In the words of the SPH
"I always tell people, my best discourses are always given to small, close devotees. Because when you speak the truth to an intimate group, it will be straight. It will shake your whole being and transform your whole life. Those who are not yet ready cannot receive it. For a spiritual discourse, what matters is the quality of the people present."
This very Gītā is delivered to only one person. When Kṛṣṇa delivered Gītā, only one person listened to it. But today, millions and millions, not even millions, billions read and practice it. For a billion Hindus, this is the basic scripture. Only one person listened to Kṛṣṇa.
Today the whole world uses it. To express the truth, the quality of the person who listens is important, not the quantity of persons.
Bhagavān says, 'O Arjuna, many, many births both you and I have passed. I can remember all of them but you can't.' Then He says, 'Although I am unborn, imperishable and the Lord of all living entities, I reappear by my original māyā, by controlling my nature.'
All this while, Kṛṣṇa was only playing the role of ācārya (teacher,) intellectually enriching Arjuna of the truth and giving him knowledge. For the first time, He opens up. He declares the truth about His nature.
He shows the divinity of His nature. This is the point where Kṛṣṇa starts to speak the ultimate truth as it is.
Till then, He was a little shy to open up to Arjuna!
When a disciple is not ready, you can't open up, you can't tell the truth. Now, the disciple is ready. So Kṛṣṇa opens up. He says, although I am unborn and my transcendental body never deteriorates and although I am the Lord of all living entities, I still appear in every millennium in my original transcendental form. Three things we need to understand here.
First He says, 'I am unborn, ajopi. I never take birth. I am the ultimate Parabrahma. I am the ultimate energy.' I don't think anyone else has declared it so clearly. Here, Kṛṣṇa straightaway declares the truth. 'I am God, bhūtānām īsvaro'pi san,' He says.
That which never takes birth can never die; only that which takes birth can die.
Here Kṛṣṇa declares, I never take birth and I never die. I am the Lord of all living entities—
ajo'pi sann avyayātmā bhūtānām īśvaro'pi san.
Q: 'Swamiji, can dead Masters teach us like Paramahamsa Yogananda, Mahavatar Babaji etc.? If I pray to them, can they show me the path?'
A: Dead masters are not dead as you think. When they are alive, their presence had a body. When they are dead, their presence has no body, that's all. Having a body or not having a body is in no way going to affect their presence. They are eternally alive and available to you. All you need to do is just turn towards them. When normal human beings die, the soul leaves the body. In the case of masters, they leave the body! The very wording is different. So having a body or not having a body is in no way connected to their presence. They are available to the planet always, to the whole of humanity.
It is very difficult to understand Masters. With integrity and authenticity, if you reach out, even if they don't have the body, you will be able to relate, connect, and talk to them. When you don't have integrity and authenticity, even with a living Master you will miss him. He says, 'I am the Lord of all the entities. But I still happen in every millennium in my original transcendental form; using my own māyā (Illusion).
Because of my māya, I assume the body and incarnate Myself, sambhavāmy ātma-māyayā.' Kṛṣṇa means that He happens on the planet Earth again and again in so many forms to guide and enrich the people. Ordinary human beings are in the clutches of māyā or illusion due to which they take birth. But Kṛṣṇa has māyā itself under His control and takes birth due to His own wish! But again and again we miss Him. That is why we are here again and again! Again and again we miss them. That is why again and again He has to happen on planet Earth to lift us, to show us the way, to enrich us with Enlightenment.
Whenever there is a decline in individual consciousness, when-ever the collective unconsciousness increases, to establish the righteousness of the eternal consciousness, the science of eternal bliss, dharma saṁsthāpanārthāya, I Myself appear, millennium after millennium—sambhavāmi yuge yuge.
He keeps the generation of enlightened Masters open for the future, the possibility of enlightenment open for the future generations on planet Earth. He keeps the whole science open for the future. Only a courageous being like Kṛṣṇa can declare this truth; sambhavāmi yuge yuge.
Q: Swamiji, are there more Enlightened Masters on the planet?' A:
'Surely. There are hundreds of Enlightened Masters. Don't think I am the only one.' If you own any business, you would not give out the address of similar businesses in the city. Only if you are authentic, you can declare yes, there are so many other things available.
Q: 'Swamiji, if I take initiation from you, can I go to another master?'