6 Srimad-Bhagavatam
features, but the Supreme Personality knows everything about both His
external and internal features.

The words janmady asya suggest that the source of all production,
maintenance or destruction is the same supreme conscious person. Even in
our present experience we can know that nothing is generated from inert
matter, but inert matter can be generated from the living entity. For in-
stance, by contact with the living entity, the material body develops into a
working machine. Men with a poor fund of knowledge mistake the bodily
machinery to be the living being, but the fact is that the living being is the
basis of the bodily machine. The bodily machine is useless as soon as the
living spark is away from it. Similarly, the original source of all material
energy is the Supreme Person. This fact is expressed in all the Vedic litera-
tures, and all the exponents of spiritual science have accepted this truth.
The living force is called Brahman, and one of the greatest dedryas (teach-
ers), namely Sripada Sankaracarya, has preached that Brahman is substance
whereas the cosmic world is category. The original source of all energies is
the living force, and He is logically accepted as the Supreme Person. He is
therefore conscious of everything past, present and future, and also of each
and every corner of His manifestations, both material and spiritual. An im-
perfect living being does not even know what is happening within his own
personal body. He eats his food but does not know how this food is trans-
formed into energy or how it sustains his body. When a living being is per-
fect, he is aware of everything that happens, and since the Supreme Person
is all-perfect,it is quite natural that He knows everything in all detail. Con-
sequently the perfect personality is addressed in the Srimad-Bhagavatam
as Vasudeva, or one who lives everywhere in full consciousness and in full
— of His complete energy. All of this is clearly explained in the

rimad-Bhagavatam, and the reader has ample opportunity to study this
critically.

In the modern age Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu preached the Srimad-
Bhagavatam by practical demonstration. It is easier to penetrate into the
topics of the Srimad-Bhagavatam through the medium of Sri Caitanya’s
causeless mercy. Therefore a short sketch of His life and precepts is in-
serted herein to help the reader understand the real merit of Srimad-
Bhagavatam.

It is imperative that one learn the Srimad-Bhagavatam from the person
Bhdagavatam. The person Bhdgavatam is one whose very life is Srimad-
Bhdgavatam in practice. Since Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is the Absolute
Personality of Godhead, He is both Bhagavan and Bhagavatam in person
and in sound. Therefore His process of approaching the Srimad-Bhagavatam
