The Original Cause
Bg 7.10
bījaṁ māṁ sarva-bhūtānāṁ
viddhi pārtha sanātanam
buddhir buddhimatām asmi
tejas tejasvinām aham
Synonyms
bījam — the seed; mām — Me; sarva-bhūtānām — of all living entities; viddhi — try to understand; pārtha — O son of Pṛthā; sanātanam — original, eternal; buddhiḥ — intelligence; buddhi-matām — of the intelligent; asmi — I am; tejaḥ — prowess; tejasvinām — of the powerful; aham — I am.
Translation
O son of Pṛthā, know that I am the original seed of all existences, the intelligence of the intelligent, and the prowess of all powerful men.
Purport
Bījam means seed; Kṛṣṇa is the seed of everything. There are various living entities, movable and inert. Birds, beasts, men and many other living creatures are moving living entities; trees and plants, however, are inert – they cannot move, but only stand. Every entity is contained within the scope of 8,400,000 species of life; some of them are moving and some of them are inert. In all cases, however, the seed of their life is Kṛṣṇa. As stated in Vedic literature, Brahman, or the Supreme Absolute Truth, is that from which everything is emanating. Kṛṣṇa is Para-brahman, the Supreme Spirit. Brahman is impersonal and Para-brahman is personal. Impersonal Brahman is situated in the personal aspect – that is stated in Bhagavad-gītā. Therefore, originally, Kṛṣṇa is the source of everything. He is the root. As the root of a tree maintains the whole tree, Kṛṣṇa, being the original root of all things, maintains everything in this material manifestation. This is also confirmed in the Vedic literature (Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2.2.13):
nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām
eko bahūnāṁ yo vidadhāti kāmān
He is the prime eternal among all eternals. He is the supreme living entity of all living entities, and He alone is maintaining all life. One cannot do anything without intelligence, and Kṛṣṇa also says that He is the root of all intelligence. Unless a person is intelligent he cannot understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa.
We continue reading Kṛṣṇa’s statements concerning His presence in this material world. The first point is “bījam māṁ sarva-bhūtānām.” Prabhupāda explains that there are so many living beings — 8,400,000 species of life. That is a great many species. Even modern science… perhaps has counted up to one quarter of that. But we know from Vedic literature that this is the number of species.
In general, they are divided into two main categories: moving and nonmoving. All trees and plants that put roots into the earth are nonmoving living beings. Everything else moves. But whether they move or not — they are alive.
Sometimes one hears the speculation that only human beings have a soul. Then the question arises: “How is it that a dog barks?” or “How is it that a cow moos?” How is it… in other words, how is it that all plants and animals are alive? What makes us think that human beings possess a soul, whereas the lower species do not have it, do not have feelings? This is simply speculation. All beings are alive, and the word “alive” means that they have a soul.
But that statement also is not quite exact: it is not that we are this body and we have a soul, but rather — we are the soul and we have this material body. It is a common mistake of less intelligent people to think that they are this body and that they have a soul.
But that which is alive is also eternal. We find this also here: “bījam māṁ sarva-bhūtānām viddhi pārtha sanātanam.” Sanātanam means “eternal.” Every living being is an eternal spiritual spark, without beginning and without end. How can we understand this? All living beings are created by the Supreme Person, God. And creation means “giving a beginning.” “Giving a beginning” means that there was a time when that which now exists did not exist.
So this is one of the inconceivable characteristics of living beings — they have no beginning and yet at the same time they are created by the Supreme Person, God. Therefore we say that we are integral parts of the Supreme Person, God. And as Śrīla Prabhupāda quotes in the purport: “nityo nityānām cetanaś cetanānām,” there are so many eternal beings — nitya means “eternal”; nityānām is the plural — and among these countless eternal beings there is one Eternal Living Being who is Supreme. “Cetanaś cetanānām” — and all of them, which is the characteristic feature of every living being, possess cetanā — the life force, or consciousness.
Experiments have been done on plants. It has been discovered that they also possess consciousness and feelings. A certain woman wanted to check whether the way she relates to plants affects their growth. Thus, when she spoke to them very gently or sang to them, they grew beautifully. She also had other plants to which she spoke harshly, and they did not grow so nicely.
Experiments were also carried out measuring electric currents — the researchers checked in this way the reactions of plants and noticed that if someone approaches a plant with scissors, it responds with something that can be read as fear. Thus, the characteristic feature of a living being is that there is consciousness within it. And consciousness means that there is feeling: the feeling of fear, the feeling of affection — there are so many feelings…
There is a certain material theory which claims that personality is nothing more than just a collection of impressions; in the course of life we experience many sense impressions which together make up the personality. Then the problem arises: how does it happen, and what is that which connects these impressions with one another? There are so many impressions, but why should they join together and form something like a personality? How is it that you have a sense of self and I have a sense of my own person? Why is it not that all kinds of impressions simply float about in the air?
The scientists say: “Well, it happens because of memory.” All right, and what is this memory? Why should there exist something that is called memory? What is remembering? Or who remembers? Because in reality objects do not possess memory; it is persons who remember. Then the scientists might say: “In the brain there are many physical and chemical impressions.”
In that case, how is it that I can remember certain things for more than seven years? — “Because all the cells of the body are constantly being replaced. Certain memory cells pass information on to new memory cells, thus transmitting memory.” O.K. (laughter). In that case, how to explain that I can immediately recognize a person whom I have not seen for ten years?
This is one of the functions of the brain whose explanation scientists find difficult. And this is only one of the many, many functions of human living beings, what to speak of other living beings. As long as scientists deal with such living beings as animals, they explain many of their life functions as instinct. Instinct is a very convenient word. It does not mean anything. What meaning does this word have? What does it explain? No one really knows. With this word they explain so many astonishing behaviors of animals.
When I was young and living in California, I once visited a certain place. There was a monastery by the sea, and there was one particular day in the spring when all the swallows returning to their homes would fly there. One could be sure that every year, on that specific day, they would return to that monastery. Because of this they became famous, and many people, crowds of people, would come there and wait to see hundreds of swallows returning. So where did they get the information that today is, for example, the 23rd of March, or whatever other day it was on which they were meant to return?
Living beings possess consciousness; and consciousness in turn entails another thing — intelligence. “Buddhir buddhimatām asmi” — this is the next line of this verse. Every living being shows a certain degree of intelligence. Those who exhibit a great potential of it are respected in this world — they are given Nobel Prizes, etc.
Śrīla Prabhupāda therefore used to say — giving Albert Einstein as an example — “If he is intelligent, then why does he not create a brain like the one he himself has?” In other words, why not give the credit to the person who created his brain? This is one of the things we most criticize in modern science — scientists do not give the credit where it is due. They are not able to recognize the greatest scientist — Kṛṣṇa.
Kṛṣṇa thus says that wherever we see some intelligence — where does it come from? It comes from Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa says in the 15th chapter of the Bhagavad-gītā:
sarvasya cāham hṛdi sanniviṣṭo
mattaḥ smṛtir jñānam apohanam ca
He gives intelligence to every living being within its heart. He gives knowledge, memory, and He allows the living entity to forget.
Returning to the verse quoted from the Kaṭha Upaniṣad: “eko bahūnām yo vidadhāti kāmān” — this is the function of the Supreme Eternal Being in relation to all the other eternal beings. “Eko” means “one,” “bahūnām” means “many.” “Yo vidadhāti” — “dadhāti” means “to give.” So what does Kṛṣṇa give? He gives everything. “Kāmān” — whatever a living entity desires, Kṛṣṇa supplies it to her.
And now the next part of this verse, which has not been quoted here, says:
“tam ātma-sthaṁ ye 'nupaśyanti dhīrās teṣāṁ śāntiḥ śāśvatī netareṣām.”
A person who is dhīra — sober or steady — can understand this fact. And therefore “teṣāṁ śāntiḥ” — he can attain peace.
The fact that we are eternal, that Kṛṣṇa is also eternal, and that He provides us with everything we need, should be the result of understanding the philosophy of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. It is a very simple matter, but no one understands it, and therefore everyone is overwhelmed by anxiety. For this reason everyone works very hard just to maintain himself and does not see that Kṛṣṇa already maintains all living beings in the entire universe.
So the last point that Kṛṣṇa makes in this verse is “tejas tejasvinām aham” — He is the heroism, the prowess, of all powerful people. And this should be distinguished from another statement that Kṛṣṇa makes in the next verse: “balaṁ balavatāṁ cāham” — that He is the strength of the strong.
What is the difference between strength and heroism, prowess? We see that there are different kinds of strength. Let us take, for example, a powerful politician (we are not speaking about his physical strength) — he may utter a sentence that will change the lives of millions of people. He may be a good actor. Recently in America we have been electing to leadership people who are good film actors (laughter). This also applies to contemporary India — some politicians in South India are exceptionally good actors.
We all know how many useless pieces of information were crammed into our heads at school. Or is it that in Polish schools they give us only valuable information? No, they gave us nothing but meaningless information, which we quickly forgot. Yes? Fortunately, we forget.
But the information that Kṛṣṇa gives in the Bhagavad-gītā we want to remember. So the best way to remember it is to think — while we are reading or hearing — how we can repeat it, to whom we can repeat it, in what context, and how to formulate the ideas presented by Kṛṣṇa — that is, how we can convince others of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
And when we cultivate this way of thinking: “How can I give Kṛṣṇa consciousness to others?”, then Kṛṣṇa gives us many opportunities. And when we get the chance to give Kṛṣṇa to others, life becomes very happy.
I will stop here. Are there any questions?
Question: You said that intelligence has to be given to us by Kṛṣṇa. We do not have it. So if we did not have any intelligence when we were with Kṛṣṇa, then I am not surprised that Kṛṣṇa sent us here, to the material world.
Kṛṣṇa Kṣetra Swami: Somewhere I got lost. You are surprised that we were sent to the material world?
Translator: He is not surprised, because he thinks that when we were with Kṛṣṇa in the spiritual world, we did not possess any intelligence, since we still have to receive it from Him.
Kṛṣṇa Kṣetra Swami: All right. Interesting. (laughter) Anything else?
Questioner: No, that’s all. (laughter)
Kṛṣṇa Kṣetra Swami: OK. (pause) This Ekādaśī today is difficult. (laughter)
Question: How can we understand the activity of the living entity as a spiritual spark while we are still in the material world? Because it is said that in reality it is not we who act, but the three modes of material nature that act. And on the other hand the spiritual spark is constantly active.
Kṛṣṇa Kṣetra Swami: Yes, that is indeed an interesting question, because it seems — it seems! — that here, in the Bhagavad-gītā, there is a contradiction. On the one hand Kṛṣṇa says that if someone thinks he is the doer of action, he is a fool — mūḍha. And on the other hand Kṛṣṇa says that the living entity is kartā — the doer.
The key to understanding this is the statement spoken by Kṛṣṇa to Arjuna: “nimitta-mātram bhava” — “You should become My instrument.” If someone agrees to submit to Kṛṣṇa, then he becomes Kṛṣṇa’s instrument, His tool. He acts in a free way, and his deeds have meaning. Whereas activities not performed under Kṛṣṇa’s direction have no meaning — they are completely determined by the three modes of nature.
Kṛṣṇa said to Arjuna at the end of the Bhagavad-gītā: “Now you have a choice: you can act according to My instructions, or you can not act according to them; but in every case you will act according to your nature — as a kṣatriya.”
What did Arjuna want to do? He wanted to give up fighting, he wanted to go to the forest and become a brāhmaṇa. So Kṛṣṇa said to him: “Forget it! Even if you go to the forest, you will act as a kṣatriya.” Which means that he would probably end up fighting with some demons to protect the sages in the forest, or something like that. And the second possibility is that he would become some kind of forest bandit creating trouble for others — a sort of forest terrorist.
By the example of Arjuna we can realize that he is a kṣatriya, but as a kṣatriya he can act under the influence of the three guṇas of material nature: goodness, passion and ignorance. He can also act in a transcendental way. In every case the living entity has a choice: she can elevate herself or she can degrade herself. And the fact that the living entity has freedom indicates that the goal of the Vedas is full of meaning. Everyone has freedom. Everyone has the possibility of elevating himself by following the Vedic injunctions, and the possibility of degrading himself by rejecting them.
It is not true when someone claims: “I am completely helpless, because in any case everything is determined by the three modes of material nature. I cannot do anything for my own good.” Under the influence of the three modes of nature we receive a particular type of body, which is a vehicle that carries us through this life.
Hridayānanda Goswami gives a wonderful example: you buy a ticket for a flight to India, you get on the airplane, the doors close; it has already taken off and there is only one direction — New Delhi. But during the flight, which lasts about eight hours, you can do so many things: you can read the Bhagavad-gītā or — on some airlines, for example Pan Am — there is a cinema, you can watch films. Films are always foolish, so watching them is a waste of time.
On board there may also be some criminal who wants to hijack the plane. And what will happen if this attempt fails? If the plane lands in New Delhi? The security system will act — the criminal will immediately be arrested. During this flight he has changed his karma and will receive reactions — so much suffering.
But if, on the plane flying to New Delhi, you are reading the Bhagavad-gītā, then, after landing, you can very peacefully get on a bus and go to Vṛndāvana. OK?
Question: It is said that the living entity acts under the influence of the three modes of material nature. When, at what moment, does this influence cease?
Kṛṣṇa Kṣetra Swami: As soon as you completely surrender to Kṛṣṇa.
By the example of Arjuna we can realize that he is a kṣatriya, but as a kṣatriya he can act under the influence of the three guṇas of material nature: goodness, passion and ignorance. He can also act in a transcendental way. In every case the living entity has a choice: she can elevate herself or she can degrade herself. And the fact that the living entity has freedom indicates that the goal of the Vedas is full of meaning. Everyone has freedom. Everyone has the possibility of elevating himself by following the Vedic injunctions, and the possibility of degrading himself by rejecting them.
It is not true when someone claims: “I am completely helpless, because in any case everything is determined by the three modes of material nature. I cannot do anything for my own good.” Under the influence of the three modes of nature we receive a particular type of body, which is a vehicle that carries us through this life.
Hridayānanda Goswami gives a wonderful example: you buy a ticket for a flight to India, you get on the airplane, the doors close; it has already taken off and there is only one direction — New Delhi. But during the flight, which lasts about eight hours, you can do so many things: you can read the Bhagavad-gītā or — on some airlines, for example Pan Am — there is a cinema, you can watch films. Films are always foolish, so watching them is a waste of time.
On board there may also be some criminal who wants to hijack the plane. And what will happen if this attempt fails? If the plane lands in New Delhi? The security system will act — the criminal will immediately be arrested. During this flight he has changed his karma and will receive reactions — so much suffering.
But if, on the plane flying to New Delhi, you are reading the Bhagavad-gītā, then, after landing, you can very peacefully get on a bus and go to Vṛndāvana. OK?
Question: It is said that the living entity acts under the influence of the three modes of material nature. When, at what moment, does this influence cease?
Kṛṣṇa Kṣetra Swami: As soon as you completely surrender to Kṛṣṇa.
mām ca yo 'vyabhicāreṇa
bhakti-yogena sevate
sa guṇān samatītyaitān
brahma-bhūyāya kalpate (Bg. 14.26)
When you are fully engaged in devotional service — avyabhicāreṇa-bhakti means “completely dedicated to Kṛṣṇa.” Saḥ guṇān — “these guṇas”; samatītya etān — sama means “completely” — then you completely overcome these modes of material nature.
So what to do? Chant:
hare kṛṣṇa / hare kṛṣṇa / kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa / hare hare
hare rāma / hare rāma / rāma rāma / hare hare
Eh, but that is too easy. (laughter)
Question: I would like to ask about the position of the mahājanas. Do they hold their function temporarily, like Brahmā, or for life? (laughter)
Kṛṣṇa Kṣetra Swami: The word mahājana means “great personality.” Twelve mahājanas are mentioned, including Lord Śiva, Lord Brahmā, Kapila… who else? Who remembers the mahājanas?
Devotees: Bhīṣma, Yamarāja…
Kṛṣṇa Kṣetra Swami: Yes, Yamarāja is also mentioned; it is described in the Sixth Canto. One of them is also Śukadeva Gosvāmī.
Devotees: Manu, Prahlāda, the Kumāras…
Kṛṣṇa Kṣetra Swami: Manu, Prahlāda… the Kumāras, yes.
Devotees: Janaka…
Kṛṣṇa Kṣetra Swami: Yes, Janaka… So you are asking me whether this position is the same as the position of Lord Brahmā?
Questioning devotee: Yes, because the position of Brahmā is temporary and it is given to certain exalted souls. Is it the same with the position of the mahājanas? Is one a mahājana for some fixed time? Does the number of mahājanas increase or decrease?
Kṛṣṇa Kṣetra Swami: In fact, there are more than twelve of them. In the Caitanya-caritāmṛta Prabhupāda says that Rūpa Gosvāmī is a mahājana, and that the six Gosvāmīs are mahājanas. He also says that there are different kinds of mahājanas for particular types of people. He mentions that the demons also have their mahājanas: Hiraṇyakaśipu (laughter), Hiraṇyākṣa… He says that karmīs, those who work for results, also have their mahājanas.
In this sense, the term mahājana is a general term, like ācārya — one who sets the example. So our ācāryas are great mahājanas whom we follow; they are Vaiṣṇavas, liberated souls. Prahlāda Mahārāja, Nārada Muni — these are liberated souls. In other words, Lord Brahmā may have a certain temporary position — the post of Lord Brahmā. But he is also a person, and this person (we have the good fortune that our Lord Brahmā is a devotee) is a Vaiṣṇava, and not only a Vaiṣṇava — he is also a mahājana and moreover the leader of our sampradāya. Is that all right?
Questioning devotee: Yes, but is that why they are called holy fathers — Śrīla Prabhupāda mentions that they are our spiritual masters — because their lives are an example for us, or because they are constantly teaching?
Kṛṣṇa Kṣetra Swami: Nārada Muni is constantly teaching. The mahājanas do not have “days off” for themselves. They always live; they are always somewhere, but we do not know where. Why? It is said that Śrīla Vyāsadeva is all the time somewhere in the Himalayas. Madhvācārya went to visit him and became his disciple. There are others — Mārkaṇḍeya Ṛṣi, who is always somewhere nearby, and Paraśurāma, who is also somewhere close. Thus: “mahājano yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ.” They all mark out the path of religion.
Question: Why do acts of devotional service on Ekādaśī have such special power?
Kṛṣṇa Kṣetra Swami: Ekādaśī is a very auspicious day for devotional service. We can understand this even speaking in materialistic terms: by reducing the activity of the body through reducing the amount of food we take, we cause our mind to become peaceful. Therefore it is a good day for remembering Kṛṣṇa.
Questioning devotee: But why specifically this day? Can it be explained solely and exclusively on the basis of astrological calculations?
Kṛṣṇa Kṣetra Swami: I do not know what the technical explanation is as to why it is auspicious, but it was Lord Viṣṇu who declared that on this particular day the devotees can become freed from sinful activities. Therefore pāpa-puruṣa — the personification of sinful activities — having nowhere to go on Ekādaśī, complained to Lord Viṣṇu: “Where can I go on Ekādaśī?” And Lord Viṣṇu replied: “You can stay in the grains.” Therefore on Ekādaśī we do not eat grains, because it is like eating sin.
Question: A certain Polish devotee said that life after death is for those who die while living. Why is that so? (laughter)
Kṛṣṇa Kṣetra Swami: Can you repeat that? (laughter)
Translator: That life after death is for those who die while living.
Kṛṣṇa Kṣetra Swami: Who die while living? Well, that is nice, it is a kind of poetic way… Bob Dylan said something similar (laughter): “He not busy being born is busy dying.” What can I say? Who said it? Was it an anonymous Polish devotee?
Questioner: Edward Stachura. (laughter)
Kṛṣṇa Kṣetra Swami: Edward Stachura… Oh, he is not a Vaiṣṇava. (laughter) Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura said it much better (laughter). If I can remember: “He is mistaken who thinks that Vaiṣṇavas die, because they live in sound.” That is it. “The Vaiṣṇava lives still in sound. The Vaiṣṇavas die to live, and living they spread the Holy Name.” This is the epitaph that Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura wrote on the samādhi tomb of Haridāsa Ṭhākura.
The opposite statement is also true: “The karmī lives in order to die.” (laughter) In other words, he wastes his time by not preparing himself for eternal life. And the reason is that instead of being a brāhmaṇa (brāhmin — editor’s note), which means “one who has a broad mind, who is a mahātmā,” he is a kṛpaṇa — a miser.
One more question…
Question: It is said that Ekādaśī is an inauspicious day for making decisions. And what about decisions that concern devotional service or the path of spiritual progress?
Kṛṣṇa Kṣetra Swami: What decisions do you want to make?
Questioning devotee (woman): I have already made them.
Kṛṣṇa Kṣetra Swami: You have already made a decision?… Then, was it a good one?
Questioning devotee (woman): I do not know yet.
Kṛṣṇa Kṣetra Swami: She doesn’t know yet! Let us hope for the best. Is making decisions on Ekādaśī good or not? I have never heard anything about making decisions being inadvisable. No, that was supposed to be the last question. I think that now for a few minutes we should chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. What do you think about that?
Devotees: Yes, yes!
Kṛṣṇa Kṣetra Swami: All right.
Śrīla Prabhupāda ki! Jaya!