:: Chapter 10 :: The Opulence of the Absolute

Text 6

maharsayah sapta purve
catvaro manavas tatha
mad-bhava manasajata
yesam loka imah prajah

Synonyms

maha-rsayah--the great sages; sapta--seven; purve--before; catvarah--four; manavah--Manus; tatha--also; mat-bhavah--born of Me; manasah--from the mind; jatah--born; yesam--of them; loke--in the world; imah--all this; prajah--population.

Translation

The seven great sages and before them the four other great sages and the Manus [progenitors of mankind] come from me, born from My mind, and all the living beings populating the various planets descend from them.

Purport

The Lord is giving a genealogical synopsis of the universal population. Brahma is the original creature born out of the energy of the Supreme Lord, who is known as Hiranyagarbha. And from Brahma all the seven great sages, and before them four other great sages, named Sanaka, Sananda, Sanatana and Sanat-kumara, and the Manus, are manifested. All these twenty-five great sages are known as the patriarchs of the living entities all over the universe. There are innumerable universes and innumerable planets within each universe, and each planet is full of population of different varieties. All of them are born of these twenty-five patriarchs. Brahma underwent penance for one thousand years of the demigods before he realized by the grace of Krisna how to create. Then from Brahma came Sanaka, Sananda, Sanatana and Sanat-kumara, then Rudra, and then the seven sages, and in this way all the brahmanas and ksatriyas are born out of the energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Brahma is known as Pitamaha, the grandfather, and Krisna is known as Prapitamaha, the father of the grandfather. That is stated in the Eleventh Chapter of the Bhagavad-Gita (11.39).

Text 7

etam vibhutim yogam ca
mama yo vetti tattvatah
so vikalpena yogena
yujyate natra samsayah

Synonyms

etam--all this; vibhutimn--opulence; yogam--mystic power; ca--also; mama--of Mine; yah--anyone who; vetti--knows; tattvatah--factually; sah--he; avikalpena--without division; yogena--in devotional service; yujyate--is engaged; na--never; atra--here; samsayah--doubt.

Translation

One who is factually convinced of this opulence and mystic power of Mine engages in unalloyed devotional service; of this there is no doubt.

Purport

The highest summit of spiritual perfection is knowledge of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Unless one is firmly convinced of the different opulences of the Supreme Lord, he cannot engage in devotional service. Generally people know that God is great, but they do not know in detail how God is great. Here are the details. If one knows factually how God is great, then naturally he becomes a surrendered soul and engages himself in the devotional service of the Lord. When one factually knows the opulences of the Supreme, there is no alternative but to surrender to Him. This factual knowledge can be known from the descriptions in Srimad-Bhagavatam and Bhagavad-Gita and similar literatures.

In the administration of this universe there are many demigods distributed throughout the planetary system, and the chief of them are Brahma, Lord Siva and the four great Kumaras and the other patriarchs. There are many forefathers of the population of the universe, and all of them are born of the Supreme Lord, Krisna. The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krisna, is the original forefather of all forefathers.

These are some of the opulences of the Supreme Lord. When one is firmly convinced of them, he accepts Krisna with great faith and without any doubt, and he engages in devotional service. All this particular knowledge is required in order to increase one's interest in the loving devotional service of the Lord. One should not neglect to understand fully how great Krisna is, for by knowing the greatness of Krisna one will be able to be fixed in sincere devotional service.

Text 8

aham sarvasya prabhavo
mattah sarvam pravartate
iti matva bhajante mam
budha bhava-samanvitah

Synonyms

aham--I; sarvasya--of all; prabhavah--the source of generation; mattah--from Me; sarvam--everything; pravartate--emanates; iti--thus; matva--knowing; bhajante--become devoted; mam--unto Me; budhah--the learned; bhava-samanvitah--with great attention.

Translation

I am the source of all spiritual and material worlds. Everything emanates from Me. The wise who perfectly know this engage in My devotional service and worship Me with all their hearts.

Purport

A learned scholar who has studied the Vedas perfectly and has information from authorities like Lord Caitanya and who knows how to apply these teachings can understand that Krisna is the origin of everything in both the material and spiritual worlds, and because he knows this perfectly he becomes firmly fixed in the devotional service of the Supreme Lord. He can never be deviated by any amount of nonsensical commentaries or by fools. All Vedic literature agrees that Krisna is the source of Brahma, Siva and all other demigods. In the Atharva Veda (Gopala-tapani Upanisad 1.24) it is said, yo brahmanam vidadhati purvam yo vai vedams ca gapayati sma Krisnah: "It was Krisna who in the beginning instructed Brahma in Vedic knowledge and who disseminated Vedic knowledge in the past." Then again the Narayana Upanisad (1) says, atha puruso ha vai narayano 'kamayata prajah srjyyeti: "Then the Supreme Personality Narayana desired to create living entities." The Upanisad continues, narayanad brahma jayate, narayanad prajapatih prajayate, narayanad indro jayate, narayanad astau vasavo jayante, narayanad ekadasa rudrajayante, narayanad dvadasadityah: "From Narayana, Brahma is born, and from Narayana the patriarchs are also born. From Narayana, Indra is born, from Narayana the eight Vasus are born, from Narayana the eleven Rudras are born, from Narayana the twelve Adityas are born." This Narayana is an expansion of Krisna.

It is said in the same Vedas, brahmanyo devaki-putrah: "The son of Devaki, Krisna, is the Supreme Personality." (Narayana Upanisad 4) Then it is said, eko vai narayana asin na brahma na isano napo nagni-samau neme dyav-aprthivi na naksatrani na suryah: "In the beginning of the creation there was only the Supreme Personality Narayana. There was no Brahma, no Siva, no fire, no moon, no stars in the sky, no sun." (Maha Upanisad 1) In the Maha Upanisad it is also said that Lord Siva was born from the forehead of the Supreme Lord. Thus the Vedas say that it is the Supreme Lord, the creator of Brahma and Siva, who is to be worshiped.

In the Moksa-dharma Krisna also says,

prajapatim ca rudram capy
aham eva srjami vai
tau hi mam na vijanito
mama maya-vimohitau

"The patriarchs, Siva and others are created by Me, though they do not know that they are created by Me because they are deluded by My illusory energy." In the Varaha Purana it is also said,

narayanah paro devas
tasmaijatas caturmukhah
tasmad rudro 'bhavad devah
sa ca sarva-jnatam gatah

"Narayana is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and from Him Brahma was born, from whom Siva was born."

Lord Krisna is the source of all generations, and He is called the most efficient cause of everything. He says, "Because everything is born of Me, I am the original source of all. Everything is under me; no one is above me." There is no supreme controller other than Krisna. One who understands Krisna in such a way from a bona fide spiritual master, with references from Vedic literature, engages all his energy in Krisna consciousness and becomes a truly learned man. In comparison to him, all others, who do not know Krisna properly, are but fools. Only a fool would consider Krisna to be an ordinary man. A Krisna conscious person should not be bewildered by fools; he should avoid all unauthorized commentaries and interpretations on Bhagavad-Gita and proceed in Krisna consciousness with determination and firmness.