84 THE PATH OF PERFECTION Perception of the Supersoul 85
yam syamasundaram acintya-guna-svarupam ‘‘The Brahmas and other lords of the mundane worlds appear
govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami from the pores of Maha-Visnu and remain alive for the duration of
His one exhalation. I adore the primeval Lord, Govinda, for
“‘I worship the primeval Lord, Govinda, who is always seen by the Maha-Visnu is a portion of His plenary portion.”’ The words govin-
devotee whose eyes are anointed with the pulp of love. He is seen dam ddi-purusam tam aham bhajami (‘‘I worship Govinda, the
in His eternal form of Syamasundara, situated within the heart of primeval Lord’’) are most important. The word ddi means
the devotee.’’ One who has developed such a love for Krsna sees ‘‘original,”’ and purusam means ‘‘the Lord as the original male,
Syamasundara, Kartamesana, always within his heart. At this the original enjoyer.”’ And who is this Govinda whose plenary
stage, Lord Krsna never disappears from the sight of the devotee, portion is the Maha-Visnu? And what is the function of the Maha-
nor does the devotee ever lose sight of the Lord. In the case of a ' Visnu?
yogi who sees the Lord as Paramatma within the heart, the same In every universe there is a primary, original living entity
applies. Such a yogi turns into a pure devotee and cannot bear to known as Brahma. The life of Brahma is the life of the universe,
live fora moment without seeing the Lord within himself. and this life exists during only one breathing period (exhalation
This is the real process by which we can see God. God is not and inhalation) of the Maha-Visnu. The Maha-Visnu lies on the
our order supplier. We cannot demand, ‘‘Come and show Your- Causal Ocean, and when He exhales, millions of universes issue
self.’’ No, we first have to qualify ourselves. Then we can see God from His body as bubbles and then develop. When the Maha-
at every moment and everywhere. Visnu inhales, these millions of universes return within Him, and
, this is called the process of annihilation. That, in essence, is the
sarva-bhita-sthitam yo mam position of these material universes: they come out from the body
bhajaty ekatvam asthitah of the Maha-Visnu and then again return. In the Ninth Chapter of
Sarvatha vartamano ‘pi Bhagavad-gita (9.7) it is also indicated that these material uni-
sa yogi mayi vartate verses are manifest at a certain period and are then annihilated.
‘‘The yogiwho knows that I and the Supersoul within all creatures sarva-bhutani kaunteya i
are one worships Me and remains always in Me in all circum- prakrtim yanti mamikam
stances.”” (Bg. 6.31) kalpa-ksaye punas tani
’ A yogi who is practicing meditation on the Supersoul sees kalpaddau visrjamy aham
within himself the plenary portion of Krsna as Visnu—with four
hands, holding conchshell, wheel, club, and-lotus flower. This **O son of Kunti, at the end of the millennium, every material
manifestation of Visnu, which is the yogi’s object of concentration, manifestation enters into My nature, and at the beginning of
is Krsna’s plenary portion. As stated in Brahma-samhita (5.48), another millennium, by My potency I again create.’’ The creation,
maintenance, and annihilation of this material cosmic manifesta-
yasyaika-nisvasita-kalam athavalambya tion are completely dependent on the supreme will of the Per-
Jivanti loma-vila-ja jagad-anda-nathah sonality of Godhead. ‘‘At the end of the millennium”’ means at
visnur mahan sa iha yasya kala-viseso the death of Brahma. Brahmi lives for one hundred years, and his
govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami one day is calculated at 4,300,000,000 of our earthly years. His
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