Brahmajyoti quotes



"I serve the Supreme Personality of Godhead Govinda, the primeval Lord, whose transcendental bodily effulgence, known as the brahmajyoti, which is unlimited, unfathomed and all-pervasive, is the cause of the creation of unlimited numbers of planets, etc., with varieties of climates and specific conditions of life."

The same statement is in the Bhagavad-gītā (14.27). Lord Kṛṣṇa is the background of the brahmajyoti (brahmaṇo hi pratiṣṭhāham). In the Nirukti, or Vedic dictionary, the import of pratiṣṭhā is mentioned as "that which establishes." So the brahmajyoti is not independent or self-sufficient. Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa is ultimately the creator of the brahmajyoti, mentioned in this verse as sva-rociṣā, or the effulgence of the transcendental body of the Lord. This brahmajyoti is all-pervading, and all creation is made possible by its potential power; therefore the Vedic hymns declare that everything that exists is being sustained by the brahmajyoti (sarvaḿ khalv idaḿ brahma). Therefore the potential seed of all creation is the brahmajyoti, and the same brahmajyoti, unlimited and unfathomed, is established by the Lord. Therefore the Lord (Śrī Kṛṣṇa) is ultimately the supreme cause of all creation (ahaḿ sarvasya prabhavaḥ).

One should not expect the Lord to create like a blacksmith with a hammer and other instruments. The Lord creates by His potencies. He has His multifarious potencies (parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate). Just as the small seed of a banyan fruit has the potency to create a big banyan tree, the Lord disseminates all varieties of seeds by His potential brahmajyoti (sva-rociṣā), and the seeds are made to develop by the watering process of persons like Brahmā. Brahmā cannot create the seeds, but he can manifest the seed into a tree, just as a gardener helps plants and orchards to grow by the watering process. The example cited here of the sun is very appropriate. In the material world the sun is the cause of all illumination: fire, electricity, the rays of the moon, etc. All luminaries in the sky are creations of the sun, the sun is the creation of the brahmajyoti, and the brahmajyoti is the effulgence of the Lord. Thus the ultimate cause of creation is the Lord.

---

Śrī Īśopanishad 15

hiranmayena pātrena

satyasyāpihitam mukham

tat tvam pūshann apāvrinu

satya-dharmāya drishtaye

SYNONYMS

hiranmayena — by a golden effulgence; pātrena — by a dazzling covering; satyasya — of the Supreme Truth; apihitam — covered; mukham — the face; tat — that covering; tvam — Yourself; pūshan —O sustainer; apāvrinu — kindly remove; satya —pure; dharmāya — unto the devotee; drishtaye — for exhibiting.

TRANSLATION

O my Lord, sustainer of all that lives, Your real face is covered by Your dazzling effulgence. Kindly remove that covering and exhibit Yourself to Your pure devotee.

PURPORT

In the Bhagavad-gītā (14.27), the Lord explains His personal rays (brahmajyoti), the dazzling effulgence of His personal form, in this way:

brahmano hi pratishthāham

amritasyāvyayasya ca

śāśvatasya ca dharmasya

sukhasyaikāntikasya ca

"I am the basis of the impersonal Brahman, which is immortal, imperishable and eternal and is the constitutional position of ultimate happiness." Brahman, Paramātmā and Bhagavān are three aspects of the same Absolute Truth. Brahman is the aspect most easily perceived by the beginner; Paramātmā, the Supersoul, is realized by those who have further progressed; and Bhagavān realization is the ultimate realization of the Absolute Truth. This is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā (7.7), where Lord Krishna says that He is the ultimate concept of the Absolute Truth: mattah parataram nānyat. Therefore Krishna is the source of the brahmajyoti as well as the all-pervading Paramātmā. Later in the Bhagavad-gītā (10.42) Krishna further explains:

atha vā bahunaitena

kim jñātena tavārjuna

vishtabhyāham idam kritsnam

ekāmśena sthito jagat

"But what need is there, Arjuna, for all this detailed knowledge? With a single fragment of Myself I pervade and support this entire universe." Thus by His one plenary expansion, the all-pervading Paramātmā, the Lord maintains the complete material cosmic creation. He also maintains all manifestations in the spiritual world. Therefore in this śruti-mantra of Śrī Īśopanishad, the Lord is addressed as pūshan, the ultimate maintainer.

The Personality of Godhead, Śrī Krishna, is always filled with transcendental bliss (ānanda-mayo 'bhyāsāt). When He was present atVrindāvana in India five thousand years ago, He always remained in transcendental bliss, even from the beginning of His childhood pastimes. The killings of various demons — such as Agha, Baka, Pūtanā and Pralamba — were but pleasure excursions for Him. In His village ofVrindāvana He enjoyed Himself with His mother, brother and friends, and when He played the role of a naughty butter thief, all His associates enjoyed celestial bliss by His stealing. The Lord's fame as a butter thief is not reproachable, for by stealing butter the Lord gave pleasure to His pure devotees. Everything the Lord did in Vrindāvana was for the pleasure of His associates there. The Lord created these pastimes to attract the dry speculators and the acrobats of the so-called hatha-yoga system who wish to find the Absolute Truth.

Of the childhood play between the Lord and His playmates, the cowherd boys, Śukadeva Gosvāmī says in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.12.11):

ittham satām brahma-sukhānubhūtyā

dāsyam gatānām para-daivatena

māyāśritānām nara-dārakena

sākam vijahruh krita-punya-puñjāh

"The Personality of Godhead, who is perceived as the impersonal, blissful Brahman by the jñānīs, who is worshiped as the Supreme Lord by devotees in the mood of servitorship, and who is considered an ordinary human being by mundane people, played with the cowherd boys, who had attained their position after accumulating many pious activities."

Thus the Lord is always engaged in transcendental loving activities with His spiritual associates in the various relationships of śānta(neutrality), dāsya (servitorship), sakhya (friendship), vātsalya (parental affection) and mādhurya (conjugal love).

Since it is said that Lord Krishna never leaves Vrindāvana-dhāma, one may ask how He manages the affairs of the creation. This is answered in the Bhagavad-gītā (13.14-18): The Lord pervades the entire material creation by His plenary part known as the Paramātmā, or Supersoul. Although the Lord personally has nothing to do with material creation, maintenance and destruction, He causes all these things to be done by His plenary expansion, the Paramātmā. Every living entity is known as ātmā, soul, and the principal ātmā who controls them all is Paramātmā, the Supersoul.

This system of God realization is a great science. The materialistic sāńkhya-yogīs can only analyze and meditate on the twenty-four factors of the material creation, for they have very little information of the purusha, the Lord. And the impersonal transcendentalists are simply bewildered by the glaring effulgence of the brahmajyoti. If one wants to see the Absolute Truth in full, one has to penetrate beyond the twenty-four material elements and the glaring effulgence as well. Śrī Īśopanishad points toward this direction, praying for the removal of thehiranmaya-pātra, the dazzling covering of the Lord. Unless this covering is removed so one can perceive the real face of the Personality of Godhead, factual realization of the Absolute Truth can never be achieved.

The Paramātmā feature of the Personality of Godhead is one of three plenary expansions, or vishnu-tattvas, collectively known as thepurusha-avatāras. One of these vishnu-tattvas who is within the universe is known as KshīrodakaśāyīVishnu. He is the Vishnu among the three principal deities —Brahmā, Vishnu and Śiva — and He is the all-pervading Paramātmā in each and every individual living entity. The secondvishnu-tattva within the universe is GarbhodakaśāyīVishnu, the collective Supersoul of all living entities. Beyond these two is KāranodakaśāyīVishnu, who lies in the Causal Ocean. He is the creator of all universes. The yoga system teaches the serious student to meet the vishnu-tattvas after going beyond the twenty-four material elements of the cosmic creation. The culture of empiric philosophy helps one realize the impersonal brahmajyoti, which is the glaring effulgence of the transcendental body of Lord Śrī Krishna. That the brahmajyoti is Krishna's effulgence is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā (14.27) as well as the Brahma-samhitā (5.40):

yasya prabhā-prabhavato jagad-anda-koti-

kotishv aśesha-vasudhādi vibhūti-bhinnam

tad brahma nishkalam anantam aśesha-bhūtam

govindam ādi-purusham tam aham bhajāmi

"In the millions and millions of universes there are innumerable planets, and each and every one of them is different from the others by its cosmic constitution. All of these planets are situated in a corner of the brahmajyoti. This brahmajyoti is but the personal rays of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Govinda, whom I worship." This mantra from the Brahma-samhitā is spoken from the platform of factual realization of the Absolute Truth, and the śruti-mantra of Śrī Īśopanishad under discussion confirms this mantra as a process of realization. The Īśopanishadmantra is a simple prayer to the Lord to remove the brahmajyoti so that one can see His real face. This brahmajyoti effulgence is described in detail in several mantras of the Mundaka Upanishad (2.2.10-12):

hiranmaye pare kośe

virajam brahma nishkalam

tac chubhram jyotishām jyotis

tad yad ātma-vido viduh

na tatra sūryo bhāti na candra-tārakam

nemā vidyuto bhānti kuto 'yam agnih

tam eva bhāntam anu bhāti sarvam

tasya bhāsā sarvam idam vibhāti

brahmaivedam amritam purastād brahma

paścād brahma dakshinataś cottarena

adhaś cordhvam ca prasritam brahmai-

vedam viśvam idam varishtham

"In the spiritual realm, beyond the material covering, is the unlimited Brahman effulgence, which is free from material contamination. That effulgent white light is understood by transcendentalists to be the light of all lights. In that realm there is no need of sunshine, moonshine, fire or electricity for illumination. Indeed, whatever illumination appears in the material world is only a reflection of that supreme illumination. ThatBrahman is in front and in back, in the north, south, east and west, and also overhead and below. In other words, that supreme Brahmaneffulgence spreads throughout both the material and spiritual skies."

Perfect knowledge means knowing Krishna as the root of this Brahman effulgence. This knowledge can be gained from such scriptures asŚrīmad-Bhāgavatam, which perfectly elaborates the science of Krishna. In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the author, Śrīla Vyāsadeva, has established that one will describe the Supreme Truth as Brahman, Paramātmā or Bhagavān according to one's realization of Him. Śrīla Vyāsadeva never states that the Supreme Truth is a jīva, an ordinary living entity. The living entity should never be considered the all-powerful Supreme Truth. If he were the Supreme, he would not need to pray to the Lord to remove His dazzling cover so that the living entity could see His real face.

The conclusion is that one who has no knowledge of the potencies of the Supreme Truth will realize the impersonal Brahman. Similarly, when one realizes the material potencies of the Lord but has little or no information of the spiritual potencies, he attains Paramātmā realization. Thus both Brahman and Paramātmā realization of the Absolute Truth are partial realizations. However, when one realizes

the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śrī Krishna, in full potency after the removal of the hiranmaya-pātra, one realizes vāsudevah sarvamiti: [Bg. 7.19] Lord Śrī Krishna, who is known as Vāsudeva, is everything —Brahman, Paramātmā and Bhagavān. He is Bhagavān, the root, andBrahman and Paramātmā are His branches.

In the Bhagavad-gītā (6.46-47) there is a comparative analysis of the three types of transcendentalists — the worshipers of the impersonalBrahman (jñānīs), the worshipers of the Paramātmā feature (yogīs) and the devotees of Lord Śrī Krishna (bhaktas). It is stated there that the jñānīs, those who have cultivated Vedic knowledge, are better than ordinary fruitive workers, that the yogīs are still greater than the jñānīs, and that among all yogīs, those who constantly serve the Lord with all their energies are the topmost. In summary, a philosopher is better than a laboring man, a mystic is superior to a philosopher, and of all the mystic yogīs, he who follows bhakti-yoga, constantly engaging in the service of the Lord, is the highest. Śrī Īśopanishad directs us toward this perfection.

---

Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 9.11.19

smaratāḿ hṛdi vinyasya

viddhaḿ daṇḍaka-kaṇṭakaiḥ

sva-pāda-pallavaḿ rāma

ātma-jyotir agāt tataḥ

SYNONYMS

smaratām — of persons who always think of Him; hṛdi —in the core of the heart; vinyasya — placing; viddham — pierced; daṇḍaka-kaṇṭakaiḥ— by thorns in the forest of Daṇḍakāraṇya (while Lord Rāmacandra was living there); sva-pāda-pallavam — the petals of Mis lotus feet; rāmaḥ— Lord Rāmacandra; ātma-jyotiḥ — the rays of His bodily luster, known as the brahmajyoti; agāt — entered; tataḥ — beyond the brahmajyoti, or in His own Vaikuṇṭha planet.

TRANSLATION

After completing the sacrifice, Lord Rāmacandra, whose lotus feet were sometimes pierced by thorns when He lived in Daṇḍakāraṇya, placed those lotus feet in the hearts of those who always think of Him. Then He entered His own abode, the Vaikuṇṭha planet beyond the brahmajyoti.

PURPORT

The lotus feet of the Lord are always a subject matter for meditation for devotees. Sometimes when Lord Rāmacandra wandered in the forest of Daṇḍakāraṇya, thorns pricked His lotus feet. The devotees, upon thinking of this, would faint. The Lord does not feel pain or pleasure from any action or reaction of this material world, but the devotees cannot tolerate even the pricking of the Lord's lotus feet by a thorn. This was the attitude of the gopīs when they thought of Kṛṣṇa wandering in the forest, with pebbles and grains of sand pricking His lotus feet. This tribulation in the heart of a devotee cannot be understood by karmīs, jñānīs or yogīs. The devotees, who could not tolerate even thinking of the Lord's lotus feet being pricked by a thorn, were again put into tribulation by thinking of the Lord's disappearance, for the Lord had to return to His abode after finishing His pastimes in this material world.

The word ātma-jyotiḥ is significant. The brahmajyoti, which is greatly appreciated by jñānīs, or monistic philosophers who desire to enter it for liberation, is nothing but the rays of the Lord's body.

yasya prabhā prabhavato jagad-aṇḍa-koṭi-

koṭiṣv aśeṣa-vasudhādi-vibhūti-bhinnam

tad brahma niṣkalam anantam aśeṣa-bhūtaḿ

govindam ādi-puruṣaḿ tam ahaḿ bhajāmi

"I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who is endowed with great power. The glowing effulgence of His transcendental form is the impersonal Brahman, which is absolute, complete and unlimited and which displays the varieties of countless planets, with their different opulences, in millions and millions of universes." (Brahma-saḿhitā 5.40) The brahmajyoti is the beginning of the spiritual world, and beyond the brahmajyoti are the Vaikuṇṭha planets. In other words, the brahmajyoti stays outside the Vaikuṇṭha planets, just as the sunshine stays outside the sun. To enter the sun planet, one must go through the sunshine. Similarly, when the Lord or His devotees enter the Vaikuṇṭhaplanets, they go through the brahmajyoti. The jñānīs, or monistic philosophers, because of their impersonal conception of the Lord, cannot enter the Vaikuṇṭha planets, but they also cannot stay eternally in the brahmajyoti. Thus after some time they fall again to this material world.Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraḿ padaḿ tataḥ patanty adho 'nādṛta-yuṣmad-ańghrayaḥ (Bhāg. 10.2.32). The Vaikuṇṭha planets are covered by the brahmajyoti, and therefore one cannot properly understand what those Vaikuṇṭha planets are unless one is a pure devotee.

---

<p style="text-align:center">Śrī Īśopaniṣad 16

<p style="text-align:center">pūṣann ekarṣe yama sūrya prājāpatya

<p style="text-align:center">vyūha raśmīn samūha

<p style="text-align:center">tejo yat te rūpaḿ kalyāṇa-tamaḿ

<p style="text-align:center">tat te paśyāmi yo 'sāv asau puruṣaḥ so 'ham asmi

<p style="text-align:center">SYNONYMS

pūṣan —O maintainer; eka-ṛṣe — the primeval philosopher; yama — the regulating principle; sūrya — the destination of the sūris (great devotees); prājāpatya — the well-wisher of the prajāpatis (progenitors of mankind); vyūha — kindly remove; raśmīn — the rays; samūha — kindly withdraw; tejaḥ — effulgence; yat —so that; te — Your; rūpam — form; kalyāṇa-tamam — most auspicious; tat — that; te — Your;paśyāmi —I may see; yaḥ — one who is; asau — like the sun; asau — that; puruṣaḥ — Personality of Godhead; saḥ — myself; aham —I; asmi—am.

<p style="text-align:center">TRANSLATION

O my Lord, O primeval philosopher, maintainer of the universe, O regulating principle, destination of the pure devotees, well-wisher of the progenitors of mankind, please remove the effulgence of Your transcendental rays so that I can see Your form of bliss. You are the eternal Supreme Personality of Godhead, like unto the sun, as am I.

<p style="text-align:center">PURPORT

The sun and its rays are one and the same qualitatively. Similarly, the Lord and the living entities are one and the same in quality. The sun is one, but the molecules of the sun's rays are innumerable. The sun's rays constitute part of the sun, and the sun and its rays conjointly constitute the complete sun. Within the sun itself resides the sun-god, and similarly within the supreme spiritual planet, Goloka Vṛndāvana, from which the brahmajyoti effulgence is emanating, the Lord enjoys His eternal pastimes, as verified in the Brahma-saḿhitā (5.29):

cintāmaṇi-prakara-sadmasu kalpa-vṛkṣa-

lakṣāvṛteṣu surabhīr abhipālayantam

lakṣmī-sahasra-śata-sambhrama-sevyamānaḿ

govindam ādi-puruṣaḿ tam ahaḿ bhajāmi

"I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, the first progenitor, who is tending the cows fulfilling all desires in abodes filled with spiritual gems and surrounded by millions of wish-fulfilling trees. He is always served with great reverence and affection by hundreds of thousands of Lakṣmīs, or goddesses of fortune."

The brahmajyoti is described in the Brahma-saḿhitā as the rays emanating from that supreme spiritual planet, Goloka Vṛndāvana, just as the sun's rays emanate from the sun globe. Until one surpasses the glare of the brahmajyoti, one cannot receive information of the land of the Lord. The impersonalist philosophers, blinded as they are by the dazzling brahmajyoti, can realize neither the factual abode of the Lord nor His transcendental form. Limited by their poor fund of knowledge, such impersonalist thinkers cannot understand the all-blissful transcendental form of Lord Kṛṣṇa. In this prayer, therefore, Śrī Īśopaniṣad petitions the Lord to remove the effulgent rays of the brahmajyoti so that the pure devotee can see His all-blissful transcendental form.

By realizing the impersonal brahmajyoti, one experiences the auspicious aspect of the Supreme, and by realizing the Paramātmā, or all-pervading feature of the Supreme, one experiences an even more auspicious enlightenment. But by meeting the Personality of Godhead Himself face to face, the devotee experiences the most auspicious feature of the Supreme. Since He is addressed as the primeval philosopher and maintainer and well-wisher of the universe, the Supreme Truth cannot be impersonal. This is the verdict of Śrī Īśopaniṣad. The word pūṣan("maintainer") is especially significant, for although the Lord maintains all beings, He specifically maintains His devotees. After surpassing the impersonal brahmajyoti and seeing the personal aspect of the Lord and His most auspicious eternal form, the devotee realizes the Absolute Truth in full.

In his Bhagavat-sandarbha, Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī states: "The complete conception of the Absolute Truth is realized in the Personality of Godhead because He is almighty and possesses full transcendental potencies. The full potency of the Absolute Truth is not realized in the brahmajyoti; therefore Brahman realization is only partial realization of the Personality of Godhead. O learned sages, the first syllable of the word bhagavān (bha) has two meanings: the first is 'one who fully maintains,' and the second is 'guardian.' The second syllable (ga) means 'guide,' 'leader' or 'creator.' The syllable vān indicates that every being lives in Him and that He also lives in every being. In other words, the transcendental sound bhagavān represents infinite knowledge, potency, energy, opulence, strength and influence — all without a tinge of material inebriety."

The Lord fully maintains His unalloyed devotees, and He guides them progressively on the path toward devotional perfection. As the leader of His devotees, He ultimately awards the desired results of devotional service by giving Himself to them. The devotees of the Lord see the Lord eye to eye by His causeless mercy; thus the Lord helps His devotees reach the supermost spiritual planet, Goloka Vṛndāvana. Being the creator, He can bestow all necessary qualifications upon His devotees so that they can ultimately reach Him. The Lord is the cause of all causes. In other words, since there is nothing that caused Him, He is the original cause. Consequently He enjoys His own Self by manifesting His own internal potency. The external potency is not exactly manifested by Him, for He expands Himself as the puruṣas, and it is in these forms that He maintains the features of the material manifestation. By such expansions, He creates, maintains and annihilates the cosmic manifestation.

The living entities are also differentiated expansions of the Lord's Self, and because some of them desire to be lords and imitate the Supreme Lord, He allows them to enter into the cosmic creation with the option to fully utilize their propensity to lord it over nature. Because of the presence of His parts and parcels, the living entities, the entire phenomenal world is stirred into action and reaction. Thus the living entities are given full facilities to lord it over material nature, but the ultimate controller is the Lord Himself in His plenary feature as Paramātmā, the Supersoul, who is one of the puruṣas.

Thus there is a gulf of difference between the living entity (ātmā) and the controlling Lord (Paramātmā), the soul and the Supersoul.Paramātmā is the controller, and the ātmā is the controlled; therefore they are in different categories. Because the Paramātmā fully cooperates with the ātmā, He is known as the constant companion of the living being.

The all-pervading feature of the Lord — which exists in all circumstances of waking and sleeping as well as in potential states and from which the jīva-śakti (living force) is generated as both conditioned and liberated souls — is known as Brahman. Since the Lord is the origin of both Paramātmā and Brahman, He is the origin of all living entities and all else that exists. One who knows this engages himself at once in the devotional service of the Lord. Such a pure and fully cognizant devotee of the Lord is fully attached to Him in heart and soul, and whenever such a devotee assembles with similar devotees, they have no engagement but the glorification of the Lord's transcendental activities. Those who are not as perfect as the pure devotees — namely, those who have realized only the Brahman or Paramātmā features of the Lord — cannot appreciate the activities of the perfect devotees. The Lord always helps the pure devotees by imparting necessary knowledge within their hearts, and thus out of His special favor He dissipates all the darkness of ignorance. The speculative philosophers and yogīs cannot imagine this, because they more or less depend on their own strength. As stated in the Kaṭha Upaniṣad (1.2.23), the Lord can be known only by those whom He favors, and not by anyone else. Such special favors are bestowed upon His pure devotees only. Śrī Īśopaniṣad thus points to the favor of the Lord, which is beyond the purview of the brahmajyoti.

---

<p style="text-align:center">Srimad Bhagavatam 1.9.42

<p style="text-align:center">tam imam aham ajam sarira-bhajam

<p style="text-align:center">hridi hridi dhishthitam atma-kalpitanam

<p style="text-align:center">pratidrisam iva naikadharkam ekam

<p style="text-align:center">samadhi-gato 'smi vidhuta-bheda-mohah

<p style="text-align:center">SYNONYMS

tam -- that Personality of Godhead; imam -- now present before me; aham -- I; ajam -- the unborn; sarira-bhajam -- of the conditioned soul;hridi -- in the heart; hridi -- in the heart; dhishthitam -- situated; atma -- the Supersoul; kalpitanam -- of the speculators; pratidrisam -- in every direction; iva -- like; na ekadha -- not one; arkam -- the sun; ekam -- one only; samadhi-gatah asmi -- I have undergone trance in meditation;vidhuta -- being freed from; bheda-mohah -- misconception of duality.

<p style="text-align:center">TRANSLATION

Now I can meditate with full concentration upon that one Lord, Sri Krishna, now present before me because now I have transcended the misconceptions of duality in regard to His presence in everyone's heart, even in the hearts of the mental speculators. He is in everyone's heart. The sun may be perceived differently, but the sun is one.

<p style="text-align:center">PURPORT

Lord Sri Krishna is the one Absolute Supreme Personality of Godhead, but He has expanded Himself into His multiplenary portions by His inconceivable energy. The conception of duality is due to ignorance of His inconceivable energy. In the Bhagavad-gita (9.11) the Lord says that only the foolish take Him to be a mere human being. Such foolish men are not aware of His inconceivable energies. By His inconceivable energy He is present in everyone's heart, as the sun is present before everyone all over the world. The Paramatma feature of the Lord is an expansion of His plenary portions. He expands Himself as Paramatma in everyone's heart by His inconceivable energy, and He also expands Himself as the glowing effulgence of brahmajyoti by expansion of His personal glow. It is stated in the Brahma-samhita that the brahmajyoti is His personal glow. Therefore, there is no difference between Him and His personal glow, brahmajyoti, or His plenary portions as Paramatma. Less intelligent persons who are not aware of this fact consider brahmajyoti and Paramatma to be different from Sri Krishna. This misconception of duality is completely removed from the mind of Bhishmadeva, and he is now satisfied that it is Lord Sri Krishna only who is all in all in everything. This enlightenment is attained by the great mahatmas or devotees, as it is stated in Bhagavad-gita (7.19) that Vasudeva is all in all in everything and that there is no existence of anything without Vasudeva. Vasudeva, or Lord Sri Krishna, is the original Supreme Person, as now confirmed by amahajana, and therefore both the neophytes and the pure devotees must try to follow in his footsteps. That is the way of the devotional line.

The worshipable object of Bhishmadeva is Lord Sri Krishna as Partha-sarathi, and that of the gopis is the same Krishna in Vrindavana as the most attractive Syamasundara. Sometimes less intelligent scholars make a mistake and think that the Krishna of Vrindavana and that of the Battle of Kurukshetra are different personalities. But for Bhishmadeva this misconception is completely removed. Even the impersonalist's object of destination is Krishna as the impersonal jyoti, and the yogi's destination of Paramatma is also Krishna. Krishna is both brahmajyoti and localized Paramatma, but in brahmajyoti or Paramatma there is no Krishna or sweet relations with Krishna. In His personal feature Krishna is both Partha-sarathi and Syamasundara of Vrindavana, but in His impersonal feature He is neither in the brahmajyoti nor in the Paramatma. Great mahatmas like Bhishmadeva realize all these different features of Lord Sri Krishna, and therefore they worship Lord Krishna, knowing Him as the origin of all features.

---

<p style="text-align:center">Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.26.3

<p style="text-align:center">anādir ātmā puruṣo

<p style="text-align:center">nirguṇaḥ prakṛteḥ paraḥ

<p style="text-align:center">pratyag-dhāmā svayaḿ-jyotir

<p style="text-align:center">viśvaḿ yena samanvitam

<p style="text-align:center">SYNONYMS

anādiḥ — without a beginning; ātmā — the Supreme Soul; puruṣaḥ — the Personality of Godhead; nirguṇaḥ — transcendental to the material modes of nature; prakṛteḥ paraḥ — beyond this material world; pratyak-dhāmā — perceivable everywhere; svayam-jyotiḥ — self-effulgent;viśvam — the entire creation; yena — by whom; samanvitam — is maintained.

<p style="text-align:center">TRANSLATION

The Supreme Personality of Godhead is the Supreme Soul, and He has no beginning. He is transcendental to the material modes of nature and beyond the existence of this material world. He is perceivable everywhere because He is self-effulgent, and by His self-effulgent luster the entire creation is maintained.

<p style="text-align:center">PURPORT

The Supreme Personality of Godhead is described as being without beginning. He is puruṣa, the Supreme Spirit. puruṣa means "person." When we think of a person in our present experience, that person has a beginning. This means that he has taken birth and that there is a history from the beginning of his life. But the Lord is particularly mentioned here as anādi, beginningless. If we examine all persons, we will find that everyone has a beginning, but when we approach a person who has no beginning, He is the Supreme Person. That is the definition given in theBrahma-saḿhitā. Īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ: [Bs. 5.1] the Supreme Personality of Godhead is Kṛṣṇa, the supreme controller; He is without beginning, and He is the beginning of everyone. This definition is found in all Vedic literatures.

The Lord is described as the soul, or spirit. What is the definition of spirit? Spirit is perceivable everywhere. Brahman means "great." His greatness is perceived everywhere. And what is that greatness? Consciousness. We have personal experience of consciousness, for it is spread all over the body; in every hair follicle of our body we can feel consciousness. This is individual consciousness. Similarly, there is superconsciousness. The example can be given of a small light and the sunlight. The sunlight is perceived everywhere, even within the room or in the sky, but the small light is experienced within a specific limit. Similarly, our consciousness is perceived within the limit of our particular body, but the superconsciousness, or the existence of God, is perceived everywhere. He is present everywhere by His energy. It is stated in theViṣṇu Purāṇa that whatever we find, anywhere and everywhere, is the distribution of the energy of the Supreme Lord. In Bhagavad-gītā also it is confirmed that the Lord is all-pervading and exists everywhere by His two kinds of energy, one spiritual and the other material. Both the spiritual and material energies are spread everywhere, and that is the proof of the existence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

The existence of consciousness everywhere is not temporary. It is without beginning, and because it is without beginning, it is also without end. The theory that consciousness develops at a certain stage of material combination is not accepted herein, for the consciousness which exists everywhere is said to be without beginning. The materialistic or atheistic theory stating that there is no soul, that there is no God and that consciousness is the result of a combination of matter is not acceptable. Matter is not beginningless; it has a beginning. As this material body has a beginning, the universal body does also. And as our material body has begun on the basis of our soul, the entire gigantic universal body has begun on the basis of the Supreme Soul. The Vedānta-sūtra says, janmādy asya [SB 1.1.1]. This entire material exhibition — its creation, its growth, its maintenance and its dissolution — is an emanation from the Supreme Person. In Bhagavad-gītā also, the Lord says, "I am the beginning, the source of birth of everything."

The Supreme Personality of Godhead is described here. He is not a temporary person, nor does He have a beginning. He is without a cause, and He is the cause of all causes. paraḥ means "transcendental," "beyond the creative energy." The Lord is the creator of the creative energy. We can see that there is a creative energy in the material world, but He is not under this energy. He is prakṛti-paraḥ, beyond this energy. He is not subjected to the threefold miseries created by the material energy because He is beyond it. The modes of material nature do not touch Him. It is explained here, svayaḿ-jyotiḥ: He is light Himself. We have experience in the material world of one light's being a reflection of another, just as moonlight is a reflection of the sunlight. Sunlight is also the reflection of the brahmajyoti. Similarly, brahmajyoti, the spiritual effulgence, is a reflection of the body of the Supreme Lord. This is confirmed in the Brahma-saḿhitā: yasya prabhā prabhavataḥ [Bs. 5.40]. The brahmajyoti, orBrahman effulgence, is due to His bodily luster. Therefore it is said here, svayaḿ-jyotiḥ: He Himself is light. His light is distributed in different ways, as the brahmajyoti, as sunlight and as moonlight. Bhagavad-gītā confirms that in the spiritual world there is no need of sunlight, moonlight or electricity. The Upaniṣads also confirm this; because the bodily luster of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is sufficient to illuminate the spiritual world, there is no need of sunlight, moonlight or any other light or electricity. This self-illumination also contradicts the theory that the spirit soul, or the spiritual consciousness, develops at a certain point in material combination. The term svayaḿ-jyotiḥ indicates that there is no tinge of anything material or any material reaction. It is confirmed here that the concept of the Lord's all-pervasiveness is due to His illumination everywhere. We have experience that the sun is situated in one place, but the sunlight is diffused all around for millions and millions of miles. That is our practical experience. Similarly, although the supreme light is situated in His personal abode, Vaikuṇṭha orVṛndāvana, His light is diffused not only in the spiritual world but beyond that. In the material world also, that light is reflected by the sun globe, and the sunlight is reflected by the moon globe. Thus although He is situated in His own abode, His light is distributed all over the spiritual and material worlds. The Brahma-saḿhitā (5.37) confirms this. Goloka eva nivasaty akhilātma-bhūtaḥ: He is living in Goloka, but still He is present all over the creation. He is the Supersoul of everything, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and He has innumerable transcendental qualities. It is also concluded that although He is undoubtedly a person, He is not a puruṣa of this material world. Māyāvādīphilosophers cannot understand that beyond this material world there can be a person; therefore they are impersonalists. But it is explained very nicely here that the Personality of Godhead is beyond material existence.

---

<p style="text-align:center">Srimad Bhagavatam 2.3.10

<p style="text-align:center">akamah sarva-kamo va

<p style="text-align:center">moksha-kama udara-dhih

<p style="text-align:center">tivrena bhakti-yogena

<p style="text-align:center">yajeta purusham param

<p style="text-align:center">SYNONYMS

akamah -- one who has transcended all material desires; sarva-kamah -- one who has the sum total of material desires; va -- either;moksha-kamah -- one who desires liberation; udara-dhih -- with broader intelligence; tivrena -- with great force; bhakti-yogena -- by devotional service to the Lord; yajeta -- should worship; purusham -- the Lord; param -- the supreme whole.

<p style="text-align:center">TRANSLATION

A person who has broader intelligence, whether he be full of all material desire, without any material desire, or desiring liberation, must by all means worship the supreme whole, the Personality of Godhead.

<p style="text-align:center">PURPORT

The Supreme Personality of Godhead Lord Sri Krishna is described in the Bhagavad-gita as purushottama, or the Supreme Personality. It is He only who can award liberation to the impersonalists by absorbing such aspirants in the brahmajyoti, the bodily rays of the Lord. The brahmajyoti is not separate from the Lord, as the glowing sun ray is not independent of the sun disc. Therefore one who desires to merge into the supreme impersonal brahmajyoti must also worship the Lord by bhakti-yoga, as recommended here in the Srimad-Bhagavatam. Bhakti-yogais especially stressed here as the means of all perfection. In the previous chapters it has been stated that bhakti-yoga is the ultimate goal of bothkarma-yoga and jnana-yoga, and in the same way in this chapter it is emphatically declared that bhakti-yoga is the ultimate goal of the different varieties of worship of the different demigods. Bhakti-yoga, thus being the supreme means of self-realization, is recommended here. Everyone must therefore seriously take up the methods of bhakti-yoga, even though one aspires for material enjoyment or liberation from material bondage.

Akamah is one who has no material desire. A living being, naturally being the part and parcel of the supreme whole purusham purnam, has as his natural function to serve the Supreme Being, just as the parts and parcels of the body, or the limbs of the body, are naturally meant to serve the complete body. Desireless means, therefore, not to be inert like the stone, but to be conscious of one's actual position and thus desire satisfaction only from the Supreme Lord. Srila Jiva Gosvami has explained this desirelessness as bhajaniya-parama-purusha-sukha-matra-sva-sukhatvam in his Sandarbha. This means that one should feel happy only by experiencing the happiness of the Supreme Lord. This intuition of the living being is sometimes manifested even during the conditioned stage of a living being in the material world, and such intuition is expressed in the manner of altruism, philanthropy, socialism, communism, etc., by the undeveloped minds of less intelligent persons. In the mundane field such an outlook of doing good to others in the form of society, community, family, country or humanity is a partial manifestation of the same original feeling in which a pure living entity feels happiness by the happiness of the Supreme Lord. Such superb feelings were exhibited by the damsels of Vrajabhumi for the happiness of the Lord. The gopis loved the Lord without any return, and this is the perfect exhibition of the akamah spirit. Kama spirit, or the desire for one's own satisfaction, is fully exhibited in the material world, whereas the spirit ofakamah is fully exhibited in the spiritual world.

Thoughts of becoming one with the Lord, or being merged in the brahmajyoti, can also be exhibitions of kama spirit if they are desires for one's own satisfaction to be free from the material miseries. A pure devotee does not want liberation so that he may be relieved from the miseries of life. Even without so-called liberation, a pure devotee is aspirant for the satisfaction of the Lord. Influenced by the kama spirit,Arjuna declined to fight in the Kurukshetra battlefield because he wanted to save his relatives for his own satisfaction. But being a pure devotee, he agreed to fight on the instruction of the Lord because he came to his senses and realized that satisfaction of the Lord at the cost of his own satisfaction was his prime duty. Thus he became akama. That is the perfect stage of a perfect living being.

Udara-dhih means one who has a broader outlook. people with desires for material enjoyment worship small demigods, and such intelligence is condemned in the Bhagavad-gita (7.20) as hrita jnana, the intelligence of one who has lost his senses. One cannot obtain any result from demigods without getting sanction from the Supreme Lord. Therefore a person with a broader outlook can see that the ultimate authority is the Lord, even for material benefits. Under the circumstances, one with a broader outlook, even with the desire for material enjoyment or for liberation, should take to the worship of the Lord directly. And everyone, whether an akama or sakama or moksha-kama, should worship the Lord with great expedience. This implies that bhakti-yoga may be perfectly administered without any mixture of karma andjnana. As the unmixed sun ray is very forceful and is therefore called tivra, similarly unmixed bhakti-yoga of hearing, chanting, etc., may be performed by one and all regardless of inner motive.

---

Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī is trying here to describe the different achievements of the impersonalists and the personalists. Generally, those who are impersonalists and are inimical to the Supreme Personality of Godhead get entrance only into the impersonal Brahman, when and if they reach spiritual perfection. The impersonalist philosophers are in one sense like the enemies of the Lord, because the out-and-out enemies of the Lord and the impersonalists are both allowed to enter only into the impersonal effulgence of the brahmajyoti. So it is to be understood that they are of similar classification. And actually the impersonalists are enemies of God, because they cannot tolerate the unparalleled opulence of the Lord. They try always to place themselves on the same level with the Lord. That is due to their envious attitude. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu has proclaimed the impersonalists to be offenders of the Lord. The Lord is so kind, however, that even though they are His enemies, they are still allowed to enter into the spiritual kingdom and remain in the impersonal brahmajyoti, the undifferentiated light of the Absolute.

Sometimes an impersonalist may gradually elevate himself to the personal conception of the Lord. Bhagavad-gītā confirms this: "After many births and deaths, he who is actually in knowledge surrenders unto Me." By such surrender, an impersonalist can be elevated to the Vaikuṇṭhaloka (spiritual planet) where, as a surrendered soul, he attains bodily features like those of the Lord.

In the Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa it is stated, "Those who have achieved liberation from material contamination and those who are demons and are killed by the Supreme Personality of Godhead become absorbed in the Brahman concept of life and reside in the spiritual sky of the brahmajyoti." That spiritual sky is far beyond the material sky, and it is confirmed also in Bhagavad-gītā that beyond this material sky there is another, eternal sky. The enemies and the impersonalists may be allowed to enter into this Brahman effulgence, but the devotees of Kṛṣṇa are promoted all the way to the spiritual planets. Because the pure devotees have developed their spontaneous love for the Supreme Personality of Godhead, they are allowed to enter into the spiritual planets to enjoy spiritual bliss in association with the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

In the Tenth Canto, Eighty-seventh Chapter, verse 23, of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the Vedas personified address the Lord in this way: "My dear Lord, yogīs meditate upon Your localized feature, and thus they achieve the spiritual perfection of being merged in the impersonal brahmajyoti. Persons who treat You as an enemy achieve the same perfection without meditating. The gopīs, who are embraced by Your serpentine hands and who have such lusty attitudes, also achieve the same perfection. And as far as we are concerned, being different demigods in charge of the different parts of Vedic knowledge, we are always following in the footsteps of the gopīs. Thus we hope to attain the same perfection." By "the same perfection" we must always remember the example of the sun and the sunshine. Those who are impersonalists can merge into the sunshinelike brahmajyoti, whereas those who are in love with the Supreme Person enter into the supreme abode of the Lord, GolokaVṛndāvana.

---

So within the sun planet is the personality Vivasvān, the chief administrator of the solar functions; the sun globe itself is localized; and the sun's rays expand everywhere. Similarly Śrī Kṛṣṇa, Śyāmasundara, is the original Personality of Godhead (bhagavān svayam); He expands Himself as the localized Supersoul (Paramātmā) in everyone's heart; and finally He expands His potency by His personal bodily glow, the all-pervading spiritual effulgence called the brahmajyoti. The entire material manifestation floats within the rays of this brahmajyoti. Just as all life on earth is a transformation of the all-pervading rays of the sun, the entire cosmic manifestation is a transformation of the spiritual rays of the brahmajyoti. As stated in the Brahma-saḿhitā (5.40):

yasya prabhā prabhavato jagad-aṇḍa-koṭi-

koṭiṣv aśeṣa-vasudhādi vibhūti-bhinnam

tad brahma niṣkalam anantam aśeṣa-bhūtaḿ

govindam ādi-puruṣaḿ tam ahaḿ bhajāmi

"I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who is endowed with great power. The glowing effulgence of His transcendental form is the impersonal Brahman, which is absolute, complete and unlimited and which displays the varieties of countless planets, with their different opulences, in millions and millions of universes." Therefore, the brahmajyoti is the spiritual light that emanates directly from the body of the Lord. This universe is a transformation of that spiritual energy, and therefore everything that exists is in one sense connected directly with the personal body of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

---

The path of devotional service is the most confidential means for attaining Brahman realization. That perfection in Brahman realization is attained through the auspicious path of devotional service indicates that the so-called Brahman realization, or realization of the brahmajyoti effulgence, is not brahma-siddhi. Beyond that brahmajyoti there is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In the Upaniṣads a devotee prays to the Lord to kindly put aside the effulgence, brahmajyoti, so that the devotee may see within the brahmajyoti the actual, eternal form of the Lord. Unless one attains realization of the transcendental form of the Lord, there is no question of bhakti.

---

Even the brahmajyoti, which is the ultimate goal of the impersonalists, is a spiritual energy manifested in the spiritual sky. There are no spiritual diversities in the brahmajyoti as there are in the Vaikunthalokas, and the impersonalist accepts this brahmajyoti as the ultimate eternal goal. The Paramatma manifestation is also a temporary all-pervasive aspect of the Kshirodakasayi Vishnu. The Paramatma manifestation is not eternal in the spiritual world. Therefore the factual Absolute Truth is the Supreme Personality of Godhead Krishna. He is the complete energetic person, and He possesses different separated and internal energies.

---

<p style="text-align:center">Srimad Bhagavatam 2.7.34-35

<p style="text-align:center">ye ca pralamba-khara-dardura-kesy-arishta-

<p style="text-align:center">mallebha-kamsa-yavanah kapi-paundrakadyah

<p style="text-align:center">anye ca salva-kuja-balvala-dantavakra-

<p style="text-align:center">saptoksha-sambara-viduratha-rukmi-mukhyah

<p style="text-align:center">ye va mridhe samiti-salina atta-capah

<p style="text-align:center">kamboja-matsya-kuru-srinjaya-kaikayadyah

<p style="text-align:center">yasyanty adarsanam alam bala-partha-bhima-

<p style="text-align:center">vyajahvayena harina nilayam tadiyam

<p style="text-align:center">SYNONYMS

ye -- all those; ca -- totally; pralamba -- the demon named Pralamba; khara -- Dhenukasura; dardura -- Bakasura; kesi -- the Kesi demon;arishta -- the demon Arishtasura; malla -- a wrestler in the court of Kamsa; ibha -- Kuvalayapida; kamsa -- the King of Mathura and maternal uncle of Krishna; yavanah -- the kings of Persia and other adjoining places; kapi -- Dvivida; paundraka-adyah -- Paundraka and others; anye -- others; ca -- as much as; salva -- King Salva; kuja -- Narakasura; balvala -- King Balvala; dantavakra -- the brother of Sisupala, a dead rival ofKrishna's; saptoksha -- King Saptoksha; sambara -- King Sambara; viduratha -- King Viduratha; rukmi-mukhyah -- the brother of Rukmini, the first queen of Krishna at Dvaraka; ye -- all those; va -- either; mridhe -- in the battlefield; samiti-salinah -- all very powerful; atta-capah -- well equipped with bows and arrows; kamboja -- the King of Kamboja; matsya -- the King of Dvarbhanga; kuru -- the sons of Dhritarashtra; srinjaya-- King Srinjaya; kaikaya-adyah -- the King of Kekaya and others; yasyanti -- would attain; adarsanam -- impersonal merging within the brahmajyoti; alam -- what to speak of; bala -- Baladeva, the elder brother of Krishna; partha -- Arjuna; bhima -- the second Pandava;vyaja-ahvayena -- by the false names; harina -- by Lord Hari; nilayam -- the abode; tadiyam -- of Him.

<p style="text-align:center">TRANSLATION

All demonic personalities like Pralamba, Dhenuka, Baka, Kesi, Arishta, Canura, Mushtika, Kuvalayapida elephant, Kamsa, Yavana, Narakasura and Paundraka, great marshals like Salva, Dvivida monkey and Balvala, Dantavakra, the seven bulls, Sambara, Viduratha and Rukmi, as also great warriors like Kamboja, Matsya, Kuru, Srinjaya and Kekaya, would all fight vigorously, either with the Lord Hari directly or with Him under His names of Baladeva, Arjuna, Bhima, etc. And the demons, thus being killed, would attain either the impersonal brahmajyoti or His personal abode in the Vaikuntha planets.

<p style="text-align:center">PURPORT

All manifestations, in both the material and spiritual worlds, are demonstrations of the different potencies of Lord Krishna. The Personality of Godhead Baladeva is His immediate personal expansion, and Bhima, Arjuna, etc., are His personal associates. The Lord would appear (and He does so whenever He appears) with all His associates and potencies. Therefore the rebellious souls, like the demons and demoniac men, mentioned by names like Pralamba, would be killed either by the Lord Himself or by His associates. All these affairs will be clearly explained in the Tenth Canto. But we should know well that all the above-mentioned living entities killed would attain salvation either by being merged in the brahmajyoti of the Lord or being allowed to enter into the abodes of the Lord called Vaikunthas. This has already been explained by Bhishmadeva (First Canto). All persons who participated in the Battlefield of Kurukshetra or otherwise with the Lord or with Baladeva, etc., would benefit by attaining spiritual existence according to the situation of their minds at the time of death. Those who recognized the Lord would enter Vaikuntha, and those who estimated the Lord as only a powerful being would attain salvation by merging into the spiritual existence of the impersonal brahmajyoti of the Lord. But every one of them would get release from material existence. Since such is the benefit of those who played with the Lord inimically, one can imagine what would be the position of those who devoutly served the Lord in transcendental relationship with Him.

---

The culture of knowledge reaches perfection only when the knower comes to the point of surrendering unto the Supreme Lord, Vāsudeva. Otherwise, even after attaining knowledge of one's spiritual identity, if one does not come to the point of knowing that the living entities are eternal parts and parcels of the whole and can never become the whole, one has to fall down again into the material atmosphere. Indeed, one must fall down even if he has become one with the brahmajyoti.

As we have learned from previous mantras, the brahmajyoti emanating from the transcendental body of the Lord is full of spiritual sparks that are individual entities with the full sense of existence. Sometimes these living entities want to enjoy their senses, and therefore they are placed in the material world to become false lords under the dictation of the senses. The desire for lordship is the material disease of the living being, for under the spell of sense enjoyment he transmigrates through the various bodies manifested in the material world. Becoming one with the brahmajyoti does not represent mature knowledge. Only by surrendering unto the Lord completely and developing one's sense of spiritual service does one reach the highest perfectional stage.

In this mantra the living entity prays to enter the spiritual kingdom of God after relinquishing his material body and material air. The devotee prays to the Lord to remember his activities and the sacrifices he has performed before his material body is turned into ashes. He makes this prayer at the time of death, with full consciousness of his past deeds and of the ultimate goal. One who is completely under the rule of material nature remembers the heinous activities he performed during the existence of his material body, and consequently he gets another material body after death. The Bhagavad-gītā (8.6) confirms this truth:

yaḿ yaḿ vāpi smaran bhāvaḿ

tyajaty ante kalevaram

taḿ tam evaiti kaunteya

sadā tad-bhāva-bhāvitaḥ

"Whatever state of being one remembers when he quits his body, O son of Kuntī, that state he will attain without fail." Thus the mind carries the living entity's propensities into the next life.

Unlike the simple animals, who have no developed mind, the dying human being can remember the activities of his life like dreams at night; therefore his mind remains surcharged with material desires, and consequently he cannot enter into the spiritual kingdom with a spiritual body. The devotees, however, develop a sense of love for Godhead by practicing devotional service to the Lord. Even if at the time of death a devotee does not remember his service to the Lord, the Lord does not forget him. This prayer is given to remind the Lord of the devotee's sacrifices, but even if there is no such reminder, the Lord does not forget the service rendered by His pure devotee.

The Lord clearly describes His intimate relationship with His devotees in the Bhagavad-gītā (9.30-34): "Even if one commits the most abominable action, if he is engaged in devotional service he is to be considered saintly because he is properly situated in his determination. He quickly becomes righteous and attains lasting peace. O son of Kuntī, declare it boldly that My devotee never perishes. O son of Pṛthā, those who take shelter in Me, though they be of lower birth — women, vaiśyas [merchants] as well as śūdras [workers] — can attain the supreme destination. How much more this is so of the righteous brāhmaṇas, the devotees and the saintly kings. Therefore, having come to this temporary, miserable world, engage in loving service unto Me. Engage your mind always in thinking of Me, become My devotee, offer obeisances to Me and worship Me. Being completely absorbed in Me, surely you will come to Me."

Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura explains these verses in this way: "One should regard a devotee of Kṛṣṇa to be on the right path of the saints, even though such a devotee may seem to be su-durācāra, 'a person of loose character.' One should try to understand the real purport of the word su-durācāra. A conditioned soul has to act for double functions — namely for the maintenance of the body and again for self-realization. Social status, mental development, cleanliness, austerity, nourishment and the struggle for existence are all for the maintenance of the body. The self-realization part of one's activities is executed in one's occupation as a devotee of the Lord, and one performs actions in that connection also. One must perform these two different functions along parallel lines, because a conditioned soul cannot give up the maintenance of his body. The proportion of activities for maintenance of the body decreases, however, in proportion to the increase in devotional service. As long as the proportion of devotional service does not come to the right point, there is a chance for an occasional exhibition of worldliness. But it should be noted that such worldliness cannot continue for long because, by the grace of the Lord, such imperfections will come to an end very shortly. Therefore the path of devotional service is the only right path. If one is on the right path, even an occasional occurrence of worldliness does not hamper one in the advancement of self-realization."

The facilities of devotional service are denied the impersonalists because they are attached to the brahmajyoti feature of the Lord. As suggested in the previous mantras, they cannot penetrate the brahma-jyoti because they do not believe in the personality of Godhead. Their business is mostly word jugglery and mental speculation. Consequently the impersonalists pursue a fruitless labor, as confirmed in the Twelfth Chapter of the Bhagavad-gītā (12.5).

All the facilities suggested in this mantra can be easily obtained by constant contact with the personal feature of the Absolute Truth. Devotional service to the Lord consists essentially of nine transcendental activities: (1) hearing about the Lord, (2) glorifying the Lord, ...

---

The above-mentioned state of affairs is factual on the transcendental plane, but is factually revealed in a transcendentalist's knowledge of the advanced state of pure consciousness. Such transcendentalists are of two types, namely the impersonalists and the devotees. For the impersonalist the ultimate goal or destination is the brahmajyoti of the spiritual sky, but for the devotees the ultimate goal is the Vaikuṇṭhaplanets. The devotees experience the above-mentioned state of affairs by attainment of spiritual forms for activity in the transcendental loving service of the Lord. But the impersonalist, because of his neglecting the association of the Lord, does not develop a spiritual body for spiritual activity, but remains a spiritual spark only, merged in the effulgent spiritual rays of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Lord is the full-fledged form of eternity, bliss and knowledge, but the formless brahmajyoti is simply eternity and knowledge. The Vaikuṇṭha planets are also forms of eternity, bliss and knowledge, and therefore the devotees of the Lord, who are admitted into the abode of the Lord, also get bodies of eternity, bliss and knowledge. As such there is no difference between one and another. The Lord's abode, name, fame, entourage, etc., are of the same transcendental quality, and how this transcendental quality differs from the material world is explained herewith in this verse. In the Bhagavad-gītā, three principal subjects have been explained by Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, namely karma-yoga, jñāna-yoga and bhakti-yoga, but one can reach the Vaikuṇṭha planets by the practice of bhakti-yoga only. The other two are incompetent in helping one reach the Vaikuṇṭhalokas, although they can, however, conveniently take one to the effulgent brahmajyoti, as described above.

---

People are very anxious to understand the Absolute Truth in various ways, especially by experiencing the brahmajyoti, or Brahmaneffulgence, by meditation and by mental speculation. But Kapiladeva uses the word mām to emphasize that the Personality of Godhead is the ultimate feature of the Absolute Truth. In Bhagavad-gītā the Personality of Godhead always says mām, "unto Me," but the rascals misinterpret the clear meaning. Mām is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. If one can see the Supreme Personality of Godhead as He appears in different incarnations and understand that He has not assumed a material body but is present in His own eternal, spiritual form, then one can understand the nature of the Personality of Godhead. Since the less intelligent cannot understand this point, it is stressed everywhere again and again. Simply by seeing the form of the Lord as He presents Himself by His own internal potency as Kṛṣṇa or Rāma or Kapila, one can directly see the brahmajyoti, because the brahmajyoti is no more than the effulgence of His bodily luster. Since the sunshine is the luster of the sun planet, by seeing the sun one automatically sees the sunshine; similarly, by seeing the Supreme Personality of Godhead one simultaneously sees and experiences the Paramātmā feature as well as the impersonal Brahman feature of the Supreme.

---

So the Vaikuṇṭha planets are factually the supreme residential places called the paraḿ padam. The impersonal brahmajyoti is also called theparaḿ padam due to its being the rays of the Vaikuṇṭha planets, as the sun rays are the rays of the sun. In the Bhagavad-gītā (14.27) it is clearly said that the impersonal brahmajyoti rests on the person of the Lord, and because everything rests on the brahmajyoti directly and indirectly, everything is generated from the Lord, everything rests on Him, and after annihilation, everything is merged in Him only. Therefore, nothing is independent of Him. A pure devotee of the Lord no longer wastes valuable time in discriminating the Brahman from non-Brahmanbecause he knows perfectly well that the Lord Parabrahman, by His Brahman energy, is interwoven in everything, and thus everything is looked upon by a devotee as the property of the Lord. The devotee tries to engage everything in His service and does not create perplexities by falsely lording it over the creation of the Lord.

---

<p style="text-align:center">Srimad Bhagavatam 10.89.51

<p style="text-align:center">dvarena cakranupathena tat tamah

<p style="text-align:center">param param jyotir ananta-param

<p style="text-align:center">samasnuvanam prasamikshya phalgunah

<p style="text-align:center">prataditaksho pidadhe 'kshini ubhe

<p style="text-align:center">SYNONYMS

dvarena -- by the path; cakra -- the Sudarsana disc; anupathena -- following; tat -- that; tamah -- darkness; param -- beyond; param -- transcendental; jyotih -- light; ananta -- unlimited; param -- whose expanse; samasnuvanam -- all-pervasive; prasamikshya -- beholding;phalgunah -- Arjuna; pratadita -- pained; akshah -- whose eyes; apidadhe -- he closed; akshini -- his eyes; ubhe -- both.

<p style="text-align:center">TRANSLATION

Following the Sudarsana disc, the chariot went beyond the darkness and reached the endless spiritual light of the all pervasive brahma-jyoti. As Arjuna beheld this glaring effulgence, his eyes hurt, and so he shut them.

<p style="text-align:center">PURPORT

After breaking through each of the eight concentric shells of the universe, the Sudarsana disc led Lord Krishna's chariot into the limitless, self-effulgent atmosphere of the spiritual sky. This journey by Lord Krishna and Arjuna to Vaikuntha is also narrated in Sri Hari-vamsa, where the Lord is quoted as telling His companion,

brahma-tejo-mayam divyam

mahat yad drishtavan asi

aham sa bharata-sreshtha

mat-tejas tat sanatanam

"The divine expanse of Brahman effulgence you have seen is none other than Myself, O best of the Bharatas. It is My own eternal effulgence."

prakritih sa mama para

vyaktavyakta sanatani

tam pravisya bhavantiha

mukta yoga-vid-uttamah

"It comprises My eternal, spiritual energy, both manifest and unmanifest. The foremost yoga experts of this world enter within it and become liberated."

sa sankhyanam gatih partha

yoginam ca tapasvinam

tat param paramam brahma

sarvam vibhajate jagat

mamaiva tad ghanam tejo

jnatum arhasi bharata

"It is the supreme goal of the followers of Sankhya, O Partha, as well as that of the yogis and ascetics. It is the Supreme Absolute Truth, manifesting the varieties of the entire created cosmos. You should understand this brahma-jyoti, O Bharata, to be My concentrated personal effulgence."

---