Text 19] Lord Ramacandra Rules the World 119

of Dandakaranya, thorns pricked His lotus feet. The devotees, upon
thinking of this, would faint. The Lord does not feel pain or pleasure
from any action or reaction of this material world, but the devotees can-
not tolerate even the pricking of the Lord’s lotus feet by a thorn. This
was the attitude of the gopis when they thought of Krsna wandering in
the forest, with pebbles and grains of sand pricking His lotus feet. This
tribulation in the heart of a devotee cannot be understood by karmis,
jnanis or yogis. The devotees, who could not tolerate even thinking of the
Lord’s lotus feet being pricked by a thorn, were again put into tribulation
by thinking of the Lord’s disappearance, for the Lord had to return to
His abode after finishing His pastimes in this material world.

The word dtma-jyotih is significant. The brahmajyoti, which is greatly
appreciated by jridnis, or monistic philosophers who desire to enter it for
liberation, is nothing but the rays of the Lord’s body.

yasya prabha prabhavato jagad-anda-koti-
kotisv aSesa-vasudhadi-vibhiti-bhinnam

tad brahma niskalam anantam aéSesa-bhitam
govindam ddi-purusam tam aham bhajami

“I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who is endowed with great
power. The glowing effulgence of His transcendental form is the imper-
sonal Brahman, which is absolute, complete and unlimited and which
displays the varieties of countless planets, with their different opulences,
in millions and millions of universes.” (Brahma-samhita 5.40) The
brahmajyoti is the beginning of the spiritual world, and beyond the
brahmajyoti are the Vaikuntha planets. In other words, the brahmajyoti
stays outside the Vaikuntha planets, just as the sunshine stays outside the
sun. To enter the sun planet, one must go through the sunshine.
Similarly, when the Lord or His devotees enter the Vaikuntha planets,
they go through the brahmajyoti. The jridnis, or monistic philosophers,
because of their impersonal conception of the Lord, cannot enter the
Vaikuntha planets, but they also cannot stay eternally in the
brahmajyoti. Thus after some time they fall again to this material world.
Aruhya krcchrena pararh padarh tatah patanty adho ’nédrta~yusmad-
anghrayah (Bhég. 10.2.32). The Vaikuntha planets are covered by the
