Great Throughts Treasury

"For all those notions of a higher or lower form of life there will never be any peace, for they depending upon the interaction of the material modes are by the ordinance of the Lord [in the form of Time] all destroyed."

"For the duration of thousand times four yugas [4.32 billion years] He lay asleep with His internal potency for the sake of the further development - by means of His force called kƒla [time] - of the worlds of the living beings who depend on fruitive activities. That role gave His body a bluish look [the blue of the refuge of the vivifying water]."

"From the unmanifested then by the interaction of time came about the Mahat-tattva [the complete of the Supreme, the cosmic intelligence]. This physical self that situated in the totality drives away darkness and ignorance is of an understanding nature and capable of creating complete [spiritual] universes."

"From the ether evolving from the subtlety of sound the evolution of the subtle element of touch takes place under the transforming impulse of time and thus the air is found as well as the sense organ for it and of that sense of touch the active perception."

"From You, with Your countless different names, forms and features, the learned ones derive their notion of numerical proportions, enumerations and compositions, the truth of which they verify by observation. Unto Him who thus discloses Himself in analysis, You, I offer my obeisances."

"For the performance of sacrifices, the sacrificed such as flowers and leaves and burning material [such as straw] is needed together with an altar as also a framework of time [a calendar e.g.] in order to follow the modes of nature."

"From the interaction of the air and its bio-electricity with the glance of the Lord [of the ether] there was by the mixture of time a transformation of the material energy that created the taste [for life] in water."

"Great sages who have completely taken shelter of the lotus feet of the Lord can at once sanctify those who come in touch with them, whereas the waters of the Ganges can sanctify only after prolonged use."

"Having forsaken one's identification with the body, one must, at the end of one's time [of living], with a devotional attitude concentrate one's mind upon You who are transcendental to the material qualities. This forsaking constitutes the perfection of the practice of yoga as explained by the almighty Lord Brahmƒ. A person driven by desire thinks in fear about the present and future of his children, wife and wealth, but anyone who knows about the hopelessness of this vehicle of time, considers such endeavors only a waste of time because the body is lost in the end."

"He [that solar lead of time], this supremely powerful Original Person who is Nƒrƒyana Himself, the Supersoul of the three Vedic principles who is there for the benefit and karmic purification of all the worlds, is the cause sought by all saintly and Vedic knowing. He divides the year, as He thinks fit, in its twelve parts and arranges the six seasons beginning with spring with their different qualities."

"Groping in the dark o Vidura it with his contemplating this way thus came to pass that the enormity of the three-dimensional of time [tri-kƒlika] came about which as a weapon [a cakra] inspires fear in the embodied, unborn soul by limiting his span of life to a hundred years."

"Godhead is light. Nescience is darkness. Where there is Godhead there is no nescience."

"His individual body is this gross material world in which we experience all that belongs to the past, the present and the future of this universe in existence."

"His veins are the rivers and the plants and trees are the hairs on the body of the Universal Form, o King. The air is His omnipotent breathing, the passing of the ages, Time, is His movement and the constant operation of the modes of material nature is His activity."

"He considered everything created comprising his body, his wives, children, friends, his influence, riches, the pleasure grounds, the facilities for his women and the complete of the beauty of the earth with its oceans, as something bound to time and for that reason he left for Badarikƒs'rama [the Himalayan forest]."

"He who was born on the lotus, then saw how the lotus upon which he was situated and the water surrounding it were moved by the wind that was propelled by the power of eternal Time."

"He for whom out of fear the wind blows and this sun is shining, for whom out of fear Indra sends his rains and the heavenly bodies are shining; He because of whom out of fear the trees, creepers and herbs each in their own time bear flowers and produce their fruits; He afraid of whom the rivers flow and the oceans do not overflow, because of whom fire burns and earth with her mountains doen't submerge; He because of whom the sky provides air to the ones who breathe and under the control of whom the universe expands its body of the complete reality [mahat-tattva] with its seven layers [the seven kos'as or also dvŒpas with their states of consciousness at the level of the physical, physiological, psychological, intellectual, the enjoying, the consciousness and the true self], He for whom out of fear the gods of creation and more in charge of the modes of nature of this world carry out their functions according to the yugas He of whom afraid all the beings animate and inanimate find their control; that infinite, final operator of beginningless Time is the unchangeable Creator who creates people out of people and puts an end to the rule of death by means of death.'"

"He now, the Soul of all the worlds, who [in the form of the sun] has entered the wheel of time in a position between heaven and earth, passes through the twelve divisions of the year consisting of the months that are named after the signs of the zodiac. The scholars teach that they [according to the moon] are divided in bright and dark halves or [fifteen day] fortnights and that, following their instruction, the six portions of its orbit called ritu or season calculated to the stars each cover two and a quarter constellations [thus one speaks of twelve or more constellations]. They also say that the period of time the sun moves through [the visible] half of outer space is called an ayana."

"Hearing about and glorifying the Lord are identical with the transcendental nature of the Lord and by so doing one will be always in the association of the Lord. This brings freedom from all sorts of fear."

"He who from within enters the living entities, annihilates by living entities and of everyone is the support; He is named Vishnu, the enjoyer of all sacrifices who is that time-factor which is the master of all masters."

"He who within abides in the form of the original person [purusha] and without in the form of time [the 24th element], exists by [exhibiting] His potencies as the Lord of All Opulence [Bhƒgavan, the Fortunate One] for all living entities [and elements]."

"He, worshiping [Vishnu] performed, with [also] respecting the different gods and purposes and in line with the instructions providing for everything that was needed, according to time and circumstance all kinds of ceremonial sacrifices a hundred times over with priests of the proper age and faith."

"How is this body, which is made out of the five elements [fire, water, air, earth and ether] and is controlled by time, materially motivated action and the modes of nature [kƒla, karma and the gunas], capable of protecting others when it is just as well bitten by that snake?"

"I consider You the personification of Eternal Time, the Lord without a beginning or an end, the All-pervasive One distributing Your mercy everywhere equally among the beings who live in dissent with each other."

"Human Life is meant for reviving one's eternal relation with the Lord and all religious injunctions are meant for awakening this dormant instinct of the living entity."

"I pity all those ignorant poor people who, in decay with the divinity of Time, in the sinfulness of their pitiable state of ignorance have turned away from the stories about the Lord and waste the length of their lives with useless philosophical exercises, imaginary purposes and a diversity of rituals."

"If one makes friendship with Krishna, one will never be cheated and he will get all help needed."

"I surrender myself to Lord Kapila, who is the transcendental supreme personality, the origin of the world and full cognizance of the time and the three modes of nature; the maintainer of all the worlds, who in Himself after His own potency dissolved His manifestations and who is the power of independence."

"How can the fire of material suffering continue to burn the hearts of those who worship the Supreme Lord? The Lord's lotus feet have performed innumerable heroic deeds, and the beautiful nails on His toes resemble valuable jewels. The effulgence emanating from those nails resembles cooling moonshine, for it instantly relieves the suffering within the heart of the pure devotee, just as the appearance of the moon's cooling light relieves the burning heat of the sun."

"I explained to you the four divisions of identity [svar–pa] in devotional service [in combination with the modes and their transcendence *], as also the imperceptible action of time [the conditioning] that drives the living entities."

"If one sincerely searches for spiritual salvation, then Krishna, being situated in everyone?s heart, gives him the intelligence to find a suitable spiritual master. By the grace of a spiritual master, one gets the proper instructions and advances in his spiritual life."

"I, being only five years old, attended the school of the brahmins and lived, depending on her, without having a clue about the time, the direction and country in which we were living."

"If the surface of the globe is overflooded with the chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra, the people of the world will be very, very happy."

"If you want to be happy in this world, then ?STOP? searching happiness in this world."

"In its present condition, the world can only be saved by introducing this sankirtana, this Krishna consciousness movement."

"In the association of pure devotees, discussion of the pastimes of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is very pleasing and satisfying to the ears and the heart. By cultivating such knowledge one gradually becomes advanced on the path of liberation and thereafter he is freed and his attraction becomes fixed. Then real devotion and devotional service begin."

"If one wants to derive the actual benefit from this human form, he must take to the chanting of the holy name of the Lord."

"If something happens by providential arrangement, we should not be very sorry. The more we try to rectify such reversals, the more we enter into the darkest region of materialistic thought."

"In the control of the divinity of fire [Vais'vƒnara, or with regular sacrifice and meditation] one reaches through the gracious passage of [the sushumnƒ, the channel of balancing the] breath, provided one follows the movements in the sky [the cakra order], the pure spirit [Brahmaloka, the place of the Creator] that enlightens and washes away the contaminations. Directed upwards one then reaches the circle [the cakra, the wheel] o King, called S'is'umƒra [meaning: dolphin, to the form of the Milky Way, galactic time]."

"In this material world the living entity's only business is to accept the path of Bhakti Yoga and chant the holy name of the Lord."

"In the fourteenth incarnation, the Lord appeared as Nrsimha and bifurcated the strong body of the atheist Hiranyakasipu with His nails, just as a carpenter pierces cane."

"In this horrible condition of life there is only one way of liberation?to engage in the activities of transcendental chanting and hearing of the holy name of the Supreme Lord."

"In this material world there is no help of anyone or anything to escape from this fear, because that fear concerns the Supreme Lord who approaches us all in the form of eternal Time."

"Inevitably overtaken by the pull of time a person must, just like that, give up this life as dear as it is to everyone, not to mention the wealth and such he has acquired."

"Is it so, as Nƒrada instructed, that the Supreme Personality has decided it is time to leave this manifest world?"

"Intimately making fun she embraced him as he held her in his arms. Thus being captivated by the woman he lost his keenness and wasn't quite aware of how day and night the insurmountable time was passing."

"Inexhaustible time, stronger than the strong, is the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself. Like a herdsman moving his animals along, He moves mortal creatures as His pastime."

"It has been conclusively decided in the scriptures that the ultimate goal for the welfare of human society is detachment from the bodily concept of life and increased and steadfast attachment for the Supreme Lord."

"It is a qualification of the great thinkers to pick up the best even from the worst."

"It has been conclusively decided in the scriptures, after due consideration, that the ultimate goal for the welfare of human society is detachment from the bodily concept of life and increased and steadfast attachment for the Supreme Lord, who is transcendental, beyond the modes of nature."