Page 8 - History of Tirupathi Balaji and comparison of Sri Vaishnava

give the understanding by which they can come to Me.” (Bg 10.10) The process
of spiritual revelation begins by submitting oneself to hearing from genuine
Vedic authorities. Lord Krishna confi rms this when He says, “Just try to learn
the truth by approaching a spiritual master. Inquire from him submissively and
render service unto him. The self-realized souls can impart knowledge unto you
because they have seen the truth.” This is further confi rmed in the Svetasvatara
Upanisad, One who has unfl inching devotion for the Supreme Lord and is directed by the
spiritual master, in whom he has similar unfl inching faith, can see the Supreme Personality
of Godhead by revelation.(SU 6.23) One cannot understand Krishna by mental
speculation. For one who does not take personal training under the guidance of
a bona fi de spiritual master, it is impossible to even begin to understand Krishna.
Narada tries to satisfy the desire of Brahma

Narada took to heart Brahma’s request to inspire the Lord to descend to the material
world to help the people of the age of hypocrisy and quarrel (Kali yuga). He traveled to the
bank of the river Saraswati in ancient India, where there was an assembly of great sages
who were performing a sacrifi ce for the welfare of humanity. There were many sages of
various sects who were all united for this purpose. Narada challenged them, “If your sacrifi ce
is meant to satisfy the Supreme Lord, then we must all be determined to achieve that goal
together. But which Lord should we worship? We must all be unifi ed in our understanding
of who is the Supreme Lord.”
Some of the sages said, “Lord Brahma is supreme.” Others said, “Lord Siva is
supreme.” And others, “No, Lord Vishnu is supreme.” There was disagreement.
Narada spoke, Let us resolve the disagreement by testing the Trimurtis (the three Lords of
the modes of material nature i.e.: Vishnu – in charge of the mode of goodness, Brahma – in
charge of the mode of passion, and Siva – in charge of the mode of ignorance. Then we will
see who is perfectly situated in transcendental goodness above the infl uence of the modes of
material nature. We will worship only that personality who is completely above the infl uence
of the material modes of nature (goodness, passion and ignorance). Narada echoed the
words of Lord Krishna from the Bhagavad-gita that confi rmed his statements.
The Lord says, Know that all states of being — be they of goodness, passion or ignorance
— are manifested by My energy. I am, in one sense, everything, but I am independent. I am
not under the modes of material nature, for they, on the contrary, are within Me. Deluded by
the three modes [goodness, passion and ignorance], the whole world does not know Me, who
am above the modes and inexhaustible. (Bg 7. 12-13)
The Supreme God cannot be subject or subordinate to His own material
nature and its laws. One may use an example to understand this point. A king
might visit a prison in his kingdom. At no time is he a prisoner even though he
may be in the prison for a visit. Everyone in the material world is a prisoner of
the modes of nature and they are infl uenced to act in certain ways that keep
them bound up in the cycle of birth and death. The Supreme Personality of
Godhead, however, is the creator and controller of the laws of nature. Even
when He appears as an avatar (incarnation) or in His original form as Lord
Krishna, he is never subject to the laws of nature. Lord Krishna says, “This
material nature, which is one of My energies, is working under My direction, O
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