Prabhupada 0130 - Krsna is Appearing in so Many Incarnations
Lecture on BG 4.5 -- Bombay, March 25, 1974
Kṛṣṇa is appearing in so many incarnations. Just try to understand what is the position of Kṛṣṇa. He is situated as Paramātmā in everyone's heart. Īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-deśe 'rjuna tiṣṭhati (BG 18.61). And He's giving direction to everyone. And there are unlimited, innumerable living entities. So He has to give instruction in different ways to so many living entities. How much busy He is, just try to imagine. Still, His position is the same. Goloka eva nivasaty akhilātma-bhūtaḥ (Bs. 5.37). Goloka eva nivasati. Kṛṣṇa is still in His own original place, Goloka Vṛndāvana, and He's enjoying in the company of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. That business is.... It is not the Māyāvādī philosophy. Because He has expanded Himself in so many hearts of the living entities, that does not mean that He is finished in His own abode. No. Still He's there. That is Kṛṣṇa. Pūrṇasya pūrṇam ādāya pūrṇam evāvaśiṣyate (Īśo Invocation). This is the Vedic information.
Even the... Here we have got material experience. If you have got one rupee, if you take one anna, then it is fifteen annas. Or if you take two annas, it is fourteen annas. If you take sixteen annas, it becomes zero. But Kṛṣṇa is not like that. He can expand Himself unlimited forms; still, the original Kṛṣṇa is there. That is Kṛṣṇa. We have got experience: one minus one equal to zero. But there, in the spiritual world... That is called Absolute. One minus, million times one minus, still, the original one is one. That is Kṛṣṇa. Advaitam acyutam anādim ananta-rūpam (Bs. 5.33).
So that Kṛṣṇa you cannot understand vedeṣu, simply by studying Vedic literature. Although the Vedas means, Vedānta means, to understand Kṛṣṇa. Vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ (BG 15.15). But unfortunately, because we do not take the shelter of Kṛṣṇa or His devotee, we cannot understand what is the purpose of Vedas. That will be explained in the Seventh Chapter. Mayy āsakta-manāḥ pārtha.... Mayy āsakta-manāḥ pārtha yogaṁ yuñjan mad-āśrayaḥ. Mad-āśrayaḥ. Asaṁśayaṁ samagraṁ māṁ yathā jñāsyasi tac chṛṇu (BG 7.1). If you want to understand Kṛṣṇa asaṁśayam, without any doubt, and samagram, and in full, then you have to practice this yoga system.
What is that yoga? Man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru (BG 18.65). Mad-āśrayaḥ yogaṁ yuñj... Yogaṁ yuñjan, mad-āśrayaḥ. Mad-āśrayaḥ, this word is very significant. Mat means... "Either you take directly..."That is not very easy thing. "...shelter of Me, or one who has taken shelter of Me, you take shelter of him." Just like there is electric powerhouse, and there is a plug. That plug is connected with the electric powerhouse, and if you push your wire in the plug, you also get electricity. Similarly, as it is stated in the beginning of this chapter, evaṁ paramparā-prāptam imaṁ rājarṣayo viduḥ (BG 4.2). If you take shelter of the paramparā system.... The same example. If you take the shelter of the plug which is connected with the powerhouse, you get immediately electricity. Similarly, if you take shelter of a person who is coming in the paramparā system...
There is a paramparā system. Kṛṣṇa, He instructed Lord Brahmā. Lord Brahmā instructed Nārada. Nārada instructed Vyāsadeva. Vyāsadeva instructed Madhvācārya. Madhvācārya instructed in so many ways. Then Mādhavendra Purī. The Mādhavendra Purī, Īśvara Purī. From Īśvara Purī, Lord Caitanya. In this way, there is a paramparā system. There are four Vaiṣṇava sampradāyas. The Rudra-sampradāya, Brahma-sampradāya, Kumāra-sampradāya, and Lakṣmī-sampradāya, Śrī-sampradāya.
So sampradāya-vihīnā ye mantrās te niṣphalā matāḥ.(?) If you do not receive instruction of Kṛṣṇa from the sampradāya, then niṣphalā matāḥ, then whatever you have learned, it is useless. It is useless. That is the defect. So many people are studying Bhagavad-gītā, but they do not understand what is Kṛṣṇa. Because they do not receive through the evaṁ paramparā-prāptam (BG 4.2). The paramparā, unless you go to the paramparā... The same example. If you do not take electricity from the plug which is connected with the powerhouse, what is the use of your bulb and wire? It has no use.
Therefore how Kṛṣṇa is expanding, it is vedeṣu durlabha. If you simply have got academic knowledge, then it will not be possible. Vedeṣu durlabham adurlabham ātma-bhaktau (Bs. 5.33). This is the statement of Brahma-saṁhitā.