670224CC.SF
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi-lila 7.118-121

San Francisco, February 24, 1967
(incomplete lecture)
Prabhupada: Lord Caitanya, from different quotations of Vedas, He establishes that the Supreme Absolute Truth is person. He's not imperson. And so far Sankaracarya is concerned, he was ordered to preach Mayavada philosophy by the Supreme Personality of Godhead for the time being. It is not that this is the only process for realizing the Absolute Truth.
There is a very nice story in this connection. There was a physician and his servant. So one day the physician was called by some person to treat his horse. So when the physician came, he asked, "What is the matter?" He says that "The horse has suddenly swollen his throat. So please treat." Then the physician took a hammer and strongly struck the swollen portion, and it was at once cured. The servant saw, "So this is the process of curing swollen parts of the body." So on that very day, he resigned his service and he thought that "Now I have learned how to cure swollen parts of the body," and whenever he was called to treat such disease, he used to hammer over that swollen part and the patient died. So when he came to his former master, "Sir, you cured that horse, the swollen part, by beating hammer, but when I treat, it dies, the patient dies. What is the matter?" So he explained, "You nonsense, the swollen is not cured by beating. That was a special case. The horse took a squash while he was in the garden, and he could not swallow it up. Therefore it was swollen. So I struck therefore, and it was broken, and the same thing, his swollenness, cured. But you foolish, you are simply striking on swollen parts?"
So this is there. Sankaracarya took a special measure to convert the Buddhists to come to Vedic process because at that time everyone became atheist, following the Buddha philosophy, void. Therefore he had to preach that "Yes. It is void, but that is truth. That void is truth, and this material manifestation, nirvana, that is false. Therefore Lord Buddha taught you that 'Finish this, these material activities, and your miseries will be solved.' " Sankaracarya said, "Yes, this is all right, but there is Brahman." But he did not describe the Brahman, whether He has, He is person or He has got pastimes, He has got many planets and there are many devotees, because those fools were not able to understand. Therefore he took for the time being. Caitanya Mahaprabhu, while criticizing, I mean to say, Sankaracarya, He is always taking care that "It was not the fault of Acarya Sankara, because he's Lord Siva, and he cannot make any mistake, but he was ordered to do so for the time being. Actually, Absolute Truth, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, His body is spiritual. He is person. The difference is that He's sac-cid-ananda-vigraha [Bs. 5.1]. And so far the living entities are concerned, they are His energies." Energies.
So the distinction between energy and energetic we have discussed several times. Energy is almost the same qualitative as the energetic. The same example, that the sun planet is hot; therefore the energy of the sun planet, sunshine, it is also hot. Sunshine, the sun is illuminating; therefore the energy of the sun, sunshine, it is also illuminating. So there are so many qualitative equality with the supreme, I mean to say, living entity. But Sankaracarya's statement that "We living entities, we are God, and now we are illusioned in maya. As soon as we become free from this maya, we become God," that is not fact. You do not become God, but you are already in godly quality, qualities, to some extent, not fully. So when you are free from these material clutches, you attain your original quality, spiritual quality. And that spiritual quality you can serve. Because service means the person who is served, he is also person, and the servant is also person. Otherwise there is no question of service. Service, whenever we say service, there must be a person to take, to accept the service, and there must be one person who renders the service. Therefore dvaita-vada, duality, the, this predominator and the predominated.
So Caitanya Mahaprabhu is giving evidence from Bhagavad-gita:
apareyam itas tv anyam
prakrtim viddhi me param
jiva-bhutam maha-baho
yayedam dharyate jagat
[Bg. 7.5]
Now, apareyam, iyam. Before this verse, Lord Krsna has described that "Earth, water, fire, air and ether, they are My different separated energies, and beyond this separated energy, there is another superior energy. This, these energies are inferior, and there is another superior energy." So therefore jiva, jiva, the living entities, they are described in the Bhagavad-gita as energy, not the energetic.
visnu-saktih para prokta
ksetrajnakhya tatha para
avidya-karma-samjnanya
trtiya saktir isyate
[Cc. Madhya 6.154]
So... What is this sound? (rumble in background, buzz) Eh?
Devotee: Motor. Someone's running some kind of machine. It's interfering.
Prabhupada: Oh. All right. So He's quoting another verse from Visnu Purana, where it is stated that visnu-saktih para prokta: [Cc. Madhya 6.154] "The energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is also transcendental." Energy, that means of the same quality. The same example: Just like sunshine and the sun, they are of the same quality, similarly, the energy of the Supreme Lord, because the Supreme Lord is all spiritual, therefore His energy is also all spiritual. So we are the energy of the Supreme Lord. We are also all spiritual. Visnu-saktih para prokta ksetrajnakhya tatha para. Ksetrajna-saktih. Ksetrajna-saktih means the living entities. So they are also transcendental, superior. Avidya-karma-samjnanya trtiya saktir isyate. And this material energy, it is the product, product of avidya. Avidya means ignorance or nescience.
Now, the next question will be, "Whose ignorance?" As soon as we say "ignorance," there must be somebody who is ignorant. So whose ignorance? Now, we find the supreme living entity is Krsna, and we, the subordinate living entities. So who is ignorant? Ignorant is the living entities, not all living entities, but there is, I mean to say, tendency of becoming ignorant. Ignorant or forgetfulness. Ignorant, we are not, but sometimes we forget, just like under some diseased condition we forget. Or forgetfulness is the diseased condition. Just like a madman. He forgets his identity. He forgets the identity of his family. Either you take this forgetfulness is madness or due to madness, he's forgetful, whatever you say. Similarly, the, this forgetfulness is also energy, another energy. Then whose energy? Avidya. This is living entity's energy. The Mayavada philosophers, they cannot answer. They claim that "We are God," but when they are asked, "Why you have become dog?" they say, "We do not know." But here is the answer. They hide the reason. They know, and because they have to establish the Mayavada philosophy that "There is no God. We are all God," therefore they pretend that "We do not know."
The real fact is that because we are, although we are energies, therefore we are prone to be in the darkness of ignorance. Just like the same example. It is very easy to understand that the sunshine and the sun, both of them are illuminating and warm, but there is cloud, and the cloud cannot cover the sun. The cloud can cover the sunshine. This is a fact. Everyone can understand. When there is cloud... Suppose immediately there is cloud, say, two miles or three miles above the surface. So we do not see the sun or the sunshine. Does it mean the cloud has covered the sun? No. Sunshine is so great that cloud's father's, there is no capacity of the cloud's father to cover sun. It is not possible. Therefore ignorance... Here it is stated, avidya-karma-samjnanya. This ignorance cannot cover God. That is nonsense. Ignorance covers the God's energy, living entity. Therefore we say that "We are God, but now we have become dog." That is another ignorance. He's never God. He's the energy of God. This is the difference between Mayavada philosophy and Vaisnava philosophy. We should always know that we are energies of God, and because we are energies, we are, there are so many things qualitatively equal. Just the same example: The warmth and the illumination of the sunshine and the sun planet is practically the same, but the sun is never covered by cloud, but the sunshine is coveredsometimes, not always. Just like you see that the sunshine is..., the immense sunshine all over the universe, a part of the sunshine is covered, not all; similarly, a part of the energy, living energy, is covered by this maya, and not all.
Therefore there are millions and billions of liberated souls above this material world, just like there is millions and billions of miles' sunshine above the cloud. You go by airplane above the cloud. Oh, the cloud is, appear to be very insignificant. But sunshine? Oh, so nice, sunshine. Similarly, when you are above this material world, jyotir gamah... Jyotir gamah. Tamasi ma. The Vedanta, the Vedas inform you that "Don't remain in this darkness. Just try to get out of it." Jyotir gamah. Similarly... Just like the same way, airplane. As soon as you penetrate the cloud and go to the sky, you'll see: "Oh, there is immense sunshine." But while you are in, within the covering of the cloud, you say, "Oh, there is no sunshine today." We see as soon as we go out, "Today is very bad." The day is very good, but you are in the cloud. Therefore you say, "It is very bad." So similarly, those who are in the clutches of maya, for them, this world is very bad. You see? But those who are above this maya, it is pleasant because it is Krsna's kingdom. Anandambudhi-vardhanam. So if you remain in Krsna consciousness, the cloud cannot touch you and if your former, your original... Anandamayo 'bhyasat (Vedanta-sutra 1.1.12). You become always joyful. Brahma-bhutah prasannatma na socati na kanksati: [Bg. 18.54] "One who is brahma-bhutah, he never laments or never aspires anything for material enjoyment." Samah sarvesu: "And he becomes universal. He sees everyone on the same level: 'Oh, they are my brothers. They are part and parcel of my father. They are my brothers.' " Mad-bhaktim labhate param [Bg. 18.54]. This is Krsna consciousness. This is Krsna consciousness.
So,
visnu-saktih para prokta
ksetrajnakhya tatha para
avidya-karma-samjnanya
trtiya saktir isyate
[Cc. Madhya 6.154]
So this avidya, this ignorance, this forgetfulness, is another energy, another energy. So just like a cloud... This is also another energy of the sunshine. It is not different. When the sunshine warms the sea water, it evaporates and becomes cloud. So therefore cloud is also another energy. So similarly, this material energy is also energy of God, but it cannot cover God. That is the difference. God is never covered by ignorance. This is nonsense. Those fools and rascals say that "God... We are God. We are now covered." It is the most rascaldom. How? If we are God, how we can be covered by ignorance? Then what is your value of your becoming God? You are not God. You are... This is very nicely explained here. Try to understand. Caitanya Mahaprabhu says that "Living entities, they are energy of God. They are never God." The Sankaracarya's theory is nullified by evidences from Vedic scripture, just like Bhagavad-gita, Visnu Purana. So never claim that "We are God." That is most darkest part of your ignorance, when you say that "I am God." There is neither voidness; neither you are God. You are eternal, perpetual blissful, but your blissful is now covered by this maya. You get out of it, be one with Krsna consciousness. Your life is successful. This is this theory.
Oh, Caitanya Mahaprabhu regrets that such a great difference between God and the living entity, and Sankaracarya has described that we are God? That means he has diminished the opulence and value of God. Suppose if I call a third-class man "His Majesty," then what is that? This word, "His Majesty," is misused. Just like they are saying, daridra-narayana. The foolish Ramakrishna mission has, I mean to say, discovered a word, daridra-narayana, "poor Narayana." Narayana, who is the husband of many thousands of goddess of fortune, He has become poor. Just see the theory. You can ask Nikhilananda what is the meaning of daridra-narayana. They have discovered. Vivekananda has discovered. Narayana has become poor. When you ask him, "Why do you call daridra-narayana?" they will explain like that, "Because Narayana is there, therefore Narayana has become daridra." Just see. Suppose a rich man comes into this store, so he becomes poor just like us. Because he has kindly come here in this store, so because we are all poor men, he'll also becomes poor man? This is the reason. But these are all nonsense. Narayana never becomes poor. The poor, poverty-stricken man, all these things are for the jivas, the living entities. Narayana is never poor. Narayana is never under ignorance. Narayana never becomes dog. We become dog. We become cat. You should always... Caitanya Mahaprabhu therefore rejects, that "This sort of philosophy propounded by Sankara is a great mistake because he has minimized the value of the Supreme Lord. By making a dog a god, he has insulted God. Therefore this Mayavada philosophy is the most offensive activities of the living being." So you should be very, very careful, very careful. Hena jiva-tattva lana likhi' para-tattva. "And I have just studied the ordinary living entities, and I am speaking of the Absolute Truth? Oh, this is the greatest nonsensical activity." Acchanna karila srestha isvara-mahattva: "By this the glorification of the Lord has been diminished, and therefore it is a great offense."
vyasera sutrete kahe 'parinama'-vada
'vyasa bhranta'-bali' tara uthaila vivada
Now, vyasera sutra means Vedanta-sutra. Vedanta-sutra begins from the very beginning, janmady asya yatah [SB 1.1.1]. Janmady asya yatah means the source of all emanations. Now, this is clear, janmady asya yatah, that "Brahman is that from which, from whom, everything emanates." That does not mean... Parinama-vada means by-product, by-product. Just like you... This is a tree, and this flower is the by-product. So suppose the flower is there and the flower becomes dried up and falls down. That does not mean the tree is lost. There are thousands and thousands of flowers are coming out, out of..., fruits and flowers, but the tree is there. Similarly, purnasya purnam adaya purnam evavasisyate [Iso Invocation]. Although this material manifestation, this world, has emanated from Brahman, that Supreme Brahman, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, that does not mean he is lost. It is material conception. Just like you get some paper and you make something from that paper. That original paper is lost because it is material. But spiritually they cannot be lost. There are many, many material examples also. Just like sun. The sun, we are getting heat from sun from millions and billions of years... (incomplete) (end)

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