Secondary creation, that's where you are actually dealing with the material world, that's where things are actually functioning. So this is where you have to make the connection. Means, the origin is always on the other side of the Viraja river, but the connection is always on this side. Philosophy, it goes straight through it, you can connect it in any point. But when you are connecting the material subject matters, which means anything other than philosophy, any other branch of Vedic knowledge other than philosophy is considered material, arts or sciences, those all connect on this side, though they originate on that side. But they manifest to us on this side. But what's manifest on this side is a reflection of an original on that side. Means, all these shastras that we are dealing with, in the spiritual realm they talk about them, they refer to them, they quote from them, they are just part of the culture that Krishna has created.

Means, Krishna has created this culture to enjoy Rasa. And so then He has brought those different aspects that are there, everything that He considers as valuable for Rasa has then been created in the spiritual realm, because the spiritual realm is Purnam, it's complete. Om purnam adah purnam idam purnat purnam udacyate purnasya purnam adaya purnam evavasisyate. So this "idam" means "this", and then "adah" means "that". There are some other technical points we can find out from that, but the Vedas, the Upanishads are always referring to "this" and "that". "This" meaning the material world, "that" meaning the spiritual world. So this aspect of comparing it to the spiritual world, that's actually what we want. We want to be able to see a subject's origin in the spiritual world. So that principle is what we are trying to get to, we are trying to see that, then makes operating it so much easier. There is always going to be a difference, because there it is based on the pure love of the devotees, while here it's not, here it's based basically on piety why it goes on. But the devotees use it, because it's the same basic medium that the devotees in the spiritual world use for Rasa.

Like mother Yashoda's duties as a mother, they happen spontaneously, and that is her medium for expressing her love for Krishna. Those become reflected into the material world that for a trained mother then exactly the same things that mother Yashoda does for her child, the mothers of this world will do for their children. But the difference is, in the spiritual world, mother Yashoda is doing it to please Krishna, not for her own purpose, and Krishna is God. But in the material world, the mother thinks she is God and the child thinks they are God, and so then each one is trying to enjoy that relationship, rather than serve through it. So it appears as service, that's why it's called pious. Piety means, you are actually in the mood of service. Whatever are the moods of the spiritual world, no attachment, mundane attachment, always in the mood of service, never trying to control, never trying to enjoy, all those different moods that are there, when they are manifest here, then it's called piety. But the problem is is people here will use that piety for their own purpose. Their own purpose is to control and enjoy the material energy and those living entities that fall into their purview of existence that they can deal with.

So now, what the devotee is doing is, he is not approaching all this Vedic knowledge from the point that the Vedic knowledge itself is special and good, just because it's Vedic. No, it's special and good, because it is the reflection of the original Vedic. The actual Vedic is what goes on in the spiritual realm. Then to give opportunities for the living entities to take part in that Vedic, that Vedic is brought here. Does that make some sense? Vedic means, it comes from Veda, so whatever is going on in the spiritual realm, those principles will come down through the Veda, and then through all the expansions of the Veda, all the different branches of Sruti and Smrti, like this. So then when those come through here, the Vaishnavas see that this is the form of culture that they use in the spiritual realm. So therefore naturally you would use it. You wouldn't use something else, why would you use something else? If this is how mother Yashoda deals, why we shouldn't deal? If this is how Radharani deals, why we shouldn't deal? If this is how the friends deal or..., means, that's all, the kings there, they deal, the vaishyas, they deal. Like Nanda Maharaja and that, they take care of cows, so they milk the cows, and the bulls plow the field, so they do krsi-go-raksya. They farm and they take care of cows. From that, they pay their taxes from their dairy products and from their grains. And because they are are vaishya community, then excess then they trade. You always hear of them going to the market with extra yoghurt and other things like that. So they do trade. You don't hear of banking so much. Though there is a story of mukta carita, that Krishna wants to borrow pearls and they don't want to give. And then He grows His own, He decides to grow pearl plants, so then He takes mother Yashoda's pearls and grows these pearls, and they are so much more fabulous than the ordinary pearls, and then all the gopis think,"Hey!" So then they take all their pearls and plant them off, and where Krishna had these fabulous creepers of pearls, that gave these amazing pearls, they just grew thorn bushes, the gopis. So they put all their pearls in the ground, they took all their parents' pearls and all their pearls and everything and planted them, and they only got thorn bushes. So then they are really in a big problem, so they went to Krishna and they wanted to buy some of His, but they don't have money, so they want to get it on credit. So then you do get the whole thing of banking there.

So in the spiritual realm these principles, because they are there, then there is a variety of pastimes that can take place. Means, if one is thinking generally kind-of from the impersonal background, one thinks that it's just sitting there and experiencing the mood, the bhava, and that's it, you are not actually doing something. You go out in the forest and just experience it, something you are using, you just experience it. But experience means that the verb is not doing anything, it's just showing existence, emotions, feelings, qualities, but they are not doing anything. It's doing nothing. The book is read. So a read book exists, that's what's going on, ok, nice. But there is nothing happening. So that already is going on when Krishna is in His form of Atmarama. Before the creation, He is Atmarama. So He is already experiencing the creation and living entities and Rasa, everything within Himself, just being, but not doing. So it's nice, but for someone who is actually a Rasika, who is a real taster of Rasa, which is Krishna, because He is Rasa, so then He decides to expand and create activity, create interaction. So this interaction, that is what is important, so then if you want to perform transcendental pastimes unlimitedly, eternally, then there has to be some fields from which you are going to get variety. So Krishna has perfectly chosen each aspect of the culture that in itself it's perfect.

He has picked seven notes for music. And those seven notes, you can go on writing music eternally and never exactly do the same thing twice, because you have the notes, then He has created so many different taals, the meters, then within those then the notes will form together particular patterns that express a particular emotion or a particular season, or a particular time, which all are connected, they are still all emotions. Particular time creates emotion, season creates emotion. So therefore it's all still Rasa, but He has done that with seven notes. So like that, everything He has chosen is perfect. The laws, they just deal with a few things, really. They deal with four varnas and four ashramas and then what's outside of that. And then, within that then you have basically depending on how you put it together, Manu here deals with ten, then Narada Muni deals with thirty basic qualities that are there, your respect, your humility, sense control, knowledge, charity, all these different kinds of things, kindness, because charity is only if there is kindness. So all these basic qualities, and that creates a cultured interaction. Then within that, then you have your music, then you have your dance, then you have your cooking, then you have your dressing. It's just like you have a flat piece of cloth, and you put some colors on it, some few designs and borders. But you never see one woman
in the same sari as another, there is millions of women, so the same flat piece of cloth, they have created unlimited designs. You see rugs, it's different, you see woodwork, it's always different, there is always something different about it. Your architecture, every building there is something different. There may be a genre of buildings, but it's different still, it's not exactly the same. Unless, of course, you go to San Francisco. But other than that, then they are different. Does that make sense?

So this way then Krishna has created a complete situation in which Rasa can be tasted. And not only that, then within those Rasas, when all that complete is there, then He has put emphasis on the different moods. So Vrindavana it's on spontaneity, Vaikuntha then it's on rules and regulations, and Dvaraka, it's the origin of Vaikuntha, but it still has some elements of spontaneity there, all the five Rasas are manifest, while in Vaikuntha basically only servitorship is there. Conjugal is there, Lakshmi is there, but nothing is going on there, He is just with His consort, just like all the residents of Vaikuntha with their wives. But the whole mood is masculine servant. You go to Ayodhya, and there is that Maryada, the proper noble, virtuous, everything done perfectly according to the rules and all that, and nothing outside of that. Because in Dvaraka, Krishna many times bends the rules. He kills Karna when he is unarmed, He kills Drona when he is in meditation, so many times He does many things. It's another topic, of course you can discuss and show how they actually deserve that. but the point is is that Krishna will take pleasure in creating all these things when things don't go right. But from that He establishes the ultimate rightness, that transcendental love. So then there is a difference betweeen the two, though they are both ksatriya moods. Vaikuntha is also a ksatriya mood. But in Vrindavan, then it's vaishya mood.

Mathura is in-between, it also is a mood, but there is a little bit more intimacy there. But it kind of seems to be very kind-of mystical. Because there is where the original expansions of Balarama and Maha-Narayana, that's where They sit. So Maha-Sankarshana, Maha-Narayana sits there, so that's why you see the pictures of Krishna and Balarama in Mathura, and They are walking down the street with four arms, but They look just like They did in Vrindavan, but They have four arms. So there is a slight difference, so you have all the five Rasas there, and He is not married to all those girls and all that, but at the same time it's not, it seems just to be a matter of tasting. That's why then you hear of Vrindavan, and you hear of Dvaraka, and Mathura is something in-between, because it's too close to Vrindavan, but it's existence seems to be, it's a kind of mystical aspect, it's not dealt with so much. The pastimes are there, you know it goes on there, those things are there, but the prominent realm is Dvaraka. That's where Vaikuntha really starts, because Mathura, it's hard to actually say it's Vaikuntha, because there is still a spontaneous mood there. But the spontaneous mood isn't as noble as Dvaraka, that spontaneity is there, but it doesn't have the same purity that Dvaraka has. But Vrindavana has even more pure, so therefore it's little bit in-between. But Maha-Narayana is there, then from there then They expand into Krishna and Balarama in Dvaraka. And then, from there then They expand into Vaikuntha, and into Karanodakashayi Vishnu, then Garbhodakashayi Vishnu, like this, so you get two lines.

That's why you see, you have Lord Caitanya and Nityananda, and then you have Advaita. Because from Nityananda then you get Maha-Narayana, you get Krishna and Balarama in Dvaraka, and then you Narayana in Vaikuntha, because He is God. But when you go down to Karanodakashayi Vishnu, then it's He is the creator, maintainer and destroyer. Vaikuntha, there is only maintenance, so two things get added, creation and destruction, therefore then you have Advaita Acarya, because it's a slightly different mood. Then you have Gadadhara Pandit Who is Radharani, He is the internal potency, then the internal potency expands the jivas, and then you have Srivasa Thakura. So the Panca Tattva, the whole creation in its summary form is there, it's complete. With Krishna, you get Vraja, with Nityananda, then from there that connection all the way out through Vaikuntha, and then from Him then expands Advaita Acarya and the material world. And the internal potency expands into the jivas and the material energy. Everybody comes from Krishna, but the point is the Energetic has Energy, so we are one of His energies. But we are not a direct expansion, we are an expansion of the expansion. We are a portion of the internal potency, so we expand from the Samvit potency. So that's why Samvit means, it's that's your knowledge and activities. So that's why then it's recommended, if the jiva wants to purify himself, then he has to perform activities with knowledge, then he becomes purified of the material, because here he thinks, it's ignorance, you perform the activities in ignorance, so if you want to reverse that, perform activities in knowledge, so that's the reason.

So the whole point we are trying to make is that therefore the Vaishnavas take serious interest in the Vedic culture only because it then gives a broad range for engaging activities in Krishna's service. See, if one has a very minimal interest in the material world, one uses very minimal of the Vedic culture to deal with. Because you only deal with how much you need to of the reflection. You have all the Rasas reflected here, if you have the emotional need to deal with all the rasas, then there are the Vedic culture to deal with that. But if you have no need to deal with all the rasas in your own personal life, then you only have to deal with how much you have to deal with, so only that much of the culture you will use. But as a preacher, because you are dealing with people who need to deal with the broad range, therefore you know it, you know how to preach it and how to encourage them and get them to function within those spheres. So therefore one can know the whole culture by knowing the spiritual culture. By knowing here, you can't know here, but by knowing there you can understand what's here, because it's just a reflection of there. You can get an inkling of what's there, the forms of it, but the moods of it and all that, then one has to be very careful to not throw into it the mundane. So the Dharma shastra then becomes a very important aspect, because it is basically the form in which the transcendental culture functions.

(From HH Bhaktividya Purna Swami Maharaja lecture on Manu Samhita, 9 January 2004, Bhaktivedanta Academy, Sri Mayapur Dhama)