Chapter 10 - Vibhuthi Yoga

1. What does it mean When Lord Krishna says “Neither the hosts of demigods nor the
great sages know My origin or opulences”. (10.2).
Ans. It means that when even the demigods and the great sages cannot understand
Krsna they can understand neither His name nor His personality so what is the position
of so called scholars of this tiny planet. No one can understand why this Supreme God
comes to earth as an ordinary human being and executes such wonderful uncommon
activities. One should know that scholarship is not the qualification necessary to
understand Krsna. Even the demigods and the great sages have tried to understand
Krsna by their mental speculation and they have failed to do so.

2. If the Supreme Lord cannot be comprehended by even the great DemiGods and great
sages, then how can one comprehend the Supreme Lord?

Ans. One should know that scholarship is not the qualification necessary to understand Lord
Krishna. Here the Lord indirectly says that if anyone wants to know the Absolute Truth “Here I
am present as the Supreme Personality of GodHead. I am the Supreme”. We can actually
understand Krsna who is eternal full of bliss and knowledge simply by studying his words in
Bhagavad gita and Srimad Bhagavatam. The Personality of Godhead cannot be conceived
unless one is in the transcendental position. Only the devotees who are fully surrendered unto
the Supreme Lord can understand with His grace that He is Krishna. The devotees of the Lord
do not bother about the impersonal Brahman conception of God; their faith and devotion
bring them to surrender immediately unto the Supreme Lord and out of the causeless mercy
of Krishna they can understand Krishna. So even great sages agree : What is atma, what is the
Supreme? It is He whom we have to worship.

3. If Krishna creates all the various qualities like knowledge, forgiveness, freedom from
doubt, fear, fearlessness and so on (10.4, 10.5) then why do some people have good
qualities and some others do not?
Of whatever we find good or bad the origin is Krishna. Nothing can manifest itself in this
material world which is not in Krsna. So good and bad both come from Krsna but depending
on the three modes of material nature acting on a person according to his past karma and
according to his desires a person behaves good or bad. But one who engages in the devotional
service of the Supreme Lord develops all the good qualities as arranged by the Supreme Lord.

4. What does it mean when Krishna says the seven great sages and before them the four
great sages and Manu come from me (10.6)
Ans. The Lord is giving a genealogical synopsis of the universal population. Brahmā is the
original creature born out of the energy of the Supreme Lord, who is known as Hiraṇyagarbha.
And from Brahmā all the seven great sages, and before them four other great sages, named

 Sanaka, Sananda, Sanātana and Sanat-kumāra, and the fourteen Manus, are manifested. All
these twenty- ve great sages are known as the patriarchs of the living entities all over the
universe. There are innumerable universes and innumerable planets within each universe, and
each planet is full of population of different varieties. All of them are born of these twenty- ve
patriarchs. Brahmā underwent penance for one thousand years of the demigods before he
realized by the grace of Kṛṣṇa how to create. Then from Brahmā came Sanaka, Sananda,
Sanātana and Sanat-kumāra, then Rudra, and then the seven sages, and in this way all the
brāhmaṇas and kṣatriyas are born out of the energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Brahmā is known as Pitāmaha, the grandfather, and Kṛṣṇa is known as Prapitāmaha, the father
of the grandfather.
5. Who is a pure devotee that Lord Krishna says in 10.9 that will dwell in HIM (10.9)?
Ans. Pure devotees engage themselves fully in the transcendental loving service of the Lord.
Their minds cannot be diverted from the lotus feet of Krishna. They are twenty four hours
daily engaged in glorifying the qualities of the Supreme Lord and discussing Him with other
devotees. In the preliminary state they relish the transcendental pleasure from the service
itself and in the mature stage they are actually situated in love of God. Lord Caitanya says
the devotional service is like sowing of a seed in the heart of living entity and if he goes on
hearing and chanting Hare Krishna maha mantra that seed fructifies and gradually grows until
it penetrates the covering of the material universe and enters into the brahma jyoti
effulgence in the spiritual sky. It keeps growing until it reaches Goloka Vrindavana which is
the highest and is the Supreme planet of Krishna. Ultimately the plant takes shelter under the
lotus feet of Krishna and rests there. When the complete plant takes shelter under the lotus
feet of the Supreme Lord,one becomes fully absorbed in love of God then he cannot live even
for a moment without being in contact with the Supreme Lord, just as a fish cannot live
without water. In such a state the devotee actually attains the transcendental qualities in
contact with the Supreme Lord.

6. What does the word Buddhi Yoga mean and signify? (10.10)

Buddhi Yoga is action in Krishna consciousness, that is the highest intelligence. Buddhi means
intelligence and yoga means mystic elevation. Buddhi Yoga is the process by which one gets
out of the entanglement of this material world. When one knows the goal and seeks Krsna
completely in Krsna consciousness and devotional service he is acting in bhakti yoga or buddhi
yoga which is the complete yoga. This complete yoga is the highest perfectional stage of life.

7. How does the Lord destroy the darkness born of ignorance? (10.11)
Ans. The Lord destroys the darkness born of ignorance with the shining lamp of knowledge.
Lord reveals Himself to the heart of a pure devotee. The pure devotee always has Krsna
within his heart and with the presence of Krsna who is just like the sun the darkness of
ignorance is at once dissipated. This is the special mercy rendered to the pure devotee by
Krsna.
Due to the contamination of material association through many many millions of births one’s
heart is always covered with the dust of materialism but when one engages in devotional

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 service and constantly chants Hare Krsna the dust quickly clears and one is elevated to the
platform of pure knowledge.

8. Why is Arjuna called Gudakesa? (10.20)

Gudakesa means one who has conquered the darkness of sleep. For those who are sleeping in
the darkness of ignorance it is not possible to understand how the Supreme God manifests in
various ways in the material and spiritual worlds. Because Arjuna is above such darkness
Krishna agrees to describe his various opulences or extravagance.

9. What does it mean when Krishna says of all the Rudras I am Lord Siva (10.23)?
There are eleven Rudras of whom Lord Shiva is predominant. He is the incarnation of the
Supreme Lord in charge of the mode of ignorance in the Universe.

10. Why does Krishna  say that among Priests/Chiefs He is Brihaspati? (10.24)
Brihaspati is Indra’s priest and since Indra is the chief demigod and king of all Kings,
Brihaspati is the chief of all priests.

11. Lord Krishna says of all sacrifices (Yagnas) He is Japa, the chanting of holy names.
What is such a Japa or chant? (10.25)
Of all sacrifices the chanting of Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare
Rama Hare Ram Rama Rama Hare Hare is the purest representation of Krishna.This sacrifice
requires no violence . It is the simplest and purest.

12. Why does Lord Krishna say of all trees He is Banyan tree? (10.26)
The banyan tree is one of the highest and most beautiful trees and is worshipped often as
one’s daily morning rituals. Therefore Krishna says of all trees he is the Banyan tree.

13. Why does Krishna say among women He is the seven opulences? (10.34)
Because the seven opulences - fame, fortune, fine speech, memory, intelligence,
steadfastness and patience are considered feminine. If a person possesses all of them or some
of them he becomes glorious. 

14. What is the significance in Krishna saying of all poetry ( chandasam ) He is Gayatri?
(10.35)
Amongst the regulated poetry the Gayatri mantra which is chanted by the duly qualified
Brahmanas is the most prominent. Because the Gayatri mantra is especially meant for God
realization it represents the Supreme Lord. This mantra is meant for spiritually advanced

people and when one attains success in chanting it he can enter into the transcendental
position of the Lord. The Gayatri mantra is very important in Vedic civilization and is
considered to be the sound incarnation of Brahman. Brahmā is its initiator and it is passed
down from him in discipline succession.

15. Why does Lord Krishna say He is the gambling of cheats? (10.36 )
Gambling is said to be supreme cheating. As the Supreme, Krishna can be more deceitful than
any mere man. If He chooses to deceive a person no one can surpass Him in His deceit. His
greatness is not one sided - it is all sided.

16. Who is Ushanā? Why does Lord Krishna say of all thinkers He is Ushanā ?(10.37)
Among the kavis Ushanā ,was the spiritual master of the demons. He was an extremely
intelligent, far seeing political and spiritual in every way. Thus Ushanā is another
representative of the opulence of Krishna.

17. Why does Krishna say He is the silence in secrecy? (10.38)

Among the confidential activities of hearing, thinking and meditating silence is most
important because by silence one can make progress very quickly.

18. What does “Vistabhyanam idam krtsnam ekamsena sthito jagat” ( With a single
fragment of Myself I pervade and support this entire universe) mean? (10.42)
The Supreme Lord is represented throughout the entire material universes by His entering
into all things as the Supersoul. From Brahma the most gigantic entity to the smallest ant all
are existing because the Lord has entered each and all and is sustaining them. Worship of
demigods is discouraged herein because even the greatest demigods like Brahmā and Siva only
represent part of the opulence of the Supreme Lord. He is the origin of everyone born and no
one is greater than Him.