So here is the perfection: The yogi whose mind is fixed on Me. Since Krsna is speaking, the Me refers to Krsna. If I am speaking and saying, Give me a glass of water, I do not intend that the water be supplied to someone else. We must therefore clearly understand that, since Bhagavad-gita is being spoken by Sri Krsna, when He says unto Me, He means unto Krsna. Unfortunately, there are many commentators who deviate from these clear instructions. I do not know why; their motives are no doubt nefarious.

A true yogi, as explained before, is the devotee of Krsna, and the most advanced devotee goes forth to preach Krsna consciousness. Why? Because he sees Krsna in all beings. How is this? Because he sees that all beings are part and parcel of Krsna. He also understands that since these beings have forgotten Krsna, it is his duty to awaken them to Krsna consciousness. Sometimes missionaries go forth to educate primitive, uneducated people just because they see that they are human beings and so deserve to be educated in order to understand the value of life. This is due to the missionarys sympathy. The devotee is similarly motivated. He understands that everyone should know himself to be part and parcel of Krsna. The devotee understands that people are suffering due to their forgetfulness of Krsna.

Thus the devotee sees Krsna in everything. He is not under the illusion that everything has become Krsna. Rather, he sees every living being as the son of God. If I say that this boy is the son of Mr. Johnson, do I mean that this boy is Mr. Johnson himself? I may see Mr. Johnson in this boy because this boy is his son, but the distinction remains. If I see every living being as the son of Krsna, I see Krsna in every being. This should not be difficult to understand. It is neither an association nor a vision but a fact.

When a devotee sees a cat or a dog, he sees Krsna in him. He knows that a cat, for instance, is a living being, and that due to his past deeds he has received the body of a cat. This is due to his forgetfulness. The devotee helps the cat by giving it some krsna-prasada so that someday the cat will come to Krsna consciousness. This is seeing Krsna in the cat. The devotee does not think, Oh, here is Krsna. Let me embrace this cat and serve this cat as God. Such thinking is nonsensical. If one sees a tiger, he does not say, Oh, here is Krsna. Come one, please eat me. The devotee does not embrace all beings as Krsna but rather sympathizes with every living being because he sees all beings as part and parcel of Krsna. In this way, the true yogi observes Me in all beings. This is real vision.

Whatever is done in Krsna consciousness, knowingly or unknowingly, will have its effect. Children who bow down or try to vibrate Krsnas names or clap during kirtana are actually accumulating so much in their bank account of Krsna consciousness. Fire will act, whether one is a child or an adult. If a child touches fire, the fire will burn. The fire does not say, Oh, I will not burn him. He is a child and does not know. No, the fire will always act as fire. Similarly, Krsna is the supreme spirit, and if a child partakes in Krsna consciousness, he will be affected. Krsna will act, whether the child knows or does not know. Every living being should be given a chance to partake of Krsna consciousness because Krsna is there and will act. Therefore everyone is being invited to come and take prasada, because this prasada will someday take effect.

We should be careful not to make the mistake of thinking that everyone is Krsna; rather, we should see Krsna in everyone. Krsna is all-pervading. Why is He to be seen only in human beings? As stated in Brahma-samhita, He is also present within the atom: andantara-stha-paramanu-cayantara-stham. [Bs 5.35] The word paramanu means atom, and we should understand that Krsna is present within every atom. A true yogi observes Me in all beings and also sees every being in Me. How does the yogi see every being in Me? This is possible because the true yogi knows that everything that we see is Krsna. We are sitting on this floor or on this carpet, but in actuality we are sitting on Krsna. We should know this to be a fact. How is this carpet Krsna? It is Krsna because it is made of Krsnas energy. The Supreme Lord has various energies, of which there are three primary divisionsmaterial energy, spiritual energy, and marginal energy. Parasya saktir vividhaiva sruyate. We living entities are marginal energy, the material world is material energy, and the spiritual world is spiritual energy. We are marginal energy in the sense that we can be either spiritually or materially situated. There is no third alternative; either we become materialistic or spiritualistic.

As long as we are in the material world, we are seated on the material energy, and therefore we are situated in Krsna, because Krsnas energy is not separate from Krsna. A flame contains both heat and illumination, two energies. Neither the heat nor the illumination are separate from the flame; therefore in one sense heat is fire, and illumination is fire, but they can be distinguished. Similarly, this material energy is also Krsna, and although we are thinking that we are sitting on this floor, we are actually sitting on Krsna. Therefore it is stated, The self-realized man sees Me everywhere. Seeing Krsna everywhere means seeing every living being as well as everything else in relationship to Krsna. In the Seventh Chapter of Bhagavad-gita (7.8), Lord Krsna tells Arjuna how He can be seen in various manifestations.

Water is drunk by all living entities, and is needed by birds, beasts, and man. It is not only used for drinking, but for washing and for cultivating plants as well. A soldier on the battlefield can understand how important water is. When fighting, soldiers become thirsty, and if they have no water, they die. Once a person has learned the philosophy of Bhagavad-gita, whenever he drinks water, he sees Krsna. And when does a day pass when we do not drink water? This is the way of Krsna consciousness. I am the light of the sun and the moon. So whether in the day or the night, we see either sunshine or moonshine. How, then, can we forget Krsna? This, then, is the way of perfect yoga. We have to see Krsna everywhere and at all times.

Simply dont lose sight of Krsna. That is the perfection of life. We can forget everything else, but we should never forget Krsna. If we can remember Krsna, we are the richest of men, even though people may see us as very poor. Although Rupa Gosvami and Sanatana Gosvami were learned scholars and very opulent ministers, they adopted the poor life of mendicants. In his Sri Sad-gosvamy-astaka (verse 4), Srinivasa Acarya thus describes the six Gosvamis:

The words kaupina-kanthasritau indicate that the Gosvamis were simply wearing underwear and a loincloth and nothing else. In other words, they accepted the poorest way of life as mendicants. Generally, if one is habituated to living according to a high standard, he cannot immediately lower his standard. If a rich man accepts such a poor condition, he cannot live, but the Gosvamis lived very happily. How was this possible? Gopi-bhava-rasamrtabdhi-lahari-kallola-magnau muhur/ vande rupa-sanatanau raghu-yugau sri-jiva-gopalakau. They were actually rich because they were constantly dipping themselves in the ocean of the loving affairs of the gopis. If one simply thinks of the gopis love for Krsna, one is not lost. There are many ways not to lose sight of Krsna. If we do not lose sight of Krsna, then we will not be lost.

A person in Krsna consciousness certainly sees Lord Krsna everywhere, and he sees everything in Krsna. Such a person may appear to see all separate manifestations of the material nature, but in each and every instance he is conscious of Krsna, knowing that everything is the manifestation of Krsnas energy. Nothing can exist without Krsna, and Krsna is the Lord of everythingthis is the basic principle of Krsna consciousness. How does the devotee know that everything is the manifestation of Krsnas energy? First of all, a Krsna conscious person is a philosopher. If he sees a tree, he thinks, What is this tree? He then sees that the tree has a material bodyjust as he has a material bodyand that the tree is also a living entity, but due to the trees past misdeeds, he has obtained such an abominable body that he cannot even move. The trees body is material, material energy, and the devotee automatically questions, Whose energy? Krsnas energy. Therefore the tree is connected to Krsna. Being a living entity, the tree is part and parcel of Krsna. In this way, the Krsna conscious person does not see the tree, but sees Krsna present. That is Krsna consciousness: you dont see the tree. You see Krsna. That is the perfection of yoga, and that is also samadhi.

Krsna consciousness is the development of love of Krsnaa position transcendental even to material liberation. Why does the Krsna conscious person take such an account of the tree? Because he has love for Krsna. If you love your child and your child is away, you think of him when you see his shoes. You think, Oh, this is my dear childs shoe. It is not that you love the shoe, but the child. The shoe, however, evokes that love. Similarly, as soon as we see Krsnas energy manifested in a living entity, we love that entity because we love Krsna. Therefore, if we love Krsna, universal love is accounted for. Otherwise universal love is nonsensical, because it is not possible to love everybody without loving Krsna. If we love Krsna, universal love is automatically there. Without being Krsna conscious, a person may say, Here is my American brother, and here is my Indian brother. Now let us eat this cow. Such a person may look on other humans as brothers, but he looks on the cow as food. Is this universal love? A Krsna conscious person, however, thinks, Oh, here is a cow. Here is a dog. They are part and parcel of Krsna, but somehow or other they have acquired different bodies. This does not mean that they are not my brothers. How can I kill and eat my brothers? That is true universal loverooted in love for Krsna. Without such Krsna consciousness, there is no question of love at all.

Krsna consciousness is the stage beyond self-realization in which the devotee becomes one with Krsna in the sense that Krsna becomes everything for the devotee, and the devotee becomes full in loving Krsna. An intimate relationship between the Lord and the devotee then exists. In that stage, the living entity attains his immortality. Nor is the Personality of Godhead ever out of sight of the devotee. To merge in Krsna is spiritual annihilation. A devotee takes no such risk. It is stated in the Brahma-samhita (5.38),

This is the real process by which we can see God. God is not our order supplier. We cannot demand, Come and show Yourself. No, we first have to qualify ourselves. Then we can see God at every moment and everywhere.

A yogi who is practicing meditation on the Supersoul sees within himself the plenary portion of Krsna as Visnuwith four hands, holding conchshell, wheel, club, and lotus flower. This manifestation of Visnu, which is the yogis object of concentration, is Krsnas plenary portion. As stated in Brahma-samhita (5.48),

In every universe there is a primary, original living entity known as Brahma. The life of Brahma is the life of the universe, and this life exists during only one breathing period (exhalation and inhalation) of the Maha-Visnu. The Maha-Visnu lies on the Causal Ocean, and when He exhales, millions of universes issue from His body as bubbles and then develop. When the Maha-Visnu inhales, these millions of universes return within Him, and this is called the process of annihilation. That, in essence, is the position of these material universes: they come out from the body of the Maha-Visnu and then again return. In the Ninth Chapter of Bhagavad-gita (9.7) it is also indicated that these material universes are manifest at a certain period and are then annihilated.

Since the entire creation and annihilation of the material universes depend on the exhaling and inhaling of the Maha-Visnu, we can hardly imagine the magnitude of that Maha-Visnu. And yet it is said here that this Maha-Visnu is but a plenary portion of the plenary portion of Krsna, who is the original Govinda. The Maha-Visnu enters into each universe as Garbhodakasayi Visnu, and Garbhodakasayi Visnu further expands as Ksirodakasayi Visnu, and it is this Visnu form that enters into the heart of every living entity. In this way, Visnu is manifest throughout the creation. Thus the yogis concentrate their minds on the Ksirodakasayi Visnu form within the heart. As stated in the last chapter of Bhagavad-gita (18.61),

Thus, according to the yogic process, the yogi finds out where the Ksirodakasayi Visnu is seated within the heart, and when he finds this form there, he concentrates on Him. The yogi should know that this Visnu is not different from Krsna. Krsna in this form of Supersoul is situated in everyones heart. Furthermore, there is no difference between the innumerable Supersouls present in the innumerable hearts of living entities. For example, there is only one sun in the sky, but this sun may be reflected in millions of buckets of water. Or, one may ask millions and trillions of people, Where is the sun? And each will say, Over my head. The sun is one, but it is reflected countless times. According to the Vedas, the living entities are innumerable; there is no possibility of counting them. Just as the sun can be reflected in countless buckets of water, Visnu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, can live in each and everyones heart. It is this form that is Krsnas plenary portion, and it is this form on which the yogi concentrates.

One who is engaged in Krsna consciousness is already a perfect yogi. In fact, there is no difference between a Krsna conscious devotee always engaged in the transcendental loving service of Krsna and a perfect yogi engaged in meditation on the Supersoul. There is no difference between a yogi in samadhi (in a trance meditating on the Visnu form) and a Krsna conscious person engaged in different activities. The devoteeeven though engaged in various activities while in material existenceremains always situated in Krsna. This is confirmed in the Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu of Srila Rupa Gosvami: nikhilasv apy avasthasu/ jivan-muktah sa ucyate. A devotee of the Lord, always acting in Krsna consciousness, is automatically liberated. This is also confirmed in the Fourteenth Chapter of Bhagavad-gita (14.26):

Thus the devotee engaged in unalloyed devotional service has already transcended the material modes of nature. Being situated on the Brahman platform means being liberated. There are three platforms: the bodily, or sensual; the mental; and the spiritual. The spiritual platform is called the Brahman platform, and liberation means being situated on that platform. Being conditioned souls, we are presently situated on the bodily, or sensual, platform. Those who are a little advancedspeculators, philosophersare situated on the mental platform. Above this is the platform of liberation, of Brahman realization.

That the devotee, always acting in Krsna consciousness, is automatically situated on the liberated platform of Brahman is also confirmed in the Narada-pancaratra.:

Krsna consciousness is the highest stage of trance in yoga practice. This very understanding that Krsna is present as Paramatma in everyones heart makes the yogi faultless. The Vedas confirm this inconceivable potency of the Lord as follows: