ÇRÉ ÉÇOPANIÑAD

Section 2 (Mantras 4-8): The Vision of the

Mahabhagavata – Fifth Mantra

Mantra Eight
sa paryagäc chukram akäyam avraëam
asnäviram çuddham apäpa-viddham
kavir manéñé paribhüù svayambhür
yäthätathyato 'rthän vyadadhäc chäçvatébhyaù samäbhyaù

SYNONYMS
saù—that person; paryagät—must know in fact; çukram—the
omnipotent; akäyam—unembodied; avraëam—without reproach;
asnäviram—without veins; çuddham—antiseptic; apäpa-viddham—
prophylactic; kaviù—omniscient; manéñé—philosopher; paribhüù—the
greatest of all; svayambhüù—self-sufficient; yäthätathyataù—just in
pursuance of; arthän—desirables; vyadadhät—awards; çäçvatébhyaù—
immemorial; samäbhyaù—time.

TRANSLATION
Such a person must factually know the greatest of all, the Personality of
Godhead, who is unembodied, omniscient, beyond reproach, without
veins, pure and uncontaminated, the self-sufficient philosopher who
has been fulfilling everyone's desire since time immemorial.

Introduction
Verse is saying that such an elevated soul has realized the Supreme Personality of
Godhead. The Lord's characteristics mentioned here are:
a) No material body
b) Omniscient
c) So perfect He cannot be subjected to criticism
d) No veins
e) Pure, uncontaminated
f) Self sufficient knower, who fulfills everyone's desires

Page 25 Para 1
 a) Focusing on form of Lord
b) Not formless, has His own form, which is different to any form in mundane
world
c) Our material forms are like machines, with mechanical construction
including veins
d) Lord’s form does not have veins
e) When it says He is unembodied it means there is no difference between His
body and soul
f) He is not forced to accept body. BG 4.6 says:
ajo 'pi sann avyayätmä
bhütänäm éçvaro 'pi san
prakåtià sväm adhiñöhäya
sambhavämy ätma-mäyayä
“Although I am unborn and My transcendental body never deteriorates,
and although I am the Lord of all living entities, by My internal energy I
still appear in every millennium in My original transcendental form.”
g) We are different from our bodies.
h) Srila Prabhupada concludes paragraph: “For the Supreme Lord, however,
there is never any such difference between Him and His body and mind. He
is the Complete Whole, and His mind, body and He Himself are all one and
the same.

Page 26 Para 2
a) Again Srila Prabhupada refers to Brahma Samhita 5.1 – sat-cit-ananda-
vigraha
b) So He doesn’t require separate body or mind, as we do.
c) Because His body is so different from our bodies, and therefore is
inconceivable to us, He is sometimes referred to as being “formless”.
d) Brahma Samhita 5.32 explains that different parts of His body can act in
any ways he likes:
aìgäni yasya sakalendriya-våtti-manti
paçyanti pänti kalayanti ciraà jaganti
änanda-cinmaya-sad-ujjvala-vigrahasya
govindam ädi-puruñaà tam ahaà bhajämi
“I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, whose transcendental form is
full of bliss, truth, substantiality and is thus full of the most dazzling
splendor. Each of the limbs of that transcendental figure possesses in
Himself, the full-fledged functions of all the organs, and eternally sees,
maintains and manifests the infinite universes, both spiritual and
mundane.”
e) Means he can “walk with His hands, accept things with His legs, see with
His hands and feet, eat with His eyes, etc.”
f) Srila Prabhupada concludes paragraph: “In the çruti-mantras it is also said
that although the Lord has no hands and legs like ours, He has a different
type of hands and legs, by which He can accept all that we offer Him and
 run faster than anyone. These points are confirmed in this eighth mantra
through the use of words like çukram ("omnipotent").”

Page 26 Para 3
a) Deity form of Lord, arca vigraha, discussed.
b) Nondifferent from the Lord when installed by acaryas who have realized
the Lord as described in Mantra 7
c) Just as forms Lord expands into like Balarama, Rama, Nrsinga etc are
nondifferent from Him, so Deity is nondifferent also
d) By worshiping arca-vigraha one approaches Lord and serve Him, and He
accepts that service.
e) Arca-vigraha descends at request of acaryas, and works just like different
forms of the Lord
f) Fools with material senses think Deity is material
g) Srila Prabhupada concludes paragraph: “This form may be seen as material
by the imperfect eyes of foolish people or kaniñöha-adhikärés, but such
people do not know that the Lord, being omnipotent and omniscient, can
transform matter into spirit and spirit into matter, as He desires.”

Page 26 Para 4
a) In Bhagavad Gita 9.11-12 Lord speaks, regretting fallen condition of
ignorant people who deride Him when He appears
b) He doesn’t appear to such people
c) He can only be appreciated in proportion to one’s degree of surrender.
d) Fallen condition due to forgetfulness of our relationship with Him
e) Srila Prabhupada concludes paragraph: “In this mantra, as well as in many
other Vedic mantras, it is clearly stated that the Lord has been supplying
goods to the living entities from time immemorial. A living being desires
something, and the Lord supplies the object of that desire in proportion to
one's qualification.
f) eg Kaliya lila, Madhvacarya’s statement about one not envying the Lord
when one has been chastised by Him.

Page 26 Para 5
a) If one wants a high position, like high court judge, one has to have 2 things
1. Qualification
2. Consent of authorities
b) Just qualification alone not sufficient
c) Similarly, Lord gives enjoyment in terms of our qualification, but still His
mercy is required also.

Page 27 Para 6
a) Generally people don’t know what to ask from the Lord, or what post to
seek
 b) Srila Prabhupada told stories of people asking for stupid things from the
Lord – pick up wood when woman fell, place mattresses on bank of river to
walk on while pulling barge.
c) But when one is properly situated, one knows – we need to be accepted in
Lord’s association to serve Him
d) Unfortunately materialists ask for other things. Therefore Bhagavad Gita
2.41 describes them as having splayed intelligence:
vyavasäyätmikä buddhir
ekeha kuru-nandana
bahu-çäkhä hy anantäç ca
buddhayo 'vyavasäyinäm
“Those who are on this path are resolute in purpose, and their aim is
one. O beloved child of the Kurus, the intelligence of those who are
irresolute is many-branched.”
e) Spiritual intelligence is one, but material intelligence is diverse
f) Srimad Bhagavatam 7.5.30-31 describes this:
30. “Prahläda Mahäräja replied: Because of their uncontrolled senses,
persons too addicted to materialistic life make progress toward hellish
conditions and repeatedly chew that which has already been chewed.
Their inclinations toward Kåñëa are never aroused, either by the
instructions of others, by their own efforts, or by a combination of both.
31. “Persons who are strongly entrapped by the consciousness of
enjoying material life, and who have therefore accepted as their leader
or guru a similar blind man attached to external sense objects, cannot
understand that the goal of life is to return home, back to Godhead, and
engage in the service of Lord Viñëu. As blind men guided by another
blind man miss the right path and fall into a ditch, materially attached
men led by another materially attached man are bound by the ropes of
fruitive labor, which are made of very strong cords, and they continue
again and again in materialistic life, suffering the threefold miseries.”
g) The forget real goal of going back to Godhead, and try other plans, which
are like chewing the chewed
h) But Lord is so kind he lets them continue like that.
i) Srila Prabhupada concludes paragraph: “Thus this mantra of Çré Éçopaniñad
uses the very appropriate word yäthätathyataù, indicating that the Lord
rewards the living entities just in pursuance of their desires. If a living
being wants to go to hell, the Lord allows him to do so without
interference, and if he wants to go back home, back to Godhead, the Lord
helps him.”

Page 27 Para 7
a) Krishna greatest or all, paribhuh
b) Asamurdhva – no one equal to greater than Him
c) Everyone else like beggar, asking things from Him.
d) If we were equal to or greater than Him, omnipotent and omniscient, we
would never have to ask anything from Him, even liberation
 e) That liberation is going back to Godhead, not something impersonal
f) Srila Prabhupada concludes paragraph: “Liberation as conceived of by an
impersonalist is a myth, and begging for sense gratification has to continue
eternally unless the beggar comes to his spiritual senses and realizes his
constitutional position.

Page 27 Para 8
a) Only Krishna is self-sufficient
b) When He was here He did many things only possible for Supreme Lord:
1. In His childhood He killed many powerful demons, such as
Aghäsura, Bakäsura and Çakaöäsura, and there was no question of
His having acquired such power through any extraneous endeavor.
2. He lifted Govardhana Hill without ever practicing weight-lifting.
3. He danced with the gopés without social restriction and without
reproach.
c) His relationships with the gopis are glorifiedand worshiped by Lord
Caitanya as completely pure, and He was a very strict sannyasi
d) Lord always pure and uncontaminated, and Isopanisad confirms this by
describing Him as “as çuddham (antiseptic) and apäpa-viddham
(prophylactic).”
e) Prophylactic refers to the power of His association.
f) As mentioned in Bhagavad Gita 9.30-31, devotee may be suduracara, but
should still be accepted as pure because he’s on right path, due to the
prophylactic power of Lord:
api cet su-duräcäro
bhajate mäm ananya-bhäk
sädhur eva sa mantavyaù
samyag vyavasito hi saù
kñipraà bhavati dharmätmä
çaçvac-chäntià nigacchati
kaunteya pratijänéhi
na me bhaktaù praëaçyati
30. “Even if one commits the most abominable action, if he is engaged
in devotional service he is to be considered saintly because he is
properly situated in his determination.”
31. “He quickly becomes righteous and attains lasting peace. O son of
Kunté, declare it boldly that My devotee never perishes.”
g) He is also like that because sin cannot touch Him. Even if He does
something that seems sinful, it isn’t It is all good.
h) For example dancing with gopis, as mentioned above.
i) Example given of sun: “The sun extracts moisture from many untouchable
places on the earth, yet it remains pure. In fact, it purifies obnoxious things
by virtue of its sterilizing powers. If the sun, which is a material object, is
so powerful, then we can hardly begin to imagine the purifying strength of
the all-powerful Lord.”
Krishna and the guru can purify others:
Prabhupada: You see, Krishna says that aham tvam sarva-papebhyo
moksayisyami. So Krishna's so powerful He can immediately take up all
the sins of others and remove them. But when a living entity plays the
part on behalf of Krishna, he also takes the responsibility for the sinful
activities of his devotee. So to become a guru is not an easy task. You
see? He has to take all the poisons and absorb them. So sometimes,
because he's not Krishna, there is some trouble. Therefore Caitanya
Mahaprabhu warned "Don't make many sisyas, many disciples." But for
our preaching work we have to accept many disciples, to expand our
movement. Never mind that we suffer. That's a fact. The spiritual
master has to take the responsibility of all the sinful activities of his
disciples. So to make many disciples is a risky business unless he's able
to assimilate all their sins ... patitanam pavanebhyo. He takes
responsibility for all the fallen souls ... That idea is in the Bible. Just
like Jesus Christ took all the sinful reactions of all the people and
sacrificed his life. That is the responsibility of the spiritual master.
Because he's Krishna's representative. So Krishna takes all
responsibility. Krishna is Krishna, apapa-viddham. He cannot be
attacked by any sinful reaction. But a living entity may be subjected
sometimes, because he's small. Big fire, small fire. If you put some big
things on a small fire, then the fire itself may be extinguished.
Whatever you put on a big fire, that's all right. The big fire can consume
anything.
Conv Bob Cohen Mayapur 72