Start Lecture Transcribing:

TEXT 9
“tam utthitaà vékñya kuläcalaà punaù
samudyatä nirmathituà suräsuräù
dadhära påñöhena sa lakña-yojana-
prastäriëä dvépa iväparo mahän”
Srimad Bhagavatam 8.7.9

SYNONYMS
tam—that mountain; utthitam—lifted; vékñya—observing; kuläcalam—known as Mandara; punaù
—again; samudyatäù—enlivened; nirmathitum—to churn the ocean of milk; sura-asuräù—the
demigods and the demons; dadhära—carried; påñöhena—by the back; saù—the Supreme Lord;
lakña-yojana—one hundred thousand yojanas (eight hundred thousand miles); prastäriëä—
extending; dvépaù—a big island; iva—like; aparaù—another; mahän—very big.

TRANSLATION
When the demigods and demons saw that Mandara Mountain had been lifted, they were enlivened
and encouraged to begin churning again. The mountain rested on the back of the great tortoise,
which extended for eight hundred thousand miles like a large island.

TEXT 10
“suräsurendrair bhuja-vérya-vepitaà
paribhramantaà girim aìga påñöhataù
bibhrat tad-ävartanam ädi-kacchapo
mene 'ìga-kaëòüyanam aprameyaù”
Srimad Bhagavatam 8.7.10

SYNONYMS
sura-asura-indraiù—by the leaders of the demons and the demigods; bhuja-vérya—by the strength of
their arms; vepitam—moving; paribhramantam—rotating; girim—the mountain; aìga—O Mahäräja
Parékñit; påñöhataù—on His back; bibhrat—bore; tat—of that; ävartanam—the rotating; ädi-
kacchapaù—as the supreme original tortoise; mene—considered; aìga-kaëòüyanam—as pleasing
scratching of the body; aprameyaù—unlimited.

TRANSLATION
O King, when the demigods and demons, by the strength of their arms, rotated Mandara Mountain
on the back of the extraordinary tortoise, the tortoise accepted the rolling of the mountain as a means
of scratching His body, and thus He felt a pleasing sensation.

PURPORT
The Supreme Personality of Godhead is always the unlimited. Although the Supreme Personality of
Godhead, in His body as a tortoise, held on His back the largest of mountains, Mandara-parvata, He
did not feel any inconvenience. On the contrary, He apparently felt some itching, and thus the
rotation of the mountain was certainly very pleasing.
Start Lecture by His Holiness Radhanath Svami Maharaja.

Krishna is the controller of the three modes of material nature. In Bhagavad-Gita He explains
“mattaù parataraà nänyat
kiïcid asti dhanaïjaya
mayi sarvam idaà protaà
sütre maëi-gaëä iva”
Bhagavad-Gita 7.7
That there is no truth superior to Me, everything is resting upon Me as pearls are strung on a thread.
The supreme Lord is absolute. He is beyond the capability of the material senses to comprehend.
One who is unfortunate, tries to comprehend the infinity inconceivable nature of the Lord by trying
to relate his glories and pastimes. According to his mundane faculty of reasoning, such a person is
sure to be utterly bewildered. Because the lord and in His achintya shakti, everything he does is
inconceivable to our material mind and senses.
“ataù çré-kåñëa-nämädi
na bhaved grähyam indriyaiù
sevonmukhe hi jihvädau
svayam eva sphuraty adaù”
Caitanya-caritamrita Madhya 17.136
One can never understand Krishna or perceive Him through mundane sense perception. It is only
when the mind and senses are utterly spiritualized can we perceive the beauty and glory of the
Supreme Personality of Godhead.

It is said in Brahmasamhita that “premäïjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena” that only when one’s eyes

are smeared with the self of love, one can see the beautiful form of Shaymsundar. Similarly only
when one’s heart is decorated with the divine ornament of faith can one begin to comprehend or
understand the infinity glories of the supreme personality of godhead. This earth planet is
approximately twenty five thousand miles around according to the modern scientist. As you know up
until just the past five hundred years in the recorded history of western science, western culture, “No
man was ever able to conquer these great feat of circum ambulate this world”. You Know
Christopher Columbus that very famous navigator, he was trying to circle the world. But because
they had such little information about this tinny little earth planet. He did no know where he was
going. He just thought that if I go far than of west or end of the India because he speculated this
world must be round. And of course on the way, he into this large land which he thought it was India
but actually it was America. So it is said, he discovered America. Although the millions of Indians of
course they were called Indian land. But they are millions of natives living very peacefully on that
attractive land.

So Christopher Columbus never actually achieve his goal of going around the world. It was one, I
believe he was Portuguese sailor of the name of Majaline and it was he that finally went down to the
bottom of the South America, Arjentina and went around in an ultimately, he circled the world. In
this way he considered very very great historical event. So we think how many years these people
were living in the western world and up until very recently no one had ever been able to even circle
this tinny globe which is twenty five thousand miles. Twenty five thousand miles was considered
such a huge amount of distance. But here we read that the supreme lord He appeared in the form of a
tortoise and He extended the length and the breadth of His cell 800,000 miles. Sometimes you know
on the road we see the tinny little tortoises, very small. We think, they are so nice looking.

In America one of the most favorite pets is the little turtles. They never go bigger than this in whole
life. They feed their little turtles and let them crawl on them and it is a very very enjoyable
experience. Then when we go to the place like Kesi Ghat or Radha Kund, especially a place like
Kesi ghat or Vishnu Ghat in Vrindavan, then you see big big tortoises. We think, “My god it is so
big”. Some people afraid to go into waters. They are thinking the turtles are so big. They are
astonished especially many westerners they used to having their little pet turtles. When they see
these tortoises in the Jamuna, any of them they will not go in. They think my god, so big. How
bigger they? They are some may be at the most how big? What do you think? At the most three feet.
But here we find that when the supreme personality of godhead Narayan takes the form of tortoise
He has 800,000 miles. Can you imagine? When all the specie of some rock chips they could never in
their whole lives go for one end of the tortoise to the other.

When Krishna does something, He does not do things like you and me. Some times just to show an
example He plays the role of an ordinary child. But then again just to show the difference He
performs some super human activity, which is most inconceivable. Just like Sri Krishna lifted the
govardhan Hill he was only a child of the age of seven. And here is the large mountain which today
is 21 km in size to walk around. In those days of course it was much bigger. And the residence of
Vrindavan they were thinking that no, its not possible. Krishna cannot lift this hill. They were
putting their sticks under the hill. And they were thinking actually they were holding it up because
Krishna, he was not life big bachelor with big muscles and extravagant physic. No he was just a very
simply little cowherd boy. His limbs were very tender and very soft. So they could not comprehend
that how it possible is that He is lifting the hill. It is not possible. We better make sure; it does not
fall Him because it might hurt Him. So they were putting their sticks under the hill and they were
working very hard to hill the up. Krishna was simply smiling at them, accepting the devotional
attitude of their willingness to help an assistant. And Krishna although He lifted the hill for seven
days, He felt not even the least inconvenience.

Similarly we read of how Lord Sri Krishna in His expansion of Anantasesa is holding the universes
on the hoods of His transcendental head. He feels no inconvenience. You will imagine the weight of
the universe. So the Lord His strength is not like this strength of ours. The Mandar mountain, it was
so incredible heavy and difficult to even the mighty be conquers the demigods and the demons.
Although it was being rotated back and forth on the back of this great tortoise. You would think
there would be some inconvenience or some pain. But Kurmadeva was feeling very very pleasing
scratching sensations. Just like there is a saying, you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours. When
you have itch on the back, it feels very good, when someone scratches it. You cannot scratch your
own back because you are such limited jivatma that you cannot even scratch your own back. You
think you can conquer the whole world and you think so great. You can’t. You need someone to
scratch your back. It is so helpless. So when someone scratches comes and scratches your back, you
think ah, very nice, very nice. If he scratches too hard, you say no no, not so hard. But Kurmadeva,
they were scratching His back by having this mountain which was thousands of miles high made out
of solid gold, which all the demigods and all the demons could not lift and it was being grinding
upon His back. And He was thinking very nice. This is Krishna.
Krishna appears in this wonderful ways, just to attract our minds. After all He did not have to appear
as a tortoise simply by His mere desires; He could support this great mountain of Mandar which was
sinking into the ocean. But because God is a person He loves to exhibit extraordinarily beautiful
pastimes for His pleasure and for the pleasure of His devotees. Now why with the impersonal
Brahman? If the Lord is impersonal ultimately without personality, without sense of humor, why in
the world where he just decide to appear as an 800,000 miles tortoise. Brahmana is the infinity
energy of the Lord, why not just by that energy support the mountain. Will be no problem. Just by
will that mountain would have been supported. But because Krishna is a very very transcendental
personality and He is a wonderful sense of humor and He has a incredibly – propensity for
enjoyment and giving enjoyment to His devotees. Therefore He performs such wonderful pastimes
that human beings could never imagine. Even the greatest the most experts science friction riders
could not come up with the story like this. Could they? Have you ever heard? Were they churning a
mountain of gold and in an ocean of milk demons and the demigods and the rope as a huge gigantic
serpent by the name Vasuki and as they were churning the mountain starts sinking into the ocean and
then that here comes through the rescue and 800,000 miles big He just crawl underneath and He
thinks how nice the scratching of this mountain against my back. Who could possibly think of a
story like this? Even the extent of human imagination has never come up with anything like this. So
do you think that some impersonal energy can possibly exhibits such divine extraordinary activities?
No.

We read about Krishna in Vrindavan. We read about how transcendentally – is. How He is always
playful and how He is always most anxious to please His devotees in so many ways? Just like in
Vrindavan Just to please His devotees Krishna would be in cowherd pastures and they would see a
peacock and Krishna would say, “Oh, you want to see me imitate peacock and then He started
walking just like a peacock and all of His friends be laughing”. Krishna you just like a peacock. He
would say, yes yes. Hari bol. Then He would see, monkeys jumping from trees and Krishna say,
“Ah, you want to see monkey from tree”. He would imitate monkey from tree. Cowherd boy said
you just like a monkey from a tree. They were all started laughing and clapping their hands. They
just like Krishna. His only business in Vrindavan is to give pleasure to His devotees.

Last night we were hearing the story. When Srimati Radharani became very angry at Krishna for
various transcendental reasons. Krishna even makes Srimati Radharani angry just to increase her
pleasure and Srimati Radharani becomes angry just to increase His pleasure and then He went
through the forest of gathervan collecting peacock feathers and decorated His body and started
dancing like the most gracefully and beautiful peacock. Just to please the anger of Srimati
Radharani. And when She saw Him, She was thinking such a wonderful peacock, this is my
Shyamsundar, let me dance with Him. She also collected the peacock feathers and decorated the
body and they dance together. So you see Krishna in the supreme abode, He has the most wonderful
transcendental intelligence and that intelligence in the spiritual world is always thinking of newer
and fresher ways to give pleasure to His devotees to enjoy the reciprocations of rasa or loving
exchanges. So it is that supreme Lord Sri Hari, it is that Giridhari of Vrindavan who is the original
source and cause of all causes. And it is He that is the controller of all material and spiritual worlds.

Imagine the artistic ability of Sri Krishna. We are talking about how limited science Friction riders
are compare to these types of stories that Krishna can think of. What to speak of artist? We the best
artist, is an artist who can, back some hundred years ago during the – western art, the best artist is an
artist who could most realistically paints exactly what nature looks like. Just like in Italy the greatest
artist Leonard Da Vinch, Michael Angole, if you see their carvings or when you see their paintings,
it is unbelievable how realistic these perform is. People sys, “O’ my god, how could anyone with a
paint in a brush manifest such works of art they are look exactly like the real thing with such
expression. They are considered good artist because they can copy some little scene. What are they
really creating? They are not creating anything. They are just actually duplicating to some extent
with little of their own personality being expressed through and of course modern art the do not like
anything to look realistically. They like everything to look very impersonalistic and so realistic,
where they just say all kinds of crazy.

The idea of the modern art is to defy the real sense of form and personality and just create an illusory
sense of beauty design in color. But even is modern artist basically other painting is the strangeness
of their own mind. People think it is very beautiful. It does not mean anything. The more
meaningless it is. They more consider it is artistic. Just like there is a very famous piece of artist.
There is a major piece of art in one particular city of America and people from all over the United
States, people from all over the world come to see it. What is it? It is a gigantic six story high orange
colored cloth pin. Do you know what is cloth pin is? When you hang your cloth on a line you take a
little pin that you clipped it on to make your cloths stay. They spent hundreds and thousands of USA
dollars to construct out of fiber glass and all sources of other material things a giant cloth pin. And
people from all over, it is in the center of the city. They come to see this cloth pin. Some people
saying, why did they make a cloth Pin? Why they spent so much money? Can they hang cloths on it?
It is too big. They just looked at it. They consider such a wonderful thing. This is considered art has
no meaning. It is so meaningless that it is considered something wonderful. So what is our capacity
to create art?

Everything we see including this crazy fellow’s cloth pin all the sky, all the water, all the species of
life, all the flowers, all the fans, all the trees, all the buildings, all the start, all the planets, and
everything has been created by Krishna and how wonderfully He has done. We can even imagine the
beauty of the spiritual world. Even this material world is such a work of art that it is inconceivable
that anyone could possibly do it. But Krishna has done it. So Krishna is Supreme Personality of
Godhead. When people see the beauty of material existence, if their intelligent they must accept that
only an infinity person with infinity artistic abilities could have created this and only the greatest
fool can think that this is all happening by chance or this is all emanating from some impersonalistic
energy. No.

Krishna is the supreme person and that supreme person is the cause of all causes and the ultimate
goal of life and He can only be approached through devotion. “bhaktyä tv ananyayä çakya aham
evaà-vidho 'rjuna” even in this world we are all Krishna’s part and parcels. We are all made in image
of god. And when we know that there is nothing more dearly to our heart than the reciprocation of
love. If someone loves us that person naturally becomes very dear to our hearts. We cannot avoid
reciprocating love with someone who genuinely loves us, unless we are most hard hearted. So
Krishna, he is the supreme person. We are just little persons and He also finds only pleasure in the
reciprocation of love. Therefore you can enter into the divine energy of the lord through
transcendental knowledge. You can unite with the Chit shakti, with the source of all knowledge form
within the heart through the process of tapasya and the process of performing many mystical
sciences and disciplines. But you can only understand the lord and His ultimate supreme feature as
Krishna the personality of godhead through bhakti, through devotion, through love.
“yadi hy ahaà na varteyaà
jätu karmaëy atandritaù
mama vartmänuvartante
manuñyäù pärtha sarvaçaù”
Bhagavad-Gita 3.23
As you approach Krishna He will reciprocate with you accordingly. So therefore a devotee is not
concerned with anything but the development of love, and the development of devotion. Often times
I tell the story of the mystic yogi that came to Srila Prabhupada in Vrindavana and he started
showing all these mystical extravagant powers that he had. He started creating things and moving
things. He was miraculous. Everyone around was thinking oh, my god such a wonderful person. I
remember, one mystic yogi came to new Vrindavan and he was talking about the different feats of
powers that he could exhibit and many of devotees were thinking really you can do like this. I do not
believe. Let me see, some of the newer devotees. Then he started performing some of his mystic
feats and some of the devotees were very much excited. The younger devotees were thinking, “My
god, this is wonderful. The older devotees were looking by chance”.

Like, they got the doctor of the community and the person was -, then he said how long should stop
my heart be clinically dead? They said twenty minutes. He said okay. Then he stopped his heart in
sitting in lotus position and there was no pulse, no heart beat, and nothing. He was clinically dead.
There was not the slightest sign of life anywhere of his body. There were two doctors, who are
examined the from every point of view of medical technology, there was no sign of life in any part
of his body. He was dead. And exactly twenty minutes latter, he just opened his eyes and said, “I am
back”. The doctors said, “How is it possible, I have never seen such a thing. This is beyond our
modern science of medicine ability to comprehend”. Then he laid under a truck and just the truck ran
over him and he just laid there and none of his limbs nothing got even damage just he laid there.
Then they took two cars and put two ropes on the both of his hands and both cars were big American
cars. They both with full acceleration were going in both directions and he just held both of them. He
was not just a strong man. He just a small man. All kinds of crazy things. He took a light bulb and
put it on his hand and just started crushing it up until it powder and was not just slightest blood or
cut or a whole on his hand. It until was like fine salt. He did all kinds of things like this. He took a
big pole and a big steel beam. You know what a beam is? A big steal beam with a pointed age and
he took a huge weight and put it end of the beam and then he put the beam in his eye and balance the
weight. Totally the weight about hundred pounds and the all beam was supported by his eyeball.
Devotees were thinking my god, he has very strong eyes. We all watching. We were thinking, he
spend years and years and years tapasya to do this. So what?

So such a yogi who is far greater than this man started exhibiting all of his mystic feats to Srila
Prabhupada. People are going on just see how wonderful he is. Srila Prabhupada was just looked at
him and just think, “when you give up all these nonsense and surrender to Krishna”. The person
realized that Srila Prabhupada actually the greatest. He knows the truth that these are all just so many
foolish ticks and he became a life member, right then and there. But – Srila Prabhupada’s books to
learn, what it meant to surrender to Krishna. So the mystic powers of the tinny little jivatamas of this
world, you may be able to perform few little miracles. But Krishna is Yogeswar. He is the supreme
master of all mystics. But what Krishna does, no human being can even attempt to imitate in full.
Krishna, He is only attracted by love and devotion. “bhaktyä mäm abhijänäti yävän yaç cäsmi
tattvataù”. Krishna says, “It is only by undivided pure devotion that you can understand me as I am”.
So therefore the devotee takes the greatest pleasure. Not in hearing about himself. Not in talking
about his own glories, which are so ridiculously insignificant. But he takes the greatest pleasure
hearing the infinity glories of the supreme personality of godhead. The lord appears in such a
wonderful incarnations as Kurmadeva. Just to give pleasure to His devotees. Why us? There are
unlimited other ways, less extraordinary that He could have support that mountain. We just say,
“Just by his will, the mountain would have just supported itself”. Why in this world would He
appear as an 800,000 miles big tortoise? Just try to path in the psychology of god. Why all ways to
support the mountain have, would appears 800,000 miles tortoise. Did you think of something like
that? Nobody could think of something like that.

He experienced His wonderful pastimes simply to give pleasure to His devotees. He was not support
the mountain. He could of that time so many ways. But He supported the mountain, actually He is
underneath the mountain starts sinking. It was not by accident. It is His by will the mountain started
sinking. His will that He exhibited such a wonderful form just to give pleasure to His devotees. Just
to have an excuse for all time to come everyone would be singing “keçava dhåta-kürma-çaréra jaya
jagadéça hare”.

This story took place in Satya Yuga millions and millions of years ago. Do you think, you can do
anything in your life that people will be remembering, millions people will be singing your glories
everyday millions and millions of years from now. So Krishna appeared in this most wonderful form
to give pleasure to us. Just to attract our mind. Not only the people of that time but the people of all
the times. So we must understand the glory of Krishna’s divine incarnations in this life. Krishna says
in Bhagavad-Gita.
“pariträëäya sädhünäà
vinäçäya ca duñkåtäm
dharma-saàsthäpanärthäya
sambhavämi yuge yuge”
Bhagavad-Gita 4.8
I appeared to annihilate the miscreants and to protect the pious and to reestablish the principles of
religion. But actually He does not have to appear personally in this wonderful from to do these
things. He cannot annihilate the miscreants through material nature within a second. He is the
controller of material nature. He can protect the pious, simply by His mere desire and through
material nature also. He dose not have to come personally. He can empower one of His devotees to
be a god and protect His devotees. To reestablish the principle of religion, He sends so many of His
sons, His prophets, and children. They are also reestablishing the principle of religion. Why does He
come as Kurma rupa? Why does he come as Matsya Avatar? Why does He come as Barahadeva?
The giant bore, who holds the earth within his tusks. Why does He come in the form of Lord
Narashimadeva? He could killed the Hiranyakashipu just by stopping his heart beat as the
paramatma in the heart. All he did only stop the heart beat of Hiranyakashipu would fallen dead.
Why did He appeared in the wonderful magnanimous form of half man and half lion and He just
growling him into pieces. He appears for one reason and one reason only in essence. Simply give
pleasure to His devotees. To give His devotees some beautiful and wonderful way of remembering
Him and attracting their minds. To give all people for all time to come a wonderful lila to remember
and to meditate upon and through this remembrance we develop love for Him. Because Krishna is
all attractive, the more we think of Him, the more He will hear of His wonderful pastimes. The more
we understand the transcendental nature of why He appears the way He appears? The more we
naturally become attracted and the more our heart opens like a lotus flower blossoms with love.
“janma karma ca me divyam
evaà yo vetti tattvataù
tyaktvä dehaà punar janma
naiti mäm eti so 'rjuna”
Bhagavad-Gita 4.9
Krishna says, “One who understands the transcendental nature of My appearance and activities never
takes birth again and again in this material world but it attains My abode”. Because we hear the
glories of the lord from proper sources. If we hear from the proper sources and understand the real
truth of why and how Krishna appears these most wonderful forms. Then simply that sound
vibration attracts our consciousness and attracts our hearts and we cannot resist from loving such a
beautiful and such a glorious personality as Krishna. And when our love for Krishna awakens
naturally our desire or sense enjoyment decreases. In fact it appears in that state we never have to
take birth again and again in the material world. We return to the eternal abode of the lord.

So it is by His infinity causeless mercy upon us to attract our minds, attracts our hearts, and real
awaken our love that Krishna appears in these most wonderful forms and pastimes. Just meditate on
an 800,000 miles tortoise, gracefully crawling under this large mountain, Mandara and just enjoying
the service of the demigods and demons as their scratching His back. Ajnyata sukruti. It means you
are rendering service without even knowing it. The demigods and the demons, they all were actually
churning, not as service to the lord. They were churning out of greed especially the demons. They
were churning out of greed, thinking that they would get nectar to enjoy sense enjoyment. But
Krishna so tricky that He arranged in such a way that they were rendering service to Him, personally
service and massaging His back. In this way because they were pleasing Him by rendering this right
intimate personal service. They were actually making spiritual advancement. So Krishna’s only
desire for all living being just to become again attracted to Him to engage in His loving service to
become purified and go back to home back to godhead. That is the substance, the essence, or the
reasoning behind the Lord’s descent within this material world.

Is there any questions?

QD: ?

AM: Yes, through His devotees. When you give someone Prasad they are rendering service. By
simply accepting His mercy in the form of Prasad they are rendering service to Krishna. By giving a
donation even if they are even if they do not really exactly understand what the spiritual
significances. The fact is that they are surrendering some of their money or some of their time or
some other energy to Krishna their rendering service. By hearing the holy name or by speaking the
holy name which is emanating from the lips of great devotees. They are rendering services. There
are nice processes of devotional service. One is chanting. One is hearing. So in this way Krishna has
incarnated. He incarnates in this world practically speaking through the mercy of His devotees and
they are always very very anxious to engage everyone in this service of the lord knowingly or
unknowingly.
Thank you, very much.

End of the transcription.