80 THE PATH OF PERFECTION Perception of the Supersoul 81
everything that we see is Krsna. We are sitting on this floor or on come thirsty, and if they have no water, they die. Once a person
this carpet, but in actuality we are sitting on Krsna. We should has learned the philosophy of Bhagavad-gita, whenever he drinks
know this to be a fact. How is this carpet Krsna? It is Krsna be- water, he sees Krsna. And when does a day pass when we do not
cause it is made of Krsna’s energy. The Supreme Lord has various 1 drink water? This is the way of Krsna consciousness. ‘‘I am the
energies, of which there are three primary divisions—material i light of the sun and the moon.” So whether in the day or the
energy, spiritual energy, and marginal energy. Pardsya saktir night, we see either sunshine or moonshine. How, then, can we
vividhaiva sriyate. We living entities are marginal energy, the ma- forget Krsna? This, then, is the way of perfect yoga. We have to
terial world is material energy, and the spiritual world is spiritual see Krsna everywhere and at all times.
energy. We are marginal energy in the sense that we can be either oo,
spiritually or materially situated. There is no third alternative; yo mam pasyati sarvatra ;
either we become materialistic or spiritualistic. sarvam ca mayi pasyati
As long as we are in the material world, we are seated on the tasyaham na pranasyami
material energy, and therefore we are situated in Krsna, because Sa ca me na pranasyati
Krsna’s energy is not separate from Krsna. A flame contains both “ oo
heat and illumination, two energies. Neither the heat nor the il- For one who sees Me everywhere and Sees everything in Me, I
lumination are separate from the flame; therefore in one sense am never lost, nor Is he ever lost to Me. (Bg. 6.30) This is sada
heat is fire, and illumination is fire, but they can be distinguished. tad-b hava-bhavitah: always remembering Krsna. If we practice liv-
Similarly, this material energy is also Krsna, and although we are ing in this way, We never lose Krsna and are never lost to Krsna,
thinking that we are sitting on this floor, we are actually sitting on and at the time of death we are therefore sure to go to Krsna. If we
Krsna. Therefore it is stated, ‘‘The self-realized man sees Me are not lost to Krsna, where can we go but to Krsna? In the Ninth
everywhere.” Seeing Krsna everywhere means seeing every living Chapter, Krsna tells Arjuna, kauntey a Pp ratyan thi na me bhaktah
being as well as everything else in relationship to Krsna. In the pranasyati (Bg. 9.31): 0 son of Kuntt, declare it boldly that My
Seventh Chapter of Bhagavad-gita (7.8), Lord Krsna tells Arjuna devotee never perishes. . . .
how He can be seen in various manifestations. Simply don’t lose sight of Krsna. That is the perfection of life. !
We can forget everything else, but we should never forget Krsna.
raso ‘ham apsu kaunteya If we can remember Krsna, we are the richest of men, even
prabhasmi sasi-stiryayoh though people may see us as very poor. Although Ripa Gosvami :
pranavah sarva-vedesu ; and Sanatana Gosvami were learned scholars and very opulent
Sabdah khe paurusam nrsu ministers, they adopted the poor life of mendicants. In his Sri Sad-
° : “ gosvamy-astaka (verse 4), Srinivasa Acarya thus describes the six
““O son of Kunti [Arjuna], I am the taste of water, the light of the Gosvamis:
sun and the moon, the syllable om in the Vedic mantras; Iam the tyaktva turnam aSesa-mandala-pati-srenim sada tucchavat
sound in ether and ability in man.” bhitva dina-ganesakau karunaya kaupina-kanthasritau
Water is drunk by all living entities, and is needed by birds, gopi-bhava-rasdmrtabdhi-lahari-kallola-magnau muhur
beasts, and man. It is not only used for drinking, but for washing vande rupa-sanatanau raghu-yugau Sri-jiva-gopalakau
and for cultivating plants as well. A soldier on the battlefield can
understand how important water is. When fighting, soldiers be- “I offer my respectful obeisances unto the six Gosvamis—Sri
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