(4/6) Understanding God

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Krishna Janmastami Adhivas, Tarakeswar
22 August 2019, evening, part 4
Translated from Bengali

A few days ago, I spoke to some members of an organisation that gives much importance to practising yoga, and they asked me a question, 'Can Krishna exist alone without Brahma, beyond the world that Brahma creates?' I gave them an answer, and later I saw that the answer to this question is written here in this book I was reading the other day.

The definition of 'God' (Bhagavan) is He who possess all wealth, all power, all fame, all beauty, all knowledge and all renunciation. These six opulences are called 'bhaga', and He who possesses them is called 'Bhagavan' (bhaga-van). God is invisible by nature in the sense that it is impossible to see Him with material eyes. That is why in Dvapar-yuga those sacrificial brahmans could not understand that the Lord Himself had appeared in the world and had come to them to ask them for some rice. So, how is it possible then to recognise the Lord if we look at Him with such material eyes like ours? It is impossible to see Him in this world like that. He is the Supreme Absolute who possesses unlimited power and unlimited sweetness; if we are to know Him, we must come under the influence of His personal potency, or power. Always remember this.

The Lord told Arjuna, 'The body is made of five material elements (earth, water, fire, air, ether) and it functions through the instruments of eyes, ears, nose, tongue, skin, mind, intelligence and ego. It is impossible to understand the Lord or anything about the transcendental world through the faculties of this body. Only when you attain a transcendental body can you understand God.' If we keep listening to what the gurus and sadhus say and keep following their instructions, then we can know God; otherwise, it is not possible.

When the Lord descends and performs His avatar pastimes, He shows various relationships with His devotees: dasya-rasa (servitude to God), sakhya-rasa (friendship with God), vatsalya-rasa (parental love of God) and madhura-rasa (paramour love of God).

যে যথা মাং প্রপদ্যন্তে তাংস্তথৈব ভজাম্যহম্ ।
মম বর্ত্মানুবর্ত্তন্তে মনুষ্যাঃ পার্থ সর্ব্বশঃ ॥

ye yatha mam prapadyante, tams tathaiva bhajamy aham
mama vartmanuvartante, manusyah partha sarvasah

'Howsoever people surrender to Me, I accordingly reward them. Being the ultimate goal of all paths, I am the objective to be attained by all. O Partha, all men follow My various paths.'

(Srimad Bhagavad-gita, 4.11)

'Howsoever people serve and worship Me, I reciprocate their feelings accordingly.' Thus, the Lord is worshipped in these five kinds of relationships.

Because people of this world cannot understand Lord Krishna, Sri Nityananda Prabhu preached about Sri Gauranga Mahaprabhu instead of Lord Krishna because He thought that it was much easier for people to understand Sri Gauranga Mahaprabhu's pastimes and to understand that Sri Gauranga Mahaprabhu appeared in this world as a combined form of Sri Sri Radha-Krishna.

Who will understand these things though? Who is able to understand these things?...

It is described in the scriptures very beautifully that the Lord is love personified. He is both extremely merciful and extremely beautiful. Attracting and charming the whole three worlds, He is the most beautiful person in the world. There is much effulgence in the world, but everything, no matter how effulgent it may be, is captured by the beauty of the Supreme Lord. The Lord is incomparably beautiful, sweet and loving.

Mercy, affection and love are not the same. For example, you can show mercy to a poor man by giving him some food, but this is not love. Mercy, affection and love may exist in the same plane, but they are not identical feelings. You can pity and show mercy to some poor people or some old people, but it does not mean that you love them. But the Lord is such that He is full of mercy, and His mercy is full of love. For example, a mother does not take care of her son out of mercy or pity to him – she feels genuine affection towards him and loves him with all her heart.

So, the Lord is not only supremely beautiful, He is also supremely loving. You can show mercy to a stranger, but you can love only your own. So, there is a difference between the love or mercy of a jiva soul and the love or mercy of the Lord. Absolute mercy and love can only be found in the Lord.

Sometimes, people say to me, 'All the fighting, wars and battles in Krishna's time were because of women!' To that, I say, 'Only those whom the Lord chooses to be known to can know Him.'

ঈশ্বরের কৃপা-লেশ হয় ত' যাহারে ।
সেই ত' ঈশ্বর-তত্ত্ব জানিবারে পারে ॥

isvarera krpa-lesa haya ta' yahare
sei ta' isvara-tattva janibare pare

'The Lord can be known only by those who have got at least a drop of His mercy.'

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.6.83)

If you do not have any mercy of the Lord, you will not be able to understand the Lord, that is why there are people who think that the Lord was involved in fighting over women...

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Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Lord's Keen Kindness
2) Taste for Service
3) 'I Have an Idea!'
4) Understanding God
5) Lord Krishna's Inconceivable Glory
6) Esoteric Glory of Rama-Krishna