Five Distinct Moments In Time The Supreme Lord Can Be Spotted

“O King, it is therefore essential that every human being hear about, glorify and remember the Supreme Lord, the Personality of Godhead, always and everywhere.” (Shrimad Bhagavatam, 2.2.36)

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तस्मात् सर्वात्मना राजन् हरि: सर्वत्र सर्वदा ।
श्रोतव्य: कीर्तितव्यश्च स्मर्तव्यो भगवान्नृणाम् ॥

tasmāt sarvātmanā rājan
hariḥ sarvatra sarvadā
śrotavyaḥ kīrtitavyaś ca
smartavyo bhagavān nṛṇām

The father of a growing child is stumped. He gets asked about the meaning of the word “always.” This is not something he is used to, as for other words he has yet to witness the same inquisitiveness.

Perhaps this is due to a recent explanation for why the child could not go somewhere or could not do something. They want to know the reason behind the decision. The word “always” played a factor, and so the child is looking for a more precise definition; more so than what they can decipher from the context.

The father decides to respond, “Always means every time.” The child is satisfied with the answer, but the father wonders if what they said is accurate. Is that what always means? In every single instance? In every point of the line of time drawn out on a piece of paper?

The thoughts immediately shift to spiritual life and the definition to the figure otherwise only vaguely known as God. The Sanskrit word sarvada means “always,” and it is a way to describe both the features of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the style of living dedicated to Him.

1. Speaking to the sun-god

God is always God. He is always in the topmost position. Since He never takes birth, He is known as aja. Since He is without a beginning, He is anadi. Since there is no end to His existence, to His standing supreme over everything else, He is ananta.

We can choose the period of time known as the beginning. This is for the purposes of analysis, to get further clarity into the meaning of sarvada. This point in time, though still wrapped in a preceding and a following, is what we generally refer to as the beginning of the creation.

Prior to the population of creatures. Before there were any trees. When nothing else was around, the Supreme Lord was there. He spoke the sacred Bhagavad-gita wisdom to the sun-god, Vivasvan.

Arjuna once heard about this and was perplexed. How could his dear friend, Shri Krishna, who was standing before him, have been around at that ancient period of time? Krishna was a contemporary; the sun-god was the father of the father of man, Manu.

अर्जुन उवाच
अपरं भवतो जन्म
परं जन्म विवस्वतः
कथम् एतद् विजानीयां
त्वम् आदौ प्रोक्तवान् इति

arjuna uvāca
aparaṁ bhavato janma
paraṁ janma vivasvataḥ
katham etad vijānīyāṁ
tvam ādau proktavān iti

“Arjuna said: The sun-god Vivasvan is senior by birth to You. How am I to understand that in the beginning You instructed this science to him?” (Bhagavad-gita, 4.4)

2. Speaking to Nanda Maharaja

At another point in time, Shri Krishna is instructing His father, Nanda Maharaja. The objective is to convince the father, who happens to also be the leader of the Gokula community, to worship a nearby hill.

This is instead of worshiping Indra, the king of heaven. It is a new kind of worship, and so the father does not want to make a decision on a whim. He is more than willing to hear out his son, who is a mere child at the time.

Not surprisingly, Krishna is convincing with his presentation. The community transitions the worship paraphernalia to a different area. They begin what is now an annual tradition: Govardhana Puja.

3. Speaking to Arjuna

We know about the transfer of knowledge to the sun-god because Krishna told Arjuna. This conversation took place on the battlefield of Kurukshetra. This is when Krishna was an adult, in comparison to His previous time spent with Nanda and family.

This conversation with Arjuna is so wonderful, so full of knowledge, so important, and so relevant that people still study the words. The original Sanskrit verses are still there, and empowered representatives like His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada kindly explain the meanings. These purports are the vital link to bridge the gap in terms of both time and disassociation from the original Vedic culture.

4. At the time of universal devastation

Markandeya Rishi once had the good fortune to witness the universal dissolution. As the interaction with the sun-god was at the beginning of a particular cycle, this time things were winding down. There was nothing else left in the world; just the process of destruction.

Markandeya happened to see a small child lying on the leaf of a banyan tree. Without a care in the world, the child was sucking its toe. This was the same well-wisher to Arjuna. This was the same Supreme Lord worshiped by all.

5. While chanting the holy name

As we can find the Supreme Lord in those different moments in time, so we have the opportunity at this very moment. Through worship, through activities dedicated to Him, through a link in consciousness, it is as if that great lifter of Govardhana Hill is right before us: Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.

In Closing:

From inquiry seen,
What always to mean.

One possible understanding,
From Krishna’s standing.

There at beginning of time,
And also at Govardhana to find.

To Arjuna giving relief,
As child on banyan leaf.