One day while Krishna was playing with His small playmates, including Balarama and other sons of the gopas, all His friends came together and lodged a complaint to mother Yasoda. “Mother,” they submitted, “Krishna has eaten earth.” Upon hearing this from Krishnas’s playmates, mother Yasoda, who was always full of anxiety over Krishna’s welfare, picked Krishna up with her hands to look into His mouth and chastise Him. Her eyes fearful, she spoke to her son as follows. Dear Krishna, why are You so restless that You have eaten dirt in a solitary place? This complaint has been lodged against You by all Your playmates, including Your elder brother, Balarama. How is this?Lord Śrī Krishna replied: My dear mother, I have never eaten dirt. All My friends complaining against Me are liars. If you think they are being truthful, you can directly look into My mouth and examine it.Mother Yasoda challenged Krishna, “If You have not eaten earth, then open Your mouth wide.” When challenged by His mother in this way, Krishna, the son of Nanda Mahārāja and Yasoda, to exhibit pastimes like a human child, opened His mouth. Although the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna, who is full of all opulences, did not disturb His mother’s parental affection, His opulence was automatically displayed, for Krishna’s opulence is never lost at any stage, but is manifest at the proper time. When Krishna opened His mouth wide by the order of mother Yasoda, she saw within His mouth all moving and non-moving entities, outer space, and all directions, along with mountains, islands, oceans, the surface of the earth, the blowing wind, fire, the moon and the stars. She saw the planetary systems, water, light, air, sky, and creation by transformation of ahaṅkāra. She also saw the senses, the mind, sense perception, and the three qualities goodness, passion and ignorance. She saw the time allotted for the living entities, she saw natural instinct and the reactions of karma, and she saw desires and different varieties of bodies, moving and nonmoving. Seeing all these aspects of the cosmic manifestation, along with herself and Vṛndāvana-dhāma, she became doubtful and fearful of her son’s nature. (SB 10.8.32-45)

Full texts and purports

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
By His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Canto 10, Chapter 8, Text 32-45

Lord Krishna Shows the Universal Form Within His Mouth

TEXT 32

ekadā krīḍamānās te
rāmādyā gopa-dārakāḥ
kṛṣṇo mṛdaṁ bhakṣitavān
iti mātre nyavedayan

ekadā—once upon a time; krīḍamānāḥ—now Kṛṣṇa, being still more grown up, was playing with other children of the same age; te—they; rāma-ādyāḥ—Balarāma and others; gopa-dārakāḥ—other boys born in the same neighborhood of the cowherd men; kṛṣṇaḥ mṛdam bhakṣitavān—O Mother, Kṛṣṇa has eaten earth (a complaint was lodged); iti—thus; mātre—unto mother Yaśodā; nyavedayan—they submitted.

TRANSLATION

One day while Kṛṣṇa was playing with His small playmates, including Balarāma and other sons of the gopas, all His friends came together and lodged a complaint to mother Yaśodā. “Mother,” they submitted, “Kṛṣṇa has eaten earth.”

PURPORT

Here is another of Kṛṣṇa’s transcendental activities invented to please the gopīs. First a complaint was lodged with mother Yaśodā about Kṛṣṇa’s stealing, but mother Yaśodā did not chastise Him. Now, in an attempt to awaken mother Yaśodā’s anger so that she would chastise Kṛṣṇa, another complaint was invented—that Kṛṣṇa had eaten earth.

TEXT 33

sā gṛhītvā kare kṛṣṇam
upālabhya hitaiṣiṇī
yaśodā bhaya-sambhrānta-
prekṣaṇākṣam abhāṣata

sā—mother Yaśodā; gṛhītvā—taking; kare—within the hands (being anxious about what Kṛṣṇa might have eaten); kṛṣṇam—Kṛṣṇa; upālabhya—wanted to chastise Him; hita-eṣiṇī—because she was anxious for the welfare of Kṛṣṇa, she became very much agitated, thinking, “How is it that Kṛṣṇa has eaten earth?”; yaśodā—mother Yaśodā; bhaya-sambhrānta-prekṣaṇa-akṣam—began to look very carefully within Kṛṣṇa’s mouth in fear, to see if Kṛṣṇa had eaten something dangerous; abhāṣata—began to address Kṛṣṇa.

TRANSLATION

Upon hearing this from Kṛṣṇa’s playmates, mother Yaśodā, who was always full of anxiety over Kṛṣṇa’s welfare, picked Kṛṣṇa up with her hands to look into His mouth and chastise Him. Her eyes fearful, she spoke to her son as follows.

TEXT 34

kasmān mṛdam adāntātman
bhavān bhakṣitavān rahaḥ
vadanti tāvakā hy ete
kumārās te ’grajo ’py ayam

kasmāt—why; mṛdam—dirt; adānta-ātman—You restless boy; bhavān—You; bhakṣitavān—have eaten; rahaḥ—in a solitary place; vadanti—are lodging this complaint; tāvakāḥ—Your friends and playmates; hi—indeed; ete—all of them; kumārāḥ—boys; te—Your; agrajaḥ—older brother; api—also (confirms); ayam—this.

TRANSLATION

Dear Kṛṣṇa, why are You so restless that You have eaten dirt in a solitary place? This complaint has been lodged against You by all Your playmates, including Your elder brother, Balarāma. How is this?

PURPORT

Mother Yaśodā was agitated by Kṛṣṇa’s restless misbehavior. Her house was full of sweetmeats. Why then should the restless boy eat dirt in a solitary place? Kṛṣṇa replied, “My dear mother, they have plotted together and lodged a complaint against Me so that you will punish Me. My elder brother, Balarāma, has joined them. Actually, I have not done this. Take My words as true. Do not be angry and chastise Me.”

TEXT 35

nāhaṁ bhakṣitavān amba
sarve mithyābhiśaṁsinaḥ
yadi satya-giras tarhi
samakṣaṁ paśya me mukham

na—not; aham—I; bhakṣitavān—have eaten dirt; amba—My dear mother; sarve—all of them; mithya-abhiśaṁsinaḥ—all liars, simply complaining against Me so that you may chastise Me; yadi—if it is actually a fact; satya-giraḥ—that they have spoken the truth; tarhi—then; samakṣam—directly; paśya—see; me—My; mukham—mouth.

TRANSLATION

Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa replied: My dear mother, I have never eaten dirt. All My friends complaining against Me are liars. If you think they are being truthful, you can directly look into My mouth and examine it.

PURPORT

Kṛṣṇa presented Himself as an innocent child to increase the transcendental ecstasy of maternal affection. As described in the śāstra, tāḍana-bhayān mithyoktir vātsalya-rasa-poṣikā. This means that sometimes a small child speaks lies. For example, he may have stolen something or eaten something and yet deny that he has done so. We ordinarily see this in the material world, but in relation to Kṛṣṇa it is different; such activities are meant to endow the devotee with transcendental ecstasy. The Supreme Personality of Godhead was playing as a liar and accusing all the other devotees of being liars. As stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.12.11), kṛta-puṇya-puñjāḥ: a devotee may attain such an ecstatic position after many, many births of devotional service. Persons who have amassed the results of a vast amount of pious activities can attain the stage of associating with Kṛṣṇa and playing with Him like ordinary playmates. One should not consider these transactions of transcendental service to be untruthful accusations. One should never accuse such devotees of being ordinary boys speaking lies, for they attained this stage of associating with Kṛṣṇa by great austerities (tapasā brahmacaryeṇa śamena ca damena ca [SB 6.1.13]).

TEXT 36

yady evaṁ tarhi vyādehī-
ty uktaḥ sa bhagavān hariḥ
vyādattāvyāhataiśvaryaḥ
krīḍā-manuja-bālakaḥ

yadi—if; evam—it is so; tarhi—then; vyādehi—open Your mouth wide (I want to see); iti uktaḥ—in this way ordered by mother Yaśodā; saḥ—He; bhagavān—the Supreme Personality of Godhead; hariḥ—the Supreme Lord; vyādatta—opened His mouth; avyāhata-aiśvaryaḥ—without minimizing any potencies of absolute opulence (aiśvaryasya samagrasya); krīḍā—pastimes; manuja-bālakaḥ—exactly like the child of a human being.

TRANSLATION

Mother Yaśodā challenged Kṛṣṇa, “If You have not eaten earth, then open Your mouth wide.” When challenged by His mother in this way, Kṛṣṇa, the son of Nanda Mahārāja and Yaśodā, to exhibit pastimes like a human child, opened His mouth. Although the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, who is full of all opulences, did not disturb His mother’s parental affection, His opulence was automatically displayed, for Kṛṣṇa’s opulence is never lost at any stage, but is manifest at the proper time.

PURPORT

Without disturbing the ecstasy of His mother’s affection, Kṛṣṇa opened His mouth and displayed His own natural opulences. When a person is given varieties of food, there may be a hundred and one varieties, but if one likes ordinary śāka, spinach, he prefers to eat that. Similarly, although Kṛṣṇa was full of opulences, now, by the order of mother Yaśodā, He opened wide His mouth like a human child and did not neglect the transcendental humor of maternal affection.

TEXTS 37–39
sā tatra dadṛśe viśvaṁ
jagat sthāsnu ca khaṁ diśaḥ
sādri-dvīpābdhi-bhūgolaṁ
sa-vāyv-agnīndu-tārakam

jyotiś-cakraṁ jalaṁ tejo
nabhasvān viyad eva ca
vaikārikāṇīndriyāṇi
mano mātrā guṇās trayaḥ

etad vicitraṁ saha-jīva-kāla-
svabhāva-karmāśaya-liṅga-bhedam
sūnos tanau vīkṣya vidāritāsye
vrajaṁ sahātmānam avāpa śaṅkām

sā—mother Yaśodā; tatra—within the wide-open mouth of Kṛṣṇa; dadṛśe—saw; viśvam—the whole universe; jagat—moving entities; sthāsnu—maintenance of nonmoving entities; ca—and; kham—the sky; diśaḥ—the directions; sa-adri—with the mountains; dvīpa—islands; abdhi—and oceans; bhū-golam—the surface of the earth; sa-vāyu—with the blowing wind; agni—fire; indu—the moon; tārakam—stars; jyotiḥ-cakram—the planetary systems; jalam—water; tejaḥ—light; nabhasvān—outer space; viyat—the sky; eva—also; ca—and; vaikārikāṇi—creation by transformation of ahaṅkāra; indriyāṇi—the senses; manaḥ—mind; mātrāḥ—sense perception; guṇāḥ trayaḥ—the three material qualities (sattva, rajas and tamas); etat—all these; vicitram—varieties; saha—along with; jīva-kāla—the duration of life of all living entities; svabhāva—natural instinct; karma-āśaya—resultant action and desire for material enjoyment; liṅga-bhedam—varieties of bodies according to desire; sūnoḥ tanau—in the body of her son; vīkṣya—seeing; vidārita-āsye—within the wide-open mouth; vrajam—Vṛndāvana-dhāma, Nanda Mahārāja’s place; saha-ātmānam—along with herself; avāpa—was struck; śaṅkām—with all doubts and wonder.

TRANSLATION

When Kṛṣṇa opened His mouth wide by the order of mother Yaśodā, she saw within His mouth all moving and nonmoving entities, outer space, and all directions, along with mountains, islands, oceans, the surface of the earth, the blowing wind, fire, the moon and the stars. She saw the planetary systems, water, light, air, sky, and creation by transformation of ahaṅkāra. She also saw the senses, the mind, sense perception, and the three qualities goodness, passion and ignorance. She saw the time allotted for the living entities, she saw natural instinct and the reactions of karma, and she saw desires and different varieties of bodies, moving and nonmoving. Seeing all these aspects of the cosmic manifestation, along with herself and Vṛndāvana-dhāma, she became doubtful and fearful of her son’s nature.

PURPORT

All the cosmic manifestations that exist on the gross and subtle elements, as well as the means of their agitation, the three guṇas, the living entity, creation, maintenance, annihilation and everything going on in the external energy of the Lord—all this comes from the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Govinda. Everything is within the control of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is also confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā (9.10). Mayādhyakṣeṇa prakṛtiḥ sūyate sa-carācaram: everything in the material nature (prakṛti) works under His control. Because all these manifestations come from Govinda, they could all be visible within the mouth of Govinda. Quite astonishingly, mother Yaśodā was afraid because of intense maternal affection. She could not believe that within the mouth of her son such things could appear. Yet she saw them, and therefore she was struck with fear and wonder.

TEXT 40

kiṁ svapna etad uta devamāyā
kiṁ vā madīyo bata buddhi-mohaḥ
atho amuṣyaiva mamārbhakasya
yaḥ kaścanautpattika ātma-yogaḥ

kim—whether; svapnaḥ—a dream; etat—all this; uta—or otherwise; deva-māyā—an illusory manifestation by the external energy; kim vā—or else; madīyaḥ—my personal; bata—indeed; buddhi-mohaḥ—illusion of intelligence; atho—otherwise; amuṣya—of such; eva—indeed; mama arbhakasya—of my child; yaḥ—which; kaścana—some; autpattikaḥ—natural; ātma-yogaḥ—personal mystic power.

TRANSLATION

[Mother Yaśodā began to argue within herself:] Is this a dream, or is it an illusory creation by the external energy? Has this been manifested by my own intelligence, or is it some mystic power of my child?

PURPORT

When mother Yaśodā saw this wonderful manifestation within the mouth of her child, she began to argue within herself about whether it was a dream. Then she considered, “I am not dreaming, because my eyes are open. I am actually seeing what is happening. I am not sleeping, nor am I dreaming. Then maybe this is an illusion created by devamāyā. But that is also not possible. What business would the demigods have showing such things to me? I am an insignificant woman with no connection with the demigods. Why should they take the trouble to put me into devamāyā? That also is not possible.” Then mother Yaśodā considered whether the vision might be due to bewilderment: “I am fit in health; I am not diseased. Why should there be any bewilderment? It is not possible that my brain is deranged, since I am ordinarily quite fit to think. Then this vision must be due to some mystic power of my son, as predicted by Gargamuni.” Thus she finally concluded that the vision was due to her son’s activities, and nothing else.

TEXT 41

atho yathāvan na vitarka-gocaraṁ
ceto-manaḥ-karma-vacobhir añjasā
yad-āśrayaṁ yena yataḥ pratīyate
sudurvibhāvyaṁ praṇatāsmi tat-padam

atho—therefore she decided to surrender unto the Supreme Lord; yathā-vat—as perfectly as one can perceive; na—not; vitarka-gocaram—beyond all arguments, reason and sense perception; cetaḥ—by consciousness; manaḥ—by mind; karma—by activities; vacobhiḥ—or by words; añjasā—taking all of them together, we cannot understand them; yat-āśrayam—under whose control; yena—by whom; yataḥ—from whom; pratīyate—can be conceived only that from Him everything emanates; su-durvibhāvyam—beyond our sense perception or consciousness; praṇatā asmi—let me surrender; tat-padam—at His lotus feet.

TRANSLATION

Therefore let me surrender unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead and offer my obeisances unto Him, who is beyond the conception of human speculation, the mind, activities, words and arguments, who is the original cause of this cosmic manifestation, by whom the entire cosmos is maintained, and by whom we can conceive of its existence. Let me simply offer my obeisances, for He is beyond my contemplation, speculation and meditation. He is beyond all of my material activities.

PURPORT

One simply has to realize the greatness of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. One should not try to understand Him by any material means, subtle or gross. Mother Yaśodā, being a simple woman, could not find out the real cause of the vision; therefore, out of maternal affection, she simply offered obeisances unto the Supreme Lord to protect her child. She could do nothing but offer obeisances to the Lord. It is said, acintyāḥ khalu ye bhāvā na tāṁs tarkeṇa yojayet (Mahābhārata, Bhīṣma parva 5.22). One should not try to understand the supreme cause by argument or reasoning. When we are beset by some problem for which we can find no reason, there is no alternative than to surrender to the Supreme Lord and offer Him our respectful obeisances. Then our position will be secure. This was the means adopted in this instance also by mother Yaśodā. Whatever happens, the original cause is the Supreme Personality of Godhead (sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam [Bs. 5.1]). When the immediate cause cannot be ascertained, let us simply offer our obeisances at the lotus feet of the Lord. Mother Yaśodā concluded that the wonderful things she saw within the mouth of her child were due to Him, although she could not clearly ascertain the cause. Therefore when a devotee cannot ascertain the cause of suffering, he concludes:

tat te ’nukampāṁ susamīkṣamāṇo
bhuñjāna evātma-kṛtaṁ vipākam
hṛd-vāg-vapurbhir vidadhan namas te
jīveta yo mukti-pade sa dāya-bhāk
(Bhāg. 10.14.8)

The devotee accepts that it is due to his own past misdeeds that the Supreme Personality of Godhead has caused him some small amount of suffering. Thus he offers obeisances to the Lord again and again. Such a devotee is called mukti-pade sa dāya-bhāk; that is, he is guaranteed his liberation from this material world. As stated in Bhagavad-gītā (2.14):

mātrā-sparśās tu kaunteya
śītoṣṇa-sukha-duḥkha-dāḥ
āgamāpāyino nityās
tāṁs titikṣasva bhārata

We should know that material suffering due to the material body will come and go. Therefore we must tolerate the suffering and proceed with discharging our duty as ordained by our spiritual master.

TEXT 42

ahaṁ mamāsau patir eṣa me suto
vrajeśvarasyākhila-vittapā satī
gopyaś ca gopāḥ saha-godhanāś ca me
yan-māyayetthaṁ kumatiḥ sa me gatiḥ

aham—my existence (“I am something”); mama—my; asau—Nanda Mahārāja; patiḥ—husband; eṣaḥ—this (Kṛṣṇa); me sutaḥ—is my son; vraja-īśvarasya—of my husband, Nanda Mahārāja; akhila-vitta-pā—I am the possessor of unlimited opulence and wealth; satī—because I am his wife; gopyaḥ ca—and all the damsels of the cowherd men; gopāḥ—all the cowherd men (are my subordinates); saha-godhanāḥ ca—with the cows and calves; me—my; yat-māyayā—all such things addressed by me are, after all, given by the mercy of the Supreme; ittham—thus; kumatiḥ—I am wrongly thinking they are my possessions; saḥ me gatiḥ—He is therefore my only shelter (I am simply instrumental).

TRANSLATION

It is by the influence of the Supreme Lord’s māyā that I am wrongly thinking that Nanda Mahārāja is my husband, that Kṛṣṇa is my son, and that because I am the queen of Nanda Mahārāja, all the wealth of cows and calves are my possessions and all the cowherd men and their wives are my subjects. Actually, I also am eternally subordinate to the Supreme Lord. He is my ultimate shelter.

PURPORT

Following in the footsteps of mother Yaśodā, everyone should follow this mentality of renunciation. Whatever wealth, opulence or whatever else we may possess belongs not to us but to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is the ultimate shelter of everyone and the ultimate owner of everything. As stated by the Lord Himself in Bhagavad-gītā (5.29):

bhoktāraṁ yajña-tapasāṁ
sarva-loka-maheśvaram
suhṛdaṁ sarva-bhūtānāṁ
jñātvā māṁ śāntim ṛcchati

“The sages, knowing Me as the ultimate purpose of all sacrifices and austerities, the Supreme Lord of all planets and demigods and the benefactor and well-wisher of all living entities, attain peace from the pangs of material miseries.”
We should not be proud of our possessions. As expressed by mother Yaśodā herein, “I am not the owner of possessions, the opulent wife of Nanda Mahārāja. The estate, the possessions, the cows and calves and the subjects like the gopīs and cowherd men are all given to me.” One should give up thinking of “my possessions, my son and my husband” (janasya moho’yam ahaṁ mameti [SB 5.5.8]). Nothing belongs to anyone but the Supreme Lord. Only because of illusion do we wrongly think, “I am existing” or “Everything belongs to me.” Thus mother Yaśodā completely surrendered unto the Supreme Lord. For the moment, she was rather disappointed, thinking, “My endeavors to protect my son by charity and other auspicious activities are useless. The Supreme Lord has given me many things, but unless He takes charge of everything, there is no assurance of protection. I must therefore ultimately seek shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.” As stated by Prahlāda Mahārāja (Bhāg. 7.9.19), bālasya neha śaraṇaṁ pitarau nṛsiṁha: a father and mother cannot ultimately take care of their children. Ato gṛha-kṣetra-sutāpta-vittair janasya moho ’yam ahaṁ mameti (Bhāg. 5.5.8). One’s land, home, wealth and all of one’s possessions belong to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, although we wrongly think, “I am this” and “These things are mine.”

TEXT 43

itthaṁ vidita-tattvāyāṁ
gopikāyāṁ sa īśvaraḥ
vaiṣṇavīṁ vyatanon māyāṁ
putra-snehamayīṁ vibhuḥ

ittham—in this way; vidita-tattvāyām—when she understood the truth of everything philosophically; gopikāyām—unto mother Yaśodā; saḥ—the Supreme Lord; īśvaraḥ—the supreme controller; vaiṣṇavīm—viṣṇumāyā, or yogamāyā; vyatanot—expanded; māyām—yogamāyā; putra-sneha-mayīm—very much attached because of maternal affection for her son; vibhuḥ—the Supreme Lord.

TRANSLATION

Mother Yaśodā, by the grace of the Lord, could understand the real truth. But then again, the supreme master, by the influence of the internal potency, yogamāyā, inspired her to become absorbed in intense maternal affection for her son.

PURPORT

Although mother Yaśodā understood the whole philosophy of life, at the next moment she was overwhelmed by affection for her son by the influence of yogamāyā. Unless she took care of her son Kṛṣṇa, she thought, how could He be protected? She could not think otherwise, and thus she forgot all her philosophical speculations. This forgetfulness is described by Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura as being inspired by the influence of yogamāyā (mohana-sādharmyān māyām). Materialistic persons are captivated by mahāmāyā, whereas devotees, by the arrangement of the spiritual energy, are captivated by yogamāyā.

TEXT 44

sadyo naṣṭa-smṛtir gopī
sāropyāroham ātmajam
pravṛddha-sneha-kalila-
hṛdayāsīd yathā purā

sadyaḥ—after all these philosophical speculations, mother Yaśodā fully surrendered to the Supreme Personality of Godhead; naṣṭa-smṛtiḥ—having gotten rid of the memory of seeing the universal form within Kṛṣṇa’s mouth; gopī—mother Yaśodā; sā—she; āropya—seating; āroham—on the lap; ātmajam—her son; pravṛddha—increased; sneha—by affection; kalila—affected; hṛdayā—the core of her heart; āsīt—became situated; yathā purā—as she was formerly.

TRANSLATION

Immediately forgetting yogamāyā’s illusion that Kṛṣṇa had shown the universal form within His mouth, mother Yaśodā took her son on her lap as before, feeling increased affection in her heart for her transcendental child.

PURPORT

Mother Yaśodā regarded the vision of the universal form within Kṛṣṇa’s mouth as an arrangement of yogamāyā, like a dream. As one forgets everything after a dream, mother Yaśodā immediately forgot the entire incident. As her natural feeling of affection increased, she decided to herself, “Now let this incident be forgotten. I do not mind. Here is my son. Let me kiss Him.”

TEXT 45

trayyā copaniṣadbhiś ca
sāṅkhya-yogaiś ca sātvataiḥ
upagīyamāna-māhātmyaṁ
hariṁ sāmanyatātmajam

trayyā—by studying the three Vedas (Sāma, Yajur and Atharva); ca—also; upaniṣadbhiḥ ca—and by studying the Vedic knowledge of the Upaniṣads; sāṅkhya-yogaiḥ—by reading the literature of sāṅkhya-yoga; ca—and; sātvataiḥ—by the great sages and devotees, or by reading Vaiṣṇava-tantra, Pañcarātras; upagīyamāna-māhātmyam—whose glories are worshiped (by all these Vedic literatures); harim—unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead; sā—she; amanyata—considered (ordinary); ātmajam—as her own son.

TRANSLATION

The glories of the Supreme Personality of Godhead are studied through the three Vedas, the Upaniṣads, the literature of Sāṅkhya-yoga, and other Vaiṣṇava literature, yet mother Yaśodā considered that Supreme Person her ordinary child.

PURPORT

As stated in Bhagavad-gītā (15.15) by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, the purpose of studying the Vedas is to understand Him (vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ). Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu explained to Sanātana Gosvāmī that there are three purposes in the Vedas. One is to understand our relationship with Kṛṣṇa (sambandha), another is to act according to that relationship (abhidheya), and the third is to reach the ultimate goal (prayojana). The word prayojana means “necessities,” and the ultimate necessity is explained by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. premā pum-artho mahān: the greatest necessity for a human being is the achievement of love for the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Here we see that mother Yaśodā is on the highest stage of necessity, for she is completely absorbed in love for Kṛṣṇa.

In the beginning, the Vedic purpose is pursued in three ways (trayī)—by karma-kāṇḍa, jñāna-kāṇḍa and upāsanā-kāṇḍa. When one reaches the complete, perfect stage of upāsanā-kāṇḍa, one comes to worship Nārāyaṇa, or Lord Viṣṇu. When Pārvatī asked Lord Mahādeva, Lord Śiva, what is the best method of upāsanā, or worship, Lord Śiva answered, ārādhanānāṁ sarveṣāṁ viṣṇor ārādhanaṁ param. Viṣṇūpāsanā, or viṣṇv-ārādhana, worship of Lord Viṣṇu, is the highest stage of perfection, as realized by Devakī. But here mother Yaśodā performs no upāsanā, for she has developed transcendental ecstatic love for Kṛṣṇa. Therefore her position is better than that of Devakī. In order to show this, Śrīla Vyāsadeva enunciates this verse, trayyā copaniṣadbhiḥ etc.
When a human being enters into the study of the Vedas to obtain vidyā, knowledge, he begins to take part in human civilization. Then he advances further to study the Upaniṣads and gain brahma jñāna, impersonal realization of the Absolute Truth, and then he advances still further, to sāṅkhya-yoga, in order to understand the supreme controller, who is indicated in Bhagavad-gītā (paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān/puruṣaṁ śāśvatam [Bg. 10.12]). When one understands that puruṣa, the supreme controller, to be Paramātmā, one is engaged in the method of yoga (dhyānāvasthita-tad-gatena manasā paśyanti yaṁ yoginaḥ [SB 12.13.1]). But mother Yaśodā has surpassed all these stages. She has come to the platform of loving Kṛṣṇa as her beloved child, and therefore she is accepted to be on the highest stage of spiritual realization. The Absolute Truth is realized in three features (brahmeti paramātmeti bhagavān iti śabdyate), but she is in such ecstasy that she does not care to understand what is Brahman, what is Paramātmā or what is Bhagavān. Bhagavān has personally descended to become her beloved child. Therefore there is no comparison to mother Yaśodā’s good fortune, as declared by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu (ramyā kācid upāsanā vrajavadhū-vargeṇa yā kalpitā). The Absolute Truth, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, may be realized in different stages. As the Lord says in Bhagavad-gītā (4.11):

ye yathā māṁ prapadyante
tāṁs tathaiva bhajāmy aham
mama vartmānuvartante
manuṣyāḥ pārtha sarvaśaḥ

“As men surrender unto Me, I reward them accordingly. Everyone follows My path in all respects, O son of Pṛthā.” One may be a karmī, a jñānī, a yogī and then a bhakta or prema-bhakta. But the ultimate stage of realization is prema-bhakti, as actually demonstrated by mother Yaśodā.One day while Krishna was playing with His small playmates, including Balarama and other sons of the gopas, all His friends came together and lodged a complaint to mother Yasoda. “Mother,” they submitted, “Krishna has eaten earth.” Upon hearing this from Krishnas’s playmates, mother Yasoda, who was always full of anxiety over Krishna’s welfare, picked Krishna up with her hands to look into His mouth and chastise Him. Her eyes fearful, she spoke to her son as follows. Dear Krishna, why are You so restless that You have eaten dirt in a solitary place? This complaint has been lodged against You by all Your playmates, including Your elder brother, Balarama. How is this?Lord Śrī Krishna replied: My dear mother, I have never eaten dirt. All My friends complaining against Me are liars. If you think they are being truthful, you can directly look into My mouth and examine it.Mother Yasoda challenged Krishna, “If You have not eaten earth, then open Your mouth wide.” When challenged by His mother in this way, Krishna, the son of Nanda Mahārāja and Yasoda, to exhibit pastimes like a human child, opened His mouth. Although the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna, who is full of all opulences, did not disturb His mother’s parental affection, His opulence was automatically displayed, for Krishna’s opulence is never lost at any stage, but is manifest at the proper time. When Krishna opened His mouth wide by the order of mother Yasoda, she saw within His mouth all moving and non-moving entities, outer space, and all directions, along with mountains, islands, oceans, the surface of the earth, the blowing wind, fire, the moon and the stars. She saw the planetary systems, water, light, air, sky, and creation by transformation of ahaṅkāra. She also saw the senses, the mind, sense perception, and the three qualities goodness, passion and ignorance. She saw the time allotted for the living entities, she saw natural instinct and the reactions of karma, and she saw desires and different varieties of bodies, moving and nonmoving. Seeing all these aspects of the cosmic manifestation, along with herself and Vṛndāvana-dhāma, she became doubtful and fearful of her son’s nature. (SB 10.8.32-45)

Full texts and purports

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
By His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Canto 10, Chapter 8, Text 32-45

Lord Krishna Shows the Universal Form Within His Mouth

TEXT 32

ekadā krīḍamānās te
rāmādyā gopa-dārakāḥ
kṛṣṇo mṛdaṁ bhakṣitavān
iti mātre nyavedayan

ekadā—once upon a time; krīḍamānāḥ—now Kṛṣṇa, being still more grown up, was playing with other children of the same age; te—they; rāma-ādyāḥ—Balarāma and others; gopa-dārakāḥ—other boys born in the same neighborhood of the cowherd men; kṛṣṇaḥ mṛdam bhakṣitavān—O Mother, Kṛṣṇa has eaten earth (a complaint was lodged); iti—thus; mātre—unto mother Yaśodā; nyavedayan—they submitted.

TRANSLATION

One day while Kṛṣṇa was playing with His small playmates, including Balarāma and other sons of the gopas, all His friends came together and lodged a complaint to mother Yaśodā. “Mother,” they submitted, “Kṛṣṇa has eaten earth.”

PURPORT

Here is another of Kṛṣṇa’s transcendental activities invented to please the gopīs. First a complaint was lodged with mother Yaśodā about Kṛṣṇa’s stealing, but mother Yaśodā did not chastise Him. Now, in an attempt to awaken mother Yaśodā’s anger so that she would chastise Kṛṣṇa, another complaint was invented—that Kṛṣṇa had eaten earth.

TEXT 33

sā gṛhītvā kare kṛṣṇam
upālabhya hitaiṣiṇī
yaśodā bhaya-sambhrānta-
prekṣaṇākṣam abhāṣata

sā—mother Yaśodā; gṛhītvā—taking; kare—within the hands (being anxious about what Kṛṣṇa might have eaten); kṛṣṇam—Kṛṣṇa; upālabhya—wanted to chastise Him; hita-eṣiṇī—because she was anxious for the welfare of Kṛṣṇa, she became very much agitated, thinking, “How is it that Kṛṣṇa has eaten earth?”; yaśodā—mother Yaśodā; bhaya-sambhrānta-prekṣaṇa-akṣam—began to look very carefully within Kṛṣṇa’s mouth in fear, to see if Kṛṣṇa had eaten something dangerous; abhāṣata—began to address Kṛṣṇa.

TRANSLATION

Upon hearing this from Kṛṣṇa’s playmates, mother Yaśodā, who was always full of anxiety over Kṛṣṇa’s welfare, picked Kṛṣṇa up with her hands to look into His mouth and chastise Him. Her eyes fearful, she spoke to her son as follows.

TEXT 34

kasmān mṛdam adāntātman
bhavān bhakṣitavān rahaḥ
vadanti tāvakā hy ete
kumārās te ’grajo ’py ayam

kasmāt—why; mṛdam—dirt; adānta-ātman—You restless boy; bhavān—You; bhakṣitavān—have eaten; rahaḥ—in a solitary place; vadanti—are lodging this complaint; tāvakāḥ—Your friends and playmates; hi—indeed; ete—all of them; kumārāḥ—boys; te—Your; agrajaḥ—older brother; api—also (confirms); ayam—this.

TRANSLATION

Dear Kṛṣṇa, why are You so restless that You have eaten dirt in a solitary place? This complaint has been lodged against You by all Your playmates, including Your elder brother, Balarāma. How is this?

PURPORT

Mother Yaśodā was agitated by Kṛṣṇa’s restless misbehavior. Her house was full of sweetmeats. Why then should the restless boy eat dirt in a solitary place? Kṛṣṇa replied, “My dear mother, they have plotted together and lodged a complaint against Me so that you will punish Me. My elder brother, Balarāma, has joined them. Actually, I have not done this. Take My words as true. Do not be angry and chastise Me.”

TEXT 35

nāhaṁ bhakṣitavān amba
sarve mithyābhiśaṁsinaḥ
yadi satya-giras tarhi
samakṣaṁ paśya me mukham

na—not; aham—I; bhakṣitavān—have eaten dirt; amba—My dear mother; sarve—all of them; mithya-abhiśaṁsinaḥ—all liars, simply complaining against Me so that you may chastise Me; yadi—if it is actually a fact; satya-giraḥ—that they have spoken the truth; tarhi—then; samakṣam—directly; paśya—see; me—My; mukham—mouth.

TRANSLATION

Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa replied: My dear mother, I have never eaten dirt. All My friends complaining against Me are liars. If you think they are being truthful, you can directly look into My mouth and examine it.

PURPORT

Kṛṣṇa presented Himself as an innocent child to increase the transcendental ecstasy of maternal affection. As described in the śāstra, tāḍana-bhayān mithyoktir vātsalya-rasa-poṣikā. This means that sometimes a small child speaks lies. For example, he may have stolen something or eaten something and yet deny that he has done so. We ordinarily see this in the material world, but in relation to Kṛṣṇa it is different; such activities are meant to endow the devotee with transcendental ecstasy. The Supreme Personality of Godhead was playing as a liar and accusing all the other devotees of being liars. As stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.12.11), kṛta-puṇya-puñjāḥ: a devotee may attain such an ecstatic position after many, many births of devotional service. Persons who have amassed the results of a vast amount of pious activities can attain the stage of associating with Kṛṣṇa and playing with Him like ordinary playmates. One should not consider these transactions of transcendental service to be untruthful accusations. One should never accuse such devotees of being ordinary boys speaking lies, for they attained this stage of associating with Kṛṣṇa by great austerities (tapasā brahmacaryeṇa śamena ca damena ca [SB 6.1.13]).

TEXT 36

yady evaṁ tarhi vyādehī-
ty uktaḥ sa bhagavān hariḥ
vyādattāvyāhataiśvaryaḥ
krīḍā-manuja-bālakaḥ

yadi—if; evam—it is so; tarhi—then; vyādehi—open Your mouth wide (I want to see); iti uktaḥ—in this way ordered by mother Yaśodā; saḥ—He; bhagavān—the Supreme Personality of Godhead; hariḥ—the Supreme Lord; vyādatta—opened His mouth; avyāhata-aiśvaryaḥ—without minimizing any potencies of absolute opulence (aiśvaryasya samagrasya); krīḍā—pastimes; manuja-bālakaḥ—exactly like the child of a human being.

TRANSLATION

Mother Yaśodā challenged Kṛṣṇa, “If You have not eaten earth, then open Your mouth wide.” When challenged by His mother in this way, Kṛṣṇa, the son of Nanda Mahārāja and Yaśodā, to exhibit pastimes like a human child, opened His mouth. Although the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, who is full of all opulences, did not disturb His mother’s parental affection, His opulence was automatically displayed, for Kṛṣṇa’s opulence is never lost at any stage, but is manifest at the proper time.

PURPORT

Without disturbing the ecstasy of His mother’s affection, Kṛṣṇa opened His mouth and displayed His own natural opulences. When a person is given varieties of food, there may be a hundred and one varieties, but if one likes ordinary śāka, spinach, he prefers to eat that. Similarly, although Kṛṣṇa was full of opulences, now, by the order of mother Yaśodā, He opened wide His mouth like a human child and did not neglect the transcendental humor of maternal affection.

TEXTS 37–39
sā tatra dadṛśe viśvaṁ
jagat sthāsnu ca khaṁ diśaḥ
sādri-dvīpābdhi-bhūgolaṁ
sa-vāyv-agnīndu-tārakam

jyotiś-cakraṁ jalaṁ tejo
nabhasvān viyad eva ca
vaikārikāṇīndriyāṇi
mano mātrā guṇās trayaḥ

etad vicitraṁ saha-jīva-kāla-
svabhāva-karmāśaya-liṅga-bhedam
sūnos tanau vīkṣya vidāritāsye
vrajaṁ sahātmānam avāpa śaṅkām

sā—mother Yaśodā; tatra—within the wide-open mouth of Kṛṣṇa; dadṛśe—saw; viśvam—the whole universe; jagat—moving entities; sthāsnu—maintenance of nonmoving entities; ca—and; kham—the sky; diśaḥ—the directions; sa-adri—with the mountains; dvīpa—islands; abdhi—and oceans; bhū-golam—the surface of the earth; sa-vāyu—with the blowing wind; agni—fire; indu—the moon; tārakam—stars; jyotiḥ-cakram—the planetary systems; jalam—water; tejaḥ—light; nabhasvān—outer space; viyat—the sky; eva—also; ca—and; vaikārikāṇi—creation by transformation of ahaṅkāra; indriyāṇi—the senses; manaḥ—mind; mātrāḥ—sense perception; guṇāḥ trayaḥ—the three material qualities (sattva, rajas and tamas); etat—all these; vicitram—varieties; saha—along with; jīva-kāla—the duration of life of all living entities; svabhāva—natural instinct; karma-āśaya—resultant action and desire for material enjoyment; liṅga-bhedam—varieties of bodies according to desire; sūnoḥ tanau—in the body of her son; vīkṣya—seeing; vidārita-āsye—within the wide-open mouth; vrajam—Vṛndāvana-dhāma, Nanda Mahārāja’s place; saha-ātmānam—along with herself; avāpa—was struck; śaṅkām—with all doubts and wonder.

TRANSLATION

When Kṛṣṇa opened His mouth wide by the order of mother Yaśodā, she saw within His mouth all moving and nonmoving entities, outer space, and all directions, along with mountains, islands, oceans, the surface of the earth, the blowing wind, fire, the moon and the stars. She saw the planetary systems, water, light, air, sky, and creation by transformation of ahaṅkāra. She also saw the senses, the mind, sense perception, and the three qualities goodness, passion and ignorance. She saw the time allotted for the living entities, she saw natural instinct and the reactions of karma, and she saw desires and different varieties of bodies, moving and nonmoving. Seeing all these aspects of the cosmic manifestation, along with herself and Vṛndāvana-dhāma, she became doubtful and fearful of her son’s nature.

PURPORT

All the cosmic manifestations that exist on the gross and subtle elements, as well as the means of their agitation, the three guṇas, the living entity, creation, maintenance, annihilation and everything going on in the external energy of the Lord—all this comes from the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Govinda. Everything is within the control of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is also confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā (9.10). Mayādhyakṣeṇa prakṛtiḥ sūyate sa-carācaram: everything in the material nature (prakṛti) works under His control. Because all these manifestations come from Govinda, they could all be visible within the mouth of Govinda. Quite astonishingly, mother Yaśodā was afraid because of intense maternal affection. She could not believe that within the mouth of her son such things could appear. Yet she saw them, and therefore she was struck with fear and wonder.

TEXT 40

kiṁ svapna etad uta devamāyā
kiṁ vā madīyo bata buddhi-mohaḥ
atho amuṣyaiva mamārbhakasya
yaḥ kaścanautpattika ātma-yogaḥ

kim—whether; svapnaḥ—a dream; etat—all this; uta—or otherwise; deva-māyā—an illusory manifestation by the external energy; kim vā—or else; madīyaḥ—my personal; bata—indeed; buddhi-mohaḥ—illusion of intelligence; atho—otherwise; amuṣya—of such; eva—indeed; mama arbhakasya—of my child; yaḥ—which; kaścana—some; autpattikaḥ—natural; ātma-yogaḥ—personal mystic power.

TRANSLATION

[Mother Yaśodā began to argue within herself:] Is this a dream, or is it an illusory creation by the external energy? Has this been manifested by my own intelligence, or is it some mystic power of my child?

PURPORT

When mother Yaśodā saw this wonderful manifestation within the mouth of her child, she began to argue within herself about whether it was a dream. Then she considered, “I am not dreaming, because my eyes are open. I am actually seeing what is happening. I am not sleeping, nor am I dreaming. Then maybe this is an illusion created by devamāyā. But that is also not possible. What business would the demigods have showing such things to me? I am an insignificant woman with no connection with the demigods. Why should they take the trouble to put me into devamāyā? That also is not possible.” Then mother Yaśodā considered whether the vision might be due to bewilderment: “I am fit in health; I am not diseased. Why should there be any bewilderment? It is not possible that my brain is deranged, since I am ordinarily quite fit to think. Then this vision must be due to some mystic power of my son, as predicted by Gargamuni.” Thus she finally concluded that the vision was due to her son’s activities, and nothing else.

TEXT 41

atho yathāvan na vitarka-gocaraṁ
ceto-manaḥ-karma-vacobhir añjasā
yad-āśrayaṁ yena yataḥ pratīyate
sudurvibhāvyaṁ praṇatāsmi tat-padam

atho—therefore she decided to surrender unto the Supreme Lord; yathā-vat—as perfectly as one can perceive; na—not; vitarka-gocaram—beyond all arguments, reason and sense perception; cetaḥ—by consciousness; manaḥ—by mind; karma—by activities; vacobhiḥ—or by words; añjasā—taking all of them together, we cannot understand them; yat-āśrayam—under whose control; yena—by whom; yataḥ—from whom; pratīyate—can be conceived only that from Him everything emanates; su-durvibhāvyam—beyond our sense perception or consciousness; praṇatā asmi—let me surrender; tat-padam—at His lotus feet.

TRANSLATION

Therefore let me surrender unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead and offer my obeisances unto Him, who is beyond the conception of human speculation, the mind, activities, words and arguments, who is the original cause of this cosmic manifestation, by whom the entire cosmos is maintained, and by whom we can conceive of its existence. Let me simply offer my obeisances, for He is beyond my contemplation, speculation and meditation. He is beyond all of my material activities.

PURPORT

One simply has to realize the greatness of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. One should not try to understand Him by any material means, subtle or gross. Mother Yaśodā, being a simple woman, could not find out the real cause of the vision; therefore, out of maternal affection, she simply offered obeisances unto the Supreme Lord to protect her child. She could do nothing but offer obeisances to the Lord. It is said, acintyāḥ khalu ye bhāvā na tāṁs tarkeṇa yojayet (Mahābhārata, Bhīṣma parva 5.22). One should not try to understand the supreme cause by argument or reasoning. When we are beset by some problem for which we can find no reason, there is no alternative than to surrender to the Supreme Lord and offer Him our respectful obeisances. Then our position will be secure. This was the means adopted in this instance also by mother Yaśodā. Whatever happens, the original cause is the Supreme Personality of Godhead (sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam [Bs. 5.1]). When the immediate cause cannot be ascertained, let us simply offer our obeisances at the lotus feet of the Lord. Mother Yaśodā concluded that the wonderful things she saw within the mouth of her child were due to Him, although she could not clearly ascertain the cause. Therefore when a devotee cannot ascertain the cause of suffering, he concludes:

tat te ’nukampāṁ susamīkṣamāṇo
bhuñjāna evātma-kṛtaṁ vipākam
hṛd-vāg-vapurbhir vidadhan namas te
jīveta yo mukti-pade sa dāya-bhāk
(Bhāg. 10.14.8)

The devotee accepts that it is due to his own past misdeeds that the Supreme Personality of Godhead has caused him some small amount of suffering. Thus he offers obeisances to the Lord again and again. Such a devotee is called mukti-pade sa dāya-bhāk; that is, he is guaranteed his liberation from this material world. As stated in Bhagavad-gītā (2.14):

mātrā-sparśās tu kaunteya
śītoṣṇa-sukha-duḥkha-dāḥ
āgamāpāyino nityās
tāṁs titikṣasva bhārata

We should know that material suffering due to the material body will come and go. Therefore we must tolerate the suffering and proceed with discharging our duty as ordained by our spiritual master.

TEXT 42

ahaṁ mamāsau patir eṣa me suto
vrajeśvarasyākhila-vittapā satī
gopyaś ca gopāḥ saha-godhanāś ca me
yan-māyayetthaṁ kumatiḥ sa me gatiḥ

aham—my existence (“I am something”); mama—my; asau—Nanda Mahārāja; patiḥ—husband; eṣaḥ—this (Kṛṣṇa); me sutaḥ—is my son; vraja-īśvarasya—of my husband, Nanda Mahārāja; akhila-vitta-pā—I am the possessor of unlimited opulence and wealth; satī—because I am his wife; gopyaḥ ca—and all the damsels of the cowherd men; gopāḥ—all the cowherd men (are my subordinates); saha-godhanāḥ ca—with the cows and calves; me—my; yat-māyayā—all such things addressed by me are, after all, given by the mercy of the Supreme; ittham—thus; kumatiḥ—I am wrongly thinking they are my possessions; saḥ me gatiḥ—He is therefore my only shelter (I am simply instrumental).

TRANSLATION

It is by the influence of the Supreme Lord’s māyā that I am wrongly thinking that Nanda Mahārāja is my husband, that Kṛṣṇa is my son, and that because I am the queen of Nanda Mahārāja, all the wealth of cows and calves are my possessions and all the cowherd men and their wives are my subjects. Actually, I also am eternally subordinate to the Supreme Lord. He is my ultimate shelter.

PURPORT

Following in the footsteps of mother Yaśodā, everyone should follow this mentality of renunciation. Whatever wealth, opulence or whatever else we may possess belongs not to us but to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is the ultimate shelter of everyone and the ultimate owner of everything. As stated by the Lord Himself in Bhagavad-gītā (5.29):

bhoktāraṁ yajña-tapasāṁ
sarva-loka-maheśvaram
suhṛdaṁ sarva-bhūtānāṁ
jñātvā māṁ śāntim ṛcchati

“The sages, knowing Me as the ultimate purpose of all sacrifices and austerities, the Supreme Lord of all planets and demigods and the benefactor and well-wisher of all living entities, attain peace from the pangs of material miseries.”
We should not be proud of our possessions. As expressed by mother Yaśodā herein, “I am not the owner of possessions, the opulent wife of Nanda Mahārāja. The estate, the possessions, the cows and calves and the subjects like the gopīs and cowherd men are all given to me.” One should give up thinking of “my possessions, my son and my husband” (janasya moho’yam ahaṁ mameti [SB 5.5.8]). Nothing belongs to anyone but the Supreme Lord. Only because of illusion do we wrongly think, “I am existing” or “Everything belongs to me.” Thus mother Yaśodā completely surrendered unto the Supreme Lord. For the moment, she was rather disappointed, thinking, “My endeavors to protect my son by charity and other auspicious activities are useless. The Supreme Lord has given me many things, but unless He takes charge of everything, there is no assurance of protection. I must therefore ultimately seek shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.” As stated by Prahlāda Mahārāja (Bhāg. 7.9.19), bālasya neha śaraṇaṁ pitarau nṛsiṁha: a father and mother cannot ultimately take care of their children. Ato gṛha-kṣetra-sutāpta-vittair janasya moho ’yam ahaṁ mameti (Bhāg. 5.5.8). One’s land, home, wealth and all of one’s possessions belong to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, although we wrongly think, “I am this” and “These things are mine.”

TEXT 43

itthaṁ vidita-tattvāyāṁ
gopikāyāṁ sa īśvaraḥ
vaiṣṇavīṁ vyatanon māyāṁ
putra-snehamayīṁ vibhuḥ

ittham—in this way; vidita-tattvāyām—when she understood the truth of everything philosophically; gopikāyām—unto mother Yaśodā; saḥ—the Supreme Lord; īśvaraḥ—the supreme controller; vaiṣṇavīm—viṣṇumāyā, or yogamāyā; vyatanot—expanded; māyām—yogamāyā; putra-sneha-mayīm—very much attached because of maternal affection for her son; vibhuḥ—the Supreme Lord.

TRANSLATION

Mother Yaśodā, by the grace of the Lord, could understand the real truth. But then again, the supreme master, by the influence of the internal potency, yogamāyā, inspired her to become absorbed in intense maternal affection for her son.

PURPORT

Although mother Yaśodā understood the whole philosophy of life, at the next moment she was overwhelmed by affection for her son by the influence of yogamāyā. Unless she took care of her son Kṛṣṇa, she thought, how could He be protected? She could not think otherwise, and thus she forgot all her philosophical speculations. This forgetfulness is described by Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura as being inspired by the influence of yogamāyā (mohana-sādharmyān māyām). Materialistic persons are captivated by mahāmāyā, whereas devotees, by the arrangement of the spiritual energy, are captivated by yogamāyā.

TEXT 44

sadyo naṣṭa-smṛtir gopī
sāropyāroham ātmajam
pravṛddha-sneha-kalila-
hṛdayāsīd yathā purā

sadyaḥ—after all these philosophical speculations, mother Yaśodā fully surrendered to the Supreme Personality of Godhead; naṣṭa-smṛtiḥ—having gotten rid of the memory of seeing the universal form within Kṛṣṇa’s mouth; gopī—mother Yaśodā; sā—she; āropya—seating; āroham—on the lap; ātmajam—her son; pravṛddha—increased; sneha—by affection; kalila—affected; hṛdayā—the core of her heart; āsīt—became situated; yathā purā—as she was formerly.

TRANSLATION

Immediately forgetting yogamāyā’s illusion that Kṛṣṇa had shown the universal form within His mouth, mother Yaśodā took her son on her lap as before, feeling increased affection in her heart for her transcendental child.

PURPORT

Mother Yaśodā regarded the vision of the universal form within Kṛṣṇa’s mouth as an arrangement of yogamāyā, like a dream. As one forgets everything after a dream, mother Yaśodā immediately forgot the entire incident. As her natural feeling of affection increased, she decided to herself, “Now let this incident be forgotten. I do not mind. Here is my son. Let me kiss Him.”

TEXT 45

trayyā copaniṣadbhiś ca
sāṅkhya-yogaiś ca sātvataiḥ
upagīyamāna-māhātmyaṁ
hariṁ sāmanyatātmajam

trayyā—by studying the three Vedas (Sāma, Yajur and Atharva); ca—also; upaniṣadbhiḥ ca—and by studying the Vedic knowledge of the Upaniṣads; sāṅkhya-yogaiḥ—by reading the literature of sāṅkhya-yoga; ca—and; sātvataiḥ—by the great sages and devotees, or by reading Vaiṣṇava-tantra, Pañcarātras; upagīyamāna-māhātmyam—whose glories are worshiped (by all these Vedic literatures); harim—unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead; sā—she; amanyata—considered (ordinary); ātmajam—as her own son.

TRANSLATION

The glories of the Supreme Personality of Godhead are studied through the three Vedas, the Upaniṣads, the literature of Sāṅkhya-yoga, and other Vaiṣṇava literature, yet mother Yaśodā considered that Supreme Person her ordinary child.

PURPORT

As stated in Bhagavad-gītā (15.15) by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, the purpose of studying the Vedas is to understand Him (vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ). Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu explained to Sanātana Gosvāmī that there are three purposes in the Vedas. One is to understand our relationship with Kṛṣṇa (sambandha), another is to act according to that relationship (abhidheya), and the third is to reach the ultimate goal (prayojana). The word prayojana means “necessities,” and the ultimate necessity is explained by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. premā pum-artho mahān: the greatest necessity for a human being is the achievement of love for the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Here we see that mother Yaśodā is on the highest stage of necessity, for she is completely absorbed in love for Kṛṣṇa.

In the beginning, the Vedic purpose is pursued in three ways (trayī)—by karma-kāṇḍa, jñāna-kāṇḍa and upāsanā-kāṇḍa. When one reaches the complete, perfect stage of upāsanā-kāṇḍa, one comes to worship Nārāyaṇa, or Lord Viṣṇu. When Pārvatī asked Lord Mahādeva, Lord Śiva, what is the best method of upāsanā, or worship, Lord Śiva answered, ārādhanānāṁ sarveṣāṁ viṣṇor ārādhanaṁ param. Viṣṇūpāsanā, or viṣṇv-ārādhana, worship of Lord Viṣṇu, is the highest stage of perfection, as realized by Devakī. But here mother Yaśodā performs no upāsanā, for she has developed transcendental ecstatic love for Kṛṣṇa. Therefore her position is better than that of Devakī. In order to show this, Śrīla Vyāsadeva enunciates this verse, trayyā copaniṣadbhiḥ etc.
When a human being enters into the study of the Vedas to obtain vidyā, knowledge, he begins to take part in human civilization. Then he advances further to study the Upaniṣads and gain brahma jñāna, impersonal realization of the Absolute Truth, and then he advances still further, to sāṅkhya-yoga, in order to understand the supreme controller, who is indicated in Bhagavad-gītā (paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān/puruṣaṁ śāśvatam [Bg. 10.12]). When one understands that puruṣa, the supreme controller, to be Paramātmā, one is engaged in the method of yoga (dhyānāvasthita-tad-gatena manasā paśyanti yaṁ yoginaḥ [SB 12.13.1]). But mother Yaśodā has surpassed all these stages. She has come to the platform of loving Kṛṣṇa as her beloved child, and therefore she is accepted to be on the highest stage of spiritual realization. The Absolute Truth is realized in three features (brahmeti paramātmeti bhagavān iti śabdyate), but she is in such ecstasy that she does not care to understand what is Brahman, what is Paramātmā or what is Bhagavān. Bhagavān has personally descended to become her beloved child. Therefore there is no comparison to mother Yaśodā’s good fortune, as declared by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu (ramyā kācid upāsanā vrajavadhū-vargeṇa yā kalpitā). The Absolute Truth, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, may be realized in different stages. As the Lord says in Bhagavad-gītā (4.11):

ye yathā māṁ prapadyante
tāṁs tathaiva bhajāmy aham
mama vartmānuvartante
manuṣyāḥ pārtha sarvaśaḥ

“As men surrender unto Me, I reward them accordingly. Everyone follows My path in all respects, O son of Pṛthā.” One may be a karmī, a jñānī, a yogī and then a bhakta or prema-bhakta. But the ultimate stage of realization is prema-bhakti, as actually demonstrated by mother Yaśodā.

Source: http://theharekrishnamovement.org/2016/01/14/lord-k%E1%B9%9B%E1%B9%A3%E1%B9%87a-shows-the-universal-form-within-his-mouth/

To give or not to give? Answer by Radhanath Swami.
Question: While traveling by trains I see many children begging. They seem hungry and I can’t bear the sight. When they ask for money, one side of me says I shouldn’t give them the money, for they might give it to people who’ll misuse it. My other side says that I should. What should I do? 
Radhanath Swami: Real joy comes through service – through serving without expecting anything material in return. When we do something and we get something in return, it gives satisfaction to the mind and to the senses, but it does little for the heart. Actual inner wealth is the propensity to serve, not to exploit – not to take, but to give. There are different levels of service that give different levels of inner fulfillment. Philanthropy is to serve those who are in physical or mental need. That service is in sattva guna, the mode of goodness, if it is done properly. And that gives us a higher sense of gratification than just making and taking, because it gives us a chance to express a selfless spirit of servitude. To give without expecting anything in return is love, and ultimately it is love that we are all looking for. Greater service is done when we cater to the needs of a person’s soul. While giving a person inner enlightenment, we are not just solving temporary needs which will come back in a few hours. We are actually giving them inner eternal wealth. When these children come to beg from you, in my opinion, as far as possible you should give them something. If you are afraid that they are going to misuse your money, then always carry some prasad, nice food that’s sanctified by offering it first to the Lord. Have a little bag of prasad, or a big bag of prasad, and give them prasad. You will see that the children will become HAPPY! We have an instruction for our entire congregation: wherever you go in your car, have prasad in your compartment; and if you’re walking, have some prasad in your bag, and never leave a beggar empty handed. If you give beggars money they may spend it on food, or they may spend it on drugs or they may give it to some mafia person who’s hiring them – you don’t know. But then, YOU DON”T KNOW! They may give it for food. So no harm in giving them money. But if you want to be sure of really helping them, give them some prasad, and then they will be very happy. In fact, whenever we drive in Mumbai, at the stop lights little children come running to our car, and they surround us saying, “prasad, prasad, prasad.” They jump, they laugh, and they are happy to get the prasad. Thus they get some nourishment, their bodies get some fulfillment, and they are also getting spiritually enlightened through the process. There is a certain natural guilt in our heart if you just refuse a beggar, and that guilt in the heart is your higher nature saying, “Somebody has come; you should help them if you can.”

Source: http://m.dandavats.com/?p=18307

In his upcoming new book “Our Family Business: The Great Art of Distributing Srila Prabhupada’s Books” – out February 24th -- veteran distributor Vaisesika Das shares the history, key principles and techniques of book distribution, drawing from a lifetime of experience.

Vaisesika, a disciple of Srila Prabhupada, is known for strategizing innovative ways to distribute his spiritual master’s books on spiritual knowledge, and for teaching these methods to devotees around the world.

The ISKCON spiritual community of three hundred families he developed in Silicon Valley, California is based on the study and distribution of Prabhupada’s books, and consistently ranks high amongst the list of small temples in these efforts. 

A year and a half ago, after both senior ISKCON leaders from around the world, and trustees of the publishing company Bhaktivedanta Book Trust had requested him to share his knowledge and insight, Vaisesika sat down to write. 

“It was great to consolidate all the things that I had learned throughout the years from mentors, and to dig deep and think about my own realizations, and how this service had actually molded my life,” he says.

Our Family Business is divided into four sections. The first, Chronicles, gives a basic history of book distribution in the Gaudiya Sampradaya, in Srila Prabhupada’s life, and in ISKCON up to his passing in 1977, describing how it got off the ground in the U.S. and spread all over the world.

“I wanted to show how Prabhupada developed it from nothing, so I compared his starting in a dusty little room in Vrindavana to other family businesses like Hewlett Packard and Apple, which both started in a garage,” says Vaisesika. “I call it ‘spiritual entrepreneurialism.’”

The first section also includes an account of how Vaisesika himself received his first book from a friend in high school.

The Cover of Our Family Business

The second section, Tenets, outlines the reasons why ISKCON devotees distribute books. In the chapter “The Pen is Mightier than the Sword,” Vaisesika talks about the written word’s sway on humanity, and about how Krishna consciousness is most solidly spread through it. He also discusses how books are part of the yuga dharma; that according to Srila Prabhupada, there is no difference between chanting Hare Krishna in public, and distributing books, or literary kirtan.

“In that section, I also talk lot about how book distribution is confidential service, high sadhana [spiritual practice],” Vaisesika says. “Because when you go out on the street, you face your own mind, you face other kinds of challenges, and in that tension, you grow.”

The third section, Axioms, describes the foundational principles for building a successful book distribution program, with a whole chapter on how to improve one’s personal spiritual practice – something Vaisesika considers of paramount importance. It also talks about new methods of book distribution, such as the monthly sankirtana festival, in which householders go out to distribute books just once a month, but can make a huge impact.

“I also go into the four laws of book distribution,” Vaisesika says. “They are: 1) Your sadhana must be strong, 2) You must get books -- because you can’t distribute books you don’t have, 3) The more you show, the more you sell, and 4) You must organize.”

In the final part of Our Family Business, Vaisesika discusses Ajnata Sukriti – how people derive great benefit from coming in contact with Prabhupada’s message, even if they don’t know exactly what they’re receiving.

“I also talk about how important it is for us to make a good presentation, to leave people with good impressions,” he says. “Because just because there’s power in the Holy Name doesn’t mean that people will be mentally able to accept it, unless we make it available to them within their cultural perspective. So in that regard, I give a lot of evidence about how Lord Chaitanya particularly honed His message so that people would accept it.”

The book also includes illustrative and inspirational first-person book distribution stories with dialogue, secrets of highly effective book distributors, and more.

It has been highly praised by ISKCON leaders including Jayapataka Swami, Giriraj Swami, Indradyumna Swami and many more as a must-read for all devotees, not just book distributors.

“The work covers its subject so thoroughly and deeply, that it simultaneously serves as a superb instructional manual for Krishna Bhakti itself,” writes Ravindra Svarupa Das in his forward. “Even if book distribution is not your primary service, you will still find yourself enlightened, encouraged and enlivened by reading and re-reading Our Family Business.”

Vaisesika himself, in his introduction, adds: “Experts, newcomers, well-wishers, and retirees in need of a refresher course – all will find something in this book to inspire them. Finally, this book is meant to give a fresh and favorable second look at distributing books for those who, for whatever reason, now think of it disparagingly.”

At 540 pages, Our Family Business: The Great Art of Distributing Srila Prabhupada’s Books is published by the BBT and will be available to temple presidents for pre-order at this week’s North American Leaders’ meetings in Houston, Texas. It will then be physically released on February 24th at the ISKCON Leadership Sanga in Mayapur, West Bengal, followed by a North American release soon after. 

“I hope readers will get a sense for Prabhupada’s compassion, and for his penchant for literature, which he inherited from his spiritual master,” says Vaisesika. “And I hope they’ll also get a sense that book distribution is a holistic service -- that which educates us, enlivens us, and is a centerpiece for our entire movement.”

Source: http://iskconnews.org/veteran-preacher-shares-family-business-secrets,5332/

The Amazon Prime ad stated in bold letters : No Patience Required. Wow, I thought. That is the antithesis of spiritual life. Patience is the delightful component that moves us forward on our inner journey. Patience makes us wait, and in the practice of waiting we become ready to receive. In the quiet and stillness of patience we hear and see better. Patience is our friend and guide to going home. Much patience required!

My herbal tea bag later gave me another message: Recognize that you are the truth. Mmm. I think it’s suggesting that I am God. Not feeling that right now – have a headache, wish I had more money, and could control my mind. What kind of God is that? The truth is, we are part of God, as a spark is part of a fire. When we connect with that identity, we are touching the ultimate truth of who we are. Until we do that we could say, in truth, the rest is all a lie.

As I sipped my tea, I looked at the other messages on the other tea bags and mused over their meaning:

“Dignity and tranquility last forever”. In reality, in this world dignity and tranquility are as fleeting as the wind. The body itself is a noisy embarrassment we are stuck with and the mind is rarely tranquil. Nothing connected to this body lasts forever, except our spirit selves, who move on when the body folds.

“Our intuition comes from innocence”. In bhakti, intuition comes from the Lord in the heart, our wise friend and guide. It also comes from prayer, experience, honesty, and the desire to do the right thing and the best good.

“Where there is love there is no question”. Actually, where there is love there are lots of questions – How can I serve you? What would you like? Can I help you? We express our love by the things we do. To love Krishna, we do devotional service and we ask lots of questions.

“Joy is the essence of success.” We might say that joy is a byproduct of success, but that grace is really the essence of success. If we can connect with Krishna as the source of our inspiration and action, then joy will be there – in success or failure.

Messages come at us all day long. Play with them. They will either reveal a great truth in bhakti or remind us if we are heading in the wrong direction. They too will be our teachers.

Source: http://iskconofdc.org/wild-messages/

When I saw Bhakti Chai (as in ‘i’) listed on the vegan menu, I knew immediately what it was – both because of living in India for so many years and also being a practitioner of Bhakti Yoga. Chai is the Hindi word for tea, and bhakti means divine love, or more specifically the love exchanged between Krishna and each one of us.

The word chai is also used elsewhere – pronounced differently and with different meanings. Chai (here as in ‘say’) is part of the name Chaitanya, which means ‘living force’. It’s a also a Hebrew word which means ‘life’ – and spoken in another different way.

So putting it all together we could say bhakti chai is a cup of loving life or life filled with sacred love. How nice if we could buy ourselves a cup of that tea! We sometimes wish it were so easy but alas, such access to divine love is not so cheap.

And in truth, cheap things don’t last. To feel love, to hold love, and to grow in love takes time. It’s like digging a well. To get to the sweet water we have to go deep. We could dig less and have some kind of water, but if we wish the sweetest and purest kind we have to go down.

I began to think of the cup of chakti chai as the effort I am making this sacred month of Kartika to give a little more time to Krishna. Known as a ‘vrata’ (Sanksrit for vow), devotees give their word to do extra devotional service during this month – in ways that are suitable for them and their situation.

My daily chai for Kartika has 3 ingredients – I’m trying to eat less, I’m adding an extra hour of Krishna meditation every day, and I’m doing a half hour of physical exercise. Not very austere I know, but austerity is not the point. Feeling some feelings for Krishna is – and genuine feelings, not just going through the motions.

Eating less is an understandable vrata. Many give up different kinds of foods for Kartika – especially ones they love. Let me eat less, I decided, so I can feel Krishna more. Let me practice being less indulgent, less answerable to the cravings of my mind and body. Let me ignore them and whisper some names of Krishna instead.

Increasing my meditation on Krishna is my second ingredient. I’v added some bhajana time or reading, recitation of prayers or mantras, writing or listening to talks about Krishna. The mood is more contemplative – a thoughtful focus on all-attractive Krishna.

My third ingredient of daily exercise seems more mundane but it is inspired by a quote from Srila Prabhupada – “Keep yourself fit and work hard for Krishna. That should be our motto in life.” For me, exercise is austerity, so I am happy to do this in service and for better service.

So that’s my bhakti cup of chai for Kartika. Just as a warm drink of chai (the perfect blend of decaf tea, ahimsa milk and warming spices) can bring soothing relief and nourishing energy, drinking from the cup of bhakti chai can bring those things too, but oh, much, much more. It removes material desires, gives us direct perception of the the self, and awakens of love for Krishna. Now that’s a chai I might want to keep drinking long after Kartika is over (Nov. 24th).

Source: http://iskconofdc.org/my-bhakti-chai/

The essence is to consider the goal of life. When we think that sex is the goal of life, then sex is bad because then sex will be engaged in only on the basis of lust and day-by-day, we will become more and more bound up in material existence and in the suffering that the material world brings.

But when we understand that Krsna is the goal of life and we engage in sexual activities according to his direction, then we are engaging according to the injunctions of the Bhagavad-gita, in accordance with religious principles, as it is authorized by Krsna. Such sexual activity is very nice and purifying. So to say that sex is bad would not be true.

Source: https://www.kksblog.com/2016/01/do-you-think-sex-is-bad/

Sri Jagadisa Pandita is the savior of the world. He distributes the nectar of love of Krsna just like a dense mass of dark clouds in the sky distributes rainfall." [C.c. Adi 11.30] Sri Jagadisa Bhatta took his birth in the region of Gaihati. His father's name was Sri Kamalaksa Bhatta, who was the son of Bhatta Narayana, who hailed from Goyghar Bandyaghata. Both the mother and father of Jagadisa were very devoted Visnu-bhaktas. After his parents passed away he came with his wife to live on the banks of the Ganges. His wife's name was Dukhini-devi. (His younger brother Mahesa also came with him to reside on the banks of the Ganga.) They built their house near the home of Jagannatha Misra. Sri Gaurasundara instructed Jagadisa to preach Hari Nam at Nilacala. Thus he took shelter of the lotus feet of Lord Jagannatha. At that time he prayed at the feet of Lord Jagannatha and was rewarded by obtaining a Deity of the lotus-eyed Lord. This he brought to Yasora, on the banks of the Ganga near Cakdaha. This Deity was brought suspended from a staff which is still being worshipped in the temple of Lord Jagannatha at Jasora. This temple is presently under the charge of Sri Gaudiya Math, and is a rickshaw ride away from Cakdaha railway station, on the Sealdah-Krsnanagar line. 

Lord Caitanya and Lord Nityananda sometimes used to go to Jasora to have festivals of sankirtana. Jagadisa Pandita's son was Sri Rambhadra Gosvami. In the temple are Deities of Sri Jagannatha Deva, Sri Radha-Vallabhaji and Sri Goura-Gopala. It is said that the Goura Gopala Deity was established by Sri Duhkhini Devi. The Deity is a golden color. After Lord Caitanya conducted a sankirtan festival at the home of Jagadisa Pandita, He planned to go to Nilacala. Duhkhini, however, knowing the Lord's mind, was very distressed by feelings of impending separation. At that time Mahaprabhu gave her this Deity and said, "I will eternally remain in your house in the form of this Deity." From that day this Deity of Gaura-Gopala is being worshipped there. In Gaur-ganoddesa-dipika it is revealed that Jagadisa and Hiranya were wives of the Vedic brahmanas in Krsna lila. According to another opinion, "He who was previously known as Candrahasa, a famous dancer in Krsna-lila, is now famous as Jagadisa Pandita, who also takes great pleasure in ecstatic dancing." On one Ekadasi day, the young Sri Gaurahari wanted to eat rice from the house of Jagadisa and Hiranya. The Lord said to His parents, "If you don't want Me to die, then immediately go to the house of two brahmanas by the names of Jagadisa and Hiranya, with whom I am very pleased. They are both fasting for Ekadasi, but they have prepared some offerings for Lord Visnu. If you can obtain some of that Visnu-prasada then I'll recover my health and be able to move about." [C.B. Adi 6.20-23] 

One day, child Gaurahari was crying incessantly. His parents told him, "First tell us what you want. We'll bring it, but please don't cry." He replied, "On this Ekadasi day in Jagadisa and Hiranya's house are many preparations of Visnu-prasada. If I can eat that then I'll be alright." Hearing this impossible request of her son, Saci Mata put her hand on her head and began to lament. Upon hearing the words of the child, the neighbors laughed in amazement. "How is it that such a young child as this is aware that today is Ekadasi?" Then the ladies told Him, "Bap Nimai, don't cry anymore, we'll bring what you have requested." When the two brahmanas heard of the child's request they were very pleased. Both of them were very intimate friends of Jagannath Misra and they were well-aware that the Supreme Personality of Godhead Sri Hari had appeared in his house. Therefore, whatever they had prepared for Lord Hari they brought before Sri Gaurahari and told Him, "Bap, Visvam?bhara! We have brought everything which You requested. Now please eat it in great happiness and don't cry anymore." Bhagavana Sri Gaurasundara, along with His friends, then enjoyed that feast. While doing so, He showed His transcendental Bala?Gopala form to Jagadisa and Hiranya. His bodily lustre, appearing like a fresh rain cloud, with a peacock feather adorning His head, the splendor of His beauty was reflected in the faces of the other boys in whose company He was enjoying this feast. Such a charming and beautiful sight was revealed before the eyes of Jagadisa and Hiranya. Seeing this scene, the two brahmanas loudly chanted, "Hari! Hari!" [Gauranga Campu 20] Jagadisa Pandita probably came to Yasora after Mahaprabhu took sannyasa. He went every year to Puri and was also present at Cira-doy Danda Mahotsava at Panihati. His disappearance is on the third day of the bright fortnight in the month of Pausa.

SRILA JIVA GOSVAMI
Sri Sanatana, Sri Rupa and Sri Vallabha were three brothers, all employed in the service of the Badsa Hussain Shah. Amongst the three, there was only one descendent, Sri Jiva. Having been rewarded richly by the Badsa for their sevices, their household life was very opulent. There was nothing lacking in whatever was necessary for the upbringing of the only son. The house was illuminated by the effulgence of the child's golden complexion; his eyes were like the expanded petals of the lotus; every part of his body was graced with a lusterous, radiant splendor.

When Sri Gaurasundara came to Ramakeli, Sri Jiva was blessed by having darshana of His worshipable lord, though he was just a baby at the time. Placing the dust of His lotus feet on the child's head, Mahaprabhu indicated him to be the future sovereign preceptor of the Gaudiya sampradaya. Though he was only a child, Sri Jiva kept the form of the Lord, which fascinates all the world, within his heart. As he grew up, while eating, lying down, in his dreams, while he was awake, at all times, he would meditate on that form. 

Later on, when his father and uncles renounced their family life in order to be with Mahaprabhu, the only child, Sri Jiva, was left with his mother in the family palace at Fateyabad. Lying in her lap, which was wet with tears of separation, he gradually began to grow as the waxing moon. Seeing that the mother and the child's face were always wet with tears, their friends also fell under the shadow of sadness and only with great difficulty managed to assuage their grief. Whenever Sri Jiva would remember his father and uncles, or the lotus feet of Sri Gaura Hari, he would lose consiousness and fall to the ground. 

As he got a little older, Sri Jiva took up the worship of the Deities of Sri-Sri Rama-Krsna. He would carefully decorate Them and offer bhoga and arati, serving Them with his full attention. Even in his play, whatever games he played were connected with Sri krsna's pastimes.

While studying under the local panditas he became proficent in grammar, poetry and rhetoric. Noting his great intellect, his teachers commented, "Such brilliance is not often found in a child so young as this. No doubt he will be a very high-souled, saintly person." 

Even while engaged in his studies Jiva always thought of Sri Sri Nitai- Gauranga. Once he saw in a dream that Sri Rama-Krsna had taken the forms of Nitai-Gauranga and were dancing. [B.R.1.732] Giving him the dust of Their lotus feet, the Two Lords then disappeared. Having seen such a wonderful dream, Sri Jiva was consoled somewhat. Then he began to think, "When will I be able to crawl out of this well of family life and devote my full time and energy, my very self, to serving these two most magnanimous Lords?" But he was the only son of the family. Only in his company could his mother forget somewhat the pangs of separation in her heart. When Sri Jiva learned that his father had given up his life on the banks of the Ganga, he was compeletely unsettled. After that his eyes were never dry. The family members and friends tried to console him but to little avail. Family life had become the source of his utter sadness. 

Someone suggested to Jiva to go to Navadwipa and bathe himself in the coolness emanating from the lotus feet of Lord Nityananda Prabhu so that his mind and body, burning with with grief, could be refreshed. Thus Sri Jiva set our for Navadwipa with a group of pilgrims. [B.R.1/741] 

Nityananda Prabhu, the omniscient Lord, could understand that Sri Jiva was on his way to Navadwipa. Therefore He also left for there from Khardaha. After a few days, Jiva arrived at Navadwipa. Seeing the beauty of that place he was charmed. Falling down on the ground, he offered his dandavats to Mother Ganges. Inquiring from the villagers the directions to Mayapura, he learned that Nityananda Prabhu was residing at Srivasa Pandita's house. At last arriving there, he fell down at the door to offer his dandavats. Nityananda Prabhu came out with Srivasa Pandita and picked him up and embraced him, asking, "Are you the nephew of Sri Rupa and Sri Sanatana?"

As an answer, Jiva again fell down on the ground at the lotus feet of Nityananda Prabhu. This time Nityananda Prabhu brought him in the house and began to inquire after the welfare of his family at Fateyabad. Then Sri Jiva was introduced to the devotees present in Navadwipa; he offered his salutations at their lotusfeet. Everyone was very happy to meet the nephew of Sri Rupa and Sanatana. That day Sri Jiva received the remnants of Nityananda prabhu's prasadam. 

The next day, the two of them came to Saci Mata'a house. Seeing the birthplace of Sri Gaurasundara, which was filled with such splendor, Sri Jiva was greatly pacified and fell down on the ground to roll in the dust. In the large courtyard the devotees were singing songs praising the glories of Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Seeing Nityananda Prabhu, everyone stood up and then fell down, offering their dandavats at His lotus feet. Then Jiva saw Saci Mata sitting on the veranda. 

Dressed in white with silk chadder around her shoulders she looked radiant, the white of her hair blending with her white sari. Though her body trembled with old age and was very thin, still the courtyard was illuminated by her divine effulgence. Forgetting herself in rememberance of Sri Gaursundara, she was sitting with her eyes closed. Becoming aware that Nityananda Prabhu had arrived, she covered her head with her sari and called her servant. "Isana! Srpada has arrived. Please wash His feet." 

After this was done, Nityananda offered namaskar to the mother of the Supreme Lord and took His seat. He then introduced Sri Jiva to her. Saci Mata placed her hand on his head to bless him, and Sri Jiva floated in the ocean of happiness. Saci Mata then requested the two of them to honor the Lord's prasada. "Take prasada here at your mother's house today, my child. I offered there preparations in secret to Sri Gaurcandra." 

Sri Jiva spent some days with Nityananda Prabhu, touring the nine islands of Navadwipa, in order to have darsana of the holy places of the Lord's pastimes there. Then, as ordered by Nitya?nanda Prabhu, he set out for Kasi (Varanasi) . At Kasi he studied Vedanta under Sri Madhusudana Vacaspati, a disciple of Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya. The conclusions of Vedanta contained in Srimad-Bhagavatam that were expounded by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu to Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya in Puri had been in turn taught by the Bhattacarya to Madhusudana Vacaspati, who established a toll at Kasi. From him, Sri Jiva mastered the same conclusions. 

From here Sri Jiva set out for Sri Vrindavana where he received shelter at the lotus feet of his two uncles. Sri Rupa and Sanatana. They were very pleased to see him and received from him all the news. Jiva stayed with Sri Rupa, who began to teach him Srimad Bhagavatam. After initiating him with the divine mantra, Rupa engaged him in the service of Sri Sri Radha- Damodara. According to Sadhana dipika, this Deity of Damodara was fashioned by Rupa Gosvami's own hand for his dear disciple Sri Jiva. Sri Sri Radha- Damodara are presently being worshipped in Jaipur, Rajasthan.

Seeing that Jiva had quickly become conversant with the conclusion of the Srimad Bhagavatam, Sri Rupa engaged him in proof-reading his Bhakti- rasamrta-sindhu. At this time Sri Jiva compiled a commentary on Bhakti- rasamrta-sindhu called Durgama sangamani. In the year 1476 (Sakabda) Sri Sanatana Gosvami compiled Sri Vaisnava tosani, a commentary on the tenth canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam, which he gave to Sri Jiva for proof reading. Under the order of Sri Sanatana, Sri Jiva compiled a commentary on that named Laghu Vaisnava tosani in the year 1500 (Sakabda). His writings, along with those of Sri Rupa and Sri Sanatana, Sri Gopal Bhatta, Sri Raghunatha Bhatta, Sri Raghunath das, Sri Krsna das, Sri Kasisvar Pandit, and Sri Madhu Pandit, completely captivated the learned men of that time. It was the beginning of a golden age at Sri Vraja dhama. 

Sri Jiva regurlarly brought water for Sri Rupa and Sanatana's bath. He massaged their heads with oil, cleaned their ashram, worship the Deity, cooked and corrected manuscripts.

After the disappearance of Sri Rupa and Sanatana, Sri Jiva continued the tradition that they had inaugerated. Once Sri Jiva travelled to Agra to debate with the Rajputs concerning the glories of Jamuna and Ganga rivers. He established that the Jamuna is more glorious than the Ganga as the Ganga emanates from Krsna's lotus feet whereas the Jamuna is His own consort. At this the Moghul emperor was very much satisfied and wanted to present him something. Sri Jiva replied that he would accept some blank papers. So the emperor presented Jiva some stained paper. (At that time paper was very rare and most manuscripts were usually composed on leaves.)

There is also a legend that once, when a moghul emperor (possibly Akbar) wanted to confer something on the Goswamis of Vrindavana, they requested a farman (emperor's order) that no living beings would be killed within Vraja. As a result of this no king would come to hunt there anymore.

The disciple of Lokanatha Gosvami, Narottama dasa Thakura Maha?saya, Sri Gopala Bhatta Gosvami's disciple Srinivasa Acarya Prabhu, and the disciple of Hrdaya Caitanya Prabhu, Sri Syamananda Prabhu, were greatly favored by Srila Jiva Goswami. Under his tutelage they studied all the literatures of the Gosvamis. Later he sent them to preach this knowledge in Bengal.

Harinamamrta-vyakarana
Sutra-malika
Rasamrta-sesa
Gopala-virudavali
Sri-Madhava-mahotsava
Sri-Sankalpa-kalpavrksa
Brahma-Samhita-tika
Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu-tika (Durgama-sangamani)
Ujjvala-nilamani-tika (Locana-rocani)
Gopala-campu
Sat-sandharbha (Tattva-sandarbha, Bhagavata-sandarbha, Paramatma sandarbha,
Krsna-sandarbha, Bhakti-sandharbha, Priti-sandarbha)
Srimad-Bhagavata-tika (Krama-sandarbha)
Laghu-vaisnava-tosani (Tenth Canto Bhagavatam commentary)
Sarva-sambadina (commentary on Sat-sandarbha)
Gopala-tapani-tika (Sri-Suhkha-bodhini)
Padma-puranastha-yogasara-stotra-tika
Gayatri-vyakhya-vivrti (A commentary on the Gayatri mantra as described in
the Agni Purana, chapters 216-217)
Radha-Krsnarcana-candrika
Dhatu-sangraha
Bhavartha-sucaka-campu

Birth: 1533 (Christian calendar), 1455 (Sakabdha), 12th day of the bright
fortnight in the month of Bhadra.
Disappearance : 1540 (Sakabdha), 3rd day of bright fortnight, Pausa
Age: 85 years

TypJiva Goswami was one of the most prolific and important acharyas in Gaudiya Vaisnavism. He was the nephew of Rupa Goswami and Sanatan Goswami.

Jiva Goswami left this world in 1596 (or 1618 according to some biographies). His samadhi is located in the precincts of the Radha-Damodara temple in Vrndavan.

Jiva Goswami is considered to be the incarnation of Vilasa Manjari, an eternal maidservant of Radharani.

Source: http://www.ramaiswami.com/jiva-goswami-disappearance/

Devaprastha dasa: What is fear? Where does it come from? How can we learn to live a life without it? Srila Prabhupada taught that the essential cause of fear and anxiety is a lack of understanding of the nature of reality − our attachments and perceived loss which occur in the mind are actually illusory. A person who learns this begins to be free from unnecessary mental anguish. So fearless was Srila Prabhupada that, at age 69, he begged a passage on a steamship to the United States of America. Despite suffering two heart attacks during the journey, he arrived in Boston harbour full of optimism that he would be successful.

Source: http://m.dandavats.com/?p=18240

“One may cleanse himself daily by taking a bath in water, but if one takes a bath even once in the sacred Ganges water of Bhagavad-gita,
for him the dirt of material life is altogether vanquished. One who drinks the water of the Ganges attains salvation, so what to speak of one who drinks the nectar of Bhagavad-gita? Bhagavad-gita is the essential nectar of the Mahabharata, and it is spoken by Lord Krishna Himself, the original Vishnu.” – Introduction to Bhagavad-gita As It Is

Sometimes when I need a boost in my Krsna consciousness, I will re-read the very powerful Introduction to the Bhagavad-gita As It Is. For me this Introduction explaines the entire philosophy of the Gita in a very nice way that even a layman like myself can easily understand. Although our readers can find this complete Introduction on other sites such as Prabhupadagita, Causlessmercy, orPrabhupadabooks I have decided to post the entire Introduction again here this morning. There is a print icon at the bottom of post where one can print out this entire post it they are son inclined. Hare Krishna!

Full Introduction

Bhagavad-gītā As It Is 1972 Edition

by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda

INTRODUCTION

om ajñāna-timirāndhasya
jñānāñjana-śalākayā
cakṣur unmīlitaṁ yena
tasmai śrī-gurave namaḥ

śrī-caitanya-mano-’bhīṣṭaṁ
sthāpitaṁ yena bhū-tale
svayaṁ rūpaḥ kadā mahyaṁ
dadāti sva-padāntikam

I was born in the darkest ignorance, and my spiritual master opened my eyes with the torch of knowledge. I offer my respectful obeisances unto him.

When will Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī Prabhupāda, who has established within this material world the mission to fulfill the desire of Lord Caitanya, give me shelter under his lotus feet?

vande ’haṁ śrī-guroḥ śrī-yuta-pada-kamalaṁ śrī-gurun vaiṣṇavāṁś ca
śrī-rūpaṁ sāgrajātaṁ saha-gaṇa-raghunāthānvitaṁ taṁ sa-jīvam
sādvaitaṁ sāvadhūtaṁ parijana-sahitaṁ kṛṣṇa-caitanya-devaṁ
śrī-rādhā-kṛṣṇa-pādān saha-gaṇa-lalitā-śrī-viśākhānvitāṁś ca

I offer my respectful obeisances unto the lotus feet of my spiritual master and unto the feet of all Vaiṣṇavas. I offer my respectful obeisances unto the lotus feet of Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī along with his elder brother Sanātana Gosvāmī, as well as Raghunātha Dāsa and Raghunātha Bhaṭṭa, Gopāla Bhaṭṭa, and Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī. I offer my respectful obeisances to Lord Kṛṣṇa Caitanya and Lord Nityānanda along with Advaita Ācārya, Gadādhara, Śrīvāsa, and other associates. I offer my respectful obeisances to Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī and Śrī Kṛṣṇa along with Their associates, Śrī Lalitā and Viśākhā.

he kṛṣṇa karuṇā-sindho dīna-bandho jagat-pate
gopeśa gopikā-kānta rādhā-kānta namo ’stu te

O my dear Kṛṣṇa, You are the friend of the distressed and the source of creation. You are the master of the gopīs and the lover of Rādhārāṇī. I offer my respectful obeisances unto You.

tapta-kāñcana-gaurāṅgi rādhe vṛndāvaneśvari
vṛṣabhānu-sute devi praṇamāmi hari-priye

I offer my respects to Rādhārāṇī whose bodily complexion is like molten gold and who is the Queen of Vṛndāvana. You are the daughter of King Vṛṣabhānu, and You are very dear to Lord Kṛṣṇa.

vāñchā-kalpatarubhyaś ca kṛpā-sindhubhya eva ca
patitānāṁ pāvanebhyo vaiṣṇavebhyo namo namaḥ

I offer my respectful obeisances unto all the Vaiṣṇava devotees of the Lord who can fulfill the desires of everyone, just like desire trees, and who are full of compassion for the fallen souls.

śrī kṛṣṇa caitanya prabhu nityānanda
śrī advaita gadādhara śrīvāsādi-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda

I offer my obeisances to Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya, Prabhu Nityānanda, Śrī Advaita, Gadādhara, Śrīvāsa and all others in the line of devotion.

hare kṛṣṇa, hare kṛṣṇa, kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa, hare hare
hare rāma, hare rāma, rāma rāma, hare hare

Bhagavad-gītā is also known as Gītopaniṣad. It is the essence of Vedic knowledge and one of the most important Upaniṣads in Vedic literature. Of course there are many commentaries in English on the Bhagavad-gītā, and one may question the necessity for another one. This present edition can be explained in the following way. Recently an American lady asked me to recommend an English translation of Bhagavad-gītā. Of course in America there are so many editions of Bhagavad-gītā available in English, but as far as I have seen, not only in America but also in India, none of them can be strictly said to be authoritative because in almost every one of them the commentator has expressed his own opinions without touching the spirit of Bhagavad-gītā as it is.

The spirit of Bhagavad-gītā is mentioned in Bhagavad-gītā itself. It is just like this: if we want to take a particular medicine, then we have to follow the directions written on the label. We cannot take the medicine according to our own whim or the direction of a friend. It must be taken according to the directions on the label or the directions given by a physician. Similarly, Bhagavad-gītā should be taken or accepted as it is directed by the speaker himself. The speaker of Bhagavad-gītā is Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa. He is mentioned on every page of Bhagavad-gītā as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Bhagavān. Of course the word “bhagavān” sometimes refers to any powerful person or any powerful demigod, and certainly here Bhagavān designates Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa as a great personality, but at the same time we should know that Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, as is confirmed by all great ācāryas (spiritual masters) like Śaṅkarācārya, Rāmānujācārya, Madhvācārya, Nimbārka Svāmī, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and many other authorities of Vedic knowledge in India. The Lord Himself also establishes Himself as the Supreme Personality of Godhead in the Bhagavad-gītā, and He is accepted as such in the Brahma-saṁhitā and all the Purāṇas, especially the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, known as the Bhāgavata Purāṇa (Kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam). Therefore we should take Bhagavad-gītā as it is directed by the Personality of Godhead Himself.

In the Fourth Chapter of the Gītā the Lord says:

(1) imaṁ vivasvate yogaṁ proktavān aham avyayam
vivasvān manave prāha manur ikṣvākave ’bravīt

(2) evaṁ paramparā-prāptam imaṁ rājarṣayo viduḥ
sa kāleneha mahatā yogo naṣṭaḥ parantapa

(3) sa evāyaṁ mayā te ’dya yogaḥ proktaḥ purātanaḥ
bhakto ’si me sakhā ceti rahasyaṁ hy etad uttamam

Here the Lord informs Arjuna that this system of yoga, the Bhagavad-gītā, was first spoken to the sun-god, and the sun-god explained it to Manu, and Manu explained it to Ikṣvāku, and in that way, by disciplic succession, one speaker after another, this yoga system has been coming down. But in the course of time it has become lost. Consequently the Lord has to speak it again, this time to Arjuna on the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra.

He tells Arjuna that He is relating this supreme secret to him because he is His devotee and His friend. The purport of this is that Bhagavad-gītā is a treatise which is especially meant for the devotee of the Lord. There are three classes of transcendentalists, namely the jñānī, the yogī and the bhakta, or the impersonalist, the meditator and the devotee. Here the Lord clearly tells Arjuna that He is making him the first receiver of a new paramparā (disciplic succession) because the old succession was broken. It was the Lord’s wish, therefore, to establish another paramparā in the same line of thought that was coming down from the sun-god to others, and it was His wish that His teaching be distributed anew by Arjuna. He wanted Arjuna to become the authority in understanding the Bhagavad-gītā. So we see that Bhagavad-gītā is instructed to Arjuna especially because Arjuna was a devotee of the Lord, a direct student of Kṛṣṇa, and His intimate friend. Therefore Bhagavad-gītā is best understood by a person who has qualities similar to Arjuna’s. That is to say he must be a devotee in a direct relationship with the Lord. As soon as one becomes a devotee of the Lord, he also has a direct relationship with the Lord. That is a very elaborate subject matter, but briefly it can be stated that a devotee is in a relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead in one of five different ways:

1. One may be a devotee in a passive state;
2. One may be a devotee in an active state;
3. One may be a devotee as a friend;
4. One may be a devotee as a parent;
5. One may be a devotee as a conjugal lover.

Arjuna was in a relationship with the Lord as friend. Of course there is a gulf of difference between this friendship and the friendship found in the material world. This is transcendental friendship which cannot be had by everyone. Of course everyone has a particular relationship with the Lord, and that relationship is evoked by the perfection of devotional service. But in the present status of our life, we have not only forgotten the Supreme Lord, but we have forgotten our eternal relationship with the Lord. Every living being, out of many, many billions and trillions of living beings, has a particular relationship with the Lord eternally. That is called svarūpa. By the process of devotional service, one can revive that svarūpa, and that stage is called svarūpa-siddhi—perfection of one’s constitutional position. So Arjuna was a devotee, and he was in touch with the Supreme Lord in friendship.

How Arjuna accepted this Bhagavad-gītā should be noted. His manner of acceptance is given in the Tenth Chapter.

(12) arjuna uvāca
paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān
puruṣaṁ śāśvataṁ divyam ādi-devam ajaṁ vibhum

(13) āhus tvām ṛṣayaḥ sarve devarṣir nāradas tathā
asito devalo vyāsaḥ svayaṁ caiva bravīṣi me

(14) sarvam etad ṛtaṁ manye yan māṁ vadasi keśava
na hi te bhagavan vyaktiṁ vidur devā na dānavāḥ

“Arjuna said: You are the Supreme Brahman, the ultimate, the supreme abode and purifier, the Absolute Truth and the eternal Divine Person. You are the primal God, transcendental and original, and You are the unborn and all-pervading beauty. All the great sages like Nārada, Asita, Devala, and Vyāsa proclaim this of You, and now You Yourself are declaring it to me. O Kṛṣṇa, I totally accept as truth all that You have told me. Neither the gods nor demons, O Lord, know Thy personality.” (Bg. 10. 12–14).

After hearing Bhagavad-gītā from the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Arjuna accepted Kṛṣṇa as Paraṁ Brahma, the Supreme Brahman. Every living being is Brahman, but the supreme living being, or the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is the Supreme Brahman. Paraṁ dhāma means that He is the supreme rest or abode of everything, pavitram means that He is pure, untainted by material contamination, puruṣam means that He is the supreme enjoyer, divyam, transcendental, ādi-devam, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, ajam, the unborn, and vibhum, the greatest, the all-pervading.

Now one may think that because Kṛṣṇa was the friend of Arjuna, Arjuna was telling Him all this by way of flattery, but Arjuna, just to drive out this kind of doubt from the minds of the readers of Bhagavad-gītā, substantiates these praises in the next verse when he says that Kṛṣṇa is accepted as the Supreme Personality of Godhead not only by himself but by authorities like the sage Nārada, Asita, Devala, Vyāsadeva and so on. These are great personalities who distribute the Vedic knowledge as it is accepted by all ācāryas. Therefore Arjuna tells Kṛṣṇa that he accepts whatever He says to be completely perfect. Sarvam etad ṛtaṁ manye: “I accept everything You say to be true.” Arjuna also says that the personality of the Lord is very difficult to understand and that He cannot be known even by the great demigods. This means that the Lord cannot even be known by personalities greater than human beings. So how can a human being understand Śrī Kṛṣṇa without becoming His devotee?

Therefore Bhagavad-gītā should be taken up in a spirit of devotion. One should not think that he is equal to Kṛṣṇa, nor should he think that Kṛṣṇa is an ordinary personality or even a very great personality. Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, at least theoretically, according to the statements of Bhagavad-gītā or the statements of Arjuna, the person who is trying to understand the Bhagavad-gītā. We should therefore at least theoretically accept Śrī Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and with that submissive spirit we can understand the Bhagavad-gītā. Unless one reads the Bhagavad-gītā in a submissive spirit, it is very difficult to understand Bhagavad-gītā because it is a great mystery.

Just what is the Bhagavad-gītā? The purpose of Bhagavad-gītā is to deliver mankind from the nescience of material existence. Every man is in difficulty in so many ways, as Arjuna also was in difficulty in having to fight the Battle of Kurukṣetra. Arjuna surrendered unto Śrī Kṛṣṇa, and consequently this Bhagavad-gītā was spoken. Not only Arjuna, but every one of us is full of anxieties because of this material existence. Our very existence is in the atmosphere of nonexistence. Actually we are not meant to be threatened by nonexistence. Our existence is eternal. But somehow or other we are put into asat. Asat refers to that which does not exist.

Out of so many human beings who are suffering, there are a few who are actually inquiring about their position, as to what they are, why they are put into this awkward position and so on. Unless one is awakened to this position of questioning his suffering, unless he realizes that he doesn’t want suffering but rather wants to make a solution to all sufferings, then one is not to be considered a perfect human being. Humanity begins when this sort of inquiry is awakened in one’s mind. In the Brahma-sūtra this inquiry is called “brahma-jijñāsā.” Every activity of the human being is to be considered a failure unless he inquires about the nature of the Absolute. Therefore those who begin to question why they are suffering or where they came from and where they shall go after death are proper students for understanding Bhagavad-gītā. The sincere student should also have a firm respect for the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Such a student was Arjuna.

Lord Kṛṣṇa descends specifically to reestablish the real purpose of life when man forgets that purpose. Even then, out of many, many human beings who awaken, there may be one who actually enters the spirit of understanding his position, and for him this Bhagavad-gītā is spoken. Actually we are all followed by the tiger of nescience, but the Lord is very merciful upon living entities, especially human beings. To this end He spoke the Bhagavad-gītā, making His friend Arjuna His student.

Being an associate of Lord Kṛṣṇa, Arjuna was above all ignorance, but Arjuna was put into ignorance on the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra just to question Lord Kṛṣṇa about the problems of life so that the Lord could explain them for the benefit of future generations of human beings and chalk out the plan of life. Then man could act accordingly and perfect the mission of human life.

The subject of the Bhagavad-gītā entails the comprehension of five basic truths. First of all, the science of God is explained and then the constitutional position of the living entities, jīvas. There is īśvara, which means controller, and there are jīvas, the living entities which are controlled. If a living entity says that he is not controlled but that he is free, then he is insane. The living being is controlled in every respect, at least in his conditioned life. So in the Bhagavad-gītā the subject matter deals with the īśvara, the supreme controller, and the jīvas, the controlled living entities. Prakṛti (material nature) and time (the duration of existence of the whole universe or the manifestation of material nature) and karma (activity) are also discussed. The cosmic manifestation is full of different activities. All living entities are engaged in different activities. From Bhagavad-gītā we must learn what God is, what the living entities are, what prakrti is, what the cosmic manifestation is and how it is controlled by time, and what the activities of the living entities are.

Out of these five basic subject matters in Bhagavad-gītā it is established that the Supreme Godhead, or Kṛṣṇa, or Brahman, or supreme controller, or Paramātmā—you may use whatever name you like—is the greatest of all. The living beings are in quality like the supreme controller. For instance, the Lord has control over the universal affairs, over material nature, etc., as will be explained in the later chapters of Bhagavad-gītā. Material nature is not independant. She is acting under the directions of the Supreme Lord. As Lord Kṛṣṇa says, “Prakṛti is working under My direction.” When we see wonderful things happening in the cosmic nature, we should know that behind this cosmic manifestation there is a controller. Nothing could be manifested without being controlled. It is childish not to consider the controller. For instance, a child may think that an automobile is quite wonderful to be able to run without a horse or other animal pulling it, but a sane man knows the nature of the automobile’s engineering arrangement. He always knows that behind the machinery there is a man, a driver. Similarly, the Supreme Lord is a driver under whose direction everything is working. Now the jīvas, or the living entities, have been accepted by the Lord, as we will note in the later chapters, as His parts and parcels. A particle of gold is also gold, a drop of water from the ocean is also salty, and similarly, we the living entities, being part and parcel of the supreme controller, īsvara, or Bhagavān, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, have all the qualities of the Supreme Lord in minute quantity because we are minute īśvaras, subordinate īśvaras. We are trying to control nature, as presently we are trying to control space or planets, and this tendency to control is there because it is in Kṛṣṇa. But although we have a tendency to lord it over material nature, we should know that we are not the supreme controller. This is explained in Bhagavad-gītā.

What is material nature? This is also explained in Gītā as inferior prakṛti, inferior nature. The living entity is explained as the superior prakṛti. Prakṛti is always under control, whether inferior or superior. Prakṛti is female, and she is controlled by the Lord just as the activities of a wife are controlled by the husband. Prakṛti is always subordinate, predominated by the Lord, who is the predominator. The living entities and material nature are both predominated, controlled by the Supreme Lord. According to the Gītā, the living entities, although parts and parcels of the Supreme Lord, are to be considered prakṛti. This is clearly mentioned in the Seventh Chapter, fifth verse of Bhagavad-gītā: “Apareyam itas tv anyām.” “This prakṛti is My lower nature.” “Prakṛtiṁ viddhi me parām jīva-bhūtāṁ mahā-bāho yayedaṁ dhāryate jagat.” And beyond this there is another prakṛti: jīva-bhūtām, the living entity.

Prakṛti itself is constituted by three qualities: the mode of goodness, the mode of passion and the mode of ignorance. Above these modes there is eternal time, and by a combination of these modes of nature and under the control and purview of eternal time there are activities which are called karma. These activities are being carried out from time immemorial, and we are suffering or enjoying the fruits of our activities. For instance, suppose I am a businessman and have worked very hard with intelligence and have amassed a great bank balance. Then I am an enjoyer. But then say I have lost all my money in business; then I am a sufferer. Similarly, in every field of life we enjoy the results of our work, or we suffer the results. This is called karma.

Īśvara (the Supreme Lord), jīva (the living entity), prakṛti (nature), eternal time and karma (activity) are all explained in the Bhagavad-gītā. Out of these five, the Lord, the living entities, material nature and time are eternal. The manifestation of prakṛti may be temporary, but it is not false. Some philosophers say that the manifestation of material nature is false, but according to the philosophy of Bhagavad-gītā or according to the philosophy of the Vaiṣṇavas, this is not so. The manifestation of the world is not accepted as false; it is accepted as real, but temporary. It is likened unto a cloud which moves across the sky, or the coming of the rainy season which nourishes grains. As soon as the rainy season is over and as soon as the cloud goes away, all the crops which were nourished by the rain dry up. Similarly, this material manifestation takes place at a certain interval, stays for a while and then disappears. Such are the workings of prakṛti But this cycle is working eternally. Therefore prakrti is eternal; it is not false. The Lord refers to this as “My prakṛti.” This material nature is the separated energy of the Supreme Lord, and similarly the living entities are also the energy of the Supreme Lord, but they are not separated. They are eternally related. So the Lord, the living entity, material nature and time are all interrelated and are all eternal. However, the other item, karma, is not eternal. The effects of karma may be very old indeed. We are suffering or enjoying the results of our activities from time immemorial, but we can change the results of our karma, or our activity, and this change depends on the perfection of our knowledge. We are engaged in various activities. Undoubtedly we do not know what sort of activities we should adopt to gain relief from the actions and reactions of all these activities, but this is also explained in the Bhagavad-gītā.

The position of īsvara is that of supreme consciousness. The jīvas, or the living entities, being parts and parcels of the Supreme Lord, are also conscious. Both the living entity and material nature are explained as prakṛti, the energy of the Supreme Lord, but one of the two, the jīva, is conscious. The other prakṛti is not conscious. That is the difference. Therefore the jīva-prakṛti is called superior because the jīva has consciousness which is similar to the Lord’s. The Lord’s is supreme consciousness, however, and one should not claim that the jīva, the living entity, is also supremely conscious. The living being cannot be supremely conscious at any stage of his perfection, and the theory that he can be so is a misleading theory. Conscious he may be, but he is not perfectly or supremely conscious.

The distinction between the jīva and the īśvara will be explained in the Thirteenth Chapter of Bhagavad-gītā. The Lord is kṣetra-jñaḥ, conscious, as is the living being, but the living being is conscious of his particular body, whereas the Lord is conscious of all bodies. Because He lives in the heart of every living being, He is conscious of the psychic movements of the particular jīvas. We should not forget this. It is also explained that the Paramātmā, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is living in everyone’s heart as īśvara, as the controller, and that He is giving directions for the living entity to act as he desires. The living entity forgets what to do. First of all he makes a determination to act in a certain way, and then he is entangled in the acts and reactions of his own karma. After giving up one type of body, he enters another type of body, as we put on and take off old clothes. As the soul thus migrates, he suffers the actions and reactions of his past activities. These activities can be changed when the living being is in the mode of goodness, in sanity, and understands what sort of activities he should adopt. If he does so, then all the actions and reactions of his past activities can be changed. Consequently, karma is not eternal. Therefore we stated that of the five items (īśvara, jīva, prakṛti time and karma) four are eternal, whereas karma is not eternal.

The supreme conscious īśvara is similar to the living entity in this way: both the consciousness of the Lord and that of the living entity are transcendental. It is not that consciousness is generated by the association of matter. That is a mistaken idea. The theory that consciousness develops under certain circumstances of material combination is not accepted in the Bhagavad-gītā. Consciousness may be pervertedly reflected by the covering of material circumstances, just as light reflected through colored glass may appear to be a certain color, but the consciousness of the Lord is not materially affected. Lord Kṛṣṇa says, “mayādhyakṣeṇa prakṛtiḥ.” When He descends into the material universe, His consciousness is not materially affected. If He were so affected, He would be unfit to speak on transcendental matters as He does in the Bhagavad-gītā. One cannot say anything about the transcendental world without being free from materially contaminated consciousness. So the Lord is not materially contaminated. Our consciousness, at the present moment, however, is materially contaminated. The Bhagavad-gītā teaches that we have to purify this materially contaminated consciousness. In pure consciousness, our actions will be dovetailed to the will of īśvara, and that will make us happy. It is not that we have to cease all activities. Rather, our activities are to be purified, and purified activities are called bhakti. Activities in bhakti appear to be like ordinary activities, but they are not contaminated. An ignorant person may see that a devotee is acting or working like an ordinary man, but such a person with a poor fund of knowledge does not know that the activities of the devotee or of the Lord are not contaminated by impure consciousness or matter. They are transcendental to the three modes of nature. We should know, however, that at this point our consciousness is contaminated.

When we are materially contaminated, we are called conditioned. False consciousness is exhibited under the impression that I am a product of material nature. This is called false ego. One who is absorbed in the thought of bodily conceptions cannot understand his situation. Bhagavad-gītā was spoken to liberate one from the bodily conception of life, and Arjuna put himself in this position in order to receive this information from the Lord. One must become free from the bodily conception of life; that is the preliminary activity for the transcendentalist. One who wants to become free, who wants to become liberated, must first of all learn that he is not this material body. Mukti or liberation means freedom from material consciousness. In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam also the definition of liberation is given: Mukti means liberation from the contaminated consciousness of this material world and situation in pure consciousness. All the instructions of Bhagavad-gītā are intended to awaken this pure consciousness, and therefore we find at the last stage of the Gītā’s instructions that Kṛṣṇa is asking Arjuna whether he is now in purified consciousness. Purified consciousness means acting in accordance with the instructions of the Lord. This is the whole sum and substance of purified consciousness. Consciousness is already there because we are part and parcel of the Lord, but for us there is the affinity of being affected by the inferior modes. But the Lord, being the Supreme, is never affected. That is the difference between the Supreme Lord and the conditioned souls.

What is this consciousness? This consciousness is “I am.” Then what am I? In contaminated consciousness “I am” means “I am the lord of all I survey. I am the enjoyer.” The world revolves because every living being thinks that he is the lord and creator of the material world. Material consciousness has two psychic divisions. One is that I am the creator, and the other is that I am the enjoyer. But actually the Supreme Lord is both the creator and the enjoyer, and the living entity, being part and parcel of the Supreme Lord, is neither the creator nor the enjoyer, but a cooperator. He is the created and the enjoyed. For instance, a part of a machine cooperates with the whole machine; a part of the body cooperates with the whole body. The hands, feet, eyes, legs and so on are all parts of the body, but they are not actually the enjoyers. The stomach is the enjoyer. The legs move, the hands supply food, the teeth chew and all parts of the body are engaged in satisfying the stomach because the stomach is the principal factor that nourishes the body’s organization. Therefore everything is given to the stomach. One nourishes the tree by watering its root, and one nourishes the body by feeding the stomach, for if the body is to be kept in a healthy state, then the parts of the body must cooperate to feed the stomach. Similarly, the Supreme Lord is the enjoyer and the creator, and we, as subordinate living beings, are meant to cooperate to satisfy Him. This cooperation will actually help us, just as food taken by the stomach will help all other parts of the body. If the fingers of the hand think that they should take the food themselves instead of giving it to the stomach, then they will be frustrated. The central figure of creation and of enjoyment is the Supreme Lord, and the living entities are cooperators. By cooperation they enjoy. The relation is also like that of the master and the servant. If the master is fully satisfied, then the servant is satisfied. Similarly, the Supreme Lord should be satisfied, although the tendency to become the creator and the tendency to enjoy the material world are there also in the living entities because these tendencies are there in the Supreme Lord who has created the manifested cosmic world.

We shall find, therefore, in this Bhagavad-gītā that the complete whole is comprised of the supreme controller, the controlled living entities, the cosmic manifestation, eternal time, and karma, or activities, and all of these are explained in this text. All of these taken completely form the complete whole, and the complete whole is called the Supreme Absolute Truth. The complete whole and the complete Absolute Truth are the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa. All manifestations are due to His different energies. He is the complete whole.

It is also explained in the Gītā that impersonal Brahman is also subordinate to the complete. Brahman is more explicitly explained in the Brahma-sūtra to be like the rays of the sunshine. The impersonal Brahman is the shining rays of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Impersonal Brahman is incomplete realization of the absolute whole, and so also is the conception of Paramātmā in the Twelfth Chapter. There it shall be seen that the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Puruṣottama, is above both impersonal Brahman and the partial realization of Paramātmā. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is called sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha. The Brahma-saṁhitā begins in this way: īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ/ anādir ādir govindaḥ sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam. “Kṛṣṇa is the cause of all causes. He is the primal cause, and He is the very form of eternal being, knowledge and bliss.” Impersonal Brahman realization is the realization of His sat (being) feature. Paramātmā realization is the realization of the cit (eternal knowledge) feature. But realization of the Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, is realization of all the transcendental features: sat, cit and ānanda (being, knowledge, bliss) in complete vigraha (form).

People with less intelligence consider the Supreme Truth to be impersonal, but He is a transcendental person, and this is confirmed in all Vedic literatures. Nityo nityānām cetanaś cetanānām. As we are all individual living beings and have our individuality, the Supreme Absolute Truth is also, in the ultimate issue, a person, and realization of the Personality of Godhead is realization of all of the transcendental features. The complete whole is not formless. If He is formless, or if He is less than any other thing, then He cannot be the complete whole. The complete whole must have everything within our experience and beyond our experience, otherwise it cannot be complete. The complete whole, Personality of Godhead, has immense potencies.

How Kṛṣṇa is acting in different potencies is also explained in Bhagavad-gītā. This phenomenal world or material world in which we are placed is also complete in itself because the twenty-four elements of which this material universe is a temporary manifestation, according to Sāṅkhya philosophy, are completely adjusted to produce complete resources which are necessary for the maintenance and subsistence of this universe. There is nothing extraneous; nor is there anything needed. This manifestation has its own time fixed by the energy of the supreme whole, and when its time is complete, these temporary manifestations will be annihilated by the complete arrangement of the complete. There is complete facility for the small complete units, namely the living entities, to realize the complete, and all sorts of incompleteness are experienced due to incomplete knowledge of the complete. So Bhagavad-gītā contains the complete knowledge of Vedic wisdom.

All Vedic knowledge is infallible, and Hindus accept Vedic knowledge to be complete and infallible. For example, cow dung is the stool of an animal, and according to smṛti or Vedic injunction, if one touches the stool of an animal he has to take a bath to purify himself. But in the Vedic scriptures cow dung is considered to be a purifying agent. One might consider this to be contradictory, but it is accepted because it is Vedic injunction, and indeed by accepting this, one will not commit a mistake; subsequently it has been proved by modern science that cow dung contains all antiseptic properties. So Vedic knowledge is complete because it is above all doubts and mistakes, and Bhagavad-gītā is the essence of all Vedic knowledge.

Vedic knowledge is not a question of research. Our research work is imperfect because we are researching things with imperfect senses. We have to accept perfect knowledge which comes down, as is stated in Bhagavad-gītā, by the paramparā disciplic succession. We have to receive knowledge from the proper source in disciplic succession beginning with the supreme spiritual master, the Lord Himself, and handed down to a succession of spiritual masters. Arjuna, the student who took lessons from Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, accepts everything that He says without contradicting Him. One is not allowed to accept one portion of Bhagavad-gītā and not another. No. We must accept Bhagavad-gītā without interpretation, without deletion and without our own whimsical participation in the matter. The Gītā should be taken as the most perfect presentation of Vedic knowledge. Vedic knowledge is received from transcendental sources, and the first words were spoken by the Lord Himself. The words spoken by the Lord are different from words spoken by a person of the mundane world who is infected with four defects. A mundaner 1) is sure to commit mistakes, 2) is invariably illusioned, 3) has the tendency to cheat others and 4) is limited by imperfect senses. With these four imperfections, one cannot deliver perfect information of all-pervading knowledge.

Vedic knowledge is not imparted by such defective living entities. It was imparted unto the heart of Brahmā, the first created living being, and Brahmā in his turn disseminated this knowledge to his sons and disciples, as he originally received it from the Lord. The Lord is pūrṇam, all-perfect, and there is no possibility of His becoming subjected to the laws of material nature. One should therefore be intelligent enough to know that the Lord is the only proprietor of everything in the universe and that He is the original creator, the creator of Brahmā. In the Eleventh Chapter the Lord is addressed as prapitāmaha because Brahmā is addressed as pitāmaha, the grandfather, and He is the creator of the grandfather. So no one should claim to be the proprietor of anything; one should accept only things which are set aside for him by the Lord as his quota for his maintenance.

There are many examples given of how we are to utilize those things which are set aside for us by the Lord. This is also explained in Bhagavad-gītā. In the beginning, Arjuna decided that he should not fight in the Battle of Kurukṣetra. This was his own decision. Arjuna told the Lord that it was not possible for him to enjoy the kingdom after killing his own kinsmen. This decision was based on the body because he was thinking that the body was himself and that his bodily relations or expansions were his brothers, nephews, brothers-in-law, grandfathers and so on. He was thinking in this way to satisfy his bodily demands. Bhagavad-gītā was spoken by the Lord just to change this view, and at the end Arjuna decides to fight under the directions of the Lord when he says, “kariṣye vacanaṁ tava.” “I shall act according to Thy word.”

In this world man is not meant to toil like hogs. He must be intelligent to realize the importance of human life and refuse to act like an ordinary animal. A human being should realize the aim of his life, and this direction is given in all Vedic literatures, and the essence is given in Bhagavad-gītā. Vedic literature is meant for human beings, not for animals. Animals can kill other living animals, and there is no question of sin on their part, but if a man kills an animal for the satisfaction of his uncontrolled taste, he must be responsible for breaking the laws of nature. In the Bhagavad-gītā it is clearly explained that there are three kinds of activities according to the different modes of nature: the activities of goodness, of passion and of ignorance. Similarly, there are three kinds of eatables also: eatables in goodness, passion and ignorance. All of this is clearly described, and if we properly utilize the instructions of Bhagavad-gītā, then our whole life will become purified, and ultimately we will be able to reach the destination which is beyond this material sky.

That destination is called the sanātana sky, the eternal spiritual sky. In this material world we find that everything is temporary. It comes into being, stays for some time, produces some by-products, dwindles and then vanishes. That is the law of the material world, whether we use as an example this body, or a piece of fruit or anything. But beyond this temporary world there is another world of which we have information. This world consists of another nature which is sanātana, eternal. Jīva is also described as sanātana, eternal, and the Lord is also described as sanātana in the Eleventh Chapter. We have an intimate relationship with the Lord, and because we are all qualitatively one—the sanātana-dhāma, or sky, the sanātana Supreme Personality and the sanātana living entities—the whole purpose of Bhagavad-gītā is to revive our sanātana occupation, or sanātana-dharma, which is the eternal occupation of the living entity. We are temporarily engaged in different activities, but all of these activities can be purified when we give up all these temporary activities and take up the activities which are prescribed by the Supreme Lord. That is called our pure life.

The Supreme Lord and His transcendental abode are both sanātana, as are the living entities, and the combined association of the Supreme Lord and the living entities in the sanātana abode is the perfection of human life. The Lord is very kind to the living entities because they are His sons. Lord Kṛṣṇa declares in Bhagavad-gītā, “sarva-yoniṣu…ahaṁ bīja-pradaḥ pitā.” “I am the father of all.” Of course there are all types of living entities according to their various karmas, but here the Lord claims that He is the father of all of them. Therefore the Lord descends to reclaim all of these fallen, conditioned souls to call them back to the sanātana eternal sky so that the sanātana living entities may regain their eternal sanātana positions in eternal association with the Lord. The Lord comes Himself in different incarnations, or He sends His confidential servants as sons or His associates or ācāryas to reclaim the conditioned souls.

Therefore, sanātana-dharma does not refer to any sectarian process of religion. It is the eternal function of the eternal living entities in relationship with the eternal Supreme Lord. Sanātana-dharma refers, as stated previously, to the eternal occupation of the living entity. Rāmānujācārya has explained the word sanātana as “that which has neither beginning nor end,” so when we speak of sanātana-dharma, we must take it for granted on the authority of Śrī Rāmānujācārya that it has neither beginning nor end.

The English word “religion” is a little different from sanātana-dharma. Religion conveys the idea of faith, and faith may change. One may have faith in a particular process, and he may change this faith and adopt another, but sanātana-dharma refers to that activity which cannot be changed. For instance, liquidity cannot be taken from water, nor can heat be taken from fire. Similarly, the eternal function of the eternal living entity cannot be taken from the living entity. Sanātana-dharma is eternally integral with the living entity. When we speak of sanātana-dharma, therefore, we must take it for granted on the authority of Śrī Rāmānujācārya that it has neither beginning nor end. That which has neither end nor beginning must not be sectarian, for it cannot be limited by any boundaries. Yet those belonging to some sectarian faith will wrongly consider that sanātana-dharma is also sectarian, but if we go deeply into the matter and consider it in the light of modern science, it is possible for us to see that sanātana-dharma is the business of all the people of the world—nay, of all the living entities of the universe.

Non-sanātana religious faith may have some beginning in the annals of human history, but there is no beginning to the history of sanātana-dharma because it remains eternally with the living entities. Insofar as the living entities are concerned, the authoritative śāstras state that the living entity has neither birth nor death. In the Gītā it is stated that the living entity is never born, and he never dies. He is eternal and indestructible, and he continues to live after the destruction of his temporary material body. In reference to the concept of sanātana-dharma, we must try to understand the concept of religion from the Sanskrit root meaning of the word. Dharma refers to that which is constantly existing with the particular object. We conclude that there is heat and light along with the fire; without heat and light, there is no meaning to the word fire. Similarly, we must discover the essential part of the living being, that part which is his constant companion. That constant companion is his eternal quality, and that eternal quality is his eternal religion.

When Sanātana Gosvāmī asked Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu about the svarūpa of every living being, the Lord replied that the svarūpa or constitutional position of the living being is the rendering of service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. If we analyze this statement of Lord Caitanya, we can easily see that every living being is constantly engaged in rendering service to another living being. A living being serves other living beings in two capacities. By doing so, the living entity enjoys life. The lower animals serve human beings as servants serve their master. A serves B master, B serves C master and C serves D master and so on. Under these circumstances, we can see that one friend serves another friend, the mother serves the son, the wife serves the husband, the husband serves the wife and so on. If we go on searching in this spirit, it will be seen that there is no exception in the society of living beings to the activity of service. The politician presents his manifesto for the public to convince them of his capacity for service. The voters therefore give the politician their valuable votes, thinking that he will render valuable service to society. The shopkeeper serves the customer, and the artisan serves the capitalist. The capitalist serves the family, and the family serves the state in the terms of the eternal capacity of the eternal living being. In this way we can see that no living being is exempt from rendering service to other living beings, and therefore we can safely conclude that service is the constant companion of the living being and that the rendering of service is the eternal religion of the living being.

Yet man professes to belong to a particular type of faith with reference to particular time and circumstance and thus claims to be a Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Buddhist or any other sect. Such designations are non-sanātana-dharma. A Hindu may change his faith to become a Muslim, or a Muslim may change his faith to become a Hindu, or a Christian may change his faith and so on. But in all circumstances the change of religious faith does not effect the eternal occupation of rendering service to others. The Hindu, Muslim or Christian in all circumstances is servant of someone. Thus, to profess a particular type of sect is not to profess one’s sanātana-dharma. The rendering of service is sanātana-dharma.

Factually we are related to the Supreme Lord in service. The Supreme Lord is the supreme enjoyer, and we living entities are His servitors. We are created for His enjoyment, and if we participate in that eternal enjoyment with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, we become happy. We cannot become happy otherwise. It is not possible to be happy independantly, just as no one part of the body can be happy without cooperating with the stomach. It is not possible for the living entity to be happy without rendering transcendental loving service unto the Supreme Lord.

In the Bhagavad-gītā, worship of different demigods or rendering service to them is not approved. It is stated in the Seventh Chapter, twentieth verse:

kāmais tais tair hṛta-jñānāḥ prapadyante ’nya-devatāḥ
taṁ taṁ niyamam āsthāya prakṛtyā niyatāḥ svayā

“Those whose minds are distorted by material desires surrender unto demigods and follow the particular rules and regulations of worship according to their own natures.” (Bg. 7.20) Here it is plainly said that those who are directed by lust worship the demigods and not the Supreme Lord Kṛṣṇa. When we mention the name Kṛṣṇa, we do not refer to any sectarian name. Kṛṣṇa means the highest pleasure, and it is confirmed that the Supreme Lord is the reservoir or storehouse of all pleasure. We are all hankering after pleasure. Ānandamayo ’bhyāsāt. (Vs. 1.1.12) The living entities, like the Lord, are full of consciousness, and they are after happiness. The Lord is perpetually happy, and if the living entities associate with the Lord, cooperate with Him and take part in His association, then they also become happy.

The Lord descends to this mortal world to show His pastimes in Vṛndāvana, which are full of happiness. When Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa was in Vṛndāvana, His activities with His cowherd boy friends, with His damsel friends, with the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana and with the cows were all full of happiness. The total population of Vṛndāvana knew nothing but Kṛṣṇa. But Lord Kṛṣṇa even discouraged His father Nanda Mahārāja from worshiping the demigod Indra because He wanted to establish the fact that people need not worship any demigod. They need only worship the Supreme Lord because their ultimate goal is to return to His abode.

The abode of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa is described in the Bhagavad-gītā, Fifteenth Chapter, sixth verse:

na tad bhāsayate sūryo na śaśāṅko na pāvakaḥ
yad gatvā na nivartante tad dhāma paramaṁ mama

“That abode of Mine is not illumined by the sun or moon, nor by electricity. And anyone who reaches it never comes back to this material world.” (Bg. 15.6)

This verse gives a description of that eternal sky. Of course we have a material conception of the sky, and we think of it in relationship to the sun, moon, stars and so on, but in this verse the Lord states that in the eternal sky there is no need for the sun nor for the moon nor fire of any kind because the spiritual sky is already illuminated by the brahmajyoti, the rays emanating from the Supreme Lord. We are trying with difficulty to reach other planets, but it is not difficult to understand the abode of the Supreme Lord. This abode is referred to as Goloka. In the Brahma-saṁhitā it is beautifully described: Goloka eva nivasaty akhilātma-bhūtaḥ. The Lord resides eternally in His abode Goloka, yet He can be approached from this world, and to this end the Lord comes to manifest His real form, sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha. When He manifests this form, there is no need for our imagining what He looks like. To discourage such imaginative speculation, He descends and exhibits Himself as He is, as Śyāmasundara. Unfortunately, the less intelligent deride Him because He comes as one of us and plays with us as a human being. But because of this we should not consider that the Lord is one of us. It is by His potency that He presents Himself in His real form before us and displays His pastimes, which are prototypes of those pastimes found in His abode.

In the effulgent rays of the spiritual sky there are innumerable planets floating. The brahmajyoti emanates from the supreme abode, Kṛṣṇaloka, and the ānandamaya-cinmaya planets, which are not material, float in those rays. The Lord says, na tad bhāsayate sūryo na śaśāṅko na pāvakaḥ yad gatvā na nivartante tad dhāma paramaṁ mama. One who can approach that spiritual sky is not required to descend again to the material sky. In the material sky, even if we approach the highest planet (Brahmaloka), what to speak of the moon, we will find the same conditions of life, namely birth, death, disease and old age. No planet in the material universe is free from these four principles of material existence. Therefore the Lord says in Bhagavad-gītā, ābrahma-bhuvanāl lokāḥ punar āvartino ’rjuna. The living entities are traveling from one planet to another, not by mechanical arrangement but by a spiritual process. This is also mentioned: yānti deva-vratā devān pitṝn yānti pitṛ-vratāḥ. No mechanical arrangement is necessary if we want interplanetary travel. The Gītā instructs: yānti deva-vratā devān. The moon, the sun and higher planets are called svargaloka. There are three different statuses of planets: higher, middle and lower planetary systems. The earth belongs to the middle planetary system. Bhagavad-gītā informs us how to travel to the higher planetary systems (devaloka) with a very simple formula: yānti deva-vratā devān. One need only worship the particular demigod of that particular planet and in that way go to the moon, the sun or any of the higher planetary systems.

Yet Bhagavad-gītā does not advise us to go to any of the planets in this material world because even if we go to Brahmaloka, the highest planet, through some sort of mechanical contrivance by maybe traveling for forty thousand years (and who would live that long?), we will still find the material inconveniences of birth, death, disease and old age. But one who wants to approach the supreme planet, Kṛṣṇaloka, or any of the other planets within the spiritual sky, will not meet with these material inconveniences. Amongst all of the planets in the spiritual sky there is one supreme planet called Goloka Vṛndāvana, which is the original planet in the abode of the original Personality of Godhead Śrī Kṛṣṇa. All of this information is given in Bhagavad-gītā, and we are given through its instruction information how to leave the material world and begin a truly blissful life in the spiritual sky.

In the Fifteenth Chapter of the Bhagavad-gītā, the real picture of the material world is given. It is said there:

ūrdhva-mūlam adhaḥ-śākham aśvatthaṁ prāhur avyayam
chandāṁsi yasya parṇāni yas taṁ veda sa veda-vit

“The Supreme Lord said: There is a banyan tree which has its roots upward and its branches down, and the Vedic hymns are its leaves. One who knows this tree is the knower of the Vedas.” (Bg. 15.1) Here the material world is described as a tree whose roots are upwards and branches are below. We have experience of a tree whose roots are upward: if one stands on the bank of a river or any reservoir of water, he can see that the trees reflected in the water are upside down. The branches go downward and the roots upward. Similarly, this material world is a reflection of the spiritual world. The material world is but a shadow of reality. In the shadow there is no reality or substantiality, but from the shadow we can understand that there is substance and reality. In the desert there is no water, but the mirage suggests that there is such a thing as water. In the material world there is no water, there is no happiness, but the real water of actual happiness is there in the spiritual world.

The Lord suggests that we attain the spiritual world in the following manner:

nirmāna-mohā jita-saṅga-doṣā
adhyātma-nityā vinivṛtta-kāmāḥ
dvandvair vimuktāḥ sukha-duḥkha-saṁjñair
gacchanty amūḍhāḥ padam avyayaṁ tat

That padam avyayam or eternal kingdom can be reached by one who is nirmāna-moha. What does this mean? We are after designations. Someone wants to become a son, someone wants to become Lord, someone wants to become the president or a rich man or a king or something else. As long as we are attached to these designations, we are attached to the body because designations belong to the body. But we are not these bodies, and realizing this is the first stage in spiritual realization. We are associated with the three modes of material nature, but we must become detached through devotional service to the Lord. If we are not attached to devotional service to the Lord, then we cannot become detached from the modes of material nature. Designations and attachments are due to our lust and desire, our wanting to lord it over the material nature. As long as we do not give up this propensity of lording it over material nature, there is no possibility of returning to the kingdom of the Supreme, the sanātana-dhāma. That eternal kingdom, which is never destroyed, can be approached by one who is not bewildered by the attractions of false material enjoyments, who is situated in the service of the Supreme Lord. One so situated can easily approach that supreme abode.

Elsewhere in the Gītā it is stated:

avyakto ’kṣara ity uktas tam āhuḥ paramāṁ gatim
yaṁ prāpya na nivartante tad dhāma paramaṁ mama.

Avyakta means unmanifested. Not even all of the material world is manifested before us. Our senses are so imperfect that we cannot even see all of the stars within this material universe. In Vedic literature we can receive much information about all the planets, and we can believe it or not believe it. All of the important planets are described in Vedic literatures, especially Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, and the spiritual world, which is beyond this material sky, is described as avyakta, unmanifested. One should desire and hanker after that supreme kingdom, for when one attains that kingdom, he does not have to return to this material world.

Next, one may raise the question of how one goes about approaching that abode of the Supreme Lord. Information of this is given in the Eighth Chapter. It is said there:

anta-kāle ca mām eva smaran muktvā kalevaram
yaḥ prayāti sa mad-bhāvam yāti nāsty atra saṁśayaḥ

“Anyone who quits his body, at the end of life, remembering Me, attains immediately to My nature; and there is no doubt of this.” (Bg. 8.5) One who thinks of Kṛṣṇa at the time of his death goes to Kṛṣṇa. One must remember the form of Kṛṣṇa; if he quits his body thinking of this form, he approaches the spiritual kingdom. Mad-bhāvaṁ refers to the supreme nature of the Supreme Being. The Supreme Being is sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha—eternal, full of knowledge and bliss. Our present body is not sac-cid-ānanda. It is asat, not sat. It is not eternal; it is perishable. It is not cit, full of knowledge, but it is full of ignorance. We have no knowledge of the spiritual kingdom, nor do we even have perfect knowledge of this material world where there are so many things unknown to us. The body is also nirānanda; instead of being full of bliss it is full of misery. All of the miseries we experience in the material world arise from the body, but one who leaves this body thinking of the Supreme Personality of Godhead at once attains a sac-cid-ānanda body, as is promised in this fifth verse of the Eighth Chapter where Lord Kṛṣṇa says, “He attains My nature.”

The process of quitting this body and getting another body in the material world is also organized. A man dies after it has been decided what form of body he will have in the next life. Higher authorities, not the living entity himself, make this decision. According to our activities in this life, we either rise or sink. This life is a preparation for the next life. If we can prepare, therefore, in this life to get promotion to the kingdom of God, then surely, after quitting this material body, we will attain a spiritual body just like the Lord.

As explained before, there are different kinds of transcendentalists, the brahmavādi, paramātmāvādi and the devotee, and, as mentioned, in the brahmajyoti (spiritual sky) there are innumerable spiritual planets. The number of these planets is far, far greater than all of the planets of this material world. This material world has been approximated as only one quarter of the creation. In this material segment there are millions and billions of universes with trillions of planets and suns, stars and moons. But this whole material creation is only a fragment of the total creation. Most of the creation is in the spiritual sky. One who desires to merge into the existence of the Supreme Brahman is at once transferred to the brahmajyoti of the Supreme Lord and thus attains the spiritual sky. The devotee, who wants to enjoy the association of the Lord, enters into the Vaikuṇṭha planets, which are innumerable, and the Supreme Lord by His plenary expansions as Nārāyaṇa with four hands and with different names like Pradyumna, Aniruddha, Govinda, etc., associates with him there. Therefore at the end of life the transcendentalists either think of the brahmajyoti, the Paramātmā or the Supreme Personality of Godhead Śrī Kṛṣṇa. In all cases they enter into the spiritual sky, but only the devotee, or he who is in personal touch with the Supreme Lord, enters into the Vaikuṇṭha planets. The Lord further adds that of this “there is no doubt.” This must be believed firmly. We should not reject that which does not tally with our imagination; our attitude should be that of Arjuna: “I believe everything that You have said.” Therefore when the Lord says that at the time of death whoever thinks of Him as Brahman or Paramātmā or as the Personality of Godhead certainly enters into the spiritual sky, there is no doubt about it. There is no question of disbelieving it.

The information on how to think of the Supreme Being at the time of death is also given in the Gītā:

yaṁ yaṁ vāpi smaran bhāvaṁ tyajaty ante kalevaram
taṁ tam evaiti kaunteya sadā tad-bhāva-bhāvitaḥ

“In whatever condition one quits his present body, in his next life he will attain to that state of being without fail.” (Bg. 8.6) Material nature is a display of one of the energies of the Supreme Lord. In the Viṣṇu Purāṇa the total energies of the Supreme Lord as Viṣṇu-śaktiḥ parā proktā, etc., are delineated. The Supreme Lord has diverse and innumerable energies which are beyond our conception; however, great learned sages or liberated souls have studied these energies and have analyzed them into three parts. All of the energies are of Viṣṇu-śakti, that is to say they are different potencies of Lord Viṣṇu. That energy is parā, transcendental. Living entities also belong to the superior energy, as has already been explained. The other energies, or material energies, are in the mode of ignorance. At the time of death we can either remain in the inferior energy of this material world, or we can transfer to the energy of the spiritual world.

In life we are accustomed to thinking either of the material or the spiritual energy. There are so many literatures which fill our thoughts with the material energy—newspapers, novels, etc. Our thinking, which is now absorbed in these literatures, must be transferred to the Vedic literatures. The great sages, therefore, have written so many Vedic literatures such as the Purāṇas, etc. The Purāṇas are not imaginative; they are historical records. In the Caitanya-caritāmṛta there is the following verse:

māyā mugdha jīver nāhi svataḥ kṛṣṇa-jñāna
jīvera kṛpāya kailā kṛṣṇa veda-purāṇa

(Cc. Madhya 20.122)

The forgetful living entities or conditioned souls have forgotten their relationship with the Supreme Lord, and they are engrossed in thinking of material activities. Just to transfer their thinking power to the spiritual sky, Kṛṣṇa has given a great number of Vedic literatures. First He divided the Vedas into four, then He explained them in the Purāṇas, and for less capable people He wrote the Mahābhārata. In the Mahābhārata there is given the Bhagavad-gītā. Then all Vedic literature is summarized in the Vedānta-sūtra, and for future guidance He gave a natural commentation on the Vedānta-sutra, called Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. We must always engage our minds in reading these Vedic literatures. Just as materialists engage their minds in reading newspapers, magazines and so many materialistic literatures, we must transfer our reading to these literatures which are given to us by Vyāsadeva; in that way it will be possible for us to remember the Supreme Lord at the time of death. That is the only way suggested by the Lord, and He guarantees the result: “There is no doubt.” (Bg. 8.7)

tasmāt sarveṣu kāleṣu mām anusmara yudhya ca
mayy arpita-mano-buddhir mām evaiṣyasy asaṁśayaḥ

“Therefore, Arjuna, you should always think of Me, and at the same time you should continue your prescribed duty and fight. With your mind and activities always fixed on Me, and everything engaged in Me, you will attain to Me without any doubt.”

He does not advise Arjuna to simply remember Him and give up his occupation. No, the Lord never suggests anything impractical. In this material world, in order to maintain the body one has to work. Human society is divided, according to work, into four divisions of social order—brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya, śūdra. The brāhmaṇa class or intelligent class is working in one way, the kṣatriya or administrative class is working in another way, and the mercantile class and the laborers are all tending to their specific duties. In the human society, whether one is a laborer, merchant, warrior, administrator, or farmer, or even if one belongs to the highest class and is a literary man, a scientist or a theologian, he has to work in order to maintain his existence. The Lord therefore tells Arjuna that he need not give up his occupation, but while he is engaged in his occupation he should remember Kṛṣṇa. If he doesn’t practice remembering Kṛṣṇa while he is struggling for existence, then it will not be possible for him to remember Kṛṣṇa at the time of death. Lord Caitanya also advises this. He says that one should practice remembering the Lord by chanting the names of the Lord always. The names of the Lord and the Lord are nondifferent. So Lord Kṛṣṇa’s instruction to Arjuna to “remember Me” and Lord Caitanya’s injunction to always “chant the names of Lord Kṛṣṇa” are the same instruction. There is no difference, because Kṛṣṇa and Kṛṣṇa’s name are nondifferent. In the absolute status there is no difference between reference and referent. Therefore we have to practice remembering the Lord always, twenty-four hours a day, by chanting His names and molding our life’s activities in such a way that we can remember Him always.

How is this possible? The ācāryas give the following example. If a married woman is attached to another man, or if a man has an attachment for a woman other than his wife, then the attachment is to be considered very strong. One with such an attachment is always thinking of the loved one. The wife who is thinking of her lover is always thinking of meeting him, even while she is carrying out her household chores. In fact, she carries out her household work even more carefully so her husband will not suspect her attachment. Similarly, we should always remember the supreme lover, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, and at the same time perform our material duties very nicely. A strong sense of love is required here. If we have a strong sense of love for the Supreme Lord, then we can discharge our duty and at the same time remember Him. But we have to develop that sense of love. Arjuna, for instance, was always thinking of Kṛṣṇa; he was the constant companion of Kṛṣṇa, and at the same time he was a warrior. Kṛṣṇa did not advise him to give up fighting and go to the forest to meditate. When Lord Kṛṣṇa delineates the yoga system to Arjuna, Arjuna says that the practice of this system is not possible for him.

arjuna uvāca
yo ’yaṁ yogas tvayā proktaḥ sāmyena madhusūdana
etasyāhaṁ na paśyāmi cañcalatvāt sthitiṁ sthirām

“Arjuna said, O Madhusūdana, the system of yoga which you have summarized appears impractical and unendurable to me, for the mind is restless and unsteady.” (Bg. 6.33)

But the Lord says:

yoginām api sarveṣāṁ mad-gatenāntarātmanā
śraddhāvān bhajate yo māṁ sa me yuktatamo mataḥ

“Of all yogīs, he who always abides in Me with great faith, worshiping Me in transcendental loving service, is most intimately united with Me in yoga, and is the highest of all.” (Bg. 6.47) So one who thinks of the Supreme Lord always is the greatest yogī, the supermost jñānī, and the greatest devotee at the same time. The Lord further tells Arjuna that as a kṣatriya he cannot give up his fighting, but if Arjuna fights remembering Kṛṣṇa, then he will be able to remember Him at the time of death. But one must be completely surrendered in the transcendental loving service of the Lord.

We work not with our body, actually, but with our mind and intelligence. So if the intelligence and the mind are always engaged in the thought of the Supreme Lord, then naturally the senses are also engaged in His service. Superficially, at least, the activities of the senses remain the same, but the consciousness is changed. The Bhagavad-gītā teaches one how to absorb the mind and intelligence in the thought of the Lord. Such absorption will enable one to transfer himself to the kingdom of the Lord. If the mind is engaged in Kṛṣṇa’s service, then the senses are automatically engaged in His service. This is the art, and this is also the secret of Bhagavad-gītā: total absorption in the thought of Śrī Kṛṣṇa.

Modern man has struggled very hard to reach the moon, but he has not tried very hard to elevate himself spiritually. If one has fifty years of life ahead of him, he should engage that brief time in cultivating this practice of remembering the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This practice is the devotional process of:

śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ smaraṇaṁ pāda-sevanam
arcanaṁ vandanaṁ dāsyaṁ sakhyam ātma-nivedanam

These nine processes, of which the easiest is śravaṇaṁ, hearing Bhagavad-gītā from the realized person, will turn one to the thought of the Supreme Being. This will lead to niścala, remembering the Supreme Lord, and will enable one, upon leaving the body, to attain a spiritual body which is just fit for association with the Supreme Lord.

The Lord further says:

abhyāsa-yoga-yuktena cetasā nānya-gāminā
paramaṁ puruṣaṁ divyaṁ yāti pārthānucintayan

“By practicing this remembering, without being deviated, thinking ever of the Supreme Godhead, one is sure to achieve the planet of the Divine, the Supreme Personality, O son of Kuntī.” (Bg. 8.8)

This is not a very difficult process. However, one must learn it from an experienced person, from one who is already in the practice. The mind is always flying to this and that, but one must always practice concentrating the mind on the form of the Supreme Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa or on the sound of His name. The mind is naturally restless, going hither and thither, but it can rest in the sound vibration of Kṛṣṇa. One must thus meditate on paramaṁ puruṣaṁ, the Supreme Person; and thus attain Him. The ways and the means for ultimate realization, ultimate attainment, are stated in the Bhagavad-gītā, and the doors of this knowledge are open for everyone. No one is barred out. All classes of men can approach the Lord by thinking of Him, for hearing and thinking of Him is possible for everyone.

The Lord further says:

māṁ hi pārtha vyapāśritya ye ’pi syuḥ pāpa-yonayaḥ
striyo vaiśyās tathā śūdrās te ’pi yānti parāṁ gatim

kiṁ punar brāhmaṇāḥ puṇyā bhaktā rājarṣayas tathā
anityam asukhaṁ lokam imaṁ prāpya bhajasva mām

“O son of Pṛthā, anyone who will take shelter in Me, whether a woman, or a merchant, or one born in a low family, can yet approach the supreme destination. How much greater then are the brāhmaṇas, the righteous, the devotees, and saintly kings! In this miserable world, these are fixed in devotional service to the Lord.” (Bg. 9.32–33)

Human beings even in the lower statuses of life (a merchant, a woman or a laborer) can attain the Supreme. One does not need highly developed intelligence. The point is that anyone who accepts the principle of bhakti-yoga and accepts the Supreme Lord as the summum bonum of life, as the highest target, the ultimate goal, can approach the Lord in the spiritual sky. If one adopts the principles enunciated in Bhagavad-gītā, he can make his life perfect and make a perfect solution to all the problems of life which arise out of the transient nature of material existence. This is the sum and substance of the entire Bhagavad-gītā.

In conclusion, Bhagavad-gīta is a transcendental literature which one should read very carefully. It is capable of saving one from all fear.

nehābhikrama-nāśo ’sti pratyavāyo na vidyate
svalpam apy asya dharmasya trāyate mahato bhayāt

“In this endeavor there is no loss or diminution, and a little advancement on this path can protect one from the most dangerous type of fear.” (Bg. 2.40) If one reads Bhagavad-gītā sincerely and seriously, then all of the reactions of his past misdeeds will not react upon him. In the last portion of Bhagavad-gītā, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa proclaims:

sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja
ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo mokṣayiṣyāmi mā śucaḥ

“Give up all varieties of religiousness, and just surrender unto Me; and in return I shall protect you from all sinful reactions. Therefore, you have nothing to fear.” (Bg. 18.66) Thus the Lord takes all responsibility for one who surrenders unto Him, and He indemnifies all the reactions of sin.

One cleanses himself daily by taking a bath in water, but one who takes his bath only once in the sacred Ganges water of the Bhagavad-gītā cleanses away all the dirt of material life. Because Bhagavad-gītā is spoken by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one need not read any other Vedic literature. One need only attentively and regularly hear and read Bhagavad-gītā. In the present age, mankind is so absorbed with mundane activities that it is not possible to read all of the Vedic literatures. But this is not necessary. This one book, Bhagavad-gītā, will suffice because it is the essence of all Vedic literatures and because it is spoken by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. It is said that one who drinks the water of the Ganges certainly gets salvation, but what to speak of one who drinks the waters of Bhagavad-gītā? Gītā is the very nectar of the Mahābhārata spoken by Viṣṇu Himself, for Lord Kṛṣṇa is the original Viṣṇu. It is nectar emanating from the mouth of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and the Ganges is said to be emanating from the lotus feet of the Lord. Of course there is no difference between the mouth and the feet of the Supreme Lord, but in our position we can appreciate that the Bhagavad-gītā is even more important than the Ganges.

The Bhagavad-gītā is just like a cow, and Lord Kṛṣṇa, who is a cowherd boy, is milking this cow. The milk is the essence of the Vedas, and Arjuna is just like a calf. The wise men, the great sages and pure devotees, are to drink the nectarean milk of Bhagavad-gītā.

In this present day, man is very eager to have one scripture, one God, one religion, and one occupation. So let there be one common scripture for the whole world—Bhagavad-gītā. And let there be one God only for the whole world—Śrī Kṛṣṇa. And one mantra only—Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare. And let there be one work only—the service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

THE DISCIPLIC SUCCESSION

Evaṁ paramparā-prāptam imaṁ rājarṣayo viduḥ. (Bhagavad-gīta, 4.2) This Bhagavad-gītā As It Is is received through this disciplic succession:

1) Kṛṣṇa, 2) Brahmā, 3) Nārada; 4) Vyāsa, 5) Madhva, 6) Padmanābha, 7) Nṛhari, 8) Mādhava, 9) Akṣobhya, 10) Jayatīrtha, 11) Jñānasindhu, 12) Dayānidhi, 13) Vidyānidhi, 14) Rājendra, 15) Jayadharma, 16) Puruṣottama, 17) Brahmaṇyatīrtha, 18) Vyāsatīrtha, 19) Lakṣmīpati, 20) Mādhavendra Purī, 21) Īśvara Purī, (Nityānanda, Advaita), 22) Lord Caitanya, 23) Rūpa (Svarūpa, Sanātana), 24) Raghunātha, Jīva, 25) Kṛṣṇadāsa, 26) Narottama, 27) Viśvanātha, 28) (Baladeva) Jagannātha, 29) Bhaktivinode, 30) Gaurakiśora, 31) Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī, 32) His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda.

Source: http://theharekrishnamovement.org/2016/01/11/bhagavad-gita/

The new animation movie: “Krishna Book Busters!” (7 min video)From the creator of the “Manic Mataji” and “japatrap” :-) A book distribution adventure shown as a video game

Source: http://m.dandavats.com/?p=18236