Śrī Īśopaniṣad Mantra 4 – July 9, 1971, Los Angeles

Prabhupada:

The Bhagavad-gita, the Lord says, "There is no one superior than Me." That is the position of God. If somebody becomes superior than God, then he is not God. Nobody can be equal or superior to God; therefore God is great.

Now here it is said that anejad ekam manaso javiyo: although fixed up in one place, still His speed is swifter than any speed. You can very well understand: Just like the sun. The... When you walk, you will see the sun is fixed up in one place, but he is running with you. And you can increase your speed-still you cannot overcome. This is practical experience. Sometimes we run in aeroplane, train, and you see the sun, although fixed up from the starting point, but it is running in the same speed as you are running.

So this is a material thing, this sun, and what to speak of the Supreme Spirit? The speed of spirit is the greatest. Material speed… Suppose you are here, you have go to India, and if you want to return India and you take the most speedy aeroplane, still it will take at least ten to twelve hours, thousand miles per hour speed. So you cannot reach India less than…, in a time less than ten to twelve hours.

But you are sitting here, you can immediately, within a second, with your mind you can reach your home-within a second. Therefore it is concluded that the speed of the mind is greater than the speed of this body, or matter. Mind is subtler. Mind, ego, intelligence, they are also matter, but very subtle, and the spirit soul is still subtler.

Suppose if you are eligible to go back to Godhead, just after leaving your body-within a second-you will reach Goloka Vrndavana. Yes. Immediately.

This is stated in the Bhagavad-gita, that after leaving this body, who?

One who knows God as He is, divyam: God's, or Krsna's, name, form, quality, pastimes, entourage-everything-absolute and spiritual. So one has to know this. We cannot compare that Krsna's body and my body, this body, material, is the same. That is condemned in the Bhagavad-gita, avajananti mam mūḍha [Bg 9.11]: "Those who are fools, rascals, they deride at Me, thinking Me as ordinary human being." Just like there are atheist class, Mayavadi class, they think that they are as good as Krsna. Such foolish proposition. Our Krsna book will explain that we don't accept Krsna so cheaply. He has given evidences by His activities that He is Supreme Personality of Godhead, beginning from His birth, His appearance.

So His field, His activities, there cannot be any comparison. That is the purport of this verse. [reading translation:] "The Personality of Godhead, although fixed in His..." Still He is fixed-up: goloka eva nivasaty akhilatma-bhūtaḥ [Bs 5.37]. He has nothing to do. Why He shall have anything to do? A rich man here in this material world, we see he is sitting, and his assistants, secretaries and workers, they are working for him. Even an ordinary rich man in this world, we see like that: he has nothing to do, but he has got to apply his brain, how things are going on. But Krsna is so happy that He has nothing to do; He is simply enjoying with Radharani. That's all.

That is God: He has no business, He has no... Then how things are going on? It is by His energy. Just like nowadays in modern advancement of civilization, the one controller is sitting; he is simply pressing one button and some huge machine is running on. Similarly, Krsna's machines, energies, are so perfect that simply by His will. Therefore Krsna's another name is Sattva-sahkalpa. Whatever He desires, that is to happen without any fail. That is called Sattva-sahkalpa. We can desire something, but it may not be. God said, "Let there be creation"; immediately the huge cosmic manifestation is there.

So in this way, when in the Vedas it is said that God has no hands, no legs, but He accepts the offerings, these things appear to be contradictory, that "He has no hand; then how He accepts our offering?" That is the Mayavada philosopher, that they misunderstand and they think that God is impersonal. No. God is the Supreme Person, but His hands, His legs-not like us. Therefore the Vedas says apani-pado: when it is said that He has no hand, no leg, that means He has no hand, no leg like us, like ours.

What is the capacity of our hand? But His hand is goloka eva nivasaty. He is in His abode; whatever you are offering, He is accepting. It is not that the devotees are wasting time, they are worshiping something an idol. The atheists think like that: idol worship. No. They do not know the power of God, that although He has nothing to do, although He is far, far away from us, still, tad-antike, tad-dure. Just now the verse you have antike. Antike means He is the nearest, and still He is far, far away. He is far, far away for the demons, for the atheist, but He is nearest to the devotee.

So although these things are contradictory, but they are possible. Acintya. Therefore God's power is acintya. Acintya means you cannot conceive it. But it is understood by the devotee, because God explains to him, "It is like this," from within. It is not to the nondevotee. Nondevotee…, to the nondevotee He never exposes Himself. Therefore they are impersonalist, atheist, voidist, because God is not exposed to them. That is stated in the Bhagavad-gita [7.25], naham prakasaḥ sarvasya: "I am not exposed to everyone," yoga-maya-samavrtaḥ.

This is very ordinary things you can... Suppose if you want to see the president, oh, you cannot see. If you are ordinary man you cannot see; he is not exposed to the ordinary man. There must be some arrangement, or you must be qualified to see him. Similarly, to see God, to understand God, you require qualification. But the qualification… What is that qualification? It is very simple and very cheap. What is that? Laulyam ekam: simply you should be mad after God. That's all. Just like Caitanya Mahaprabhu saw: He was mad. He was falling down on the sea: "Where is God? Where is Krsna? Where is Krsna?" Vipralamba.

So if you enhance your eagerness, then you enhance your eagerness one time, one percent, and He is approaching you ten percent. So that eagerness, laulyam, is very difficult to obtain. Na janma-koti-sukrtair [Cc Madhya 8.70], even after many, many births' accumulation of pious activities you cannot have this laulyam. But you can have it if you like it. That is the little independence we have got. If you [are] actually eager to have Krsna, then you will have Him.

If you have got still any desire that "I shall enjoy this material world, at the same time I shall have personal touch with God," then it will be difficult. Sarvopadhi-vinirmuktam [Cc Madhya 19.170]: One has to be freed from all material contamination. Tatparatvena nirmalam: one has to become purified in Krsna consciousness. That purification process is devotional service. The more you become purified, more you realize God.

Thank you very much. Hare Krsna.

Devotees: All glories to Prabhupada. [end]