How one is purified by meditation on the Lord’s guardianship.

By Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj

Student: In Sri Brahma-samhita, it is mentioned that Krishna’s senses are interchangeable.

Srila Sridhar Maharaj: Not only are they interchangeable, every sense can perform the function of every other sense.

angani yasya sakalendriya-vrtti-manti
(Sri Brahma-samhita: 5.32)

[“His limbs are endowed with the functions of all the senses.”]

His feet can see and hear. Every one of His limbs can perform the function of every other one.

Within our body, the eye cannot hear, and the ear cannot see, but the mind can see and hear. It is the centre. The central Truth is similar. There may be many departments under one officer. The heads of the departments have particular, limited knowledge, and they go on with their work. But the officer above them, who is in charge of the whole organisation, has to deal with each of the various departments and have knowledge of them all. The centre means that which possesses general qualifications for all departments.

om tad visnoh paramam padam sada
pasyanti surayah diviva chaksur atatam
(Rg-veda: 1.22.20–1)

[“The wise always see the holy feet of Visnu like the sun—an eye—spread across the sky.”]

The holy feet of Visnu are like the sun, like a vigilant, watchful eye, over our head. Visnu’s feet can see, and here they are compared to both the sun and to an eye. His holy feet are over our head, and with the vigilant eyes of a guardian, He is seeing everything that we do. With this conception, we are to approach. It is called bhuta-suddhi. With this sort of identification of ourselves, we are to approach our duties. The real, vigilant eye of the Almighty, the “all-seer”, is over my head. With this attitude, we shall approach our duties. His vigilant eye, both sympathetic and chastising, is over our head, so we cannot do anything wrong.

om tad visnoh paramam padam sada
pasyanti surayah diviva chaksur atatam

This is an important mantra from the Rg-veda. It has been collected for us by the smarta school. Before you attend to any duty, you must first bring this conception to mind, and then go on. How should we approach? He is there. Our Guardian is there. His watchful glance is there. So, I cannot do anything wrong. I must approach everything with the proper mood through this conception. Before you do anything, you must first think of your identity, “Who are you in this universe?” Your Guardian is there. With this, you may then go on, and do anything and everything: you are always working under His searching, vigilant eye.

Accordingly, you are to select your duty, and attend to it with the proper attitude. This conception gives you a warning about how you are to approach things, how you have to live and move. His vigilant eye is always over your head. Tad Visnoh paramam padam: generally, pada means feet, and here paramam padam means the holy feet of Visnu. Chaksur iva: they are like an eye that can see, divi atatam, spread across the sky.

Source

Spoken on 1 September 1981.

Reference

angani yasya sakalendriya-vrtti-manti
pasyanti panti kalayanti chiram jaganti
ananda-chinmaya-sad-ujjvala-vigrahasya
govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami
(Sri Brahma-samhita: 5.32)

“I serve Govinda, the original Lord. The limbs of His ecstatic, spiritual, eternal, resplendent form, which are endowed with the functions of all the senses, eternally see, maintain, and regulate the innumerable universes.”