”The person who governs all these universes that controller is certainly one and one alone. He does not take any help from anyone to do this. After creating everything He resides within it and after maintaining everything at the end He adopts a fearful form and retracts everything back into Himself.”
eko hi rudro na dvdiyiiya tasthur
ya imal lokan isata isanibhih
pratyan janas tisthati samcukoca
antakale samsrjya visva bhuvanani gopah
PURPORT BY SRI KRSNA BALARAM SWAMIJI
There is a false notion that Vedic civilization has many Gods but it is simply not a fact as this verse firmly establishes. God is one and can only be one and He is the greatest of all. No one is equal or superior to Him (Bhagavad Gita 7.7) therefore He does nothing. He simply plays His flute and enjoys. When He desires for something to be done He simply accomplishes it through His expansions. When He wanted to create this universe He expanded Himself into the trinity-Lord Brahma, Lord Visnu and Lord Siva-to create, maintain and annihilate respectively. As we will later study (Svetasvatara Upanisad 6.8) about how He has unlimited energies and accomplishes everything through them. As a good king (Prime Minister or President) of a nation performs their tasks through their ministers and secretaries similarly, the Supreme Lord also carries out His tasks in this creation through the demigods. There are three hundred thirty million demigods who live in heaven and follow the orders of the Supreme Lord and manage this creation. The Vedic scriptures answer even those questions which other religions can not answer therefore studying Vedic scriptures opens everyone’s eyes about what most of the world views as unexplained subject matter.
[Svetasvatara Upanisad, 3.2, KBS0021]
The Vedic scriptures answer The Vedic scriptures answer
| 1. | Kṛṣṇa | 20. | Mādhavendra Purī |
| 2. | Brahmā | 21. | Īśvara Purī |
| 3. | Nārada | (Nityānanda, Advaita) | |
| 4. | Vyāsa | 22. | Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu |
| 5. | Madhva | 23. | Rūpa (Svarūpa, Sanātana) |
| 6. | Padmanābha | 24. | Raghunātha, Śrī Jīva |
| 7. | Nṛharī | 25. | Kṛṣṇādāsa |
| 8. | Mādhava | 26. | Narottamadāsa |
| 9. | Akṣobhya | 27. | Viśvanātha Chakravartī |
| 10. | Jayatīrtha | 28. | Baladeva, Jagannāthadāsa |
| 11. | Jñānasindhu | 29. | Bhaktivinod |
| 12. | Dayānidhi | 30. | Gaurakiśora |
| 13. | Vidyānidhi | 31. | Bhaktisiddhānta Saraśvatī |
| 14. | Rājendra | 32. | His Divine Grace |
| 15. | Jayadharma | Bhaktivedanta Swāmī | |
| 16. | Purusottama | Prabhupāda | |
| 17. | Brahmāṇyatīrtha | 33. | His Divine Grace Mahant |
| 18. | Vyāsatīrtha | Śrī Kṛṣṇa Balarām Swāmī | |
| 19. | Lakṣmīpati | Mahāraja |
The knowledge which is presented by His Divine Grace Mahāmaṇḍaleshwar Mahant Kṛṣṇa Balarām Swāmī Prabhupāda has been received through the following unbroken chain of disciplic succession (gurū paramparā) from Lord Kṛṣṇa:
| 1. | Kṛṣṇa | 20. | Mādhavendra Purī |
| 2. | Brahmā | 21. | Īśvara Purī |
| 3. | Nārada | (Nityānanda, Advaita) | |
| 4. | Vyāsa | 22. | Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu |
| 5. | Madhva | 23. | Rūpa (Svarūpa, Sanātana) |
| 6. | Padmanābha | 24. | Raghunātha, Śrī Jīva |
| 7. | Nṛharī | 25. | Kṛṣṇādāsa |
| 8. | Mādhava | 26. | Narottamadāsa |
| 9. | Akṣobhya | 27. | Viśvanātha Chakravartī |
| 10. | Jayatīrtha | 28. | Baladeva, Jagannāthadāsa |
| 11. | Jñānasindhu | 29. | Bhaktivinod |
| 12. | Dayānidhi | 30. | Gaurakiśora |
| 13. | Vidyānidhi | 31. | Bhaktisiddhānta Saraśvatī |
| 14. | Rājendra | 32. | His Divine Grace |
| 15. | Jayadharma | Bhaktivedanta Swāmī | |
| 16. | Purusottama | Prabhupāda | |
| 17. | Brahmāṇyatīrtha | 33. | His Divine Grace Mahant |
| 18. | Vyāsatīrtha | Śrī Kṛṣṇa Balarām Swāmī | |
| 19. | Lakṣmīpati | Mahāraja |
