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THE PATH OF PERFECTION
night is of the same duration. His month consists of thirty such days and nights, and his year of twelve months. After one hundred such years, when Brahmā dies, the devastation or annihilation takes place; this means that the energy manifested by the Supreme Lord is again wound up in Himself. That is, the Mahā-Viṣṇu inhales. Then again, when there is need to manifest the cosmic world, it is done by His will: “Although I am one, I shall become many.” This is the Vedic aphorism. He expands Himself in this material energy, and the whole cosmic manifestation again takes place.
Since the entire creation and annihilation of the material universes depend on the exhaling and inhaling of the Mahā-Viṣṇu, we can hardly imagine the magnitude of that Mahā-Viṣṇu. And yet it is said here that this Mahā-Viṣṇu is but a plenary portion of the plenary portion of Kṛṣṇa, who is the original Govinda. The Mahā-Viṣṇu enters into each universe as Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, and Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu further expands as Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, and it is this Viṣṇu form that enters into the heart of every living entity. In this way, Viṣṇu is manifest throughout the creation. Thus the  yogī s concentrate their minds on the Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu form within the heart. As stated in the last chapter of  Bhagavad-gītā  (18.61),
iśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-deśe 'rjuna tiṣṭhati bhrāmayan sarva-bhūtāni yantrārūḍhāni māyayā
“The Supreme Lord is situated in everyone’s heart, O Arjuna, and is directing the wanderings of all living entities, who are seated as on a machine, made of the material energy.”
Thus, according to the yogic process, the  yogī  finds out where the Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu is seated within the heart, and when he finds this form there, he concentrates on Him. The  yogī  should know that this Viṣṇu is not different from Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa in this form of Supersoul is situated in everyone’s heart. Furthermore, there is no difference between the innumerable Supersouls pres-
Perception of the Supersoul
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ent in the innumerable hearts of living entities. For example, there is only one sun in the sky, but this sun may be reflected in millions of buckets of water. Or, one may ask millions and trillions of people, “Where is the sun?” And each will say, “Over my head.” The sun is one, but it is reflected countless times. According to the  Vedas , the living entities are innumerable; there is no possibility of counting them. Just as the sun can be reflected in countless buckets of water, Viṣṇu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, can live in each and everyone’s heart. It is this form that is Kṛṣṇa’s plenary portion, and it is this form on which the  yogī  concentrates.
One who is engaged in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is already a perfect  yogī . In fact, there is no difference between a Kṛṣṇa conscious devotee always engaged in the transcendental loving service of Kṛṣṇa and a perfect  yogī  engaged in meditation on the Supersoul. There is no difference between a  yogī  in  samādhi  (in a trance meditating on the Viṣṇu form) and a Kṛṣṇa conscious person engaged in different activities. The devotee—even though engaged in various activities while in material existence—remains always situated in Kṛṣṇa. This is confirmed in the  Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu  of Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī:  nikhilāsv apy avasthāsu jīvan-muktaḥ sa ucyate . A devotee of the Lord, always acting in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, is automatically liberated. This is also confirmed in the Fourteenth Chapter of  Bhagavad-gītā  (14.26):
māṁ ca yo 'vyabhicāreṇa bhakti-yogena sevate sa guṇān samatītyaitān brahma-bhūyāya kalpate
“One who engages in full devotional service, who does not fall down in any circumstance, at once transcends the modes of material nature and thus comes to the level of Brahman.”
Thus the devotee engaged in unalloyed devotional service has already transcended the material modes of nature. Being situated on the Brahman platform means being liberated. There are three platforms: the bodily, or sensual; the mental; and the spiritual.