Aphorisms of the Truth - by Bhaktivinode Thakur part 8

In the next sutra the author reveals that the Supreme Lord does not increase when He creates the universe. Neither does He become less when He destroys the universe.

Sutra 9
Because He is perfect and complete, His nature is always unchanged.

Commentary by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura
In the Isa Upanisad it is said:
"The Personality of Godhead is perfect and complete."
Here someone may ask: If the Supreme Personality of Godhead is perfect and complete, then what motivates Him to create the material world?
In the next sutra the author answers this question.

Sutra 10
Compassion is the motive of His actions. He has no other motive, for His every desire is at once fulfilled without any effort on His part.

Commentary by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura
Compassion is the motive of the Supreme Lord's actions. He has no other motive, for His every desire is at once fulfilled without any effect on His part. However, the conditioned souls act in a different way. They are busily engaged in various activities to attain their desires.
In the Sruti-sastra it is said:
"The conditioned souls act to fulfil their material desires."
"The Supreme Personality of Godhead has no need to act to fulfil His desires, for His every wish is at once fulfilled without His having to act."

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“Who am I?” Maybe you’ve never even asked yourself this question. You might think you already know who you are. Unfortunately, however, it’s likely that you don’t know who you are at all. And if you don’t know your real identity, you’re in trouble. You’ll spend your life in a kind of dream state—you’ll falsely identify yourself as something or someone you aren’t. Then, on the basis of this false identification, you’ll determine the goals of your life and the purpose of your existence. You use these goals to gauge whether you are making “progress” in life, whether you are a “success.” And you are aided and abetted in this delusion by a complex network of relationships with other dreamers. Of course, at death (and sometimes before), the whole thing turns into a nightmare.
So knowing who you are is a very practical necessity. The question “Who am I?” is not a philosophical football meant to be kicked around coffeehouses by pseudo-intellectuals. It’s a real-life question. Nothing is more important and more relevant than to know who you are.

Science of Identity Foundation - Siddhaswarupananda

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In the Smrti-sastra it is said:
"There is not anything that the Supreme Personality of Godhead does not attain merely by wishing for it.

In Srimad Bhagavatam (3.7.2-3), Vidura asks the following question:
"O great brahmana, since the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the complete spiritual whole and is unchangeable, how is He connected with the material modes of nature and their activities? If this is His pastime, how do the activities of the unchangeable take place and exhibit qualities without the modes of nature?"
"Boys are enthusiastic to play with other boys or with various diversions because they are encouraged by desire. But there is no possibility of such desire for the Lord because He is self-satisfied and detached from everything at all times.

Sri Maitreya Muni answered in these words (Srimad Bhagavatam 3.7.9):
"Certain conditioned souls put forward the theory that the Supreme Brahman, or the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is overcome by illusion, or maya, and at the same time they maintain that He is unconditioned. This is against all logic."
The following commentary is given for this verse:
This verse means, "the idea that the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is the master of inconceivable transcendental potencies and the supreme controller of all, can become bewildered by the illusory potency maya is an idea that is against all logic."

In Srimad Bhagavatam (2.3.36) it is also said:
"The Lord, whose activities are always spotless, is the master of the six senses and is fully omnipotent with six opulences. He creates the manifested universes, maintains them, and annihilates them without being in the least affected. He is within every living being and is always independent."

In the Taittiriya Upanisad (3.6.1.) it is said:
"The Supreme Personality of Godhead is bliss. From His bliss all living entities are born. Because of His bliss they remain alive. Departing this world, they attain Him, the supreme bliss."

Aphorisms of the Truth - by Bhaktivinode Thakur part 7

Here someone may protest: Is it not so that by creating the material worlds and performing other activities the Supreme Personality of Godhead becomes affected by that activity and His nature becomes different from what it was before? Does He not become enamoured of what He has created? In the next sutra the author refutes this misconception.

Sutra 8
Because He is supremely independent, He does not become changed, even though He is the creator.

Commentary by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura
Here the protester declares, "whoever creates the material world must of necessity become affected by passionate attachment, hatred, and other like emotions." To this protest the reply is that because He is supreme independent and can do whatever He wishes to do, by His own will the Lord remains peaceful and aloof from material passions. Therefore, even though He is the creator of the material world, the Lord is not affected by material passions. In the Svetasvatara Upanisad (6.19) it is said:
"The Supreme Personality of Godhead is perfect and complete. He is peaceful and flawless. He is never affected by the material energy. His actions are never material."

In the Katha Upanisad (1.2.14) it is said:
"You can see the Supreme, who stands beyond material piety and impiety, beyond past and future. Please tell me about Him."

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WHO ARE YOU? DISCOVERING YOUR REAL IDENTITY
What is your essence? Is it matter—a mere collection of material atoms and molecules? Or is it something else?

Siddhaswarupananda - Chris Butler Speaks

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In Srimad Bhagavatam (10.9.13-16) it is said:
"The Supreme Personality of Godhead has no beginning and no end, no exterior and no interior, no front and no rear. In other words, He is all pervading. Because He is not under the influence of the element of time, for Him there is no difference between past, present, and future. He exists in His own transcendental form at all times. Being absolute, beyond reality, He is free from distinctions between cause and effect, although He is the cause and effect of everything. That unmanifested person, who is beyond the perception of the senses, has now appeared as a human child, and mother Yasoda, considering Him her own ordinary child, bound Him to the wooden mortar with a rope."
"When mother Yasoda was trying to bind the offending child, she saw that the binding rope was short by a distance the width of two fingers. Thus she brought another rope to join to it."
"The new rope also was short by a measurement of two fingers, and when another rope was joined to it, it was still two fingers too short. As many ropes as she joined, all of them failed. Their shortness could not be overcome."

Aphorisms of the Truth - by Bhaktivinode Thakur part 6

In the next sutra the author refutes the idea that the transcendental potency is different from the Lord Himself.

Sutra 7
If someone claims, "The Lord is different from His potency", then I reply, "No. It is not so, for they are not different."

Commentary by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura
If someone claims that the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the creator of the worlds, is different from His potency, then this sutra is spoken to refute him. Because the Supreme Personality of Godhead is not different from His many potencies, the potencies are not different from Him. This is described in the following words of the Nyaya-sastra:
"The Supreme Personality of Godhead, the master of all potencies, is not different from His potencies."

In the Svetasvatara Upanisad (6.8.) it is said:
"The Lord's potencies of knowledge, power and action share His own nature. They are not different from Him."

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There is nothing more dangerous to real religion than fanatics who seek to lord over others by force in the name of God.

Siddhaswarupananda - Jagad Guru Speaks

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In Visnu Purana (1.22.53) it is said:
"Just as the illumination of a fire, which is situated in one place, is spread over, the energies of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Parabrahman, are spread all over the universe."

In the Markandeya Purana, Devi-mahatmya, the sage explains:
"O king, now I will describe to you the glories of the goddess. By her power she sustains the entire world.
"She is the potency of Lord Visnu. From her comes transcendental knowledge. You and many others have attained transcendental knowledge by her grace."

In the Narada-pancaratra, Second Night, Third Chapter, Lord Siva explains:
"The Supreme Lord is one. Still, He is manifested in two forms. One form is female: the potency of Lord Visnu. The other form is male: The all powerful Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself.
"His form is dark. All His desires are at once fulfilled. He has all transcendental virtues. He is free of the modes of material nature. Anyone who directly sees Him will fall in love with Him and yearn to enjoy charming pastimes with Him."

Aphorisms of the Truth - by Bhaktivinode Thakur part 5

In the Katha Upanisad (2.3.2-3) it is said:
"That Supreme Personality of Godhead is powerful like a thunderbolt. The entire world moves in fear of Him. They who know this become immortal.
"Out of fear of Him, fire burns. Out of fear of Him, the sun shines. Out of fear of Him, Indra, Vayu, and Yama act."

In Srimad Bhagavatam (3.25.42) the Supreme Personality of Godhead declares:
"It is because of My supremacy that the wind blows, out of fear of Me. The sun shines out of fear of Me, and the lord of clouds, Indra, sends forth showers out of fear of Me. Fire burns out of fear of Me, and death goes about taking its toll out of fear of Me."

In Srimad Bhagavatam (10.29.1) it is said:
"Sri Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, full of all opulences, yet upon seeing those autumn nights scented with blossoming jasmine flowers, He turned His mind toward loving affairs. To fulfil His purposes He employed His internal potencies."
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BRAHMA AND NARADA – BONAFIDE GURU, BONAFIDE DISCIPLE
A fake guru wants his followers to believe that he is God Himself—that's why he tries to impress them with his mystic powers. If the disciple of a phony guru were to express doubts about his guru's lordship, the guru would surely be angered. So how did Brahma react when Narada asked the questions, “Under whose protection are you standing? And under whom are you working? What is your real position?” And how did he react when Narada asked, “Yet we are moved to wonder about the existence of someone more powerful than you when we think of your great austerities in perfect discipline”? In response, Brahmaji was not angry. In fact, he was extremely pleased.

Science of Identity Foundation - Siddhaswarupananda

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In Sri Caitanya-caritamrta it is said:
"The holy name of Lord Krsna is the sweetest of the sweet and the most auspicious. It is the ripened fruit of the vine of all the Vedas. It is conscious and spiritual. O best of the Bhrgu dynasty, chanted only once, either with faith or even with contempt and mockery, the holy name of Lord Krsna delivers the chanter."

Srila Sukadeva Gosvami tells Maharaja Pariksit (Srimad Bhagavatam 12.3.14):
"O mighty Pariksit, I have related to you the narrations of all these great kings, who spread their fame throughout the world and then departed. My real purpose was to teach transcendental knowledge and renunciation. Stories of kings lend power and opulence to these narrations but do not in themselves constitute the ultimate aspect of knowledge.”

In the Gopala-tapani Upanisad (2.95) it is said:
"Whether visible or invisible in this world, My form always stays in My abode. My form is also present as the Deity of ignorance, the Deity of passion and the Deity of goodness. My humanlike form, which is eternal and full of transcendental knowledge and bliss, is present when My devotees serve Me with devotion."

Aphorisms of the Truth - by Bhaktivinode Thakur part 4

Here someone may protest: If this is so, and the Supreme Lord is attained by devotional service, then the Supreme Lord must be a resident of the material world, (for devotional services are rendered in the material world). To refute this idea the author now speaks the fifth sutra.

Sutra 5
He is the eternal Supreme Truth, beginningless and endless, for He exists beyond the limits of space and time.

Commentary by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura
In the Sruti-sastra it is said:
"The Supreme is the eternal reality, full of knowledge and bliss."
"The Supreme is eternal. He never dies."
"The Supreme Lord never dies."
"The Supreme Lord is present everywhere in the material world, but He is also beyond it."

In Bhagavad-gita it is said:
"The Supreme Personality of Godhead is all-pervading."

In Srimad Bhagavatam it is said:
"Matter has no power to prevail over the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the master of the spiritual worlds."

In Srimad Bhagavatam (2.9.10) it is also said:
"In that personal abode of the Lord, the material modes of ignorance and passion do not prevail, nor is that any of their influence in goodness. There is no predominance of the influence of time, so what to speak of the illusory, external energy. It cannot enter that region. Without discrimination, both the demigods and demons worship the Lord as devotees."

In the Katha Upanisad (1.3.15) it is said:
"The Supreme is beyond material sound, touch, form, taste, or smell. He is eternal. He never dies. He has neither beginning nor end. He is beyond the material world. One who takes shelter of Him escapes the mouth of death."

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The chief historical proponent of such “I am God”ism philosophy was Sripad Shankaracharya. Shankaracharya lived and preached throughout India in the eighth century. The preaching of Shankaracharya and his followers was so strong that, practically speaking, it drove Buddhism out of India. Today, throughout India and the world, Shankaracharya's teachings (or slight variations of them) are still having a tremendous influence on people.
In Calcutta, India, for example, we can see the ridiculous sight of a starving, sore-infested man meditating on the side of the road: “I am God. I am God.” In America and Europe, you'll find many so-called yogis and gurus who are directly or indirectly in Shankaracharya's line of “I am God” ism teachers.


Siddhaswarupananda - Chris Butler Speaks

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Here someone may protest: If the Supreme Lord is beyond the material world, as you say, then why does He create the material universes in the first place?
To answer this protect, the author of the sutras speaks the following words:

Sutra 6
Although He is transcendental, the playful Lord creates the material universes filled with conscious beings and inert matter.

Commentary by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura
In the Aitareya Upanisad (1.1.1.) it is said:
"With a glance the Supreme Personality of Godhead created the material worlds."

In the Chandogya Upanisad (6.2.3.) it is said:
"The Supreme Personality of Godhead thought: I am one. Let Me become many. I shall father many children."

In the Taittiriya Upanisad (3.1.1.) it is said:
"The Supreme Absolute Truth is that from which everything is born."

Aphorisms of the Truth - by Bhaktivinode Thakur part 3

The question may be asked, "O Lord, what are You like?" The verse explains, "O Lord, You are beyond the material modes of goodness, passion and ignorance." This means that the material modes, which cause happiness, misery and mixtures of the two, do not exist in the Lord. It is the potency of spiritual bliss that exists in the Lord. Thus it is said.
In the Markandeya Purana, Sakti-mahatmya, First Chapter, Candi declares:
"No one should be surprised that the Supreme Personality of Godhead enjoys pastimes of yoga-nidra (mystic sleep). After all, the Lord's illusory potency maya bewilders the entire material world.
"Entering even the sages' hearts, Goddess Maha-maya bewilders the conditioned souls.
"By her this entire material universe of moving and unmoving beings is created. When she is satisfied she gives the blessing of liberation to the conditioned souls.
"She is the eternal transcendental knowledge that brings liberation. She is also the potency that binds the conditioned souls in the world of birth and death. She is the goddess of all goddesses."

In the Bhagavad-gita (9.8-9), the Supreme Personality of Godhead declares:
"The whole cosmic order is under Me. By My will it is manifested again and again, and by My will it is annihilated at the end.
"O Dhananjaya, all this work cannot bind Me. I am ever detached, seated as though neutral."

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There is enough in the world to fulfill everyone’s needs, but not enough to fulfill everyone’s greed. In some parts of the world, people are dying from severe undernourishment, while in other parts of the world people are dying from obesity.

Science of Identity Foundation - Siddhaswarupananda

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In the Hayasirsa-pancaratra it is said:
"The Supreme Lord's transcendental bliss is said to be of two kinds: 1. that of His form, and 2. that of His formless aspect. The form of the Lord is the shelter of His formless aspect. Therefore it is the bliss of the Lord's aspect with form that is really eternal and imperishable.
"The Lord's form and His formless aspect are both full of knowledge and beyond the touch of the material modes. These qualities are also present in the original forms of the individual spirit souls.
"In truth, there is no real difference between the Lord's form and His formless aspect. The difference is only an imagination of the Vedas. The two are like a jewel and its splendour."

In the Kapila-pancaratra it is said:
"The Supreme has two aspects: 1. His transcendental form, and 2. His formless aspect. Thus it should be known that all-powerful Lord Narayana has a form and is formless also."

In the Hayasirsa-pancaratra it is said:
"The Vedas say that the Supreme has no qualities. But they also say that He certainly does have qualities. By carefully considering all the statement of the Vedas, we have come to the conclusion that more weight should be given to the statements affirming the Lord's possession of transcendental qualities."

Aphorisms of the Truth - by Bhaktivinode Thakur part 2

Here someone may protest: You consider the Supreme both beyond the modes of material nature and the master of all potencies. How is it possible to ascribe these two mutually contradictory natures to the Lord? In the following words the author of the sutras refutes this protest:

Sutra 3
“No one should be surprised that the Supreme possesses mutually contradictory natures.”

Commentary by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura.
That the Supreme Personality of Godhead possesses mutually contradictory natures should not be a source of wonder. In the Svetasvatara Upanisad (3.19) it is said:
"Although the Supreme Lord is described as having no hands or legs, He nonetheless accepts all sacrificial offerings and moves very quickly. He has no material eyes, yet He sees everything. He has no material ears, yet He hears everything."

In Bhagavad-gita (4.39-40), the Lord declares:
"A faithful man who is dedicated to transcendental knowledge and who subdues his senses is eligible to achieve such knowledge, and having achieved it he quickly attains the supreme spiritual peace.
But ignorant and faithless persons who doubt the revealed scriptures do not attain God consciousness. They fall down. For the doubting soul there is happiness neither in this world nor in the next."

Here someone may ask: How can one understand the truth of this Supreme who has many mutually contradictory natures?
To answer this question the author of the sutras speaks the following words:

Sutra 4
He is eternal and full of knowledge and bliss. He cannot be known by ordinary knowledge, for He is known only by devotional service.

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DISPOSABLE PLANET
Most people are not concerned about the problems we are creating on earth. Our whole attitude towards this planet is that it is disposable. Everyone thinks that they can take anything they want, exploit it, and then conveniently throw it away. So many things have become disposable, not only diapers, towels, plates and spoons, but babies, wives, husbands and old people too.

Science of Identity Foundation - Siddhaswarupananda

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Commentary by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura
The Supreme Personality of Godhead is eternal and full of knowledge and bliss. He cannot be known by the material mind or described by material words. He is known only by devotional service. The Sruti-sastra declares:
"The material mind cannot understand the Supreme. Material words cannot describe Him."

In Srimad Bhagavatam (11.12.21), the Supreme Lord Himself declares:
"I am understood only by devotional service."

In the Sruti-sastra it is said:
"The Supreme is eternal and full of knowledge and bliss."

In the Brahma-samhita (5.1) it is said:
"Krsna, who is known as Govinda, is the supreme controller. He has an eternal, blissful, spiritual body. He is the origin of all. He has no other origin, for He is the prime cause of all causes."

In the Visnu Purana is the following explanation of the word sac-cid-ananda:
"O Lord, You are the support of everything. The three attributes hladini, sandhini, and samvit exist in You as one spiritual energy. But the material modes, which cause happiness, misery, and mixtures of the two, do not exist in You, for You have no material qualities."

A commentary on this verse follows:
The verse means, "O Supreme Personality of Godhead, in You, who are the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the supreme controller, and the shelter of all, exists one inconceivable potency, which is manifested in three as hladini, sandhini, and samvit." That is the meaning.

Aphorisms of the Truth - by Bhaktivinode Thakur part 1

Chapter One

Tattva-prakarana
The Truth

Therefore, without any introduction, the first sutra declares:

Sutra 1
“The Supreme is one. He has no rival.”

Commentary by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura

The Sruti-sastra declares:
"There is one Supreme God. He has no rival. There are not many Gods."
Here someone may protest: If it were so that there is only one Supreme God and no other Gods, then that one God would have to perform by Himself all the many duties involved in creating, maintaining, and destroying the universes. He would have to perform them all without any help from anyone else.
To refute this protest, the author of the sutras speaks the following words:

Sutra 2
"Because He is limitless, He has all powers, even though He remains beyond the touch of the modes of material nature."

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If a person sees himself as the Supreme Enjoyer, he will automatically live a life of exploitation. He will not respect others or the environment, nor will he care for the well-being of others. He will lead a hedonistic life of unrestricted sense enjoyment, lording over everything and everyone. Although human in form, he will be no more than an animal who lives by the philosophy “might makes right.”

Science of Identity Foundation - Siddhaswarupananda

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This sutra means that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is beyond the modes of nature and He has all powers. This is so because He is limitless, which is to say that He cannot be measured or understood by direct perception of the material senses or by any other material means. This is described in the following words of Svetasvatara Upanisad (3.19):
"His potencies are multifarious, and thus His deeds are automatically performed as a natural sequence."

In Srimad Bhagavatam (2.2.35) Srila Sukadeva Gosvami explains:
"The Personality of Godhead Lord Sri Krsna is in every living being alone with the individual soul. And this fact is perceived and hypothesized in our acts of seeing and taking help from the intelligence."

In Srimad Bhagavatam (4.20.7) it is also said:
"The individual soul is one, pure, non material, and self effulgent. He is the reservoir of all good qualities, and He is all-pervading. He is without material covering, and He is the witness of all activities. He is completely distinguished from other living entities, and He is transcendental to all embodied souls."

In Srimad Bhagavatam (11.7.23) it is also said:
"Although I, the Supreme Lord, can never be captured by ordinary sense perception, those situated in human life may use their intelligence and other faculties of perception to directly search for Me through apparent and indirectly ascertained symptoms."

In the Narada-pancaratra it is said:
"The Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is beyond the world of matter, who is the supreme object of worship, whose desires are all fulfilled, and whom all living entities yearn to attain, is described in the Pancaratras."