:: Chapter 9 :: The Most Confidential Knowledge

Text 3

asraddadhanah purusa
dharmasyasya parantapa
aprapya mam nivartante
mrtyu-samsara-vartmani

Synonyms

asraddadhanah--those who are faithless; purusah--such persons; dharmasya--toward the process of religion; asya--this; parantapa--O killer of the enemies; aprapya--without obtaining; mam--Me; nivartante--come back; mrtyu--of death; samsara--in material existence; vartmani--on the path.
Translation
Those who are not faithful in this devotional service cannot attain Me, O conqueror of enemies. Therefore they return to the path of birth and death in this material world.

Purport

The faithless cannot accomplish this process of devotional service; that is the purport of this verse. Faith is created by association with devotees. Unfortunate people, even after hearing all the evidence of Vedic literature from great personalities, still have no faith in God. They are hesitant and cannot stay fixed in the devotional service of the Lord. Thus faith is a most important factor for progress in Krisna consciousness. In the Caitanya-caritamrta it is said that faith is the complete conviction that simply by serving the Supreme Lord, Sri Krisna, one can achieve all perfection. That is called real faith. As stated in the Srimad-Bhagavatam (4.31.14),

yatha taror mula-nisecanena
trpyanti tat-skandha-bhujopasakhah
pranopaharac ca yathendriyanam
tathaiva sarvarhanam acyutejya

"By giving water to the root of a tree one satisfies its branches, twigs and leaves, and by supplying food to the stomach one satisfies all the senses of the body. Similarly, by engaging in the transcendental service of the Supreme Lord one automatically satisfies all the demigods and all other living entities." Therefore, after reading Bhagavad-Gita one should promptly come to the conclusion of Bhagavad-Gita: one should give up all other engagements and adopt the service of the Supreme Lord, Krisna, the Personality of Godhead. If one is convinced of this philosophy of life, that is faith.

Now, the development of that faith is the process of Krisna consciousness. There are three divisions of Krisna conscious men. In the third class are those who have no faith. Even if they are officially engaged in devotional service, they cannot achieve the highest perfectional stage. Most probably they will slip, after some time. They may become engaged, but because they haven't complete conviction and faith, it is very difficult for them to continue in Krisna consciousness. We have practical experience in discharging our missionary activity that some people come and apply themselves to Krisna consciousness with some hidden motive, and as soon as they are economically a little well situated they give up this process and take to their old ways again. It is only by faith that one can advance in Krisna consciousness. As far as the development of faith is concerned, one who is well versed in the literatures of devotional service and has attained the stage of firm faith is called a first-class person in Krisna consciousness. And in the second class are those who are not very advanced in understanding the devotional scriptures but who automatically have firm faith that Krisna-bhakti, or service to Krisna, is the best course and so in good faith have taken it up. Thus they are superior to the third class, who have neither perfect knowledge of the scriptures nor good faith but by association and simplicity are trying to follow. The third-class person in Krisna consciousness may fall down, but when one is in the second class he does not fall down, and for the first-class person in Krisna consciousness there is no chance of falling down. One in the first class will surely make progress and achieve the result at the end. As far as the third-class person in Krisna consciousness is concerned, although he has faith in the conviction that devotional service to Krisna is very good, he has not yet gained adequate knowledge of Krisna through the scriptures like Srimad-Bhagavatam and Bhagavad-Gita. Sometimes these third-class persons in Krisna consciousness have some tendency toward karma-yoga and jnana-yoga, and sometimes they are disturbed, but as soon as the infection of karma-yoga or jnana-yoga is vanquished, they become second-class or first-class persons in Krisna consciousness. Faith in Krisna is also divided into three stages and described in Srimad-Bhagavatam. First-class attachment, second-class attachment and third-class attachment are also explained in Srimad-Bhagavatam in the Eleventh Canto. Those who have no faith even after hearing about Krisna and the excellence of devotional service, who think that it is simply eulogy, find the path very difficult, even if they are supposedly engaged in devotional service. For them there is very little hope of gaining perfection. Thus faith is very important in the discharge of devotional service.

Text 4

maya tatam idam sarvam
jagad avyakta-murtina
mat-sthani sarva-bhutani
na caham tesv avasthitah

Synonyms

maya--by Me; tatam--pervaded; idam--this; sarvam--all; jagat--cosmic manifestation; avyakta-murtina--by the unmanifested form; mat-sthani--in Me; sarva-bhutani--all living entities; na--not; ca--also; aham--I; tesu--in them; avasthitah--situated.

Translation

By Me, in My unmanifested form, this entire universe is pervaded. All beings are in Me, but I am not in them.

Purport

The Supreme Personality of Godhead is not perceivable through the gross material senses. It is said,

atah sri-Krisna-namadi
na bhaved grahyam indriyaih
sevonmukhe hi jihvadau
svayam eva sphuraty adah
(Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu 1.2.234)

Lord Sri Krisna's name, fame, pastimes, etc., cannot be understood by material senses. Only to one who is engaged in pure devotional service under proper guidance is He revealed. In the Brahma-samhita (5.38) it is stated, premanjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena santah sadaiva hrdayesu vilokayanti: one can see the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Govinda, always within himself and outside himself if one has developed the transcendental loving attitude towards Him. Thus for people in general He is not visible. Here it is said that although He is all-pervading, everywhere present, He is not conceivable by the material senses. This is indicated here by the word avyakta-murtina. But actually, although we cannot see Him, everything is resting in Him. As we have discussed in the Seventh Chapter, the entire material cosmic manifestation is only a combination of His two different energies--the superior, spiritual energy and the inferior, material energy. Just as the sunshine is spread all over the universe, the energy of the Lord is spread all over the creation, and everything is resting in that energy.

Yet one should not conclude that because He is spread all over He has lost His personal existence. To refute such an argument the Lord says, "I am everywhere, and everything is in Me, but still I am aloof." For example, a king heads a government which is but the manifestation of the king's energy; the different governmental departments are nothing but the energies of the king, and each department is resting on the king's power. But still one cannot expect the king to be present in every department personally. That is a crude example. Similarly, all the manifestations that we see and everything that exists, both in this material world and in the spiritual world, are resting on the energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The creation takes place by the diffusion of His different energies, and, as stated in the Bhagavad-Gita, vistabhyaham idam krtsnam: He is everywhere present by His personal representation, the diffusion of His different energies.