Post by Uttamasloka on Nov 16, 2019 23:26:02 GMT -5
In chapter 2 of my book, I have a section titled, How does Krsna personally reciprocate with countless individuals? I gave references that explained how He does this.
Here are several Anucchedas (sections) from Jiva Gosvami's Bhagavata-sandarbha, discussing Krsna’s forms and how He expands in more technical detail.
Quite astonishing. I never understood this level of detail before I read this a few years ago. It's quite lengthy but a very revealing presentation.
Here are the excepts:
Unlimited forms of Bhagavan exist within one form, Anuccheda 40
“All these forms can exist simultaneously because I have an eternal form of unlimited bliss. But you do not see all these forms at all times and all places. How can you see all the forms at once?”
Brahmā replies: O unrestricted Lord! O Lord endowed with all powers! O Supersoul! O Lord spread throughout all time! Who knows where, how, how many, and when your pastimes will take place in the universe? Spreading yoga-māyā, you play. (SB 10.14.21)
Using your inconceivable cit-śakti (yoga-māyām) you play. Who knows where, how, how many and when these pastimes (ūtī) will appear in the three worlds? No one knows.
The Lord is known to the person who does not think the Lord is limited; he who thinks the Lord is limited does not know him. (Kena Upaniṣad 2.3)
By addressing the Lord with four names (bhūman, bhagavan, parātman, and yogeśvara) related to his inconceivability, he gives four reasons for his powers. O form which includes within it unlimited other forms (bhūman)! The meaning is this. The one chief form of Bhagavān is simultaneously, unlimitedly, other forms.
Thus Akrūra said bahu-mūrty-eka-mūrtikam: your one form has many forms (SB 10.40.7) Śruti says ekaṁ santaṁ bahudhā dṛśyamānam: the one form is seen as many. When worship matures to its fruits, at that time a person sees the Lord’s forms according to the type of worship.
Just as there is difference in knowledge, there difference in the worshipper and the result. That was stated in the scripture quoted. (Brahma-sūtra 3.3.52)
Madhva in his commentary says upāsanābhedād darśana-bhedah: according to the type of worship the forms seen will differ. A cloth the color of a peacock feather has one main color with many subsidiary colors. Sometimes because of a particular point of view, a person will see a particular color.
Kṛṣṇa is like one cloth with many colors. He shows many forms within that main form. The other forms are like the various subsidiary colors.
Just as a gem shows blue, yellow and other colors at different times, the Lord takes different forms because of different types of meditation. (Nārada-pañcarātra)
This gem is the vaidūrya (cat’s-eye), which shows various colors like blue and yellow. The word bhūman answers the question “Where (kvā)?” Śukadeva says concerning Vāmana:
The Lord, whose body is eternally endowed with ornaments and weapons and is invisible to the world and who has a spiritual form, became visible. Then, in the presence of his parents, to please them, the Lord, like an actor whose actions are hard to understand, became Vāmana, a brāhmaṇa-dwarf, a brahmacārī. (SB 8.18.12)
That body, full of bliss and knowledge (cit), which does not manifest by any means (avyaktam), which is endowed with ornaments and weapons, was established (adhārayat) in this material world visibly (vyaktam). With that body only (eva) he became Vāmana brahmacārī. The word eva indicates the original body did not change in any way. He appeared while his parents watched.
The reason for his appearance in that body is given. He has actions which are inconceivable (divya-gatiḥ). He appears and disappears in various places in various conditions by himself. He is like an actor in that he takes joy when his real identity remains unknown. An actor uses his hand movements (gatiḥ) to create great astonishment (divya). In that form, without accepting false disguises, he shows various forms.
Divya-gatiḥ can also mean an actor from Svarga. Such an actor can exactly imitate another form. Since no one except the Lord can manifest other forms perfectly, the fault of imperfection in actors in the example cannot be applied. The Lord in creating the universe by himself is also compared to a spider which transforms the insects it eats into thread.
Krsna's form can manifest in innumerable places simultaneously, Anuccheda 42
Thus the all-powerful nature of the Lord is established, since he contains everything in his medium-sized form as Kṛṣṇa. And because he shows that he is all-pervading this power is established:
It is quite amazing that in a single body Lord Kṛṣṇa simultaneously married sixteen thousand women, each in a separate palace. (SB 10.69.2)
Oh! How amazing (etad bata citram)! Kṛṣṇa alone married sixteen thousand women. “How is this amazing?” He married them in all their sixteen thousand palaces. “And then?” He was present in each palace and performed the marriage rites. “It is not impossible to be present in each house by going to one house after the other.” But he was simultaneously present in each house. “A great yogī can manifest many bodies at once also and accomplish this feat. What is so astonishing? Great yogīs whom you respect do this.” He did this with a single body. Did he spread out that one body with many hands and feet?
No.
According to proper method, in each of the palaces, with a suitable form, he accepted each bride in marriage at the same time by his power of yogamāyā. (SB 3.3.8)
According to Uddhava’s words, each form was exactly like the other forms. The idea of one form extending itself is rejected by use of the word pṛthak (separate) in the verse spoken by Nārada. Kṛṣṇa was visible with one body of a human in each of the palaces separately and completely. Thus, since one body spread simultaneously in all places with all types of activities it was most astonishing. That is the explanation of the verse.
In the prose section of Fifth Canto describing the form of the Lord as ruler of the planet (SB 5.20.40) Śrīdhara Svāmī gives a similar explanation. “The Lord remains in a complete form (samantāt), with his one form, since he is master of the greatest powers (mahā-vibhūti-patiḥ).”
Then the imperishable Lord, assuming a separate form for each bride, duly married all the princesses simultaneously, each in her own palace. (SB 10.59.42)
Simultaneously appearing in each place (tāvad-rūpa-dharaḥ) he married all the princesses. He did not have separate forms like Nārāyaṇa. It is said:
When one form manifests in many places and is, in all respects, the same as the original form it is called prakāśa. (Laghu-bhāgavatāmṛta 1.21)
This is different from the appearance of different forms in many places. Nārada speaks.
Krsna is the Paramatma, Anuccheda 43
Thus it is said:
Thus in every palace Nārada saw the Lord in his same personal form, executing the proper principles of religion that purify those engaged in household affairs. (SB 10.69.41)
He himself (eva), not his expansion, was in all the houses. He was one form, not many forms through the expansion of one body. Śruti says ekaṁ santaṁ bahudhā dṛśyamānam: one form appears as many. Na cāntar na bahir yasya: he has no interior or exterior. (SB 10.9.13) Kṛṣṇa can do this since he has the power to pervade everywhere. Nārada saw this clearly. Nārada did not just infer this but experienced it directly by power given by the Lord.
Krsna is the Paramatma, Anuccheda 44
Therefore it is said:
Having repeatedly seen the vast mystic display of Kṛṣṇa, whose power is unlimited, the sage was amazed and filled with wonder. (SB 10.69.42)
Yogamāyā mentioned in the verse is the cit-śakti which can do the impossible. Commenting on SB 3.16.37 Śrīdhara Svāmī says, “Yogamāyā used in relation to the Lord means his cit-śakti.” Seeing this śakti constantly, the sage, amazed, became wonder struck. A yogī can expand his body into many but, without doing this, Kṛṣṇa in a medium sized human form was everywhere. That was the cause of his being wonder struck. His form can also be explained in terms of sarvataḥ pāṇi-pādaṁ: he has his hands and feet everywhere. (BG 13.14)
Philosophers also point out the following:
They are not different forms though they are in different places, because the Lord can be everywhere by his inconceivable power. (Brahma-sūtra 3.2.11)
There are not separate forms of the Lord (parasya) in different places (sthānataḥ) because (hi) he has his forms everywhere, in all beings (sarvatra).
Thus they say that he is Brahman (expanding everywhere).
The one supreme Viṣṇu is everywhere without doubt. By his power, the one form becomes many, like the sun. (Matsya Purāṇa)
Freed of the illusion of difference in the Lord’s various forms, I have attained the Lord who is one though appearing to be many like the sun seen by many people, who is the charioteer, but who is also in my heart, the unborn and is situated in the hearts of all the jīvas, who create their own bodies. (SB 1.9.42)
If you say the explanation is not logical because the forms are actually different, it is not so, because śruti states that all the forms are not different from the Lord. (Brahma-sūtra 3.2.12)
Moreover, one group of Vedic scholars teaches this. (Brahma-sūtra 3.2.13)
Śukadeva speaks.
The Lord's body is eternal and all pervading, Anuccheda 45
Freed of the illusion of difference in the Lord’s various forms, I have attained the Lord who is one, though appearing to be many like the sun seen by many people, who is the charioteer, but who is also in my heart, the unborn and is situated in the hearts of all the jīvas, who create their own bodies. (SB 1.9.42)
I have attained Kṛṣṇa who is standing before me, who is situated in the hearts of all embodied jīvas in his expansion as the localized antaryāmī.
Some yogīs meditate upon the Paramātmā measuring one pradeśa, who is residing in the heart within the body, and who holds the lotus, wheel, conch and club in his four hands. (SB 2.2.8)
I have attained that one unified form, who also appears in distinct forms in each jīva as mentioned above. That form of the highest bliss spreads himself out. I understand that he appears in these places as the antaryāmī, his special form with all beings, because I am purified of the illusion of seeing difference in him. By the Lord’s mercy this illusion has been removed. I was in illusion, thinking that the Lord was various, different forms because it seemed impossible that he could spread his one form everywhere. There is a reason for his spreading himself in all beings: the beings are manifested in the supreme shelter (ātmani), the basis.
An example is given. To many people situated in different places the one sun without obstacles appears in its complete form by rising above the trees and bushes. With obstacles present, it appears to be many different forms. The example only illustrates that one form appears in various ways from various points of view. The Lord’s form actually shines by his acintya-śakti. The sun however appears variously just because its expansive form is situated far away.
There is another meaning to the verse. The previously described form which is sitting in front of me, even appearing in the hearts of the embodied jīvas, has come near to me. Though he has the form different from antaryāmī, I see that form of Kṛṣṇa now in all beings since no other form can manifest in front of this powerful form of Kṛṣṇa. The example is used to show that there is no difference in the form even if it appears in different places, and is not used to show complete and incomplete forms of the Lord.
Bhīṣma, with eyes wide open (SB 1.9.30), concentrated on Kṛṣṇa with his mind, words and eyes. (SB 1.9.43) Thus in the opening and closing sections of this story, the personal form of Kṛṣṇa is praised.
Verse 39 should thus not be explained as impersonal Brahman spreading everywhere since simultaneously the personal form can be situated as limited (in individual bodies) and unlimited (beyond all bodies).
He is outside and inside all things. He moves and does not move. He is difficult to understand because of His subtle nature. He is not perceivable, but he can be perceived. (BG 13.16) Though the Lord is all-pervading, the reality of his pastimes (requiring a limited form) is established. Bhīṣma speaks to the Lord.
Here are several Anucchedas (sections) from Jiva Gosvami's Bhagavata-sandarbha, discussing Krsna’s forms and how He expands in more technical detail.
Quite astonishing. I never understood this level of detail before I read this a few years ago. It's quite lengthy but a very revealing presentation.
Here are the excepts:
Unlimited forms of Bhagavan exist within one form, Anuccheda 40
“All these forms can exist simultaneously because I have an eternal form of unlimited bliss. But you do not see all these forms at all times and all places. How can you see all the forms at once?”
Brahmā replies: O unrestricted Lord! O Lord endowed with all powers! O Supersoul! O Lord spread throughout all time! Who knows where, how, how many, and when your pastimes will take place in the universe? Spreading yoga-māyā, you play. (SB 10.14.21)
Using your inconceivable cit-śakti (yoga-māyām) you play. Who knows where, how, how many and when these pastimes (ūtī) will appear in the three worlds? No one knows.
The Lord is known to the person who does not think the Lord is limited; he who thinks the Lord is limited does not know him. (Kena Upaniṣad 2.3)
By addressing the Lord with four names (bhūman, bhagavan, parātman, and yogeśvara) related to his inconceivability, he gives four reasons for his powers. O form which includes within it unlimited other forms (bhūman)! The meaning is this. The one chief form of Bhagavān is simultaneously, unlimitedly, other forms.
Thus Akrūra said bahu-mūrty-eka-mūrtikam: your one form has many forms (SB 10.40.7) Śruti says ekaṁ santaṁ bahudhā dṛśyamānam: the one form is seen as many. When worship matures to its fruits, at that time a person sees the Lord’s forms according to the type of worship.
Just as there is difference in knowledge, there difference in the worshipper and the result. That was stated in the scripture quoted. (Brahma-sūtra 3.3.52)
Madhva in his commentary says upāsanābhedād darśana-bhedah: according to the type of worship the forms seen will differ. A cloth the color of a peacock feather has one main color with many subsidiary colors. Sometimes because of a particular point of view, a person will see a particular color.
Kṛṣṇa is like one cloth with many colors. He shows many forms within that main form. The other forms are like the various subsidiary colors.
Just as a gem shows blue, yellow and other colors at different times, the Lord takes different forms because of different types of meditation. (Nārada-pañcarātra)
This gem is the vaidūrya (cat’s-eye), which shows various colors like blue and yellow. The word bhūman answers the question “Where (kvā)?” Śukadeva says concerning Vāmana:
The Lord, whose body is eternally endowed with ornaments and weapons and is invisible to the world and who has a spiritual form, became visible. Then, in the presence of his parents, to please them, the Lord, like an actor whose actions are hard to understand, became Vāmana, a brāhmaṇa-dwarf, a brahmacārī. (SB 8.18.12)
That body, full of bliss and knowledge (cit), which does not manifest by any means (avyaktam), which is endowed with ornaments and weapons, was established (adhārayat) in this material world visibly (vyaktam). With that body only (eva) he became Vāmana brahmacārī. The word eva indicates the original body did not change in any way. He appeared while his parents watched.
The reason for his appearance in that body is given. He has actions which are inconceivable (divya-gatiḥ). He appears and disappears in various places in various conditions by himself. He is like an actor in that he takes joy when his real identity remains unknown. An actor uses his hand movements (gatiḥ) to create great astonishment (divya). In that form, without accepting false disguises, he shows various forms.
Divya-gatiḥ can also mean an actor from Svarga. Such an actor can exactly imitate another form. Since no one except the Lord can manifest other forms perfectly, the fault of imperfection in actors in the example cannot be applied. The Lord in creating the universe by himself is also compared to a spider which transforms the insects it eats into thread.
Krsna's form can manifest in innumerable places simultaneously, Anuccheda 42
Thus the all-powerful nature of the Lord is established, since he contains everything in his medium-sized form as Kṛṣṇa. And because he shows that he is all-pervading this power is established:
It is quite amazing that in a single body Lord Kṛṣṇa simultaneously married sixteen thousand women, each in a separate palace. (SB 10.69.2)
Oh! How amazing (etad bata citram)! Kṛṣṇa alone married sixteen thousand women. “How is this amazing?” He married them in all their sixteen thousand palaces. “And then?” He was present in each palace and performed the marriage rites. “It is not impossible to be present in each house by going to one house after the other.” But he was simultaneously present in each house. “A great yogī can manifest many bodies at once also and accomplish this feat. What is so astonishing? Great yogīs whom you respect do this.” He did this with a single body. Did he spread out that one body with many hands and feet?
No.
According to proper method, in each of the palaces, with a suitable form, he accepted each bride in marriage at the same time by his power of yogamāyā. (SB 3.3.8)
According to Uddhava’s words, each form was exactly like the other forms. The idea of one form extending itself is rejected by use of the word pṛthak (separate) in the verse spoken by Nārada. Kṛṣṇa was visible with one body of a human in each of the palaces separately and completely. Thus, since one body spread simultaneously in all places with all types of activities it was most astonishing. That is the explanation of the verse.
In the prose section of Fifth Canto describing the form of the Lord as ruler of the planet (SB 5.20.40) Śrīdhara Svāmī gives a similar explanation. “The Lord remains in a complete form (samantāt), with his one form, since he is master of the greatest powers (mahā-vibhūti-patiḥ).”
Then the imperishable Lord, assuming a separate form for each bride, duly married all the princesses simultaneously, each in her own palace. (SB 10.59.42)
Simultaneously appearing in each place (tāvad-rūpa-dharaḥ) he married all the princesses. He did not have separate forms like Nārāyaṇa. It is said:
When one form manifests in many places and is, in all respects, the same as the original form it is called prakāśa. (Laghu-bhāgavatāmṛta 1.21)
This is different from the appearance of different forms in many places. Nārada speaks.
Krsna is the Paramatma, Anuccheda 43
Thus it is said:
Thus in every palace Nārada saw the Lord in his same personal form, executing the proper principles of religion that purify those engaged in household affairs. (SB 10.69.41)
He himself (eva), not his expansion, was in all the houses. He was one form, not many forms through the expansion of one body. Śruti says ekaṁ santaṁ bahudhā dṛśyamānam: one form appears as many. Na cāntar na bahir yasya: he has no interior or exterior. (SB 10.9.13) Kṛṣṇa can do this since he has the power to pervade everywhere. Nārada saw this clearly. Nārada did not just infer this but experienced it directly by power given by the Lord.
Krsna is the Paramatma, Anuccheda 44
Therefore it is said:
Having repeatedly seen the vast mystic display of Kṛṣṇa, whose power is unlimited, the sage was amazed and filled with wonder. (SB 10.69.42)
Yogamāyā mentioned in the verse is the cit-śakti which can do the impossible. Commenting on SB 3.16.37 Śrīdhara Svāmī says, “Yogamāyā used in relation to the Lord means his cit-śakti.” Seeing this śakti constantly, the sage, amazed, became wonder struck. A yogī can expand his body into many but, without doing this, Kṛṣṇa in a medium sized human form was everywhere. That was the cause of his being wonder struck. His form can also be explained in terms of sarvataḥ pāṇi-pādaṁ: he has his hands and feet everywhere. (BG 13.14)
Philosophers also point out the following:
They are not different forms though they are in different places, because the Lord can be everywhere by his inconceivable power. (Brahma-sūtra 3.2.11)
There are not separate forms of the Lord (parasya) in different places (sthānataḥ) because (hi) he has his forms everywhere, in all beings (sarvatra).
Thus they say that he is Brahman (expanding everywhere).
The one supreme Viṣṇu is everywhere without doubt. By his power, the one form becomes many, like the sun. (Matsya Purāṇa)
Freed of the illusion of difference in the Lord’s various forms, I have attained the Lord who is one though appearing to be many like the sun seen by many people, who is the charioteer, but who is also in my heart, the unborn and is situated in the hearts of all the jīvas, who create their own bodies. (SB 1.9.42)
If you say the explanation is not logical because the forms are actually different, it is not so, because śruti states that all the forms are not different from the Lord. (Brahma-sūtra 3.2.12)
Moreover, one group of Vedic scholars teaches this. (Brahma-sūtra 3.2.13)
Śukadeva speaks.
The Lord's body is eternal and all pervading, Anuccheda 45
Freed of the illusion of difference in the Lord’s various forms, I have attained the Lord who is one, though appearing to be many like the sun seen by many people, who is the charioteer, but who is also in my heart, the unborn and is situated in the hearts of all the jīvas, who create their own bodies. (SB 1.9.42)
I have attained Kṛṣṇa who is standing before me, who is situated in the hearts of all embodied jīvas in his expansion as the localized antaryāmī.
Some yogīs meditate upon the Paramātmā measuring one pradeśa, who is residing in the heart within the body, and who holds the lotus, wheel, conch and club in his four hands. (SB 2.2.8)
I have attained that one unified form, who also appears in distinct forms in each jīva as mentioned above. That form of the highest bliss spreads himself out. I understand that he appears in these places as the antaryāmī, his special form with all beings, because I am purified of the illusion of seeing difference in him. By the Lord’s mercy this illusion has been removed. I was in illusion, thinking that the Lord was various, different forms because it seemed impossible that he could spread his one form everywhere. There is a reason for his spreading himself in all beings: the beings are manifested in the supreme shelter (ātmani), the basis.
An example is given. To many people situated in different places the one sun without obstacles appears in its complete form by rising above the trees and bushes. With obstacles present, it appears to be many different forms. The example only illustrates that one form appears in various ways from various points of view. The Lord’s form actually shines by his acintya-śakti. The sun however appears variously just because its expansive form is situated far away.
There is another meaning to the verse. The previously described form which is sitting in front of me, even appearing in the hearts of the embodied jīvas, has come near to me. Though he has the form different from antaryāmī, I see that form of Kṛṣṇa now in all beings since no other form can manifest in front of this powerful form of Kṛṣṇa. The example is used to show that there is no difference in the form even if it appears in different places, and is not used to show complete and incomplete forms of the Lord.
Bhīṣma, with eyes wide open (SB 1.9.30), concentrated on Kṛṣṇa with his mind, words and eyes. (SB 1.9.43) Thus in the opening and closing sections of this story, the personal form of Kṛṣṇa is praised.
Verse 39 should thus not be explained as impersonal Brahman spreading everywhere since simultaneously the personal form can be situated as limited (in individual bodies) and unlimited (beyond all bodies).
He is outside and inside all things. He moves and does not move. He is difficult to understand because of His subtle nature. He is not perceivable, but he can be perceived. (BG 13.16) Though the Lord is all-pervading, the reality of his pastimes (requiring a limited form) is established. Bhīṣma speaks to the Lord.