“Bhagavad-gita also confirms that when the Lord appears He appears as He is by His internal potency. He is not contaminated by the material energy because He is the Lord of material energy. In the Vedic literature we find that His whole embodiment is spiritual. He has His eternal form called sach-chid-ananda-vigraha.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Bhagavad-gita, 13.15 Purport)

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1. Changing moods

“I was in the best spirits, previously. Things were going great. I had a routine down. I was making progress at work. People at home were happy. Everything was under control.

“Then, someone made a negative remark. It was about my appearance. I am so sick and tired of hearing about this. There is nothing I can do to control time. I wish I looked different from what the mirror shows right now. Not for myself, but just so that others will finally leave me alone.

“Anyway, I am in a terrible mood, now. I wish I were no longer here. I will welcome the end of life. Then they can burn my body and no one will have anything to complain about. There won’t be anything to criticize precisely because there won’t be an appearance.”

2. Changing knowledge

“I used to know so much of what they call trivial information. I was pretty good when entering competitions. In college, I specifically remember one contest where I was the best player on the team. I think there was an entire category on the French language that I swept. I knew all the answers.

“Well, that was years ago. That information is gone. I held it in memory before, but now it is not there. What happened? Shouldn’t knowledge stay with you? What is the purpose to learning, if we are only set to forget as time passes by?”

3. Complete change

“I guess this is how you explain birth and death. A complete change of body. The previous identity no longer applies. For instance, my grandparents are no longer around. Are they even my grandparents, anymore? I don’t think so. They likely get a new identity in the next state of being.”

…

His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada explains that there is no difference between the spirit and the body of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Such distinctions apply only to our experience. Based on that experience, we have the tendency to extend the vision outwards.

That is to say, if I am struggling within the marriage institution, it must be that others face similar difficulties. If I am suffering from a seasonal respiratory illness that is making its way around, others are likely in the same line of attack.

The spiritual science that is the Vedas has at its foundation the distinction between body and spirit. Revealing this dividing line is the first item of instruction. The subsequent teachings build off of this foundation. Without understanding this difference, there is no question of advancement and the further enlightenment which is otherwise highly unlikely.

There is no distinction with Krishna. When He appears within this world, it is as Himself. There is no such thing as a material covering, a change of body, or a combination of modes of nature to determine the kind of work He follows.

अवजानन्ति मां मूढा
मानुषीं तनुम् आश्रितम्
परं भावम् अजानन्तो
मम भूत-महेश्वरम्

avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā
mānuṣīṁ tanum āśritam
paraṁ bhāvam ajānanto
mama bhūta-maheśvaram

“Fools deride Me when I descend in the human form. They do not know My transcendental nature and My supreme dominion over all that be.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 9.11)

To help us understand exactly how opposite to the material designation Krishna is, Prabhupada provides the description of sach-chid-ananda. This applies to the entirety of Krishna’s being. With regards to both time and space, in whatever way we contemplate Krishna, He is sach-chid-ananda.

We can take the well-known setting that is the battlefield of Kurukshetra. This is the scene of the Bharata War, but also the delivery of Bhagavad-gita to the bow-warrior named Arjuna.

Bhagavad-gita is a song, a conversation, and also a philosophical discourse. If considering putting the music into a video format, there is a specific scene that can be used. There is the charioteer guiding the warrior. There is the friend uplifting the distressed. There is the teacher counseling the student.

In the related images, Krishna does not look aged or dwindling. Though over one hundred years have elapsed since His arrival in the prison cell in Mathura, Krishna still looks young. He is always in that vision, known as nava-yauvanam.

While Arjuna is in distress, Krishna is blissful. He is not afraid of what is to come. He has no hesitation. He is not worried that Arjuna has doubts. Krishna is not unsure of what to do. It appears that He will remain blissful, irrespective of what takes place, of how the war concludes.

Bhagavad-gita is knowledge itself. It is timeless wisdom. It applies to every single individual, living in every period of time. Bhagavad-gita is an extension of Krishna. This means that Krishna is knowledge. He is the source. No one had to teach Him.

The living entities are also sach-chid-ananda, but only when in the spiritual identity. At present, we suffer through rebirth, based on the false identifications. That is the objective of dharma, to return to the eternal way, to be blissful and knowledgeable, in union with the guide of Arjuna’s chariot.

In Closing:

Continued reincarnation’s effect,
Until proper distinction to detect.

That spirit and body different so,
My identity as eternal know.

Otherwise changing all the time,
Happy today, sad tomorrow to find.

Krishna as sach-chid-ananda complete,
Knowledge for our illusions to defeat.

Categories: the three

Tags: god, hare krishna, poem, poems, poetry, vedanta, vedas