82 THE PATH OF PERFECTION Perception of the Supersoul 83

Ripa Gosvami, Sri Sandtana Gosvami, Sri Raghunatha Bhatta person does not see the tree, but sees Krsna present. That is Krsna
Gosvami, Sri Raghunatha dasa Gosvami, Sri Jiva Gosvami, and consciousness: you don’t see the tree. You see Krsna. That is the
Sti Gopala Bhatta Gosvami—who cast off all aristocratic associa- perfection of yoga, and that is also samadhi.
tion as insignificant. To deliver poor, conditioned souls, they ac- Krsna consciousness is the development of love of Krsna—a
cepted loincloths and became mendicants, but they were always position transcendental even to material liberation. Why does the
merged in the ecstatic ocean of the gopis’ love for Krsna, and they Krsna conscious person take such an account of the tree? Because
were always bathing repeatedly in the waves of that ocean.” he has love for Krsna. If you love your child and your child is
The words kaupina-kanthasritau indicate that the Gosvamis away, you think of him when you see his shoes. You think, *‘Oh,
were simply wearing underwear and a loincloth and nothing else. this is my dear child’s shoe.” It is not that you love the shoe, but
In other words, they accepted the poorest way of life as mendi- the child. The shoe, however, evokes that love. Similarly, as soon
cants. Generally, if one is habituated to living according to a high as we see Krgna’s energy manifested in a living entity, we love
standard, he cannot immediately lower his standard. If a rich man that entity because we love Krsna. Therefore, if we love Krsna,
accepts such a poor condition, he cannot live, but the Gosvamis universal love is accounted for. Otherwise ‘universal love’’ is
lived very happily. How was this possible? Gopi-bhdva- nonsensical, because it is not possible to love everybody without
rasamrtabdhi-lahari-kallola-magnau muhurl.vande riipa-sanatanau loving Krsna. If we love Krsna, universal love is automatically
raghu-yugau Sri-jiva-gopdlakau. They were actually rich because there. Without being Krsna conscious, a person may say, “Here is
they were constantly dipping themselves in the ocean of the loving my American brother, and here is my Indian brother. Now let us
affairs of the gopis. If one simply thinks of the gopis’ love for eat this cow.’’ Such a person may look on other humans as
Krsna, one is not lost. There are many ways not to lose sight of brothers, but he looks on the cow as food. Is this universal love?
Krsna. If we do not lose sight of Krsna, then we will not be lost. A Krsna conscious person, however, thinks, ‘Oh, here is a cow.
A person in Krsna consciousness certainly sees Lord Krsna Here is a dog. They are part and parcel of Krsna, but somehow or
everywhere, and he sees everything in Krsna. Such a person may other they have acquired different bodies. This does not mean that
appear to see all separate manifestations of the material nature, they are not my brothers. How can I kill and eat my brothers?”
but in each and every instance he is conscious of Krsna, knowing That is true universal love—rooted in love for Krsna. Without
that everything is the manifestation of Krsna’s energy. Nothing such Krsna consciousness, there is no question of love at all.
can exist without Krsna, and Krsna is the Lord of everything— Krsna consciousness is the stage beyond self-realization in
this is the basic principle of Krsna consciousness. How does the which the devotee becomes one with Krsna in the sense that
devotee know that everything is the manifestation of Krsna’s en- Krsna becomes everything for the devotee, and the devotee be-
ergy? First of all, a Krsna conscious person is a philosopher. If he comes full in loving Krsna. An intimate relationship between the
sees a tree, he thinks, ‘‘What is this tree?’’ He then sees that the Lord and the devotee then exists. In that stage, the living entity
tree has a material body—just as he has a material body—and that attains his immortality. Nor is the Personality of Godhead ever
the tree is also a living entity, but due to the tree’s past misdeeds, out of sight of the devotee. To merge in Krsnais spiritual annihila-
he has obtained such an abominable body that he cannot even tion. A devotee takes no such risk. It is stated in the Brahma-
move. The tree’s body is material, material energy, and the devo- samhita (5.38),
tee automatically questions, ‘‘Whose energy? Krsna’s energy.
Therefore the tree is connected to Krsna. Being a living entity, the premanjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena

tree is part and parcel of Krsna.” In this way, the Krsna conscious santah sadaiva hrdayesu vilokayanti
