The Vital Force of the Universe 89
There the hills and mountains are described as the bones of the Lord.
Similarly, the great oceans have been described as different holes in the
Lord’s universal body, and the planet known as Brahmaloka has been de-
scribed as the upper portion of His skull. Those who cannot see God have
thus been advised to see Him in many ways in terms of the material cos-
mic manifestation, according to the instructions given in the Vedic
literature.

There are those who can simply think of God as being great but do not
know how great He is. When they think of greatness, they think of very
high mountains, the sky, and other planets. Therefore the Lord has been
described in terms of such material manifestations so that while thinking
of these different manifestations one can think of the Lord. That is also
Krsna consciousness. If one thinks, ‘‘This mountain is the bone of
Krsna,”’ or if one thinks of the vast Pacific Ocean as Krsna’s navel, one is
in Krsna consciousness. Similarly, one may think of the trees and plants
as the hairs on Krsna’s body, one may think of Brahmaloka as the top of
Krsna’s skull, and one may think of the Patalaloka planetary system as
the soles of Krsna’s feet. Thus one may think of Krsna as greater than the
greatest (mahato mahiyan).

Similarly, one may think of Krsna as smaller than the smallest. That is
also a kind of greatness. Krsna can manufacture this gigantic cosmic
manifestation, and He can also manufacture a small insect. In a book one
may sometimes find a small running insect smaller than a period. This is
Krsna’s craftsmanship. Anor aniyan mahato mahiyan (Katha Up. 1.2.20):
He can create something greater than the greatest and smaller than the
smallest. Now human beings have manufactured the 747 airplane, which
according to their conception is very big. But can they produce an
airplane as small as a flying insect? That is not possible. Actual greatness,
however, is not onesided. One who is actually great can become greater
than the greatest and smaller than the smallest.

But even the great things men can manufacture in the modern age are
still not the greatest things man has created. We have information from
the Srimad-Bhagavatam that Kardama Muni, the father of the great sage
Kapiladeva, manufactured a huge plane that resembled a great city. It in-
cluded lakes, gardens, streets, and houses, and the whole city was able to
fly all over the universe. In that plane, Kardama Muni traveled with his
wife and showed her all the planets. He was a great yogi, and his wife,
Devahiti, was the daughter of Svayambhuva Manu, a great king. Kar-
dama Muni had desired to marry, and Devahiti told her father, ‘‘My
dear father, I want to marry that sage.’? Thus Svayambhuva Manu
