# Lotus Flowers **See also:** [[artwork/themes/water|Water - Rivers and Oceans]] | [[artwork/themes/forests|Forests and Nature]] | [[artwork/themes/laksmi|Goddess Lakshmi]] **76 images** --- <h3>ISKCON Logo</h3> ![[0022_SB-1-1--ISKCON--logo.jpg]] <h3>The Spiritual Worlds</h3> ![[0023_SB-1-1-front.jpg]] *The original spiritual planet, which resembles the whorl of a huge lotus flower, is called Goloka Vṛndāvana. It is the abode of Lord Kṛṣṇa, the original Personality of Godhead. This original planet of Goloka throws off a spiritual effulgence called the brahmajyoti, within which are unlimited numbers of spiritual planets, or Vaikuṇṭhalokas. The conception of spiritual bliss (brahmānanda) is fully present in those planets. Each of them is eternal, indestructible, and free from all kinds of inebrieties experienced in the material world. Each of them is self-illuminating and more powerfully dazzling than (if we can imagine) the total sunshine of millions of mundane suns. The inhabitants of those planets have full knowledge of everything; they are all godly and free from all sorts of material hankerings. They have nothing to do there except to render transcendental loving service to the Supreme Lord Nārāyaṇa, who is the predominating Deity in every Vaikuṇṭha planet. The Lord and His eternal servitors in the transcendental kingdom all have eternal forms, which are auspicious, infallible, spiritual, and eternally youthful. In other words, they do not experience birth, death, old age, or disease. Thus that eternal land is full of transcendental enjoyment, beauty, and bliss.* <h3>Sita-Rama Enthroned in Ayodhya</h3> ![[0024_SB-9_2_6.jpg]] *Having been coronated after His long exile and His battle with the demon Rāvaṇa, Lord Rāmacandra ruled Ayodhyā in the company of His brother Lakṣmaṇa; His consort, Sītā; and His faithful servant Hanumān.* <h3>0025/TLC 20</h3> ![[0025_TLC-20.jpg]] <h3>Lord Caitanya Reveals the Universal Form to Advaita Acarya</h3> ![[0026_Adi-3-5.jpg]] *One day Advaita Ācārya requested Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu to display the universal form He had shown Arjuna, and the Lord kindly complied.* <h3>Krsna and the Cowherd Boys Have a Picnic</h3> ![[0030_TLC-21.jpg]] *In the forest of Vṛndāvana, Kṛṣṇa and His friends ate their lunch with great transcendental pleasure. Kṛṣṇa appeared like the whorl of a lotus flower, and His friends like its petals.* <h3>Lord Brahma Hears the Gayatri Mantra</h3> ![[0030_TLC-23.jpg]] *After being born out of the lotus growing from the navel of Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, Lord Brahmā turned his attention toward the task of creation. But he could see only darkness in every direction. Then Brahmā heard the sound tapa (penance) vibrated in the ether, and he sat in meditation. After one thousand celestial years, the sound of Kṛṣṇa's flute entered into the ear of Brahmā as the Vedic mantra oṁ. When the sound vibration of Kṛṣṇa's flute was expressed through the mouth of Brahmā, it became the Gāyatrī mantra. Thus by the influence of Kṛṣṇa's flute, Brahmā, the supreme creature and first living entity of this material universe, attained all Vedic knowledge and became the original spiritual master of all living entities.* <h3>Lord Kesava</h3> ![[0033_TLC-6.jpg]] *Dhruva prayed as follows: “My dear Lord, by Your unbroken glance You are the supreme witness of all stages of intellectual activities. You are the original Personality of Godhead, full with the six opulences of strength, wealth, fame, beauty, knowledge, and renunciation.”* <h3>Sankhya-yoga Meditation</h3> ![[0036_SB-3-4-4.jpg]] *The perfection of yoga is to meditate on the Supreme Personality of Godhead within one's heart and make Him the ultimate goal of life.* <h3>Gajendra Appeals to Lord Visnu</h3> ![[0046_SB-8-1-1.jpg]] *The elephant Gajendra prayerfully lifted a lotus aloft as an offering to Lord Viṣṇu, who came to deliver him from the crocodile, and also from material life.* <h3>Lord Nrsimha Pacified</h3> ![[0051_SB-7-2-6.jpg]] <h3>Krsna and the Cowherd Boys Honor Balarama</h3> ![[0053_SB-10-4-3.jpg]] <h3>Prahlada Offers a Garland to Lord Nrsimha</h3> ![[0056_SB-11-1-6.jpg]] <h3>Lord Narayana and Brahma</h3> ![[0062_SB-3-2-b.c.jpg]] *By his acts of penance, Lord Brahmā was able to see Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu.* <h3>Secondary Creation</h3> ![[0062_SB-3-2-5.jpg]] *Creation of the universe by Lord Brahmā, the great grandfather of all living beings.* <h3>Universal Devastation</h3> ![[0063_SB-3-2-3.jpg]] *EN SB 12 1988: At the time of cosmic annihilation, a great fire flares up from the mouth of Lord Saṅkarṣaṇa, burning everything throughout the universe and then scorching the lifeless cosmic shell.* <h3>Krsna Reveals His Two-Armed Form to Arjuna</h3> ![[0069_BG-64.jpg]] *The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, displayed His four-armed form to Arjuna, and at last He showed him His two-armed form.* <h3>From Goloka to the Material Creation</h3> ![[0077_BG-36.jpg]] *15.6: The spiritual and material worlds. The lotus represents the original spiritual planet, Goloka Vṛndāvana, the abode of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa. The spiritual effulgence surrounding this planet is called the /brahmajyoti/ and is the ultimate goal of impersonalists. Within the unlimited /brahmajyoti/ are innumerable spiritual planets, each a home for a plenary expansion of Lord Kṛṣṇa and inhabited by ever-liberated living beings. Sometimes a spiritual cloud overtakes a corner of the spiritual sky. That covered portion is called the /mahat-tattva,/ or material sky. There, the Lord as Mahā-Viṣṇu lies in the Causal Ocean, the water within the /mahat-tattva./ While He sleeps, innumerable universes emanate from His breathing and float in the Causal Ocean. Mahā-Viṣṇu enters each universe as Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu and lies in the Garbha Ocean on the serpentine Śeṣa incarnation. From Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu’s navel a lotus stem sprouts, and on the lotus, Brahmā is born. Brahmā creates bodies for all the souls in the material world according to their karma and desires.* <h3>Arjuna Prays to Krsna</h3> ![[0078_BG-29.jpg]] *10.12–13: Arjuna offers prayers to Kṛṣṇa: “You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the ultimate abode, the purest, the Absolute Truth. You are the eternal, transcendental, original person, the unborn, the greatest. All the great sages such as Närada, Asita, Devala and Vyäsa confirm this truth about You, and now You Yourself are declaring it to me.”* <h3>Krsna Plays His Flute and the Yamuna Offers Lotuses</h3> ![[0080_SB-10-5-1.jpg]] <h3>Lord Brahma Sees Vaikuntha</h3> ![[0082_SB-2-f.c.jpg]] <h3>Lord Visnu Blesses Dhruva</h3> ![[0083_SB-2-2-2.jpg]] *Dhruva Mahārāja is benedicted by the Personality of Godhead.* <h3>Lord Visnu Accepts Gajendra's Lotus</h3> ![[0083_SB-2-2-5.jpg]] *After hearing the elephant's plea, the Lord cut the mouth of the crocodile to save the elephant.* <h3>Radha-Krsna on a Lotus</h3> ![[0099_BTG-16-11-f.c.jpg]] <h3>Meditation on Paramatma</h3> ![[0107_SB-3-4-4.jpg]] *One should concentrate on the tip of the nose with half-closed eyes and see the form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.* <h3>The Supersoul</h3> ![[0109_SB-11-3-6.jpg]] *The Supersoul is the source of all senses, yet He is without senses. He is unattached, though He is the maintainer of all living beings. He transcends the modes of nature, yet He is the master of the modes of nature.* <h3>Radha-Krsna and the Gopis on a Lotus Boat</h3> ![[0123_KB1-37--pg190.jpg]] *Kṛṣṇa, the supreme enjoyer, desired to enjoy the company of the gopīs.* <h3>Krsna and Kubja</h3> ![[0139_KB1-54--p315.jpg]] *"Full of feminine bashfulness, Kubjā stood gracefully before Kṛṣṇa."* <h3>Garbhodakasayi Visnu on the Bed of Ananta-sesa</h3> ![[0143_SB-11-4-6.jpg]] <h3>Yugala Kisora</h3> ![[0165_UP--15.jpg]] <h3>Dhruva Meets Lord Visnu</h3> ![[0166_UP--2.jpg]] <h3>Bharata Maharaja Meditates on Surya-Narayana</h3> ![[0174_UP--90.jpg]] <h3>Narada Inquires from His Father, Lord Brahma</h3> ![[0177_UP--128.jpg]] *When Nārada Muni approached his father, Lord Brahmā, and asked who the original creator of the universe is, Brahmā replied that it is Lord Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.* <h3>Material and Spiritual Worlds</h3> ![[0178_UP--129.jpg]] *EN VEDA: There is another nature beyond this material one – the world of antimatter, or the eternal kingdom of God, where trees, animals, flowers, and people all exist in intimate loving relationships with Kṛṣṇa. Each of us has a place in that spiritual world, for it is our eternal home.* <h3>Conversation Between Krsna and Uddhava</h3> ![[0179_UP--116.jpg]] <h3>Brahma, Visnu, and Siva</h3> ![[0179_UP--123.jpg]] *Brahmā, Viṣṇu und Śiva lenken alle Vorgänge im materiellen Universum, doch sie unterstehen der Herrschaft der Höchsten Persönlichkeit Gottes, Śrī Kṛṣṇa.* <h3>Visnu on Sesa</h3> ![[0195_UP--240.jpg]] <h3>Krsna Comes to Madhavendra Puri</h3> ![[0203_Mad-2-1.jpg]] *When Mādhavendra Purī saw the beauty of the young boy who had approached him and heard His sweet words, he forgot all hunger and thirst.* <h3>Gayatri</h3> ![[0226_TS-01.jpg]] <h3>Gayatri Devi</h3> ![[0226_TS-04.jpg]] <h3>Art 0061/0061/SB (NE) 1-3 f.c.</h3> ![[0061_SB-(NE)-1-3-f.c.jpg]] <h3>Art 0153/0153/MP 5</h3> ![[0153_MP-5.jpg]] <h3>Paramatma</h3> ![[Art-0207_VIS-1.jpg]] <h3>Art 0216/Art 0216/SB3 9</h3> ![[Art-0216_SB3-9.jpg]] <h3>The Inhabitants of the Universe Choking Due to Dhruva's Austerities</h3> ![[Art-0220_SB4-30.jpg]] <h3>Paramatma</h3> ![[Art-0237_Vis7-NE.jpg]] *The Bhagavad-gītā tells us that while the individual is the master of his or her own body, Kṛṣṇa, as the Supersoul, is the supreme master of every body. The indwelling Supersoul sits in everyone’s heart, ready to give us the wisdom to find our way back to the spiritual world.* <h3>Sri Caitanya Maharaja Reveals the Universal Form to Advaita Acarya</h3> ![[Art-2015-000001.JPG]] *Lord Caitanya revealing His universal form to Advaita Ācārya (as described in the <i>Caitanya Bhāgavata</i>).* <h3>Devayani Rebukes Sarmistha</h3> ![[0024_SB-9_3_1.jpg]] *Śarmiṣṭhā unknowingly put Devayāni’s dress on her own body, thus angering Devayāni, who said, “Oh, just see the activities of this servant-maid, Śarmiṣṭhā!”* <h3>Krsna on the Yamuna</h3> ![[0027_SB-1_3_9.jpg]] *Śrī Kṛṣṇa, a mindenkit vonzó Istenség Legfelsőbb Személyiesége. Csodálatos formáját az esőfelhők kék színe árnyalja, szemei olyanok, akéar a nyīló lótuszvirág szirmai, fejét pedig a leggyönyörűbb pávatol díszíti.* <h3>The Spiritual World</h3> ![[0028_SB-1-3-f.c.jpg]] *The Lord's abode and the Vaikuṇṭha planets in the spiritual sky are far beyond these mundane universes.* <h3>Radha, Krsna, and the Gopis on a Boat</h3> ![[0045_SB-1-1-15.jpg]] *The Lord's pastimes with the gopīs are displays of His transcendental existence, bliss, and knowledge.* <h3>The Reunion</h3> ![[0051_IS-4.jpg]] *When the gopīs saw that their dearmost Kṛṣṇa had returned to them, they became ecstatic, and out of their affection for Him their eyes bloomed wide. It was as if the air of life had reentered their bodies.* <h3>Radha-Krsna and the Gopis</h3> ![[0051_SB-6-3-3.jpg]] <h3>Krsna Enjoys Lunch with the Cowherd Boys</h3> ![[0052_SB-10-3-1.jpg]] *After selecting a pleasing location on the riverbank, Lord Kṛṣṇa and His friends opened their baskets of food and began eating in great transcendental pleasure. Like the whorl of a lotus flower surrounded by its petals and leaves, Kṛṣṇa sat in the center, encircled by lines of His friends, who all looked very beautiful. Every one of them was trying to look forward toward Kṛṣṇa, thinking that Kṛṣṇa might look toward him. Among the cowherd boys, some placed their lunch on flowers, some on leaves, fruits, or bunches of leaves, some actually in their baskets, some on the bark of trees and some on rocks. This is what the children imagined to be their plates as they ate their lunch. All the cowherd boys enjoyed their lunch with Kṛṣṇa, showing one another the different tastes of the different varieties of preparations they had brought from home. Tasting one another’s preparations, they began to laugh and make one another laugh. In this way they all enjoyed their lunch in the forest.* <h3>Krsna Praises Balarama</h3> ![[0053_SB-10-4-2.jpg]] *EN POY 2005: Kṛṣṇa consciousness is the last link in the yogic chain, the link that binds us to the Supreme Person, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa.* <h3>Krsna and the Gopis Bathe in the Yamuna</h3> ![[0053_SB-10-6-12.jpg]] *After the rāsa dance, Kṛṣṇa entered the water of the Yamunā River with the gopīs in order to dispel their fatigue, and soon the Lord found Himself being splashed on all sides by His laughing consorts.* <h3>Lord Śiva Comes on Mārkaṇḍeya Ṛṣi</h3> ![[0059_SB-12-2-5.jpg]] *EN SB 12 1988: Once while traveling through the sky upon his bull carrier, Lord Śiva came upon the great sage Mārkaṇḍeya seated in trance.* <h3>Krsna Steals the Garments of the Unmarried Gopis</h3> ![[0086_SB-10-5-2.jpg]] *EN KB 2018 one-vol: One after another the gopīs came out of the water, shivering and trying to cover their nakedness with their hands. Their simple presentation was so pure that Lord Kṛṣṇa immediately became pleased with them. All the unmarried gopīs had prayed to goddess Kātyāyanī to have Kṛṣṇa as their husband, and in this way they were satisfied. Nothing can compare with the Kṛṣṇa consciousness of the gopīs.* <h3>Th Transcendental Brothers</h3> ![[0094_BTG-15-7-f.c.jpg]] <h3>The Hamsa-avatara Enlightens Brahma and the Four Kumaras</h3> ![[0118_SB-11-3-5.jpg]] <h3>Krsna and His Queens Have Watersports</h3> ![[0119_SB-10-4-11--NE.jpg]] *In His magnificent city of Dvārakā, Lord Kṛṣṇa would enjoy with each of his 16,108 queens in her own palace. On the grounds of these palaces were clear ponds fragrant with the pollen of many lotuses, and the Lord would enter these ponds and enjoy sporting in the water with His wives. As musicians, singers, and poets glorified Him, the Lord would squirt water at His consorts, and they would squirt Him back, laughing all the while. In this way He enjoyed Himself like the king of elephants in the company of His bevy of she-elephants.* <h3>Krsna and the Gopis Enjoy Pastimes in a Boat</h3> ![[0142_KB1-28_1984_--KA128.jpg]] <h3>Radha and Krsna, the Perfection of Love</h3> ![[0142_NKL-12.jpg]] <h3>Krsna Speaks With the Animals of Vrndavana</h3> ![[0144_KB--3--p43.jpg]] <h3>Young Krsna and the Cow</h3> ![[0150_MP-1.jpg]] <h3>Description of Autumn</h3> ![[0158_NOD-536.jpg]] <h3>Srimati Radharani, the Topmost Gopi</h3> ![[0160_UP--288.jpg]] <h3>The Kingdom of God</h3> ![[0160_UP-25.jpg]] <h3>The River Goddess Yamuna Prays for Lord Balarama's Mercy</h3> ![[0162_UP--34.jpg]] *EN KB 2018 one-vol: The river goddess Yamunā was terrified when threatened by Lord Balarāma, so she came before the Lord in person and prayed for mercy.* <h3>Young Kunti Invokes the Sun God</h3> ![[0195_UP--229.jpg]] <h3>Agnidhra Attracted to Purvacitti</h3> ![[0230_SB5-86.jpg]] <h3>Madana-mohana in the Moonlight</h3> ![[0236_RAD-17.jpg]] *Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja, the author of Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, declares, “Glory to the all-merciful Rādhā and Madana-mohana! I am lame and ill advised, yet They are my directors, and Their lotus feet are everything to me.”* <h3>Maha-visnu Breathes In the Universes</h3> ![[0079_SB-1-1-21.jpg]] *At the end of the millennium Nārada entered the body of the Personality of Godhead, Nārāyaṇa.* <h3>Garbhodakasayi Visnu and Laksmi</h3> ![[0080_TLC-7.jpg]] *Lakṣmī, the goddess of fortune, can always be found massaging the legs and thighs of the Lord.* <h3>The Flute-song Carries Lord Caitanya to Vrndavana</h3> ![[Antya-5-3.jpg]] *“Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu stood up, and then sat down again. Looking here and there, He inquired from Svarūpa Dāmodara, ‘Where have you brought Me? After hearing the vibration of a flute, I went to Vṛndāvana, and there I saw that Kṛṣṇa, the son of Mahārāja Nanda, was playing on His flute in the pasturing grounds. He brought Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī to a bower by signaling with His flute. Then He entered that bower to perform pastimes with Her. I entered the bower just behind Kṛṣṇa, My ears captivated by the sound of His ornaments. I saw Kṛṣṇa and the gopīs enjoying all kinds of pastimes while laughing and joking together. Hearing their vocal expressions enhanced the joy of My ears. Just then, all of you made a tumultuous sound and brought Me back here by force. Because you brought Me back here, I could no longer hear the nectarean voices of Kṛṣṇa and the gopīs, nor could I hear the sounds of their ornaments or the flute.’”* <h3>Vyasadeva Meditates on the Supreme Lord</h3> ![[SB-1_1_5.jpg]] *Vyāsadeva meditating on Lord Kṛṣṇa, the all-pervading Personality of Godhead.* --- ## Copyright Notice All artwork on this page is © The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International, Inc. All rights reserved. These images are reproduced here with permission for educational and devotional purposes. The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International, Inc. (BBTi) holds exclusive rights to all images created for books published by BBTi and its predecessor entities. **Unauthorized reproduction, distribution, or commercial use of these images is strictly prohibited without prior written permission from BBTi.** For licensing inquiries, please contact: - Website: https://www.BBT.info - Email: [email protected] All textual content and commentary © A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada