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The whole world is Krsna's property. The material world is a field of activities for the corrupt conditioned souls who desire to enjoy in imitation of the Supreme

2022-07-28T06:18:35Z

Shaalini:

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{{terms|"The whole world is Krsna's property. The material world is a field of activities for the corrupt conditioned souls who desire to enjoy in imitation of the Supreme"}}
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[[Category:Whole World]]
[[Category:Krsna's Property]]
[[Category:Conditioned Souls and the Material World]]
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[[Category:Activities of the Soul]]
[[Category:Corruption]]
[[Category:Activities of a Conditioned Soul]]
[[Category:One Who Desires]]
[[Category:Desires of a Conditioned Soul]]
[[Category:Enjoyment of a Conditioned Soul]]
[[Category:Imitating Krsna]]
[[Category:Supreme]]
[[Category:Krsna and the Conditioned Souls]]
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<h2>Correspondence</h2>
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<h3>1974 Correspondence</h3>
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The whole world is Krsna's property. The material world is a field of activities for the corrupt conditioned souls who desire to enjoy in imitation of the Supreme. For them, Krsna gives facilities for material enjoyment, but He wants the conditioned souls—after finishing their material enjoyment—to come back to Him with bitter experience of material existence.
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[[Vanisource:740329 - Letter to Dr. Ghosh written from Bombay|740329 - Letter to Dr. Ghosh written from Bombay]]
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March 29, 1974

Allahabad

My dear Dr. Ghosh;

Please accept my greetings. I wish to thank you very much, as I have received you letter of March 15, and noted its contents.

As far as your coming here in Bombay you are welcome at any moment. I am here at least up until the 20th of April and you can come and stay sometime and try to understand the philosophy of the Krsna Consciousness Movement. After the 20th, I may be going to Hyderabad where we have a center, and if you like you may accompany me to Hyderabad. We can continually discuss the Bhagavad-gita.

Our Krsna Consciousness Movement is based on the principles of Bhagavad-gita As It Is, without malinterpretation. Krsna says in the Fourth Chapter

yada yada hi dharmasya
glanir bhavati bharata
abhyutthanam adharmasya
tadatmanam srjamyaham
([[Vanisource:BG 4.7 (1972)|BG 4.7]])

paritranaya sadhunam
vinasaya ca duskrtam
dharma-samsthapanarthaya
sambhavami yuge yuge
([[Vanisource:BG 4.8 (1972)|BG 4.8]])

The whole world is Krsna's property. The material world is a field of activities for the corrupt conditioned souls who desire to enjoy in imitation of the Supreme. For them, Krsna gives facilities for material enjoyment, but He wants the conditioned souls—after finishing their material enjoyment—to come back to Him with bitter experience of material existence.

Therefore in the Bhagavad-gita there is the essence of Vedic instructions. The plan is that the conditioned soul may fulfill his desire for material enjoyment and at the same time be trained up in spiritual identity to come back to Godhead, back to home. As such, Bhagavad-gita contains the solution of all problems of the material world. Unfortunately, foolish people described as duskrtina, do not want to take instruction from the Lord, although it is completely perfect—but they select their own concocted leaders who are themselves blind, and therefore the world is in chaotic condition on account of rascal leaders in all fields. There are so many rascal leaders in politics, social life, cultural, philosophy, religion, etc. They are all misguided. Bhagavad-gita, therefore is the only light from which we can take direction for all our civic activities. Our Krsna Consciousness Movement was started only for this purpose.

Sometimes back, when I was in Moscow, I had discussion with a big professor, Kotovsky, and I challenged him. "Where is the difference between the Communist philosophy and any other? Everyone has to accept a particular leader and follow his instructions under a brand of ism." But because leaders are all fools and rascals, the ultimate result of following them is disappointment. In the western countries there have been many revolutions, in France, England, Germany and Russia, simply to change leaders of this ism to that ism. In India also since India's contact with the western countries, there have been certain types of revolutions, and they are now going on. Recently in our experience there was attempt to drive away the British. This revolution changed India from dependence to independence, but factually the situation has deteriorated from bad to worse. We are old friends, we know that in Allahabad when I was there, ghee was selling for 1 kg. per 1 rupee, and now its costs 20-25 rupees per kg. In this way, things have not improved, in so many ways. This is due to imperfect leaders.

Therefore our propaganda is to educate people to accept Krsna as the perfect leader in all fields of activity, and if people take to it seriously they will be happy in this life and after quitting this body he goes back to home, back to Godhead. There is no difficulty in understanding this philosophy in full brain and it is the urgent necessity that it be spread all over the world.

Therefore the best service to human society is to educate them after the principle of the Gita, otherwise they are losing the chance of perfection in the human life and going down again to the circle of birth and death and transmigration in different species of life numbering 8,400,000. It is very interesting to discuss on this point and it will be a great pleasure for me if you come and stay with me for some time and preach this philosophy amongst the higher section of society. This is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita:

yad yad acarati srestas tad tad evetaro janaj
sa yat pramanam kurute lokas tad anuvartate
([[Vanisource:BG 3.21 (1972)|BG 3.21]])

Thanking you in anticipation,

Yours sincerely,

A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami

ACBS/sdg
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The Vedas say that the puruṣa (the ātmā or the soul) has no connection with all its dreamlike material activities. Therefore we must engage in this Kṛṣṇa consciousness process to awaken from this dreaming condition

2022-07-28T06:18:02Z

Shaalini:

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{{terms|"The Vedas say that the puruṣa (the ātmā or the soul) has no connection with all its dreamlike material activities. Therefore we must engage in this Kṛṣṇa consciousness process to awaken from this dreaming condition"}}
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[[Category:Krsna Consciousness, The Matchless Gift Chapters 01 to 07]]
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<h2>Other Books by Srila Prabhupada</h2>
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<h3>Kṛṣṇa Consciousness, The Matchless Gift</h3>
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I may dream that I am in a great storm, or that I am being pursued, or that someone is taking my money, or that I am being devoured by a tiger, but actually these are all creations of my mind. Asaṅgo hy ayaṁ puruṣa iti śruteḥ. The Vedas say that the puruṣa (the ātmā or the soul) has no connection with all its dreamlike material activities. Therefore we must engage in this Kṛṣṇa consciousness process to awaken from this dreaming condition.
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[[Vanisource:MG 7 Liberation in Krsna Consciousness|Kṛṣṇa Consciousness, The Matchless Gift, 7]]
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If we simply worship the original person (ādi-puruṣaṁ), we need not fear being misled by, anyone. Śrīdhara Svāmī, the original commentator on Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, explains that one can reach the perfection of life simply by devotional service (kevalayā bhaktyā); one need not be dependent on any other process. Śukadeva Gosvāmī says that one can put an end to material life by one stroke (kevalayā). There is no need to first undergo severe penance and austerity, practice celibacy, control the mind and the senses, give in charity, perform great sacrifices and become very truthful and clean. Simply by one stroke - by accepting Kṛṣṇa consciousness - one immediately rises to the highest position. By just taking to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, one develops all transcendental qualifications. The goldsmith uses a small hammer and taps the gold many times, but the blacksmith uses a large hammer and with one stroke his job is finished. This is the blacksmith's method: we take the big hammer of bhakti-yoga and finish all material life. There is no need to undergo the many lesser disciplines, nor to follow any other process. In actuality, there is no possibility of even following the other Vedic processes to perfection. For instance, the haṭha-yoga process would say: "You have to become a strict brahmacārī and sit in the forest with your body at a right angle to the ground, pressing your nose with your finger for six months." Who could follow such an instruction? Since such a method is not practical in this present age, the goldsmith method has to be discarded. The solution is to take the blacksmith's hammer of Kṛṣṇa consciousness and finish off all sinful reactions immediately.

By devotional service one has to become vāsudeva-parāyaṇa, a devotee of Lord Vāsudeva or Lord Kṛṣṇa. In other words, we have to learn how to become lovers of Vāsudeva. If the world takes up this Kṛṣṇa consciousness, the planet is certain to be peaceiul. Now the earth is quickly becoming a hellish planet, and if this Kṛṣṇa consciousness is not taken up, this hellish condition will progress despite all advances in education and economic development. Therefore those who are thoughtful should take this movement very seriously and try to understand its value. It is not something manufactured by one man or a group of disciples. It is authoritative and age-old, based on the Vedic literatures which date back thousands of years.

Nīhāram iva bhāskaraḥ. Bhāskara refers to the sun. The sun immediately dissipates mist or fog as well as darkness. As stated before, we should try to make the sun of Kṛṣṇa rise within our hearts. In the Caitanya-caritāmṛta also it is stated that Kṛṣṇa is like the sun and that māyā, the illusory energy, is darkness. Yāhāṅ kṛṣṇa, tāhāṅ nāhi māyāra adhikāra: As soon as the sun of Kṛṣṇa is present, the darkness of māyā immediately disappears. Without following this process, it is very difficult to overcome the ocean of darkness, māyā. If we simply teach people to surrender unto Kṛṣṇa, God, all the fog and mist of illusion will disappear. The method is very simple: chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare.

The more one goes on chanting, the more the darkness of many lives is dissipated. Ceto-darpaṅa-mārjanam: by chanting, one can cleanse the dust from the mirror of his mind and perceive things very distinctly. Thus one will know what he is, what God is, what this world is, what our relationship with God in this world is, how to live in this world, and what our next life is. Such knowledge is not taught in schools, where one is taught how to manufacture or acquire products for sense gratification. There is always a hard struggle going on involving man's attempt to dominate material nature. However, for every convenience he manages to produce, there is an inconvenience accompanying it. For example, recently some engineers designed an airplane which can fly at great speeds without danger. When the plane flies, however, it breaks windows all over the city. Our time is thus being wasted in constructing so many devices which give us temporary and artificial convenience at the price of a proportionate amount of inconvenience. This is all part of the law of karma, the law of action and reaction. For whatever we do, there must be a reaction by which we become entangled. That is stated in Bhagavad-gītā:

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:yajñārthāt karmaṇo 'nyatra
:loko 'yaṁ karma-bandhanaḥ
:tad-arthaṁ karma kaunteya
:mukta-saṅgaḥ samācara
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"Work done as a sacrifice for Viṣṇu has to be performed, otherwise work binds one to this material world. Therefore, O son of Kuntī, perform your prescribed duties for His satisfaction, and in that way you will always remain unattached and free from bondage." ([[Vanisource:BG 3.9|BG 3.9]])

When one acts for sense gratification, work entangles him, whether the work be good or bad, but if one works for Kṛṣṇa (yajñārthāt karmaṇo), he will be free, regardless of the possible desirability of his work.

Not only does Śukadeva Gosvāmī recommend unalloyed devotional service, but he further says that by devotional service one's sinful activities will be negated. Every one of us is more or less sinful, for if we were not sinful we would not have been put into material bodies. As soon as one is free from sinful life, he is liberated and transferred to the spiritual world in a spiritual body. The whole process is to cleanse oneself from the contamination of sinful or material life.

Śukadeva Gosvāmī said, "My dear king, those who are sinful can become purified from contamination by tapa-ādibhiḥ, practicing austerity." Śukadeva also said, however, that no one can become completely purified by executing this process of austerity. There are many examples of yogīs who practiced austerities but did not emerge completely pure. Viśvāmitra Muni, for example, was a kṣatriya who wanted to become a brāhmaṇa and therefore began to practice austerity. Later on, however, he became a victim of Menakā, a society girl of the heavenly planets. Because Viśvāmitra was not pure, he became entangled with her and begot a child. Therefore it is said that even if one performs austerities and penances, worldly circumstances are so implicating that somehow or other they will involve one again and again in the material modes of nature. There are many examples of sannyāsīs who give up the world, renouncing it as false, saying, "Let me turn to Brahman," but they again become entangled in the work of the world when they set up hospitals and perform philanthropic work and welfare activities. If the world is false, why are they attracted to welfare activities? The philosophy of Kṛṣṇa consciousness maintains that this world is not false but that it is temporary. God created this world, and He is true, so how can His creation be false? Because this is the creation of God, and God is the Absolute Truth, this creation is also true. We simply see it otherwise due to illusion. The world is a fact, but it is a temporary fact.

A person may claim something within this world to be his property, but that is a false claim. It is a fact that it is someone's property, but it is God's property (īśāvāsyam idaṁ sarvam). This does not mean, however, that the property is false. What is false is the claim to the property, which is based upon a puffed up false consciousness that the individual is the proprietor, the master, or God. Everyone desires to be master or proprietor of something, then minister, then president, and then God. When everything else fails, the living entity wants to become God. The tendency is there to want to become the greatest of all, but the fact remains that God is the greatest and the living entity is small compared to Him. The smallest is not false, and the greatest is not false, but when the small thinks that he is great, that is false.

We understand from Vedic literature that Brahman, or the spirit, is aṇor aṇīyāṁsam, smaller than an atom, and mahato mahīyāṁsam, greater than the greatest. As far as we can conceive, the space which contains the universe is the greatest, but Kṛṣṇa has shown millions of universes in His mouth. The greatness of God cannot be comprehended by the living entities, who are part and parcel of God. As living entities, we are very minute, infinitesimal, and God is infinite. Indeed, the magnitude of the individual spirit soul is so microscopic that it cannot be seen. One cannot even imagine it with his material senses. Therefore it is said that the spirit soul is smaller than an atom (aṇor aṇīyāṁsam).

Since the living entities and Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Lord, are both spirit, they are qualitatively one. Quantitatively, however, the Lord is great and the living entities are small. This fact can be accepted immediately on the basis of Vedic information. In Brahma-saṁhitā it is stated, yasyaika-niśvasita-kālam athāvalambya jīvanti loma-vila-jā jagad-aṇḍa-nāthāḥ: many millions of universes come out of God's body when He exhales, and they again disappear when He inhales. Simply by His breathing, millions of universes are created and dissolved. If this is the case, then how can the living entities claim proprietorship over anything? One's position is safe only in so far as he does not falsely declare himself to be God or proprietor. It has become fashionable to claim to be God, and fools accept such claims, but from the Vedic literatures we understand that God is not so cheap.

As long as we are not making puffed up egocentered claims, we are already liberated. There is no need to actually seek liberation. But as long as one thinks, "I am this body," he is not liberated. Liberation means knowing perfectly well that one's self is separate from the body. Therefore Śukadeva Gosvāmī said, prāyaścittaṁ vimarśanam: "Develop your knowledge; that will give you relief." Our knowledge is perfect when we come to know that we are very small particles of spiritual sparks, and that God, the supreme, the greatest spiritual identity, supplies all our necessities (eko bahūnāṁ yo vidadhāti kāmān). By knowing ourselves as minute particles, part and parcel of God, we can understand that our duty is to serve God. God is the center of all creation, of the whole universal body; He is the enjoyer, and we are His servitors. As this conception becomes clear, we become liberated.

Liberation entails freedom from all false conceptions. It is not that upon liberation one acquires ten hands. In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam liberation is defined as muktir hitvānyathā-rūpam. Mukti means "to give up," and ānyathā-rūpam denotes a false conception of life. This is to say that when one is situated in his original constitutional position, having given up all false notions, he is liberated. It is also said in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam that by the acquisition of knowledge, one becomes liberated immediately. That knowledge can be very easily acquired, for it is simple: God is great, and I am very small; He is the supreme proprietor supplying all necessities, and I am His servant. Who can challenge this? It is a fact. We are simply under the false impression that we are this or that, and this leads us to the ultimate false impression that we are God. Yet we do not consider what manner of God we are. A small bodily disorder will send us to the physician. One who claims to be the supreme, therefore, should be understood to have fallen to the last snare of māyā. One who is thus fallen cannot even be liberated, for he is bound by false impressions.

Only when one has attained proper knowledge can he actually be liberated. The stage of liberation is also called the brahma-bhūtaḥ stage. One who has attained this stage is characterized by Śrī Kṛṣṇa in Bhagavad-gītā in this way:

<div class="quote_verse">
:brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā
:na śocati na kāṅkṣati
:samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu
:mad-bhaktiṁ labhate parām
</div>

"One who is thus transcendentally situated at once realizes the Supreme Brahman. He never laments, or desires to have anything; he is equally disposed to every living entity. And in that state he achieves pure devotional service unto Me." ([[Vanisource:BG 18.54|BG 18.54]])

The joy which follows realization arises from understanding, "I was illusioned by false notions for so long. What a fool I was! I was thinking that I was God, but now I can understand that I am God's eternal servant." Upon gaining such realization, one attains liberation and becomes prasannātmā, or jolly, for this is the constitutional position of the living entity.

There is no lamentation when one is in pure consciousness, for he knows that he is a small part, a spiritual spark protected by the Supreme Lord. Where then is there scope for lamentation? A small child feels free as long as he knows that his father is there. He thinks, "My father is standing by me, so I am free. No one can harm me." Similarly, when one surrenders to Kṛṣṇa, he has complete faith that he is not in danger because Kṛṣṇa is protecting him. One who is thus surrendered to Kṛṣṇa is not subject to lamentation or desire, whereas one who is not God conscious simply hankers and laments. He hankers for that which he does not possess, and he laments for that which he did possess but has lost. A God conscious person is not subject to such misery. If something is lost, he knows that it is God's wish, and he thinks, "God desired this, so it is all right." He does not desire anything, for he knows that all his necessities are being provided by Kṛṣṇa, the supreme father.

As soon as one understands his relationship to God, he realizes universal brotherhood, for he understands that all men and animals - indeed, all life itself - are all parts of the supreme whole and are therefore all equal. Seeing this, one does not envy, exploit or trouble another living entity. Thus one who is a devotee of Kṛṣṇa automatically develops all good qualities, for he is in the proper consciousness. Harāv abhaktasya kuto mahad-guṇā mano-rathenāsati dhāvato bahih. One who has developed Kṛṣṇa consciousness will manifest all the good qualities of the demigods. Indeed, it is stated, vāñcā-kalpa-tarubhyaś ca krpā-sindhubhya eva ca: A Vaisnava or devotee of Kṛṣṇa is an ocean of mercy to others. He gives the greatest gift to society, for society is in dire need of God consciousness. A Vaiṣṇava bestows the priceless gift of the mahāmantra, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare. Simply by chanting this mantra, one can remain in a liberated state.

One should not think, however, that this state is simply a state of trance whereby one remains seated in lotus position in a corner for days on end. No, liberation means serving. One cannot simply say, "Now I have dedicated my life to Kṛṣṇa. Let me remain seated in samādhi." The standard of surrender must be maintained by niṣevayā, serving. As one serves the Supreme Lord, the Lord reveals Himself within the heart. The program of devotional service to the Lord is executed from morning to night. Indeed, Kṛṣṇa says in Bhagavad-gītā that one must engage in devotional service to Him twenty-four hours a day. It is not that we should meditate for fifteen minutes and then engage in all kinds of nonsense. The more we serve, the more dedicated to Kṛṣṇa we become; therefore a person should utilize whatever talents he has for Kṛṣṇa. There are nine processes of devotional service - hearing, chanting, remembering, serving, worshiping the Deity in the temple, praying, carrying out orders, serving the Lord as friend, and sacrificing everything for Him - and one should always keep engaged in at least one of these nine processes. One who is always engaged in Kṛṣṇa's service never becomes disgusted (bhajatāṁ prīti-pūrvakam). Service must be rendered with love, but in the beginning this may be difficult, and so one may become disgusted. As one makes progress in Kṛṣṇa's service, however, he will find it pleasing. This is indicated by Kṛṣṇa in Bhagavad-gītā:

<div class="quote_verse">
:yat tad agre viṣam iva
:pariṇāme 'mṛtopamam
:tat sukhaṁ sāttvikaṁ proktam
:ātma-buddhi-prasāda-jam
</div>

"That which in the beginning may be just like poison, but at the end is like nectar, and which awakens one to self-realization, is said to be happiness in the mode of goodness." ([[Vanisource:BG 18.37|BG 18.37]])

Once one has attained the spiritual platform, it is material service that actually becomes disgusting. For example, if one chants Hare Kṛṣṇa throughout his life, he will not grow tired of the names, but if one chants a material name over and over, he will soon become disgusted. The more one chants the names of Kṛṣṇa, the more he becomes attached. Thus service by śravaṇam and kīrtanam, hearing and chanting about Kṛṣṇa, is the beginning. The next process is smaraṇam - always remembering Kṛṣṇa. When one is perfect in chanting and hearing, he will always remember Kṛṣṇa. In this third stage, he becomes the greatest yogī.

Nor is progress in Kṛṣṇa consciousness ever lost. In the material world, if one begins to construct a factory but does not complete it, the factory is useless for all intents and purposes. If the construction is stopped and the building half finished, whatever money is invested is lost. This is not the case with Kṛṣṇa consciousness, for even if one does not come to the perfectional point, whatever work he does is his permanent asset, and he can begin from that point in his next life. Kṛṣṇa also confirms in Bhagavad-gītā that one who begins Kṛṣṇa consciousness cannot lose anything:

<div class="quote_verse">
:nehābhikrama-nāśo 'sti
:pratyavāyo na vidyate
:sv-alpam apy asya dharmasya
:trāyate mahato bhayāt
</div>

"In this endeavor there is no loss or diminution, and a little advancement on this path can protect one from the most dangerous type of fear." ([[Vanisource:BG 2.40|BG 2.40]])

In the Sixth Chapter of Bhagavad-gītā, when Arjuna asks about the fate of the unsuccessful yogī, Śrī Kṛṣṇa replies:

<div class="quote_verse">
:pārtha naiveha nāmutra
:vināśas tasya vidyate
:na hi kalyāṇa-kṛt kaścid
:durgatiṁ tāta gacchati
</div>

"Son of Pṛthā, a transcendentalist engaged in auspicious activities does not meet with destruction either in this world or in the spiritual world; one who does good, My friend, is never overcome by evil." ([[Vanisource:BG 6.40|BG 6.40]])

The Lord then indicates that the unsuccessful yogī takes up his practice of Kṛṣṇa consciousness in the next life, beginning from the point where he left off. In other words, if one has finished fifty percent of the process in one life, in the next life he begins at fifty-one percent. Whatever material assets we accumulate in our life, however, are all annihilated at death, for we cannot take material opulence with us.

However, one should not think that he will do well to wait for the next life to attain Kṛṣṇa consciousness. We should try to fulfill the mission of Kṛṣṇa consciousness in this life. Kṛṣṇa promises us that one who becomes His devotee will come to Him without fail:

<div class="quote_verse">
:man-manā bhava mad-bhakto
:mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru
:mām evaiṣyasi satyaṁ te
:pratijāne priyo 'si me
</div>

"Always think of Me. Become My devotee. Worship Me, and offer your homage unto Me. The result is that you will come to Me without fail. I promise you this, because you are My very dear friend." ([[Vanisource:BG 18.65|BG 18.65]])

When we think of coming to Kṛṣṇa, we should not think that we will be standing before a void or an impersonal bright light. Kṛṣṇa, God, is a person, just as we are persons. Materially we can understand that our father is a person, and that his father is also a person, and that his father's father is a person and so on back to the supreme father, who must also be a person. This is not very difficult to understand, and it is noteworthy that God is called the supreme father not only in the Vedas but in the Bible, Koran, and other scriptures. The Vedānta-sūtra also confirms that the Absolute Truth is the original father from whom everything has taken birth or emanated. This is also confirmed in the Vedas:

<div class="quote_verse">
:nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām
:eko bahūnāṁ yo vidadhāti kāmān
</div>

"The Lord is the supreme eternal amongst all eternals and the supreme living entity amongst all living entities. He is maintaining all others." The desires and life symptoms displayed by all living entities are simply reflections of the desires and life symptoms of the supreme father. In other words, our desires are born because He has desires. Because we are part and parcel of God, we have all the instincts of God in minute quantity. The sex play and sex life which we see in the material world is but the perverted reflection of the love that is found in the spiritual world. This world is material because God is forgotten here, but once He is remembered the world immediately becomes spiritual. In other words, the spiritual world is that place where Kṛṣṇa is not forgotten. That is also the definition of the spiritual world given by Vedic literatures. We must therefore plan our lives in such a way that it will not be possible for us to forget Kṛṣṇa for a moment. In this way, by engaging in the service of Kṛṣṇa, we will therefore always live in Vaikuṇṭha or Vṛndāvana, the abode of Kṛṣṇa.

At present, due to our polluted consciousness, we are turning the world into a materialistic and hellish place, and because we are ignorant of our constitutional position, we have created innumerable problems, just as in dreams we create so many problems. But in actuality there are no problems. I may dream that I am in a great storm, or that I am being pursued, or that someone is taking my money, or that I am being devoured by a tiger, but actually these are all creations of my mind. Asaṅgo hy ayaṁ puruṣa iti śruteḥ. The Vedas say that the puruṣa (the ātmā or the soul) has no connection with all its dreamlike material activities. Therefore we must engage in this Kṛṣṇa consciousness process to awaken from this dreaming condition.

Above all the fruitive laborers, speculators, and mystic yogīs are the bhaktas, or devotees of Kṛṣṇa. A bhakta can be perfectly peaceful, whereas the others cannot because everyone but the bhakta, one who has pure love, has desire. A śuddha-bhakta is desireless because he is simply happy serving Kṛṣṇa. He does not know or even care whether Kṛṣṇa is God or not; he just wants to love Kṛṣṇa. Nor is he concerned with the fact that Kṛṣṇa is omnipotent or that He is all-pervasive. In Vṛndāvana, the cowherd boys and the gopīs did not know whether Kṛṣṇa was God or not, but they simply loved Him. Although they were not Vedāntists, yogīs or karmīs, they were happy because they were simple village girls and boys who wanted to see Kṛṣṇa. This is a very highly elevated position called sarvopādhi-vinirmuktaṁ tat-paratvena nirmalam, or the stage of purity in which one is liberated from all material designations.

Although the yogīs and jñānīs are trying to understand God, they are not aware of their illusory condition. Māyā-sukhāya bharam udvahato vimūḍān: They are fools because they are working hard for illusory happiness. There is no question of peace for them. The jñānīs or speculators, wanting to get relief from the hard work of this material world, reject this material world (brahma satyaṁ jagan-mithyā). Their position is a little higher than that of the karmīs because the karmīs have taken this material world as everything. They say, "Here we shall be happy," and their dharma, or religion, consists of trying to make a peaceful atmosphere within this material world. The fools do not know that this has been tried for millions of years but has never happened and never will happen. How can peace in the material world be possible when Kṛṣṇa, the creator Himself, says that this place is meant for trouble and miseries?

<div class="quote_verse">
:ā-brahma-bhuvanāl lokāḥ
:punar āvartino 'rjuna
:mām upetya tu kaunteya
:punar janma na vidyate
</div>

"From the highest planet in the material world down to the lowest, all are places of misery wherein repeated birth and death take place." ([[Vanisource:BG 8.16|BG 8.16]])

Duhkhālayam aśāśvatam: not only is this world full of suffering, but it is also temporary. One cannot simply agree to go ahead suffering the three-fold miseries and stay here. Even that will not be allowed. In this world, he will not only be punished while staying here, but he will also be kicked out at the end. One may accumulate a large bank balance or an expensive home, a wife, children, and so many amenities, and he may think, "I am living very peacefully," but at any day he may be told, "Please get out."

"Why?" he will ask. "It is my house, and it is paid for. I have money and a job and responsibilities. Why should I get out?"

"Just get out. Don't talk. Get out."

On that day a man sees God. "Oh, I did not believe in God," he may think. "But now here is God finishing off everything." Thus it is said that the demoniac recognize Kṛṣṇa as death, for it is at that time that He takes everything away from them.

Why do we want to see God as death? When the demon Hiraṇyakaśipu saw Kṛṣṇa, he saw Him as death personified, but the devotee, Prahlāda, saw Him in His personal form as his beloved Lord. Those who challenge God will see Him in His ghastly aspect, but those who are devoted to Him will see Him in His personal form. In any case, everyone will ultimately see God.

A person who is honest can always see Kṛṣṇa everywhere. Kṛṣṇa says, "Try to understand Me. Try to see Me everywhere." By way of facilitating this method, the Lord says, raso 'ham apsu kaunteya: "I am the taste of water." When we are thirsty and need a glass of water, we can drink it and feel happy, understanding that the power of water to quench our thirst is Kṛṣṇa. Similarly, as soon as there is sunrise or moonshine, we can see Kṛṣṇa, for He says, prabhāsmi śaśi-sūryayoḥ: "I am the sun and moon." At a further stage we can see Kṛṣṇa as the life force within everything, as He indicates in Bhagavad-gītā:

<div class="quote_verse">
:puṇyo gandhaḥ pṛthivyāṁ ca
:tejaś cāsmi vibhāvasau
:jīvanaṁ sarva-bhūteṣu
:tapaś cāsmi tapasviṣu
</div>

"I am the original fragrance of the earth, and I am the light in fire. I am the life of all that lives, and I am the penances of all ascetics." ([[Vanisource:BG 7.9|BG 7.9]])

Once we understand that all things are dependent upon Kṛṣṇa for their existence, there is no possibility of His ever becoming lost to us. In Bhagavad-gītā the Lord indicates that all things abide in Him in both their beginning and in their end and also in the interim state:

<div class="quote_verse">
:etad-yonīni bhūtāni
:sarvāṇīty upadhāraya
:ahaṁ kṛtsnasya jagataḥ
:prabhavaḥ pralayas tathā
</div>

:mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat

<div class="quote_verse">
:kiñcid asti dhanañjaya
:mayi sarvam idaṁ protaṁ
:sūtre maṇi-gaṇā iva
</div>

"Of all that is material and all that is spiritual in this world, know for certain that I am both its origin and dissolution. O conqueror of wealth (Arjuna), there is no truth superior to Me. Everything rests upon Me, as pearls on a thread." ([[Vanisource:BG 7.6|7.6-7]])

Kṛṣṇa is easily visible, but He is only visible to those who are devoted to Him. For those who are envious, foolish or unintelligent, He obscures Himself with His veil of māyā:

<div class="quote_verse">
:nāhaṁ prakāśaḥ sarvasya
:yoga-māyā-samāvṛtaḥ
:mūḍho 'yaṁ nābhijānāti
:loko mām ajam avyayam
</div>

"I am never manifest to the foolish and unintelligent. For them I am covered by My eternal creative potency (māyā); thus the deluded world knows Me not, who am unborn and infallible." ([[Vanisource:BG 7.25|BG 7.25]])

This eternal creative potency, or yoga-māyā, which obscures Kṛṣṇa to the unintelligent, is dissolved by love. This is the verdict of Brahma-saṁhitā:

<div class="quote_verse">
:premāñjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena
:santaḥ sadaiva hṛdayeṣu vilokayanti
</div>

"One who has developed love for Kṛṣṇa can see Him within his heart twenty-four hours a day."

Those who thus see Kṛṣṇa are not anxious because they know where they are going at death. One who has taken the gift of Kṛṣṇa consciousness knows that he will not have to return to this material world to take another body but that he will go to Kṛṣṇa. It is not possible to go to Kṛṣṇa unless one attains a body like Kṛṣṇa's, a sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha body, a body full of eternity, knowledge and bliss. One cannot enter into fire and not perish unless he himself becomes fire, and similarly one cannot enter into the spiritual realm in a body that is not spiritual. In a spiritual body one can dance with Kṛṣṇa in the rāsa dance like the gopīs and the cowherd boys. This is not an ordinary dance, but the dance of eternity, in the association of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Only those who have become purified in their love for Kṛṣṇa can participate in it. One therefore should not take this process of Kṛṣṇa consciousness as something cheap, but as a matchless gift bestowed upon suffering humanity by the Lord Himself. Simply by engaging in this process, all the anxieties and fears of one's life, which in actuality revolve about the fear of death, are allayed.
</div>
</div>
</div>

The Supersoul is observing the activities of the individual soul. BG 1972 purports

2022-07-28T06:17:06Z

Shaalini:

<div id="compilation">
<div id="facts">
{{terms|"The Supersoul is observing the activities of the individual soul"}}
{{notes|}}
{{compiler|Nabakumar}}
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{{first|2021-06-26T03:22:05Z}}
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[[Category:Supersoul]]
[[Category:God's Observing]]
[[Category:Activities of the Soul]]
[[Category:Individual Souls]]
[[Category:Bhagavad-gita As It Is - 1972 Purports, Chapter 16 - Vaniquotes]]
[[Category:Bhagavad-gita As It Is - 1972 Purports, Chapters 01 to 18 - Vaniquotes]]
</div>
<div id="section">
<h2>Bhagavad-gita As it is</h2>
</div>
<div id="sub_section">
<h3>BG Chapters 13 - 18</h3>
</div>
<div class="quote">
<div class="quote_heading">
The demoniac person, who has no faith in God or the Supersoul within himself, performs all kinds of sinful activities simply for sense gratification. He does not know that there is a witness sitting within his heart. The Supersoul is observing the activities of the individual soul. As it is stated in the Vedic literature, the Upaniṣads, there are two birds sitting in one tree; the one is acting and enjoying or suffering the fruits of the branches, and the other is witnessing.
</div>

<div class="quote_link">
[[Vanisource:BG 16.11-12 (1972)|BG 16.11-12 (1972), Translation and Purport]]
</div>
<div class="quote_translation">
They believe that to gratify the senses unto the end of life is the prime necessity of human civilization. Thus there is no end to their anxiety. Being bound by hundreds and thousands of desires, by lust and anger, they secure money by illegal means for sense gratification.
</div>
<div class="text">
The demoniac accept that the enjoyment of the senses is the ultimate goal of life, and this concept they maintain until death. They do not believe in life after death, and they do not believe that one takes on different types of bodies according to one's karma, or activities in this world. Their plans for life are never finished, and they go on preparing plan after plan, all of which are never finished. We have personal experience of a person of such demoniac mentality, who, even at the point of death, was requesting the physician to prolong his life for four years more because his plans were not yet complete. Such foolish people do not know that a physician cannot prolong life even for a moment. When the notice is there, there is no consideration of the man's desire. The laws of nature do not allow a second beyond what one is destined to enjoy.

The demoniac person, who has no faith in God or the Supersoul within himself, performs all kinds of sinful activities simply for sense gratification. He does not know that there is a witness sitting within his heart. The Supersoul is observing the activities of the individual soul. As it is stated in the Vedic literature, the Upaniṣads, there are two birds sitting in one tree; the one is acting and enjoying or suffering the fruits of the branches, and the other is witnessing. But one who is demoniac has no knowledge of Vedic scripture, nor has he any faith; therefore he feels free to do anything for sense enjoyment, regardless of the consequences.
</div>
</div>
</div>

The Supersoul and the individual soul are like two birds sitting on the same tree (the material body). The Supersoul is only a witness to the activities of the first bird, who is his friend

2022-07-28T06:16:56Z

Shaalini:

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<div id="facts">
{{terms|"The Supersoul and the individual soul are like two birds sitting on the same tree (the material body)"}}
{{notes|}}
{{compiler|Nirmal}}
{{complete|ALL}}
{{first|2021-01-03T16:52:23Z}}
{{last|2021-01-03T16:52:23Z}}
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[[Category:Supersoul]]
[[Category:Individual Souls]]
[[Category:Activities of the Soul]]
[[Category:Likeness]]
[[Category:Two Birds in a Tree - One Enjoying, the Other Witnessing]]
[[Category:Sit]]
[[Category:Same]]
[[Category:Material Body]]
[[Category:Only]]
[[Category:First]]
[[Category:Who Is]]
[[Category:Friend]]
[[Category:Srimad-Bhagavatam, Canto 07 Chapter 13 Purports - The Behavior of a Perfect Person]]
[[Category:Srimad Bhagavatam, Canto 07 Purports]]
</div>
<div id="section">
<h2>Srimad-Bhagavatam</h2>
</div>
<div id="sub_section">
<h3>SB Canto 7</h3>
</div>
<div class="quote">
<div class="quote_heading">
The Supersoul and the individual soul are like two birds sitting on the same tree (the material body). One bird, the individual, forgetful bird, is eating the fruit of the tree, not caring for the instructions of the other bird, which is only a witness to the activities of the first bird, who is his friend. When the forgetful bird comes to understand the supreme friend who is always with him and trying to give him guidance in different bodies, he takes shelter at the lotus feet of that supreme bird.
</div>

<div class="quote_link">
[[Vanisource:SB 7.13.44|SB 7.13.44, Translation and Purport]]
</div>
<div class="quote_translation">
A learned, thoughtful person must realize that material existence is illusion. This is possible only by self-realization. A self-realized person, who has actually seen the truth, should retire from all material activities, being situated in self-realization.
</div>
<div class="text">
By an analytical study of the entire constitution of the body, one can surely come to the conclusion that the soul is different from all the body's material constituents, such as earth, water, fire and air. Thus the difference between the body and soul can be realized by a person who is thoughtful (manīṣī or muni), and after this realization of the individual spirit soul one can very easily understand the supreme spirit soul. If one thus realizes that the individual soul is subordinate to the supreme spirit soul, he achieves self-realization. As explained in the Thirteenth Chapter of Bhagavad-gītā, there are two souls within the body. The body is called kṣetra, and there are two kṣetra jñas, or occupants of the body, namely the Supersoul (Paramātmā) and the individual soul. The Supersoul and the individual soul are like two birds sitting on the same tree (the material body). One bird, the individual, forgetful bird, is eating the fruit of the tree, not caring for the instructions of the other bird, which is only a witness to the activities of the first bird, who is his friend. When the forgetful bird comes to understand the supreme friend who is always with him and trying to give him guidance in different bodies, he takes shelter at the lotus feet of that supreme bird. As explained in the yoga process, dhyānāvasthita-tad-gatena manasā paśyanti yaṁ yoginaḥ ([[Vanisource:SB 12.13.1|SB 12.13.1]]). When one actually becomes a perfect yogī, by meditation he can see the supreme friend and surrender unto Him. This is the beginning of bhakti-yoga, or actual life in Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
</div>
</div>
</div>

The Supersoul, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, seated beside the individual soul, is the witness of the individual soul's activities and is the source of the soul's various types of consciousness

2022-07-27T12:54:56Z

Shaalini:

<div id="compilation">
<div id="facts">
{{terms|"The Supersoul, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, seated beside the individual soul, is the witness of the individual soul's activities and is the source of the soul's various types of consciousness"}}
{{notes|}}
{{compiler|Rishab}}
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[[Category:Seat]]
[[Category:Besides]]
[[Category:Individual Souls]]
[[Category:Supersoul - the Witness]]
[[Category:Individual Souls]]
[[Category:Activities of the Soul]]
[[Category:Source Of...]]
[[Category:Souls]]
[[Category:Various Types Of...]]
[[Category:Types of Consciousness]]
</div>
<div id="Bhagavad-gita_As_It_Is" class="section" sec_index="0" parent="compilation" text="Bhagavad-gita As It Is"><h2>Bhagavad-gita As It Is</h2>
</div>
<div id="BG_Chapters_7_-_12" class="sub_section" sec_index="2" parent="Bhagavad-gita_As_It_Is" text="BG Chapters 7 - 12"><h3>BG Chapters 7 - 12</h3>
</div>
<div id="BG84_0" class="quote" parent="BG_Chapters_7_-_12" book="BG" index="34" link="BG 8.4" link_text="BG 8.4">
<div class="heading">The Supersoul, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, seated beside the individual soul, is the witness of the individual soul's activities and is the source of the soul's various types of consciousness.
</div>
<span class="link">[[Vanisource:BG 8.4 (1972)|BG 8.4, Translation and Purport]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="trans text"><p style="display: inline;">O best of the embodied beings, the physical nature, which is constantly changing, is called adhibhūta (the material manifestation). The universal form of the Lord, which includes all the demigods, like those of the sun and moon, is called adhidaiva. And I, the Supreme Lord, represented as the Supersoul in the heart of every embodied being, am called adhiyajña (the Lord of sacrifice).</p>
</div>
<div class="purport text"><p>The physical nature is constantly changing. Material bodies generally pass through six stages: they are born, they grow, they remain for some duration, they produce some by-products, they dwindle, and then they vanish. This physical nature is called adhibhūta. It is created at a certain point and will be annihilated at a certain point. The conception of the universal form of the Supreme Lord, which includes all the demigods and their different planets, is called adhidaivata. And present in the body along with the individual soul is the Supersoul, a plenary representation of Lord Kṛṣṇa. The Supersoul is called the Paramātmā or adhiyajña and is situated in the heart. The word eva is particularly important in the context of this verse because by this word the Lord stresses that the Paramātmā is not different from Him. The Supersoul, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, seated beside the individual soul, is the witness of the individual soul's activities and is the source of the soul's various types of consciousness. The Supersoul gives the individual soul an opportunity to act freely and witnesses his activities. The functions of all these different manifestations of the Supreme Lord automatically become clarified for the pure Kṛṣṇa conscious devotee engaged in transcendental service to the Lord. The gigantic universal form of the Lord called adhidaivata is contemplated by the neophyte who cannot approach the Supreme Lord in His manifestation as Supersoul. The neophyte is advised to contemplate the universal form, or virāṭ-puruṣa, whose legs are considered the lower planets, whose eyes are considered the sun and moon, and whose head is considered the upper planetary system.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>

The Supersoul, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, seated beside the individual soul, is the witness of the individual soul's activities and is the source of consciousness. BG 1972 purports

2022-07-27T12:54:33Z

Shaalini:

<div id="compilation">
<div id="facts">
{{terms|"The Supersoul, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, seated beside the individual soul, is the witness of the individual soul's activities and is the source of consciousness"}}
{{notes|}}
{{compiler|Nabakumar}}
{{complete|ALL}}
{{first|2021-06-15T13:20:38Z}}
{{last|2021-06-15T13:20:38Z}}
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[[Category:Supreme Personality of Godhead]]
[[Category:God's Seat]]
[[Category:Besides]]
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[[Category:Activities of the Soul]]
[[Category:Source]]
[[Category:Consciousness]]
[[Category:Bhagavad-gita As It Is - 1972 Purports, Chapter 08 - Vaniquotes]]
[[Category:Bhagavad-gita As It Is - 1972 Purports, Chapters 01 to 18 - Vaniquotes]]
</div>
<div id="section">
<h2>Bhagavad-gita As it is</h2>
</div>
<div id="sub_section">
<h3>BG Chapters 7 - 12</h3>
</div>
<div class="quote">
<div class="quote_heading">
The word eva is particularly important in the context of this verse because by this word the Lord stresses that the Paramātmā is not different from Him. The Supersoul, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, seated beside the individual soul, is the witness of the individual soul's activities and is the source of consciousness. The Supersoul gives the jīva an opportunity to act freely, and He witnesses his activities. The functions of all these different manifestations of the Supreme Lord automatically become clarified for the pure Kṛṣṇa conscious devotee engaged in transcendental service of the Lord.
</div>

<div class="quote_link">
[[Vanisource:BG 8.4 (1972)|BG 8.4 (1972), Translation and Purport]]
</div>
<div class="quote_translation">
Physical nature is known to be endlessly mutable. The universe is the cosmic form of the Supreme Lord, and I am that Lord represented as the Supersoul, dwelling in the heart of every embodied being.
</div>
<div class="text">
The physical nature is constantly changing. Material bodies generally pass through six stages: they are born, they grow, they remain for some duration, they produce some by-products, they dwindle, and then they vanish. This physical nature is called adhibhūtam. Because it is created at a certain point and will be annihilated at a certain point, the conception of the universal form of the Supreme Lord that includes all the demigods and their different planets is called adhidaivatam. The individual soul (jīva) accompanies the body. The Supersoul, a plenary representation of Lord Kṛṣṇa, is called the Paramātmā or adhiyajña and is situated in the heart. The word eva is particularly important in the context of this verse because by this word the Lord stresses that the Paramātmā is not different from Him. The Supersoul, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, seated beside the individual soul, is the witness of the individual soul's activities and is the source of consciousness. The Supersoul gives the jīva an opportunity to act freely, and He witnesses his activities. The functions of all these different manifestations of the Supreme Lord automatically become clarified for the pure Kṛṣṇa conscious devotee engaged in transcendental service of the Lord. The gigantic universal form of the Lord called adhidaivatam is contemplated by the neophyte who cannot approach the Supreme Lord in His manifestation as Supersoul. The neophyte is advised to contemplate the universal form whose legs are considered the lowet planets and whose eyes are considered the sun and moon, and whose head is considered the upper planetary system.
</div>
</div>
</div>

The spirit soul bewildered by the influence of false ego thinks himself the doer of activities that are in actuality carried out by the three modes of material nature

2022-07-27T12:53:37Z

Shaalini:

<div id="compilation">
<div id="facts">
{{terms|"The spirit soul bewildered by the influence of false ego thinks himself the doer of activities that are in actuality carried out by the three modes of material nature"}}
{{notes|}}
{{compiler|Visnu Murti}}
{{complete|ALL}}
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[[Category:Bewilderment]]
[[Category:Influence]]
[[Category:False Ego]]
[[Category:Thinks]]
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[[Category:Doer]]
[[Category:Activities of the Soul]]
[[Category:That Is]]
[[Category:Actually]]
[[Category:Carry Out]]
[[Category:Three Modes of Material Nature]]
</div>
<div id="Bhagavad-gita_As_It_Is" class="section" sec_index="0" parent="compilation" text="Bhagavad-gita As It Is"><h2>Bhagavad-gita As It Is</h2>
</div>
<div id="BG_Chapters_1_-_6" class="sub_section" sec_index="1" parent="Bhagavad-gita_As_It_Is" text="BG Chapters 1 - 6"><h3>BG Chapters 1 - 6</h3>
</div>
<div id="BG327_0" class="quote" parent="BG_Chapters_1_-_6" book="BG" index="137" link="BG 3.27" link_text="BG 3.27">
<span class="link">[[Vanisource:BG 3.27 (1972)|BG 3.27, Translation and Purport]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="trans text"><p style="display: inline;">The spirit soul bewildered by the influence of false ego thinks himself the doer of activities that are in actuality carried out by the three modes of material nature.</p>
</div>
<div class="purport text"><p>Two persons, one in Kṛṣṇa consciousness and the other in material consciousness, working on the same level, may appear to be working on the same platform, but there is a wide gulf of difference in their respective positions. The person in material consciousness is convinced by false ego that he is the doer of everything. He does not know that the mechanism of the body is produced by material nature, which works under the supervision of the Supreme Lord. The materialistic person has no knowledge that ultimately he is under the control of Kṛṣṇa. The person in false ego takes all credit for doing everything independently, and that is the symptom of his nescience. He does not know that this gross and subtle body is the creation of material nature, under the order of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and as such his bodily and mental activities should be engaged in the service of Kṛṣṇa, in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. The ignorant man forgets that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is known as Hṛṣīkeśa, or the master of the senses of the material body, for due to his long misuse of the senses in sense gratification, he is factually bewildered by the false ego, which makes him forget his eternal relationship with Kṛṣṇa.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>

The spiritual soul has spiritual activities and spiritual desires, as described by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu: mama janmani janmanisvare bhavatad bhaktir ahaituki tvayi - CC Antya 20.29, Siksastaka 4

2022-07-27T12:53:26Z

Shaalini:

<div id="compilation">
<div id="facts">
{{terms|"The spiritual soul has spiritual activities and spiritual desires, as described by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu: mama janmani janmanīśvare bhavatād bhaktir ahaitukī tvayi"}}
{{notes|}}
{{compiler|Nirmal}}
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[[Category:Spiritual Soul]]
[[Category:Spiritual Activities]]
[[Category:Activities of the Soul]]
[[Category:Caitanya's Describing]]
[[Category:Srimad-Bhagavatam, Canto 07 Chapter 10 Purports - Prahlada, the Best Among Exalted Devotees]]
[[Category:Srimad Bhagavatam, Canto 07 Purports]]
</div>
<div id="section">
<h2>Srimad-Bhagavatam</h2>
</div>
<div id="sub_section">
<h3>SB Canto 7</h3>
</div>
<div class="quote">
<div class="quote_heading">
The spiritual soul has spiritual activities and spiritual desires, as described by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu: mama janmani janmanīśvare bhavatād bhaktir ahaitukī tvayi (CC Antya 20.29, Śikṣāṣṭaka 4). Unalloyed devotion to the service of the Lord is the only spiritual desire. To fulfill this spiritual desire, however, one must be free from all material desires.
</div>

<div class="quote_link">
[[Vanisource:SB 7.10.8|SB 7.10.8, Translation and Purport]]
</div>
<div class="quote_translation">
O my Lord, because of lusty desires from the very beginning of one's birth, the functions of one's senses, mind, life, body, religion, patience, intelligence, shyness, opulence, strength, memory and truthfulness are vanquished.
</div>
<div class="text">
As stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, kāmaṁ hṛd-rogam. Materialistic life means that one is afflicted by a formidable disease called lusty desire. Liberation means freedom from lusty desires because it is only due to such desires that one must accept repeated birth and death. As long as one's lusty desires are unfulfilled, one must take birth after birth to fulfill them. Because of material desires, therefore, one performs various types of activities and receives various types of bodies with which to try to fulfill desires that are never satisfied. The only remedy is to take to devotional service, which begins when one is free from all material desires. Anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyam [Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.11]. Anya-abhilāṣitā means "material desire," and śūnyam means "free from." The spiritual soul has spiritual activities and spiritual desires, as described by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu: mama janmani janmanīśvare bhavatād bhaktir ahaitukī tvayi ([[Vanisource:CC Antya 20.29|CC Antya 20.29, Śikṣāṣṭaka 4]]). Unalloyed devotion to the service of the Lord is the only spiritual desire. To fulfill this spiritual desire, however, one must be free from all material desires. Desirelessness means freedom from material desires. This is described by Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī as Anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyam [Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.11]. As soon as one has material desires, one loses his spiritual identity. Then all the paraphernalia of one's life, including one's senses, body, religion, patience and intelligence, are deviated from one's original Kṛṣṇa consciousness. As soon as one has material desires, one cannot properly use his senses, intelligence, mind and so on for the satisfaction of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Māyāvādī philosophers want to become impersonal, senseless and mindless, but that is not possible. The living entity must be living, always existing with desires, ambitions and so on. These should be purified, however, so that one can desire spiritually and be spiritually ambitious, without material contamination. In every living entity these propensities exist because he is a living entity. When materially contaminated, however, one is put into the hands of material misery (janma-mṛtyu jarā-vyādhi ([[Vanisource:BG 13.8-12 (1972)|BG 13.9]])). If one wants to stop repeated birth and death, one must take to the devotional service of the Lord.

<div class="quote_verse">
:sarvopādhi-vinirmuktaṁ
:tat-paratvena nirmalam
:hṛṣīkeṇa hṛṣīkeśa-
:sevanaṁ bhaktir ucyate
:([[Vanisource:CC Madhya 19.170|CC Madhya 19.170]])
</div>

"Bhakti, or devotional service, means engaging all our senses in the service of the Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the master of all the senses. When the spirit soul renders service unto the Supreme, there are two side effects. One is freed from all material designations, and, simply by being employed in the service of the Lord, one's senses are purified."
</div>
</div>
</div>

The soul's activity becomes adulterated in contact with matter, and as such the diseased activities are expressed in the form of lust, desire, hankering, inactivity, foolishness and sleep

2022-07-27T12:53:09Z

Shaalini:

<div id="compilation">
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{{terms|"The soul's activity becomes adulterated in contact with matter, and as such the diseased activities are expressed in the form of lust, desire, hankering, inactivity, foolishness and sleep"}}
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[[Category:Devotional Service to God is the Activity of the Soul Proper]]
[[Category:Activities of the Soul]]
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[[Category:Srimad-Bhagavatam, Canto 01 Chapter 02 Purports - Divinity and Divine Service]]
[[Category:Srimad Bhagavatam, Canto 01 Purports]]
</div>
<div id="section">
<h2>Srimad-Bhagavatam</h2>
</div>
<div id="sub_section">
<h3>SB Canto 1</h3>
</div>
<div class="quote">
<div class="quote_heading">
The soul's activity becomes adulterated in contact with matter, and as such the diseased activities are expressed in the form of lust, desire, hankering, inactivity, foolishness and sleep.
</div>

<div class="quote_link">
[[Vanisource:SB 1.2.19|SB 1.2.19, Translation and Purport]]
</div>
<div class="quote_translation">
As soon as irrevocable loving service is established in the heart, the effects of nature's modes of passion and ignorance, such as lust, desire and hankering, disappear from the heart. Then the devotee is established in goodness, and he becomes completely happy.
</div>
<div class="text">
<div class="purport">

A living being in his normal constitutional position is fully satisfied in spiritual bliss. This state of existence is called brahma-bhūta ([[Vanisource:SB 4.30.20|SB 4.30.20]]) or ātmā-nandī, or the state of self-satisfaction. This self-satisfaction is not like the satisfaction of the inactive fool. The inactive fool is in the state of foolish ignorance, whereas the self-satisfied ātmānandī is transcendental to the material state of existence. This stage of perfection is attained as soon as one is fixed in irrevocable devotional service. Devotional service is not inactivity, but the unalloyed activity of the soul.

The soul's activity becomes adulterated in contact with matter, and as such the diseased activities are expressed in the form of lust, desire, hankering, inactivity, foolishness and sleep. The effect of devotional service becomes manifest by complete elimination of these effects of passion and ignorance. The devotee is fixed at once in the mode of goodness, and he makes further progress to rise to the position of Vāsudeva, or the state of unmixed sattva, or śuddha-sattva. Only in this śuddha-sattva state can one always see Kṛṣṇa eye to eye by dint of pure affection for the Lord.

A devotee is always in the mode of unalloyed goodness; therefore he harms no one. But the nondevotee, however educated he may be, is always harmful. A devotee is neither foolish nor passionate. The harmful, foolish and passionate cannot be devotees of the Lord, however they may advertise themselves as devotees by outward dress. A devotee is always qualified with all the good qualities of God. Quantitatively such qualifications may be different, but qualitatively both the Lord and His devotee are one and the same.

</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>

The sadhana-siddha devotees are chosen from the conditioned souls. Out of the sadhana devotees, there are mixed and pure devotees. The mixed devotees are sometimes enthusiastic about fruitive activities and are habituated to philosophical speculation

2022-07-27T12:52:27Z

Shaalini:

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<div id="facts">
{{terms|"The sādhana-siddha devotees are chosen from the conditioned souls. Out of the sādhana devotees, there are mixed and pure devotees. The mixed devotees are sometimes enthusiastic about fruitive activities and are habituated to philosophical speculation"}}
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[[Category:Sadhana-siddha - Devotees of God]]
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[[Category:Enthusiastic Devotees of God]]
[[Category:Fruitive Activities]]
[[Category:Activities of the Soul]]
[[Category:Habits]]
[[Category:Philosophical Speculation]]
[[Category:Mental Speculation of a Conditioned Soul]]
[[Category:Srimad-Bhagavatam, Canto 03 Chapter 03 Purports - The Lord's Pastimes Out of Vrndavana]]
[[Category:Srimad Bhagavatam, Canto 03 Purports]]
</div>
<div id="section">
<h2>Srimad-Bhagavatam</h2>
</div>
<div id="sub_section">
<h3>SB Canto 3</h3>
</div>
<div class="quote">
<div class="quote_heading">
Amongst the devotees of the Lord there are several divisions, mainly nitya-siddhas and sādhana-siddhas. The nitya-siddha devotees never fall down to the region of the material atmosphere, even though they sometimes come onto the material plane to execute the mission of the Lord. The sādhana-siddha devotees are chosen from the conditioned souls. Out of the sādhana devotees, there are mixed and pure devotees. The mixed devotees are sometimes enthusiastic about fruitive activities and are habituated to philosophical speculation.
</div>

<div class="quote_link">
[[Vanisource:SB 3.3.26|SB 3.3.26, Translation and Purport]]
</div>
<div class="quote_translation">
After arriving there, all of them took bath, and with the water of this place of pilgrimage they offered their respects to the forefathers, demigods and great sages and thus satisfied them. They gave cows to the brāhmaṇas in royal charity.
</div>
<div class="text">
Amongst the devotees of the Lord there are several divisions, mainly nitya-siddhas and sādhana-siddhas. The nitya-siddha devotees never fall down to the region of the material atmosphere, even though they sometimes come onto the material plane to execute the mission of the Lord. The sādhana-siddha devotees are chosen from the conditioned souls. Out of the sādhana devotees, there are mixed and pure devotees. The mixed devotees are sometimes enthusiastic about fruitive activities and are habituated to philosophical speculation. The pure devotees are free from all these mixtures and are completely absorbed in the service of the Lord, regardless of how and where they are situated. Pure devotees of the Lord are not enthusiastic to put aside their service to the Lord in order to go visit holy places of pilgrimage. A great devotee of the Lord in modern times, Śrī Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura, has sung like this: "To visit holy places of pilgrimage is another bewilderment of the mind because devotional service to the Lord at any place is the last word in spiritual perfection."

For pure devotees of the Lord who are completely satisfied with the transcendental loving service of the Lord, there is hardly any necessity to visit the various places of pilgrimage. But those who are not so advanced have the prescribed duties of visiting pilgrimage sites and regularly performing the rituals. The part of the princely order of the Yadu dynasty who went to Prabhāsa performed all duties to be done in a place of pilgrimage and offered their pious actions to their forefathers and others.

As a rule, every human being is indebted to God, the demigods, great sages, other living entities, people in general, forefathers, etc., for various contributions received from them. Thus everyone is obliged to repay the debt of gratitude. The Yadus who went to the Prabhāsa pilgrimage site performed their duties by distributing land, gold, and well-nourished cows in royal charity, as described in the following verse.
</div>
</div>
</div>

The real ego is aham brahmasmi: "I am spirit soul." But on account of being in touch, being born in this material world, my kriya-sakti, my activities, are being done under different designation

2022-07-27T12:52:01Z

Shaalini:

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<div id="facts">
{{terms|"But on account of being in touch, being born in this material world, my kriya-sakti, my activities, are being done under different designation"}}
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<div id="Lectures" class="section" sec_index="4" parent="compilation" text="Lectures"><h2>Lectures</h2>
</div>
<div id="Srimad-Bhagavatam_Lectures" class="sub_section" sec_index="1" parent="Lectures" text="Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures"><h3>Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures</h3>
</div>
<div id="LectureonSB326234BombayJanuary11975_0" class="quote" parent="Srimad-Bhagavatam_Lectures" book="Lec" index="484" link="Lecture on SB 3.26.23-4 -- Bombay, January 1, 1975" link_text="Lecture on SB 3.26.23-4 -- Bombay, January 1, 1975">
<div class="heading">The real ego is ahaṁ brahmāsmi: "I am spirit soul." But on account of being in touch, being born in this material world, my kriyā-śakti, my activities, are being done under different designation, under tri-vidhaḥ. Why under different designation.
</div>
<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Lecture on SB 3.26.23-4 -- Bombay, January 1, 1975|Lecture on SB 3.26.23-4 -- Bombay, January 1, 1975]]: </span><div class="text"><p style="display: inline;">Nitāi: "The material energy springs up from the mahat-tattva, which evolved from the Lord's own energy. The material ego is endowed predominantly with active power of three kinds—good, passionate and ignorant. From these three types of material ego the mind, the senses of perception, and the organs of action, and the gross elements evolve."</p>
<p>Prabhupāda:</p>
:mahat-tattvād vikurvāṇād
:bhagavad-vīrya-sambhavāt
:kriyā-śaktir ahaṅkāras
:tri-vidhaḥ samapadyata
:vaikārikas taijasaś ca
:tāmasaś ca yato bhavaḥ
:manasaś cendriyāṇāṁ ca
:bhūtānāṁ mahatām api
:(SB 3.26.23-24)
<p>So the process of creation, how, one after another, it takes place, that is described here. So the total energy, mahat-tattva, by interaction, the begins... The moving, the pushing, begins from the bhagavad-vīryatā. Bhagavad-vīrya-sambhavāt. Vīrya means energy. We understand vīrya sometimes—the semina. It is something like that; not exactly the material semina, but potency or energy, spiritual energy. That is the beginning of creation.</p>
<p>So wherefrom the creative energy begins? That is... In the Vedic literature we understand, sa aikṣata: "Simply by glancing." Not... When there is the word vīrya, it does not mean that, as in the material world, we discharge semina by sex intercourse. It is not like that. That vīrya, that energy, can be emanated from the Supreme Personality of Godhead any way. Therefore bhagavad-vīrya-sambhavāt. In the Brahma-saṁhitā it is said, aṅgāni yasya sakalendriya-vṛttimanti. Vīryatā we can understand as semina discharged from the genital. It is not like that. Vīryatā, that vīrya or that energy, can be emanated from any part of the body, of the transcendental spiritual body, everywhere. That is called omnipotency. So just like Lord Brahmā was born not from the womb of Lakṣmī Nārāyaṇa... Nārāyaṇa was lying down, and Lakṣmī was present. To beget Lord Brahmā, there was no necessity of taking the help of Lakṣmījī. He sprouted a lotus flower from His navel, and there was Brahmā. So everything is possible from every part of the body, transcendental body. That is spiritual body, sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha (Bs. 5.1), omnipotent. That is explained in the Brahma-saṁhitā, aṅgāni yasya sakalendriya-vṛttimanti. The limbs and the parts of the body has got the potency of any other limb. Just like we can beget child, we can impregnate by the genital, but it is not required for the Supreme Personality of God. In the Vedas it is said, sa aikṣata: "Simply by glancing the same." The same. "He glanced over the total material energy, and the material energy, total mahat-tattva, became agitated." Then, one after another, the creation was there.</p>
<p>So kriyā-śaktir ahaṅkāras tri-vidhaḥ. Kriyā-śakti, the creative energy, kriyā-śakti. God is not impotent. He is fully potent, and His energies are acting. We can experience in our daily life. So this kriyā-śakti begins in three different categories, tri-vidhaḥ. Kriyā-śaktir ahaṅkāras tri-vidhaḥ samapadyata. Ahaṅkāra, ego, identification, "I am." Everyone is conscious of his activities, ego: "I am doing this." But this ego, this is called false ego. This material, under the material energy, this ego, is called another way upādhi, designation. The real ego is ahaṁ brahmāsmi: "I am spirit soul." But on account of being in touch, being born in this material world, my kriyā-śakti, my activities, are being done under different designation, under tri-vidhaḥ. Why under different designation. Because immediately there is creation, the guṇamayī, the three kinds of modes of material nature, they also become manifest, and on account of this, our ego, false ego, association with a particular type of material modes of nature, I am thinking, "I am like this" or "I am this." Just like in this body, I am thinking, "I am a human being" or "I am Indian" or "I am brāhmaṇa" or "I am sannyāsī," or this or that, so many things. Similarly, when I am in the dog's body, so I think, "I am dog. My business is barking and give service to the master." In different bodies different ego. This is called upādhi, upādhi, three kinds of upādhi: sāttvika-upādhi, rājasika-upādhi, tāmasika-upādhi. But originally there was no upādhi. The upādhi begins when the sṛṣṭi, creation, begins under different ego.</p>
<p>So originally it is svacchatvam avikāritvaṁ śāntatvam iti cetasaḥ. The consciousness is pure. The same example, as we have explained yesterday, that the water is coming from the sky. Before touching the ground it is pure, crystal, distilled water. So before touching this material energy... Icchā-dveṣa samutthena sarge yānti parantapa ([[Vanisource:BG 7.27 (1972)|BG 7.27]]). Before our material body creation, in spiritual consciousness, it is clear, crystal clear. But when it is agitated by the material desires... In Bengali there is that poetry, kṛṣṇa-bahirmukha hañā bhoga vāñchā kare. What is that? That desire is that "I can independently enjoy." The example... There are many such examples. Just like a man is honest, but if he becomes polluted by the desire that "If I can get that money by fair or unfair means, I will become rich, so let me take this money," so immediately mind becomes agitated, and it becomes under the spell of criminality. Then gradually, under superior judgment, I am put into the prison house.</p>
<p>So similarly, originally we are all pure, Kṛṣṇa conscious, but as we have got little independence... Because we are part and parcel of God, therefore—God has got full independence—so we have got independence according to the quantity. Just like a small drop of ocean water has got a little quantity of salt also, similarly, we are aṇu, and God is vibhu; He is Prabhu, and we are servant; He is master, we are servant. The master has got independence, and the servant has also independence, not that because one is servant, he has no independence. He has got independence. If he likes, he can give up the service of the master and live independently. This is crude example. Similarly, our material contamination means that, when we desire to live without Kṛṣṇa consciousness: "Why we shall be subservient to Kṛṣṇa? We shall live independently..." That is going on.</p>
<p>Material life means everyone is trying to become victorious in the struggle of existence without God consciousness. That is our material disease. Kṛṣṇa-bahirmukha hañā bhoga vāñchā kare. We may revolt. That independence we have got, little independence, and we can misuse it, that "Why shall I serve Kṛṣṇa? Let me serve myself." "Let me serve myself" means "Let me serve my different propensities, kāma, krodha, lobha, moha, mātsarya," like that. My independence means "I will not serve God; I will serve my lusty desires." You cannot become independent. This is a concoction only, that "I will not serve Kṛṣṇa." But you have to serve. What is that? "Then I serve my lusty desires." Indriya-tṛpti, indriya-tṛpti. Yad indriya-prītaye. Simply to satisfy... Kṛṣṇa consciousness means there is no such thing as indriya-tṛpti, or sense gratification. Everything for the satisfaction of the Supreme Lord. Hṛṣīkeṇa hṛṣīkeśa-sevanaṁ bhaktir ucyate ([[Vanisource:CC Madhya 19.170|CC Madhya 19.170]]). Hṛṣīka means the indriya, or the senses. That is stated here also, manasaś cendriyāṇāṁ ca bhūtānāṁ mahatām api, that different types of indriya for sense gratification, we develop. This is the creation, every one of us developing, and it is become complicated with so many other desires. Each life is full of desires.</p>
<p>Therefore in the Guru-stotra in the morning we recite, ār nā koriho mane āśā. Is it not? What is that?</p>
<p>Devotee: Ār nā koriho mane āśā.</p>
<p>Prabhupāda: Ār nā koriho mane āśā. So that is required. Guru-mukha-padma-vākya... **?</p>
<p>Devotee: Cittete koriyā aikya.</p>
<p>Prabhupāda: Cittete koriyā aikya, ār nā koriho mane āśā. That is liberation. Otherwise we shall be implicated. And what guru says? Guru says the same thing as Kṛṣṇa says. That is guru. Kṛṣṇa says, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja ([[Vanisource:BG 18.66 (1972)|BG 18.66]]). Kṛṣṇa also... Guru also says the same thing. That is guru's business, that "You surrender to Kṛṣṇa and fully be engaged in Kṛṣṇa's service." So therefore Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura advises, "Take this very seriously." Ār nā koriho mane āśā: "No more. Stop any other desires." Then your life is successful. Ār nā koriho mane āśā.</p>
:vyavasāyātmikā buddhir
:ekeha kuru-nandana
:bahu-śākhā hy anantāś ca
:buddhayo 'vyavasāyinām
:([[Vanisource:BG 2.41 (1972)|BG 2.41]])
<p> Buddhayo 'vyavasāyinām. Vyavasāyātmikā, niścayātmikā. "Now, my life will be successful when I accept very seriously the instruction given by Kṛṣṇa and it is delivered to me through the transparent via media of guru. Then it will be successful." Ār nā koriho mane āśā.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>

The Lord is within everything, and He is all-covering also, without being disturbed by the activities of the individual souls. He is infinite, and the living entities are infinitesimal

2022-07-27T12:36:39Z

Shaalini:

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{{terms|"The Lord is within everything, and He is all-covering also, without being disturbed by the activities of the individual souls. He is therefore infinite, and the living entities are infinitesimal"}}
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[[Category:Srimad-Bhagavatam, Canto 02 Chapter 06 Purports - Purusa-sukta Confirmed]]
[[Category:Srimad Bhagavatam, Canto 02 Purports]]
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<div id="section">
<h2>Srimad-Bhagavatam</h2>
</div>
<div id="sub_section">
<h3>SB Canto 2</h3>
</div>
<div class="quote">
<div class="quote_heading">
The sun is never contaminated by anything infectious because it is so powerful. On the contrary, infected things are sterilized by the rays of the sun. Similarly, the Lord is never contaminated by sins; on the contrary, the sinful living entities become sterilized by contact with the Lord. This means that the Lord is also all-pervading like the sun, and as such the word pratyak is used in this verse. Nothing is excluded from the existence of the Lord's potential expansions. The Lord is within everything, and He is all-covering also, without being disturbed by the activities of the individual souls. He is therefore infinite, and the living entities are infinitesimal.
</div>

<div class="quote_link">
[[Vanisource:SB 2.6.40-41|SB 2.6.40-41, Translation and Purport]]
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The Personality of Godhead is pure, being free from all contaminations of material tinges. He is the Absolute Truth and the embodiment of full and perfect knowledge. He is all-pervading, without beginning or end, and without rival. O Nārada, O great sage, the great thinkers can know Him when completely freed from all material hankerings and when sheltered under undisturbed conditions of the senses. Otherwise, by untenable arguments, all is distorted, and the Lord disappears from our sight.
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Here is an estimation of the Lord apart from His transcendental activities in the temporary, material creations. Māyāvāda philosophy tries to designate the Lord as contaminated by a material body when He accepts forms of incarnation. This sort of interpolation is completely denied herein by the explanation that the Lord's position is pure and unalloyed in all circumstances. According to Māyāvāda philosophy, the spirit soul, when covered by nescience, is designated as jīva, but when freed from such ignorance or nescience he merges in the impersonal existence of the Absolute Truth. But here it is said that the Lord is eternally the symbol of full and perfect knowledge. This is His speciality: perpetual freedom from all material contaminations. This distinguishes the Lord from the individual, common living entities who have the aptitude for being subordinated by nescience and thus becoming materially designated. In the Vedas it is said that the Lord is vijñānam ānandam, full of bliss and knowledge. The conditioned souls are never to be compared to Him because such individual souls have the tendency to become contaminated. Although after liberation the living entity can become one with the same quality of existence as the Lord, his very tendency to become contaminated, which the Lord never has, makes the individual living entity different from the Lord. In the Vedas it is said, śuddham apāpa-viddham: the individual ātmā becomes polluted by sin, but the Lord is never contaminated by sins. The Lord is compared to the powerful sun. The sun is never contaminated by anything infectious because it is so powerful. On the contrary, infected things are sterilized by the rays of the sun. Similarly, the Lord is never contaminated by sins; on the contrary, the sinful living entities become sterilized by contact with the Lord. This means that the Lord is also all-pervading like the sun, and as such the word pratyak is used in this verse. Nothing is excluded from the existence of the Lord's potential expansions. The Lord is within everything, and He is all-covering also, without being disturbed by the activities of the individual souls. He is therefore infinite, and the living entities are infinitesimal. In the Vedas it is said that only the Lord alone exists, and all others' existences depend on Him. He is the generating reservoir for everyone's existential capacity; He is the Supreme Truth of all other categorical truths. He is the source of everyone's opulence, and therefore no one can equal Him in opulence. Being full of all opulences, namely wealth, fame, strength, beauty, knowledge and renunciation, certainly He is the Supreme Person. And because He is a person, He has many personal qualities, although He is transcendental to the material modes. We have already discussed the statement, itthaṁ-bhūta-guṇo hariḥ ([[Vanisource:SB 1.7.10|SB 1.7.10]]). His transcendental qualities are so attractive that even the liberated souls (ātmārāmas) are also attracted by them. Although possessed of all personal qualities, He is nevertheless omnipotent. Therefore, personally He has nothing to do, for everything is being carried out by His omnipotent energies. This is confirmed by the Vedic mantras: parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate svābhāvikī jñāna-bala-kriyā ca ([[Vanisource:CC Madhya 13.65|CC Madhya 13.65, purport]]). This suggests His specific spiritual form, which can never be experienced by the material senses. He can be seen only when the senses are purified by devotional service (yam evaiṣa vṛṇute tena - labhyaḥ Kaṭha Upaniṣad 1.2.23). As such, there are basic differences between the Lord and the living entities, in so many respects. No one can be compared to the Lord, as the Vedas declare (ekam evādvitīyaṁ brahma, dvaitād vai bhayaṁ bhavati). The Lord has no competitor, and He has nothing to fear from any other being, nor can anyone be equal to Him. Although He is the root of all other beings, there are basic differences between Him and other beings. Otherwise there would have been no necessity for the statement in the previous verse that no one can know Him one hundred percent as He is (na yaṁ vidanti tattvena). That no one can fully understand Him is explained also in this verse, but the qualification for understanding to some degree is mentioned here. Only the praśāntas, or the unalloyed devotees of the Lord, can know Him to a greater extent. The reason is that the devotees have no demands in their lives but to be obedient servants of the Lord, while all others, namely the empiric philosophers, the mystics and the fruitive workers, all basically have some demand, and as such they cannot be pacified. The fruitive worker wants reward for his work, the mystic wants some perfection of life, and the empiric philosopher wants to merge in the existence of the Lord. Somehow or other, as long as there is a demand for sense satisfaction, there is no chance for pacification; on the contrary, by unnecessary dry speculative arguments, the whole matter becomes distorted, and thus the Lord moves still further away from our understanding. The dry speculators, however, because of their following the principles of austerity and penance, can have knowledge of the impersonal features of the Lord to some extent, but there is no chance of their understanding His ultimate form as Govinda because only the amalātmanas, or the completely sinless persons, can accept pure devotional service to the Lord, as confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā ([[Vanisource:BG 7.28 (1972)|BG 7.28]]):

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:yeṣāṁ tv anta-gataṁ pāpaṁ
:janānāṁ puṇya-karmaṇām
:te dvandva-moha-nirmuktā
:bhajante māṁ dṛḍha-vratāḥ
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The learned and liberated souls who are eternal servitors of Krsna sometimes remain in the midst of ordinary activities, just to attract the foolish mundaners to the process of karma-yoga

2022-07-27T12:36:21Z

Shaalini:

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{{terms|"the learned and liberated souls who are eternal servitors of Krsna sometimes remain in the midst of ordinary activities, just to attract the foolish mundaners to the process of karma-yoga"}}
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[[Category:Learned]]
[[Category:Liberated Souls]]
[[Category:Who Are]]
[[Category:We Are Eternal Servants of Krsna]]
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[[Category:In The Midst Of...]]
[[Category:Ordinary]]
[[Category:Activities of the Soul]]
[[Category:Just To]]
[[Category:Attract]]
[[Category:Foolishness]]
[[Category:Mundaners]]
[[Category:Process Of]]
[[Category:Karma-yoga]]
[[Category:Message of Godhead (1990) Chapters 01 to 03]]
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<h2>Other Books by Srila Prabhupada</h2>
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<h3>Message of Godhead</h3>
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The learned karma-yogīs tactfully engage such foolish mundaners in the respective works for which they have special attachments - but in relation with Kṛṣṇa - without disturbing them in their general activities. For this purpose only, the learned and liberated souls who are eternal servitors of Kṛṣṇa sometimes remain in the midst of ordinary activities, just to attract the foolish mundaners to the process of karma-yoga.
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[[Vanisource:MOG 3 Karma-yoga: Work with Transcendental Results|Message of Godhead, 3]]
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The learned sages inform us that one takes his birth in India, the holy land of Bhārata-varṣa, after the gradual process of evolution through 8,400,000 species of life, including 900,000 aquatic species, 2,000,000 nonmoving species such as vegetables and hills, 1,100,000 germ and insect species, 1,000,000 bird species, 3,000,000 lower-animal species, and 400,000 human species. The living spirit transmigrates from one species of life to another, and he is moving in that way for millions and millions of years within the hollow of the great universe. For this reason, the living spirit soul is described as all-pervasive. In this connection, we have already quoted a passage from Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, in which it is said that one who has by chance taken his birth in the holy land of Bhāratavarṣa can render the supreme benefit to others, after he himself has become enlightened by self-realization.

Factually, also, in no country other than India have the great sages endeavored so much for the realization of the spirit self. It is admitted that in the Western countries the people have done their best to advance in the culture of material science, centered on the material body and mind. But it is admitted, also, that notwithstanding all such advancement of material knowledge in the West, the people in general there are suffering the pangs of the poisonous effects of materialism because they have cared very little for the culture of spiritual science. Great thinkers in the Western countries must therefore look to the people of India if the message of Godhead, of genuine spiritualism, is to reach their ears.

Therefore, in Bhagavad-gītā, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Personality of Godhead, has elaborately discussed karma-yoga, work with transcendental results, to douse the fire of materialism and brighten the future of humankind. There is a great difference between work for material gain and work with transcendental results. In many places throughout Bhagavad-gītā, the Personality of Godhead mentions the word buddhi-yoga, or intelligence with transcendental results. And by this word buddhi-yoga we can also understand transcendental, devotional activities. For the Personality of Godhead says that He always favors His devotees by endowing them with the intelligence to perform devotional activities, so that at the end His devotees may attain to Him. In other places, also, it is said that God is attainable only through devotional activities. We can get rid of the results of our work only by the intelligent process of work with transcendental results.

In the second chapter of Bhagavad-gītā, the Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, advises as follows: "Thus far I have explained to you about transcendental knowledge. Now I shall explain to you about work with transcendental results. By this work with transcendental results, you can get rid of the bondage of ordinary work. In this process there is no loss or diminution. Even if very little of this work is done, it can save one from the greatest trouble."

Pure devotional activities are of one variety only. And how these devotional activities can be coordinated with our daily, active life has been explained in Bhagavad-gītā. Coordinating such devotional activities with our daily activities is technically known as karma-yoga. The same devotional activities when mixed with the culture of knowledge are technically called jñāna-yoga. But when such devotional activities transcend the limits of all such work or mental knowledge, this state of affairs is called pure transcendental devotion, or bhakti-yoga.

All the various actions that we perform in this world beget various specific results. When we begin to enjoy the fruits of such performances, these further actions also produce, in their turn, further specific results as a matter of course. Thus, we have a big tree of these actions and reactions with their respective fruits. And as the enjoyers of these fruits, we become bound up in the network of such work and its fruit. Birth after birth, the spirit soul becomes bound up in the process of producing such fruits and enjoying the same.

While passing through various of the 8,400,000 species of life, the spirit soul is overwhelmed by the suffering created by those reactions. We have very little chance of escaping this bondage of action and reaction - work and its fruitive results. Even after abdicating all work and accepting the life of a sannyāsī, or renunciant, one still has to work, if only for his hungry stomach. And thus Śaṅkarācārya, the great monist philosopher and religious reformer, said that simply for the matter of the stomach, one may not adopt the dress of a renunciant. Therefore, there is no way out - no way to avoid doing work, if only for the belly's sake.

As a result, the Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, advises Marshal Arjuna in the following words: "O Arjuna, you must always do your duty. To do something is far better than to do nothing. You cannot even secure your everyday sustenance without doing any work."

"Work" means the work that is ordered in the scriptures and sacred law books. It means standard, prescribed duties. Such work is far better than laziness under the pretension of being a renunciant or mystic. To earn a living, one can honorably adopt the profession of a street sweeper, but one must not change his dress to the saffron robes of a renunciate simply to fill up his empty stomach. In the present age of quarrel and pretension, one should prefer to do the ordinary, prescribed duties rather than adopt the life of a sannyāsī, a renunciate. Those who are genuinely renounced understand that they must not give up performing their prescribed daily duties in the social order, because otherwise there will be disaster, plain and simple. When we cannot secure our everyday sustenance without doing any work, how is it possible to give up our prescribed duties? And yet one must not forget the difficult position of one's being in the network of action and reaction by which the spirit soul becomes bound up in material existence.

So, to solve this dilemma, the Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, advises us as follows: "The best policy for doing work is to perform all prescribed duties for the satisfaction of Yajña, the Supreme Being - Viṣṇu, the Absolute Truth. Otherwise, all actions will produce reactions that will cause bondage. If work is done for the sake of Yajña, then one can become free from all bondages."

This method of work, or prescribed duties, that does not cause any bondage is called work with transcendental results, or karma-yoga. By such work with transcendental results, or karma-yoga, not only does one become immune from the bondage of work, but also one develops his transcendental devotion toward the Absolute Personality of Godhead. One must not enjoy the fruits of his work himself, but must dedicate the same for the transcendental loving service of the Personality of Godhead. This is the first step on the ladder of devotional activities. Lord Caitanya taught this process of devotional service, or work with transcendental results, to Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī at Daśāśvamedha-ghāṭa in Prayāga. Lord Caitanya said that only one who is fortunate can get the seed of transcendental loving service, by the mercy of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Personality of Godhead, and that of the spiritual master. Karma-yoga, or work with transcendental results, is the seed of pure devotional activities. This science is taught by Śrī Kṛṣṇa Himself or by His bona fide, confidential servants. Unless one takes his lessons from such sources, one must inevitably misunderstand the import of karma-yoga, as do the ordinary mundaners who often advertise themselves as karma-yoga experts.

We have to earn some wealth just in order to push on with our material existence. In exchange for that wealth, we have to secure the necessities of life, and primarily, we have to cook something for our hungry stomach. For if we do not eat, we cannot keep a healthy body, and if we do not keep a healthy body, we cannot earn our livelihood. It is very difficult to ascertain which exigency is the cause of the other, but we can describe this process of reciprocity as the wheel of work. And to travel all over the universe is to circumambulate the wheel of work. There is no estimation of our circumambulation and the concomitant distress resulting from such travel life after life for illusory, material happiness, which is compared to the will o' the wisp. In the capacity of a false enjoyer, without any obedience to the supremely powerful Lord, the living soul searches for permanent happiness life after life, but he does not know where the real happiness is. Therefore, Prahlāda Mahārāja says that no one knows that his ultimate goal of self-realization is to reach Viṣṇu, the all-powerful Godhead.

Without knowing the goal of our self-realization, we are aimlessly voyaging on the ocean of material existence, life after life. And tossed as we are by the waves of action and reaction, we cannot ascertain the volume of our distresses in undertaking such an ominous journey. Here we must know that the goal of our voyage is to reach the Absolute Truth, Viṣṇu, the all-pervading Godhead. Śrī Kṛṣṇa confirms this goal of life by saying that everything must be performed for the satisfaction of Viṣṇu, or Yajña. In the Ṛg Veda the same truth is described: Viṣṇu is the Supreme Deity, and thus all the subordinate gods, the suris, look to Viṣṇu and His lotus feet. The author of the Vedas is the Personality of Godhead Himself. Consequently, His Bhagavad-gītā is the finest summary of all the teachings in the Vedas (the books of knowledge), and there is no doubt about it. The instruction is, therefore, that we must do everything for the satisfaction of Viṣṇu and Viṣṇu only, if we want to be free of the bondage to the wheel of our work.

Formerly, the people of India (now misnamed as "Hindus") followed varṇāśrama-dharma or sanātana-dharma, the system that organizes human affairs according to four social orders and four spiritual orders. Those in the three higher social orders - namely, the brāhmaṇas (the instructive order), the kṣatriyas (the administrative order), and the vaiśyas (the productive order) - all used to lead the life of Vaiṣṇavism, or centering every action upon the Supreme Deity, Viṣṇu. In all the four spiritual orders - the student, the householder, the retired, and the renounced - and especially the householder order, Viṣṇu was being worshiped. The brāhmaṇa householders, particularly, used to worship Viṣṇu without fail, and even now the descendants of those brāhmaṇas continue to worship Viṣṇu daily as their family Deity.

These spiritually cultured people used to do everything for the sake of Viṣṇu. They used to earn wealth according to their capacity for the service of Viṣṇu. With their earnings they used to acquire eatables, and the eatables were cooked for the worship of Viṣṇu. Then the meal offered to satisfy Viṣṇu became prasādam - "the Lord's mercy," the remnants of His meal - and could be accepted by them. What was possible in days gone by and is still being done here and there even today can again be made possible in all spheres of life, by a little adjustment suitable to time, place, and people. In this way, everyone can get free of the binding network of actions and reactions.

The learned sages say that to approach the lotus feet of Viṣṇu is to get liberation. We can satisfy our ordinary desires by satisfying the transcendental senses of Viṣṇu, which is the ultimate goal of karma-yoga, or work with transcendental results. If we do not perform our duties in this manner, for the satisfaction of Viṣṇu, then certainly all and any work done by us will produce nothing but poisonous material results, and ultimately there will be disaster in the world. By doing everything for the satisfaction of Viṣṇu and taking the remnants of the offerings made to Viṣṇu, we can get rid of the vices and sinful reactions that accumulate in the course of our performing our prescribed duties.

Although we may take so many precautions against these vices and sinful reactions, even in the course of ordinary business exchanges and ventures we have to commit so many sins. For instance, we find it necessary and unavoidable in business dealings to speak lies - not to mention the volumes of lies that are spoken by members of the legal profession. Lawyers have to resort to all sorts of trickery to get around a law in which they have become professionally entangled. And of course, those who are in the service of other professions have to do the same kind of thing without fail. Intentionally or unintentionally, one has to commit such sins - and incur the sinful reactions - without any doubt.

Even if we take all precautions to protect ourselves against committing any sins - for the Vaiṣṇavas, the devotees of Viṣṇu, naturally do take all such precautions - still, unconsciously we kill many ants and other insects while discharging even the most ordinary duties, such as walking from one place to another. Even in simply drinking water, we kill many tiny aquatic creatures. We kill many such living entities merely by cleaning our homes or when eating and sleeping. In sum, we cannot avoid all the sins we incur, even unconsciously, in the ordinary course of life.

According to the laws of man, a person may be hanged when he commits homicide, but he is not hanged when he kills lower animals. But according to the laws of God, one commits the same sin by killing a lower animal as he does by killing a man. We are punished by the laws of God for either action. Those who do not believe in the laws of God or in His existence may go on committing such sins, and they may not come to their senses despite the countless sufferings they are put into for committing such sins, but that does not affect the existence of God or His eternal laws.

The law books known as the smṛtis mention five kinds of sin which everyone inevitably commits, no matter how unwillingly. They are as follows: (1) Sins committed by itching, (2) sins committed by rubbing, (3) sins committed by starting a fire, (4) sins committed by pouring water from a pot, and (5) sins committed by cleaning the house. Even if we do not commit any intentional sins, we have to commit the above five kinds of sin, without a shadow of doubt. Thus, it is our duty to accept the remnants of offerings made to Viṣṇu, to escape the reactions of all sinful actions committed unconsciously and unavoidably. Unfortunately, those who cook food not for offering to Viṣṇu, but only for satisfying their senses, have to undergo punishments for all the sins they have committed consciously or unconsciously, while discharging prescribed duties. For this reason, the worship of Viṣṇu still goes on in the households of the followers of sanātana-dharma, and especially in the households of the brāhmaṇas.

Therefore, those who are leaders of their respective countries and communities should first be sure to satisfy Viṣṇu, for their own benefit and for the benefit of those whom they profess to lead. All leaders should ponder how they can discharge their duties by satisfying the transcendental senses of Viṣṇu, for what the leaders do will be imitated by their followers. Therefore, the Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, advises Arjuna as follows: "What is done by the leader is followed by the ordinary man. Whatever the leader establishes as truth, the followers take to it unhesitatingly."

But alas, the time has already come when the leaders, whom ordinary men regard as beacons, are themselves mostly atheists at the bottom of their hearts and are against the principles laid down by Godhead. As such, what can they do for the satisfaction of the transcendental senses of Viṣṇu? And if they do not do everything for the satisfaction of the transcendental senses of Godhead, how can they expect to drag themselves or their followers from the mire of sins committed in the course of discharging prescribed duties? If the leaders do not recognize the existence of the all-powerful Viṣṇu, who is simultaneously both the supreme transcendental personality and the impersonal spirit existing everywhere, then what will ordinary men understand about Him? He is the supreme enjoyer of everything that be, and thus none of us, however great we may be, can be the enjoyer of the universe and its paraphernalia. Since our position is subordinate to that of the almighty Viṣṇu, the Supreme Godhead (Īśvara, the supreme controller), we can enjoy only what comes from Him as a token of His kindness. We must not enjoy anything that is not offered by Him. We should not make any extra effort to obtain anything which belongs to Him or others. That is the spirit of Vaiṣṇavism.

In the Īśopaniṣad this same spirit is described as follows: "Whatever we see existing throughout the universe is intrinsically the property of the supreme enjoyer, and one may enjoy a thing that is kindly given by Him, but one must never touch the property of others."

Therefore, civic and other popular leaders should center their activities upon Viṣṇu, and by this act of transcendental work, they will themselves be benefited and shall be able to do good for their respective followers. If these leaders, including preachers and heads of state, do not perform this act of Vaiṣṇavism - and instead place themselves artificially in the exalted position of Viṣṇu, the supreme enjoyer - then they may indeed enjoy temporary gain, adoration, and mundane fame, and may delude their unfortunate followers from the right path by a false display of renunciation. But such materialistic, godless leaders will never be able to do any good for the ignorant souls who follow them like a flock of sheep to the slaughterhouse. By such leadership the leader himself is temporarily benefited, but the followers are put into the worst position. The leaders incite them toward false, illusory gain and thus engage them in various acts of sin. In temporarily benefiting themselves, such leaders sacrifice the real interest of their followers and destroy the followers.

Such leaders do not know that their temporary gains will vanish along with the destruction of their temporary body. But the acts of commission and omission made by them during their lifetime of leadership will remain in the psychic encagement of mind, intelligence, and false egoism in a very subtle form, and the subtle psychic life will develop again in another suitable body, by the process of transmigration of the spirit soul, and thus put them in ordeals of different wheels of action and reaction by obliging them to transmigrate from one body to another for many, many years.

The people in general will follow what the leaders, without any transcendental knowledge, ask them to do. The leaders, therefore, must be aware of this fact for the benefit of all concerned. The leaders must know first of all how they can do good for their followers, by understanding the real method of karma-yoga, or work with transcendental results. If the physician is himself a diseased fellow, how can he endeavor to heal others? The physician must heal himself first, before treating the disease of the general public. To gratify the senses of the diseased fellow is not the business of a real physician. A good, qualified physician cannot indulge the patient by merely satisfying him, but must prescribe the real medicine, whether it satisfy the senses of the patient or not.

The leaders therefore must know that the real disease of the people in general is their aversion to serve the almighty Godhead, Viṣṇu. So if, instead of treating the people's inherent disease - atheism - the leaders simply show a superficial sympathy for the disease's symptoms, certainly there will be no benefit whatsoever for suffering humanity. The real remedy for this disease lies in partaking of the remnants of offerings made to Godhead; this is the ideal diet for the spiritual patient. And the medicines include hearing and chanting and remembering the glories of Godhead, worshiping the transcendental form of Godhead, offering Him transcendental service, accepting Him as one's supreme friend and, lastly, surrendering unto Him in all circumstances. The leaders should therefore arrange for this diet and these medicines - if they really want to dissipate the sufferings of humanity.

At the same time, it is pleasing to see that the veteran leader Mahatma Gandhi is trying his best to invent a method for bringing in a godly atmosphere all over the world. He is preaching restraint, toleration, moral principles, and so on. But it is not possible to reach the unlimited by any novel, invented method, which is always limited. The Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, has therefore said in the Bhagavad-gītā that after many births, learned sages eventually surrender unto Him, and that such a mahātmā who is able to connect everything that be to Vāsudeva (the plenary manifestation of Viṣṇu) is rarely to be seen. The purport is that mahātmās are everywhere, but the mahātmā who knows the real relationship between Godhead and the manifested world is very rare.

Such a mahātmā never tries to approach Godhead by any invented method, any inductive, ascending process. Rather, he accepts the standard, deductive, descending process - that is, the method that comes down directly from the Supreme Lord or through His bona fide representatives. By the ascending process, no one can reach the Lord, even by a long-term endeavor of many, many years. What is obtained by this ascending process, however, is imperfect, partial, impersonal knowledge, liable to be deviant from the Absolute Truth.

We can see such signs in the method of preaching espoused by Gandhijī. Although he chants the name of Rāma, he is not aware of the transcendental science of the name. He is a worshiper of the impersonal Godhead. That is to say, his Godhead or Viṣṇu is devoid of transcendental activities. His Godhead cannot eat, cannot see, and cannot hear; for impersonality means being without any of these sensory activities. When the empiric philosopher tries to approach the Absolute Truth, he can reach only as far as the impersonal feature of Godhead, without knowing anything about the Lord's transcendental pastimes. When the Absolute Truth is not credited with having any transcendental senses or sensory activities, certainly He is supposed impotent. An impotent Godhead, of course, cannot hear the prayers of His devotees, nor can He ameliorate the distress of the universe.

By the empiric process of philosophical research, one can possibly distinguish the metaphysical subjects from the physical objects; but unless such seekers of truth can reach the personal feature of the Absolute Truth, they gain only dry, impersonal knowledge of Him, without any actual transcendental profit. It is therefore necessary that leaders like Gandhi establish themselves on the transcendental footing of the personal feature of the Absolute Truth, known as Viṣṇu or the all-pervading Godhead, and arrange for His transcendental service by karma-yoga, so that they can do good for the people in general.

The people in general are extremely busy in the affairs of the material body and mind. Those who are in the lowest stage of such mundane activities very rarely can understand the activities of the spiritual plane. These people are generally baffled because their various acts of sin and virtue are directed merely toward ameliorating the distress and enhancing the happiness of the temporary body and mind by behavior like eating, sleeping, defending, and gratifying the senses. The material scientists - the modern quasi priests who invoke such material activities - invent many objects to gratify the material senses such as the eye, ear, nose, and tongue and ultimately the mind, and there results a field of unnecessary competition for enhancement of such material happiness, which leads the whole world into the whirlpool of uncalled - for clashes. The net result is scarcity all over the world, so much so that even the bare necessities of life, namely food and clothing, become objects of contention and control. And so arise all sorts of obstacles to the traditional, God-given life of plain living and high thinking.

Persons who are a little above such gross materialists believe firmly in life after death and thus try to rise a little above the plane of gross sensory enjoyment of this one life. They try to accumulate something for the next life by acts of virtue, just as a man banks some money for future happiness. But these people do not understand that neither any sinful nor any virtuous act can bring freedom from the bondage of work, as we have explained above. On the contrary, both sinful and virtuous acts will bind the worker up in the wheel of action and reaction.

Neither the sinful nor the pious materialist can understand the essence of karma-yoga as the means to attain liberation from the always uncongenial bondage of work. The expert karma-yogī therefore behaves just like an attached materialist to teach the people in general about the way one can get rid of the tangle of action and reaction in ordinary work. By such acts, the karma-yogī himself and the world at large are simultaneously benefited. The Personality of Godhead therefore says as follows: "O descendant of Bharata, better you continue to perform work like an attached materialist who is not conversant with transcendental knowledge, so that you can recruit men to the path of karma-yoga, or work with transcendental results."

So those who are aware of transcendental knowledge, and who thus are actually learned, perform all acts needed for maintaining the body and mind, but with a view to satisfying the transcendental senses of the Supreme Godhead, Viṣṇu. Ordinary men regard these learned transcendentalists as common workers, but in fact, the transcendentalists are not workers for mundane benefit - they are karma-yogīs, or workers for transcendental results. And in such transcendental work, the material results are gained automatically, without any separate endeavor.

In the present age we are witnessing an enormous expansion of material activities, an endlessly variegated multiplicity of material engagements. Mills and factories, as well as hospitals and other institutions, are now in vogue. In ancient times, there was not so great an expansion of material activities. In those days the mode of living was simple, and yet the thoughts were sublime. So now there is a very good field of activities for the karma-yogīs, who can engage all the various modern institutions in the transcendental service of Viṣṇu, for the satisfaction of His transcendental senses.

It is incumbent, therefore, to install a temple of Viṣṇu in all the aforementioned institutions, and in individual homes, for the same purpose - worshiping the Absolute Godhead in the same spirit of work with transcendental results as was maintained by the sages of ancient times. Although the all-pervading Personality of Godhead manifests Himself in His various transcendental, eternal forms as incarnations or plenary portions or various partial portions, the sages recommended the worship of the eternal dual forms of Śrī Śrī Lakṣmī-Nārāyaṇa, Śrī Śrī Sītā-Rāma, and Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa. Therefore, it is desired most earnestly that the proprietors and managers of big mills, factories, hospitals, universities, hotels, and various other institutions install a temple for worshiping any of these transcendental forms of Viṣṇu. This will transform all the workers in these institutions into karma-yogīs.

It is generally experienced that workers in big mills and factories are addicted to many abominable habits, and thus they gradually glide down to the lowest status to which a human being can descend. But if they are graciously offered the advantage of partaking of the remnants of foodstuffs offered to Viṣṇu, gradually they will develop a transcendental sense of spirituality and rise to the same status as that of spiritually advanced personalities. However, these people cannot rise to that exalted position of "Harijans" simply by being rubber-stamped as such. If they are influenced by a desire other than the transcendental service of Viṣṇu, every effort to raise them up from their degraded position will result in disaster and disturbance of the peace and tranquillity of the social order. Leaders who incite such downtrodden laborers uselessly - simply for the sake of temporary gain - can never do the laborers any good. Nor can the leaders themselves benefit by such ill-conceived actions. On the contrary, through such material activities both the laborers and the capitalists inevitably fall into unwholesome quarreling and so bring on great disturbance of the social order. The problem can be solved only by a determined program of karma-yoga. If karma-yoga, or work with transcendental results, is systematically performed, we shall transcend and more than fulfill all fragmented endeavors - whether by the socialists toward equality, by the Bolsheviks toward a grand social order of fraternity, or by the laborites toward a mundane heaven wherein laborers surpass capitalists in the acquisition of wealth.

Fraternity in human society develops gradually - from love for self to love for family; from love for family to love for community; from love for community to love for nation; and from love for nation to love for the international community. And in this gradual process, there is always a center of attraction that helps our love progress and develop from one stage to another. We do not know, however, that in that constant struggle for fraternal development, the center of attraction is neither the family nor the community nor the nation, nor even the international community, but the all-pervading Godhead, Viṣṇu. This ignorance is due to the material curtain, the illusory energy of the Absolute Truth. The great devotee Prahlāda Mahārāja confirms that people in general do not know that their ultimate center of attraction is Viṣṇu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. And in the Viṣṇu category, Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the supreme attraction.

In fact, the word Kṛṣṇa is derived from the root kṛṣ, meaning "that which attracts." Thus, there cannot be any other name of the Absolute Truth than Kṛṣṇa - "the all-attractive." Learned sages have made extensive research in this connection, and they have firmly concluded that Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Godhead. The sages of Naimiṣāraṇya (at present, Nimsar, in Sitapur District, U.P.), who assembled under the presidency of Sūta Gosvāmī, discussed in detail all the various incarnations of the Absolute Truth. They came to the conclusion that Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and that all other incarnations are either His plenary portions or else portions of plenary portions. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is Śrī Kṛṣṇa; that is the verdict of the Bhāgavata school, or the transcendentalists. Also, the Brahma-saṁhitā - which is described to be compiled by Brahmā, the creator of this universe - confirms, "Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, with an eternal, all-blissful, transcendental form. He is the original person, known as Govinda. He is without any cause, and He is the cause of all other causes." Therefore, if and only if we can establish our relationships with one another upon the central attraction of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the prime cause of all causes, will we really turn the concepts of fraternity and equality into workable means of lasting peace.

To understand a little better the principles involved, we can look at the mundane relationships around us. For example, the husband of our sister, who may have been unknown to us before he married her, nonetheless becomes our brother-in-law - simply by virtue of the shared central relationship with her. And thanks to that shared central relationship, this previously unknown man's sons and daughters become our nephews and nieces. Again, all these loving relationships center upon our sister. In this case, our sister has become the center of attraction.

If, for example, we make our country the center of attraction, we designate ourselves with some limiting and divisive national label, such as "Bengali," "Punjabi," or "English." Or when we profess a particular faith or religion and make this the center of attraction, again we designate ourselves with some sectarian label, such as "Hindu," "Muslim," or "Christian." Thus we have chosen a center of attraction that many others cannot share with us - because for them, our center of attraction is not all-attractive.

Our relationships with one another can be perfected only when we make our center of attraction Kṛṣṇa, the all-attractive Personality of Godhead. Constitutionally, we are all eternally related to Kṛṣṇa, who is the original living being and thus the center of all attraction. So what we need to do is to revive this relationship which has merged into oblivion because the covering and detaching process of the illusory energy, called māyā, has fostered temporary forgetfulness. And to proceed in this direction of rehabilitation of our eternal relationship is to adopt karma-yoga, the first step to such transcendental realization. It is stated in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta that the living entity, the spirit soul, is encaged by māyā, or the illusory energy, in a process of forgetfulness of his eternal relationship with Kṛṣṇa.

The karma-yogī can help revive this transcendental relationship of the living spirit with Kṛṣṇa as His eternal servitor. And the karma-yogī renders this immense benefit to the ordinary living entities-who are entirely addicted to mundane activities - without disturbing them in their ordinary engagements. In fact, the Bhagavad-gītā advises that in the interest of the mundane workers, they should not be restrained from their ordinary engagements; on the contrary, they may be encouraged to stay engaged in that way, within the process of karma-yoga, or work with transcendental results.

Ordinarily, these mundaners cannot easily understand their eternal relationship with Kṛṣṇa. Instead, they themselves have posed as Kṛṣṇa, under the false inducement of the illusory energy. This false position of supreme enjoyer gives them much trouble as they search for lordship over the powers of nature, but still these mundaners cannot give up the spirit of lording it over. And when they pretend to give up the enjoying spirit, under the pressure of disappointment and frustration, they usually take shelter of pseudo renunciation, with an even greater spirit of enjoyment. The mundane workers, who are always desirous of enjoying the fruits of their mundane activities, suffer greatly under the pressing disadvantages of such activities, just like poor oxen tightly tethered to the grinding mill. But under a false pretense of "enjoyer" dictated by the illusory energy, they think themselves to be really enjoying. Therefore, the learned karma-yogīs tactfully engage such foolish mundaners in the respective works for which they have special attachments - but in relation with Kṛṣṇa - without disturbing them in their general activities. For this purpose only, the learned and liberated souls who are eternal servitors of Kṛṣṇa sometimes remain in the midst of ordinary activities, just to attract the foolish mundaners to the process of karma-yoga.

The foolish mundaners would have been left perpetually in the darkness of foolish activities if Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Personality of Godhead, or His eternal associates, such as Marshal Arjuna, had not kindly taken the trouble of initiating the process of karma-yoga by the direct method of personal example. The foolish mundaners are unable to come to an awareness of the immeasurable difficulties that confront them in pursuance of their foolish mundane activities. However much they may bewilder themselves by the conception of lordship over their various actions, they are always being driven under the direction of the modes of nature - that is the considered verdict of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Personality of Godhead, in the Bhagavad-gītā. He says that the foolish mundaner considers himself the author or doer of all his activities by a sense dictated by his false egoism, without knowing that it is the modes of nature that lead him to do everything in all his engagements. The foolish mundaner cannot understand that he is under the spell of Lord Kṛṣṇa's illusory energy, Maya-devi, who has made the mundaner bound to do as she desires. Consequently, the foolish mundaner enjoys only the temporary results of his activities - fleeting mundane happiness or distress - and undergoes a severe penalty of servitude dictated by the modes of nature.

In Bhagavad-gītā Lord Kṛṣṇa affirms that each and every living entity that be is His part and parcel, and as such, each and every living entity is His eternal, transcendental servitor. The natural position of one who is part and parcel is to render service to the complete whole. In Hitopadeśa, a Vedic book of ancient fables, there is a lucid analogy entitled Uddeśa Indriyāṇām which explains the relationship of the parts of the body to the whole. The hands, legs, eyes, nose, and so forth are all parts of the complete whole that is the body. Now if the hands, legs, eyes, nose and so on do not endeavor to provide food for the stomach, but themselves try to enjoy the eatables collected by them, then there will be a maladjustment of the whole body. The bodily parts would be working against the interest of the body as a whole. By such foolish activities, the hands, legs, and so on could never improve their respective positions, but on the contrary, for want of sufficient nourishment of the whole body through the medium of the stomach, the whole system of bodily structure and function would become weakened, deteriorated, and diseased.

The Personality of Godhead is the original cause of all causes, and He is the life of the whole creation. The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, is the root of the tree of the whole creation. That is the statement of Bhagavad-gītā. It is also said in Bhagavad-gītā that there is no person superior to Śrī Kṛṣṇa Himself. He is the supreme enjoyer of all sacrifices and activities. But still, those who are utterly sinful do not surrender unto Him, even though He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and all other living beings are His transcendental, eternal servitors, part and parcel of Him.

Forgetfulness of this transcendental relationship between the living entity and the Personality of Godhead has created a false sense of everyone's being a miniature Kṛṣṇa, who tries to enjoy the world to his best capacity, while overlooking the transcendental service of the Absolute Truth, the Personality of Godhead, the complete whole and the origin of all. This kind of work is done under the spell of the modes of material nature, called māyā, or the illusory energy. Actually, the living entity has no capacity to lord it over the forces of nature. The living entity becomes subjugated by the modes of nature as soon as he tries to put himself into the position of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the supreme enjoyer - under a false egoistic sense, since he is constitutionally unable to do so, any more than the hands, legs, eyes, and so on can individually function as a complete, whole body. The living entity therefore undergoes many difficulties under the pretense of being an enjoyer. So to get rid of all these troubles and difficulties that we suffer due to our work, we have to adopt the process of karma-yoga.

In contrast with the ordinary living entity, those who are transcendentalists are really learned. Such transcendentalists do not perform any work in the manner of the common mundaner. They know that mundane activities done under the modes of nature are completely different from activities of transcendental service. The transcendentalist, knowing himself to be different from the material body and mind, always tries to cultivate transcendental activities. He knows that although temporarily within mundane existence, he is an eternal spirit, part and parcel of the Supreme Spirit. As such, he remains always separate from the mundaners, even though his material senses such as the hands, legs, eyes, and so on are engaged in temporary material activities. When engaged in the transcendental service of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, however, such activities make the doer free from the bondage of work. The Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, says to Arjuna, "O Arjuna! Therefore give up the spirit of enjoying all your worldly work, and through this consciousness become a transcendentalist. You may adopt your circumstantial occupation of warfare, which is a duty for you. And whoever performs his every activity with transcendental consciousness - according to My direction, without any grudge toward Me - he also becomes free from the bondage of work."

The process of bodily self-consciousness - the misunderstanding that I am this material body and mind and, for that matter, that I am part and parcel of this material world and that everything in this material world is thus an object for my enjoyment - does not allow me to become a transcendentalist or a really learned fellow. Up to this point, we have already discussed this transcendental knowledge somewhat. And on the basis of this preliminary discussion, the Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, advises us to become spiritually inclined, to become transcendentalists. Then only can we understand that we are nothing whatsoever of this material world, that we are eternal, spiritual living entities. By such spiritual realization, disintegration of our material affinity naturally begins, and the more we become spiritually developed, the less we are affected by the happiness or distress that arise out of sense perception in contact with material association. The false ego created by material contact is then gradually vanquished, and this dismantling of false egoism causes liberation from all material designations and renewed awareness of our relationship with the Absolute Truth. This is called liberation in life.

Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Personality of Godhead, is the Absolute Truth. This is corroborated in all authentic scriptures. Our spiritual life begins to develop as soon as our relationship with Śrī Kṛṣṇa is reawakened. Śrī Kṛṣṇa is compared to the sun. The darkness of nescience disappears as soon as our relationship with Śrī Kṛṣṇa is established. With the appearance of Śrī Kṛṣṇa within our heart, we become cleansed of the impurities of material contact, much as the morning appears new and fresh with the appearance of the sun. This is not a concoction of childish imagination but a factual experience of spiritual realization. One who has sincerely followed the footsteps of Śrī Kṛṣṇa or His bona fide servants has also realized this simple truth.

But one who envies Śrī Kṛṣṇa and poses himself as a competitor of Śrī Kṛṣṇa - one with such a foolhardy and perverted mentality does not accept this statement of fact. Thus, without understanding the primacy of karma-yoga, the foolish mundaners indulge in unrestricted material activities resulting in bondage; their very work keeps them in the material existence of births and deaths perpetually. Such foolish mundaners actually envy Śrī Kṛṣṇa and deride Him as one who is like other mundaners. The truth about Śrī Kṛṣṇa does not easily enter into the perverted brain of such mundaners infected with the empiric approach to philosophy. But a devoted person faithfully understands just what is actually stated in the pages of Bhagavad-gītā and does not resort to imagination, or the empiric philosophical approach, generally called "spiritual interpretation." Only such a devoted person can accept the logic of fully surrendering unto Kṛṣṇa and can thus adopt the process of karma-yoga to escape the dangerous bondage of work.

There is nothing in the codes of Śrī Kṛṣṇa to stipulate that these devoted persons will make their appearance within the boundaries of a particular caste, creed, color, or country. These devoted persons can and do appear everywhere, without any restriction of caste, creed, color, or country. So everyone, whatever and whoever he may be, is eligible to be a devotee of Śrī Kṛṣṇa. To confirm this fact, in Bhagavad-gītā the Personality of Godhead says the following words: "O son of Pṛthā, even those who are faithless and are of lower birth - including fallen women or professional prostitutes, ignorant manual laborers, and the merchant class - all shall attain perfection and reach the Kingdom of God, if they actually take shelter of the devotional service of the Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa." In other words, the unscrupulous caste system now dominant in the society of the asuras or the faithless cannot be any barrier to approaching Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Absolute Personality of Godhead.

Śrī Kṛṣṇa Himself has enumerated the basic principles of a caste system that is real and universal. The four social orders (intellectual, administrative, mercantile, and laborer) are set by Him according to the qualities these persons have acquired through their actions under the modes of nature. So although in one sense He is the maker of this caste system all over the world, still, in another sense, He is to be understood as not its maker. That is, He is not the maker of a tyrannical and unnatural caste system in which the faithless dictate one's position according to one's birth. Rather, He is the maker of a caste system that is applicable universally, is voluntary and natural, and is based on one's qualities and abilities.

The four social orders - generally known as the "caste system" and consisting of the brāhmaṇas (priests and intellectuals), the kṣatriyas (administrators and soldiers), the vaiśyas (merchants and farmers), and the śūdras (laborers) - were never meant for a caste system by birthright. This system is universally applicable in terms of one's mundane, practical qualifications and personality traits. The classification of brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya or śūdra is never made with reference to one's accidental birth - any more than someone could become a medical practitioner by some mere birthright, simply because he happened to be the son of a noted doctor. The real qualification of a medical practitioner can be obtained only through strenuous study of medical science for a considerably long period, and only upon completion of his studies can he take up the medical profession. Naturally, when a patient goes to a medical practitioner, he does not look at the birthright of the physician, but at his real, professional qualifications.

Just as physicians are always present in all countries and at all times, so also brāhmaṇas or kṣatriyas are always present in every part of the earth, by dint of personal and practical qualifications. The present caste system - which we have localized within a particular part of the world and then within a particular sectarian faith - is undoubtedly wrong and a perversion of the natural, universal caste system. If somebody passes himself off as a medical practitioner for the reason that he is the son of a medical practitioner - without having any knowledge of medical science or without having attended medical college - and if this medical practitioner is accepted as such by a section of the public, then both this medical practitioner and his blind followers are to be considered members of a society who cheat one another and are cheated by one another. Theirs is a society of the cheaters and the cheated. So the caste system created by the Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, and referred to in the Bhagavad-gītā is not the same as the caste system of the society of the cheaters and the cheated. The caste system created by the Personality of Godhead and referred to in the Bhagavad-gītā is universally true at all times and in all parts of the world, and actually, the universe.

The qualifications of the various orders of the caste system are enumerated in Bhagavad-gītā, and here we shall touch on them briefly. The brāhmaṇas are the highest social order, and they imbibe the modes of goodness and are engaged in the activities of equality, restraint, and forgiveness. The kṣatriyas are the second-highest social order, and they imbibe the qualities of creative passion and are engaged in the activities of public leadership as executive heads of different political and social bodies. The vaiśyas are the third social order. They imbibe mixed qualities, namely creative passion as well as the darkness of ignorance, and generally they are engaged as farmers and merchants. The śūdras are the lowest social order, inasmuch as they imbibe the modes of darkness, or ignorance, and generally take up the service of the other three social orders. As a class, the śūdras are servitors of the whole mundane social body. In the present age of darkness, which is known as the Kali-yuga, the age of quarrel, hypocrisy, and ignorance, virtually everyone is born a śūdra.

If we examine human affairs in the light of the caste system as created by the Personality of Godhead, surely we can visualize the four social orders functioning in every part of the world. In every part of the globe, wherever there is human habitation, there are some persons who have the qualifications of brāhmaṇas, and there are others who have the qualifications of kṣatriyas, vaiśyas, and śūdras. The various modes of nature are persistent in every corner of the universe, and since brāhmaṇas, kṣatriyas, and so forth are simply products of the modes of nature, how can one say that the four castes do not exist in a particular part of the world? This is absurd. In every country and at all times there have been, there are, and there will be the four social orders, according to the modes of nature.

Those who persist in the theory that the four social orders called the caste system exist only in India are totally mistaken. In all other countries, also, there are the same orders of life, under some name or other. And thus everywhere in the world, even those who are far below the qualifications of an ordinary śūdra, the fourth social order, are eligible for the transcendental service of the Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa. The spiritual perfection which a qualified brāhmaṇa attains by the transcendental service of Śrī Kṛṣṇa can also be attained by anyone, even in a lower status than that of śūdra, by the same process of transcendental service to Śrī Kṛṣṇa. For this reason, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the all-attractive Personality of Godhead, is the Absolute Truth in all creation, and Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā is the supreme scripture within the universe. According to other scriptures such as the Purāṇas, even a caṇḍāla, or a person of the fifth social order (lower than a śūdra), becomes more than a person of the first order (a brāhmaṇa) by dint of his transcendental devotional service. The confidential teachings of the Bhagavad-gītā are therefore meant for nothing but attaining the highest perfection of human life - the transcendental service of Śrī Kṛṣṇa.

So, regardless of caste, creed, or color, everyone must adopt the process of karma-yoga, or work with transcendental results. And by so doing, everyone shall help to spiritualize all the activities of the world. By such activities, both the performer and the work performed become surcharged with spirituality and transcend the modes of nature. And as his activities become spiritualized, the performer automatically attains the qualifications of the highest social order, the brāhmaṇas. In fact, one who becomes fully spiritualized is transcendental to the modes of nature, and thus he is more than a brāhmaṇa. After all, although of the highest mundane order, the qualifications of a brāhmaṇa are not transcendental. How one can attain to the supreme transcendental knowledge simply by the performance of transcendental service to the Personality of Godhead is explained in the twenty-fourth verse of the fourth chapter of Bhagavad-gītā. It is explained there that through performance of work with transcendental results, everything becomes spiritualized. Ācārya Śaṅkara's philosophy of "pantheism," which has spread a perverted interpretation of the Vedānta maxim that the Supreme Spirit is omnipresent, nonetheless has a practical bearing on the above verse.

There are various kinds of sacrifices that will be examined later on, but we should understand that the ultimate goal of all sacrifices is to please the Supreme Godhead, Viṣṇu. During our material existence, we have to deal with material objects, if only to keep body and soul together. But in all such material activities we can evoke the spiritual atmosphere, in terms of the Vedantic truth that the Supreme Spirit is omnipresent. This truth is imperfectly explained by the proponents of pantheism, the misconception that everything is the Supreme Spirit simply because the Supreme Spirit is everywhere. Once this misconception is cleared up and if we remember that the Supreme Spirit is indeed omnipresent, we can create a spiritual atmosphere by performing all our activities in relation to the Supreme Spirit, with everything directed by one who is a self-realized soul. Then the whole thing is transformed into spirit.

An example may be given here to illuminate the above process of spiritualization. When the iron is put into the fire and becomes red hot, the iron then develops the qualities of fire and stops functioning as iron. In the same way, when all our activities are done in terms of our relationship with Kṛṣṇa, then everything is surcharged with spiritualization. Because pleasing Kṛṣṇa has become our ultimate goal, all our activities have become spiritual activities. In a sacrifice there are five primary elements - namely, (1) the process of offering, (2) the offering itself, (3) the fire, (4) the sacrifice, and (5) the result of the sacrifice. When all of these elements become related with the Supreme Spirit, all of them become spiritualized; and at that time the whole thing becomes really a sacrifice. So when offered to the transcendental service of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, all the above-mentioned five elements become interrelated with Him, and thus they become totally spiritualized.

Therefore, learned men perform all their activities for transcendental results and thus direct all their activities toward the transcendental service of the Personality of Godhead. These genuinely purified souls actually control all their sensory activities and also master their true, spiritual self. Such spiritualized persons alone can show actual sympathy to the fallen in terms of the individual, the place, and the time. And in spite of performing apparently material activities, such spiritualized persons are free from the bondage of work. This process is explained in the seventh verse of the fifth chapter of Bhagavad-gītā: "Householders who perform their work with a view to transcendental results, out of sympathy for all others, are really eligible to become public leaders. All others who claim to be public leaders are mistaken."

The enemies of the karma-yogīs - who generally perform all works for self-satisfaction or sense gratification, and who are not in touch with the Supreme Spirit by the transcendental relationship of service - sometimes pose themselves as working according to the desire of the supreme will. As a matter of fact, they are pantheist pretenders, trying to cover their extravagancy by falsely labeling it transcendental service to Godhead. But those who are pure in heart - that is, those who have surrendered everything unto the lotus feet of the Personality of Godhead - remain aloof and separate from such easygoing pseudo transcendentalists, while giving them all respects that they may demand.

Such pure-in-heart transcendentalists know that although the living entity is very insignificant, he is part and parcel of the Absolute Truth and so has a proportionate measure of independence. And although the Personality of Godhead is all-powerful, He never interferes with this little freedom that the living entity enjoys. Thus the living entity sometimes becomes conditioned by the modes of nature, simply by abusing his small measure of independence that he is entitled to enjoy. When he becomes conditioned by nature's modes of goodness, passion, or ignorance, he develops those respective qualities of goodness, passion, and ignorance. As long as the living entity remains conditioned by material nature, he has to act according to his particular mode of nature. If these modes were not acting, then we would not have observed in the phenomenal world different varieties of activities. These different varieties of activities are conditioned by the different modes of nature.

Therefore, without knowing the subtle laws of nature, if we tried to justify all our deeds as influenced by the will of the Personality of Godhead, we would be attempting to bring partiality, inebriety, and gracelessness into the acts of the all-good Personality of Godhead. It should never be imagined that various mundane discrepancies arise by the will of the Personality of Godhead - that some are happy by His will, while others are unhappy by His will. Such differences in the material world are due to the proper or improper use of free will enjoyed by the individual living entity. Kṛṣṇa, the Personality of Godhead, enjoins everyone to give up all such conditional engagements dictated by the various modes of nature. Such varieties of engagements of the living entity arise out of ignorance perpetuated by the modes of nature. Therefore, the Lord says in Bhagavad-gītā ([[Vanisource:BG 5.13|5.13]]) that He is not the cause of anyone's particular work, nor the authority, nor the result of such work - but that all these come out of the various modes of nature. Thus, all acts performed by the living entity - except those with transcendental results - are self - created engagements arising from an abuse of the free will, and therefore such acts or engagements are never to be considered as if the works and the results were somehow ordained by the almighty Godhead. Such works are all material and are therefore conditioned and directed by the modes of nature. The Personality of Godhead has nothing to do with such works.

Similarly, the karma-yogī exists always in a transcendental position, far away from the conditions of the modes of nature, for all his works attain to the platform of the Absolute. When one is in a state of freedom from the modes of nature, the phenomenal world manifests its noumenal feature - its spiritual aspect. With the world thus spiritually manifest, its modes of nature, such as goodness, passion, and ignorance, cannot present any obstacle to one's spiritual advancement. When such obstacles are surpassed, one attains to the absolute vision.

Bhagavad-gītā ([[Vanisource:BG 5.17|5.17]]) further elucidates that when a learned man attains to absolute vision, he can observe every living being - whether a learned and gentle brahmaṇa, a cow, an elephant, a dog, or a dog-eater - with equanimity. A learned and gentle brahmaṇa is the embodiment of nature's mode of goodness. Among the beasts, the cow is the embodiment of this same mode of goodness. The elephant and the lion are embodiments of the passionate mode of nature, while the dog and the caṇḍāla (dog-eater) are the embodiments of nature's mode of darkness, or ignorance. However, instead of focusing on the various external tabernacles of these living entities (their embodiments under various modes of nature), with his absolute vision the karma-yogī penetrates to the spirit which is embodied therein. And because this infinitesimal spirit emanates from the infinite Supreme Spirit, the karma-yogī in the highest state can observe everyone and everything with equanimity. Such a karma-yogī views everything in relation to the Absolute, and therefore he engages everything in the transcendental service of the Absolute. He observes all living entities as so many transcendental servitors of the absolute Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa. His perfect spiritual vision cannot but penetrate the encagement of every material body, just as a red-hot iron cannot but burn everything that it contacts. Thus, the karma-yogī sets an example of transcendental character, by engaging everyone and everything in the transcendental service of the Personality of Godhead.

The karma-yogī knows very well that Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Personality of Godhead, is the enjoyer of everything, and that He is the Lord of all living entities. He sees very little value in the false prestige by which all living entities in this material world put themselves in the position of either an enjoyer or a renouncer. The learned sages feel disgust with this sort of false prestige as the quintessential disease of material existence. All good work, culture of knowledge, meditation, austerity, and so forth - whatever is performed - all of these activities are meant to ameliorate this material disease. Therefore, the Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, says in Bhagavad-gītā (5.28) that one can attain the supreme peace by knowing that He is the enjoyer of all sacrifices and austerities, the Lord of all the universes, and also the supreme friend of all living entities.

We have already discussed the necessity of performing work for sacrifice only, or to please the transcendental senses of Viṣṇu. And in the above statement of Bhagavad-gītā, it is clear that Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality, who alone is capable of enjoying the result of all sacrificial performances. The sacrifices of the ordinary workers and the meditation and austerities of the empiric philosophers are all ordained and maintained by the Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa. In turn, the Supersoul - the localized aspect of Viṣṇu, which is the object of meditation for the mystics - is a plenary portion of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Personality of Godhead.

We may be able to further discuss all these workers and their work later. But one may know at present that Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the friend of everyone, whether he be an ordinary worker, an empiric philosopher, or even a mystic - and what to speak of the transcendentalists who are cent-percent servitors of the Personality of Godhead. The Personality of Godhead always does good for one and all, by empowering His devotees to preach and propagate the transcendental process of devotional service to Godhead everywhere in accord with the specific time, place, and audience. The Lord is therefore called "Govinda," or the prime cause of all causes and the reservoir of all blessings. And the people in general can attain to perfect peace and tranquillity when they come to know Him by the gradual process of work with transcendental results.

Those who do everything for the transcendental service of the Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, have no need to perform any sacrifice, penance, or meditation that is unrelated to the service of Godhead. We have already discussed hereinbefore that the mundane qualities of goodness that are the signs of the brahmaṇa are included and coexisting within the qualities of the transcendentalist. In the same manner, the dexterity and sacrifice of the devoted worker, the knowledge of the sannyāsī (renunciant), the stillness and profound love for Godhead of the mystic - all these qualities are included and coexisting within the qualities of the transcendental worker, the karma-yogī. Therefore, in Bhagavad-gītā ([[Vanisource:BG 6.1|6.1]]), the Personality of Godhead says, "One who performs his duty for duty's sake, without seeking the fruitive results of such work, is the true renunciant and mystic - not he who has discarded all his duties and relieved himself of his responsibilities."

The fact is that Śrī Kṛṣṇa Himself becomes the enjoyer of the fruits of the work performed by the transcendentalist. Thus, the transcendentalist has no responsibility for the results of his work, may those results be good or bad in the estimation of worldly people. The transcendentalist acts under the impetus of his obligation to do everything for the sake of Śrī Kṛṣṇa. He never views any activity as an object of enjoyment or renunciation on his own account. In contrast, the sannyāsī or renouncer relieves himself of all worldly responsibilities in order to free himself for acquiring knowledge relating to the all-pervasive Spirit. The mystic takes similar measures so that he can enhance his meditation and better visualize within himself the localized aspect of the same Supreme Spirit. But the transcendentalist who acts only for the satisfaction of the Supreme Person, without being impelled by a motive of self-satisfaction, is actually free from all worldly duties - without the separate effort made by the sannyāsīs and the mystics. The spiritual knowledge acquired by the sannyāsīs and the eightfold perfections achieved by the mystics are all within easy reach of the transcendentalist. Therefore, the transcendentalist does not desire to achieve any profit, adoration, or distinction. He desires no gain whatever, except to be engaged in the transcendental service of Godhead - because simply by such service, he gains all. Once one achieves the supreme gain, which encompasses all other gains, what is there still to be achieved?

The mystic, who virtually ceases his various bodily functions according to Patañjali's system of mysticism, tries to attain trance by these systematic modes of meditation and so forth. Thus, the mystic tolerates all sorts of tribulations in order to visualize the localized aspect of the Supreme Spirit. In other words, he does not care about what it may take, even if it means meeting with death, to realize his ideal, which has no equal in the universe. To underscore the validity of such mystics or devotees, the Personality of Godhead says in Bhagavad-gītā (6.22) that He does not consider anything more valuable than the attainment of that transcendental state: "It is the greatest gain. To be in that state means not to be perturbed by any distress, however heavy and intolerable it may be."

According to Patañjali's system, mysticism means perfect control of the mental plane with its various fickle inclinations. According to Patañjali, the transcendental state is to become free from sensuous activities and to attain the stage of perfection perceptible purely by the spirit soul. In such a state, the attention of the mystic never deviates from that spiritual achievement. The eightfold material perfections - such as aṇimā, laghimā, prāpti, īśitā, vaśitā, prākāmya, and so on - are concomitant in the attainment of perfection in mysticism, and are but indirect by-products of that process.

After attainment of one or two of the above perfections, many mystics fall into the trap of mental oscillation. In such a state, the mystic fails to attain to the highest perfection, namely, pure devotion to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. But the transcendental worker, or karma-yogī, has no such fear of falling down, for his attention is already fixed in the transcendental service of the Personality of Godhead. Thus, he does not need to enter separately into trance. For the karma-yogī, the mystic perfections manifest automatically due to the ever-increasing freshness of their object of attention, the Personality of Godhead. A mundaner is surely unable to realize how there can be so much transcendental happiness in the service of the Personality of Godhead.

Further, there can be no loss for either the mystic or the karma-yogī in his attempt to perfect such transcendental activities. And the gain is always assured, even if the process is only partially completed. Anything that is material or mundane - be it acquisition of knowledge or of wealth - is vanquished along with the annihilation of the material body. But the transcendental work of the karma-yogī surpasses the mundane limits of the material body and mind, because it is performed in relation with the transcendental spirit soul. Being thus spiritualized, these transcendental activities transcend the limits of material annihilation. Just as the soul is not annihilated, even after annihilation of the material body, so also these spiritualized activities are not annihilated, even after the annihilation of the body or mind.

To some extent, we have already discussed this endurance of the results of transcendental work in the section on transcendental knowledge. The Personality of Godhead confirms this reality in the Bhagavad-gītā ([[Vanisource:BG 6.40|6.40]]), and Ṭhākura Bhaktivinoda explains it in the following manner: "After all, the human race is divided into two sections. The one is legitimate and the other is illegitimate. Those who do not care about any laws of life, but simply work on the principle of sense gratification - they are all illegitimate. They may be civilized or uncivilized, they may be learned or illiterate, they may be powerful or weak, but such illegitimate persons, generally known as outlaws, always act like the lower animals. There is no good in them, in spite of all appearances. But those who are legitimate or law-abiding persons may be divided into three transcendental divisions: namely, the lawful workers, the empiric philosophers, and the transcendental devotees. The lawful workers are again divided into two sections: namely, the workers with a desire to enjoy the fruits of their work; and the transcendental workers, without any such desire. The worker with a desire to enjoy the fruits of his work is hankering after transient material happiness, and such a worker is rewarded with worldly or heavenly happiness within the material worlds. But it must be known that all these forms of happiness are temporary. Thus, the worker cannot attain to real happiness, which is permanent and transcendental. This real and transcendental happiness is attained only after liberation from the bondage of material existence. Any action which does not aim at such transcendental happiness is always temporary and baffling."

When ordinary work aims at such a transcendental objective, this work is called karma-yoga. By this process of karma-yoga, one gradually attains self-purification, then transcendental knowledge, next perfect meditation, and ultimately transcendental service to the Personality of Godhead. Sometimes a mundane worker is misunderstood to be a tapasvī (renunciant) or a mahātmā (great soul) because of the many austerities he performs to attain his mundane goals. But these austerities accepted by such rigid mundaners are, after all, aimed merely at material sense gratification, and therefore these austerities are useless in the transcendental sense. Some of the asuras, or demons, such as Rāvaṇa and Hiraṇyakaśipu, also underwent a severe process of austerity and penance, but they obtained nothing except some temporary objects of sensory pleasure. Therefore, only when one has transcended the limits of sensory pleasure can he be classified as a karma-yogī, or a worker for transcendental results. Real goodness lies in the activities of karma-yoga, even if one is only in the preliminary stages. Further, a karma-yogī makes progressive headway life after life, and this is confirmed as follows in the Bhagavad-gītā ([[Vanisource:BG 6.43|6.43]]): "Even after successive births, the karma-yogī revives the transcendental sense of service, and by his natural attachment, he tries again to give further perfection to the progress of his transcendental activities."

Even if such transcendentalists slip away from the path of progress in some way or other, they are again given chances for making progress. As confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā ([[Vanisource:BG 6.41|6.41]]), they are allowed to take their next birth either in the family of a bona fide brahmaṇa or in the family of a rich merchant who is devoted to the service of Godhead.

But among the transcendental mystics, variously classified as karma-yogīs, dhyāna-yogīs, jñāna-yogīs, haṭha-yogīs, and bhakti-yogīs, the last-named bhakti-yogīs are the greatest of all-because as again confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā ([[Vanisource:BG 6.47|6.47]]), they are always absorbed in the thoughts and actions of transcendental loving service to Godhead.

Obviously, attainment of transcendental loving service to the Personality of Godhead is the ultimate goal of all mysticism. That is the purport of the above-mentioned verse. It is also worth mentioning the statement that Ṭhākura Bhaktivinoda makes in this connection: "The mystic who is engaged in the performance of the principle of loving service of Godhead is the highest of all mystics." One who renders loving service to Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Personality of Godhead, with devotion and austerity, is the greatest of all mystics. Men who undertake austerities motivated by a desire for material results cannot be called yogīs or mystics. Those who are not motivated by material results include the empiric philosopher, the mystic pursuing the eightfold mystic perfections, and finally the mystic engaged in the transcendental loving service of the Personality of Godhead.

Factually, the mystic path is uniform and one. It is something like a series of stepping-stones to the highest goal. By accepting this path of mysticism, one becomes a pilgrim toward spiritual perfection. Work with transcendental results is the first stepping-stone on this transcendental path. When empiric philosophical deductions and a desire for renunciation are added, progress is made to the second stepping-stone. When one adds a definite conception of the supreme ruling principle, the Supreme Lord, one progresses to the third stepping-stone. And finally, when a process of transcendental loving service to the Supreme Personality is added, progress is made perfectly to the ultimate goal. The mystic path is therefore a transcendental evolution in which all the above stages are part of the gradual process of spiritual development. It is necessary to mention all the above stages to understand the final stage. Therefore, one who desires to attain to the supreme goal may adopt the systematic mystic path.

But one should not stop simply upon stepping on the first, second, or third stone, but must make his progress complete by going all the way to the final step, the perfect stage of transcendental loving service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. One who reaches an intermediate stage but does not make any substantial progress beyond it, merely remaining satisfied with that particular stage of his development, may be called by that particular name, as, for instance, "karma-yogī," "jñāna-yogī," "haṭha-yogī," and so on. For this reason alone are the mystics of different stages named differently. So the conclusion is that although the path of mystic yoga is one, the transcendental devotee is the greatest of all mystics, because he alone follows the path to its ultimate goal.

At this point, it should be noted that progressive development along the transcendental mystic path is not totally identical with ordinary material progress. In the material world one has to pass through a certain stage of development before one can be admitted to the next stage, and there is no alternative to this process of progress. It may be cited, for example, that if somebody wants to pass the M.A. examination, he has to pass through the preliminary examinations, and there is no alternative to this. No one can expect to be admitted into the M.A. level without having passed the other, preliminary examinations. Yet in the transcendental world - although there are approved regulations to bring one from the lower stages to the highest goal by a gradual process of development - one can, by the mercy of Godhead, pass the transcendental M.A. examination without even having passed the preliminary examinations. But this extraordinary mercy of Godhead is possible only by a confidential relationship with the Personality of Godhead. And this confidential relationship with the Personality of Godhead is possible only by the transcendental association of the devotees of the Personality of Godhead.

Each and every soul has a potent, confidential, eternal relationship with the Personality of Godhead. But due to long association with the illusory material energy, every one of us has forgotten that relationship from time immemorial. We are as if roaming in the street like street beggars, although we are all the transcendental sons of the richest personality, the Personality of Godhead. With a cool head, we could very well understand this fact. But unmindful of our supremely rich father and our relationship with Him, we go on endeavoring in many ways to solve our street-beggar problems of poverty and hunger, but with practically no appreciable results. On the streets we meet many friends who are similarly poverty-stricken. Sometimes those who are a little better off than we are direct us toward some progressive stage of life, but actually we do not derive any happiness from such directions. These people show us the paths of work, knowledge, meditation, mysticism, and various other ways also, but unfortunately none of them is able to give us that happiness for which we are ever hankering. For this very reason, Lord Caitanya advised Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī at Daśāśvamedha-ghāṭa, on the bank of the Ganges at Prayāga, that only the most fortunate souls can obtain the seed of devotional service, by the mercy of the Personality of Godhead and His bona fide representative.

Thus, we can get this seed of transcendental devotional service from Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Personality of Godhead Himself, in His transcendental message of Bhagavad-gītā. If we are at all able to grasp this genuine message of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the teacher of Bhagavad-gītā, then and only then can we perfectly appreciate the teachings of Bhagavad-gītā. Otherwise, we can go on reading Bhagavad-gītā life after life, and we may write a thousand and one commentaries on it, but all such attempts will prove futile.
</div>
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The jnani division of spiritualists go on speculating only to distinguish the soul from matter, but they have no information of the activities of the soul after being liberated by knowledge

2022-07-27T12:35:51Z

Shaalini:

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<div id="Srimad-Bhagavatam" class="section" sec_index="1" parent="compilation" text="Srimad-Bhagavatam"><h2>Srimad-Bhagavatam</h2>
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<div id="SB_Canto_3" class="sub_section" sec_index="3" parent="Srimad-Bhagavatam" text="SB Canto 3"><h3>SB Canto 3</h3>
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<div id="SB3633_0" class="quote" parent="SB_Canto_3" book="SB" index="227" link="SB 3.6.33" link_text="SB 3.6.33">
<div class="heading">The jñānī division of spiritualists go on speculating only to distinguish the soul from matter, but they have no information of the activities of the soul after being liberated by knowledge. It is said that persons who only mentally speculate to know things as they are and who do not engage in the transcendental loving service of the Lord are simply wasting their time.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:SB 3.6.33|SB 3.6.33, Translation and Purport]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="trans text"><p style="display: inline;">Thereafter, service was manifested from the legs of the Personality of Godhead for the sake of perfecting the religious function. Situated on the legs are the śūdras, who satisfy the Lord by service.</p>
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<div class="purport text"><p>Service is the real constitutional occupation of all living entities. The living entities are meant to render service to the Lord, and they can attain religious perfection by this service attitude. One cannot attain religious perfection simply by speculating to attain theoretical knowledge. The jñānī division of spiritualists go on speculating only to distinguish the soul from matter, but they have no information of the activities of the soul after being liberated by knowledge. It is said that persons who only mentally speculate to know things as they are and who do not engage in the transcendental loving service of the Lord are simply wasting their time.</p>
<p>It is clearly said here that the principle of service was generated from the legs of the Lord for the sake of perfecting the religious process, but this transcendental service is different from the idea of service in the material world. In the material world, no one wants to be a servant; everyone wants to become the master because false mastership is the basic disease of the conditioned soul. The conditioned soul in the material world wants to lord it over others. Illusioned by the external energy of the Lord, he is forced to become a servant of the material world. That is the real position of the conditioned soul. The last snare of the illusory, external energy is the conception of becoming one with the Lord, and due to this conception the illusioned soul remains in the bondage of material energy, falsely thinking himself a liberated soul and "as good as Nārāyaṇa."</p>
<p>It is actually better to be a śūdra than to be a brāhmaṇa and not develop the service attitude, because that attitude alone satisfies the Lord. Every living being—even if he be a brāhmaṇa by qualification—must take to the transcendental service of the Lord. Both Bhagavad-gītā and the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam support that this service attitude is the perfection of the living entity. A brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya or śūdra can perfect his occupational duties only by rendering service unto the Lord. A brāhmaṇa is supposed to know this fact due to his perfection in Vedic wisdom. The other sections are supposed to follow the direction of the brāhmaṇa Vaiṣṇava (one who is a brāhmaṇa by qualification and a Vaiṣṇava by action). That will make the entire society perfect in regard to the order of its social construction. A disordered society cannot satisfy either the members of the society or the Lord. Even if one is not a perfect brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya or śūdra but takes to the service of the Lord, not caring for the perfection of his social position, he becomes a perfect human being simply by developing the attitude of service to the Supreme Lord.</p>
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The jivatma is enjoying or suffering by eating the fruits of the bodily activities, but the Paramatma, who is free from such bondage, witnesses and sanctions the activities of the individual soul as the individual soul desires

2022-07-27T12:35:26Z

Shaalini:

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[[Category:Srimad-Bhagavatam, Canto 07 Chapter 02 Purports - Hiranyakasipu, King of the Demons]]
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<div id="section">
<h2>Srimad-Bhagavatam</h2>
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<div id="sub_section">
<h3>SB Canto 7</h3>
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<div class="quote">
<div class="quote_heading">
The individual living soul is subject to the laws of fruitive activity, but the Supersoul, Paramātmā, is not affected by the fruitive activities of the individual soul. As confirmed in the Vedic Upaniṣad, the Paramātmā and the jīvātmā, who are likened to two birds, are sitting in the body.
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<div class="quote_link">
[[Vanisource:SB 7.2.47|SB 7.2.47, Translation and Purport]]
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<div class="quote_translation">
As long as the spirit soul is covered by the subtle body, consisting of the mind, intelligence and false ego, he is bound to the results of his fruitive activities. Because of this covering, the spirit soul is connected with the material energy and must accordingly suffer material conditions and reversals, continually, life after life.
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<div class="text">
The living entity is bound by the subtle body, consisting of the mind, intelligence and false ego. At the time of death, therefore, the position of the mind becomes the cause for the next body. As confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā ([[Vanisource:BG 8.6 (1972)|BG 8.6]]), yaṁ yaṁ vāpi smaran bhāvaṁ tyajaty ante kalevaram: at the time of death the mind sets the criteria for the spirit soul's being carried to another type of body. If a living being resists the dictation of the mind and engages the mind in the loving service of the Lord, the mind cannot degrade him. The duty of all human beings, therefore, is to keep the mind always engaged at the lotus feet of the Lord (sa vai manaḥ kṛṣṇa-padāravindayoḥ ([[Vanisource:SB 9.4.18-20|SB 9.4.18]])). When the mind is engaged at the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, the intelligence is purified, and then the intelligence gets inspiration from the Supersoul (dadāmi buddhi-yogaṁ tam). Thus the living entity makes progress toward liberation from material bondage. The individual living soul is subject to the laws of fruitive activity, but the Supersoul, Paramātmā, is not affected by the fruitive activities of the individual soul. As confirmed in the Vedic Upaniṣad, the Paramātmā and the jīvātmā, who are likened to two birds, are sitting in the body. The jīvātmā is enjoying or suffering by eating the fruits of the bodily activities, but the Paramātmā, who is free from such bondage, witnesses and sanctions the activities of the individual soul as the individual soul desires.
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The individual soul works and enjoys the fruits of the body, whereas the Supersoul simply witnesses the activities of the individual soul but does not enjoy the fruits of those activities

2022-07-27T12:31:42Z

Shaalini:

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[[Category:Srimad-Bhagavatam, Canto 04 Chapter 28 Purports - Puranjana Becomes a Woman in the Next Life]]
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<div id="section">
<h2>Srimad-Bhagavatam</h2>
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<div id="sub_section">
<h3>SB Canto 4</h3>
</div>
<div class="quote">
<div class="quote_heading">
The body is taken to be the field, and the individual soul is taken to be the worker in that field. Yet there is another, who is known as the Supersoul, who, along with the individual soul, simply witnesses. The individual soul works and enjoys the fruits of the body, whereas the Supersoul simply witnesses the activities of the individual soul but does not enjoy the fruits of those activities.
</div>

<div class="quote_link">
[[Vanisource:SB 4.28.40|SB 4.28.40, Translation and Purport]]
</div>
<div class="quote_translation">
King Malayadhvaja attained perfect knowledge by being able to distinguish the Supersoul from the individual soul. The individual soul is localized, whereas the Supersoul is all-pervasive. He became perfect in knowledge that the material body is not the soul but that the soul is the witness of the material body.
</div>
<div class="text">
The conditioned soul is often frustrated in trying to understand the distinctions between the material body, the Supersoul and the individual soul. There are two types of Māyāvādī philosophers—the followers of the Buddhist philosophy and the followers of the Śaṅkara philosophy. The followers of Buddha do not recognize that there is anything beyond the body; the followers of Śaṅkara conclude that there is no separate existence of the Paramātmā, the Supersoul. The Śaṅkarites believe that the individual soul is identical with the Paramātmā in the ultimate analysis. But the Vaiṣṇava philosopher, who is perfect in knowledge, knows that the body is made of the external energy and that the Supersoul, the Paramātmā, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is sitting with the individual soul and is distinct from him. As Lord Kṛṣṇa states in Bhagavad-gītā ([[Vanisource:BG 13.3 (1972)|BG 13.3]]):

<div class="quote_verse">
:kṣetra-jñaṁ cāpi māṁ viddhi
:sarva-kṣetreṣu bhārata
:kṣetra-kṣetrajñayor jñānaṁ
:yat taj jñānaṁ mataṁ mama
</div>

"O scion of Bharata, you should understand that I am also the knower in all bodies, and to understand this body and its owner is called knowledge. That is My opinion."

The body is taken to be the field, and the individual soul is taken to be the worker in that field. Yet there is another, who is known as the Supersoul, who, along with the individual soul, simply witnesses. The individual soul works and enjoys the fruits of the body, whereas the Supersoul simply witnesses the activities of the individual soul but does not enjoy the fruits of those activities. The Supersoul is present in every field of activity, whereas the individual soul is present in his one localized body. King Malayadhvaja attained this perfection of knowledge and was able to distinguish between the soul and the Supersoul and the soul and the material body.
</div>
</div>
</div>

The individual soul knows about his own thinking, feeling and willing activities, but the Supersoul, or the Paramatma, the supreme controller, being present everywhere, knows everyone's thinking, feeling and willing activities

2022-07-27T12:31:31Z

Shaalini:

<div id="compilation">
<div id="facts">
{{terms|"The individual soul knows about his own thinking, feeling and willing activities, but the Supersoul, or the Paramātmā, the supreme controller, being present everywhere, knows everyone's thinking, feeling and willing activities"}}
{{notes|}}
{{compiler|Angela}}
{{complete|ALL}}
{{first|2020-06-30T16:35:31Z}}
{{last|2020-06-30T16:35:31Z}}
{{totals_by_section|BG=0|SB=1|CC=0|OB=0|Lec=0|Con=0|Let=0}}
{{total|1}}
{{toc right}}
[[Category:Individual Souls]]
[[Category:Knows]]
[[Category:About]]
[[Category:Thinking, Feeling and Willing]]
[[Category:Activities of the Soul]]
[[Category:Supersoul]]
[[Category:Paramatma]]
[[Category:Supreme Controller]]
[[Category:Being]]
[[Category:Presence]]
[[Category:Everywhere]]
[[Category:Knows]]
[[Category:Everyone]]
[[Category:Srimad-Bhagavatam, Canto 02 Chapter 06 Purports - Purusa-sukta Confirmed]]
[[Category:Srimad Bhagavatam, Canto 02 Purports]]
</div>
<div id="section">
<h2>Srimad-Bhagavatam</h2>
</div>
<div id="sub_section">
<h3>SB Canto 2</h3>
</div>
<div class="quote">
<div class="quote_heading">
The individual self knows about his limited field of activities, but the Supreme Self, the Lord, knows about the unlimited field of activities. The individual soul knows about his own thinking, feeling and willing activities, but the Supersoul, or the Paramātmā, the supreme controller, being present everywhere, knows everyone's thinking, feeling and willing activities, and as such the individual living entity is the minute master of his personal affairs whereas the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the master of everyone's affairs, past, present and future (vedāhaṁ samatītāni, etc. (BG 7.26)).
</div>

<div class="quote_link">
[[Vanisource:SB 2.6.21|SB 2.6.21, Translation and Purport]]
</div>
<div class="quote_translation">
By His energies, the all-pervading Personality of Godhead is thus comprehensively the master in the activities of controlling and in devotional service. He is the ultimate master of both nescience and factual knowledge of all situations.
</div>
<div class="text">
<div class="purport">

The word viśvaṅ is significant in this verse. One who travels perfectly in every field of activity is called the puruṣa or kṣetrajña. These two terms, kṣetrajña and puruṣa, are equally applicable to both the individual self and the Supreme Self, the Lord. In the Bhagavad-gītā ([[Vanisource:BG 13.3 (1972)|BG 13.3]]) the matter is explained as follows:

<div class="quote_verse">
:kṣetra-jñaṁ cāpi māṁ viddhi
:sarva-kṣetreṣu bhārata
:kṣetra-kṣetrajñayor jñānaṁ
:yat taj jñānaṁ mataṁ mama
</div>

kṣetra means the place, and one who knows the place is called the kṣetrajña. The individual self knows about his limited field of activities, but the Supreme Self, the Lord, knows about the unlimited field of activities. The individual soul knows about his own thinking, feeling and willing activities, but the Supersoul, or the Paramātmā, the supreme controller, being present everywhere, knows everyone's thinking, feeling and willing activities, and as such the individual living entity is the minute master of his personal affairs whereas the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the master of everyone's affairs, past, present and future (vedāhaṁ samatītāni, etc. ([[Vanisource:BG 7.26 (1972)|BG 7.26]])). Only the ignorant person does not know this difference between the Lord and the living entities. The living entities, as distinguished from incognizant matter, may be qualitatively equal to the Lord in cognizance, but the living entity can never be equal to the Lord in full knowledge of past, present and future.

And because the living entity is partially cognizant, he is therefore sometimes forgetful of his own identity. This forgetfulness is specifically manifested in the field of the ekapād-vibhūti of the Lord, or in the material world, but in the tripād-vibhūti field of actions, or in the spiritual world, there is no forgetfulness by the living entities, who are free from all kinds of contaminations resulting from the forgetful state of existence. The material body is the symbol of the gross and subtle form of forgetfulness; therefore the whole atmosphere of the material world is called avidyā, or nescience, whereas the whole atmosphere of the spiritual world is called vidyā, or full of knowledge. There are different stages of avidyā, and they are called dharma, artha and mokṣa. The idea of mokṣa, or liberation, held by the monist in the matter of oneness of the living entity and the Lord by ultimate merging in one, is also the last stage of materialism or forgetfulness. Knowledge of the qualitative oneness of the self and Superself is partial knowledge and ignorance also because there is no knowledge of quantitative difference, as explained above. The individual self can never be equal to the Lord in cognizance; otherwise he could not be placed in the state of forgetfulness. So, because there is a stage of forgetfulness of the individual selves, or the living entities, there is always a gulf of difference between the Lord and the living entity, as between the part and the whole. The part is never equal to the whole. So the conception of one hundred percent equality of the living being with the Lord is also nescience.

In the field of nescience, activities are directed toward lording it over the creation. In the material world, therefore, everyone is engaged in acquiring material opulence to lord it over the material world. Therefore there is always clash and frustration, which are the symptoms of nescience. But in the field of knowledge, there is devotional service to the Lord (bhakti). Therefore there is no chance of being contaminated by the influence of nescience or forgetfulness (avidyā) in the liberated stage of devotional activities. The Lord is thus the proprietor of the fields both of nescience and of cognition, and it remains the choice of the living entity to exist in either of the above regions.

</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>

The individual soul is transmigrating from one body to another, and his present body and present activities are the background of his next body. BG 1972 purports

2022-07-27T12:31:18Z

Shaalini:

<div id="compilation">
<div id="facts">
{{terms|"The individual soul is transmigrating from one body to another, and his present body and present activities are the background of his next body"}}
{{notes|}}
{{compiler|Mayapur}}
{{complete|ALL}}
{{first|29May12}}
{{last|29May12}}
{{totals_by_section|BG=1|SB=0|CC=0|OB=0|Lec=0|Con=0|Let=0}}
{{total|1}}
{{toc right}}
[[Category:Individual Souls]]
[[Category:Transmigrating From One Body To Another]]
[[Category:Present Body]]
[[Category:Activities of the Soul]]
[[Category:Present Activities]]
[[Category:Background]]
[[Category:Next Body]]
[[Category:Bhagavad-gita As It Is - 1972 Purports, Chapter 15 - Vaniquotes]]
[[Category:Bhagavad-gita As It Is - 1972 Purports, Chapters 01 to 18 - Vaniquotes]]
</div>
<div id="section">
<h2>Bhagavad-gita As it is</h2>
</div>
<div id="sub_section">
<h3>BG Chapters 13 - 18</h3>
</div>
<div class="quote">
<div class="quote_heading">
It is a false claim that after the annihilation of this body everything is finished. The individual soul is transmigrating from one body to another, and his present body and present activities are the background of his next body. One gets a different body according to karma, and he has to quit this body in due course.
</div>

<div class="quote_link">
[[Vanisource:BG 15.8 (1972)|BG 15.8 (1972), Translation and Purport]]
</div>
<div class="quote_translation">
The living entity in the material world carries his different conceptions of life from one body to another as the air carries aromas.
</div>
<div class="text">
Here the living entity is described as īśvara, the controller of his own body. If he likes, he can change his body to a higher grade, and if he likes he can move to a lower class. Minute independence is there. The change his body undergoes depends upon him. At the time of death, the consciousness he has created will carry him on to the next type of body. If he has made his consciousness like that of a cat or dog, he is sure to change to a cat's or dog's body. And, if he has fixed his consciousness on godly qualities, he will change into the form of a demigod. And, if he is in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he will be transferred to Kṛṣṇaloka in the spiritual world and will associate with Kṛṣṇa. It is a false claim that after the annihilation of this body everything is finished. The individual soul is transmigrating from one body to another, and his present body and present activities are the background of his next body. One gets a different body according to karma, and he has to quit this body in due course. It is stated here that the subtle body, which carries the conception of the next body, develops another body in the next life. This process of transmigrating from one body to another and struggling while in the body is called karṣati or struggle for existence.
</div>
</div>
</div>

The individual soul enjoys the activities of a particular field, but the Supersoul is present not as finite enjoyer nor as one taking part in bodily activities, but as the witness, overseer, permitter and supreme enjoyer. BG 1972 purports

2022-07-27T12:31:06Z

Shaalini:

<div id="compilation">
<div id="facts">
{{terms|"The individual soul enjoys the activities of a particular field, but the Supersoul is present not as finite enjoyer nor as one taking part in bodily activities, but as the witness, overseer, permitter and supreme enjoyer"}}
{{notes|}}
{{compiler|Visnu Murti}}
{{complete|ALL}}
{{first|25Dec10}}
{{last|25Dec10}}
{{totals_by_section|BG=1|SB=0|CC=0|OB=0|Lec=0|Con=0|Let=0}}
{{total|1}}
{{toc right}}
[[Category:Individual Souls]]
[[Category:Enjoy]]
[[Category:Activities of the Soul]]
[[Category:Particular]]
[[Category:Field]]
[[Category:Supersoul]]
[[Category:Presence]]
[[Category:finite]]
[[Category:Enjoyer]]
[[Category:One (as in someone)]]
[[Category:Take Part In]]
[[Category:Bodily Activities]]
[[Category:Supersoul - the Witness]]
[[Category:Overseer]]
[[Category:permit]]
[[Category:Supreme Enjoyer]]
[[Category:Bhagavad-gita As It Is - 1972 Purports, Chapter 13 - Vaniquotes]]
[[Category:Bhagavad-gita As It Is - 1972 Purports, Chapters 01 to 18 - Vaniquotes]]
</div>
<div id="section">
<h2>Bhagavad-gita As it is</h2>
</div>
<div id="sub_section">
<h3>BG Chapters 13 - 18</h3>
</div>
<div class="quote">
<div class="quote_heading">
The individual soul enjoys the activities of a particular field, but the Supersoul is present not as finite enjoyer nor as one taking part in bodily activities, but as the witness, overseer, permitter and supreme enjoyer. His name is Paramātmā, not ātmā, and He is transcendental. It is distinctly clear that the ātmā and Paramātmā are different.
</div>

<div class="quote_link">
[[Vanisource:BG 13.23 (1972)|BG 13.23 (1972), Translation and Purport]]
</div>
<div class="quote_translation">
Yet in this body there is another, a transcendental enjoyer who is the Lord, the supreme proprietor, who exists as the overseer and permitter, and who is known as the Supersoul.
</div>
<div class="text">
It is stated here that the Supersoul, who is always with the individual soul, is the representation of the Supreme Lord. He is not an ordinary living entity. Because the monist philosophers take the knower of the body to be one, they think that there is no difference between the Supersoul and the individual soul. To clarify this, the Lord says that He is the representation of Paramātmā in every body. He is different from the individual soul; He is paraḥ, transcendental. The individual soul enjoys the activities of a particular field, but the Supersoul is present not as finite enjoyer nor as one taking part in bodily activities, but as the witness, overseer, permitter and supreme enjoyer. His name is Paramātmā, not ātmā, and He is transcendental. It is distinctly clear that the ātmā and Paramātmā are different. The Supersoul, the Paramātmā, has legs and hands everywhere, but the individual soul does not. And because He is the Supreme Lord, He is present within to sanction the individual soul's desiring material enjoyment. Without the sanction of the Supreme Soul, the individual soul cannot do anything. The individual is bhakta or the sustained, and He is bhukta or the maintainer. There are innumerable living entities, and He is staying in them as a friend.

The fact is that individual living entities are eternally part and parcel of the Supreme Lord, and both of them are very intimately related as friends. But the living entity has the tendency to reject the sanction of the Supreme Lord and act independantly in an attempt to dominate the supreme nature, and because he has this tendency, he is called the marginal energy of the Supreme Lord. The living entity can be situated either in the material energy or the spiritual energy. As long as he is conditioned by the material energy, the Supreme Lord, as his friend, the Supersoul, stays with him just to get him to return to the spiritual energy. The Lord is always eager to take him back to the spiritual energy, but due to his minute independence, the individual entity is continually rejecting the association of spiritual light. This misuse of independence is the cause of his material strife in the conditioned nature. The Lord, therefore, is always giving instruction from within and from without. From without He gives instructions as stated in Bhagavad-gītā, and from within He tries to convince him that his activities in the material field are not conducive to real happiness. "Just give it up and turn your faith toward Me. Then you will be happy," He says. Thus the intelligent person who places his faith in the Paramātmā or the Supreme Personality of Godhead begins to advance toward a blissful eternal life of knowledge
</div>
</div>
</div>

The individual soul eats the fruit of the tree, while the other bird does not eat the fruit but only observes the activities of the eating bird. Without attachment, the witnessing bird helps the fruit-eating bird perform fruitful activities

2022-07-27T12:30:50Z

Shaalini:

<div id="compilation">
<div id="facts">
{{terms|"The individual soul eats the fruit of the tree, while the other bird does not eat the fruit but only observes the activities of the eating bird. Without attachment, the witnessing bird helps the fruit-eating bird perform fruitful activities"}}
{{notes|}}
{{compiler|Angela}}
{{complete|ALL}}
{{first|2020-07-24T16:39:47Z}}
{{last|2020-07-24T16:39:47Z}}
{{totals_by_section|BG=0|SB=1|CC=0|OB=0|Lec=0|Con=0|Let=0}}
{{total|1}}
{{toc right}}
[[Category:Individual Souls]]
[[Category:Eating]]
[[Category:Fruit]]
[[Category:While (Period of Time)]]
[[Category:Other]]
[[Category:Does Not]]
[[Category:Only]]
[[Category:Observe]]
[[Category:Activities of the Soul]]
[[Category:Without Attachment]]
[[Category:Help]]
[[Category:Perform]]
[[Category:Fruitful]]
[[Category:Two Birds in a Tree - One Enjoying, the Other Witnessing]]
[[Category:Srimad-Bhagavatam, Canto 03 Chapter 06 Purports - Creation of the Universal Form]]
[[Category:Srimad Bhagavatam, Canto 03 Purports]]
</div>
<div id="section">
<h2>Srimad-Bhagavatam</h2>
</div>
<div id="sub_section">
<h3>SB Canto 3</h3>
</div>
<div class="quote">
<div class="quote_heading">
Because the buddhi-yoga process entails no fear of deterioration or retrogression at any time, it is the guaranteed path to self-realization, as confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā (BG 2.40). The mental speculators cannot understand that the two birds (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad) sitting in one tree are the soul and the Supersoul. The individual soul eats the fruit of the tree, while the other bird does not eat the fruit but only observes the activities of the eating bird. Without attachment, the witnessing bird helps the fruit-eating bird perform fruitful activities.
</div>

<div class="quote_link">
[[Vanisource:SB 3.6.9|SB 3.6.9, Translation and Purport]]
</div>
<div class="quote_translation">
The gigantic universal form is represented by three, ten and one in the sense that He is the body and the mind and the senses, He is the dynamic force for all movements by ten kinds of life energy, and He is the one heart where life energy is generated.
</div>
<div class="text">
<div class="purport">

In Bhagavad-gītā ([[Vanisource:BG 7.4 (1972)|BG 7.4-5]]) it is stated that the eight elements earth, water, fire, air, sky, mind, intelligence and false ego are all products of the Lord's inferior energy, whereas the living entities, who are seen to utilize the inferior energy, originally belong to the superior energy, the internal potency of the Lord. The eight inferior energies work grossly and subtly, whereas the superior energy works as the central generating force. This is experienced in the human body. The gross elements, namely, earth, etc., form the external gross body and are like a coat, whereas the subtle mind and false ego act like the inner clothing of the body.

The movements of the body are first generated from the heart, and all the activities of the body are made possible by the senses, powered by the ten kinds of air within the body. The ten kinds of air are described as follows: The main air passing through the nose in breathing is called prāṇa. The air which passes through the rectum as evacuated bodily air is called apāna. The air which adjusts the foodstuff within the stomach and which sometimes sounds as belching is called samāna. The air which passes through the throat and the stoppage of which constitutes suffocation is called the udāna air. And the total air which circulates throughout the entire body is called the vyāna air. Subtler than these five airs, there are others also. That which facilitates the opening of the eyes, mouth, etc., is called nāga air. The air which increases appetite is called kṛkara air. The air which helps contraction is called kūrma air. The air which helps relaxation by opening the mouth wide (in yawning) is called devadatta air, and the air which helps sustenance is called dhanañjaya air.

All these airs are generated from the center of the heart, which is one only. This central energy is superior energy of the Lord, who is seated within the heart with the soul of the body, who acts under the guidance of the Lord. This is explained in Bhagavad-gītā ([[Vanisource:BG 15.15 (1972)|BG 15.15]]) as follows:

<div class="quote_verse">
:sarvasya cāhaṁ hṛdi sanniviṣṭo
:mattaḥ smṛtir jñānam apohanaṁ ca
:vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyo
:vedānta-kṛd veda-vid eva cāham
</div>

The complete central force is generated from the heart by the Lord, who is seated there and who helps the conditioned soul in remembering and forgetting. The conditioned state is due to the soul's forgetfulness of his relationship of subordination to the Lord. One who wants to continue to forget the Lord is helped by the Lord to forget Him birth after birth, but one who remembers Him, by dint of association with a devotee of the Lord, is helped to remember Him more and more. Thus the conditioned soul can ultimately go back home, back to Godhead.

This process of transcendental help by the Lord is described in Bhagavad-gītā ([[Vanisource:BG 10.10 (1972)|BG 10.10]]) as follows:

<div class="quote_verse">
:teṣāṁ satata-yuktānāṁ
:bhajatāṁ prīti-pūrvakam
:dadāmi buddhi-yogaṁ taṁ
:yena mām upayānti te
</div>

The buddhi-yoga process of self-realization with intelligence transcendental to the mind (devotional service) can alone elevate one from the conditioned state of material entanglement in the cosmic construction. The conditioned state of the living entity is like that of a person who is within the depths of a huge mechanical arrangement. The mental speculators can reach the point of buddhi-yoga after many, many lifetimes of speculation, but the intelligent person who begins from the platform of intelligence above the mind makes rapid progress in self-realization. Because the buddhi-yoga process entails no fear of deterioration or retrogression at any time, it is the guaranteed path to self-realization, as confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā ([[Vanisource:BG 2.40 (1972)|BG 2.40]]). The mental speculators cannot understand that the two birds (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad) sitting in one tree are the soul and the Supersoul. The individual soul eats the fruit of the tree, while the other bird does not eat the fruit but only observes the activities of the eating bird. Without attachment, the witnessing bird helps the fruit-eating bird perform fruitful activities. One who cannot understand this difference between the soul and the Supersoul, or God and the living entities, is certainly still in the entanglement of the cosmic machinery and thus must still await the time when he will be free from bondage.

</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>

The individual souls, who are put into the miseries of the material world, are suffering the resultant reactions of their unsanctioned activities. This is the verdict of Bhagavad-gita - BG 16.19

2022-07-27T12:29:57Z

Shaalini:

<div id="compilation">
<div id="facts">
{{terms|"The individual souls, who are put into the miseries of the material world, are suffering the resultant reactions of their unsanctioned activities. This is the verdict of Bhagavad-gītā"}}
{{notes|}}
{{compiler|Nabakumar}}
{{complete|ALL}}
{{first|2022-04-05T06:39:26Z}}
{{last|2022-04-05T06:39:26Z}}
{{totals_by_section|BG=0|SB=0|CC=0|OB=1|Lec=0|Con=0|Let=0}}
{{total|1}}
{{toc right}}
[[Category:Individual Souls]]
[[Category:Who Are]]
[[Category:Put Into]]
[[Category:Miseries]]
[[Category:Material World (Prakrti)]]
[[Category:Suffering]]
[[Category:Resultant Actions and Reactions]]
[[Category:Their]]
[[Category:Sanction]]
[[Category:Activities of the Soul]]
[[Category:This Is]]
[[Category:Verdict]]
[[Category:Bhagavad-gita]]
[[Category:Elevation to Krsna Consciousness Chapters 01 to 06]]
</div>
<div id="section">
<h2>Other Books by Srila Prabhupada</h2>
</div>
<div id="sub_section">
<h3>Elevation to Kṛṣṇa Consciousness</h3>
</div>
<div class="quote">
<div class="quote_heading">
The individual souls, who are put into the miseries of the material world, are suffering the resultant reactions of their unsanctioned activities. This is the verdict of Bhagavad-gītā. (BG 16.19): "Envious, mischievous, the lowest of mankind, these do I ever put back into the ocean of material existence, into various demoniac species of life."
</div>

<div class="quote_link">
[[Vanisource:EKC 2 Hard Struggle for Happiness|Elevation to Kṛṣṇa Consciousness, 2]]
</div>
<div class="text">
In the revealed scriptures the Supreme Lord is described as sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha (Bs. 5.1). Sat means eternal, cit means fully cognizant, ānanda means joyful, and vigraha means that He is a person. Thus the Lord, or the Supreme Godhead, who is one without a second, is a fully cognizant and eternally joyful personality with a full sense of His identity. No one is equal to Him or greater than Him. This is a concise description of the Supreme Lord.

The living entities (jīvas) are minute samples of the Supreme Lord, and being so they therefore find in their activities the desire for eternal existence, for complete knowledge, and for happiness. These desires are evident in human society, and in the upper planetary systems (Svargaloka, Janaloka, Tapoloka, Maharloka, Brahmaloka, etc.) the living entities enjoy a longer duration of life, an increased amount of knowledge, and a generally more blissful existence. But even in the highest planet in this material world, where the duration of life and standard of enjoyment are thousands and thousands of times greater than those on earth, there is still old age, disease and death. Consequently the level of enjoyment is insignificant in comparison to the eternal bliss enjoyed in the company of the Supreme Lord. Loving service to the Supreme Lord in different relationships makes even the enjoyment of impersonal Brahman as insignificant as a drop of water in comparison to the ocean.

Every living being desires the topmost level of enjoyment in this material world, and yet everyone is unhappy here. This unhappiness is present on all the higher planets, despite a longer life span, higher standards of enjoyment and comfort. That is due to the law of material nature. We can increase the duration of life and standard to the highest capacity, and yet by the law of material nature we will be unhappy. The reason for this is that the quality of happiness which is suitable for our constitution is different from the happiness which is derived from material activities. The living entity is a minute particle of the superior spiritual energy of the Lord, which is sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha (Bs. 5.1), and therefore he has the necessary propensity for joy which is spiritual in quality. Unfortunately for him, he is trying vainly to attain his enjoyment from the foreign atmosphere of material nature.

A fish that is taken out of the water cannot be happy by any arrangement on land. He must be supplied with water. In the same way, the minute sac-cid-ānanda living entity cannot be really happy through any amount of planning conceived by his illusioned brain in this material universe. He must therefore be given a different type of happiness which is spiritual in essence. Our ambition should be aimed at enjoying spiritual bliss and not this temporary happiness. Some philosophers claim that spiritual bliss is attained by negating material happiness and material existence. Theoretical negation of material activities as propounded by Śrīpāda Śaṅkarācārya may be effective for an insignificant section of mankind, but the best and surest way for everyone to attain spiritual bliss was propounded by Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu by means of devotional activities. These devotional activities can change the very face of material nature.

Hankering after material happiness is called lust, and lusty activities are sure to meet with frustration in the long run. The body of a snake is very cool, but if a man, wanting to enjoy this coolness, garlands himself with a venomous snake, he will surely be killed by the snake's venomous bite. The material senses are compared to snakes; indulgence in material happiness will surely kill our spiritual identity. Therefore a sane man should be ambitious to find the real source of happiness.

In order to find this source, however, we need some knowledge of what that happiness is. There is the story of the foolish man who had no experience with sugar cane. When he asked his friend about the characteristics of sugar cane, he was imperfectly informed that sugar cane resembles the shape of a bamboo stick. Consequently he began trying to extract juice from bamboo sticks, but naturally he was baffled in his attempts. This is the situation with the illusioned living entity who, in his search for eternal happiness, tries to extract happiness from this material world, which is not only full of miseries but is also transient and flickering. In Bhagavad-gītā ([[Vanisource:BG 8.16|8.16]]) the material world is described as being full of miseries:

<div class="quote_verse">
:ābrahma-bhuvanāl lokāḥ
:punar āvartino 'rjuna
:mām upetya tu kaunteya
:punar janma na vidyate
</div>

"From the highest planet in the material world, down to the lowest, all are places of misery, where repeated birth and death take place. But one who attains to My abode, O son of Kuntī, never takes birth again."

The ambition for happiness is natural and good, but the attempt to derive it from inert matter by so-called scientific arrangements is an illusory attempt doomed to frustration. Those who are befooled cannot understand this. How a person is driven by the lust for material happiness is also described in Bhagavad-gītā (16.13):

<div class="quote_verse">
:idam adya mayā labdham
:imaṁ prāpsye manoratham
:idam astīdam api me
:bhaviṣyati punar dhanam
</div>

"The demoniac person thinks: 'So much wealth do I have today, and I will gain more according to my schemes. So much is mine now, and it will increase in the future, more and more."

This atheistic or godless civilization is a huge affair contrived for the gratification of our senses, and now we are all mad after money in order to maintain this empty shell. Money is sought after by everyone because that is the medium of exchange for objects for sense gratification. Obviously the expectation of peace in such an atmosphere of gold rush pandemonium is a utopian dream. As long as there is the slightest tinge of sense gratification or desire for sense gratification, peace will remain far, far away. This is because by nature we are all eternal servants of the Supreme Lord and therefore cannot enjoy anything for our personal interests. It is therefore necessary for us to learn how to employ our senses in the transcendental service of the Lord, and to utilize everything to serve His interest. This alone can bring about much desired peace. A part of the body cannot in itself be independently happy. It can only derive its happiness and pleasure out of serving the entire body. The Supreme Lord is the whole, and we are the parts, but we are all busily engaged in activities of self-interest. No one is prepared to serve the Lord. This is the basic cause for our conditioning in material existence and for our resultant unhappiness.

From the highest executive in his skyscraper office down to the coolie in the street - all are working with the thought of accumulating wealth, legally or illegally. Actually it is all illegal, for to work for one's self-interest is both unlawful and destructive. Even the cultivation of spiritual realization for one's own self-interest is unlawful and destructive. The point is that all activities must be directed to the satisfaction of Kṛṣṇa and His service.

Those who are not engaged in the transcendental loving service of the Supreme Lord wrongfully think that they are accumulating so much money day after day(BG 16.12):

<div class="quote_verse">
:āśā-pāśa-śatair baddhāḥ
:kāma-krodha-parāyaṇāḥ
:īhante kāma-bhogārtham
:anyāyenārtha-sañcayān
</div>

"Being bound by hundreds and thousands of desires, by lust and anger, they secure money by illegal means for sense gratification."

Consequently, although there is no lack of money in the world, there is a scarcity of peace. So much human energy is being diverted to making money, for the general population has increased its capacity to make more and more dollars, but in the long run the result is that this unrestricted and unlawful monetary inflation has created a bad economy all over the world and has provoked us to manufacture huge and costly weapons to destroy the very result of such cheap money-making. The leaders of the big money-making countries are not really enjoying peace but are making plans to save themselves from imminent destruction by nuclear weapons. In fact, huge sums of money are being thrown into the sea by way of experiments with these dreadful weapons. Such experiments are being carried out not only at huge costs but also at the cost of many lives. In this way the nations are being bound by the laws of karma. When men are motivated by the impulse for sense gratification, whatever money is earned is spoiled, being spent for the destruction of the human race. The energy of the human race is thus wasted by the laws of nature because of man's aversion to the Lord, who is actually the proprietor of all energies.

Wealth is worshiped and is referred to as Mother Lakṣmī, or the goddess of fortune. It is her position to serve Lord Nārāyaṇa, the source of all the naras, or living beings. The naras are also meant to serve Nārāyaṇa under the guidance of the goddess of fortune. The living being cannot enjoy the goddess of fortune without serving Nārāyaṇa, and therefore whoever desires to enjoy her wrongly will be punished by the laws of nature. These laws will make certain that the money itself will bring about destruction instead of peace and prosperity.

Unlawfully accumulated money is now being snatched from miserly citizens by various methods of state taxation for the future civil and international war fund, which is spending money in a wasteful and destructive manner. The citizens are no longer satisfied with just enough money to maintain a family nicely and cultivate spiritual knowledge, both of which are essential in human life. Now everyone wants money unlimitedly to satisfy insatiable desires. In proportion to the people's unlawful desires, their accumulated money is taken away by the agents of illusory energy in the shape of medical practitioners, lawyers, tax collectors, societies, constitutions, so-called holy men, famines, earthquakes, and many similar calamities. One miser who hesitated to purchase a copy of Back to Godhead spent $2,000 for a week's supply of medicine and then died. Another man who refused to spend a cent for the service of the Lord wasted thousands of dollars in a legal suit between the members of his home. There are innumerable similar instances occasioned by the dictation of illusory nature. Indeed, that is the law of nature; if money is not devoted to the service of the Lord, it must be spent as spoiled energy in the form of legal problems or diseases. Foolish people do not have the eyes to see such facts; therefore the laws of the Supreme Lord befool them.

The laws of nature do not allow us to accept more money than is required for proper maintenance. There is ample arrangement by the law of nature to provide every living being with his due share of food and shelter, but the insatiable lusts of human beings have disturbed the arrangement set forth by the Almighty Father of all species of life. By the arrangement of the Supreme Lord, there is an ocean of salt because salt is so necessary for the living being. God has, in the same manner, arranged for sufficient air and light, which are also essential. Anyone can collect any amount of salt from the natural storehouse, but constitutionally we cannot take more salt than what we need. If we take more salt, we spoil the broth, and if we take less salt our food becomes tasteless. On the other hand, if we take only what we require, our food is tasty and we are healthy. Presently there is a great deal of concern over the fact that our natural resources are becoming polluted and exhausted. Actually there is ample supply, but due to misuse and greed everything is being spoiled. What conservationists and ecologists do not understand is that everything will continue to be spoiled by the insatiable lusts of mankind unless this Kṛṣṇa consciousness process is taken up. It is impossible to have peace on any platform of existence without Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

Man is therefore suffering due to his insatiable desires and lusts. Not only is man suffering, but the planet on which he resides, his mother earth, represented in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam by mother cow, is also suffering. Once a well-known swami in India was asked whether God or providence is responsible for the sufferings of humanity. The swami replied that these sufferings were all God's pastimes or līlā. The questioner continued to ask why a living entity should be put under the dictations of the law of karma. The swami could not answer these questions to the satisfaction of his inquirers. The monists and impersonalists who think only in terms of the oneness of the living entities with the Supreme Lord cannot give satisfactory answers to such questions. Such an imperfect reply can hardly satisfy the heart of a living entity.

The Lord is described in all scriptures as līlā-puruṣottama, or the Personality of Godhead, who is by His own nature always engaged in transcendental pastimes. In the Vedānta-sūtra He is also described as ānandamayo 'bhyāsāt (Vedānta-sūtra 1.1.12). The monists and impersonalists try with great difficulty to explain this sūtra in diverse ways in order to support their imperfect theory of oneness and impersonality. However, the fact remains that ānanda, pleasure, cannot be enjoyed alone. That variety is the mother of enjoyment is a well-known fact. Cities, for instance, are known to be attractive if they contain a variety of things. Living entities are naturally attracted by variety, by attractive streets, buildings, cinemas, parks, conveyances, businesses, employments, foodstuffs, etc. Despite all this variety, the English poet Cowper once said, "The city is made by man, but the country is made by God." The countryside is also full of natural variegatedness in a crude form, whereas in the city this variegatedness is displayed in a modernized scientific manner. Poets like Cowper are attracted to the variegatedness of the country, and prosaic people who live in the city are attracted by the colorful varieties manufactured by man. In any case, it is variegatedness which attracts people both to the country and the city. This is the proper explanation of the verse of the Vedānta-sūtra.

Many so-called swamis who are so frequently attracted by the cities often seek a kind of pleasure in society and feminine friendship. Generally they are not attracted by the natural beauty of the woods, although they may assume the dress of a man who is meant to live in the woods. Such swamis are seeking varieties of enjoyment in matter because they have no information of the variegatedness of spiritual life. On the one hand they enjoy variegatedness in matter, and on the other they deny spiritual variegatedness to the Absolute. Because they are pledged to the theory of monism and impersonalism, they deny that whatever pertains to matter can pertain also to spirit. According to them, spirit is the denial of matter. The fact is, however, that spirit is not a negation of matter, but matter is a perverted reflection of spirit.

The real pleasure of variety exists in spirit without deluding relativity. On the other hand, inert matter, in association with dynamic spirit, manifests a false representation or a perverted reflection of that very spiritual variegatedness which is so adamantly denied by the monist class of so-called swamis.

As stated before, the Supreme Lord is sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha (Bs. 5.1), joyful by nature, and therefore He expands Himself by His different energies, parts, and differentiated and plenary portions. The Supreme Lord is the Absolute Truth, and He is one without a second, but He also includes His diverse energies, parts, and plenary portions which are simultaneously one with and different from Him. Because He is joyful by nature, He expands Himself in diverse ways, and the activities of these expansions are called His transcendental pastimes or His līlā. These pastimes, however, are not blind and inert; they exhibit full sense, independence, and freedom of action and reaction. The complexities of the actions and the reactions of the diverse energies of the Absolute Truth constitute the subject matter of a vast science called the transcendental science of God, and the Bhagavad-gītā is the ABC or primary book of knowledge for students interested in that science. Every intelligent human being should become interested in this transcendental science; indeed, according to the opinions of the sages, human life is only meant for learning this science. The opening words of the Vedānta-sūtra proclaim: "Now is the time to inquire about Brahman."

Human life by nature is full of suffering, and lower life forms are even more miserable. Any sane man with properly discriminating senses can understand that life in the material world is full of miseries and that no one is free from the actions and reactions of such miseries. This is not a pessimistic view of life but is an actual fact which we should not be blind to. The miseries of life are divided into three categories, namely miseries arising from the body and mind, miseries arising from other living entities, and miseries arising due to natural calamities. A sane man must look to eliminate these miseries and thereby become happy in life. We are all trying to achieve peace and freedom from these miseries, at least unconsciously, and in the higher intellectual circles there are attempts to get rid of these miseries by ingenious plans and designs. But the power that baffles all the plans and designs of even the most intelligent person is the power of Māyā devī, or the illusory energy. The law of karma, or the result of all actions and reactions in the material world, is controlled by this all-powerful illusory energy. The activities of this energy function according to principles and regulations, and they act consciously under the direction of the Supreme Lord. Everything is done by nature in full consciousness; nothing is blind or accidental. This material energy is also called Durgā, which indicates that it is a force which is very difficult to surpass. No one can surpass the laws of Durgā by any amount of childish plans.

To get rid of the sufferings of humanity is simultaneously a very difficult and also a very easy affair. As long as the conditioned souls, who are themselves bound up by the laws of nature, manufacture plans to get rid of the three miseries, there will be no solution. The only effective solutions are those mentioned in Bhagavad-gītā, and we have to adopt them in our practical lives for our own benefit. The three miseries of material nature are not found in the pastimes of the Supreme Lord. As mentioned before, He is eternally joyful, and His transcendental pastimes are not different from Him. Because He is the Absolute Truth, His name, fame, form, qualities and pastimes are all identical with Him. His pastimes, therefore, cannot be equated with the sufferings of humanity as the so-called swami contends. The pastimes of the Supreme Lord are transcendental to the actual miseries and sufferings of human beings.

The sufferings of humanity are caused by the misuse of the discriminative power or the little independence which is given to individual souls. The fraudulent swamis or mental speculators, in order to remain consistent with the theory of monism, must pass off the miseries of mankind as the pastimes of God, but actually these miseries are only the enforced punishments of Māyā devī inflicted upon the misguided conditioned souls.

As living entities, we are part and parcel of the Supreme Lord. Indeed, we actually belong to His superior energy. As such, we may join His transcendental pastimes in our unconditioned state of life, but as long as we are conditioned by the laws of karma, in contact with the inferior energy, our sufferings are our own creations, born of a gross misuse of our little independence. The impersonalist monists only misguide people by contending that the threefold miseries are a part of the Lord's pastimes. Such impersonalists and monists have misguided their followers because they incorrectly think that the Supreme Lord and the individual souls are equal in all respects. True, the individual souls are equal in quality with the Supreme Lord, but not in quantity. If the individual soul were quantitatively equal to the Supreme Lord, he would have never been subjected to the laws of material nature. Material nature is subordinate to the will of the Supreme Lord, and therefore He cannot be subjected to the laws of material nature. It is contradictory for the Lord to be subjected to the laws of His own inferior energy ([[Vanisource:BG 7.7|BG 7.7]]):

<div class="quote_verse">
:mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat
:kiñcid asti dhanañjaya
:mayi sarvam idaṁ protaṁ
:sūtre maṇi-gaṇā iva
</div>

"O conqueror of wealth (Arjuna), there is no truth superior to Me. Everything rests upon Me, as pearls are strung on a thread."

Again, Śrī Kṛṣṇa states ([[Vanisource:BG 7.13|BG 7.13]]):

<div class="quote_verse">
:tribhir guṇamayair bhāvair
:ebhiḥ sarvam idaṁ jagat
:mohitaṁ nābhijānāti
:mām ebhyaḥ param avyayam
</div>

"Deluded by the three modes (goodness, passion, and ignorance), the whole world does not know Me who am above them and inexhaustible."

The individual souls, who are put into the miseries of the material world, are suffering the resultant reactions of their unsanctioned activities. This is the verdict of Bhagavad-gītā. ([[Vanisource:BG 16.19|BG 16.19]]):

<div class="quote_verse">
:tān ahaṁ dviṣataḥ krūrān
:saṁsāreṣu narādhamān
:kṣipāmy ajasram aśubhān
:āsurīṣv eva yoniṣu
</div>

"Envious, mischievous, the lowest of mankind, these do I ever put back into the ocean of material existence, into various demoniac species of life."

The parts and parcels are meant to serve the whole, and when they misuse their independence they are subject to the miseries of the laws of matter, just as criminals are subject to police action. The state considers its citizens to be its parts and parcels, and when a citizen misuses his relative independence, the state puts him under police authority. The life of a citizen outside the prison and the life of a citizen within the prison are not the same. Similarly, the sufferings of the living entities within the prison of material nature cannot be equated with the pastimes of the Supreme Lord which exist in the absolute freedom of sac-cid-ānanda.

No government wants its citizens to act in such a way that they must go to prison and suffer tribulations. The prison house is undoubtedly constructed by the state government, but this does not mean that the government is anxious for its citizens to be put into it. Indirectly, the disobedient citizens force the government to construct the prison house. It is not done for the pleasure of the government, which has to spend a great deal of money in constructing and maintaining it. On the contrary, the government would be very glad to demolish prisons altogether provided that there are no disobedient citizens in the state. In the same way, this material world is created by the Supreme Lord, but the Supreme Lord does not will that living entities be put in it. The living entities themselves make that decision. The residents of this material world are therefore different from those who are eternally engaged in the transcendental pastimes of the Supreme Lord.

The impersonal monists have no information of full-fledged independent life in the eternal spiritual realm. According to them, the spiritual realm is simply void. This is like prisoners thinking that there is no life outside the prison. Life outside of a prison is certainly free from prison activities, but is not devoid of activity. The soul is by nature eternally active, but the impersonalists try to negate the activities of the soul in the spiritual realm. Thus they misunderstand the miseries of prison life to be the pastimes of the Supreme Lord. This is due to their poor fund of knowledge.

The Supreme Lord never creates the actions and reactions of an individual soul. In Bhagavad-gītā ([[Vanisource:BG 5.14|5.14-15]]) this matter is clearly defined in the following way:

<div class="quote_verse">
:na kartṛtvaṁ na karmāṇi
:lokasya sṛjati prabhuḥ
:na karma-phala-saṁyogaṁ
:svabhāvas tu pravartate
</div>

:nādatte kasyacit pāpaṁ

<div class="quote_verse">
:na caiva sukṛtaṁ vibhuḥ
:ajñānenāvṛtaṁ jñānaṁ
:tena muhyanti jantavaḥ
</div>

"The embodied spirit, master of the city of his body, does not create activities, nor does he induce people to act, nor does he create the fruits of action. All this is enacted by the modes of material nature. Nor does the Supreme Spirit assume anyone's sinful or pious activities. Embodied beings, however, are bewildered because of the ignorance which covers their real knowledge."

It is clear from these passages that the sufferings of humanity are not to be equated with the pastimes of the Supreme Being, nor is the Supreme Being responsible for them. The Lord is never responsible for anyone's vices or virtues. By vicious actions, we are put into more and more distressful conditions, whereas by pious actions we place ourselves on the path of happiness. Thus man is the architect of his own material distress or happiness. The Lord does not want the living entity to become entangled in the reactions of activities, be they good or bad. He simply wants everyone to go back home, back to Godhead. As long as we are not awakened to our pure eternal relation with God, we are certainly bewildered in our actions. Our actions, in respect to right and wrong, are all performed on the platform of ignorance. We must rise to the platform of pure knowledge, which is the pure realization that we are the eternal servitors of the Supreme Lord and enjoyers of His transcendental pastimes. The Supreme Lord is the master-enjoyer of those pastimes, and we are the servitor-enjoyers.

Transcendental knowledge is only attainable by transcendental devotional service, as described in Bhagavad-gītā ([[Vanisource:BG 10.10|10.10]]):

<div class="quote_verse">
:teṣāṁ satata-yuktānāṁ
:bhajatāṁ prīti-pūrvakam
:dadāmi buddhi-yogaṁ taṁ
:yena mam upayānti te
</div>

"To those who are constantly devoted and worship Me with love, I give the understanding by which they can come to Me."

By rendering such devotional service only, and not by merely acquiring a bulk of discriminative knowledge, can we know the Supreme Lord as He is. When we know the Personality of Godhead in reality, we can then enter into His pastimes. That is the verdict of all revealed scriptures.
</div>
</div>
</div>

The individual liberated soul has no other activity (without inspiration to fulfill the desire of the Lord). pratinivrtta-guna-pravahah

2022-07-27T12:29:26Z

Shaalini:

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<div id="facts">
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[[Category:Srimad-Bhagavatam, Canto 03 Chapter 28 Purports - Kapila's Instructions on the Execution of Devotional Service]]
[[Category:Srimad Bhagavatam, Canto 03 Purports]]
</div>
<div id="section">
<h2>Srimad-Bhagavatam</h2>
</div>
<div id="sub_section">
<h3>SB Canto 3</h3>
</div>
<div class="quote">
<div class="quote_heading">
Actually, however, we find in Bhagavad-gītā that individuality is not lost. When the mind is completely purified in love of Godhead, the mind becomes the mind of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The mind at that time does not act separately, nor does it act without inspiration to fulfill the desire of the Lord. The individual liberated soul has no other activity. pratinivṛtta-guṇa-pravāhaḥ. In the conditioned state the mind is always engaged in activity impelled by the three modes of the material world, but in the transcendental stage, the material modes cannot disturb the mind of the devotee.
</div>

<div class="quote_link">
[[Vanisource:SB 3.28.35|SB 3.28.35, Translation and Purport]]
</div>
<div class="quote_translation">
When the mind is thus completely freed from all material contamination and detached from material objectives, it is just like the flame of a lamp. At that time the mind is actually dovetailed with that of the Supreme Lord and is experienced as one with Him because it is freed from the interactive flow of the material qualities.
</div>
<div class="text">
In the material world the activities of the mind are acceptance and rejection. As long as the mind is in material consciousness, it must be forcibly trained to accept meditation on the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but when one is actually elevated to loving the Supreme Lord, the mind is automatically absorbed in thought of the Lord. In such a position a yogī has no other thought than to serve the Lord. This dovetailing of the mind with the desires of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is called nirvāṇa, or making the mind one with the Supreme Lord.

The best example of nirvāṇa is cited in Bhagavad-gītā. In the beginning the mind of Arjuna deviated from Kṛṣṇa's. Kṛṣṇa wanted Arjuna to fight, but Arjuna did not want to, so there was disagreement. But after hearing Bhagavad-gītā from the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Arjuna dovetailed his mind with Kṛṣṇa's desire. This is called oneness. This oneness, however, did not cause Arjuna and Kṛṣṇa to lose their individualities. The Māyāvādī philosophers cannot understand this. They think that oneness necessitates loss of individuality. Actually, however, we find in Bhagavad-gītā that individuality is not lost. When the mind is completely purified in love of Godhead, the mind becomes the mind of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The mind at that time does not act separately, nor does it act without inspiration to fulfill the desire of the Lord. The individual liberated soul has no other activity. pratinivṛtta-guṇa-pravāhaḥ. In the conditioned state the mind is always engaged in activity impelled by the three modes of the material world, but in the transcendental stage, the material modes cannot disturb the mind of the devotee. The devotee has no other concern than to satisfy the desires of the Lord. That is the highest stage of perfection, called nirvāṇa or nirvāṇa-mukti. At this stage the mind becomes completely free from material desire.

Yathārciḥ. Arciḥ means "flame." When a lamp is broken or the oil is finished, we see that the flame of the lamp goes out. But according to scientific understanding, the flame is not extinguished; it is conserved. This is conservation of energy. Similarly, when the mind stops functioning on the material platform, it is conserved in the activities of the Supreme Lord. The Māyāvādī philosophers' conception of cessation of the functions of the mind is explained here: cessation of the mental functions means cessation of activities conducted under the influence of the three modes of material nature.
</div>
</div>
</div>

The five stores are the five working sensory organs. They transact their business through the combined forces of the five elements, which are eternal. Behind all this activity is the soul. The soul is a person and an enjoyer in reality

2022-07-27T12:28:46Z

Shaalini:

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<div id="facts">
{{terms|"The five stores are the five working sensory organs. They transact their business through the combined forces of the five elements, which are eternal. Behind all this activity is the soul. The soul is a person and an enjoyer in reality"}}
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[[Category:Real Enjoyer]]
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[[Category:Bhagavatam Verses Spoken by the Brahmana Friend of Puranjana Maharaja - Vaniquotes]]
[[Category:Srimad-Bhagavatam, Canto 04 Chapter 28 - Puranjana Becomes a Woman in the Next Life]]
[[Category:Srimad Bhagavatam, Cantos 01 to 09 - All Verse Translations]]
</div>
<div id="section">
<h2>Srimad-Bhagavatam</h2>
</div>
<div id="sub_section">
<h3>SB Canto 4</h3>
</div>
<div class="quote">
<div class="quote_heading">
The five stores are the five working sensory organs. They transact their business through the combined forces of the five elements, which are eternal. Behind all this activity is the soul. The soul is a person and an enjoyer in reality.
</div>

<div class="quote_link">
[[Vanisource:SB 4.28.58|SB 4.28.58, Translation and Purport]]
</div>
<div class="quote_translation">
The five stores are the five working sensory organs. They transact their business through the combined forces of the five elements, which are eternal. Behind all this activity is the soul. The soul is a person and an enjoyer in reality. However, because he is now hidden within the city of the body, he is devoid of knowledge.
</div>
<div class="text">
<div class="purport">

The living entity enters the material creation with the aid of the five elements—earth, water, fire, air and ether—and thus his body is formed. Although the living entity is working from within, he is nonetheless unknown. The living entity enters the material creation, but because he is bewildered by the material energy, he appears to be hidden. The bodily conception of life is prominent because of ignorance (nāvabudhyate). Intelligence is described in the feminine gender, but owing to her prominence in all activities, she is described in this verse as adhīśaḥ, the controller. The living entity lives by means of fire, water and food grains. It is through the combination of these three that the body is maintained. Consequently the body is called prakṛti, material creation. All the elements gradually combine to form flesh, bone, blood and so on. All these appear as various apartments. It is said in the Vedas that the digested foods are ultimately divided into three. The solid portion becomes stool, and the semiliquid portion turns into flesh. The liquid portion turns yellow and is again divided into three. One of these liquid portions is called urine. Similarly, the fiery portion is divided into three, and one is called bone. Out of the five elements, fire, water and food grains are very important. These three are mentioned in the previous verse, whereas sky (ether) and air are not mentioned. This is all explained in Bhagavad-gītā ([[Vanisource:BG 13.20 (1972)|BG 13.20]]):

<div class="quote_verse">
:prakṛtiṁ puruṣaṁ caiva
:viddhy anādī ubhāv api
:vikārāṁś ca guṇāṁś caiva
:viddhi prakṛti-sambhavān
</div>

"Material nature and the living entities should be understood to be beginningless. Their transformations and the modes of matter are products of material nature." prakṛti, material nature, and puruṣa, the living entity, are eternal. When they both come in contact, there are different reactions and manifestations. All of them should be considered the results of the interaction of the three modes of material nature.

</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>

The conditioned soul who is very much disgusted with material activities becomes refreshed and forgets all the fatigue of material activities simply by dipping into the transcendental ocean of Your pastimes

2022-07-27T12:28:32Z

Shaalini:

<div id="compilation">
<div id="facts">
{{terms|"The conditioned soul who is very much disgusted with material activities becomes refreshed and forgets all the fatigue of material activities simply by dipping into the transcendental ocean of Your pastimes"}}
{{notes|}}
{{compiler|HanumanIC}}
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[[Category:God and the Conditioned Souls]]
[[Category:Who Is]]
[[Category:Very Much]]
[[Category:Disgusted]]
[[Category:With]]
[[Category:Material Activities]]
[[Category:Activities of the Soul]]
[[Category:Become]]
[[Category:Refresh]]
[[Category:Forget]]
[[Category:Fatigue]]
[[Category:Simply By]]
[[Category:Dip]]
[[Category:God Is Transcendental]]
[[Category:Ocean of God]]
[[Category:God's Pastimes]]
[[Category:Krsna Book Chapter 87 - Prayers by the Personified Vedas]]
[[Category:Krsna Book Chapters 01 to 90]]
</div>
<div id="section">
<h2>Other Books by Srila Prabhupada</h2>
</div>
<div id="sub_section">
<h3>Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead</h3>
</div>
<div class="quote">
<div class="quote_heading">
The conditioned soul who is very much disgusted with material activities becomes refreshed and forgets all the fatigue of material activities simply by dipping into the transcendental ocean of Your pastimes. And eventually he merges into the ocean of transcendental bliss. The most intelligent devotees, therefore, do not take to any means of self-realization except devotional service and constant engagement in the nine different processes of devotional life, especially hearing and chanting.
</div>

<div class="quote_link">
[[Vanisource:KB 87|Krsna Book, 87]]
</div>
<div class="text">
The Supersoul within the body of a particular living entity, being a plenary portion of the Lord, is worshipable by the individual living entity. Great sages have therefore concluded that the process of meditation is designed so that the individual living entity may concentrate his attention on the lotus feet of the Supersoul form (Viṣṇu). That is the real form of samādhi. The living entity cannot be liberated from material entanglement by his own effort. He must therefore take to the devotional service of the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord, or the Supersoul within himself. Śrīdhara Svāmī, the great commentator on Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, has composed a nice verse in this regard, the meaning of which is as follows: “My dear Lord, I am eternally a part of You, but I have been entrapped by the material potencies, which are also an emanation from You. As the cause of all causes, You have entered my body as the Supersoul, and I have the prerogative of enjoying the supreme blissful life of knowledge along with You. Therefore, my dear Lord, please order me to render You loving service so that I can again be brought to my original position of transcendental bliss.”

Great personalities understand that a living entity entangled in this material world cannot be freed by his own efforts. With firm faith and devotion, such great personalities engage themselves in rendering transcendental loving service to the Lord. That is the verdict of the personified Vedas.

The personified Vedas continued: “Dear Lord, it is very difficult to achieve perfect knowledge of the Absolute Truth. Your Lordship is so kind to the fallen souls that You appear in different incarnations and execute different activities. You appear even as a historical personality of this material world, and Your pastimes are very nicely described in the Vedic literature. Such pastimes are as attractive as the ocean of transcendental bliss. People in general have a natural inclination to read narrations in which ordinary jīvas are glorified, but when they become attracted by the Vedic scriptures which delineate Your eternal pastimes, they actually dip into the ocean of transcendental bliss. As a fatigued man feels refreshed by dipping into a reservoir of water, so the conditioned soul who is very much disgusted with material activities becomes refreshed and forgets all the fatigue of material activities simply by dipping into the transcendental ocean of Your pastimes. And eventually he merges into the ocean of transcendental bliss. The most intelligent devotees, therefore, do not take to any means of self-realization except devotional service and constant engagement in the nine different processes of devotional life, especially hearing and chanting. When hearing and chanting about Your transcendental pastimes, Your devotees do not care even for the transcendental bliss derived from liberation or from merging into the existence of the Supreme. Such devotees are not interested even in so-called liberation, and they certainly have no interest in material activities for elevation to the heavenly planets for sense gratification. Pure devotees seek only the association of paramahaṁsas, or great liberated devotees, so that they can continuously hear and chant about Your glories. For this purpose the pure devotees are prepared to sacrifice all comforts of life, even giving up the material comforts of family life and so-called society, friendship and love. Those who have tasted the nectar of devotion by relishing the transcendental vibration of chanting Your glories—Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare / Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare—do not care for any other spiritual bliss or for material comforts, which appear to the pure devotee as less important than the straw in the street.”The personified Vedas continued: “Dear Lord, when a person is able to purify his mind, senses and intelligence by engaging himself in devotional service in full Kṛṣṇa consciousness, his mind becomes his friend. Otherwise, his mind is always his enemy. When the mind is engaged in the devotional service of the Lord, it becomes the intimate friend of the living entity because the mind can then think of the Supreme Lord always. Your Lordship is eternally dear to the living entity, so when the mind is engaged in thought of You one immediately feels the great satisfaction for which he has been hankering life after life. When one’s mind is thus fixed on the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one does not take to any kind of inferior worship or inferior process of self-realization. By attempting to worship a demigod or by taking to any other process of self-realization, the living entity becomes a victim of the cycle of birth and death, and no one can estimate how much the living entity is degraded by entering abominable species of life such as cats and dogs.”
</div>
</div>
</div>

The conditioned soul suffers many miserable bodily conditions, such as being affected by severe cold and strong winds. He also suffers due to the activities of other living beings and due to natural disturbances

2022-07-27T12:22:28Z

Shaalini:

<div id="compilation">
<div id="facts">
{{terms|"The conditioned soul suffers many miserable bodily conditions, such as being affected by severe cold and strong winds. He also suffers due to the activities of other living beings and due to natural disturbances"}}
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{{compiler|Iswaraj}}
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[[Category:Suffering of a Conditioned Soul]]
[[Category:Many]]
[[Category:Miserable Condition]]
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[[Category:Bodily]]
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[[Category:Such As]]
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[[Category:Conditioned Souls Are Affected By]]
[[Category:Severe]]
[[Category:Cold]]
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[[Category:Wind (noun)]]
[[Category:Due To]]
[[Category:Activities of the Soul]]
[[Category:Other]]
[[Category:Living Beings]]
[[Category:Natural Disturbances]]
[[Category:Disturbances of a Conditioned Soul]]
[[Category:Bhagavatam Verses Spoken by Sukadeva Gosvami - Vaniquotes]]
[[Category:Srimad-Bhagavatam, Canto 05 Chapter 14 - The Material World as the Great Forest of Enjoyment]]
[[Category:Srimad Bhagavatam, Cantos 01 to 09 - All Verse Translations]]
</div>
<div id="section">
<h2>Srimad-Bhagavatam</h2>
</div>
<div id="sub_section">
<h3>SB Canto 5</h3>
</div>
<div class="quote">
<div class="quote_heading">
The conditioned soul suffers many miserable bodily conditions, such as being affected by severe cold and strong winds. He also suffers due to the activities of other living beings and due to natural disturbances.
</div>

<div class="quote_link">
[[Vanisource:SB 5.14.34|SB 5.14.34, Translation]]
</div>
<div class="quote_translation">
The conditioned soul suffers many miserable bodily conditions, such as being affected by severe cold and strong winds. He also suffers due to the activities of other living beings and due to natural disturbances. When he is unable to counteract them and has to remain in a miserable condition, he naturally becomes very morose because he wants to enjoy material facilities.
</div>
</div>
</div>

The conditioned soul is subjected to birth and death, either by pious or sinful activities

2022-07-27T12:22:07Z

Shaalini:

<div id="compilation">
<div id="facts">
{{terms|"The conditioned soul is subjected to birth and death, either by pious or sinful activities"}}
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[[Category:Subjected to Birth and Death]]
[[Category:Birth of a Conditioned Soul]]
[[Category:Either By...]]
[[Category:Pious Activities]]
[[Category:Sinful Activities of a Conditioned Soul]]
[[Category:Activities of the Soul]]
[[Category:Conditioned Souls and Death]]
[[Category:Krsna Book Chapter 29 - The Rasa Dance: Introduction]]
[[Category:Krsna Book Chapters 01 to 90]]
</div>
<div id="section">
<h2>Other Books by Srila Prabhupada</h2>
</div>
<div id="sub_section">
<h3>Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead</h3>
</div>
<div class="quote">
<div class="quote_heading">
The conditioned soul is subjected to birth and death, either by pious or sinful activities, but the gopīs who began to meditate on Kṛṣṇa transcended both positions and became purified and thus elevated to the status of the gopīs already expanded by His pleasure potency.
</div>

<div class="quote_link">
[[Vanisource:KB 29|Krsna Book, 29]]
</div>
<div class="text">
Some of the gopīs were factually detained from going to Kṛṣṇa by their husbands and were locked up by force within their rooms. Being unable to go to Kṛṣṇa, they began to meditate upon His transcendental form by closing their eyes. They already had the form of Kṛṣṇa within their minds. They proved to be the greatest yogīs; as is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā, a person who is constantly thinking of Kṛṣṇa within his heart with faith and love is considered to be the topmost of all yogīs. Actually, a yogī concentrates his mind on the form of Lord Viṣṇu. That is real yoga. Kṛṣṇa is the original form of all viṣṇu-tattvas. The gopīs could not go to Kṛṣṇa personally, so they began to meditate on Him as perfect yogīs.

In the conditioned stage of the living entities, there are two kinds of results of fruitive activities: the conditioned living entity who is constantly engaged in sinful activities has suffering as his result, and he who is engaged in pious activities has material enjoyment as a result. In either case—material suffering or material enjoyment—the sufferer or enjoyer is conditioned by material nature.

The gopī associates of Kṛṣṇa who assembled in the place where Kṛṣṇa was appearing were from different groups. Most of the gopīs were eternal companions of Kṛṣṇa. As stated in the Brahma-saṁhitā, ānanda-cin-maya-rasa-pratibhāvitābhiḥ: in the spiritual world the associates of Kṛṣṇa, especially the gopīs, are manifestations of the pleasure potency of Lord Kṛṣṇa. They are expansions of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. But when Kṛṣṇa exhibits His transcendental pastimes within the material world in some of the universes, not only the eternal associates of Kṛṣṇa come but also those who are being promoted to that status from this material world. So some of the gopīs who joined Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes within this material world were coming from the status of ordinary human beings. If they had been bound by fruitive action, they were fully freed from the reaction of karma by constant meditation on Kṛṣṇa. Their severely painful yearnings caused by their not being able to see Kṛṣṇa freed them from all sinful reactions, and their ecstasy of transcendental love for Kṛṣṇa in His absence ended all their reactions to material pious activities. The conditioned soul is subjected to birth and death, either by pious or sinful activities, but the gopīs who began to meditate on Kṛṣṇa transcended both positions and became purified and thus elevated to the status of the gopīs already expanded by His pleasure potency. All the gopīs who concentrated their minds on Kṛṣṇa in the spirit of paramour love became fully purified of all the fruitive reactions of material nature, and some of them immediately gave up their material bodies developed under the three modes of material nature.

Mahārāja Parīkṣit heard Śukadeva Gosvāmī explain the situation of the gopīs who assembled with Kṛṣṇa in the rāsa dance. When he heard that some of the gopīs, simply by concentrating on Kṛṣṇa as their paramour, became freed from all contamination of material birth and death, he said, “The gopīs did not know that Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. They accepted Him as a beautiful boy and considered Him to be their paramour. So how was it possible for them to get freed from the material condition just by thinking of a paramour?” One should consider here that Kṛṣṇa and ordinary living beings are qualitatively one. The ordinary living beings, being part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa, are also Brahman, but Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme—Parabrahman. The question is, If it is possible for a devotee to get free from the material, contaminated stage simply by thinking of Kṛṣṇa, then why should this not be possible for others who are also thinking of someone? If one is thinking of a husband or son, or if anyone at all is thinking of another living entity, then, since all living entities are also Brahman, why are all those who thus think of others not freed from the contaminated stage of material nature? This is a very intelligent question, because there are always atheists imitating Kṛṣṇa. In these days of Kali-yuga, there are many rascals who think themselves to be as good as Kṛṣṇa and who cheat people into believing that thinking of them is as good as thinking of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Parīkṣit Mahārāja, apprehending the future dangerous condition of blind followers of demoniac imitators, therefore asked this question, and fortunately it is recorded in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam to warn innocent people that thinking of an ordinary man and thinking of Kṛṣṇa are not the same.
</div>
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</div>

The conditioned soul is entrapped in material existence, and he attempts to lord over material nature. And so, according to his capacity to dominate material nature, he gets a field of activity. That field of activity is the body. BG 1972 purports

2022-07-27T12:21:51Z

Shaalini:

<div id="compilation">
<div id="facts">
{{terms|"The conditioned soul is entrapped in material existence, and he attempts to lord over material nature. And so, according to his capacity to dominate material nature, he gets a field of activity. That field of activity is the body"}}
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[[Category:Lord it Over Material Nature]]
[[Category:Conditioned Souls and Material Nature]]
[[Category:According]]
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[[Category:Dominate]]
[[Category:Field of Activities]]
[[Category:Activities of the Soul]]
[[Category:Material Body]]
[[Category:Bhagavad-gita As It Is - 1972 Purports, Chapter 13 - Vaniquotes]]
[[Category:Bhagavad-gita As It Is - 1972 Purports, Chapters 01 to 18 - Vaniquotes]]
</div>
<div id="section">
<h2>Bhagavad-gita As it is</h2>
</div>
<div id="sub_section">
<h3>BG Chapters 13 - 18</h3>
</div>
<div class="quote">
<div class="quote_heading">
The conditioned soul is entrapped in material existence, and he attempts to lord over material nature. And so, according to his capacity to dominate material nature, he gets a field of activity. That field of activity is the body. And what is the body? The body is made of senses.
</div>

<div class="quote_link">
[[Vanisource:BG 13.1-2 (1972)|BG 13.1-2 (1972), Translation and Purport]]
</div>
<div class="quote_translation">
Arjuna said: O my dear Kṛṣṇa, I wish to know about prakṛti [nature], Puruṣa [the enjoyer], and the field and the knower of the field, and of knowledge and the end of knowledge. The Blessed Lord then said: This body, O son of Kuntī, is called the field, and one who knows this body is called the knower of the field.
</div>
<div class="text">
<div class="purport">

Arjuna was inquisitive about prakṛti or nature, puruṣa, the enjoyer, kṣetra, the field, kṣetrajña, its knower, and of knowledge and the object of knowledge. When he inquired about all these, Kṛṣṇa said that this body is called the field and that one who knows this body is called the knower of the field. This body is the field of activity for the conditioned soul. The conditioned soul is entrapped in material existence, and he attempts to lord over material nature. And so, according to his capacity to dominate material nature, he gets a field of activity. That field of activity is the body. And what is the body? The body is made of senses. The conditioned soul wants to enjoy sense gratification, and, according to his capacity to enjoy sense gratification, he is offered a body, or field of activity. Therefore the body is called kṣetra, or the field of activity for the conditioned soul. Now, the person who does not identify himself with the body is called kṣetrajña, the knower of the field. It is not very difficult to understand the difference between the field and its knower, the body and the knower of the body. Any person can consider that from childhood to old age he undergoes so many changes of body and yet is still one person, remaining. Thus there is a difference between the knower of the field of activities and the actual field of activities. A living conditioned soul can thus understand that he is different from the body. It is described in the beginning-dehe 'smin—that the living entity is within the body and that the body is changing from childhood to boyhood and from boyhood to youth and from youth to old age, and the person who owns the body knows that the body is changing. The owner is distinctly kṣetrajña. Sometimes we understand that I am happy, I am mad, I am a woman, I am a dog, I am a cat: these are the knowers. The knower is different from the field. Although we use many articles-our clothes, etc.-we know- that we are different from the things used. Similarly, we also understand by a little contemplation that we are different from the body.

In the first six chapters of Bhagavad-gītā, the knower of the body, the living entity, and the position by which he can understand the Supreme Lord are described. In the middle six chapters of the Gītā, the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the relationship between the individual soul and the Supersoul in regard to devotional service are described. The superior position of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the subordinate position of the individual soul are definitely defined in these chapters. The living entities are subordinate under all circumstances, but in their forgetfulness they are suffering. When enlightened by pious activities, they approach the Supreme Lord in different capacities-as the distressed, those in want of money, the inquisitive, and those in search of knowledge. That is also described. Now, starting with the Thirteenth Chapter, how the living entity comes into contact with material nature, how he is delivered by the Supreme Lord through the different methods of fruitive activities, cultivation of knowledge, and the discharge of devotional service are explained. Although the living entity is completely different from the material body, he somehow becomes related. This also is explained.

</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>

The body is considered a fruitful tree, and the living entity and God as Supersoul are like two birds seated in that tree. The individual soul is eating the fruit of the tree, but the Supersoul, the Lord, is witnessing the activities of the other bird

2022-07-17T03:19:57Z

Shaalini:

<div id="compilation">
<div id="facts">
{{terms|"The body is considered a fruitful tree, and the living entity and the Lord as Supersoul are like two birds seated in that tree. The individual soul is eating the fruit of the tree, but the Supersoul, the Lord, is witnessing the activities of the other bird"}}
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{{compiler|Angela}}
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[[Category:Body]]
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[[Category:Two Birds in a Tree - One Enjoying, the Other Witnessing]]
[[Category:Srimad-Bhagavatam, Canto 03 Chapter 07 Purports - Further Inquiries by Vidura]]
[[Category:Srimad Bhagavatam, Canto 03 Purports]]
</div>
<div id="section">
<h2>Srimad-Bhagavatam</h2>
</div>
<div id="sub_section">
<h3>SB Canto 3</h3>
</div>
<div class="quote">
<div class="quote_heading">
The next question put forward by Vidura to Maitreya is, "Why are the living entities subjected to so many miseries and misfortunes in spite of the Lord's presence in their hearts as the Supersoul?" The body is considered a fruitful tree, and the living entity and the Lord as Supersoul are like two birds seated in that tree. The individual soul is eating the fruit of the tree, but the Supersoul, the Lord, is witnessing the activities of the other bird.
</div>

<div class="quote_link">
[[Vanisource:SB 3.7.6|SB 3.7.6, Translation and Purport]]
</div>
<div class="quote_translation">
The Lord, as the Supersoul, is situated in every living being's heart. Why then do the living entities' activities result in misfortune and misery?
</div>
<div class="text">
The next question put forward by Vidura to Maitreya is, "Why are the living entities subjected to so many miseries and misfortunes in spite of the Lord's presence in their hearts as the Supersoul?" The body is considered a fruitful tree, and the living entity and the Lord as Supersoul are like two birds seated in that tree. The individual soul is eating the fruit of the tree, but the Supersoul, the Lord, is witnessing the activities of the other bird. A citizen of the state may be in miseries for want of sufficient supervision by the state authority, but how can it be possible that a citizen suffers from other citizens while the chief of the state is personally present? From another point of view, it is understood that the jīva living entity is qualitatively one with the Lord, and thus his knowledge in the pure state of life cannot be covered by nescience, especially in the presence of the Supreme Lord. How then does the living entity become subjected to ignorance and covered by the influence of māyā? The Lord is the father and protector of every living entity, and He is known as the bhūta-bhṛt, or the maintainer of the living entities. Why then should the living entity be subjected to so many sufferings and misfortunes? It should not be so, but actually we see that it happens everywhere. This question is therefore put forward by Vidura for solution.
</div>
</div>
</div>

The bewildered spirit soul, under the influence of the three modes of material nature, thinks himself to be the doer of activities which are in actuality carried out by nature - BG 3.27

2022-07-17T03:19:45Z

Shaalini:

<div id="compilation">
<div id="facts">
{{terms|"The bewildered spirit soul, under the influence of the three modes of material nature, thinks himself to be the doer of activities which are in actuality carried out by nature"}}
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[[Category:Srimad-Bhagavatam, Canto 10 Chapter 01 Purports - The Advent of Lord Krsna: Introduction]]
[[Category:Srimad Bhagavatam, Canto 10 Purports - Chapters 01 to 13]]
</div>
<div id="section">
<h2>Srimad-Bhagavatam</h2>
</div>
<div id="sub_section">
<h3>SB Canto 10.1 to 10.13</h3>
</div>
<div class="quote">
<div class="quote_heading">
"The bewildered spirit soul, under the influence of the three modes of material nature, thinks himself to be the doer of activities which are in actuality carried out by nature".
</div>

<div class="quote_link">
[[Vanisource:SB 10.1.25|SB 10.1.25, Translation and Purport]]
</div>
<div class="quote_translation">
The potency of the Lord, known as viṣṇu-māyā, who is as good as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, will also appear with Lord Kṛṣṇa. This potency, acting in different capacities, captivates all the worlds, both material and spiritual. At the request of her master, she will appear with her different potencies in order to execute the work of the Lord.
</div>
<div class="text">
Parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 6.8 ([[Vanisource:CC Madhya 13.65|CC Madhya 13.65, purport]])). In the Vedas it is said that the potencies of the Supreme Personality of Godhead are called by different names, such as yogamāyā and mahāmāyā. Ultimately, however, the Lord's potency is one, exactly as electric potency is one although it can act both to cool and to heat. The Lord's potency acts in both the spiritual and material worlds. In the spiritual world the Lord's potency works as yogamāyā, and in the material world the same potency works as mahāmāyā, exactly as electricity works in both a heater and a cooler. In the material world, this potency, working as mahāmāyā, acts upon the conditioned souls to deprive them more and more of devotional service. It is said, yayā sammohito jīva ātmānaṁ tri-guṇātmakam ([[Vanisource:SB 1.7.5|SB 1.7.5]]). In the material world the conditioned soul thinks of himself as a product of tri-guṇa, the three modes of material nature. This is the bodily conception of life. Because of associating with the three guṇas of the material potency, everyone identifies himself with his body. Someone is thinking he is a brāhmaṇa, someone a kṣatriya, and someone a vaiśya or śūdra. Actually, however, one is neither a brāhmaṇa, a kṣatriya, a vaiśya nor a śūdra; one is part and parcel of the Supreme Lord (mamaivāṁśaḥ), but because of being covered by the material energy, mahāmāyā, one identifies himself in these different ways. When the conditioned soul becomes liberated, however, he thinks himself an eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa. Jīvera 'svarūpa' haya-kṛṣṇera 'nitya-dāsa.' (CC Madhya 20.108). When he comes to that position, the same potency, acting as yogamāyā, increasingly helps him become purified and devote his energy to the service of the Lord.

In either case, whether the soul is conditioned or liberated, the Lord is supreme. As stated in Bhagavad-gītā ([[Vanisource:BG 9.10 (1972)|BG 9.10]]), mayādhyakṣeṇa prakṛtiḥ sūyate sa-carācaram: it is by the order of the Supreme Personality of Godhead that the material energy, mahāmāyā, works upon the conditioned soul.

<div class="quote_verse">
:prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni
:guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ
:ahaṅkāra-vimūḍhātmā
:kartāham iti manyate
</div>

"The bewildered spirit soul, under the influence of the three modes of material nature, thinks himself to be the doer of activities which are in actuality carried out by nature." ([[Vanisource:BG 3.27 (1972)|BG 3.27]]) Within conditioned life, no one has freedom, but because one is bewildered, being subject to the rule of mahāmāyā, one foolishly thinks himself independent (ahaṅkāra-vimūḍhātmā kartāham iti manyate ([[Vanisource:BG 3.27 (1972)|BG 3.27]])). But when the conditioned soul becomes liberated by executing devotional service, he is given a greater and greater chance to relish a relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead in different transcendental statuses, such as dāsya-rasa, sakhya-rasa, vātsalya-rasa and mādhurya-rasa.

Thus the Lord's potency, viṣṇu-māyā, has two features—āvaraṇikā and unmukha. When the Lord appeared, His potency came with Him and acted in different ways. She acted as yogamāyā with Yaśodā, Devakī and other intimate relations of the Lord, and she acted in a different way with Kaṁsa, Śālva and other asuras. By the order of Lord Kṛṣṇa, His potency yogamāyā came with Him and exhibited different activities according to the time and circumstances. Kāryārthe sambhaviṣyati. Yogamāyā acted differently to execute different purposes desired by the Lord. As confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā ([[Vanisource:BG 9.13 (1972)|BG 9.13]]), mahātmānas tu māṁ pārtha daivīṁ prakṛtim āśritāḥ. The mahātmās, who fully surrender to the lotus feet of the Lord, are directed by yogamāyā, whereas the durātmās, those who are devoid of devotional service, are directed by mahāmāyā.
</div>
</div>
</div>

The bewildered spirit soul, under the influence of the three modes of material nature, thinks himself to be the doer of activities, which are in actuality carried out by nature. BG 3.27 - 1972

2022-07-17T03:19:35Z

Shaalini:

The bewildered spirit soul, under the influence of the three modes of material nature, thinks himself the doer of activities that are in actuality carried out by nature - Bhagavad-gita 3.27

2022-07-17T03:19:22Z

Shaalini:

<div id="compilation">
<div id="facts">
{{terms|"The bewildered spirit soul, under the influence of the three modes of material nature, thinks himself the doer of activities that are in actuality carried out by nature"}}
{{notes|}}
{{compiler|Nabakumar}}
{{complete|ALL}}
{{first|2021-01-21T08:05:33Z}}
{{last|2021-01-21T08:05:33Z}}
{{totals_by_section|BG=0|SB=1|CC=0|OB=0|Lec=0|Con=0|Let=0}}
{{total|1}}
{{toc right}}
[[Category:Bewilderment]]
[[Category:Spirit Soul]]
[[Category:Under The]]
[[Category:Influence of Material Nature]]
[[Category:Three Modes of Material Nature]]
[[Category:Thinks]]
[[Category:Himself]]
[[Category:Doer]]
[[Category:Activities of the Soul]]
[[Category:Actually]]
[[Category:Carry Out]]
[[Category:By Nature]]
[[Category:Srimad-Bhagavatam, Canto 09 Chapter 10 Purports - The Pastimes of the Supreme Lord, Ramacandra]]
[[Category:Srimad Bhagavatam, Canto 09 Purports]]
</div>
<div id="section">
<h2>Srimad-Bhagavatam</h2>
</div>
<div id="sub_section">
<h3>SB Canto 9</h3>
</div>
<div class="quote">
<div class="quote_heading">
"The bewildered spirit soul, under the influence of the three modes of material nature, thinks himself the doer of activities that are in actuality carried out by nature." (BG 3.27) One should not be proud of one's exalted position and act like Rāvaṇa, thinking oneself independent of material nature's laws.
</div>

<div class="quote_link">
[[Vanisource:SB 9.10.23|SB 9.10.23, Translation and Purport]]
</div>
<div class="quote_translation">
After thus rebuking Rāvaṇa, Lord Rāmacandra fixed an arrow to His bow, aimed at Rāvaṇa, and released the arrow, which pierced Rāvaṇa's heart like a thunderbolt. Upon seeing this, Rāvaṇa's followers raised a tumultuous sound, crying, "Alas! Alas! What has happened? What has happened?" as Rāvaṇa, vomiting blood from his ten mouths, fell from his airplane, just as a pious man falls to earth from the heavenly planets when the results of his pious activities are exhausted.
</div>
<div class="text">
In Bhagavad-gītā ([[Vanisource:BG 9.21 (1972)|BG 9.21]]) it is said, kṣīṇe puṇye martya-lokaṁ viśanti: "When the results of their pious activities are exhausted, those who have enjoyed in the heavenly planets fall again to earth." The fruitive activities of this material world are such that whether one acts piously or impiously one must remain within the material world according to different conditions, for neither pious nor impious actions can relieve one from māyā's clutches of repeated birth and death. Somehow or other, Rāvaṇa was raised to an exalted position as the king of a great kingdom with all material opulences, but because of his sinful act of kidnapping mother Sītā, all the results of his pious activities were destroyed. If one offends an exalted personality, especially the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one certainly becomes most abominable; bereft of the results of pious activities, one must fall down like Rāvaṇa and other demons. It is therefore advised that one transcend both pious and impious activities and remain in the pure state of freedom from all designations (sarvopādhi-vinirmuktaṁ tat-paratvena nirmalam ([[Vanisource:CC Madhya 19.170|CC Madhya 19.170]])). When one is fixed in devotional service, he is above the material platform. On the material platform there are higher and lower positions, but when one is above the material platform he is always fixed in a spiritual position (sa guṇān samatītyaitān brahma-bhūyāya kalpate ([[Vanisource:BG 14.26 (1972)|BG 14.26]])). Rāvaṇa or those like him may be very powerful and opulent in this material world, but theirs is not a secure position, because, after all, they are bound by the results of their karma (karmaṇā daiva-netreṇa ([[Vanisource:SB 3.31.1|SB 3.31.1]])). We should not forget that we are completely dependent on the laws of nature.

<div class="quote_verse">
:prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni
:guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ
:ahaṅkāra-vimūḍhātmā
:kartāham iti manyate
</div>

"The bewildered spirit soul, under the influence of the three modes of material nature, thinks himself the doer of activities that are in actuality carried out by nature." ([[Vanisource:BG 3.27 (1972)|BG 3.27]]) One should not be proud of one's exalted position and act like Rāvaṇa, thinking oneself independent of material nature's laws.
</div>
</div>
</div>

The bewildered spirit soul, under the influence of the three modes of material nature, thinks himself the doer of activities that are in actuality carried out by nature

2022-07-17T03:19:13Z

Shaalini:

<div id="compilation">
<div id="facts">
{{terms|"The bewildered spirit soul, under the influence of the three modes of material nature, thinks himself the doer of activities that are in actuality carried out by nature"}}
{{notes|}}
{{compiler|Nirmal}}
{{complete|ALL}}
{{first|2020-10-04T18:59:46Z}}
{{last|2020-10-04T18:59:46Z}}
{{totals_by_section|BG=0|SB=1|CC=0|OB=0|Lec=0|Con=0|Let=0}}
{{total|1}}
{{toc right}}
[[Category:Bewilderment]]
[[Category:Spirit Soul]]
[[Category:Under]]
[[Category:Influence of Material Nature]]
[[Category:Three Modes of Material Nature]]
[[Category:Think]]
[[Category:Himself]]
[[Category:Doer]]
[[Category:Activities of the Soul]]
[[Category:Actually]]
[[Category:Carry Out]]
[[Category:By Nature]]
[[Category:Srimad-Bhagavatam, Canto 04 Chapter 29 Purports - Talks Between Narada and King Pracinabarhi]]
[[Category:Srimad Bhagavatam, Canto 04 Purports]]
</div>
<div id="section">
<h2>Srimad-Bhagavatam</h2>
</div>
<div id="sub_section">
<h3>SB Canto 4</h3>
</div>
<div class="quote">
<div class="quote_heading">
"The bewildered spirit soul, under the influence of the three modes of material nature, thinks himself the doer of activities that are in actuality carried out by nature." As soon as one desires to enjoy his senses, he puts himself under the control of material energy and automatically, or mechanically, is placed into the cycle of birth and death in various life-forms.
</div>

<div class="quote_link">
[[Vanisource:SB 4.29.4|SB 4.29.4, Translation and Purport]]
</div>
<div class="quote_translation">
When the living entity wants to enjoy the modes of material nature in their totality, he prefers, out of many bodily forms, to accept that body which has nine gates, two hands and two legs. Thus he prefers to become a human being or a demigod.
</div>
<div class="text">
This is a very nice explanation of how the spiritual being, the part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa, God, accepts a material body by virtue of his own desires. Accepting two hands, two legs, and so on, the living entity fully enjoys the modes of material nature. Lord Kṛṣṇa says in Bhagavad-gītā ([[Vanisource:BG 7.27 (1972)|BG 7.27]]):

<div class="quote_verse">
:icchā-dveṣa-samutthena
:dvandva-mohena bhārata
:sarva-bhūtāni sammohaṁ
:sarge yānti parantapa
</div>

"O scion of Bharata [Arjuna], O conqueror of the foe, all living entities are born into delusion, overcome by the dualities of desire and hate."

Originally the living entity is a spiritual being, but when he actually desires to enjoy this material world, he comes down. From this verse we can understand that the living entity first accepts a body that is human in form, but gradually, due to his degraded activities, he falls into lower forms of life—into the animal, plant and aquatic forms. By the gradual process of evolution, the living entity again attains the body of a human being and is given another chance to get out of the process of transmigration. If he again misses his chance in the human form to understand his position, he is again placed in the cycle of birth and death in various types of bodies.

The desire of the living entity to come into the material world is not very difficult to understand. Although one may be born in a family of Āryans, where there are restrictions against meat-eating, intoxication, gambling and illicit sex, still one may want to enjoy these forbidden things. There is always someone who wants to go to a prostitute for illicit sex or to a hotel to eat meat and drink wine. There is always someone who wants to gamble at nightclubs or enjoy so-called sports. All these propensities are already within the hearts of the living entities, but some living entities stop to enjoy these abominable activities and consequently fall down to a degraded platform. The more one desires a degraded life within his heart, the more he falls down to occupy different forms of abominable existence. This is the process of transmigration and evolution. A particular type of animal may have a strong tendency to enjoy one kind of sense enjoyment, but in the human form one can enjoy all the senses. The human form has the facility to utilize all the senses for gratification. Unless one is properly trained, he becomes a victim of the modes of material nature, as confirmed by Bhagavad-gītā ([[Vanisource:BG 3.27 (1972)|BG 3.27]]):

<div class="quote_verse">
:prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni
:guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ
:ahaṅkāra-vimūḍhātmā
:kartāham iti manyate
</div>

"The bewildered spirit soul, under the influence of the three modes of material nature, thinks himself the doer of activities that are in actuality carried out by nature." As soon as one desires to enjoy his senses, he puts himself under the control of material energy and automatically, or mechanically, is placed into the cycle of birth and death in various life-forms.
</div>
</div>
</div>

The bewildered soul, under the influence of the three modes of material nature, thinks himself the doer of activities, which are in actuality carried out by nature - BG 3.27

2022-07-17T03:18:54Z

Shaalini:

<div id="compilation">
<div id="facts">
{{terms|"The bewildered soul, under the influence of the three modes of material nature, thinks himself the doer of activities, which are in actuality carried out by nature"}}
{{notes|}}
{{compiler|SharmisthaK}}
{{complete|ALL}}
{{first|2020-12-02T06:46:59Z}}
{{last|2020-12-02T06:46:59Z}}
{{totals_by_section|BG=0|SB=1|CC=0|OB=0|Lec=0|Con=0|Let=0}}
{{total|1}}
{{toc right}}
[[Category:Bewilderment]]
[[Category:Souls]]
[[Category:Under The]]
[[Category:Influence of Kali]]
[[Category:Three Modes of Material Nature]]
[[Category:Think]]
[[Category:Himself]]
[[Category:Doer]]
[[Category:Activities of the Soul]]
[[Category:Which Are]]
[[Category:Actually]]
[[Category:Carry Out]]
[[Category:Nature]]
[[Category:Srimad-Bhagavatam, Canto 07 Chapter 02 Purports - Hiranyakasipu, King of the Demons]]
[[Category:Srimad Bhagavatam, Canto 07 Purports]]
</div>
<div id="section">
<h2>Srimad-Bhagavatam</h2>
</div>
<div id="sub_section">
<h3>SB Canto 7</h3>
</div>
<div class="quote">
<div class="quote_heading">
"The bewildered soul, under the influence of the three modes of material nature, thinks himself the doer of activities, which are in actuality carried out by nature."
</div>

<div class="quote_link">
[[Vanisource:SB 7.2.21|SB 7.2.21, Translation and Purport]]
</div>
<div class="quote_translation">
My dear mother, in a restaurant or place for drinking cold water, many travelers are brought together, and after drinking water they continue to their respective destinations. Similarly, living entities join together in a family, and later, as a result of their own actions, they are led apart to their destinations.
</div>
<div class="text">
<div class="quote_verse">
:prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni
:guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ
:ahaṅkāra-vimūḍhātmā
:kartāham iti manyate
</div>

"The bewildered soul, under the influence of the three modes of material nature, thinks himself the doer of activities, which are in actuality carried out by nature." ([[Vanisource:BG 3.27 (1972)|BG 3.27]]) All living entities act exactly according to the directions of prakṛti, material nature, because in the material world we are fully under a higher control. All the living entities in this material world have come here only because they wanted to be equal to Kṛṣṇa in enjoyment and have thus been sent here to be conditioned by material nature in different degrees. In the material world a so-called family is a combination of several persons in one home to fulfill the terms of their imprisonment. As criminal prisoners scatter as soon as their terms are over and they are released, all of us who have temporarily assembled as family members will continue to our respective destinations. Another example given is that family members are like straws carried together by the waves of a river. Sometimes such straws mix together in whirlpools, and later, dispersed again by the same waves, they float alone in the water.

Although Hiraṇyakaśipu was a demon, he had Vedic knowledge and understanding. Thus the advice given to his family members—his sister-in-law, mother and nephews—was quite sound. The demons are considered highly elevated in knowledge, but because they do not use their good intelligence for the service of the Lord, they are called demons. The demigods, however, act very intelligently to satisfy the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is confirmed in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam ([[Vanisource:SB 1.2.13|SB 1.2.13]]) as follows:

<div class="quote_verse">
:ataḥ pumbhir dvija-śreṣṭhā
:varṇāśrama-vibhāgaśaḥ
:svanuṣṭhitasya dharmasya
:saṁsiddhir hari-toṣaṇam
</div>

"O best among the twice-born, it is therefore concluded that the highest perfection one can achieve, by discharging his prescribed duties [dharma] according to caste divisions and orders of life, is to please the Lord Hari." To become a demigod or to become godly, whatever one's occupation, one must satisfy the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
</div>
</div>
</div>

The actions of the living entities in the spiritual kingdom are not illusory; they are the actual, eternal activities of liberated souls

2022-07-17T03:18:34Z

Shaalini:

<div id="compilation">
<div id="facts">
{{terms|"The actions of the living entities in the spiritual kingdom are not illusory; they are the actual, eternal activities of liberated souls"}}
{{notes|}}
{{compiler|Nirmal}}
{{complete|ALL}}
{{first|2021-02-14T16:40:06Z}}
{{last|2021-02-14T16:40:06Z}}
{{totals_by_section|BG=0|SB=0|CC=1|OB=0|Lec=0|Con=0|Let=0}}
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[[Category:Action]]
[[Category:Living Entities]]
[[Category:Spiritual Kingdom]]
[[Category:Illusory]]
[[Category:Actual]]
[[Category:Soul is Eternal]]
[[Category:Activities of the Soul]]
[[Category:Liberated Souls]]
[[Category:Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi-lila Chapter 01 Purports - The Spiritual Masters]]
[[Category:Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi-lila Purports]]
[[Category:Sri Caitanya-caritamrta - 62 Chapters, All Purports]]
</div>
<div id="section">
<h2>Sri Caitanya-caritamrta</h2>
</div>
<div id="sub_section">
<h3>CC Adi-lila</h3>
</div>
<div class="quote">
<div class="quote_heading">
That which is relative, temporary and far away from the Absolute Truth is called māyā, or ignorance. This illusion is exhibited in two ways, as explained in the Bhagavad-gītā. The inferior illusion is inert matter, and the superior illusion is the living entity. The living entities are called illusory in this context only because they are implicated in the illusory structures and activities of the material world. Actually the living entities are not illusory, for they are parts of the superior energy of the Supreme Lord and do not have to be covered by māyā if they do not want to be so. The actions of the living entities in the spiritual kingdom are not illusory; they are the actual, eternal activities of liberated souls.
</div>

<div class="quote_link">
[[Vanisource:CC Adi 1.54|CC Adi 1.54, Translation and Purport]]
</div>
<div class="quote_translation">
“What appears to be truth without Me is certainly My illusory energy, for nothing can exist without Me. It is like a reflection of a real light in the shadows, for in the light there are neither shadows nor reflections.
</div>
<div class="text">
In the previous verse the Absolute Truth and its nature have been explained. One must also understand the relative truth to actually know the Absolute. The relative truth, which is called māyā, or material nature, is explained here. Māyā has no independent existence. One who is less intelligent is captivated by the wonderful activities of māyā, but he does not understand that behind these activities is the direction of the Supreme Lord. In the Bhagavad-gītā ([[Vanisource:BG 9.10 (1972)|BG 9.10]]) it is said, mayādhyakṣeṇa prakrtiḥ sūyate sa-carācaram: the material nature is working and producing moving and nonmoving beings only by the supervision of Kṛṣṇa.

The real nature of māyā, the illusory existence of the material manifestation, is clearly explained in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. The Absolute Truth is substance, and the relative truth depends upon its relationship with the Absolute for its existence. Māyā means energy; therefore the relative truth is explained to be the energy of the Absolute Truth. Since it is difficult to understand the distinction between the absolute and relative truths, an analogy can be given for clarification. The Absolute Truth can be compared to the sun, which is appreciated in terms of two relative truths: reflection and darkness. Darkness is the absence of sunshine, and a reflection is a projection of sunlight into darkness. Neither darkness nor reflection has an independent existence. Darkness comes when the sunshine is blocked. For example, if one stands facing the sun, his back will be in darkness. Since darkness stands in the absence of the sun, it is therefore relative to the sun. The spiritual world is compared to the real sunshine, and the material world is compared to the dark regions where the sun is not visible.

When the material manifestation appears very wonderful, this is due to a perverted reflection of the supreme sunshine, the Absolute Truth, as confirmed in the Vedānta-sūtra. Whatever one can see here has its substance in the Absolute. As darkness is situated far away from the sun, so the material world is also far away from the spiritual world. The Vedic literature directs us not to be captivated by the dark regions (tamaḥ) but to try to reach the shining regions of the Absolute (yogi-dhāma).

The spiritual world is brightly illuminated, but the material world is wrapped in darkness. In the material world, sunshine, moonshine or different kinds of artificial light are required to dispel darkness, especially at night, for by nature the material world is dark. Therefore the Supreme Lord has arranged for sunshine and moonshine. But in His abode, as described in the Bhagavad-gītā ([[Vanisource:BG 15.6 (1972)|BG 15.6]]), there is no necessity for lighting by sunshine, moonshine or electricity because everything is self-effulgent.

That which is relative, temporary and far away from the Absolute Truth is called māyā, or ignorance. This illusion is exhibited in two ways, as explained in the Bhagavad-gītā. The inferior illusion is inert matter, and the superior illusion is the living entity. The living entities are called illusory in this context only because they are implicated in the illusory structures and activities of the material world. Actually the living entities are not illusory, for they are parts of the superior energy of the Supreme Lord and do not have to be covered by māyā if they do not want to be so. The actions of the living entities in the spiritual kingdom are not illusory; they are the actual, eternal activities of liberated souls.
</div>
</div>
</div>

These elevated souls (who are expert in fruitive activities and sacrificial methods on earth attain to the moon) live on the moon for about 10,000 years (by demigod calculations) and enjoy life by drinking soma-rasa. BG 1972 purports

2022-07-17T03:18:25Z

Shaalini:

<div id="compilation">
<div id="facts">
{{terms|"These elevated souls live on the moon for about 10,000 years (by demigod calculations) and enjoy life by drinking"}}
{{notes|}}
{{compiler|Nabakumar}}
{{complete|ALL}}
{{first|2021-06-18T14:36:59Z}}
{{last|2021-06-18T14:36:59Z}}
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[[Category:These]]
[[Category:Elevated]]
[[Category:Activities of the Soul]]
[[Category:Who Are]]
[[Category:Expert]]
[[Category:Fruitive Activities]]
[[Category:Sacrificial]]
[[Category:Method]]
[[Category:Earth - Our Planet]]
[[Category:Attain]]
[[Category:Moon]]
[[Category:Live]]
[[Category:About]]
[[Category:Ten Thousand Years]]
[[Category:Demigods]]
[[Category:Calculation]]
[[Category:Enjoy Life]]
[[Category:Drink]]
[[Category:Soma-rasa]]
[[Category:Bhagavad-gita As It Is - 1972 Purports, Chapter 08 - Vaniquotes]]
[[Category:Bhagavad-gita As It Is - 1972 Purports, Chapters 01 to 18 - Vaniquotes]]
</div>
<div id="section">
<h2>Bhagavad-gita As it is</h2>
</div>
<div id="sub_section">
<h3>BG Chapters 7 - 12</h3>
</div>
<div class="quote">
<div class="quote_heading">
In the Third Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam we are informed that those who are expert in fruitive activities and sacrificial methods on earth attain to the moon at death. These elevated souls live on the moon for about 10,000 years (by demigod calculations) and enjoy life by drinking soma-rasa. They eventually return to earth. This means that on the moon there are higher classes of living beings, though they may not be perceived by the gross senses.
</div>

<div class="quote_link">
[[Vanisource:BG 8.25 (1972)|BG 8.25 (1972), Translation and Purport]]
</div>
<div class="quote_translation">
The mystic who passes away from this world during the smoke, the night, the moonlight fortnight, or in the six months when the sun passes to the south, or who reaches the moon planet, again comes back.
</div>
<div class="text">
In the Third Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam we are informed that those who are expert in fruitive activities and sacrificial methods on earth attain to the moon at death. These elevated souls live on the moon for about 10,000 years (by demigod calculations) and enjoy life by drinking soma-rasa. They eventually return to earth. This means that on the moon there are higher classes of living beings, though they may not be perceived by the gross senses.
</div>
</div>
</div>

These activities (of the body) are completely different from the activities of the spirit soul of the living entity

2022-07-17T03:18:09Z

Shaalini:

<div id="compilation">
<div id="facts">
{{terms|"these activities are completely different from the activities of the spirit soul of the living entity"}}
{{notes|}}
{{compiler|Nirmal}}
{{complete|ALL}}
{{first|2020-10-19T20:45:24Z}}
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[[Category:These]]
[[Category:Bodily Activities]]
[[Category:Completely Different From]]
[[Category:Activities of the Soul]]
[[Category:Spirit Soul]]
[[Category:Living Entities]]
[[Category:Srimad-Bhagavatam, Canto 04 Chapter 20 Purports - Lord Visnu's Appearance in the Sacrificial Arena of Maharaja Prthu]]
[[Category:Srimad Bhagavatam, Canto 04 Purports]]
</div>
<div id="section">
<h2>Srimad-Bhagavatam</h2>
</div>
<div id="sub_section">
<h3>SB Canto 4</h3>
</div>
<div class="quote">
<div class="quote_heading">
The question may be raised that if the living entity has to act as the superintendent of the activities of the bodily combination, then how can he be indifferent to the activities of the body? The answer is given here: these activities are completely different from the activities of the spirit soul of the living entity.
</div>

<div class="quote_link">
[[Vanisource:SB 4.20.12|SB 4.20.12, Translation and Purport]]
</div>
<div class="quote_translation">
Lord Viṣṇu told King Pṛthu: My dear King, the constant change of this material world is due to the interaction of the three modes of material nature. The five elements, the senses, the demigods who control the senses, as well as the mind, which is agitated by the spirit soul—all these taken together comprise the body. Since the spirit soul is completely different from this combination of gross and subtle material elements, My devotee who is connected with Me in intense friendship and affection, being completely in knowledge, is never agitated by material happiness and distress.
</div>
<div class="text">
The question may be raised that if the living entity has to act as the superintendent of the activities of the bodily combination, then how can he be indifferent to the activities of the body? The answer is given here: these activities are completely different from the activities of the spirit soul of the living entity. A crude example can be given in this connection. A businessman riding in a motorcar sits in the car, supervises its running and advises the driver. He knows how much gasoline is used up, and he knows everything about the car, but still he is apart from the car and is more concerned with his business. Even while riding in the car, he thinks of his business and his office. He has no connection with the car, although he is sitting there. As the businessman is always absorbed in thoughts of his business, so the living entity can be absorbed in thoughts of rendering loving service to the Lord. Then it will be possible to remain separate from the activities of the material body. This position of neutrality can be possible only for a devotee.

The word baddha-sauhṛdāḥ—"bound in friendship"—is particularly used here. Karmīs, jñānīs and yogīs cannot be bound in devotional service. Karmīs fully engage in the activities of the body. Their aim of life is to give comfort to the body only. Jñānīs try to get out of entanglement by philosophical speculation, but they have no standing in the liberated position. Because they do not take shelter under the lotus feet of the Lord, they fall down from the exalted position of Brahman realization. Yogīs also have a bodily concept of life—they think that they can achieve something spiritual by exercising the body through dhāraṇā, āsana, prāṇāyāma, etc. A devotee's position is always transcendental because of his intimate relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore, to remain always aloof from the actions and reactions of the body and engage in one's real occupation, namely rendering service to the Lord, can be possible only for devotees.
</div>
</div>
</div>

Such act (God's pastimes in relation with the external energy) are as good as hearing rasa-lila in the liberated stage. Conditioned souls should not imitate the activities of liberated souls. Caitanya never indulged in hearing rasa-lila with ordinary men

2022-07-17T03:11:51Z

Shaalini:

<div id="compilation">
<div id="facts">
{{terms|"such acts are as good as the hearing of rāsa-līlā in the liberated stage. A conditioned soul should not imitate the activities of liberated souls. Lord Śrī Caitanya never indulged in hearing the rāsa-līla with ordinary men"}}
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[[Category:God's Pastimes]]
[[Category:In Relation to God]]
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[[Category:Conditioned Souls and Liberated Souls]]
[[Category:Should Not Imitate]]
[[Category:Srimad-Bhagavatam, Canto 02 Chapter 07 Purports - Scheduled Incarnations with Specific Functions]]
[[Category:Srimad Bhagavatam, Canto 02 Purports]]
</div>
<div id="section">
<h2>Srimad-Bhagavatam</h2>
</div>
<div id="sub_section">
<h3>SB Canto 2</h3>
</div>
<div class="quote">
<div class="quote_heading">
A pure devotee knows that there is no difference between the pastimes of the Lord, either in rāsa-līlā or in creation, maintenance or destruction of the material world. Rather, the descriptions of such activities of the Lord as the puruṣāvatāras are specifically meant for persons who are in the clutches of the external energy. Topics like the rāsa-līlā are meant for the liberated souls and not for the conditioned souls. The conditioned souls, therefore, must hear with appreciation and devotion the Lord's pastimes in relationship with the external energy, and such acts are as good as the hearing of rāsa-līlā in the liberated stage. A conditioned soul should not imitate the activities of liberated souls. Lord Śrī Caitanya never indulged in hearing the rāsa-līla with ordinary men.
</div>

<div class="quote_link">
[[Vanisource:SB 2.7.53|SB 2.7.53, Translation and Purport]]
</div>
<div class="quote_translation">
The Lord's activities in association with His different energies should be described, appreciated and heard in accordance with the teachings of the Supreme Lord. If this is done regularly with devotion and respect, one is sure to get out of the illusory energy of the Lord.
</div>
<div class="text">
<div class="purport">

The science of learning a subject matter seriously is different from the sentiments of fanatics. Fanatics or fools may consider the Lord's activities in relation with the external energy to be useless for them, and they may falsely claim to be higher participants in the internal energy of the Lord, but factually the Lord's activities in relation with the external energy and the internal energy are equally good. On the other hand, those who are not completely free from the clutches of the Lord's external energy should devoutly hear regularly about the activities of the Lord in relation with the external energy. They should not foolishly jump up to the activities of the internal energy, falsely attracted by the Lord's internal potential activities like His rāsa-līlā. The cheap reciters of the Bhāgavatam are very much enthusiastic about the Lord's internal potential activities, and the pseudodevotees, absorbed in material sense enjoyment, falsely jump to the stage of liberated souls and thus fall down deeply into the clutches of external energy.

Some of them think that to hear about the pastimes of the Lord means to hear about His activities with the gopīs or about His pastimes like lifting the Govardhana Hill, and they have nothing to do with the Lord's plenary expansions as the puruṣāvatāras and Their pastimes of the creation, maintenance or annihilation of the material worlds. But a pure devotee knows that there is no difference between the pastimes of the Lord, either in rāsa-līlā or in creation, maintenance or destruction of the material world. Rather, the descriptions of such activities of the Lord as the puruṣāvatāras are specifically meant for persons who are in the clutches of the external energy. Topics like the rāsa-līlā are meant for the liberated souls and not for the conditioned souls. The conditioned souls, therefore, must hear with appreciation and devotion the Lord's pastimes in relationship with the external energy, and such acts are as good as the hearing of rāsa-līlā in the liberated stage. A conditioned soul should not imitate the activities of liberated souls. Lord Śrī Caitanya never indulged in hearing the rāsa-līla with ordinary men.

In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the science of God, the first nine cantos prepare the ground for hearing the Tenth Canto. This will be further explained in the last chapter of this canto. In the Third Canto it will be more explicit. A pure devotee of the Lord, therefore, must begin reading or hearing Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam from the very beginning, and not from the Tenth Canto. We have several times been requested by some so-called devotees to take up the Tenth Canto immediately, but we have refrained from such an action because we wish to present Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam as the science of Godhead and not as a sensuous understanding for the conditioned souls. This is forbidden by such authorities as Śrī Brahmājī. By reading and hearing Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam as a scientific presentation, the conditioned souls will gradually be promoted to the higher status of transcendental knowledge after being freed from the illusory energy based on sense enjoyment.

</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu's philanthropic activities are performed in connection with the eternal soul

2022-07-17T03:11:35Z

Shaalini:

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{{terms|"Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu's philanthropic activities are performed in connection with the eternal soul"}}
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[[Category:Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi-lila Chapter 08 Purports - The Author Receives the Orders of Krsna and Guru]]
[[Category:Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi-lila Purports]]
[[Category:Sri Caitanya-caritamrta - 62 Chapters, All Purports]]
</div>
<div id="Sri_Caitanya-caritamrta" class="section" sec_index="2" parent="compilation" text="Sri Caitanya-caritamrta"><h2>Sri Caitanya-caritamrta</h2>
</div>
<div id="CC_Adi-lila" class="sub_section" sec_index="1" parent="Sri_Caitanya-caritamrta" text="CC Adi-lila"><h3>CC Adi-lila</h3>
</div>
<div id="CCAdi815_0" class="quote" parent="CC_Adi-lila" book="CC" index="1131" link="CC Adi 8.15" link_text="CC Adi 8.15">
<div class="heading">Everyone is engaged in humanitarian activities on the basis of the body, but from the Bhagavad-gītā (2.18) we understand, anta-vanta ime dehā nityasyoktāḥ śarīriṇaḥ: "The material body is ultimately subject to destruction, whereas the spiritual soul is eternal." Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu's philanthropic activities are performed in connection with the eternal soul. However one tries to benefit the body, it will be destroyed, and one will have to accept another body according to his present activities. If one does not, therefore, understand this science of transmigration but considers the body to be all in all, his intelligence is not very advanced.
</div>
<span class="link">[[Vanisource:CC Adi 8.15|CC Adi 8.15, Translation and Purport]]: </span><div class="trans text" style="display: inline; "><p style="display: inline; ">If you are indeed interested in logic and argument, kindly apply it to the mercy of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. If you do so, you will find it to be strikingly wonderful.</p>
</div>
<div class="purport text"><p>Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura comments in this connection that people in general, in their narrow-minded conception of life, create many different types of humanitarian activities, but the humanitarian activities inaugurated by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu are different. For logicians who want to accept only that which is proven through logic and argument, it is a fact that without logic and reason there can be no question of accepting the Absolute Truth. Unfortunately, when such logicians take to this path without the mercy of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, they remain on the platform of logic and argument and do not advance in spiritual life. However, if one is intelligent enough to apply his arguments and logic to the subtle understanding of the fundamental spiritual substance, he will be able to know that a poor fund of knowledge established on the basis of material logic cannot help one understand the Absolute Truth, which is beyond the reach of imperfect senses. The Mahābhārata therefore says, acintyāḥ khalu ye bhāvā na tāṁs tarkeṇa yojayet. (Mahābhārata, Bhīṣma-parva 5.22) How can that which is beyond the imagination or sensory speculation of mundane creatures be approached simply by logic? Logic and argument are very poor in spiritual strength and always imperfect when applied to spiritual understanding. By putting forward mundane logic one frequently comes to the wrong conclusion regarding the Absolute Truth, and as a result of such a conclusion one may fall down to accept a body like that of a jackal.</p>
<p>Despite all this, those who are actually inquisitive to understand the philosophy of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu through logic and argument are welcome. Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī addresses them, “Please put Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu's mercy to your crucial test, and if you are actually a logician you will come to the right conclusion that there is no personality more merciful than Lord Caitanya.” Let the logicians compare all the results of other humanitarian work with the merciful activities of Lord Caitanya. If their judgment is impartial, they will understand that no other humanitarian activities can surpass those of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.</p>
<p>Everyone is engaged in humanitarian activities on the basis of the body, but from the Bhagavad-gītā (2.18) we understand, anta-vanta ime dehā nityasyoktāḥ śarīriṇaḥ: "The material body is ultimately subject to destruction, whereas the spiritual soul is eternal." Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu's philanthropic activities are performed in connection with the eternal soul. However one tries to benefit the body, it will be destroyed, and one will have to accept another body according to his present activities. If one does not, therefore, understand this science of transmigration but considers the body to be all in all, his intelligence is not very advanced. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, without neglecting the necessities of the body, imparted spiritual advancement to purify the existential condition of humanity. Therefore if a logician makes his judgment impartially, he will surely find that Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is the mahā-vadānyāvatāra, the most magnanimous incarnation. He is even more magnanimous than Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself. Lord Kṛṣṇa demanded that one surrender unto Him, but He did not distribute love of Godhead as magnanimously as Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Therefore Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī offers Lord Caitanya his respectful obeisances with the words namo mahā-vadānyāya kṛṣṇa-prema-pradāya te/ kṛṣṇāya kṛṣṇa-caitanya-nāmne gaura-tviṣe namaḥ ([[Vanisource:CC Madhya 19.53|CC Madhya 19.53]]). Lord Kṛṣṇa simply gave the Bhagavad-gītā, by which one can understand Lord Kṛṣṇa as He is, but Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, who is also Kṛṣṇa Himself, gave people love of Kṛṣṇa without discrimination.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>

Spirit soul in his original condition is joyful, blissful, eternal and full of knowledge. Only by his implication in material activities has he become miserable, temporary and full of ignorance. This is due to vikarma

2022-07-17T03:08:15Z

Shaalini:

<div id="compilation">
<div id="facts">
{{terms|"Spirit soul in his original condition is joyful, blissful, eternal and full of knowledge. Only by his implication in material activities has he become miserable, temporary and full of ignorance. This is due to vikarma"}}
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{{compiler|MadhuGopaldas}}
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[[Category:Vikarma]]
[[Category:The Nectar of Devotion Chapter 02 - The First Stages of Devotion]]
[[Category:The Nectar of Devotion Chapters 01 to 51]]
</div>
<div id="Other_Books_by_Srila_Prabhupada" class="section" sec_index="3" parent="compilation" text="Other Books by Srila Prabhupada"><h2>Other Books by Srila Prabhupada</h2>
</div>
<div id="Nectar_of_Devotion" class="sub_section" sec_index="1" parent="Other_Books_by_Srila_Prabhupada" text="Nectar of Devotion"><h3>Nectar of Devotion</h3>
</div>
<div id="NOD2_0" class="quote" parent="Nectar_of_Devotion" book="OB" index="11" link="NOD 2" link_text="Nectar of Devotion 2">
<div class="heading">Every living entity under the spell of material energy is held to be in an abnormal condition of madness. In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is said, "Generally, the conditioned soul is mad, because he is always engaged in activities which are the causes of bondage and suffering." Spirit soul in his original condition is joyful, blissful, eternal and full of knowledge. Only by his implication in material activities has he become miserable, temporary and full of ignorance. This is due to vikarma.
</div>
<span class="link">[[Vanisource:NOD 2|Nectar of Devotion 2]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="text"><p style="display: inline;">The three categories of devotional service which Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī describes in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu are listed as devotional service in practice, devotional service in ecstasy and devotional service in pure love of Godhead. There are many subheadings in each of these categories. Generally it is understood that in the category of devotional service in practice there are two different qualities, devotional service in ecstasy has four qualities, and devotional service in pure love of Godhead has six qualities. These qualities will be explained by Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī later on.</p>
<p>In this connection, Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī suggests that the person eligible for Kṛṣṇa consciousness, or devotional service, can be classified by his particular taste. He says that devotional service is a continual process from one's previous life. No one can take to devotional service unless he has had some previous connection with it. For example, suppose in this life I practice devotional service to some extent. Even though it is not one-hundred-percent perfectly performed, whatever I have done will not be lost. In my next life, from the very point where I stop in this life, I shall begin again. In this way there is always a continuity. But even if there is no continuity, if only by chance a person takes interest in a pure devotee's instruction, he can be accepted and can advance in devotional service. Anyway, for persons who have a natural taste for understanding books like Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, devotional service is easier than for those who are simply accustomed to mental speculation and argumentative processes.</p>
<p>To support this statement there are many authoritative assertions by the learned scholars of bygone ages. According to their general opinion, a person may become governed by certain convictions derived by his own arguments and decisions. Then another person, who may be a greater logician, will nullify these conclusions and establish another thesis. In this way the path of argument will never be safe or conclusive. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam recommends, therefore, that one follow in the footsteps of the authorities.</p>
<p>Here is a general description of devotional service given by Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī in his Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu. Previously, it has been stated that devotional service can be divided into three categories—namely devotional service in practice, devotional service in ecstasy and devotional service in pure love of God. Now Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī proposes to describe devotional service in practice.</p>
<p>Practice means employing our senses in some particular type of work. Therefore devotional service in practice means utilizing our different sensory organs in service to Kṛṣṇa. Some of the senses are meant for acquiring knowledge, and some are meant for executing the conclusions of our thinking, feeling and willing. So practice means employing both the mind and the senses in practical devotional service. This practice is not for developing something artificial. For example, a child learns or practices to walk. This walking is not unnatural. The walking capacity is there originally in the child, and simply by a little practice he walks very nicely. Similarly, devotional service to the Supreme Lord is the natural instinct of every living entity. Even uncivilized men like the aborigines offer their respectful obeisances to something wonderful exhibited by nature's law, and they appreciate that behind some wonderful exhibition or action there is something supreme. So this consciousness, though lying dormant in those who are materially contaminated, is found in every living entity. And, when purified, this is called Kṛṣṇa consciousness.</p>
<p>There are certain prescribed methods for employing our senses and mind in such a way that our dormant consciousness for loving Kṛṣṇa will be invoked, as much as the child, with a little practice, can begin to walk. One who has no basic walking capacity cannot walk by practice. Similarly, Kṛṣṇa consciousness cannot be aroused simply by practice. Actually there is no such practice. When we wish to develop our innate capacity for devotional service, there are certain processes which, by our accepting and executing them, will cause that dormant capacity to be invoked. Such practice is called sādhana-bhakti.</p>
<p>Every living entity under the spell of material energy is held to be in an abnormal condition of madness. In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is said, "Generally, the conditioned soul is mad, because he is always engaged in activities which are the causes of bondage and suffering." Spirit soul in his original condition is joyful, blissful, eternal and full of knowledge. Only by his implication in material activities has he become miserable, temporary and full of ignorance. This is due to vikarma. Vikarma means "actions which should not be done." Therefore, we must practice sādhana-bhakti—which means to offer maṅgala-ārati (Deity worship) in the morning, to refrain from certain material activities, to offer obeisances to the spiritual master and to follow many other rules and regulations which will be discussed here one after another. These practices will help one become cured of madness. As a man's mental disease is cured by the directions of a psychiatrist, so this sādhana-bhakti cures the conditioned soul of his madness under the spell of māyā, material illusion.</p>
<p>Nārada Muni mentions this sādhana-bhakti in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Seventh Canto, First Chapter, verse 32. He says there to King Yudhiṣṭhira, "My dear King, one has to fix his mind on Kṛṣṇa by any means." That is called Kṛṣṇa consciousness. It is the duty of the ācārya, the spiritual master, to find the ways and means for his disciple to fix his mind on Kṛṣṇa. That is the beginning of sādhana-bhakti.</p>
<p>Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu has given us an authorized program for this purpose, centered around the chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra. This chanting has so much power that it immediately attaches one to Kṛṣṇa. That is the beginning of sādhana-bhakti. Somehow or other, one has to fix his mind on Kṛṣṇa. The great saint Ambarīṣa Mahārāja, although a responsible king, fixed his mind on Kṛṣṇa, and similarly anyone who tries to fix his mind in this way will very rapidly make progress in successfully reviving his original Kṛṣṇa consciousness.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>

O Lord, You do not desire the creation, maintenance or annihilation of this material world, but You perform these activities for the conditioned souls by Your creative energy

2022-07-17T03:07:01Z

Shaalini:

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{{terms|"O Lord, You do not desire the creation, maintenance or annihilation of this material world, but You perform these activities for the conditioned souls by Your creative energy"}}
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[[Category:Bhagavatam Verses Spoken by Mother Earth and Inhabitants of Uttarakuru-varsa - Vaniquotes]]
[[Category:Srimad-Bhagavatam, Canto 05 Chapter 18 - The Prayers Offered to the Lord by the Residents of Jambudvipa]]
[[Category:Srimad Bhagavatam, Cantos 01 to 09 - All Verse Translations]]
</div>
<div id="section">
<h2>Srimad-Bhagavatam</h2>
</div>
<div id="sub_section">
<h3>SB Canto 5</h3>
</div>
<div class="quote">
<div class="quote_heading">
O Lord, You do not desire the creation, maintenance or annihilation of this material world, but You perform these activities for the conditioned souls by Your creative energy.
</div>

<div class="quote_link">
[[Vanisource:SB 5.18.38|SB 5.18.38, Translation and Purport]]
</div>
<div class="quote_translation">
O Lord, You do not desire the creation, maintenance or annihilation of this material world, but You perform these activities for the conditioned souls by Your creative energy. Exactly as a piece of iron moves under the influence of a lodestone, inert matter moves when You glance over the total material energy.
</div>
<div class="text">
<div class="purport">

Sometimes the question arises why the Supreme Lord has created this material world, which is so full of suffering for the living entities entrapped in it. The answer given herein is that the Supreme Personality of Godhead does not wish to create this material world just to inflict suffering on the living entities. The Supreme Lord creates this world only because the conditioned souls want to enjoy it.

The workings of nature are not going on automatically. It is only because the Lord glances over the material energy that it acts in wonderful ways, just as a lodestone causes a piece of iron to move here and there. Because materialistic scientists and so-called Sāṅkhya philosophers do not believe in God, they think that material nature is working without supervision. But that is not the fact. In Caitanya-caritāmṛta ([[Vanisource:CC Adi 6.18|CC Adi 6.18-19]]) the creation of the material world is explained as follows:

<div class="quote_verse">
:yadyapi sāṅkhya māne 'pradhāna'—kāraṇa
:jaḍa ha-ite kabhu nahe jagat-sṛjana
</div>

<div class="quote_verse">
:nija-sṛṣṭi-śakti prabhu sañcāre pradhāne
:īśvarera śaktye tabe haye ta' nirmāṇe
</div>

"Atheistic Sāṅkhya philosophers think that the total material energy causes the cosmic manifestation, but they are wrong. Dead matter has no moving power, and therefore it cannot act independently. The Lord infuses the material ingredients with His own creative potency. Then, by the power of the Lord, matter moves and interacts." Sea waves are moved by the air, the air is created from ether, the ether is produced by the agitation of the three modes of material nature, and the three modes of material nature interact due to the Supreme Lord's glance over the total material energy. Therefore the background of all natural occurrences is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, as confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā (mayādhyakṣeṇa prakṛtiḥ sūyate sa-carācaram ([[Vanisource:BG 9.10 (1972)|BG 9.10]])). This is also further explained in Caitanya-caritāmṛta ([[Vanisource:CC Adi 5.59|CC Adi 5.59-61]]):

<div class="quote_verse">
:jagat-kāraṇa nahe prakṛti jaḍa-rūpā
:śakti sañcāriyā tāre kṛṣṇa kare kṛpā
</div>

<div class="quote_verse">
:kṛṣṇa-śaktye prakṛti haya gauṇa kāraṇa
:agni-śaktye lauha yaiche karaye jāraṇa
</div>

<div class="quote_verse">
:ataeva kṛṣṇa mūla-jagat-kāraṇa
:prakṛti—kāraṇa yaiche ajā-gala-stana
</div>

"Because prakṛti [material nature] is dull and inert, it cannot actually be the cause of the material world. Lord Kṛṣṇa shows His mercy by infusing His energy into the dull, inert material nature. Thus prakṛti, by the energy of Lord Kṛṣṇa, becomes the secondary cause, just as iron becomes red-hot by the energy of fire. Therefore Lord Kṛṣṇa is the original cause of the cosmic manifestation. prakṛti is like the nipples on the neck of a goat, for they cannot give any milk." Thus it is a great mistake on the part of the material scientists and philosophers to think that matter moves independently.

</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>

One does not need this material body, and he does not need to accept the dictations of the material body. The qualities of the material modes in the body will act, but as spirit soul the self is aloof from such activities. BG 1972 purports

2022-07-17T03:06:20Z

Shaalini:

<div id="compilation">
<div id="facts">
{{terms|"One does not need this material body, and he does not need to accept the dictations of the material body. The qualities of the material modes in the body will act, but as spirit soul the self is aloof from such activities"}}
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[[Category:One (as in someone)]]
[[Category:Does Not]]
[[Category:Need Not]]
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[[Category:Material Qualities]]
[[Category:Material Modes]]
[[Category:Act]]
[[Category:Spirit Soul]]
[[Category:Self]]
[[Category:Aloof]]
[[Category:Activities of the Soul]]
[[Category:Bhagavad-gita As It Is - 1972 Purports, Chapter 14 - Vaniquotes]]
[[Category:Bhagavad-gita As It Is - 1972 Purports, Chapters 01 to 18 - Vaniquotes]]
</div>
<div id="section">
<h2>Bhagavad-gita As it is</h2>
</div>
<div id="sub_section">
<h3>BG Chapters 13 - 18</h3>
</div>
<div class="quote">
<div class="quote_heading">
When one is conscious of the material body, he acts only for sense gratification, but when one transfers the consciousness to Kṛṣṇa, sense gratification automatically stops. One does not need this material body, and he does not need to accept the dictations of the material body. The qualities of the material modes in the body will act, but as spirit soul the self is aloof from such activities. How does he become aloof? He does not desire to enjoy the body, nor does he desire to get out of it. Thus transcendentally situated, the devotee becomes automatically free.
</div>

<div class="quote_link">
[[Vanisource:BG 14.22-25 (1972)|BG 14.22-25 (1972), Translation and Purport]]
</div>
<div class="quote_translation">
The Blessed Lord said: He who does not hate illumination, attachment and delusion when they are present, nor longs for them when they disappear; who is seated like one unconcerned, being situated beyond these material reactions of the modes of nature, who remains firm, knowing that the modes alone are active; who regards alike pleasure and pain, and looks on a clod, a stone and a piece of gold with an equal eye; who is wise and holds praise and blame to be the same; who is unchanged in honor and dishonor, who treats friend and foe alike, who has abandoned all fruitive undertakings-such a man is said to have transcended the modes of nature.
</div>
<div class="text">
Arjuna submitted the three different questions, and the Lord answers them one after another. In these verses, Kṛṣṇa first indicates that a person transcendentally situated neither envies anyone nor hankers for anything. When a living entity stays in this material world embodied by the material body, it is to be understood that he is under the control of one of the three modes of material nature. When he is actually out of the body, then he is out of the clutches of the material modes of nature. But as long as he is not out of the material body, he should be neutral. He should engage himself in the devotional service of the Lord so that his identity with the material body will automatically be forgotten. When one is conscious of the material body, he acts only for sense gratification, but when one transfers the consciousness to Kṛṣṇa, sense gratification automatically stops. One does not need this material body, and he does not need to accept the dictations of the material body. The qualities of the material modes in the body will act, but as spirit soul the self is aloof from such activities. How does he become aloof? He does not desire to enjoy the body, nor does he desire to get out of it. Thus transcendentally situated, the devotee becomes automatically free. He need not try to become free from the influence of the modes of material nature.

The next question concerns the dealings of a transcendentally situated person. The materially situated person is affected by so-called honor and dishonor offered to the body, but the transcendentally situated person is not affected by such false honor and dishonor. He performs his duty in Kṛṣṇa consciousness and does not mind whether a man honors or dishonors him. He accepts things that are favorable for his duty in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, otherwise he has no necessity of anything material, either a stone or gold. He takes everyone as his dear friend who helps him in his execution of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, and he does not hate his so-called enemy. He is equally disposed and sees everything on an equal level because he knows perfectly well that he has nothing to do with material existence. Social and political issues do not affect him because he knows the situation of temporary upheavals and disturbances. He does not attempt anything for his own sake. He can attempt anything for Kṛṣṇa, but for his personal self he does not attain anything. By such behavior one becomes actually transcendentally situated.
</div>
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</div>

One of them, (the individual soul and the Supreme Soul as Paramatma are sitting like two birds) the living being, is enjoying the fruits of the tree, whereas the Supreme Being is there to witness the activities

2022-07-17T03:06:08Z

Shaalini:

<div id="compilation">
<div id="facts">
{{terms|"One of them, the living being, is enjoying the fruits of the tree, whereas the Supreme Being is there to witness the activities"}}
{{notes|}}
{{compiler|Angela}}
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[[Category:One]]
[[Category:Individual Souls]]
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[[Category:Paramatma]]
[[Category:Sit]]
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[[Category:Enjoying the Fruits - results]]
[[Category:Whereas]]
[[Category:Supreme Being]]
[[Category:Is There]]
[[Category:Activities of the Soul]]'
[[Category:Two Birds in a Tree - One Enjoying, the Other Witnessing]]
[[Category:Srimad-Bhagavatam, Canto 01 Chapter 17 Purports - Punishment and Reward of Kali]]
[[Category:Srimad Bhagavatam, Canto 01 Purports]]
</div>
<div id="section">
<h2>Srimad-Bhagavatam</h2>
</div>
<div id="sub_section">
<h3>SB Canto 1</h3>
</div>
<div class="quote">
<div class="quote_heading">
A living being may forget all that he might have done in his past or present life, but one must know that in the same tree of the material body, the individual soul and the Supreme Soul as Paramātmā are sitting like two birds. One of them, the living being, is enjoying the fruits of the tree, whereas the Supreme Being is there to witness the activities. Therefore the Paramātmā feature, the Supreme Soul, is actually the witness of all activities of the living being, and only by His direction can the living being remember or forget what he might have done in the past.
</div>

<div class="quote_link">
[[Vanisource:SB 1.17.20|SB 1.17.20, Translation and Purport]]
</div>
<div class="quote_translation">
There are also some thinkers who believe that no one can ascertain the cause of distress by argumentation, nor know it by imagination, nor express it by words. O sage amongst kings, judge for yourself by thinking over all this with your own intelligence.
</div>
<div class="text">
The Vaiṣṇavites, the devotees of the Lord, do believe, as above explained, that nothing can take place without the sanction of the Supreme Lord. He is the supreme director, for He confirms in the Bhagavad-gītā ([[Vanisource:BG 15.15 (1972)|BG 15.15]]) that He, as all-pervading Paramātmā, stays in everyone's heart and keeps vigilance over all actions and witnesses all activities. The argument of the atheist that one cannot be punished for one's misdeeds unless proved before a qualified justice is refuted herein, for we accept the perpetual witness and constant companion of the living being. A living being may forget all that he might have done in his past or present life, but one must know that in the same tree of the material body, the individual soul and the Supreme Soul as Paramātmā are sitting like two birds. One of them, the living being, is enjoying the fruits of the tree, whereas the Supreme Being is there to witness the activities. Therefore the Paramātmā feature, the Supreme Soul, is actually the witness of all activities of the living being, and only by His direction can the living being remember or forget what he might have done in the past. He is, therefore, both the all-pervading impersonal Brahman and the localized Paramātmā in everyone's heart. He is the knower of all past, present and future, and nothing can be concealed from Him. The devotees know this truth, and therefore they discharge their duties sincerely, without being overly anxious for rewards. Besides that, one cannot estimate the Lord's reactions, either by speculation or by scholarship. Why does He put some into difficulty and not others? He is the supreme knower of the Vedic knowledge, and thus He is the factual Vedāntist. At the same time He is the compiler of the Vedānta. No one is independent of Him, and everyone is engaged in His service in different ways. In the conditioned state, such services are rendered by the living being under force of the material nature, whereas in the liberated state the living being is helped by the spiritual nature in the voluntary loving service of the Lord. There is no incongruity or inebriety in His actions. All are on the path of Absolute Truth. Bhīṣmadeva correctly estimated the inconceivable actions of the Lord. The conclusion is, therefore, that the sufferings of the representative of religion and the representative of the earth, as present before Mahārāja Parīkṣit, were planned to prove that Mahārāja Parīkṣit was the ideal executive head because he knew well how to give protection to the cows (the earth) and the brāhmaṇas (religious principles), the two pillars of spiritual advancement. Everyone is under the full control of the Lord. He is quite correct in His action when He desires something to be done by someone, irrespective of the consideration of the particular case. Mahārāja Parīkṣit was thus put to test for his greatness. Now let us see how he solves it by his sagacious mind.
</div>
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</div>

Life outside of a prison is certainly free from prison activities, but is not devoid of activity. The soul is by nature eternally active, but the impersonalists try to negate the activities of the soul in the spiritual realm

2022-07-17T02:58:51Z

Shaalini:

<div id="compilation">
<div id="facts">
{{terms|"Life outside of a prison is certainly free from prison activities, but is not devoid of activity. The soul is by nature eternally active, but the impersonalists try to negate the activities of the soul in the spiritual realm"}}
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{{compiler|Nabakumar}}
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[[Category:Life]]
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[[Category:Is Not]]
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[[Category:Nature]]
[[Category:Eternally]]
[[Category:Active]]
[[Category:Impersonalist]]
[[Category:Try To]]
[[Category:Negate]]
[[Category:Activities of the Soul]]
[[Category:Spiritual Realm]]
[[Category:Elevation to Krsna Consciousness Chapters 01 to 06]]
</div>
<div id="section">
<h2>Other Books by Srila Prabhupada</h2>
</div>
<div id="sub_section">
<h3>Elevation to Kṛṣṇa Consciousness</h3>
</div>
<div class="quote">
<div class="quote_heading">
The impersonal monists have no information of full-fledged independent life in the eternal spiritual realm. According to them, the spiritual realm is simply void. This is like prisoners thinking that there is no life outside the prison. Life outside of a prison is certainly free from prison activities, but is not devoid of activity. The soul is by nature eternally active, but the impersonalists try to negate the activities of the soul in the spiritual realm. Thus they misunderstand the miseries of prison life to be the pastimes of the Supreme Lord. This is due to their poor fund of knowledge.
</div>

<div class="quote_link">
[[Vanisource:EKC 2 Hard Struggle for Happiness|Elevation to Kṛṣṇa Consciousness, 2]]
</div>
<div class="text">
In the revealed scriptures the Supreme Lord is described as sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha (Bs. 5.1). Sat means eternal, cit means fully cognizant, ānanda means joyful, and vigraha means that He is a person. Thus the Lord, or the Supreme Godhead, who is one without a second, is a fully cognizant and eternally joyful personality with a full sense of His identity. No one is equal to Him or greater than Him. This is a concise description of the Supreme Lord.

The living entities (jīvas) are minute samples of the Supreme Lord, and being so they therefore find in their activities the desire for eternal existence, for complete knowledge, and for happiness. These desires are evident in human society, and in the upper planetary systems (Svargaloka, Janaloka, Tapoloka, Maharloka, Brahmaloka, etc.) the living entities enjoy a longer duration of life, an increased amount of knowledge, and a generally more blissful existence. But even in the highest planet in this material world, where the duration of life and standard of enjoyment are thousands and thousands of times greater than those on earth, there is still old age, disease and death. Consequently the level of enjoyment is insignificant in comparison to the eternal bliss enjoyed in the company of the Supreme Lord. Loving service to the Supreme Lord in different relationships makes even the enjoyment of impersonal Brahman as insignificant as a drop of water in comparison to the ocean.

Every living being desires the topmost level of enjoyment in this material world, and yet everyone is unhappy here. This unhappiness is present on all the higher planets, despite a longer life span, higher standards of enjoyment and comfort. That is due to the law of material nature. We can increase the duration of life and standard to the highest capacity, and yet by the law of material nature we will be unhappy. The reason for this is that the quality of happiness which is suitable for our constitution is different from the happiness which is derived from material activities. The living entity is a minute particle of the superior spiritual energy of the Lord, which is sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha (Bs. 5.1), and therefore he has the necessary propensity for joy which is spiritual in quality. Unfortunately for him, he is trying vainly to attain his enjoyment from the foreign atmosphere of material nature.

A fish that is taken out of the water cannot be happy by any arrangement on land. He must be supplied with water. In the same way, the minute sac-cid-ānanda living entity cannot be really happy through any amount of planning conceived by his illusioned brain in this material universe. He must therefore be given a different type of happiness which is spiritual in essence. Our ambition should be aimed at enjoying spiritual bliss and not this temporary happiness. Some philosophers claim that spiritual bliss is attained by negating material happiness and material existence. Theoretical negation of material activities as propounded by Śrīpāda Śaṅkarācārya may be effective for an insignificant section of mankind, but the best and surest way for everyone to attain spiritual bliss was propounded by Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu by means of devotional activities. These devotional activities can change the very face of material nature.

Hankering after material happiness is called lust, and lusty activities are sure to meet with frustration in the long run. The body of a snake is very cool, but if a man, wanting to enjoy this coolness, garlands himself with a venomous snake, he will surely be killed by the snake's venomous bite. The material senses are compared to snakes; indulgence in material happiness will surely kill our spiritual identity. Therefore a sane man should be ambitious to find the real source of happiness.

In order to find this source, however, we need some knowledge of what that happiness is. There is the story of the foolish man who had no experience with sugar cane. When he asked his friend about the characteristics of sugar cane, he was imperfectly informed that sugar cane resembles the shape of a bamboo stick. Consequently he began trying to extract juice from bamboo sticks, but naturally he was baffled in his attempts. This is the situation with the illusioned living entity who, in his search for eternal happiness, tries to extract happiness from this material world, which is not only full of miseries but is also transient and flickering. In Bhagavad-gītā ([[Vanisource:BG 8.16|8.16]]) the material world is described as being full of miseries:

<div class="quote_verse">
:ābrahma-bhuvanāl lokāḥ
:punar āvartino 'rjuna
:mām upetya tu kaunteya
:punar janma na vidyate
</div>

"From the highest planet in the material world, down to the lowest, all are places of misery, where repeated birth and death take place. But one who attains to My abode, O son of Kuntī, never takes birth again."

The ambition for happiness is natural and good, but the attempt to derive it from inert matter by so-called scientific arrangements is an illusory attempt doomed to frustration. Those who are befooled cannot understand this. How a person is driven by the lust for material happiness is also described in Bhagavad-gītā (16.13):

<div class="quote_verse">
:idam adya mayā labdham
:imaṁ prāpsye manoratham
:idam astīdam api me
:bhaviṣyati punar dhanam
</div>

"The demoniac person thinks: 'So much wealth do I have today, and I will gain more according to my schemes. So much is mine now, and it will increase in the future, more and more."

This atheistic or godless civilization is a huge affair contrived for the gratification of our senses, and now we are all mad after money in order to maintain this empty shell. Money is sought after by everyone because that is the medium of exchange for objects for sense gratification. Obviously the expectation of peace in such an atmosphere of gold rush pandemonium is a utopian dream. As long as there is the slightest tinge of sense gratification or desire for sense gratification, peace will remain far, far away. This is because by nature we are all eternal servants of the Supreme Lord and therefore cannot enjoy anything for our personal interests. It is therefore necessary for us to learn how to employ our senses in the transcendental service of the Lord, and to utilize everything to serve His interest. This alone can bring about much desired peace. A part of the body cannot in itself be independently happy. It can only derive its happiness and pleasure out of serving the entire body. The Supreme Lord is the whole, and we are the parts, but we are all busily engaged in activities of self-interest. No one is prepared to serve the Lord. This is the basic cause for our conditioning in material existence and for our resultant unhappiness.

From the highest executive in his skyscraper office down to the coolie in the street - all are working with the thought of accumulating wealth, legally or illegally. Actually it is all illegal, for to work for one's self-interest is both unlawful and destructive. Even the cultivation of spiritual realization for one's own self-interest is unlawful and destructive. The point is that all activities must be directed to the satisfaction of Kṛṣṇa and His service.

Those who are not engaged in the transcendental loving service of the Supreme Lord wrongfully think that they are accumulating so much money day after day(BG 16.12):

<div class="quote_verse">
:āśā-pāśa-śatair baddhāḥ
:kāma-krodha-parāyaṇāḥ
:īhante kāma-bhogārtham
:anyāyenārtha-sañcayān
</div>

"Being bound by hundreds and thousands of desires, by lust and anger, they secure money by illegal means for sense gratification."

Consequently, although there is no lack of money in the world, there is a scarcity of peace. So much human energy is being diverted to making money, for the general population has increased its capacity to make more and more dollars, but in the long run the result is that this unrestricted and unlawful monetary inflation has created a bad economy all over the world and has provoked us to manufacture huge and costly weapons to destroy the very result of such cheap money-making. The leaders of the big money-making countries are not really enjoying peace but are making plans to save themselves from imminent destruction by nuclear weapons. In fact, huge sums of money are being thrown into the sea by way of experiments with these dreadful weapons. Such experiments are being carried out not only at huge costs but also at the cost of many lives. In this way the nations are being bound by the laws of karma. When men are motivated by the impulse for sense gratification, whatever money is earned is spoiled, being spent for the destruction of the human race. The energy of the human race is thus wasted by the laws of nature because of man's aversion to the Lord, who is actually the proprietor of all energies.

Wealth is worshiped and is referred to as Mother Lakṣmī, or the goddess of fortune. It is her position to serve Lord Nārāyaṇa, the source of all the naras, or living beings. The naras are also meant to serve Nārāyaṇa under the guidance of the goddess of fortune. The living being cannot enjoy the goddess of fortune without serving Nārāyaṇa, and therefore whoever desires to enjoy her wrongly will be punished by the laws of nature. These laws will make certain that the money itself will bring about destruction instead of peace and prosperity.

Unlawfully accumulated money is now being snatched from miserly citizens by various methods of state taxation for the future civil and international war fund, which is spending money in a wasteful and destructive manner. The citizens are no longer satisfied with just enough money to maintain a family nicely and cultivate spiritual knowledge, both of which are essential in human life. Now everyone wants money unlimitedly to satisfy insatiable desires. In proportion to the people's unlawful desires, their accumulated money is taken away by the agents of illusory energy in the shape of medical practitioners, lawyers, tax collectors, societies, constitutions, so-called holy men, famines, earthquakes, and many similar calamities. One miser who hesitated to purchase a copy of Back to Godhead spent $2,000 for a week's supply of medicine and then died. Another man who refused to spend a cent for the service of the Lord wasted thousands of dollars in a legal suit between the members of his home. There are innumerable similar instances occasioned by the dictation of illusory nature. Indeed, that is the law of nature; if money is not devoted to the service of the Lord, it must be spent as spoiled energy in the form of legal problems or diseases. Foolish people do not have the eyes to see such facts; therefore the laws of the Supreme Lord befool them.

The laws of nature do not allow us to accept more money than is required for proper maintenance. There is ample arrangement by the law of nature to provide every living being with his due share of food and shelter, but the insatiable lusts of human beings have disturbed the arrangement set forth by the Almighty Father of all species of life. By the arrangement of the Supreme Lord, there is an ocean of salt because salt is so necessary for the living being. God has, in the same manner, arranged for sufficient air and light, which are also essential. Anyone can collect any amount of salt from the natural storehouse, but constitutionally we cannot take more salt than what we need. If we take more salt, we spoil the broth, and if we take less salt our food becomes tasteless. On the other hand, if we take only what we require, our food is tasty and we are healthy. Presently there is a great deal of concern over the fact that our natural resources are becoming polluted and exhausted. Actually there is ample supply, but due to misuse and greed everything is being spoiled. What conservationists and ecologists do not understand is that everything will continue to be spoiled by the insatiable lusts of mankind unless this Kṛṣṇa consciousness process is taken up. It is impossible to have peace on any platform of existence without Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

Man is therefore suffering due to his insatiable desires and lusts. Not only is man suffering, but the planet on which he resides, his mother earth, represented in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam by mother cow, is also suffering. Once a well-known swami in India was asked whether God or providence is responsible for the sufferings of humanity. The swami replied that these sufferings were all God's pastimes or līlā. The questioner continued to ask why a living entity should be put under the dictations of the law of karma. The swami could not answer these questions to the satisfaction of his inquirers. The monists and impersonalists who think only in terms of the oneness of the living entities with the Supreme Lord cannot give satisfactory answers to such questions. Such an imperfect reply can hardly satisfy the heart of a living entity.

The Lord is described in all scriptures as līlā-puruṣottama, or the Personality of Godhead, who is by His own nature always engaged in transcendental pastimes. In the Vedānta-sūtra He is also described as ānandamayo 'bhyāsāt (Vedānta-sūtra 1.1.12). The monists and impersonalists try with great difficulty to explain this sūtra in diverse ways in order to support their imperfect theory of oneness and impersonality. However, the fact remains that ānanda, pleasure, cannot be enjoyed alone. That variety is the mother of enjoyment is a well-known fact. Cities, for instance, are known to be attractive if they contain a variety of things. Living entities are naturally attracted by variety, by attractive streets, buildings, cinemas, parks, conveyances, businesses, employments, foodstuffs, etc. Despite all this variety, the English poet Cowper once said, "The city is made by man, but the country is made by God." The countryside is also full of natural variegatedness in a crude form, whereas in the city this variegatedness is displayed in a modernized scientific manner. Poets like Cowper are attracted to the variegatedness of the country, and prosaic people who live in the city are attracted by the colorful varieties manufactured by man. In any case, it is variegatedness which attracts people both to the country and the city. This is the proper explanation of the verse of the Vedānta-sūtra.

Many so-called swamis who are so frequently attracted by the cities often seek a kind of pleasure in society and feminine friendship. Generally they are not attracted by the natural beauty of the woods, although they may assume the dress of a man who is meant to live in the woods. Such swamis are seeking varieties of enjoyment in matter because they have no information of the variegatedness of spiritual life. On the one hand they enjoy variegatedness in matter, and on the other they deny spiritual variegatedness to the Absolute. Because they are pledged to the theory of monism and impersonalism, they deny that whatever pertains to matter can pertain also to spirit. According to them, spirit is the denial of matter. The fact is, however, that spirit is not a negation of matter, but matter is a perverted reflection of spirit.

The real pleasure of variety exists in spirit without deluding relativity. On the other hand, inert matter, in association with dynamic spirit, manifests a false representation or a perverted reflection of that very spiritual variegatedness which is so adamantly denied by the monist class of so-called swamis.

As stated before, the Supreme Lord is sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha (Bs. 5.1), joyful by nature, and therefore He expands Himself by His different energies, parts, and differentiated and plenary portions. The Supreme Lord is the Absolute Truth, and He is one without a second, but He also includes His diverse energies, parts, and plenary portions which are simultaneously one with and different from Him. Because He is joyful by nature, He expands Himself in diverse ways, and the activities of these expansions are called His transcendental pastimes or His līlā. These pastimes, however, are not blind and inert; they exhibit full sense, independence, and freedom of action and reaction. The complexities of the actions and the reactions of the diverse energies of the Absolute Truth constitute the subject matter of a vast science called the transcendental science of God, and the Bhagavad-gītā is the ABC or primary book of knowledge for students interested in that science. Every intelligent human being should become interested in this transcendental science; indeed, according to the opinions of the sages, human life is only meant for learning this science. The opening words of the Vedānta-sūtra proclaim: "Now is the time to inquire about Brahman."

Human life by nature is full of suffering, and lower life forms are even more miserable. Any sane man with properly discriminating senses can understand that life in the material world is full of miseries and that no one is free from the actions and reactions of such miseries. This is not a pessimistic view of life but is an actual fact which we should not be blind to. The miseries of life are divided into three categories, namely miseries arising from the body and mind, miseries arising from other living entities, and miseries arising due to natural calamities. A sane man must look to eliminate these miseries and thereby become happy in life. We are all trying to achieve peace and freedom from these miseries, at least unconsciously, and in the higher intellectual circles there are attempts to get rid of these miseries by ingenious plans and designs. But the power that baffles all the plans and designs of even the most intelligent person is the power of Māyā devī, or the illusory energy. The law of karma, or the result of all actions and reactions in the material world, is controlled by this all-powerful illusory energy. The activities of this energy function according to principles and regulations, and they act consciously under the direction of the Supreme Lord. Everything is done by nature in full consciousness; nothing is blind or accidental. This material energy is also called Durgā, which indicates that it is a force which is very difficult to surpass. No one can surpass the laws of Durgā by any amount of childish plans.

To get rid of the sufferings of humanity is simultaneously a very difficult and also a very easy affair. As long as the conditioned souls, who are themselves bound up by the laws of nature, manufacture plans to get rid of the three miseries, there will be no solution. The only effective solutions are those mentioned in Bhagavad-gītā, and we have to adopt them in our practical lives for our own benefit. The three miseries of material nature are not found in the pastimes of the Supreme Lord. As mentioned before, He is eternally joyful, and His transcendental pastimes are not different from Him. Because He is the Absolute Truth, His name, fame, form, qualities and pastimes are all identical with Him. His pastimes, therefore, cannot be equated with the sufferings of humanity as the so-called swami contends. The pastimes of the Supreme Lord are transcendental to the actual miseries and sufferings of human beings.

The sufferings of humanity are caused by the misuse of the discriminative power or the little independence which is given to individual souls. The fraudulent swamis or mental speculators, in order to remain consistent with the theory of monism, must pass off the miseries of mankind as the pastimes of God, but actually these miseries are only the enforced punishments of Māyā devī inflicted upon the misguided conditioned souls.

As living entities, we are part and parcel of the Supreme Lord. Indeed, we actually belong to His superior energy. As such, we may join His transcendental pastimes in our unconditioned state of life, but as long as we are conditioned by the laws of karma, in contact with the inferior energy, our sufferings are our own creations, born of a gross misuse of our little independence. The impersonalist monists only misguide people by contending that the threefold miseries are a part of the Lord's pastimes. Such impersonalists and monists have misguided their followers because they incorrectly think that the Supreme Lord and the individual souls are equal in all respects. True, the individual souls are equal in quality with the Supreme Lord, but not in quantity. If the individual soul were quantitatively equal to the Supreme Lord, he would have never been subjected to the laws of material nature. Material nature is subordinate to the will of the Supreme Lord, and therefore He cannot be subjected to the laws of material nature. It is contradictory for the Lord to be subjected to the laws of His own inferior energy ([[Vanisource:BG 7.7|BG 7.7]]):

<div class="quote_verse">
:mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat
:kiñcid asti dhanañjaya
:mayi sarvam idaṁ protaṁ
:sūtre maṇi-gaṇā iva
</div>

"O conqueror of wealth (Arjuna), there is no truth superior to Me. Everything rests upon Me, as pearls are strung on a thread."

Again, Śrī Kṛṣṇa states ([[Vanisource:BG 7.13|BG 7.13]]):

<div class="quote_verse">
:tribhir guṇamayair bhāvair
:ebhiḥ sarvam idaṁ jagat
:mohitaṁ nābhijānāti
:mām ebhyaḥ param avyayam
</div>

"Deluded by the three modes (goodness, passion, and ignorance), the whole world does not know Me who am above them and inexhaustible."

The individual souls, who are put into the miseries of the material world, are suffering the resultant reactions of their unsanctioned activities. This is the verdict of Bhagavad-gītā. ([[Vanisource:BG 16.19|BG 16.19]]):

<div class="quote_verse">
:tān ahaṁ dviṣataḥ krūrān
:saṁsāreṣu narādhamān
:kṣipāmy ajasram aśubhān
:āsurīṣv eva yoniṣu
</div>

"Envious, mischievous, the lowest of mankind, these do I ever put back into the ocean of material existence, into various demoniac species of life."

The parts and parcels are meant to serve the whole, and when they misuse their independence they are subject to the miseries of the laws of matter, just as criminals are subject to police action. The state considers its citizens to be its parts and parcels, and when a citizen misuses his relative independence, the state puts him under police authority. The life of a citizen outside the prison and the life of a citizen within the prison are not the same. Similarly, the sufferings of the living entities within the prison of material nature cannot be equated with the pastimes of the Supreme Lord which exist in the absolute freedom of sac-cid-ānanda.

No government wants its citizens to act in such a way that they must go to prison and suffer tribulations. The prison house is undoubtedly constructed by the state government, but this does not mean that the government is anxious for its citizens to be put into it. Indirectly, the disobedient citizens force the government to construct the prison house. It is not done for the pleasure of the government, which has to spend a great deal of money in constructing and maintaining it. On the contrary, the government would be very glad to demolish prisons altogether provided that there are no disobedient citizens in the state. In the same way, this material world is created by the Supreme Lord, but the Supreme Lord does not will that living entities be put in it. The living entities themselves make that decision. The residents of this material world are therefore different from those who are eternally engaged in the transcendental pastimes of the Supreme Lord.

The impersonal monists have no information of full-fledged independent life in the eternal spiritual realm. According to them, the spiritual realm is simply void. This is like prisoners thinking that there is no life outside the prison. Life outside of a prison is certainly free from prison activities, but is not devoid of activity. The soul is by nature eternally active, but the impersonalists try to negate the activities of the soul in the spiritual realm. Thus they misunderstand the miseries of prison life to be the pastimes of the Supreme Lord. This is due to their poor fund of knowledge.

The Supreme Lord never creates the actions and reactions of an individual soul. In Bhagavad-gītā ([[Vanisource:BG 5.14|5.14-15]]) this matter is clearly defined in the following way:

<div class="quote_verse">
:na kartṛtvaṁ na karmāṇi
:lokasya sṛjati prabhuḥ
:na karma-phala-saṁyogaṁ
:svabhāvas tu pravartate
</div>

:nādatte kasyacit pāpaṁ

<div class="quote_verse">
:na caiva sukṛtaṁ vibhuḥ
:ajñānenāvṛtaṁ jñānaṁ
:tena muhyanti jantavaḥ
</div>

"The embodied spirit, master of the city of his body, does not create activities, nor does he induce people to act, nor does he create the fruits of action. All this is enacted by the modes of material nature. Nor does the Supreme Spirit assume anyone's sinful or pious activities. Embodied beings, however, are bewildered because of the ignorance which covers their real knowledge."

It is clear from these passages that the sufferings of humanity are not to be equated with the pastimes of the Supreme Being, nor is the Supreme Being responsible for them. The Lord is never responsible for anyone's vices or virtues. By vicious actions, we are put into more and more distressful conditions, whereas by pious actions we place ourselves on the path of happiness. Thus man is the architect of his own material distress or happiness. The Lord does not want the living entity to become entangled in the reactions of activities, be they good or bad. He simply wants everyone to go back home, back to Godhead. As long as we are not awakened to our pure eternal relation with God, we are certainly bewildered in our actions. Our actions, in respect to right and wrong, are all performed on the platform of ignorance. We must rise to the platform of pure knowledge, which is the pure realization that we are the eternal servitors of the Supreme Lord and enjoyers of His transcendental pastimes. The Supreme Lord is the master-enjoyer of those pastimes, and we are the servitor-enjoyers.

Transcendental knowledge is only attainable by transcendental devotional service, as described in Bhagavad-gītā ([[Vanisource:BG 10.10|10.10]]):

<div class="quote_verse">
:teṣāṁ satata-yuktānāṁ
:bhajatāṁ prīti-pūrvakam
:dadāmi buddhi-yogaṁ taṁ
:yena mam upayānti te
</div>

"To those who are constantly devoted and worship Me with love, I give the understanding by which they can come to Me."

By rendering such devotional service only, and not by merely acquiring a bulk of discriminative knowledge, can we know the Supreme Lord as He is. When we know the Personality of Godhead in reality, we can then enter into His pastimes. That is the verdict of all revealed scriptures.
</div>
</div>
</div>

Just as aromas are distinct from the material vehicle in which they are carried, the soul is unattached to material activities. This analysis can be considered by a person who is fully under the shelter of the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord

2022-07-09T09:38:10Z

Shaalini:

<div id="compilation">
<div id="facts">
{{terms|"Just as aromas are distinct from the material vehicle in which they are carried, the soul is unattached to material activities. This analysis can be considered by a person who is fully under the shelter of the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord"}}
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[[Category:Srimad-Bhagavatam, Canto 07 Chapter 07 Purports - What Prahlada Learned in the Womb]]
[[Category:Srimad Bhagavatam, Canto 07 Purports]]
</div>
<div id="section">
<h2>Srimad-Bhagavatam</h2>
</div>
<div id="sub_section">
<h3>SB Canto 7</h3>
</div>
<div class="quote">
<div class="quote_heading">
Actually, the activities of the body are not the activities of the soul. The soul is different from the body. Just as aromas are distinct from the material vehicle in which they are carried, the soul is unattached to material activities. This analysis can be considered by a person who is fully under the shelter of the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord. This is confirmed by the Vedic injunction yasmin vijñāte sarvam evaṁ vijñātaṁ bhavati (Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad 1.3).
</div>

<div class="quote_link">
[[Vanisource:SB 7.7.26|SB 7.7.26, Translation and Purport]]
</div>
<div class="quote_translation">
As one can understand the presence of the air by the aromas it carries, so, under the guidance of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one can understand the living soul by these three divisions of intelligence. These three divisions, however, are not the soul; they are constituted of the three modes and are born of activities.
</div>
<div class="text">
As already explained, there are three states to our existence, namely wakefulness, dreaming and deep sleep. In all three states, we have different experiences. Thus the soul is the observer of these three states. Actually, the activities of the body are not the activities of the soul. The soul is different from the body. Just as aromas are distinct from the material vehicle in which they are carried, the soul is unattached to material activities. This analysis can be considered by a person who is fully under the shelter of the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord. This is confirmed by the Vedic injunction yasmin vijñāte sarvam evaṁ vijñātaṁ bhavati (Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad 1.3). If one can understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one can automatically understand everything else. Because of not taking shelter of the Lord's lotus feet, even great scholars, scientists, philosophers and religionists are always bewildered. This is confirmed in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam ([[Vanisource:SB 10.2.32|SB 10.2.32]]):

<div class="quote_verse">
:ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas
:tvayy asta-bhāvād aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ
</div>

Even though one may artificially think himself liberated from material contamination, if he has not taken shelter of the Lord's lotus feet his intelligence is polluted. As stated in Bhagavad-gītā ([[Vanisource:BG 3.42 (1972)|BG 3.42]]):

<div class="quote_verse">
:indriyāṇi parāṇy āhur
:indriyebhyaḥ paraṁ manaḥ
:manasas tu parā buddhir
:yo buddheḥ paratas tu saḥ
</div>

Above the senses is the mind, above the mind is the intelligence, and above the intelligence is the soul. Ultimately, when one's intelligence becomes clear through devotional service, one is situated in buddhi-yoga. This also is explained in Bhagavad-gītā ([[Vanisource:BG 10.10 (1972)|10.10]] dadāmi buddhi-yogaṁ taṁ yena mām upayānti te). When devotional service develops and one's intelligence becomes clear, one can use his intelligence to return home, back to Godhead.
</div>
</div>
</div>

I (Prabhupada) sincerely hope that by understanding the teachings of Lord Caitanya presented in this book, Sri CC, human society will experience a new light of spiritual life, which will open the field of activity for the pure soul - CC Preface

2022-07-09T09:37:58Z

Shaalini:

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{{terms|"I sincerely hope that by understanding the teachings of Lord Caitanya presented in this book, Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, human society will experience a new light of spiritual life, which will open the field of activity for the pure soul"}}
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[[Category:Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Preface]]
[[Category:Sri Caitanya-caritamrta - 62 Chapters]]
[[Category:Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi-lila 17 Chapters]]
</div>
<div id="section">
<h2>Sri Caitanya-caritamrta</h2>
</div>
<div id="sub_section">
<h3>CC Preface and Introduction</h3>
</div>
<div class="quote">
<div class="quote_heading">
As long as one is engaged in fruitive activity, one is sure to be baffled in the attempt to attain the ultimate goal of life. I sincerely hope that by understanding the teachings of Lord Caitanya presented in this book, Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, human society will experience a new light of spiritual life, which will open the field of activity for the pure soul.
</div>

<div class="quote_link">
[[Vanisource:CC Preface|CC Preface]]
</div>
<div class="text">
There is no difference between the teachings of Lord Caitanya presented here and the teachings of Lord Kṛṣṇa in the Bhagavad-gītā. The teachings of Lord Caitanya are practical demonstrations of Lord Kṛṣṇa’s teachings. Lord Kṛṣṇa’s ultimate instruction in the Bhagavad-gītā is that everyone should surrender unto Him, Lord Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa promises to take immediate charge of such a surrendered soul. The Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is already in charge of the maintenance of this creation by virtue of His plenary expansion, Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, but this maintenance is not direct. However, when the Lord says that He takes charge of His pure devotee, He actually takes direct charge. A pure devotee is a soul who is forever surrendered to the Lord, just as a child is surrendered to his parents or an animal to its master. In the surrendering process, one should (1) accept things favorable for discharging devotional service, (2) reject things unfavorable, (3) always believe firmly in the Lord’s protection, (4) feel exclusively dependent on the mercy of the Lord, (5) have no interest separate from the interest of the Lord, and (6) always feel oneself meek and humble.

The Lord demands that one surrender unto Him by following these six guidelines, but the unintelligent so-called scholars of the world misunderstand these demands and urge the general mass of people to reject them. At the conclusion of the Ninth Chapter of the Bhagavad-gītā, Lord Kṛṣṇa directly orders, “Always think of Me, become My devotee, worship Me alone, and offer obeisances unto Me alone.” By so doing, the Lord says, one is sure to go to Him in His transcendental abode. But the scholarly demons misguide the masses of people by directing them to surrender not to the Personality of Godhead but rather to the impersonal, unmanifested, eternal, unborn truth. The impersonalist Māyāvādī philosophers do not accept that the ultimate aspect of the Absolute Truth is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. If one desires to understand the sun as it is, one must first face the sunshine and then the sun globe, and then, if one is able to enter into that globe, one may come face to face with the predominating deity of the sun. Due to a poor fund of knowledge, the Māyāvādī philosophers cannot go beyond the Brahman effulgence, which may be compared to the sunshine. The Upaniṣads confirm that one has to penetrate the dazzling effulgence of Brahman before one can see the real face of the Personality of Godhead.

Lord Caitanya therefore teaches direct worship of Lord Kṛṣṇa, who appeared as the foster child of the King of Vraja. He also teaches that the place known as Vṛndāvana is as good as Lord Kṛṣṇa because, Lord Kṛṣṇa being the Absolute Truth, there is no difference between Him and His name, qualities, form, pastimes, entourage and paraphernalia. That is the absolute nature of the Personality of Godhead. Lord Caitanya also teaches that the highest mode of worship in the highest perfectional stage is the method practiced by the damsels of Vraja. These damsels (gopīs, or cowherd girls) simply loved Kṛṣṇa without any motive for material or spiritual gain. Lord Caitanya also teaches that Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the spotless narration of transcendental knowledge and that the highest goal in human life is to develop unalloyed love for Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Lord Caitanya’s teachings are identical to those given by Lord Kapila, the original propounder of sāṅkhya-yoga, the sāṅkhya system of philosophy. This authorized system of yoga teaches meditation on the transcendental form of the Lord. There is no question of meditating on something void or impersonal. When one can meditate on the transcendental form of Lord Viṣṇu even without practicing involved sitting postures, such meditation is called perfect samādhi. That this kind of meditation is perfect samādhi is confirmed at the end of the Sixth Chapter of the Bhagavad-gītā, where Lord Kṛṣṇa says that of all yogīs, the greatest is the one who constantly thinks of the Lord within the core of his heart with love and devotion.

On the basis of the sāṅkhya philosophy of acintya-bhedābheda-tattva, which maintains that the Supreme Lord is simultaneously one with and different from His creation, Lord Caitanya taught that the most practical way for the mass of people to practice sānkhya-yoga meditation is simply to chant the holy name of the Lord. He taught that the holy name of the Lord is the sound incarnation of the Lord and that since the Lord is the absolute whole, there is no difference between His holy name and His transcendental form. Thus by chanting the holy name of the Lord one can directly associate with the Supreme Lord by sound vibration. As one practices chanting this sound vibration, one passes through three stages of development: the offensive stage, the clearing stage and the transcendental stage. In the offensive stage of chanting one may desire all kinds of material happiness, but in the second stage one becomes clear of all material contamination. When one is situated on the transcendental stage, one attains the most coveted position—the stage of loving God. Lord Caitanya taught that this is the highest stage of perfection for human beings.

Yoga practice is essentially meant for controlling the senses. The central controlling factor of all the senses is the mind; therefore one first has to practice controlling the mind by engaging it in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. The gross activities of the mind are expressed through the external senses, either for the acquisition of knowledge or for the functioning of the senses in accordance with the will. The subtle activities of the mind are thinking, feeling and willing, which are carried out according to one’s consciousness, either polluted or clear. If one’s mind is fixed on Kṛṣṇa (His name, qualities, form, pastimes, entourage and paraphernalia), all one’s activities—both subtle and gross—become favorable. The Bhagavad-gītā’s process of purifying consciousness is the process of fixing one’s mind on Kṛṣṇa by talking of His transcendental activities, cleansing His temple, going to His temple, seeing the beautiful transcendental form of the Lord nicely decorated, hearing His transcendental glories, tasting food offered to Him, associating with His devotees, smelling the flowers and tulasī leaves offered to Him, engaging in activities for the Lord’s interest, becoming angry at those who are malicious toward devotees, etc. No one can bring the activities of the mind and senses to a stop, but one can purify these activities through a change in consciousness. This change is indicated in the Bhagavad-gītā ([[Vanisource:BG 2.39 (1972)|BG 2.39]]), where Kṛṣṇa tells Arjuna of the knowledge of yoga whereby one can work without fruitive results: “O son of Pṛthā, when you act in such knowledge you can free yourself from the bondage of works.” A human being is sometimes restricted in sense gratification due to certain circumstances, such as disease, but such proscriptions are for the less intelligent. Without knowing the actual process by which the mind and senses can be controlled, less intelligent men may try to stop the mind and senses by force, but ultimately they give in to them and are carried away by the waves of sense gratification.

The eight principles of sāṅkhya-yoga—observing the regulative principles, following the rules, practicing the various sitting postures, performing the breathing exercises, withdrawing one’s senses from the sense objects, etc.—are meant for those who are too much engrossed in the bodily conception of life. The intelligent man situated in Kṛṣṇa consciousness does not try to forcibly stop his senses from acting. Rather, he engages his senses in the service of Kṛṣṇa. No one can stop a child from playing by leaving him inactive; rather, the child can be stopped from engaging in nonsense by being engaged in superior activities. Similarly, the forceful restraint of sense activities by the eight principles of yoga is recommended for inferior men; superior men, being engaged in the superior activities of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, naturally retire from the inferior activities of material existence.

In this way Lord Caitanya teaches the science of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That science is absolute. Dry mental speculators try to restrain themselves from material attachment, but it is generally found that the mind is too strong to be controlled and that it drags them down to sensual activities. A person in Kṛṣṇa consciousness does not run this risk. One therefore has to engage one’s mind and senses in Kṛṣṇa conscious activities, and Lord Caitanya teaches one how to do this in practice.

Before accepting sannyāsa (the renounced order), Lord Caitanya was known as Viśvambhara. The word viśvambhara refers to one who maintains the entire universe and who leads all living entities. This maintainer and leader appeared as Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya to give humanity these sublime teachings. Lord Caitanya is the ideal teacher of life’s prime necessities. He is the most munificent bestower of love of Kṛṣṇa. He is the complete reservoir of all mercies and good fortune. As confirmed in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the Bhagavad-gītā, the Mahābhārata and the Upaniṣads, He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa Himself, and He is worshipable by everyone in this age of disagreement. Everyone can join in His saṅkīrtana movement. No previous qualification is necessary. Just by following His teachings, anyone can become a perfect human being. If a person is fortunate enough to be attracted by Lord Caitanya, he is sure to be successful in his life’s mission. In other words, those who are interested in attaining spiritual existence can easily be released from the clutches of māyā by the grace of Lord Caitanya. The teachings presented in this book are nondifferent from the Lord.

The conditioned soul, engrossed in the material body, increases the pages of history by all kinds of material activities. The teachings of Lord Caitanya can help the members of human society stop such unnecessary and temporary activities and be elevated to the topmost platform of spiritual activities, which begin after liberation from material bondage. Such liberated activities in Kṛṣṇa consciousness constitute the goal of human perfection. The false prestige one acquires by attempting to dominate material nature is illusory. Illuminating knowledge can be acquired by studying the teachings of Lord Caitanya, and by such knowledge one can advance in spiritual existence.

Everyone has to suffer or enjoy the fruits of his activity; no one can check the laws of material nature that govern such things. As long as one is engaged in fruitive activity, one is sure to be baffled in the attempt to attain the ultimate goal of life. I sincerely hope that by understanding the teachings of Lord Caitanya presented in this book, Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, human society will experience a new light of spiritual life, which will open the field of activity for the pure soul.
</div><div class="center">

oṁ tat sat

</div><div style="text-align: right;">

:A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
:March 14, 1968
:The Birthday of Lord Caitanya
:Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa Temple
:New York, N.Y.
</div>
</div>
</div>

Liberated souls have no interest in materialistic activities

2022-07-09T09:37:35Z

Shaalini:

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<div id="facts">
{{terms|"Liberated souls have no interest in materialistic activities"}}
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[[Category:Liberated Souls]]
[[Category:Have No]]
[[Category:Not Interested]]
[[Category:Materialistic Activities]]
[[Category:Activities of the Soul]]
[[Category:Krsna Book Introduction]]
[[Category:Krsna Book Chapters 01 to 90]]
</div>
<div id="section">
<h2>Other Books by Srila Prabhupada</h2>
</div>
<div id="sub_section">
<h3>Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead</h3>
</div>
<div class="quote">
<div class="quote_heading">
Liberated souls have no interest in materialistic activities. The impersonalist theory that after liberation one becomes inactive and need not hear anything does not prove that a liberated person is actually inactive. A living soul cannot be inactive.
</div>

<div class="quote_link">
[[Vanisource:KB Introduction|KB Introduction]]
</div>
<div class="text">
The family in which Kṛṣṇa appeared is called the Yadu dynasty. This Yadu dynasty belongs to the family descending from Soma, the god in the moon planet. There are two different kṣatriya families of the royal order, one descending from the king of the moon planet and the other descending from the king of the sun planet. When the Supreme Personality of Godhead appears, He generally appears in a kṣatriya family because He has to establish religious principles, or the life of righteousness. The kṣatriya family is the protector of the human race, according to the Vedic system. When the Supreme Personality of Godhead appeared as Lord Rāmacandra, He appeared in the family descending from the sun-god, known as the Raghu-vaṁśa; and when He appeared as Lord Kṛṣṇa, He did so in the family known as the Yadu-vaṁśa. There is a long list of the kings of the Yadu-vaṁśa in the Ninth Canto, Twenty-fourth Chapter, of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. All of them were great, powerful kings. Kṛṣṇa’s father’s name was Vasudeva, son of Śūrasena, descending from the Yadu dynasty. Actually, the Supreme Personality of Godhead does not belong to any dynasty of this material world, but the family in which the Supreme Personality of Godhead appears becomes famous, by His grace. For example, sandalwood is produced in the states of Malaya. Sandalwood has its own qualifications apart from Malaya, but because accidentally this wood is mainly produced in the states of Malaya, it is known as Malayan sandalwood. Similarly, Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, belongs to everyone, but just as the sun rises from the east, although there are other directions from which it could rise, so by His own choice the Lord appears in a particular family, and that family becomes famous.

As explained above, when Kṛṣṇa appears, all His plenary expansions appear with Him. Kṛṣṇa appeared along with Balarāma (Baladeva), who is known as His elder brother. Balarāma is the origin of Saṅkarṣaṇa, of the quadruple expansion. Balarāma is also the plenary expansion of Kṛṣṇa. In this book, the attempt will be made to show how Kṛṣṇa appeared in the family of the Yadu dynasty and how He displayed His transcendental characteristics. This is very vividly described in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam—specifically, the Tenth Canto—and thus the basis of this book will be the Tenth Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

The pastimes of the Lord are generally heard and relished by liberated souls. Those who are conditioned souls are interested in reading stories of the material activities of some common man. Although similar narrations describing the transcendental activities of the Lord are found in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and other Purāṇas, the conditioned souls still prefer to study ordinary narrations. They are not so interested in studying the narrations of the pastimes of the Lord, Kṛṣṇa. And yet the descriptions or the pastimes of Lord Kṛṣṇa are so attractive that they are relishable for all classes of men. There are three classes of men in this world. One class consists of liberated souls, another consists of those who are trying to be liberated, and the third consists of materialistic men. Whether one is liberated or is trying to be liberated, or is even grossly materialistic, the pastimes of Lord Kṛṣṇa are worth studying.

Liberated souls have no interest in materialistic activities. The impersonalist theory that after liberation one becomes inactive and need not hear anything does not prove that a liberated person is actually inactive. A living soul cannot be inactive. He is active either in the conditioned state or in the liberated state. A diseased person, for example, is also active, but his activities are all painful. The same person, when freed from the diseased condition, is still active, but in the healthy condition the activities are full of pleasure. Similarly, the impersonalists only seek to get free from the diseased, conditioned activities, but they have no information of activities in the healthy condition. Those who are actually liberated and in full knowledge take to hearing the activities of Kṛṣṇa; such engagement is pure spiritual activity.

It is essential for persons who are actually liberated to hear about the pastimes of Kṛṣṇa. That is the supreme relishable subject matter for one in the liberated state. Also, if persons who are trying to be liberated hear such narrations as the Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, then their path of liberation becomes very clear. The Bhagavad-gītā is the preliminary study of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. By studying the Gītā, one becomes fully conscious of the position of Lord Kṛṣṇa; and when he is situated at the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, he understands the narrations of Kṛṣṇa as described in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Lord Caitanya has therefore advised His followers that their business is to propagate kṛṣṇa-kathā.
</div>
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It is stated in Bhagavad-gita (BG 3.27): "The bewildered spirit soul, under the influence of the three modes of material nature, thinks himself the doer of activities that are in actuality carried out by nature"

2022-07-09T03:58:22Z

Shaalini:

It is only after many, many births of sense gratificatory activities that a great soul surrenders unto Vasudeva, Lord Krsna, thereby fulfilling the search after the ultimate truth. BG 1972 purports

2022-07-09T03:58:10Z

Shaalini:

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{{terms|"it is only after many, many births of such sense gratificatory activities that a great soul surrenders unto Vāsudeva, Lord Kṛṣṇa, thereby fulfilling the search after the ultimate truth"}}
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[[Category:Many, Many Births]]
[[Category:Sense Gratification]]
[[Category:Activities]]
[[Category:Great Souls]]
[[Category:Surrendering to Krsna]]
[[Category:Krsna Is Lord Vasudeva]]
[[Category:Fulfill]]
[[Category:Searching]]
[[Category:Ultimate Truth]]
[[Category:Activities of the Soul]]
[[Category:Bhagavad-gita As It Is - 1972 Purports, Chapter 02 - Vaniquotes]]
[[Category:Bhagavad-gita As It Is - 1972 Purports, Chapters 01 to 18 - Vaniquotes]]
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<div id="section">
<h2>Bhagavad-gita As it is</h2>
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<div id="sub_section">
<h3>BG Chapters 1 - 6</h3>
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<div class="quote">
<div class="quote_heading">
The description in the Vedas indicates that the Lord glanced over the prakṛti, or nature, and impregnated it with atomic individuals souls. All these individuals are working in the material world for sense gratification, and under the spell of material energy they are thinking of being enjoyers. This mentality is dragged to the last point of liberation when the living entity wants to become one with the Lord. This is the last snare of māyā or sense gratificatory illusion, and it is only after many, many births of such sense gratificatory activities that a great soul surrenders unto Vāsudeva, Lord Kṛṣṇa, thereby fulfilling the search after the ultimate truth.
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<div class="quote_link">
[[Vanisource:BG 2.39 (1972)|BG 2.39 (1972), Translation and Purport]]
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<div class="quote_translation">
Thus far I have declared to you the analytical knowledge of sāṅkhya philosophy. Now listen to the knowledge of yoga whereby one works without fruitive result. O son of Pṛthā, when you act by such intelligence, you can free yourself from the bondage of works.
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<div class="text">
According to the Nirukti, or the Vedic dictionary, saṅkhya means that which describes phenomena in detail, and saṅkhya refers to that philosophy which describes the real nature of the soul. And yoga involves controlling the senses. Arjuna's proposal not to fight was based on sense gratification. Forgetting his prime duty, he wanted to cease fighting because he thought that by not killing his relatives and kinsmen he would be happier than by enjoying the kingdom by conquering his cousins and brothers, the sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra. In both ways, the basic principles were for sense gratification. Happiness derived from conquering them and happiness derived by seeing kinsmen alive are both on the basis of personal sense gratification, for there is a sacrifice of wisdom and duty. Kṛṣṇa, therefore, wanted to explain to Arjuna that by killing the body of his grandfather he would not be killing the soul proper, and He explained that all individual persons, including the Lord Himself, are eternal individuals; they were individuals in the past, they are individuals in the present, and they will continue to remain individuals in the future, because all of us are individual souls eternally, and we simply change our bodily dress in different manners. But, actually, we keep our individuality even after liberation from the bondage of material dress. An analytical study of the soul and the body has been very graphically explained by Lord Kṛṣṇa. And this descriptive knowledge of the soul and the body from different angles of vision has been described here as sāṅkhya, in terms of the Nirukti dictionary. This sāṅkhya has nothing to do with the sāṅkhya philosophy of the atheist Kapila. Long before the imposter Kapila's sāṅkhya, the sāṅkhya philosophy was expounded in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam by the true Lord Kapila, the incarnation of Lord Kṛṣṇa, who explained it to His mother, Devahūti. It is clearly explained by Him that the Puruṣa, or the Supreme Lord, is active and that He creates by looking over the prakṛti. This is accepted in the Vedas and in the Gītā. The description in the Vedas indicates that the Lord glanced over the prakṛti, or nature, and impregnated it with atomic individuals souls. All these individuals are working in the material world for sense gratification, and under the spell of material energy they are thinking of being enjoyers. This mentality is dragged to the last point of liberation when the living entity wants to become one with the Lord. This is the last snare of māyā or sense gratificatory illusion, and it is only after many, many births of such sense gratificatory activities that a great soul surrenders unto Vāsudeva, Lord Kṛṣṇa, thereby fulfilling the search after the ultimate truth.

Arjuna has already accepted Kṛṣṇa as his spiritual master by surrendering himself unto Him: śiṣyas te 'haṁ śādhi māṁ tvāṁ prapannam. Consequently, Kṛṣṇa will now tell him about the working process in buddhi-yoga, or karma-yoga, or in other words, the practice of devotional service only for the sense gratification of the Lord. This buddhi-yoga is clearly explained in Chapter Ten, verse ten, as being direct communion with the Lord, who is sitting as Paramātmā in everyone's heart. But such communion does not take place without devotional service. One who is therefore situated in devotional or transcendental loving service to the Lord, or, in other words, in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, attains to this stage of buddhi-yoga by the special grace of the Lord. The Lord says, therefore, that only to those who are always engaged in devotional service out of transcendental love does He award the pure knowledge of devotion in love. In that way the devotee can reach Him easily in the ever-blissful kingdom of God.

Thus the buddhi-yoga mentioned in this verse is the devotional service of the Lord, and the word sāṅkhya mentioned herein has nothing to do with the atheistic sāṅkhya-yoga enunciated by the impostor Kapila. One should not, therefore, misunderstand that the sāṅkhya-yoga mentioned herein has any connection with the atheistic sāṅkhya. Nor did that philosophy have any influence during that time; nor would Lord Kṛṣṇa care to mention such godless philosophical speculations. Real sāṅkhya philosophy is described by Lord Kapila in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, but even that sāṅkhya has nothing to do with the current topics. Here, sāṅkhya means analytical description of the body and the soul. Lord Kṛṣṇa made an analytical description of the soul just to bring Arjuna to the point of buddhi-yoga, or bhakti-yoga. Therefore, Lord Kṛṣṇa's sāṅkhya and Lord Kapila's sāṅkhya, as described in the Bhāgavatam; are one and the same. They are all bhakti-yoga. He said, therefore, that only the less intelligent class of men make a distinction between sāṅkhya-yoga and bhakti-yoga.

Of course, atheistic sāṅkhya-yoga has nothing to do with bhakti-yoga, yet the unintelligent claim that the atheistic sāṅkhya-yoga is referred to in the Bhagavad-gītā.

One should therefore understand that buddhi-yoga means to work in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, in the full bliss and knowledge of devotional service. One who works for the satisfaction of the Lord only, however difficult such work may be, is working under the principles of buddhi-yoga and finds himself always in transcendental bliss. By such transcendental engagement, one achieves all transcendental qualities automatically, by the grace of the Lord, and thus his liberation is complete in itself, without his making extraneous endeavors to acquire knowledge. There is much difference between work in Kṛṣṇa consciousness and work for fruitive results, especially in the matter of sense gratification for achieving results in terms of family or material happiness. Buddhi-yoga is therefore the transcendental quality of the work that we perform.
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It has been seen that great mayavadi (impersonalist) sannyasis - very highly educated and almost realized souls - may sometimes take to political activities or to social welfare activities

2022-07-09T03:58:00Z

Shaalini:

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{{terms|"It has been seen that great māyāvādī (impersonalist) sannyāsīs—very highly educated and almost realized souls—may sometimes take to political activities or to social welfare activities"}}
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[[Category:Activities of the Soul]]
[[Category:The Nectar of Devotion Chapter 01 - Characteristics of Pure Devotional Service]]
[[Category:The Nectar of Devotion Chapters 01 to 51]]
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<div id="section">
<h2>Other Books by Srila Prabhupada</h2>
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<div id="sub_section">
<h3>Nectar of Devotion</h3>
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<div class="quote">
<div class="quote_heading">
It has been seen that great māyāvādī (impersonalist) sannyāsīs—very highly educated and almost realized souls—may sometimes take to political activities or to social welfare activities. The reason is that they actually do not derive any ultimate transcendental happiness in the impersonal understanding and therefore must come down to the material platform and take to such mundane affairs.
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[[Vanisource:NOD 1 (1970)|Nectar of Devotion, 1]]
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<div class="text">
'''Happiness in Kṛṣṇa Consciousness'''

Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī has analyzed the different sources of happiness. He has divided happiness into three categories, which are: 1) happiness derived from material enjoyment, 2) happiness derived by identifying oneself with the Supreme Brahman, and 3) happiness derived from Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

In the Tantra-śāstra Lord Śiva speaks to his wife, Satī, in this way: "My dear wife, a person who has surrendered himself at the lotus feet of Govinda and who has thus developed pure Kṛṣṇa consciousness can be very easily awarded all the perfections desired by the impersonalists; and beyond this, he can enjoy the happiness achieved by the pure devotees."

Happiness derived from pure devotional service is the highest because it is eternal. But the happiness derived from material perfection or understanding oneself to be Brahman is inferior because it is temporary. There is no preventing one's falling down from material happiness, and there is even every chance of falling down from the spiritual happiness derived out of identifying oneself with the impersonal Brahman.

It has been seen that great māyāvādī (impersonalist) sannyāsīs—very highly educated and almost realized souls—may sometimes take to political activities or to social welfare activities. The reason is that they actually do not derive any ultimate transcendental happiness in the impersonal understanding and therefore must come down to the material platform and take to such mundane affairs. There are many instances, especially in India, where these māyāvādī sannyāsīs descend to the material platform again. But a person who is fully in Kṛṣṇa consciousness will never return to any sort of material platform. However alluring and attracting they may be, he always knows that no material welfare activities can be compared with the spiritual activity of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

The mystic perfections achieved by actually successful yogīs are eight in number. Aṇimā-siddhi refers to the power by which one can become so small that he can enter into a stone. Modern scientific improvements also enable us to enter into stone because they provide for excavating so many subways, penetrating the hills, etc. So, aṇimā-siddhi, the mystic perfection of trying to enter into stone, has also been achieved by material science. Similarly, all of the yoga-siddhis, or perfections, are material arts. For example, in one yoga-siddhi there is development of the power to become so light that one can float in the air or on water. That is also being performed by modern scientists. They are flying in the air, they are floating on the surface of the water, and they are traveling under the water.

After comparing all these mystic yoga-siddhis to materialistic perfections it is found that the materialistic scientists try for the same perfections. So actually there is no difference between mystic perfection and materialistic perfection. A German scholar once said that the so-called yoga perfections have already been achieved by the modern scientists, and so he was not concerned with them. He intelligently went to India to learn how he could understand his eternal relationship with the Supreme Lord by means of bhakti-yoga, devotional service.

Of course, in the categories of mystic perfection there are certain processes which the material scientists have not yet been able to develop. For instance, a mystic yogī can enter into the sun planet simply by using the rays of the sunshine. This perfection is called laghimā. Similarly, a yogī can touch the moon with his finger. Though the modern astronauts go to the moon with the help of spaceships, they undergo many difficulties, whereas a person with mystic perfection can extend his hand and touch the moon with his finger. This siddhi is called prāpti, or acquisition. With this prāpti-siddhi, the perfect mystic yogī can not only touch the moon planet, but he can extend his hand anywhere and take whatever he likes. He may be sitting thousands of miles away from a certain place, and if he likes he can take fruit from a garden there. This is prāpti-siddhi.
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In this material body, at the present moment the living soul is acting, and when the material body, due to its incapability to function, ceases, he also ceases to perform his reactionary activities

2022-07-09T03:57:19Z

Shaalini:

<div id="compilation">
<div id="facts">
{{terms|"in this material body, at the present moment the living soul is acting, and when the material body, due to its incapability to function, ceases, he also ceases to perform his reactionary activities"}}
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{{compiler|SharmisthaK}}
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[[Category:Material Body]]
[[Category:At the Present Moment]]
[[Category:Living Soul]]
[[Category:Act]]
[[Category:When]]
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[[Category:Incapable]]
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[[Category:Cease]]
[[Category:Perform]]
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[[Category:Activities of the Soul]]
[[Category:Srimad-Bhagavatam, Canto 03 Chapter 31 Purports - Lord Kapila's Instructions on the Movements of the Living Entities]]
[[Category:Srimad Bhagavatam, Canto 03 Purports]]
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<div id="section">
<h2>Srimad-Bhagavatam</h2>
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<div id="sub_section">
<h3>SB Canto 3</h3>
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<div class="quote">
<div class="quote_heading">
If the instrument of sight is broken or becomes diseased or incapable of acting, then he, as the seer, also ceases to act. Similarly, in this material body, at the present moment the living soul is acting, and when the material body, due to its incapability to function, ceases, he also ceases to perform his reactionary activities.
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<div class="quote_link">
[[Vanisource:SB 3.31.45-46|SB 3.31.45-46, Translation and Purport]]
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<div class="quote_translation">
When the eyes lose their power to see color or form due to morbid affliction of the optic nerve, the sense of sight becomes deadened. The living entity, who is the seer of both the eyes and the sight, loses his power of vision. In the same way, when the physical body, the place where perception of objects occurs, is rendered incapable of perceiving, that is known as death. When one begins to view the physical body as one's very self, that is called birth.
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<div class="text">
When one says, "I see," this means that he sees with his eyes or with his spectacles; he sees with the instrument of sight. If the instrument of sight is broken or becomes diseased or incapable of acting, then he, as the seer, also ceases to act. Similarly, in this material body, at the present moment the living soul is acting, and when the material body, due to its incapability to function, ceases, he also ceases to perform his reactionary activities. When one's instrument of action is broken and cannot function, that is called death. Again, when one gets a new instrument for action, that is called birth. This process of birth and death is going on at every moment, by constant bodily change. The final change is called death, and acceptance of a new body is called birth. That is the solution to the question of birth and death. Actually, the living entity has neither birth nor death, but is eternal. As confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā, na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre: ([[Vanisource:BG 2.20 (1972)|BG 2.20]]) the living entity never dies, even after the death or annihilation of this material body.
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