Prabhupada 0967 - To Understand Krsna, God, we Require to Purify our Senses
720527 - Lecture BG The Yoga System - Los Angeles
It is said that a pure devotee is seeing Kṛṣṇa every moment. Santaḥ sadaiva (Bs 5.38). Sadaiva means every moment. He is seeing, but that means he's a different person. His senses are purified. Electrified. Sanctified. Therefore he's seeing. And one's eyes, if not sanctified, purified, he cannot see. There are so many examples. Just like a machine. A child is seeing, but he cannot see properly. He sees a lump of metal. But an engineer, when he sees, he immediately understand that this machine is made by such and such, it is working for this, good machine, bad machine, nice. He can see in different way because he has got the eyes to see. Similarly, to understand Kṛṣṇa, God, we require to purify our senses. That is defined by Narada Pancharatra. Sarvopādhi-vinirmuktaṁ (CC Madhya 19.170). Being freed from all kinds of designations. Just like we are seeing Kṛṣṇa Consciousness, accepting Kṛṣṇa Consciousness in a vision. And somebody else, ordinary man... Suppose somebody is Christian. He sees Kṛṣṇa Consciousness as a movement of the Hindus. But actually it is not. Therefore, he has to become free from the designation of becoming an American. Sarvopādhi-vinirmuktaṁ. One should be free from the designation. Like this body is a designation. Actually there is no difference between American body and Indian body. The same physiological construction. There is blood, there is flesh, there is bone. If you see within the body, there is no difference. But still, we have designated, "I am American, you are Indian, you are black, I am white…" These are all designations. False.
So one has to become free from the designations. That is defined that when we are freed from the designation. Sarvopādhi-vinirmuktaṁ. One should be freed from the designation. Actually, designation has no value. The person is important. Not the designation. So to see Kṛṣṇa means, first business is to become free from the designations. Sarvopādhi-vinirmuktam tat-paratvena nirmalam (CC Madhya 19.170). Here it is said mat-parah, and Narada says tat-parah. Tat-parah means to become Kṛṣṇa-ized, and mat-parah means... Kṛṣṇa says you become mat-parah. Intensely absorbed in Me. And the devotee says intensely absorbed in Kṛṣṇa. That is the idea, but actually the aim is the same. So one has to become designation free, and intensely in Kṛṣṇa. Sarvopādhi-vinirmuktam, mat-paratvena... Then he will be nirmal. Nirmal means purified, without any material contamination. I am thinking in terms of my bodily concept of life, that is material. The body is material. So long as I am thinking, "I am American, I am Indian, I am Brahmin, I am kshatriya, I am this, I am that," they're all designations. That is not nirmalam, purified condition. Purified condition is when one understands that I am spirit soul, Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Spirit Soul, and I am part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa. We are one in quality. We may be different as individuals. Kṛṣṇa is big individual. I am a small individual. Just like in this material world also, one man is very powerful. Another man is less powerful. But both of them are men. They are not animals. Similarly, Kṛṣṇa, God, is qualitatively one with me. Quantitatively He is very, very powerful.