramānandā iti caturveda-śikhāyām | tathā ca śrī-nṛsiṃha-purāṇe - yuge yuge viṣṇur anādi-mūrtim āsthāya viśvaṃ paripāti duṣṭahā iti | tathā ca nṛsiṃha-tāpanyāṃ tad-bhāṣya-kṛdbhir vyākhyātam - etan nṛsiṃha- vigrahaṃ nityam iti | śrutiś ca seyaṃ ṛtaṃ satyaṃ paraṃ brahma puruṣaṃ nṛ- keśari-vigraham iti | evaṃ ca brāhma-pādmottara-khaṇḍādāv api śrī-matsya- devādīnāṃ ca pṛthak pṛthag vaikuṇṭhādi-lokāḥ śrūyante | evam eva jaleṣu māṃ (page 42) rakṣatu matsya-mūrtir iti nārāyaṇa-varmādy-uktam api saṅgacchate | tasmāt svayaṃ bhagavati śrī-kṛṣṇe'py anyathāsambhāvanam anādi-pāpa- vikṣepa eva hetuḥ | tad evam abhipretya tān durbuddhīn api bodhayituṃ tasya svopāsyatvaṃ pratipādayann āha patir gatiś cāndhaka-vṛṣṇi-sātvatāṃ prasīdatāṃ me bhagavān satāṃ patiḥ || [BhP 2.4.20] iti | spaṣṭam | || 2.4 || śrī-śukaḥ || 93 ||
English translation
English witness · section(s) 98
Anuccheda 98
1 Someone may raise the following objection: Is not this four-handed form of Visnu the original, eternal form of the Personality of Godhead, and the two-handed form of Sri Krsna only a temporary expansion from that four-handed form? This is certainly confirmed by these words spoken by Devaki after the Lord appeared as her son in His four-armed Visnu-form (Srimad Bhagavatam 10.3.28): “My Lord, because You dispel all the fear of Your devotees, I request You to save us and give us protection from the terrible fear of Kamsa. Your form as Visnu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is appreciated by yogis in meditation. Please make this form invisible to those who see with material eyes.”* 2 That Lord Visnu is the original Personality of Godhead is also confirmed in the following words spoken by the Lord to mother Devaki (Srimad Bhagavatam 10.3.44): “I have shown you this form of Visnu just to remind you of My previous births. Otherwise, If I appeared like an ordinary human child, you would not believe that the Personality of Godhead, Visnu, has indeed appeared.”* 3 By the following verse (Srimad Bhagavatam 10.3.46) we may also see that Lord Visnu is the original Personality of Godhead, and Lord Krsna is expanded from Him: “After thus instructing His father and mother, the Supreme Personality of Godhead remained silent. In their presence, by His internal energy, He then transformed Himself into a small human child.”* 4 From this verse of Srimad Bhagavatam it appears that transcendental Lord Visnu accepted the form of Krsna, a temporary and material (prakrtah sisuh) form. The argument that the form of Krsna is temporary and material is supported by the following statements from Srimad Bhagavatam: “After His pastimes on earth were completed, the Lord gave up the form of Krsna and assumed His original form.” 3.4.28 “The Supreme Lord then gave up the form of Krsna.” 5 That the Original Personality of Godhead is Lord Visnu, who assumes the temporary material form of Krsna, is substantiated in the following verses of Srimad Bhagavatam *1.15.34-35): “The supreme unborn Lord caused the members of the Yadu dynasty to relinquish their bodies, and thus He relieved the burden of the world. This action was like picking out a thorn with a thorn, though both are the same to the controller.* 6 “The Supreme Lord relinquished the body which He manifested to diminish the burden of the earth. Just like a magician, He relinquishes one body to accept different ones, like the fish incarnation and others.”* 7 That the Supreme Personality of Godhead accepts the temporary and material form of Krsna may also be substantiated by quoting the following prayer spoken to Krsna by Maharaja Vasudeva (Srimad Bhagavatam 10.85.20): “My dear Lord, at the very moment when You first appeared in Kamsa’s prison house, I was informed that You were the Supreme Personality of Godhead and that You descended for the protection of the principles of religion as well as the destruction of the unfaithful. Although unborn, You descend in every millennium to execute Your mission. My dear Lord, as in the sky there are many forms appearing and disappearing, so You also appear and disappear in many forms. Who, therefore, can understand Your pastimes or the mystery of Your appearance and disappearance? Our only business should be to glorify Your supreme greatness.”* 8 Although these verses seem to support the view that the Supreme Godhead assumes various forms, and all these forms (including the form of Krsna) are temporary, when properly understood these verses do not at all support such a view. The actual fact is that the Supreme Personality of Godhead has a form which may sometimes manifest four-hands and then again appear as two-handed. When the Lord appear on this earth, both of these four-handed and two-handed features appeared equally powerful in the matter of killing the demons and removing the burden of the earth. If one accepts this verse (Srimad Bhagavatam 10.85.20, quoted in the previous text) to mean that the form of Krsna is a temporary manifestation, then one must accept that the four-handed form of Lord Visnu is also a temporary manifestation, for both two-handed and four-handed forms are clearly described to be equally powerful. This is not an acceptable conclusion, for the four-handed form of Lord Visnu is described as eternal throughout all the Vedic literatures. The revelation of the Vedic literatures is the most reliable source of knowledge, and throughout the Vedic literatures the forms of the Lord, and specifically the form of Sri Krsna, are described as eternal. This scriptural evidence has been elaborately presented in the second (Bhagavat) sandarbha, and therefore we will not repeat the evidence previously presented, evidence that described the direct appearance of Lord Krsna before His devotees and proved the eternality of the form of Sri Krsna. For example, the following verse, spoken by Visvarupa to Maharaja Indra long before Lord Krsna appeared in the material world, and clearly describing the form of Lord Krsna, may be taken as conclusive scriptural evidence for the eternality of the form of Krsna: “May Lord Kesava protect me with His club in the first portion of the day, and may Lord Govinda, who is always engaged in playing His flute, protect me in the second portion of the day.”* 9 The following verses (Srimad Bhagavatam 10.38.7-8), which describe the worship of Lord Krsna in ancient times, are further evidence for the eternality of the forms of Sri Krsna: “Akrura reflected: I am very much favoured by Kamsa, who is sending me to bring Krsna and Balarama, and thus enabling me to see the Lord. Formerly great sages and saintly persons became liberated from the material world simply by seeing the shining nails of the lotus feet of Krsna.* 10 “I shall soon see Lord Krsna’s lotus feet, which are worshipped by great demigods like Brahma, Narada, and Lord Siva, which traverse the ground of Vrndavana while herding the cows with the gopas, and which touch the breasts of the gopis, covered with tinges of kunkuma.”* 12 In these verses the word ‘purve’ (formerly great sages and saintly persons became liberated from the material world simply by seeing the shining nails of the lotus feet of Krsna), and ‘go-caranaya’ (I shall soon see Lord Krsna’s lotus feet, which are worshipped by great demigods like Brahma, Narada, and Lord Siva, and which traverse the ground of Vrndavana while herding the cows with the gopas) clearly indicate the eternality of the form of Lord Krsna.
Kṛṣṇa · Sanskrit §94 · English §99
Source[९४] तथा - देवे वर्षति यज्ञ-विप्लव-रुषा इत्य्-आदौ प्रीयान् न इन्द्रो गवाम् [भ्प् १०.२६.२५] इति । स्पष्टम् । ॥ १०.२६ ॥ श्री-शुकः ॥ ९४ ॥
[94] tathā - deve varṣati yajña-viplava-ruṣā ity-ādau prīyān na indro gavām [BhP 10.26.25] iti | spaṣṭam | || 10.26 || śrī-śukaḥ || 94 ||
English translation
English witness · section(s) 99
Anuccheda 99
1 The eternality of the form of Sri Krsna is described in the same way in the following verse (Srimad Bhagavatam 10.47.62): “The gopis relieved themselves of all kinds of material contamination by placing on their high, beautiful breasts the lotus feet of Krsna, which are not only eternally worshipped by the goddess of fortune, but by such exalted demigods as Brahma and Lord Siva, and which are eternally meditated upon by great yogis within their hearts.”* 2 In this verse the word ‘sada’ (continuously) means that Laksmi and others worship Krsna eternally in all phases of time: past, present, and future. In other words: because the demigods eternally worship Lord Krsna, therefore Lord Krsna must be eternal. Someone may say that the form of Krsna is temporarily manifested, and during the time of His manifestation the demigods continuously worship Him. This argument is simply jugglery of words to create a different meaning our of the clear statement of this verse. We do not take it very seriously, for it contradicts the Vedic description of the eternal nature of the Personality of Godhead. 3 The eternality of the form of Sri Krsna is described in many Vedic literatures. For example, in the Gopala-tapani Upanisad Lord Brahma (1.38) explains: “With eloquent prayers I and the Maruts please Lord Govinda, whose form is eternal and full of knowledge and bliss, who stays in Vrndavana and who is this five-word mantra.”
Kṛṣṇa · Sanskrit §95 · English §100
Source[९५] तथा - श्री-कृष्ण कृष्ण-सख वृष्ण्य्-ऋषभावनि-ध्रुग्- राजन्य-वंश-दहनानपवर्ग-वीर्य । गोविन्द गोप-वनिता-व्रज-भृत्य-गीत- तीर्थ-श्रवः श्रवण-मङ्गल पाहि भृत्यान् ॥ [भ्प् १२.११.२५] स्पष्टम् ॥ १२.११ ॥ श्री-सूतः ॥ ९५ ॥
[95] tathā - śrī-kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa-sakha vṛṣṇy-ṛṣabhāvani-dhrug- rājanya-vaṃśa-dahanānapavarga-vīrya | govinda gopa-vanitā-vraja-bhṛtya-gīta- tīrtha-śravaḥ śravaṇa-maṅgala pāhi bhṛtyān || [BhP 12.11.25] spaṣṭam || 12.11 || śrī-sūtaḥ || 95 ||
English translation
English witness · section(s) 100
Anuccheda 100
The eternality of the form of Sri Krsna is also confirmed by Sukadeva Gosvami in the following verse from Srimad Bhagavatam (10.12.12): “Yogis may undergo severe austerities and penances for many births by practicing yama, niyama, asana and pranayama, none of which are easily performed. Yet in due course of time, when these yogis attain the perfection of controlling the mind, they will still be unable to taste even a particle of dust from the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. What then can we describe about the great fortune of the inhabitants of Vrajabhumi, Vrndavana, with whom the Supreme Personality of Godhead personally lived and who saw the Lord face to face?”* In this verse the word ‘svayam’ (personally) indicates that Sri Krsna is the Original personality of Godhead. For this reason it should be accepted that His form is eternal, and not simply manifested for a short time to serve a particular purpose.
Kṛṣṇa · Sanskrit §96 · English §101
Source[९६] अपि च स्वयम् एव स्व-विग्रहम् एव लक्ष्यीकृत्याह -- तदा वां परितुष्टो ऽहम् अमुना वपुषानघे । तपसा श्रद्धया नित्यं भक्त्या च हृदि भावितः ॥ प्रादुरासं वरद-राड् युवयोः काम-दित्सया । व्रियतां वर इत्य् उक्ते मादृशो वां वृतः सुतः ॥ [भ्प् १०.३.३७-३८] इत्य् उपक्रम्य - अदृष्ट्वान्यतमं लोके शीलौदार्य-गुणैः समम् । अहं सुतो वाम् अभवं पृश्निगर्भ इति श्रुतः ॥ तयोर् वां पुनर् एवाहम् अदित्याम् आस कश्यपात् । उपेन्द्र इति विख्यातो वामनत्वाच् च वामनः ॥ तृतीये ऽस्मिन् भवे ऽहं वै तेनैव वपुषाथ वाम् । जातो भूयस् तयोर् एव सत्यं मे व्याहृतं सति ॥ [भ्प् १०.३.४१-४३] अमुना श्री-कृष्णस्य मम प्रादुर्भाव-समयेऽत्र प्रकाशमानेनैतेन श्री-कृष्णाख्येनैव । तृतीय इति तेनैव पूर्वं वरार्थं प्रादुर्भावितेनैव । अतएव पृश्निगर्भादित्वे तेनैव वपुषेत्य् उक्तत्वान् न तु तदानीम् अधुनेव स्वयम् एव बभूव किन्त्व् अंशेनैवेति गम्यते । पृश्निगर्भस् तु ते बुद्धिम् आत्मानं भगवान् परः [भ्प् १०.६.१२] इत्य् अत्राप्य् एतद् एव गीर्-देव्या सूचितम् अस्ति । अतएव तृतीय एव भवे तत्-सदृश-सुत-प्राप्ति-लक्षण-वरस्य परम- पूर्णत्वापेक्षया तत्रैव सत्यं मे व्याहृतम् इत्य् उक्तं चतुर्भुजत्वं चेदं रूपं श्री-कृष्ण एव । कृष्णावतारोत्सवः [भ्प् १०.३.११] इत्य्-आदिभिस् तस्यात्यन्त- प्रसिद्धेः ॥ ॥ १०.३ ॥ श्री-भगवान् देवकी-देवीम् ॥ ९६ ॥
[96] api ca svayam eva sva-vigraham eva lakṣyīkṛtyāha -- tadā vāṃ parituṣṭo 'ham amunā vapuṣānaghe | tapasā śraddhayā nityaṃ bhaktyā ca hṛdi bhāvitaḥ || prādurāsaṃ varada-rāḍ yuvayoḥ kāma-ditsayā | vriyatāṃ vara ity ukte mādṛśo vāṃ vṛtaḥ sutaḥ || [BhP 10.3.37-38] ity upakramya - adṛṣṭvānyatamaṃ loke śīlaudārya-guṇaiḥ samam | ahaṃ suto vām abhavaṃ pṛśnigarbha iti śrutaḥ || tayor vāṃ punar evāham adityām āsa kaśyapāt | upendra iti vikhyāto vāmanatvāc ca vāmanaḥ || tṛtīye 'smin bhave 'haṃ vai tenaiva vapuṣātha vām | jāto bhūyas tayor eva satyaṃ me vyāhṛtaṃ sati || [BhP 10.3.41-43] amunā śrī-kṛṣṇasya mama prādurbhāva-samaye'tra prakāśamānenaitena śrī-kṛṣṇākhyenaiva | tṛtīya iti tenaiva pūrvaṃ varārthaṃ prādurbhāvitenaiva | ataeva pṛśnigarbhāditve tenaiva vapuṣety uktatvān na tu tadānīm adhuneva svayam eva babhūva kintv aṃśenaiveti gamyate | pṛśnigarbhas tu te buddhim ātmānaṃ bhagavān paraḥ [BhP 10.6.12] ity atrāpy etad eva gīr-devyā sūcitam asti | ataeva tṛtīya eva bhave tat-sadṛśa-suta-prāpti-lakṣaṇa-varasya parama- pūrṇatvāpekṣayā tatraiva satyaṃ me vyāhṛtam ity uktaṃ caturbhujatvaṃ cedaṃ rūpaṃ śrī-kṛṣṇa eva | kṛṣṇāvatārotsavaḥ [BhP 10.3.11] ity-ādibhis tasyātyanta- prasiddheḥ || || 10.3 || śrī-bhagavān devakī-devīm || 96 ||
English translation
English witness · section(s) 101
Anuccheda 101
1 That Sri Krsna is the Original Personality of Godhead, self-perfect, and full of all opulences is confirmed in the following words spoken by the women of Mathura among themselves (Srimad Bhagavatam 10.44.14): “What austerities must the gopis have performed? With their eyes they always drink the nectar of the face of Lord Krsna, which is the essence of loveliness and is not to be equalled or surpassed. That loveliness is the only abode of beauty, fame and opulence. It is self-perfect, ever fresh and extremely rare.”* The word ‘ananya-siddham” (self-perfect) in this verse indicates that Sri Krsna is perfect by nature. He does not require anyone else to award Him perfection. If someone wants to divide the words ‘an-anyasiddham’ (without other perfections), his interpretation is useless, for it is contradicted in this very verse by the word ‘asamordhvam’ (not equalled or surpassed).
Kṛṣṇa · Sanskrit §97 · English §102
Source[९७] एवं च देवक्यां देव-रूपिण्याम् [भ्प् १०.३.८] इत्य् आदि । स्पष्टम् । ॥ १०.३ ॥ श्री-शुकः ॥ ९७ ॥
[97] evaṃ ca devakyāṃ deva-rūpiṇyām [BhP 10.3.8] ity ādi | spaṣṭam | || 10.3 || śrī-śukaḥ || 97 ||
English translation
English witness · section(s) 102
Anuccheda 102
1 That Sri Krsna is all-pervading is confirmed in Srimad Bhagavatam (10.9.13): “Lord Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, has no beginning and no end, no exterior and no interior, no front and no rear. In other words, He is all-pervading. Because He is not under the influence of the element of time, for Him there is no difference between past, present and future; He exists in His own transcendental form at all times. Being Absolute, beyond relativity, He is free from distinctions between cause and effect, although He is the cause and effect of everything. That unmanifested person, who is beyond the perception of the senses, had now appeared as a human child, and mother Yasoda, considering Him her own ordinary child, bound Him to the wooden mortar with a rope.”* That the form of Sri Krsna is not material is confirmed in the following words spoken by Rukmini-devi to Lord Krsna (Srimad Bhagavatam 10.60.45): “A man within this material world is just a dead body. In fact, superficially, the living entity is covered by this body, which is nothing but a bag of skin decorated with beards and moustaches, hairs on the body, nails on the fingers and hairs on the head. Within this decorated bag there are bunches of muscles, bundles of bones, and pools of blood, always mixed up with stool, urine, mucus, bile, and polluted air, and enjoyed by different kinds of insects and germs. A foolish woman accepts such a dead body as her husband, and, in sheer misunderstanding, loves him as her dear companion. This is only possible because such a woman has never tasted the ever-blissful flavour of Your lotus feet.”* The meaning of this verse is clear. 2 That Krsna’s form is spiritual and not composed of material elements is confirmed in the following prayer spoken by Lord Brahma (Srimad Bhagavatam 10.14.2): “My dear Lord Krsna, people may say that I am the master of all Vedic knowledge, and I am supposed to be the creator of this universe, but it has been proved now that I cannot understand Your personality, even though You are present before me just like a child. You are playing with Your boyfriends, calves, and cows, which might imply that You do not even have sufficient education. You are appearing just like a village boy, carrying Your food in Your hand and searching for Your calves. And yet there is so much difference between Your body and mine that I cannot estimate the potency of Your body. Your body is not material.”* 3 The form of Sri Krsna is described in the following prayer spoken by Lord Brahma (Srimad Bhagavatam 10.14.1): “My dear Lord, You are the only worshipful Supreme Lord, Personality of Godhead; therefore I am offering my humble obeisances and prayers just to please You. Your bodily features are of the colour of clouds filled with water. You are glittering with a silver electric aura emanating from Your yellow garments. “Let me offer my respectful repeated obeisances unto the son of Maharaja Nanda who is standing before me with conchshell, earrings, and peacock feather on His head. His face is beautiful; He is wearing a helmet, garlanded by forest flowers, and He stands with a morsel of food in His hand. He is decorated with cane and bugle, and He carries a buffalo horn and flute. He stands before me with small lotus feet.”* Shortly before speaking this verse, Brahma had directly seen that all the cowherd boys and calves were expansions of Krsna, and they all had manifested four-handed forms of Lord Narayana. In this way Krsna revealed that He is the original source of all visnu-tattva expansions. Brahma states that he is able to directly see Krsna and know something of His glories because of Krsna’s mercy upon him (mad-anugrahasya). Brahma also says that no one is able to understand the full extent of the transcendental happiness experienced by Krsna (kim utatma-sukhanubhuteh).
Kṛṣṇa · Sanskrit §98 · English §103
Source[९८] ननु सत्यं तस्य चतुर्भुजाकार-रूपस्य तादृशत्वं किन्तु रूपं चेदं पौरुषं ध्यान-धिष्ण्यं मा प्रत्यक्षं मांस-दृशां भो कृषीष्ठाः [भ्प् १०.३.२८] इति मातृ-विज्ञापनानुसारेण । एतद् वां दर्शितं रूपं प्राग्-जन्म-स्मरणाय मे । नान्यथा मद्-भवं ज्ञानं मर्त्य-लिङ्गेन जायते ॥ [भ्प् १०.३.४४] इति प्रत्युत्तरय्य - इत्य् उक्त्वासीद् धरिस् तूष्णीं भगवान् आत्म-मायया । पित्रोः सम्पश्यतोः सद्यो बभूव प्राकृतः शिशुः ॥ [भ्प् १०.३.४६] इत्य् उक्त-दिशा यन्-मानुषाकार-रूपं स्वीकृतवान् तत्र सन्दिग्धम् इव भाति । अत्र च भवतु वा हरिर् अपि तत्याज आकृतिं त्र्य्-अधीश इति [भ्प् ३.४.२८] त्यक्षन् देहम् इति [भ्प् ३.४.२९] च तन्त्र-भागवतानुसारेणान्तर्धापनार्थत्वाद् असहायम् । ययाहरद् भुवो भारं तां तनुं विजहाव् अजः । कण्टकं कण्टकेनेव द्वयं चापीशितुः समम् ॥ यथा मत्स्यादि-रूपाणि धत्ते जह्याद् यथा नटः । (पगे ४३) भू-भारः क्षपितो येन जहौ तच् च कलेवरम् ॥ [भ्प् १.१५.३४-३५] इति तु परिपोषकम् । एतद् एव श्री-वसुदेव-वचनेऽपि लभ्यते - सूती-गृहे ननु जगाद भवान् अजो नौ सञ्जज्ञ इत्य् अनु-युगं निज-धर्म-गुप्त्यै । नाना-तनूर् गगन-वद् विदधज् जहासि को वेद भूम्न उरु-गाय विभूति-मायाम् ॥ [भ्प् १०.८५.२०] अत्रोच्यते तत्-तद्-वचनम् अन्यार्थत्वेन दृश्यम् इति । एकस्मिन्न् एव तस्मिन् श्री- विग्रहे कदाचित् चतुर्भुजत्वस्य कदाचिद् द्विभुजत्वस्य च प्रकाश- श्रवणेनाविशेषापाताद् भू-भार-क्षपणे द्वयोर् अपि सामान्यात् । सूती-गृहे इत्य् आदि-वाक्यस्य चतुर्भुज-विषयत्वाच् च । किं च यैर् विद्वद्-अनुभव-सेवित- शब्द-सिद्धैर् नित्यत्वादिभिर् धर्मैः श्री-विग्रहस्य परम-तत्त्वाकारत्वं साधितम् । ते प्रायशो नराकारम् अधिकृत्यैव ह्य् उदाह्रियन्ते स्म द्वितीय- सन्दर्भे । तथात्रैव चोपासकेषु साक्षात्कारादि-लिङ्गेन सिद्ध-निर्देशेन च तद्-आकारस्यापि नित्य-सिद्धत्वं दृढीकृतम् । उदाहरिष्यते च सिद्ध- निर्देशः - मां केशवो गदया प्रातर् अव्याद् गोविन्द आसङ्गव मात्त-वेणुः [भ्प् ८.९.२०] इति । संप्रत्य् अन्यद् अपि तत्रोदाह्रियते । तत्र नित्यत्वं यथा -- कंसो बताद्याकृत मे ऽत्य्-अनुग्रहं द्रक्ष्ये ऽङ्घ्रि-पद्मं प्रहितो ऽमुना हरेः । कृतावतारस्य दुरत्ययं तमः पूर्वे ऽतरन् यन्-नख-मण्डल-त्विषा ॥ यद् अर्चितं ब्रह्म-भवादिभिः सुरैः श्रिया च देव्या मुनिभिः स-सात्वतैः । गो-चारणायानुचरैश् चरद् वने यद् गोपिकानां कुच-कुङ्कुमाङ्कितम् ॥ [भ्प् १०.३८.७-८] अत्र पूर्व इत्य् आदि-द्योतितं गो-चारणाय इत्य्-आदि-लब्धस्य स्फुटं श्री- नराकारस्यैव नित्यावस्थायित्वं लभ्यते ॥ ॥ १०.३८ ॥ श्रीमद्-अक्रूरः ॥ ९८ ॥
[98] nanu satyaṃ tasya caturbhujākāra-rūpasya tādṛśatvaṃ kintu rūpaṃ cedaṃ pauruṣaṃ dhyāna-dhiṣṇyaṃ mā pratyakṣaṃ māṃsa-dṛśāṃ bho kṛṣīṣṭhāḥ [BhP 10.3.28] iti mātṛ-vijñāpanānusāreṇa | etad vāṃ darśitaṃ rūpaṃ prāg-janma-smaraṇāya me | nānyathā mad-bhavaṃ jñānaṃ martya-liṅgena jāyate || [BhP 10.3.44] iti pratyuttarayya - ity uktvāsīd dharis tūṣṇīṃ bhagavān ātma-māyayā | pitroḥ sampaśyatoḥ sadyo babhūva prākṛtaḥ śiśuḥ || [BhP 10.3.46] ity ukta-diśā yan-mānuṣākāra-rūpaṃ svīkṛtavān tatra sandigdham iva bhāti | atra ca bhavatu vā harir api tatyāja ākṛtiṃ try-adhīśa iti [BhP 3.4.28] tyakṣan deham iti [BhP 3.4.29] ca tantra-bhāgavatānusāreṇāntardhāpanārthatvād asahāyam | yayāharad bhuvo bhāraṃ tāṃ tanuṃ vijahāv ajaḥ | kaṇṭakaṃ kaṇṭakeneva dvayaṃ cāpīśituḥ samam || yathā matsyādi-rūpāṇi dhatte jahyād yathā naṭaḥ | (page 43) bhū-bhāraḥ kṣapito yena jahau tac ca kalevaram || [BhP 1.15.34-35] iti tu paripoṣakam | etad eva śrī-vasudeva-vacane'pi labhyate - sūtī-gṛhe nanu jagāda bhavān ajo nau sañjajña ity anu-yugaṃ nija-dharma-guptyai | nānā-tanūr gagana-vad vidadhaj jahāsi ko veda bhūmna uru-gāya vibhūti-māyām || [BhP 10.85.20] atrocyate tat-tad-vacanam anyārthatvena dṛśyam iti | ekasminn eva tasmin śrī- vigrahe kadācit caturbhujatvasya kadācid dvibhujatvasya ca prakāśa- śravaṇenāviśeṣāpātād bhū-bhāra-kṣapaṇe dvayor api sāmānyāt | sūtī-gṛhe ity ādi-vākyasya caturbhuja-viṣayatvāc ca | kiṃ ca yair vidvad-anubhava-sevita- śabda-siddhair nityatvādibhir dharmaiḥ śrī-vigrahasya parama-tattvākāratvaṃ sādhitam | te prāyaśo narākāram adhikṛtyaiva hy udāhriyante sma dvitīya- sandarbhe | tathātraiva copāsakeṣu sākṣātkārādi-liṅgena siddha-nirdeśena ca tad-ākārasyāpi nitya-siddhatvaṃ dṛḍhīkṛtam | udāhariṣyate ca siddha- nirdeśaḥ - māṃ keśavo gadayā prātar avyād govinda āsaṅgava mātta-veṇuḥ [BhP 8.9.20] iti | saṃpraty anyad api tatrodāhriyate | tatra nityatvaṃ yathā -- kaṃso batādyākṛta me 'ty-anugrahaṃ drakṣye 'ṅghri-padmaṃ prahito 'munā hareḥ | kṛtāvatārasya duratyayaṃ tamaḥ pūrve 'taran yan-nakha-maṇḍala-tviṣā || yad arcitaṃ brahma-bhavādibhiḥ suraiḥ śriyā ca devyā munibhiḥ sa-sātvataiḥ | go-cāraṇāyānucaraiś carad vane yad gopikānāṃ kuca-kuṅkumāṅkitam || [BhP 10.38.7-8] atra pūrva ity ādi-dyotitaṃ go-cāraṇāya ity-ādi-labdhasya sphuṭaṃ śrī- narākārasyaiva nityāvasthāyitvaṃ labhyate || || 10.38 || śrīmad-akrūraḥ || 98 ||
English translation
English witness · section(s) 103
Anuccheda 103
The argument (“If even the demons attain salvation by the mercy of Krsna, then what is to be said of the devotees”) presented by Sukadeva Gosvami in the following verse (Srimad Bhagavatam 10.12.39) also indicates that the form of Krsna is the original aspect of the Personality of Godhead: “If even only once or even by force one brings the form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead into one’s mind, one can attain the supreme salvation by the mercy of Krsna, as did Aghasura. What then is to be said of those whose hearts the Supreme Personality of Godhead enters when He appears as an incarnation, or those who always think of the lotus feet of the Lord, who is the source of transcendental bliss for all living entities and by whom all illusion is completely removed?”*
Kṛṣṇa · Sanskrit §99 · English §104
Source[९९] तथा - या वै श्रियार्चितम् अजादिभिर् आप्त-कामैर् योगेश्वरैर् अपि यद् आत्मनि रास-गोष्ठ्याम् । कृष्णस्य तद् भगवतश् चरणारविन्दं न्यस्तं स्तनेषु विजहुः परिरभ्य तापम् ॥ [भ्प् १०.४७.६२] सदा भूत-वर्तमान-भविष्यत्-कालेषु श्र्य्-आदीनां सर्वदावस्थायित्वेन प्रसिद्धेः । सदेत्य् अस्य तथैव ह्य् अर्थ-प्रतीतिः । सङ्कोच-वृत्तौ कष्टतापत्तेः । श्री-भगवति तादृशत्वासम्भवाच् च । तथा च श्रुतौ - गोविन्दं सच्-चिद्-आनन्द-विग्रहं वृन्दावन-सुर-भू-रुह-तलासीनं सततं स-मरुद्-गणोऽहं तोषयामि [ग्तु १.३७] इति ब्रह्म-वाक्यम् । [वृ. रेअद्स् हेरे:। तद्-उत्तर-तापनी-श्रुतौ श्री-गोपीः प्रति दुर्वाससो वाक्यम् - जन्म-जराभ्यां भिन्नः स्थानुर् अयम् अच्छेद्योऽयं योऽसौ सौर्ये तिष्ठति । योऽसौ गोषु तिष्ठति, योऽसौ गाः पालयति, योऽसौ गोपेषु तिष्ठति स वो हि स्वामी भवति ॥ [ग्तु २.२३] इति । [एन्द् वृ. अद्दितिओन्.] ॥ १०.४७ ॥ श्रीमद्-उद्धवः ॥ ९९ ॥
[99] tathā - yā vai śriyārcitam ajādibhir āpta-kāmair yogeśvarair api yad ātmani rāsa-goṣṭhyām | kṛṣṇasya tad bhagavataś caraṇāravindaṃ nyastaṃ staneṣu vijahuḥ parirabhya tāpam || [BhP 10.47.62] sadā bhūta-vartamāna-bhaviṣyat-kāleṣu śry-ādīnāṃ sarvadāvasthāyitvena prasiddheḥ | sadety asya tathaiva hy artha-pratītiḥ | saṅkoca-vṛttau kaṣṭatāpatteḥ | śrī-bhagavati tādṛśatvāsambhavāc ca | tathā ca śrutau - govindaṃ sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaṃ vṛndāvana-sura-bhū-ruha-talāsīnaṃ satataṃ sa-marud-gaṇo'haṃ toṣayāmi [GTU 1.37] iti brahma-vākyam | [Vṛ. reads here:| tad-uttara-tāpanī-śrutau śrī-gopīḥ prati durvāsaso vākyam - janma-jarābhyāṃ bhinnaḥ sthānur ayam acchedyo'yaṃ yo'sau saurye tiṣṭhati | yo'sau goṣu tiṣṭhati, yo'sau gāḥ pālayati, yo'sau gopeṣu tiṣṭhati sa vo hi svāmī bhavati || [GTU 2.23] iti | [end Vṛ. addition.] || 10.47 || śrīmad-uddhavaḥ || 99 ||
English translation
English witness · section(s) 104
Anuccheda 104
1 The revelation that Sri Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead is found in the following verses from Srimad Bhagavatam and other Vedic literatures: “My dear Lord Krsna, leaving aside all other things and just considering today’s happenings - what I have seen - are they not all due to Your inconceivable energies? First of all I saw You alone; thereafter You expanded Yourself as Your friends, the calves and all the existence of Vrndavana; then I saw You and all the boys as four-handed Visnus, and They were being worshipped by all elements and all demigods, including myself. Again They were all wound up, and You remained alone as You were before me. Does this not mean that You are the Supreme Lord Narayana, the origin of everything, and from You everything emanates, and again everything enters unto You, and You remain the same as before?”* Srimad Bhagavatam 10.14.18 2 “How greatly fortunate are Nanda Maharaja, the cowherd men and all the inhabitants of Vrajabhumi! There is no limit to their fortune because the Absolute Truth, the source of transcendental bliss, the eternal Supreme Brahman, has become their friend.”* Srimad Bhagavatam 10.14.32 3 “The Supreme Godhead is Sri Krsna, whose form resembles that of a human being, and who is very difficult to understand.” Srimad Bhagavatam 7.15.75 4 “The Supreme Godhead, who has a humanlike form, and whose name is Sri Krsna, descended to this material world, appearing in the dynasty of Maharaja Yadu. For this reason, simply by hearing about the activities of the great souls who appeared in Maharaja Yadu’s family, one can become delivered from all sinful reactions.” Visnu Purana 4.11.2 5 “The form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead resembles that of a human being.” Brhat-sahasrama-nama-stotra 6 These verses confirm that the primary feature of Sri Krsna is His two-handed humanlike form, although He may also manifest His humanlike form in an only-slightly-changed four-armed feature. This four-armed feature of the humanlike form of Krsna is described by Arjuna, who desired to see it and who spoke the following request (Bhagavad-gita 11.46): “O universal Lord, I wish to see You in Your four-armed form, with helmeted head and with club, wheel, conch, and lotus flower in Your hands. I long to see you in that form.”* Arjuna was very pleased to see Lord Krsna’s original humanlike form. He said (Bhagavad-gita 11.51): “Seeing this humanlike form, so very beautiful, my mind is now pacified, and I am restored to my original nature.”* Let us now examine some of the many scriptural passages that describes the humanlike form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. 7 Speaking to Maharaja Nanda and Mother Yasoda, Uddhava said (Srimad Bhagavatam 10.46.33); “My dear Yasoda and Nanda Maharaja, you are always absorbed in ecstatic thoughts of Krsna and Balarama, who, although their transcendental forms resemble those of ordinary human beings, are actually Lord Narayana, the Personality of Godhead who is the cause of all causes. Because you are always absorbed in ecstatic love for Them, what activity remains to be performed by you?”* 8 The humanlike form of Sri Krsna is the ultimate cause of all rasas, or relationships. This is confirmed in the following verse from Srimad Bhagavatam 10.43.17: “When Krsna entered the wrestling arena with Balarama and Their friends, he appeared differently to different people according to their different relationships (rasas) with Him. Krsna is the reservoir of all pleasure and all kinds of rasas, both favourable and unfavourable. He appeared to the wrestlers exactly like a thunderbolt. To the people in general He appeared as the most beautiful personality. To the females He appeared to be the most attractive male, Cupid personified, and thus increased their lust. The cowherd men who were present there looked upon Krsna as their own kinsman, coming from the same village of Vrndavana. The ksatriya kings who were present saw Him as the strongest ruler. To the parents of Krsna, Nanda and Yasoda, He appeared to be the most loving child. To Kamsa, the king of the Bhoja dynasty, He appeared to be death personified. To the unintelligent, He appeared to be an incapable personality. To the yogis present, He appeared to be the Supersoul. To the members of the Vrsni dynasty He appeared to be the most celebrated descendant. Thus appreciated differently by different kinds of men present, Krsna entered the wrestling arena with Balarama and His cowherd boy friends.”* 9 That the humanlike form of Sri Krsna is the original cause of all causes is also confirmed in the following statement of Vedavyasa (in the Nirmana-khanda of the Padma Purana): “Lord Krsna was playing His flute, and enjoying the company of the gopis. He was very handsome, and He was like a splendid ornament that beautified the ornaments He wore. When I saw Him I became very happy. As we walked together in the forest of Vrndavana, the Lord smiled and said to me: You are now seeing my eternal transcendental form, which is perfect and complete, eternal, full of knowledge and bliss, and free from all material activities. There is nothing superior to this lotus-eyed form of Mine, which you are now seeing, and which all the Vedas declare to be the Original Personality of Godhead, the ultimate cause of all causes.”
Kṛṣṇa · Sanskrit §100 · English §105
Source[१००] एवं च -- यत्-पाद-पांसुर् बहु-जन्म-कृच्छ्रतो धृतात्मभिर् योगिभिर् अप्य् अलभ्यः । स एव यद्-दृग्-विषयः स्वयं स्थितः किं वर्ण्यते दिष्टम् अतो व्रजौकसाम् ॥ [भ्प् १०.१२.१२] अत्र स्वयम् इत्य् अनेन तु बाढम् एवान्यथा-प्रतीतिर् दुर्धियां निरस्ता ॥ [वृ. रेअद्स् हेरे:। स्थित इति वर्तमाने क्त । यच् च किञ्चिज् जगत् सर्वं व्याप्य नारायण स्थितः [महानारायण उपनिषद् ९.५] इतिवत् । [एन्द् वृ. अद्दितिओन्.] ॥ १०.१२ ॥ इति शुकः ॥ १०० ॥ (पगे ४४)
[100] evaṃ ca -- yat-pāda-pāṃsur bahu-janma-kṛcchrato dhṛtātmabhir yogibhir apy alabhyaḥ | sa eva yad-dṛg-viṣayaḥ svayaṃ sthitaḥ kiṃ varṇyate diṣṭam ato vrajaukasām || [BhP 10.12.12] atra svayam ity anena tu bāḍham evānyathā-pratītir durdhiyāṃ nirastā || [Vṛ. reads here:| sthita iti vartamāne kta | yac ca kiñcij jagat sarvaṃ vyāpya nārāyaṇa sthitaḥ [Mahānārāyaṇa Upaniṣad 9.5] itivat | [end Vṛ. addition.] || 10.12 || iti śukaḥ || 100 || (page 44)
English translation
English witness · section(s) 105
Anuccheda 105
1 Although Lord Brahma has many times seen the four-armed form of Lord Visnu, he specifically glorifies the two-armed form of Lord Krsna (Srimad Bhagavatam 10.14.1): “My dear Lord, You are the only worshipful Supreme Lord, Personality of Godhead; therefore I am offering my humble obeisances and prayers just to please You. Your bodily features are of the colour of clouds filled with water. You are glittering with a silver electric aura emanating from Your yellow garments.* “Let me offer my respectful repeated obeisances unto the son of Maharaja Nanda who is standing before me with conchshell, earrings, and peacock feather on His head. His face is beautiful; He is wearing a helmet, garlanded by forest flowers, and He stands with a morsel of food in His hand, He is decorated with cane and bugle, and He carries a buffalo horn and flute. He stands before me with small lotus feet.”*
Kṛṣṇa · Sanskrit §101 · English §106
Source[१०१] अतएव स्वभाव-सिद्धत्वं पूर्णैश्वर्याद्य्-आश्रयत्वं च - गोप्यस् तपः किम् अचरन् यद् अमुष्य रूपं लावण्य-सारम् असमोर्ध्वम् अनन्य-सिद्धम् । दृग्भिः पिबन्त्य् अनुसवाभिनवं दुरापम् एकान्त-धाम यशसः श्रिय ऐश्वरस्य ॥ [भ्प् १०.४४.१४] अनन्य-सिद्धम् अन्येन तत् सिद्धम् इति न, किन्तु स्वाभाविकम् एवेत्य् अर्थः । अन्यत्रासिद्धम् इति तु व्याख्यापि पिष्ट-पेषणम् । असमोर्ध्वम् इति हि युक्तम् एव ॥ [वृ. अद्द्स् हेरे: तद् इदं च तासां वाक्यं श्री-शुकदेवादिभिः स्वयम् अनुमोदितम् इति नान्यथा मन्तव्यम् । [वृ. अद्दितिओन् एन्द्स्.] ॥ १०.४४ ॥ मथुरा-पुर-स्त्रियः परस्परम् ॥ १०१ ॥
[101] ataeva svabhāva-siddhatvaṃ pūrṇaiśvaryādy-āśrayatvaṃ ca - gopyas tapaḥ kim acaran yad amuṣya rūpaṃ lāvaṇya-sāram asamordhvam ananya-siddham | dṛgbhiḥ pibanty anusavābhinavaṃ durāpam ekānta-dhāma yaśasaḥ śriya aiśvarasya || [BhP 10.44.14] ananya-siddham anyena tat siddham iti na, kintu svābhāvikam evety arthaḥ | anyatrāsiddham iti tu vyākhyāpi piṣṭa-peṣaṇam | asamordhvam iti hi yuktam eva || [Vṛ. adds here: tad idaṃ ca tāsāṃ vākyaṃ śrī-śukadevādibhiḥ svayam anumoditam iti nānyathā mantavyam | [Vṛ. addition ends.] || 10.44 || mathurā-pura-striyaḥ parasparam || 101 ||
English translation
English witness · section(s) 106
Anuccheda 106
1 We have now clearly proved the eternality of the form of Sri Krsna and answered all doubts and objections. We shall now proceed to another topic: the transcendental opulences of Sri Krsna. Let us consider now the two forms of Sri Krsna: the tow-handed and four-handed forms. Lord Krsna first appeared before mother Devaki in His four-handed form. Fearing what Kamsa might do to her son, Devaki requested that Krsna conceal His four-handed form. She said (Srimad Bhagavatam 10.3.29): “O Madhusudana, because of Your appearance, I am becoming more and more anxious in fear of Kamsa. Therefore, please arrange for that sinful Kamsa to be unable to understand that You have taken birth from my womb.”* Fearing the ridicule of ordinary persons who are unaware of the transcendental nature of the appearance, pastimes, and potencies of the Personality of Godhead, and who see Him with materially contaminated eyes, Devaki gave another reason for Lord Krsna to conceal His four-handed form (Srimad Bhagavatam 10.3.31): “At the time of devastation, the entire cosmos, containing all created moving and non moving entities, enters Your transcendental body and is held there without difficulty. But now this transcendental form has taken birth from my womb. People will not be able to believe this, and I shall become an object of ridicule.”* Actually the two-handed form of Lord Krsna is a very confidential form of the Personality of Godhead, and it is very difficult to understand it. This is confirmed in the following explanation of Narada Muni (Srimad Bhagavatam 7.15.75): “The two handed form of Sri Krsna, who appears like a human being, is the Supreme aspect of the Personality of Godhead. This feature of the Lord is very confidential and difficult to understand.”* 2-4 That the devotees should meditate on Sri Krsna in both His two-handed and four-handed forms is described by Lord Krsna Himself (Gopala-tapani Upanisad 2.74-78): “He who meditates on Me as I appear in Mathura attains liberation. In his mind one should meditate on Me standing on the blossomed eight-petalled lotus of the heart, My two feet marked with conchshell, flag and umbrella, My chest marked with Srivatsa and splendid with the Kaustubha gem, My four arms holding the conch, cakra, mace, and sarnga bow, My arms decorated with armlets, My neck splendid with a flower-garland, My head circled by a splendid crown, My ears decorated with glistening shark-shaped earrings and My form splendid and handsome, holding a flute and buffalo-horn bugle, and granting fearlessness to the devotees.” 5 Meditation on the Lord’s two-handed form is described in the Vedic literatures in this way. Devaki’s request that the Lord conceal His four-handed form and assume the feature of a human child was not simply inspired by a certain dangerous circumstance, but was actually the Lord’s intention from the very beginning. This is confirmed by the Lord Himself in the following words (Srimad Bhagavatam 10.3.44): “I have shown you this form of Visnu just to remind you of My previous births. Otherwise, if I appeared like an ordinary human child, you would not believe that the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Visnu, has indeed appeared.”* 6 That the form of Sri Krsna is very confidential is also confirmed in the following statements of Lord Krsna and Vyasadeva in the Padma Purana, Nirmana-khanda: “The Personality of Godhead then said to me: ‘O Vyasa, please look, and I will show you My original form, which is very confidential, and not openly described in the Four Vedas.’ O king, at that moment I saw a boy splendid as a dark monsoon cloud. He was surrounded by gopis, and laughing with many gopa boys.” 7 Someone may object, saying that the form of Sri Krsna is material, and not the original feature of the Godhead. This person may quote the following verse of Srimad Bhagavatam (10.3.46) to support his argument: “After instructing His father and mother, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, remained silent. In their presence, by His illusory energy, He then transformed Himself into a small human child.” Our objector will say that the word ‘atma-mayaya’ in this verse means that the Lord became a small child by the agency of His illusory potency ‘maya’. Actually the word ‘atma-maya’ also means ‘own-wish’. This is confirmed in the following definition given in the Maha-samhita: “The word atma maya means own wish.” Therefore, in this verse the word ‘atma-maya’ indicates that the Lord assumed the form of a small child ‘by His own desire’. That is the actual meaning of the word in this verse. Our objector will also say that the word ‘prakrtah’ means material, and therefore the form of Sri Krsna is described in this verse as material. The word ‘prakrtah’ also means ‘natural’ or ‘original’. The actual meaning of the word ‘prakrtah’ in this verse is that by appearing as the child Krsna, the Personality of Godhead assumed His original form. For these reasons the proper interpretation of this verse should be: “After instructing His father and mother, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna, remained silent. In their presence, by His own wish, He transformed Himself into His original form as a small human child.” 8 The form of Sri Krsna is not ordinary or material, for even in the earliest childhood, and also throughout His entire life, Sri Krsna manifested extremely wonderful qualities and powers. This is described in the following prayer of Lord Brahma (10.14.21), which we have already discussed in the second (Bhagavat) sandarbha: “O supreme great one! O Supreme Personality of Godhead! O Supersoul, master of all mystic power! Your pastimes are taking place continuously in these worlds, but who can estimate where, how and when You are employing Your spiritual energy and performing Your pastimes? No one can understand the mystery of these activities.”* 9 This description of the spiritual nature of Lord Krsna’s form is confirmed by Sripada Ramanujacarya in his commentary on Bhagavad-gita. In the Gita the Lord said (4.6): “Although I am unborn, I am full of transcendental knowledge, and My transcendental body never deteriorates, and although I am the Lord of all sentient beings, I still voluntary appear in every millennium in My original transcendental form.” Sripada Ramanujacarya comments on this verse in the following way: “In this verse the word ‘svam’ means ‘own nature’, and therefore the phrase ‘svam avasthabhya’ means appearing in His original form.’ The word ‘atma-mayaya’ means ‘by My own desire’ or ‘with transcendental knowledge.’ Therefore the phrase ‘atma-mayaya’ means that Lord Krsna, who is full of transcendental knowledge, voluntary appears in this material world. This definition of the word ‘maya’ as ‘knowledge’ is corroborated by the following statement of the Naighantuka dictionary: ‘The word maya means wisdom or knowledge’.” 10 That the forms of the Personality of Godhead are not material is also confirmed in the following verse from the Mahabharata: “The form of the Personality of Godhead is completely spiritual. It is not an assemblage of various material elements.” 11 That the form of Sri Krsna is not material is confirmed in the Visnu Purana: “One who thinks that the form of Sri Krsna is composed of material elements becomes an offender and falls away from the pious life recommended in the sruti and smrti. If one accidentally sees the face of such an offender, he should immediately take bath with all his clothing, glance at the sun, touch a cow, and drink ghee, in order to become purified.” 12 At this point someone may insist that Sri Krsna’s body is material, and push forward the following verses of Srimad Bhagavatam (1.15.34-35) as evidence: “The Supreme unborn, Lord Sri Krsna, caused the members of the Yadu dynasty to relinquish their bodies, and thus He relieved the burden of the world. This action was like picking out a thorn with a thorn, though both are the same to the controller.”* “The Supreme Lord relinquished the body which He manifested to diminish the burden of the earth. Just like a magician, He relinquishes one body to accept different ones, like the fish incarnation and others.”* Actually these verses do not show that the Supreme Personality of Godhead accepts the form of Krsna, and then abandons it at a certain point. The words ‘tanu’, ‘rupa’ and ‘kalevara’, do not only mean ‘body’. They may also mean ‘condition’, ‘nature’, or ‘mental conception’. For example, in the Third Canto, Twentieth Chapter of Srimad Bhagavatam, we find a description of Lord Brahma repeatedly abandoning various ‘tanus’, ‘rupas’ and ‘kalevaras’. In this context, however, it is clearly explained that Lord Brahma did not accept and reject many bodies one after another, but he accepted and rejected various mental stages or conceptions. The same meaning of the words ‘tanu’, ‘rupa’ and ‘kalevara’ applies in this verse in relation to the Personality of Godhead. This verse does not, therefore, describe the Lord’s abandonment of His form, but His rejecting a certain condition of the mind. Lord Krsna descended to relieve the burden of the earth and protect the demigods and devotees. When these purposes were accomplished, the Lord gave up the desire to relieve the earth and protect the pious. It is these desires that are intended by the words ‘tanu’, ‘rupa’ and ‘kalevara’ in this verse. This interpretation of Lord Krsna’s abandonment of His ‘tanu’ is especially appropriate in relation to the example of the thorn being used to remove the thorn. These two thorns (the devotees and the demons) are closely related to the ‘tanu’ (the two desires) given up by the Lord. This particular point has been more elaborately described in the third (Paramatma) sandarbha (Anucchedas 85-87), and we refer the reader to that passage for more information. 13 At this point someone may quote the phrase ‘matsyadi-rupani’ in the previously quoted verses from Srimad Bhagavatam, and claim that this phrase clearly shows that the Supreme Personality of Godhead accepts and rejects various temporary material forms such as the form of Lord Matsya and the other incarnations of Godhead. I reply that in this phrase, also, the word ‘rupa’ does not mean ‘form’, but ‘condition of mind’. The phrase therefore means that the Personality of Godhead accepts and rejects the desire to protect the devotees and kill the demons as the need arises. In other words, when the devotees require protection, the Lord thinks about their protection, and when the demons cause a disturbance, at that time the Lord thinks about their destruction. Our objector may also quote the example of the actor given in these verses and claim that this shows that the Personality of Godhead accepts and rejects various material forms, just as an actor plays a role on the stage. The actual intention of the example of the actor is that the actor accepts the different sentiments and emotions of the hero or heroine, and then rejects those emotions also in the course of the drama. In the same way the Supreme Personality of Godhead accepts different emotions to protect the devotees and vanquish the demons, and the Lord also rejects those same emotions at another time in order to fulfil the same purpose. That is the actual meaning of the example of the actor, and it is confirmed by the following definition of the word ‘actor’ found in Sridhara Svami’s commentary on Srimad Bhagavatam 1.11.21: “Actors are those expert at representing the nine rasas (emotional relationships).” 14 That the form of Sri Krsna is eternal, and that the Lord appeared on this earth for a certain time and then returned to His abode in the spiritual world, is confirmed by the following statement of Srimad Bhagavatam (3.2.11): “Lord Sri Krsna, who manifested His eternal form before the vision of all on the earth, performed His disappearance by removing His form from the sight of those who were unable to see Him (as He is) due to not executing required penance.”* 15 This verse explains that the Personality of Godhead manifests His form within this world, and then again makes His form disappear from this world. It is not that He rejects His form or that it ceases to exist. That the Lord’s form is eternal, although staying in the material world for a certain time, is confirmed by the following verse of Srimad Bhagavatam (1.15.36 which follows 1.15.15 quoted in text 12): “The Personality of Godhead, Lord Krsna, left this earthly planet in His selfsame form.”* That the Supreme Lord Krsna returns to the spiritual world in His original transcendental form is confirmed in this verse by the use of the word “sva-tanva’ (in His selfsame form). This is supported by the following statement of Nyaya-sastra: ‘upapada-vibhaktah karaka-vibhaktir baliyasi.” 16 This point, that the form of the Personality of Godhead is eternal, and the Lord does not abandon His form when He leaves His pastimes in the material world, may be more clearly seen by examining the following verse spoken by Maharaja Vasudeva in Srimad Bhagavatam (10.85.20, quoted in Anuccheda 98, text 7): “My dear Lord, at the very moment when You first appeared in Kamsa’s prison house, I was informed that You were the Supreme Personality of Godhead and that You had descended for the protection of the principles of religion as well as the destruction of the unfaithful. Although unborn, You descend every millennium to execute Your mission. My dear Lord, as in the sky there are many forms appearing and disappearing, so You also appear and disappear in many forms. Who, therefore, can understand Your pastimes or the mystery of Your appearance and disappearance. Our only business should be to glorify Your supreme greatness.”* Even though aware of the transcendental greatness of Lord Krsna, who is always situated in the position of suddha-sattva (transcendental purity), Maharaja Vasudeva, because of his great humbleness and love for Lord Krsna, still tends to think of Him as his own son: an ordinary person, and not the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Vasudeva considers that perhaps Lord Krsna may ask: “Why do you think I am your son?” To this question Vasudeva may reply: “You Yourself have told me that You are my son, and I have described this in Srimad Bhagavatam 10.85.20 (My dear Lord, at the very moment when You first appeared in Kamsa’s prison house You informed me that You were the Supreme Personality of Godhead who descends in every millennium, and who has now appeared as my son).” 17 To this Lord Krsna might reply in the following words: “My dear Vasudeva, simply because I entered within your body, and then again have come out from it does not mean that I have taken birth as your son. In My form as the all-pervading Supersoul (the friend of all living entities) I have entered within everyone. This is explicitly described in the following verses from the Upanisads: “The Supreme Personality of Godhead is very difficult to see, and He is the oldest of all persons. He is the all-pervading Supersoul, who has entered the hearts of all living creatures.” Katha Upanisad 1.2.12 “The Supreme Lord created the material universes and then entered within them.” Taittiriya Upanisad 2.6.2 18 To this, Maharaja Vasudeva might respond: O my Lord, You are certainly not my son, but the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This has already been explained by me in the following words (Srimad Bhagavatam 10.87.15): “My dear Lord, as in the sky there are many forms appearing and disappearing, so You also appear and disappear in many eternal forms”. In these words I have confirmed that although You remain aloof from everything You are simultaneously present everywhere, just as the sky is simultaneously aloof and everywhere present. O Lord, You are always aloof from all living entities, and at the same time You always reside within them. This is also confirmed in the following statement of the Personified Vedas (Srimad Bhagavatam 10.87.15): “Appearing as the Supersoul, the Personality of Godhead has entered within the hearts of all living entities in various species of life.” 19 When Maharaja Vasudeva said: “Who, therefore can understand Your pastimes of the mystery of Your appearance and disappearance?” (Srimad Bhagavatam 10.85.20), he intended to say; “O Lord, no one is very important or powerful in comparison to You.” Maharaja Vasudeva might have also presented the following argument to Lord Krsna: O Lord, Your birth as the son of Devaki and Myself is glorified by all the saintly sages and Vaisnavas. Because they all believe that You are my son, this is certainly very convincing evidence that this is actually true. Nevertheless, whatever You are, You are completely beyond the power of my mind and intelligence to understand. I cannot understand You at all. 20 In Maharaja Vasudeva’s prayer (Srimad Bhagavatam 10.95.19) the phrase ‘nana-tanur gaganavad vidadhaj jahasi’ may also be interpreted to mean ‘You enter into the bodies of all living entities’ because the word ‘vidadhat’ may also mean ;to enter’. Someone may object that this is an obscure usage of this word, but actually this interpretation is very appropriate. We see many examples of the usage of obscure meanings of words. For example in the Sahasra-nama-bhasya we find the explanation: “In this verse the statement ‘He does the saintly devotees’ actually means “He protects the saintly devotees’ for in this context the verb ‘to do’ (kr) means ‘to protect’. Another example of an obscure usage of a word is the phrase ‘kasthani kuru’. Although the verb ‘kr’ generally means ‘to do’, in this phrase it means ‘to bring’, and therefore ‘kasthani kuru’ means ‘please bring some wood.’. 21 All this evidence clearly proves that Sri Krsna is the Original Supreme Personality of Godhead and His form is eternal. His eternal handsomeness, gentleness, determination and strength are shown in the following statement of the Earth Personified (Srimad Bhagavatam 1.16.27): “In Lord Krsna reside (1) truthfulness, (2) cleanliness, (3) intolerance of another’s unhappiness, (4) the power to control anger, (5) self-satisfaction, (6) straightforwardness, (7) steadiness of mind, (8) control of the sense organs, (9) responsibility, (10) equality, (11) tolerance, (12) equanimity, (13) faithfulness, (14) knowledge, (15) absence of sense enjoyment, (16) leadership, (17) chivalry, (18) influence, (19) the power to make everything possible, (20) the discharge of proper duty, (21) complete independence, (22) dexterity, (23) fullness of all beauty, (24) serenity, (25) kind-heartedness, (26) ingenuity, (27) gentility, (28) magnanimity, (29) determination, (30) perfection in all knowledge, (31) proper execution, (32) possession of all objects of enjoyment, (33) joyfulness, (34) immovability, (35) fidelity, (36) fame, (37) worship, (38) pridelessness, (39) being (as the Personality of Godhead), (40) eternity, and many other transcendental qualities which are eternally present and never to be separated from Him, the Personality of Godhead, the reservoir of all goodness and beauty, Lord Sri Krsna.”* 22 That the original aspect of the Personality of Godhead is the humanlike form of Sri Krsna is confirmed in the following verse from the Sri Krsnastottara-sata-nama-stotra in the Brahmanda Purana: “The Supreme Personality of Godhead is the delight of Nanda Maharaja and the residents of Vrajabhumi. The Supreme Person’s form is eternal, full of knowledge and bliss. He is the tiny child whose limbs are smeared with butter, and who jubilantly dances to earn some butter as a reward.” 23 This is also described in the Gopala-tapani Upanisad (1.21): “The brahmanas who worship, as He stands on His altar, the one who is greatest among the eternals and greatest among conscious persons, and who fulfils the desires of the many, they, and not others, attain eternal perfection.” 24 Sri Krsna is also described in the following verse (Gopala-tapani Upanisad 1.38): “The Supreme Personality of Godhead is Govinda. His form is eternal and full of knowledge and bliss.” 25 In this way it is proved that Sri Krsna’s two-armed and four-armed forms are both eternal. 26 Someone may ask about the nature of the places where Sri Krsna performed His pastimes. We answer by saying that the places on this earth where Lord Krsna enjoyed pastimes are replicas of the same places in the spiritual world. This is confirmed in the following verse from the Skanda Purana: “The towns and cities on this earth which were dear to Lord Krsna, and where He stayed and enjoyed pastimes, eternally exist in the spiritual world. In those places in the spiritual world, Lord Krsna eternally enjoys pastimes.” 27 The planet of Sri Krsna (Krsnaloka) is situated in the highest part of the spiritual world. This is described in the Uttara-khanda of the Padma Purana, where Lord Krsna is described as the ninth of the ten incarnations of Godhead. In this description the incarnations, the planet of Sri Krsna is described as situated in a separate place, beyond the view of the rest of the spiritual world. From this we may understand that Krsnaloka is in the highest part of the spiritual world. This description of the smrti-sastra is confirmed by similar descriptions in the Agama-sastras. 28 We may note that the Uttara-khanda of the Padma Purana states that Krsnaloka as situated in a separate place beyond the vision of the rest of the spiritual world, but nor specifically in the highest part of the spiritual world. Actually, this description in the Padma Purana presents the view of those who consider Lord Narayana the ultimate aspect of the Godhead, and His abode, Vaikunthaloka, to be the topmost place in the spiritual world. The Padma Purana is not the most conclusive source of evidence. The ultimate scripture, Srimad Bhagavatam, on the other hand, presents the conclusion that Sri Krsna is the Original Personality of Godhead, the origin of Lord Narayana. From this description in Srimad Bhagavatam (which presents the most authoritative conclusions, in comparison to the Padma Purana, whose conclusions are less authoritative) we may understand that because Sri Krsna is the Original Personality of Godhead, His abode in the spiritual world must be situated in the highest part of the spiritual world. This is confirmed in the following verses of the Pancasititama-patala in the Svayambhuva-agama, where Lord Siva says to Gauri (in the course of describing meditation on the fourteen syllable Krsna-mantra): 29 “A pure soul should meditate on the unlimitedly expanded spiritual world known as Vaikuntha, which is full of transcendental vines that fulfil all the desires of the devotees. 30 “Below this spiritual world is the original feature of material energy, which is the origin of everything material, and where the three modes of nature remain equipoised and suspended. Below this original matter are the three modes of nature (goodness, passion and ignorance), which become the causes of variety in the material sphere. 31 Below this original feature of the three modes of nature is the planet of Lord Brahma, which is full of all symptoms of spiritual awareness. O fair-complexioned Parvati, an intelligent person should meditate on this planet, and also on the unlimited Viraja river, which forms the boundary of the spiritual and material worlds. 32 “One should meditate on goddess Viraja, the controlling deity of the Viraja river, which is produced from the perspiration of the Personified Vedas. 33 Lord Siva continued: “Beyond this is the liberation attained by the great sages who strictly follow the rules of celibacy and beyond that is the spiritual world, where all the residents are eternal. An intelligent person should meditate on all these different stages of existence.” 34 “Within the spiritual world is situated the planet of Lord Aniruddha, and above that is the planet of Lord Pradyumna. Above Lord Pradyumna’s planet is the planet of Lord Sankarsana, and above that is the planet of Lord Vasudeva. One should meditate on the spiritual world in this way.” 35 After the passage beginning ‘lokadhipan smaret’, a description of the highest part of the spiritual world is spoken by Lord Siva in the following words: 36 “A wise man should meditate on the Kalindi river, which is filled with nectar vines, served by many virtues, blissful in every season, splendid, delightful to everyone... 37 ...dark with blue lotus petals, filled with gentle breezes, fragrant with the pollen of Vrndavana’s flowers, dear to Lord Krsna,... 38 ...surrounded by groves of vines and pavilions where gopis enjoy pastimes, and filled with golden lotus vines. 39 A wise devotee should meditate on Vrndavana forest, which is delightful with eternally new flowers and filled with sounds of bliss,... 40 ...which is filled with the singing of many wonderful and colourful birds and decorated with the buzzing of many maddened bumblebees splendid among the jewel vines,... 41 ...which is filled with cintamani jewels, splendid with nets of moonlight, rich with flowers blossoming in all seasons, and beautiful with new buds,... 42 ...which again and again trembles in the breezes blowing over the Kalindi’s waters, and is filled with flowers, trees and birds. 43 “A wise devotee should meditate on the pastime place where two trees join and become one.” 44 “O goddess, he should meditate on the Lord’s beautiful transcendental jewel pastime palace there that holds the treasure of the greatest bliss in the three worlds. 45-48 He should meditate on an affectionate youth dark as a kalaya flower, dressed in yellow garments, a palace of transcendental handsomeness, an ocean of bliss, plunged in the blissful nectar ocean of transcendental pastimes, splendid as a new monsoon cloud, with charming curly hair, and His feet decorated with the crowns of Brahma, Visnu and Siva, who sits there on a charming jewel throne there graceful with sumanah flowers, blissful, and splendid wit its four feet religion, economic development, sense gratification and liberation. 49 This evidence from the Svayambhuva-agama and the Skanda Purana clearly shows that the planet of Lord Krsna is the highest planet in the spiritual world. Known as Goloka, it is famous as the place where the Original Personality of Godhead manifests His eternal pastimes. It is divided into three parts: 1. Gokula, 2. Mathura, and 3. Dvaraka. 50 The abode of Sri Krsna is described in Brahma-samhita (1-5): “Krsna, Who is known as Govinda, is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He has an eternal blissful spiritual body. He is the Origin of all. He has no other origin and He is the prime cause of all causes.* 51 “Gokula, the supreme abode and planet, appears like a lotus flower that has a thousand petals. The whorl of that lotus is the abode of the Supreme Lord, Krsna. This lotus-shaped supreme abode is created by the will of Lord Ananta.* 52 “The whorl of that transcendental lotus is the realm wherein dwells Krsna. It is a hexagonal figure, the abode of the indwelling predominated and predominating aspect of the Absolute. Like a diamond, the central supporting figure of self-luminous Krsna stands as the transcendental source of all potencies. The holy name consisting of eighteen transcendental letters is manifested in a hexagonal figure with six fold divisions.** 53 “The whorl of that eternal realm Gokula is the hexagonal abode of Krsna. Its petals are the abodes of gopas who are part and parcel of Krsna, to Whom they are most lovingly devoted and are similar in essence. The petals shine beautifully like so many walls. The extended leaves of that lotus are the garden-like dhama, i.e. spiritual abode of Sri Radhika, the most beloved of Krsna.** 54 “(The surrounding external plane of Gokula is described in this verse) There is a mysterious quadrangular place named Svetadvipa surrounding the outskirts of Gokula. Svetadvipa is divided into four parts on all sides. The abode of Vasudeva, Sankarsana, Pradyumna, and Aniruddha are separately located in each of these four parts. These four divided abodes are enveloped by the four-fold human requirements such as piety, wealth, passion and liberation as also by the four Vedas viz., Rg, Sama, Yajur, and Atharva, which deal with the mantra, and which are the basis of achievements of the four-fold mundane requirements. Ten tridents are fixed in the ten directions, including the zenith and nadir. The eight directions are decorated with the eight jewels of mahapadma, padma, sankha, makara, kacchapa, mukunda, kunda, and nila. There are ten protectors (dik-palas) of the directions in the form of mantras. The associates of the hue of blue, yellow, red, and white and the extraordinary potencies bearing the names of vimala, etc., shine on all sides.”** 55 The supreme abode of Sri Krsna is also described in the following verses from the beginning of Lord Brahma’s prayers in the Brahma-samhita (5.29 and 43): “I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, the first progenitor, who is tending the cows, yielding all desires, in abodes built with spiritual gems and surrounded by millions of purpose trees. He is always served with great reverence and affection by hundreds and thousands of goddesses of fortune.”* 56 “Below the planet named Goloka Vrndavana are the planets known as Devi-dhama, Mahesa-dhama and Hari-dhama. These are opulent in different ways. They are managed by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Govinda, the original Lord. I offer my obeisances unto Him.”* 57 In these verses from Brahma-samhita the abode of Sri Krsna is described as a great thousand petalled lotus flower made of transcendental cintamani jewels. The phrase ‘mahat padam’ may be interpreted to mean either ‘the greatest abode’ or ‘the abode of the supremely great Personality of Godhead.” Because this transcendental abode of Sri Krsna is divided into three parts (Gokula, Mathura and Dvaraka), the author of Brahma-samhita specifies the abode of Gokula as the object of his description. The word ‘gokula’ is generally understood to mean ‘an abode of cowherd men and cows’ and this meaning should be accepted in spite of any number of other fanciful interpretations, based on etymology, that may be offered. The rejection of other interpretations of this word is supported by the following statement of nyaya-sastra: “The generally understood meaning of a word is its primary meaning, and etymology-based meanings are secondary to that generally understood meaning.” In this way the Gokula described in these verses should be understood as the abode of Sri Krsna, Nanda, Yasoda and all their friends and relatives. 58 In the verse from Brahma-samhita quoted in Text 51 the abode of Sri Krsna is described as created by the will of Lord Ananta, who is a plenary expansion of Lord Balarama. In this verse we may also note that the word ‘sambhavam’ may also be interpreted to mean ‘residence’ in which case the phrase ‘anantamsa-sambhavam’ means ‘the place where Krsna and Balarama (from whom Ananta is expanded) enjoy transcendental pastimes.” 59 Although the eighteen-syllable Krsna mantra (klim krsnaya govindaya gopijanavallabhaya svaha) is written in many places, the most important place it is written is described in the Brahma-samhita verse quoted in text 52. In this verse this mantra is described as written in a hexagonal figure in the form of a mystic diagram. Within that hexagonal mystic diagram is situated the form of Sri Krsna, who is luminous as a diamond. The six words of the mantra are written on the six sides of the hexagon. In that abode reside the predominated (prakrti) and predominating (purusa) aspects of the Absolute. Both the predominated and predominating aspects are described as ‘premananda-mahananda-rasana avasthitam’ (immersed in the bliss of countless varieties of exchanges of spiritual love). The kama-bija syllable (klim) is described in these verses as situated within the eighteen syllable krsna-mantra. After the description of the internal abode of Sri Krsna, which is the whorl of the lotus flower known as Goloka, there is a description of the petals situated about that abode. Those petals are the abodes of the cowherd residents of Goloka, who are all relatives and friends of Sri Krsna. That the cowherds of Vrndavana are the relatives of Krsna is described by Sukadeva Gosvami in the following verse (Srimad Bhagavatam 10.36.15): 60 “After killing the Arista demon, who had assumed the form of a bull, Lord Krsna became the cynosure of all eyes. With Balarama, He triumphantly entered Vrndavana village and the cowherd men, who were all His relatives, glorified Him and Balarama with great jubilation.”* 61 On this lotus flower of Goloka Vrndavana are many petals known as ‘patrani sriyam’, the many gardens which are abodes of Srimati Radharani and the gopis. Where these petals join the whorl of the Goloka lotus flower, the paths of Goloka are situated, and the extensions of these petals are the places of the cow-pastures of Goloka. In this way the different parts of the lotus flower of Gokula Vrndavana are described. 62 Now we will discuss the Brahma-samhita verses quoted in text 54. These verses describe the quadrangular place named Svetadvipa, which surrounds the outskirts of Gokula. The external part of that quadrangle is known as Svetadvipa, and the central part is known as Vrndavana. The entire area is known as Goloka-Svetadvipa. 63 The abodes of the four expansions of Lord Krsna (Vasudeva, Sankarsana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha) are situated in the four sides of the quadrangle of Svetadvipa. These four sides of Svetadvipa are also the places where the four-fold mundane requirements (piety, wealth, passion and liberation), are situated. Also situated in these quadrants are the four Vedas which contain mantras enabling one to attain the four mundane requirements, the ten protectors (dik-palas) of the directions in the form of mantras, the associates of the hue of blue, yellow, red and white, and the extraordinary potencies bearing the names of Vimala etc. 64 This is also described in Srimad Bhagavatam (10.28.18): “When the cowherd men saw Krsna, being glorified by the Personified Vedas in the spiritual world, they felt wonderfully blissful.”* 65 This description of the Goloka Vrndavana planet is confirmed by the passage following the prayers of the personified Vedas in the Vamana Purana: 66 “The Personified Vedas said: O Lord, if You wish to bestow a benediction upon us, then please show us Your original blissful form, which was known to the great sages of ancient times. 67 “Hearing His devotees; request, the Lord revealed to them His own planet, where there is no decay or death, where there is only transcendental bliss, which is above the world of matter,... 68 ...where is the forest named Vrndavana, which is pleasant in every season and rich with charming groves and desire trees,... 69 ...where is the beautiful and opulent hill named Govardhana, which is filled with pleasant streams, waterfalls, and caves with many minerals and precious jewels, and crowded with many handsome birds,... 70 ...where is the Yamuna river, whose waters are pure nectar, which is crowded with many swans, lotus flowers, and other pleasant flowers and birds, and the shores of which are paved with precious gems,... 71 ...where the youthful Supreme Personality of Godhead eternally stays, surrounded by a multitude of gopis and intoxicated with the nectar of the rasa dance.” 72 That the abode of Sri Krsna is the highest spiritual planet is also confirmed in the following verses of the Hari-vamsa, where King Indra says: “Above the celestial material planets is the spiritual world, where the Personified Vedas, Narada, Siva, the ganas, the impersonalists merged in the Brahman effulgence, and the great devotees reside. 73 “Above that realm is the planet of surabhi cows. Great saints protect that place. The all-pervading Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Krsna, resides there. 74 “O Lord, that is Your splendid abode is manifested above all. Although we asked Grandfather Brahma, none of us could understand it. 75 “They who act piously and control the mind and senses easily attain Svargaloka. They who perform spiritual austerities attain the spiritual world. However, the planet Goloka, the realm of surabhi cows, is very difficult to attain. 76 “O hero, this is the same place where You personally protected the surabhi cows from all dangers.” 77 The word ‘svarga’ is defined in the following verse (Srimad Bhagavatam 2.5.42): “Others may divide the whole planetary system unto three divisions, namely the lower planetary systems on the legs (up to the earth), the middle planetary systems on the navel, and the upper planetary systems (Svarloka) from the chest to the head of the Supreme Personality.”* 78 The Brahmaloka planet described in these verses as above Svargaloka is the spiritual world of Vaikuntha, the abode of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and not the abode of the demigod Brahma. The word Brahma, which means ‘great’, here refers to the Supreme Personality of Godhead because He is supremely great, His greatness is shown by the fact that His transcendental form is eternal and full of knowledge and bliss. 79 That the word ‘brahmaloka’ means the spiritual world of Vaikuntha is confirmed by the words of Srimad Bhagavatam (10.28.17) where the word ‘brahmaloka’ is clearly used to mean the spiritual world: “Thus Krsna led all the cowherd men, headed by Nanda Maharaja to the lake where Akrura was later shown Brahmaloka (the Vaikuntha planetary system). They took their bath immediately and saw the real nature of Brahmaloka (the Vaikunthalokas).” 80 The following verse from Srimad Bhagavatam (2.5.39) also uses the word ‘brahmaloka’ to mean the spiritual world of Vaikuntha: “Satyaloka, the topmost planetary system is situated on the head of the universal form. The spiritual planets (brahmaloka), however, are eternal.”* 81 This interpretation of the word ‘brahmaloka’ is confirmed by Sridhara Svami, who comments on this verse: “In this verse the word ‘brahmaloka’ refers to the Vaikuntha planetary system, which is ‘sanatanah’, or eternal. The Vaikuntha world is not within the material creation.” 82 In the third line of the verse from Hari-vamsa quoted in text 72, the word ‘brahma’ means ‘the Personified Vedas”, ‘rsi’ means ‘Narada and the great sages’, and ‘gana’ means ‘Garuda, Visvaksena, and other great souls’. These are described as the residents of Brahmaloka. These great souls are all perfectly qualified to reside in the spiritual world, and therefore the word ‘brahmaloka’ here refers to the spiritual world. 83 In the third line of this verse the word ‘tatra’ means ‘in Brahmaloka’, and the word ‘soma’ means Lord Siva, who stays with (sa) Uma (sa+uma=soma). Brahmaloka is here described as the ‘gati’ (destination) of Soma (Siva). The word ‘soma-gati’ is a sasthi-tatpurusa-samasa, defined in grammatical terms by the phrase ‘supam suluk’. The word ‘gati’ is then added to that word. 84 In the last line of this verse, the word ‘jyotisam’ means ‘the liberated souls who consider that they have become one with the impersonal effulgence.” Not everyone there is like them. The word ‘mahatmanam’ means ‘the great such, such as Sanaka-kumara and others like him, who worship the Lord and reject impersonal liberation.” These are the definitions of the words in this verse. 85 That these mahatmas (the devotees) are better than the liberated impersonalists is confirmed in the following statement of Srimad Bhagavatam (6.14.5): “O great sage, among many millions who are liberated and perfect in knowledge, one may be a devotee of Lord Narayana, or Krsna. Such devotees, who are fully peaceful, are extremely rare.”* 86 The superiority of the devotees of the Lord is confirmed by Lord Krsna Himself in the following verse from Bhagavad-gita (6.47): “And of all yogis, he who always abides in Me with great faith, worshipping Me in transcendental loving service, is most intimately united with Me in yoga and is the highest of all.”* 87 In the next verse (quoted in text 73), the word ‘tasya’ means ‘Brahmaloka’, ‘upari’ means ‘above all’, and ‘gavam lokah’ means ‘Sri Goloka’. The word ‘tam’ (that) refers to Sri Goloka. “Sadyah’ means ‘the primordial, eternal demigods who bring great pleasure to us material demigods’. “Palayanti’ (they protect) means that as protectors of the directions they assume forms that cover Sri Goloka. 88 The spiritual demigods who protect the Goloka planet are described in the Rg Veda (10.90.16): “Many eternally perfect and glorious demigods protect that spiritual world.” 89 These protectors of the Goloka planet are also described in the following verse from the Maha-vaikuntha-varnana in the Uttara-khanda of the Padma Purana: “Many eternally perfect, glorious and handsome demigods serve that spiritual planet.” 90 The glories of these residents of the Goloka planet are described by the most exalted demigod, Lord Brahma, in Srimad Bhagavatam (10.14.34): “My dear Lord Krsna, I am therefore not interested in either material opulence or liberation. I am most humbly praying at Your lotus feet for You to please give me any sort of birth within this Vrndavana forest so that I may be able to be favoured by the dust of the feet of some of the devotees of Vrndavana. Even if I am given the chance to grow just as the humble grass in this land, that will be a glorious birth for me. But if I am not so fortunate to take birth within the forest of Vrndavana, I beg to be allowed to take birth outside the immediate area of Vrndavana so that when the devotees go out they will walk over me. Even that would be a great fortunate for me. I am just aspiring for a birth in which I will be smeared by the dust of the devotees’ feet.”* From this verse we may understand the exalted spiritual perfection attained by the gopas, gopis and other residents of Goloka Vrndavana, the personal abode of Sri Krsna. The phrase ‘tam palayanti’ (they protect it) in the verse quoted in text 73 means ‘in this way they worship it.” 91 In this verse (quoted in text 73), the Goloka planet is described as ‘sarvagatah’ (all-pervading). As Sri Krsna is simultaneously present in every part of both the spiritual and material worlds, so is Goloka. 92 In text 73 the word mahan refers to the form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This word is also used in reference to Him in the following words of Katha Upanisad (2.1.4): “The Personality of Godhead is the most powerful (vibhu) and the greatest (mahan).” 93 Because the Lord is the cause of the spiritual sky (mahakasa) the word ‘mahakasa-gatah’ refers to Him. This is described in Vedanta-sutra (1.1.22): “The spiritual sky is manifest from the body of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.” Another interpretation of the word ‘mahakasa-gatah’ is that this word means ;that place resorted to by those who have attained spiritual bodies.” This explanation is confirmed by Sridhara Svami’s commentary on the description in Srimad Bhagavatam of the cowherd mens’ sight of Vaikuntha, and also by the history of Ajamila also recounted in Srimad Bhagavatam. Another interpretation of the word ‘mahakasa-gatah’ is ‘situated in the highest part of the spiritual world’. Taken in this way the word ‘akasa’ means ‘the spiritual sky.” 94 In the verse quoted in Text 74, the phrase ‘upari upari’ means ‘splendidly manifested above all’. The phrase ‘tava gatih’ (Your destination) refers to Sri Goloka. Although the Personality of Godhead appears in many different forms and enjoys pastimes on may Vaikuntha planets and other places also, He still appears in His original form as Sri Govinda and enjoys pastimes on the Goloka planet. These are the definitions of the words. 95 This ‘gati’ (abode) is not ordinary, but it is ‘tapomayi’, or ‘full of limitless transcendental opulences’. This interpretation is corroborated in Sankaracarya’s commentary on Visnu-sahasra-nama’s statement ‘paramamayo mahat-tapah’. Sankara says: “The word ‘tapah’ in this verse means ‘limitless transcendental opulences’. 96 Brahma and the demigods cannot understand Goloka. He (Indra) says (in the verse quoted in text 97): “Although we asked Grandfather Brahma, none of us could understand it.” 97 In the verse quoted in text 75 we find the explanation of the name “Goloka”. In this verse the Vaikunthaloka spiritual world is designated by the word ‘brahmaloka’. That spiritual world is described as attained by they whose hearts meditate on Lord Visnu with devotional love (tapasi yuktanam). This spiritual world is also described as ‘para’, or ‘beyond the influence of the material energy’. The name “Goloka’ is defined as the residence of the surabhi cows (gavam). Goloka Vrndavana as the residence of the surabhi cows is also described in the following verse from Srimad Bhagavatam (10.35.25): “Upon Krsna’s return, the men, women, and cows of Vrndavana immediately forget the scorching heat of the day.” The cows of Vrndavana are also described in the verse quoted in text 76: “O Krsna, You protect the surabhi cows from all dangers.” 98 The residents of Goloka Vrndavana are filled with intense pure love of Krsna, and without attaining this exalted state of pure love of God, no one can enter the Goloka planet. For this reason, Goloka Vrndavana is described as ‘duraroha’ (difficult to attain) in the verse quoted in text 75. 99 After describing Goloka Vrndavana, he (Indra) then states that Goloka and Gokula are the same. He says ‘sa tu’ (the same place). “Loka’ here means “Goloka” and ‘dhrta’ means ‘protected by lifting Govardhana Hill.” 100 That Goloka and Gokula are identical is confirmed by the following verse from the Mrtyunjaya Tantra: “Bhakti-devi who delights the gopis of Vrndavana and places great devotion for the Supreme Lord in the hearts of the devotees, by her own wish brought the highest Vaikuntha planet from the spiritual world and place it on the earth planet, where it became known by the name Gokula Vrndavana. 101 At his point our critic may vehemently object to our interpretation of these verses from the Hari-vamsa (in texts 72-100). He may say that our interpretations of the word ‘svargaloka’ and ‘brahmaloka’ are completely wrong. He may argue that Svargaloka is a specific planet and three planets above that Svargaloka is the abode of the demigod Brahma, which is known as Brahmaloka or Satyaloka. He may further say that the word ‘soma-gatih’ clearly means ‘the abode of the moon-god’, and this also refers to a specific planet in the material world. In this way out critic will claim that the Brahmaloka mentioned in this verse is a material planet, and the Goloka planet is also another planet within the material plane. To these objections I reply: Your interpretation of the word ‘soma-gatih’ (which is situated on Brahmaloka) is not acceptable because the moon, sun and other planets are all situated beneath Maharloka and Dhruvaloka. Your interpretation of the word ‘sadhya’ to refer to a class of minor demigods is also unacceptable, for the minor Sadhya demigods are not at all qualified to protect the abode of Lord Brahma. We may also note that the Goloka planet is described as all-pervading (sarva-gatih) in text 73 (hardly a word to describe an ordinary place). We are simply astonished that you are offering such a contradictory interpretation. 102 Our critic would like to interpret the word ‘goloka’ as simply an ordinary cow-pasture of the material world. He is, however, contradicted by Maharaja Indra, who says (in text 74) ‘yam na vidmah’ (We do not understand Goloka). Because these exalted persons cannot understand Goloka Vrndavana, therefore it cannot be an ordinary place of this material world. For this reason it is glorified in the confidential statements of Brahma-samhita and Hari-vamsa as an eternal spiritual abode. 103 That Goloka Vrndavana is not a material place, but the highest planet in the spiritual world, is confirmed by the following verse from the history of Vijaya recounted in the Narada-pancaratra: “Goloka Vrndavana is the highest planet in the spiritual world. The Original Personality of Godhead, Sri Govinda, who is full of transcendental bliss and is the supreme master of the gopas, gopis and surabhi cows, eternally enjoys pastimes there.” 104 This is also confirmed in the following verse which appears in the Moksa-dharma, Narayaniya and the Skanda Purana: “O Arjuna, I appear in many different forms on the earth planet, in the spiritual world of Vaikuntha and in the eternal abode of Goloka Vrndavana.” 105 In this way we have conclusively proven that Goloka Vrndavana, the abode of Sri Krsna, is the highest planet in the spiritual world. 106 The Goloka Vrndavana planet is divided into three places, known as Dvaraka, Mathura, and Gokula, where the Supreme Personality of Godhead enjoys pastimes with many different associates. 107 There are also many other places on this earth planet where the Supreme Lord enjoyed various pastimes. These places are actually situated in the Vaikuntha world. They are 1. Beyond the touch of the material energy; 2. Eternal; 3. Uncommon; and 4. They are the eternal abodes of the Personality of Godhead. This description of these holy tirthas is found in the various Vedic literatures. 108 For example, the holy tirtha Dvaraka is described in the Prahlada-samhita of the Skanda Purana, and in many other Vedic literatures as well. The sruti-sastra describes Dvaraka in the following words: “Within the ocean is a spiritual abode of great splendour. That abode is sought after by Brahma, the Prajapatis and the great philosophers.” 109 That the holy places of the Supreme Lord’s pastimes are beyond the touch of the material energy is confirmed by the following description of Mathura found in the Varaha Purana: “The holy abode of Mathura is different from this material universe created by Brahma.” 110 That the tirthas sacred in relation to the Personality of Godhead are eternal is confirmed in the following description found in the Patala-khanda of the Padma Purana, where it is said of the holy abode of Mathura: “The sages then performed austerities in the eternal abode of Mathura.” 111 The uncommon nature of the holy places of the Lord’s pastimes is described in the following verse from the Adi-varaha Purana, where the abodes of Mathura is described: “O earth, neither on the Bhur, Bhuvar, or Svar planetary systems, nor in any lower or higher planet, have I seen a holy place as extraordinary as this land of Mathura.” 112 That Mathura is the eternal abode of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is confirmed by the following description of the Vedic literatures: “The Supreme Personality of Godhead always stays in the land of Mathura. How fortunate is the holy abode of Mathura!” 113 Mathura, the best of holy places and the eternal abode of the Lord, is described in the following words spoken by Lord Varaha in the Varaha Purana: “In the three planetary systems there is no holy place better than Mathura. O goddess, I eternally reside in Mathura.” 114 Someone may argue that since Lord Varaha says that He eternally resides in Mathura, then Mathura should be the abode of Lord Varaha. Mathura is the abode of Lord Krsna. Since Lord Varaha is a visnu-tattva expansion of Lord Krsna, He said that He resides in Mathura in order to teach us that the Lord is not different from any of His visnu-tattva expansions. That Mathura is the eternal abode of Lord Krsna is confirmed in the Patala-khanda in the Padma Purana: “How auspicious is the holy land of Mathura, where Sri Krsna, the killer of Kamsa, eternally resides!” 115 That Lord Krsna personally stays in Mathura is confirmed by the use of the words ‘svayam’ (personally) and ‘saksat’ (directly) in the following verse from the Vayu Purana: “Lord Hari, the killer of Kamsa, personally (svayam) and directly (saksat) stays in the abode of Mathura, which is forty yojanas from Puskara-tirtha.” 116 In this verse the word ‘saksat’ means ‘in a form not perceivable by the material senses’ and the word ‘svayam’ (personally) means that the presence of the Lord mentioned in this verse does not refer to His presence in the form of the arca-vigraha (Deity). The word ‘tatah’ (from this) refers to Puskara-tirtha, which was described in the previous verses. 117 By quoting these verses from the Vedic literatures we have refuted any conception (that may find it’s origin in Lord Varaha’s statement quoted in text 113) that Mathura is the eternal abode of Lord Varaha. Mathura is the eternal abode of Lord Krsna. 118 The holy tirtha of Sri Vrndavana-dhama is described by the Supreme Lord Himself in the following verses from the Gopala-tapani Upanisad (2.35-40): “Lord Narayana said: As on the summit of Mount Meru are seven cities that fulfil all desires, so on the Earth are seven cities that fulfil desires and grant liberation. Among them the city of Gopala-puri (Mathura) is directly the spiritual world.” 119 In this city the desires of the demigods and all other creatures are all fulfilled and everyone attains liberation.” 120 Protected by My cakra, this city of Mathura, or Gopala-puri, stands in this world as a lotus stands in a lake.” 121 ”Gopala-puri contains these forests: 1. The great forest of Brhadvana; 2. Madhuvana, the former residence of the Madhu demon; 3. Talavana, full of palm trees; 4. Delightful Kamyavana; 5. Great Bahulavana; 6. Kamudavana, full of lotus flowers and water lilies; 7 Khadiravana, full of Khadira trees; 8. Bhadravana, the favourite spot of Lord Balarama; 9. Bhandiravana, the great forest of Banyan trees; 10. Srivana, the abode of the goddess of fortune; 11. Lohavana, the former residence of the demon Loha; and 12. Vrndavana, ruled by the goddess Vrnda-devi. 122 In these forests the demigods, human beings, Gandharvas, Nagas, and Khinnaras sing and dance.” 123 The Lord continues His description of Vrndavana-dhama (Gopala-tapani Upanisad 2.42-44): “The forests of Gopala-puri are divided into two groups: 1. Krsnavana, or Krsna’s forests, and 2. Bhadravana, Balarama’s forests. Among these twelve forests some are sacred and others are more sacred. 124 “There the demigods stay. There the perfect human beings attained perfection.” 125 “In this place are a Deity of Rama, a Deity of Pradyumna, a Deity of Aniruddha, and a Deity of Krsna. 126 The following description of the holy tirtha of Mathura is found in Gopala-tapani Upanisad (2.48): “There are these verses: Lord Krsna, accompanied by His three potencies, and by Balarama, Aniruddha, Pradyumna, and Rukmini, stays in delightful Mathura-puri, which is worshipped by Brahma and the demigods and protected by the conch, cakra, club, and sarnga bow.” 127 These verses from the Gopala-tapani Upanisad were spoken by Durvasa Muni in reply to Srimati Radharani’s questions about the nature of Lord Krsna’s transcendental abode. 128 As Vrndavana is the eternal abode of Lord Krsna, so Ayodhya is the eternal abode of Lord Ramacandra. This is confirmed in the following verse from the Ayodhya-mahatmya of the Skanda Purana: “The Personality of Godhead, Lord Ramacandra, expanding Himself in the forms of His brothers (Laksmana, Satrughna, and Bharata), eternally enjoys pastimes in the transcendental abode of Ayodhya.” 129 Wherever the Personality of Godhead stays is understood to be the spiritual world. This is confirmed in the following statement of Vedic literature: “The learned know that wherever Lord Hari stays is not within the realm of matter, but is in the spiritual world.” From this we may conclude that the place where the Supreme Lord stays in His original form as Lord Krsna is the highest of all spiritual planets, above Lord Narayana’s Vaikunthaloka.
Srila Jiva Gosvami’s Sri Krsna-sandarbha An Essay on Lord Krsna Volume Four 130 That the place of the Lord’s pastimes is in the spiritual world, and not part of the material world, is confirmed in the Patala-khanda of the Padma Purana: “O goddess please hear the glories of Mathura, the best of the seven holy cities. Mathura is not part of the material world. It is in the spiritual sky.” 131 That the district of Mathura is situated in the highest portion of the spiritual sky is confirmed in the Patala-khanda of the Padma-Purana: “How fortunate is Mathura! It is better than Vaikuntha!” 132 By understanding that the district of Mathura is situated in the highest part of the spiritual world, we can also understand the exalted nature of Sri Vrndavana-dhama, the most sacred part of the district of Mathura. 133 The glories of Vrndavana-dhama are described in the following verses of Gautamiya Tantra, which recount Lord Krsna’s answer to a question posed by Narada Muni: 134 “Narada asked the following question: O Supreme Personality of Godhead, I wish to hear about Vrndavana, which has twelve forests. If I am fit to hear, please tell me of it. 135 “Lord Krsna replied: This delightful place known as Vrndavana is my eternal transcendental abode. Whoever lives here, be he a cow, bird, tree, insect, human being, demigod, or in whatever species of life, becomes liberated and returns to the Vrndavana in the highest part of the spiritual world. 136 “In this abode reside the gopis, My eternal associates always eager to serve Me. 137 “This forest of five yojanas is My own transcendental form. This Yamuna river of nectar is also known as Susumna. 138 :Here the demigods and saints stay in subtle forms. I, the personification of all demigods, never leave this forest. 139 “Millennium after millennium I appear in this place, and then again I disappear. This splendid and beautiful place cannot be seen by material eyes.” 140 Even today there are many kadamba trees, asoka trees, and many other flowering trees, plants, and vines in the Supreme Lord’s extraordinary eternal abode, which is famous among the great devotees. 141 This is described in the Kaliya-hrada-mahatmya of the Varaha Purana: “The wise see a great wonder there. O girl with beautiful large eyes, on the eastern shore of Kaliya lake is a large, graceful, fragrant kadamba tree with a hundred branches. O girl with beautiful large eyes, this tree gives a very pleasant shade, It bears flowers during all twelve months of the year. It shines in the ten directions.” In these verses the word ‘sata-sakham’ means ‘with a hundred branches’. ‘Prabhasantah’ means ‘shining’. 142 A little of the extraordinary nature of Vrndavana-dhama may be seen in the following description spoken by the Personality of Godhead in the Brahma-kunda-mahatmya of the Varaha Purana: “O earth-goddess, listen and I will tell you of a great wonder in that holy abode where My devotees attain perfection. In the northern part of that place is a splendid white asoka tree that at noon of the sukla-dvadasi day of Vaisakha suddenly bursts into full bloom. This tree brings great happiness to My devotee. Except for My pure devotee no one can understand this tree.” The word ‘dvadasi’ here means ‘on the dvadasi’. The sutra ‘supam suluk’ confirms that this word should be understood in the locative, just as one of the previous words is locative. The word ‘suci’ here means ‘without any other activity’. Even the earth-goddess cannot understand the nature of this tree. 143 That Sri Krsna eternally stays in Vrndavana is confirmed by the following statement of the Adi-varaha Purana: “Making a grass hut and building a bridge, Lord Gadadhara enjoys pastimes that destroy all sins. Each moment of the pastimes He enjoys in this way with the gopas is eternal.” 144 That Sri Krsna eternally resides in Vrndavana is also confirmed in the Skanda Purana: “Sacred Vrndavana is ruled by Lord Hari, taken shelter of by Vrnda-devi, and served by Brahma, Siva and the demigods.” 145 That Sri Krsna eternally stays in Vrndavana is confirmed by Lord Brahma in Gopala-tapani Upanisad (1.38): “With eloquent prayers I and the Maruts please Lord Govinda, whose form is eternal and full of knowledge and bliss, and who stays eternally in Vrndavana under a desire tree.” 146 That Sri Krsna eternally stays in Vrndavana is also confirmed in the Padma Purana, Patala-khanda: “Sri Krsna eternally plays in the waves of the Yamuna.” We may note that this verse may be interpreted in another way. If the word ‘yamuna-jala-kallole’ is accepted as a bahuvrihi-samasa, the verse may be taken to mean: “Sri Krsna eternally plays in the land of Vrndavana, where the Yamuna flows.” 147 That the land of Vrndavana, although apparently situated on this earth planet, is actually situated in the spiritual sky is confirmed in the Krsna-tapani Upanisad: “The Vrndavana of this earth planet is actually situated in the spiritual sky.” 148 Because the scriptures declare that they are the Lord’s eternal abodes, Sri Mathura and other holy places must be the manifestation of the Lord’s transcendental opulences. This is confirmed by the following statements of Vedic literature: “Where does the Lord reside? He resides in the realm of His transcendental glory. Chandogya Upanisad 7.24.1 “Vrndavana is a direct manifestation of the spiritual potency of the Personality of Godhead” Gopala-tapani Upanisad 2.29 “This splendid and delightful abode of Vrndavana cannot be seen by material eyes.” Brhad-gautamiya Tantra 149 This description also applies to the sacred city Varanasi. This is described in the Brahma-vaivarta Purana, where some sages ask Lord Visnu the following questions: 150 “O My Lord, what is this great effulgence near the shore of the water? Why is it that when the entire earth becomes submerged in water at the time of annihilation, this place remains intact and unaffected? 151 “Please tell us what is this eternal spiritual place, which is described hundreds of times in the Vedanta literatures, and which gives shelter to they who suffer the three fold miseries of material existence? 152 “O Lord of the universe, simply by seeing this place, the living entities become perfect and happy. O Lord Janardana, although Your transcendental form is the most wonderful thing, as You continuously glance upon this place, You Yourself become filled with wonder.” 153 Lord Visnu answered: “This effulgent place like a parasol shining in the sky is known on this earth as the city of Varanasi. 154 “This city of Varanasi is placed on the earth as a precious jewel is set in a golden ornament. Varanasi is my eternal transcendental abode, and it is not composed of material elements. When the inert material elements become submerged in the waters of annihilation, this abode of transcendental knowledge and bliss, the city of Varanasi, is not touched by that destructive flood.” 155 The Supreme Lord also describes Varanasi in the following verses from the beginning of the Brahma-vaivarta Purana: “Consciousness and inert material elements remain eternally distinct, even though they may both be situated in the same place (the body). In the same way, the spiritual abode known as Varanasi remains always distinct from the material earth on which it rests. 156 “In the form of Lord Varaha I will lift the earth. Then My dear city of Varanasi will stand again.” 157 In text 155 the word ‘cetana’ means ‘the Supersoul’. Because the Supersoul is discussed, the word ‘jada’ here means ‘the material body’. 158 This Supersoul is a four-armed expansion of Lord Visnu. Although remaining in the material bodies of the living entities, the Supersoul remains always untouched by the sufferings of material existence. He is described in Srimad Bhagavatam (2.2.8): “Others conceive of the Personality of Godhead residing within the body of the region of the heart and measuring only eight inches, with four hands, carrying a lotus, a wheel of a chariot and conchshell and a club respectively.”* 159 Each of the Lord’s transcendental abodes is manifest in two ways: 1. In the spiritual world, and 2. In the material world. Because the Lord appears in the spiritual and material worlds, His residences are also manifested in these two places. Whether appearing in the spiritual or material worlds, each transcendental abode manifests the same form, name and qualities. Each abode is the same, whether manifested in the spiritual or material realms. 160 That a single form of the Lord can be manifested in many places simultaneously is described in Srimad Bhagavatam (10.69.2): “It is astounding the Lord Sri Krsna, who is one without a second, expanded Himself in sixteen thousand similar forms to marry sixteen thousand queens in their respective homes.”* 161 These remarkable activities of the Lord can be understood if we accept the inconceivable potency of the Lord. The Lord’s potency is described in Vedanta-sutra (2.1.27): “The Sruti-sastra confirms that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the master of all inconceivable potencies.” 162 That the abode of the Lord is the same whether manifested in the spiritual or material world is confirmed by the following statement of Hari-vamsa (previously quoted in Anuccheda 106, Text 73): “That great abode of Goloka is present everywhere, in both the spiritual and material worlds.” Some descriptions in the Vedic literatures single out either Goloka (in the spiritual world) or Gokula (in the material world) as the abode of the Supreme Lord Krsna. For example the Brahma-samhita says (5.48): “All-pervading Supreme Lord Krsna remains in His abode, known as Goloka.” The Varaha Purana and other Vedic literatures present elaborate explanations of Gokula as the place where Lord Krsna eternally enjoys pastimes. Some may consider that this presentation of two different places as the abode of Lord Krsna is a contradiction in the scriptures. This is not so, for Goloka (in the spiritual world) and Gokula (in the material world) are the same place. There is no difference between them. 163 That the Vrndavana manifested in the material world is the same as Goloka Vrndavana in the spiritual world is confirmed by the following statement of the Hari-vamsa (previously quoted in Anuccheda 106, Text 76): “O Krsna, O hero, Goloka Vrndavana in the highest part of the spiritual world is the same as the Vrndavana manifested on the earth. It is the very same place. It is this very Vrndavana that You have just now protected from great calamities, and where You remain to protect Your friends and the surabhi cows.” 164 Although manifested in different places, Sri Mathura and each of the other places of the Lord’s pastimes, are the same as their counterparts in the spiritual world. This is the conclusion of the Vedic literatures. For example, in the beginning of this passage from Hari-vamsa, we may note that Sri Krsna showed the residents of Vrndavana that the Goloka Vrndavana of the spiritual world was manifest as their own Vrndavana in the material world. 165 These words of glorification spoken by the devotees prove that the earthly Vrndavana is no different from the limitless Goloka realm in the spiritual world. The Vrndavana on this earth is situated above all the Vaikunthalokas in the spiritual world. This has been established by the previous statements of the Vedic literatures, where Vrndavana-dhama is glorified by the devotees. This supreme spiritual planet, which is divided into three realms Mathura, Dvaraka and Gokula, was seen in trance by Uddhava, who personally enjoyed pastimes with Lord Krsna. Uddhava’s return to the material world after his vision of the Krsnaloka planet is described in the following statement of Sukadeva Gosvami (Srimad Bhagavatam 3.2.6): “The great devotee Uddhava soon came back from the abode of the Lord to the human plane, and wiping his eyes, he awakened his reminiscence of the past and spoke to Vidura in a pleasing mood.”*