View source for Vayu Purana

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{{terms|"Vayu Purana"|"Vayu Puranas"|"Vayu and Skanda Puranas"}}
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[[Category:Vayu Purana|1]]
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<div id="Srimad-Bhagavatam" class="section" sec_index="1" parent="compilation" text="Srimad-Bhagavatam"><h2>Srimad-Bhagavatam</h2>
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<div id="SB_Canto_5" class="sub_section" sec_index="5" parent="Srimad-Bhagavatam" text="SB Canto 5"><h3>SB Canto 5</h3>
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<div id="SB5166_0" class="quote" parent="SB_Canto_5" book="SB" index="379" link="SB 5.16.6" link_text="SB 5.16.6">
<span class="link">[[Vanisource:SB 5.16.6|SB 5.16.6, Translation and Purport]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="trans text"><p style="display: inline;">In Jambūdvīpa there are nine divisions of land, each with a length of 9,000 yojanas (72,000 miles). There are eight mountains that mark the boundaries of these divisions and separate them nicely.</p>
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<div class="purport text"><p>Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura gives the following quotation from the Vāyu Purāṇa, wherein the locations of the various mountains, beginning with the Himalayas, are described.</p>
<p>dhanurvat saṁsthite jñeye dve varṣe dakṣiṇottare; dīrghāṇi tatra catvāri caturasram ilāvṛtam iti dakṣiṇottare bhāratottara-kuru-varṣe catvāri kiṁpuruṣa-harivarṣa-ramyaka-hiraṇmayāni varṣāṇi nīla-niṣadhayos tiraścinībhūya samudra-praviṣṭayoḥ saṁlagnatvam aṅgīkṛtya bhadrāśva-ketumālayor api dhanur-ākṛtitvam; atas tayor dairghyata eva madhye saṅkucitatvena nava-sahasrāyāmatvam; ilāvṛtasya tu meroḥ sakāśāt catur-dikṣu nava-sahasrāyama-tvaṁ saṁbhavet vastutas tv ilāvṛta-bhadrāśva-ketumālānāṁ catus-triṁśat-sahasrāyāmatvaṁ jñeyam.</p>
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<div id="SB51616_1" class="quote" parent="SB_Canto_5" book="SB" index="388" link="SB 5.16.16" link_text="SB 5.16.16">
<span class="link">[[Vanisource:SB 5.16.16|SB 5.16.16, Translation and Purport]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="trans text"><p style="display: inline;">On the lower slopes of Mandara Mountain is a mango tree named Devacūta. It is 1,100 yojanas high. Mangoes as big as mountain peaks and as sweet as nectar fall from the top of this tree for the enjoyment of the denizens of heaven.</p>
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<div class="purport text"><p>In the Vāyu Purāṇa there is also a reference to this tree by great learned sages:</p>
:aratnīnāṁ śatāny aṣṭāv
:eka-ṣaṣṭy-adhikāni ca
:phala-pramāṇam ākhyātam
:ṛṣibhis tattva-darśibhiḥ
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<div id="SB52116_2" class="quote" parent="SB_Canto_5" book="SB" index="556" link="SB 5.21.16" link_text="SB 5.21.16">
<span class="link">[[Vanisource:SB 5.21.16|SB 5.21.16, Translation and Purport]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="trans text"><p style="display: inline;">Although Aruṇadeva sits in front of the sun-god and is engaged in driving the chariot and controlling the horses, he looks backward toward the sun-god.</p>
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<div class="purport text"><p>In the Vāyu Purāṇa the position of the horses is described:</p>
:saptāśva-rūpa-cchandāṁsī
:vahante vāmato ravim
:cakra-pakṣa-nibaddhāni
:cakre vākṣaḥ samāhitaḥ
<p>Although Aruṇadeva is in the front seat, controlling the horses, he looks back toward the sun-god from his left side.</p>
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<div id="Sri_Caitanya-caritamrta" class="section" sec_index="2" parent="compilation" text="Sri Caitanya-caritamrta"><h2>Sri Caitanya-caritamrta</h2>
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<div id="CC_Adi-lila" class="sub_section" sec_index="1" parent="Sri_Caitanya-caritamrta" text="CC Adi-lila"><h3>CC Adi-lila</h3>
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<div id="CCAdi146_0" class="quote" parent="CC_Adi-lila" book="CC" index="47" link="CC Adi 1.46" link_text="CC Adi 1.46">
<span class="link">[[Vanisource:CC Adi 1.46|CC Adi 1.46, Translation and Purport]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="trans text"><p style="display: inline;">"One should know the ācārya as Myself and never disrespect him in any way. One should not envy him, thinking him an ordinary man, for he is the representative of all the demigods."</p>
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<div class="purport text"><p>This is a verse from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam ([[Vanisource:SB 11.17.27|SB 11.17.27]]) spoken by Lord Kṛṣṇa when He was questioned by Uddhava regarding the four social and spiritual orders of society. The Lord was specifically instructing how a brahmacārī should behave under the care of a spiritual master. A spiritual master is not an enjoyer of facilities offered by his disciples. He is like a parent. Without the attentive service of his parents, a child cannot grow to manhood; similarly, without the care of the spiritual master one cannot rise to the plane of transcendental service.</p>
<p>The spiritual master is also called ācārya, or a transcendental professor of spiritual science. The Manu-saṁhitā (2.140) explains the duties of an ācārya, describing that a bona fide spiritual master accepts charge of disciples, teaches them the Vedic knowledge with all its intricacies, and gives them their second birth. The ceremony performed to initiate a disciple into the study of spiritual science is called upanīti, or the function that brings one nearer to the spiritual master. One who cannot be brought nearer to a spiritual master cannot have a sacred thread, and thus he is indicated to be a śūdra. The sacred thread on the body of a brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya or vaiśya is a symbol of initiation by the spiritual master; it is worth nothing if worn merely to boast of high parentage. The duty of the spiritual master is to initiate a disciple with the sacred thread ceremony, and after this saṁskāra, or purificatory process, the spiritual master actually begins to teach the disciple about the Vedas. A person born a śūdra is not barred from such spiritual initiation, provided he is approved by the spiritual master, who is duly authorized to award a disciple the right to be a brāhmaṇa if he finds him perfectly qualified. In the Vāyu Purāṇa an ācārya is defined as one who knows the import of all Vedic literatures, abides by their rules and regulations, and teaches his disciples to act in the same way.</p>
<p>Only out of His immense compassion does the Personality of Godhead reveal Himself as the spiritual master. Therefore in the dealings of an ācārya there are no activities but those of transcendental loving service to the Lord. He is the Supreme Personality of Servitor Godhead. It is worthwhile to take shelter of such a steady devotee, who is called āśraya-vigraha, or the manifestation or form of the Lord of whom one must take shelter.</p>
<p>If one poses himself as an ācārya but does not have an attitude of servitorship to the Lord, he must be considered an offender, and this offensive attitude disqualifies him from being an ācārya. The bona fide spiritual master always engages in unalloyed devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. By this test he is known to be a direct manifestation of the Lord and a genuine representative of Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu. Such a spiritual master is known as ācāryadeva. Influenced by an envious temperament and dissatisfied because of an attitude of sense gratification, mundaners criticize a real ācārya. In fact, however, a bona fide ācārya is nondifferent from the Personality of Godhead, and therefore to envy such an ācārya is to envy the Personality of Godhead Himself. This will produce an effect subversive of transcendental realization.</p>
<p>As mentioned previously, a disciple should always respect the spiritual master as a manifestation of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, but at the same time one should always remember that a spiritual master is never authorized to imitate the transcendental pastimes of the Lord. False spiritual masters pose themselves as identical with Śrī Kṛṣṇa in every respect to exploit the sentiments of their disciples, but such impersonalists can only mislead their disciples, for their ultimate aim is to become one with the Lord. This is against the principles of the devotional cult.</p>
<p>The real Vedic philosophy is acintya-bhedābheda-tattva, which establishes everything to be simultaneously one with and different from the Personality of Godhead. Śrīla Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī confirms that this is the real position of a bona fide spiritual master and says that one should always think of the spiritual master in terms of his intimate relationship with Mukunda (Śrī Kṛṣṇa). Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī, in his Bhakti-sandarbha (213), has clearly explained that a pure devotee's observation of the spiritual master and Lord Śiva as being one with the Personality of Godhead exists in terms of their being very dear to the Lord, not identical with Him in all respects. Following in the footsteps of Śrīla Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī and Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī, later ācāryas like Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura have confirmed the same truths. In his prayers to the spiritual master, Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura confirms that all the revealed scriptures accept the spiritual master to be identical with the Personality of Godhead because he is a very dear and confidential servant of the Lord. Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas therefore worship Śrīla Gurudeva (the spiritual master) in the light of his being the servitor of the Personality of Godhead. In all the ancient literatures of devotional service and in the more recent songs of Śrīla Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura, Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura and other unalloyed Vaiṣṇavas, the spiritual master is always considered either one of the confidential associates of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī or a manifested representation of Śrīla Nityānanda Prabhu.</p>
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<div id="CCAdi679_1" class="quote" parent="CC_Adi-lila" book="CC" index="909" link="CC Adi 6.79" link_text="CC Adi 6.79">
<span class="link">[[Vanisource:CC Adi 6.79|CC Adi 6.79, Purport]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="purport text"><p style="display: inline;">In the Purāṇas it is found that Śiva appears sometimes from the heads of Brahmā and sometimes from the head of Viṣṇu. The annihilator, Rudra, is born from Saṅkarṣaṇa and the ultimate fire to burn the whole creation. In the Vāyu Purāṇa there is a description of Sadāśiva in one of the Vaikuṇṭha planets. That Sadāśiva is a direct expansion of Lord Kṛṣṇa's form for pastimes.</p>
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<div id="CCAdi7106_2" class="quote" parent="CC_Adi-lila" book="CC" index="1050" link="CC Adi 7.106" link_text="CC Adi 7.106">
<span class="link">[[Vanisource:CC Adi 7.106|CC Adi 7.106, Purport]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="purport text"><p style="display: inline;">The Vedānta-sūtra, which consists of aphorisms revealing the method of understanding Vedic knowledge, is the concise form of all Vedic knowledge. It begins with the words athāto brahma jijñāsā: "Now is the time to inquire about the Absolute Truth." The human form of life is especially meant for this purpose, and therefore the Vedānta-sūtra very concisely explains the human mission. This is confirmed by the words of the Vāyu and Skanda Purāṇas, which define a sūtra as follows:</p>
:alpākṣaram asandigdhaṁ sāra-vat viśvato-mukham
:astobham anavadyaṁ ca sūtraṁ sūtra-vido viduḥ
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<div id="Other_Books_by_Srila_Prabhupada" class="section" sec_index="3" parent="compilation" text="Other Books by Srila Prabhupada"><h2>Other Books by Srila Prabhupada</h2>
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<div id="Teachings_of_Lord_Caitanya" class="sub_section" sec_index="0" parent="Other_Books_by_Srila_Prabhupada" text="Teachings of Lord Caitanya"><h3>Teachings of Lord Caitanya</h3>
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<div id="TLC19_0" class="quote" parent="Teachings_of_Lord_Caitanya" book="OB" index="25" link="TLC 19" link_text="Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 19">
<span class="link">[[Vanisource:TLC 19|Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 19]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="text"><p style="display: inline;">According to the Skanda and Vāyu Purāṇas, the word sūtra refers to a condensed work which carries meaning and import of immeasurable strength without mistake or fault. The word vedānta means "the end of Vedic knowledge." In other words, any book which deals with the subject matter indicated by all the Vedas is called Vedānta.</p>
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<div id="Lectures" class="section" sec_index="4" parent="compilation" text="Lectures"><h2>Lectures</h2>
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<div id="Bhagavad-gita_As_It_Is_Lectures" class="sub_section" sec_index="0" parent="Lectures" text="Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures"><h3>Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures</h3>
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<div id="LectureonBG47MontrealJune131968_0" class="quote" parent="Bhagavad-gita_As_It_Is_Lectures" book="Lec" index="144" link="Lecture on BG 4.7 -- Montreal, June 13, 1968" link_text="Lecture on BG 4.7 -- Montreal, June 13, 1968">
<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Lecture on BG 4.7 -- Montreal, June 13, 1968|Lecture on BG 4.7 -- Montreal, June 13, 1968]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="text"><p style="display: inline;">In Kali-santaraṇa Upaniṣad, in Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa, in Vāyu Purāṇa, this chanting of Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare, Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hare is recommended. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu simply introduced it as a great propaganda. That is. Otherwise, this is recommended in every age.</p>
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<div id="Srimad-Bhagavatam_Lectures" class="sub_section" sec_index="1" parent="Lectures" text="Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures"><h3>Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures</h3>
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<div id="LectureonSB11622LosAngelesJuly121974_0" class="quote" parent="Srimad-Bhagavatam_Lectures" book="Lec" index="339" link="Lecture on SB 1.16.22 -- Los Angeles, July 12, 1974" link_text="Lecture on SB 1.16.22 -- Los Angeles, July 12, 1974">
<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Lecture on SB 1.16.22 -- Los Angeles, July 12, 1974|Lecture on SB 1.16.22 -- Los Angeles, July 12, 1974]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="text"><p style="display: inline;">Unfortunately, on account of Kali-yuga, the heart being full of dirty things, they cannot think of the aim of life, how to achieve it. That is called Kali-yuga. Therefore so much fallen socially, politically, economically, culturally, everything, religiously, we are so fallen and down-trodden that the only method, as recommended in the Vāyu Purāṇa and other Purāṇas: kalau nāsty eva... Kalau means "in this age of Kali," nāsty eva, "there is no other alternative." And factually by spreading this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, we are seeing practical result.</p>
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