*All Glories to Sri Guru and Gauranga*
Chapter Eighty-Seven
Prayers of the Personified Vedas
Text 1
pariksid uvaca
brahman brahmanya nirdesye nirgune guna-vrttayah
katham caranti srutayah saksat sadasatah pare
Translation
King Pariksit said, O great saintly person, please narrate how the Vedas, which include subjects pertaining to the three modes of material nature, describe the Supreme Lord in words, because He is beyond all cause and affect; beyond the three modes; and because His activities are all transcendental and He has no material qualities.
Purport
This chapter describes how the Vedas are not just books but personalities that pray to please Krsna. Lord Krsna is completely transcendental and has no material qualities. Whenever He appears in this world He has form and seems to have material qualities, just as fire has form and the qualities of heat and light, similarly the Lord has impersonal and personal qualities. In other words the Lord simultaneously has a physical feature and experiences things and a nonphysical feature with no qualities. This is why Pariksit is wondering how the Vedas, that mainly deal with the three modes of material nature, could explain about the transcendental Supreme Lord who is beyond the three modes of material nature. As stated in the Bhagavad Gita, traigunya visayaveda, “The Vedas mainly cover subject matter consisting of the three modes of material nature.” The Gopalatapini Upanisad states, yah sarvajnah sarva-vit, sarvasya vasi sarvasya isanah, “Lord Krsna is He who knows everyone and everything, He controls everyone and everything and is God of all.” Srimad Bhagavatam states, yan mitram paramanandam purna brahma sanatanam, “He who acted as the Gopis’ friend is the source of transcendental bliss, the source of eternal Brahman.” One may wonder, if this world is governed by the three modes of material nature and everyone in this world has material qualities, how can the Lord who also appeared in this world have no material qualities? In answer the logic of the Nyaya Sastra states, pankaja mandukavat, “A lotus and frog take birth in and live in a muddy pond, the lotus is not affected by the mire, but the frog is.” Similarly both the living entity and the Lord come to this material world, but the living entity becomes overwhelmed with material qualities, whereas the Lord does not.
There are three ways to understand the transcendental Supreme Lord; through sabda-vttti, or the method of direct perception; through laksana-vrtti, or the method of using metaphors of the subject; and guna-vrtti, the method of qualitative description. It is very difficult to understand the Supreme Lord through sabda-vrtti, the direct method, because by merely deliberating on a subject based solely on its face value its true qualities cannot be perceived. For example, the mukhya-vrtti, or literal meaning of the phrase, ‘lion among kings,’ means there is a lion standing among some kings, but this is not the intended meaning of the phrase. To get the intended meaning of the phrase, we can use gauna-vrtti or a qualitative description, which helps indicate that a king is very powerful like a lion among less powerful kings. The intended meaning can also be properly understood using laksana-vrtti, or the method of using metaphors, but one must analyze the statement for the correct meaning. For example the phrase, ‘Rama lives in the Ganges,’ when analyzed one understands it means Rama lives on the banks of the Ganges because Rama is a person and not a water entity.
King Pariksit would like to know that if the Vedas deal with sabda-vrtti, the direct method, and Lord Krsna is in this world but does not have material qualities, how can the Vedas explain Him?
Text 2
sri suka uvaca
buddhindriya manah pranan jananam asrjat prabhuh
matrartham ca bhavartham ca atmane ’kalpanaya ca
Translation
Sri Sukadeva Goswami said, in the beginning of creation the Supreme Lord created intelligence, senses, mind, the vital force of the living entities to enjoy the objects of sense gratification, performance of pious deeds, taking higher births, ability to reach and enjoy heavenly planets and to become liberated from the entanglements of material existence.
Purport
Human birth is awarded to the living entities in a way that they can reach the spiritual world. The spiritual world and the Supreme Lord are not covered by the three modes of material nature. Chanting the Lord’s holy names and every activity related to the Lord is also free from the coverings of the material modes of nature, and therefore can reward the spiritual world. As stated in Srimad Bhagavatam, bhaktya aham ekaya grahyam, “Only through the execution of devotional service can I be obtained.” Srimad Bhagavad Gita also states, purusah sa parah partha bhaktya labhyas tv ananyaya, “O Arjuna, the Supreme Lord can only be obtained by executing devotional service.”
There are three kinds of knowledge found in the Vedic scriptures; the process of ritualistic activities; the process of knowledge; and the monotheistic process of devotional service. The process of ritualistic activities is governed by the three modes of material nature and is in the Karma-kanda section of the Vedas, which is why following this process does not bring Krsna closer. This process of knowledge helps a person understand the Lord better, but falls short because Lord Krsna is not explained in detail. Following the process of devotional service is the only way to please Lord Krsna and bring Him closer and ultimately the devotee is able to see Lord Krsna.
The Vedanta Sutra states, nisthasya moksopadesat, “Those instructed will become steadfast in their service to the Supreme Lord and will achieve liberation.” In contrast the Taittiriya Upanisad states, asad va idam agra asit tato vai sad-jayata, “If one is averse to serving the Lord, the living entity becomes tied to the problems of this world.” Only those attached to the Lord that perform undivided devotional service to please Him become liberated from this world.
The Lord has personal beautiful features. The Bhakti Sandabha confirms this thus, bhakty eva srutayah krsne caranti nanyatha, “The Vedas do not expound on knowledge of the impersonal feature of the Lord, but explain the Lord’s personal beautiful feature, which is all-cognizant, all-powerful, the Lord of all, the supreme controller, is worshiped by all, is totally rewarding, is the ocean of mercy and He has an eternal form, full of knowledge and full of bliss.”
Text 3
saisa hy upanisad brahmi purvesam purvajairdhrta
sraddhaya dharayed yastam ksemam gacched akincanah
Translation
This ancient confidential knowledge is called the Upanisad, it relates to the Supreme Lord and previously the spiritual ancestors had accepted it. Anyone who learns this knowledge with a humble demeanor and follows it with full faith will indeed become liberated and attain the supreme destination.
Purport
The Vedic knowledge found in the scriptures descended to earth millions of years ago in the unbroken chain of spiritual teachers. The first spiritual teacher of this knowledge was Lord Krsna who instructed it to Lord Brahma, who instructed it to the four Kumaras, who instructed it to Narada Muni and he instructed it to Vyasadeva and he wrote it down. Even today this Vedic knowledge found in the ancient scriptures is undiluted. The word Upanisad, confidential spiritual knowledge, stated here is defined in the Mahabharat thus:
upaniyeyam atmanam brahmapas tad vayam yatah
nihanty avidyam taj jam ca tasmad upanisadabhavet
“The knowledge that clears ignorance and its extenuating circumstances and disconnects the person from material existence by leading them closer to the Supreme Lord is called, Upanisad.”
This knowledge works for a person better if they have faith in the Lord. A person can realize this knowledge by first believing in that premise. Just as the sweetness of sugar candy cannot be experienced by seeing or touching it, but can only be known by tasting it, similarly one has to practice spiritual life to find out how nice it is.
Text 4
atra te kathayisyami gatham narayanaanvitam
naradasya ca samvadam rser narayanasya ca
Translation
In connection to this, I shall narrate to you a conversation that took place between Narayana Rsi and Narada Muni concerning the Supreme Lord Narayana.
Purport
In Vaisnava philosophy Lord Krsna manifests as Lord Narayana, who is the shelter of three Visnus; Karanodaka Visnu, from whom all the universes come; Garbhodaka Visnu, who enters into each universe to activate them; and Ksirodaka Visnu, who enters inside each living entity as Supersoul. In this way He is the shelter for all living entities. Even though this history of Lord Narayana took place beyond any calculation of time and this conversation between Narayana Rsi and Narada Muni took place millions of years ago, Sri Sukadeva Goswami wanted to quote them, because events involving Lord Krsna are a recent example for his audience. Narada Muni is highly respected because he is a pure devotee, an Acharya in the unbroken tradition of Vaisnavism and an accepted spiritual authority. Therefore any argument about the authenticity of his presentation is unreasonable. This indicates that every speaker or writer of Vedic knowledge should substantiate their speech and writings with the ancient scriptures that were written in Sanskrit, which is why Srila Krsna Dasa Kaviraja Goswami substantiated his writings by quoting the ancient scriptures written in Sanskrit.
Texts 5-6
ekada narado lokan paryatan bhagavat-priyah
sanatanam rsim drastum yayau narayanasramam
yo vai bharata-varse ’smin ksemaya svastaye nrnam
dharma-jnana-samopetam akalpad asthitas tapah
Translation
On one occasion when the Lord’s beloved devotee, Narada Muni, was traversing the universe he reached the hermitage of the primeval sage Narayana in Badarinath, located in the Himalayas. From the very beginning of Lord Brahma’s day, Sage Narayana performs austerities following all religious standards, in knowledge and with self-control, in the land of India for the welfare of humankind in this world and lastly for their liberation.
Purport
The answer to the question of where and why this conversation took place is given here. The foremost duty of a saintly person like Narada Muni is to benefit everyone in this world by helping them achieve liberation after death. While helping others, sages also regularly and meticulously perform austerities and their prescribed spiritual duties. For example, Narada Muni went to Badrinath in the Himalayas to visit Lord Narayana Rsi for his own purification; and his conversation with Him helps others become purified as well.
One day of Lord Brahma is equal to four billion three hundred twenty million solar years, which we have discussed in detail in the eighth chapter of our Bhagavad Gita. Lord Narayana Rsi appeared as Dharma’s son; Lord Brahma’s grandson, in the first quarter of this day of Lord Brahma and went with his brother Nara to the Himalayas, where Narada Muni went to meet Him. The Lord performs many varieties of pastimes in each of His incarnations and in each incarnation He performs austerities.
Texts 7-8
tatropavistam rsibhih kalapa-grama-vasibhih
paritam pranato ’prcchad idam eva kurudvaha
tasmai hy avocado bhagavan rsinam, srnvatam idam
yo brahmavadah purvesam janaloka-nivasinam
Translation
O Hero of the Kuru Dynasty, Narada Muni approached Narayana Rsi while He was sitting in the midst of sages that resided in Kalapa village. After bowing down to Him, Narada Muni asked Him the very same question you have asked me. While all the sages listened, Narayana Rsi narrated the discussion about the Supreme Lord to Narada Muni that took place between the residents of Janaloka, long ago.
Purport
A fruitful discussion involving how to improve one’s soul is always appreciated. If the questions are spiritually legitimate and the answers are substantiated from the knowledge in ancient scriptures the discussion is very pleasing to the heart. As Lord Krsna stated in the Bhagavad Gita, vadah pravadatam aham, “I am the natural conclusion of all arguments.” An argument on a topic not substantiated by the ancient scriptures by either party is simply a nuisance and such arguments are called vitanda, a fallacious argument, and are not appreciated by Vaisnavas. As stated in the Mahabharat, tarko ’pratisthah, “False arguments are never appreciated by the wise.” Narayana Rsi who performs austerities in the Himalayas has two arms; and Lord Narayana that resides in the spiritual sky has four arms and holds weapons. Narayana Rsi is a partial incarnation of Lord Krsna and Lord Narayana is an expansion of Lord Krsna. While all the sages listened, Narayana Rsi narrated the discussion about the Supreme Lord to Narada Muni that took place between the residents of Janaloka long ago, to answer his question. Janaloka is the fourth layer of this universe above the earth. According to the third Canto of Srimad Bhagavatam, janas tapah satya nivasino janah, “The residents of Janaloka, Tapaloka and Satyaloka, were present.” Meaning people from the fourth, fifth and sixth layers of the upper part of this universe were present.
Texts 9-10
sri bhagavan uvaca
svayambhuva brahma-satram janaloke ’bhavat pura
tatrasthanam manasanam muninam urdhvaretasam
svetadvipam gatavati tvayi drastum tadisvaram
brahmavadah susamvrttah srutayo yatra serate
tatra hayam abhut prasnas tvam mam yam anuprcchasi
Translation
Lord Narayana Rsi said, O Narada, long ago in ancient times the saintly sons born from Lord Brahms’s mind, who were perfect celibates from birth started a long standing sacrificial session to collectively discuss the Absolute Truth. They were residents of Janaloka, as you are. The discussion that took place was very pleasing. It was about the Supreme Lord and the same topic was raised that you have now asked me about here. On that occasion you had gone to visit the Lord in Svetadvipa, where at the time of annihilation all the Vedas take shelter in that Lord.
Purport
All the activities of saintly people are spiritual. When alone they chant the Lord’s names, perform sacrifices, austerities, penances, fasts etc. and when congregated they collectively discuss topics about the Supreme Lord. When such spiritual functions take place, they result in self-realization, but the participants continue living their spiritual lifestyle. Their actions can be likened to a cow that quickly eats grass to fill her stomach and then peacefully sits down and chews her cud, similarly sages realize and see the Lord, and then peacefully continue performing their spiritual duties. For example, the sound a typewriter makes when the keys strike paper on earth, is the same sound that typewriter will make if sent to the spiritual world. Similarly devotees perform the same activities on earth as they do when they reach the spiritual world. When real devotees of equal qualification and spiritual advancement gather, they select the most advanced devotee present as the speaker and begin discussing topics about the Supreme Lord. Such a discussion is called brahma-satra, a longstanding spiritual sacrifice, in the Sanskrit language.
Janaloka is where only those who remain celibate their complete life, never copulating with anyone, reside. Narada Muni was a celibate resident of Janaloka, but when this brahma-satra took place, he had gone to Svetadvipa where the Lord resides as Aniruddha, a part of a partial manifestation of Lord Krsna, who is also addressed as Ksirodaka Visnu. From His exhaling all the Vedas and scriptures appear. We have discussed this in detail in the introduction of our Bhagavad Gita.
Text 11
tulya sruta tapah silas tulya sviyari-madhyamah
api cakruh pravacanam ekam susrusavo ’pare
Translation
All the participants in that sacrifice were equal in scriptural knowledge, austerities and were equally disposed towards friends, foes and neutral parties. They chose their speaker and the rest of them sat down eager to listen.
Purport
Quadruplet brothers appeared from Lord Brahma’s mind, namely Sanaka, Sanandana, Sanatana and Sanat Kumara and sometimes they are addressed as Kumaras. They are equally qualified in every way, but in a cheerful mood they selected Sanandana Kumara as their speaker and eagerly sat down to listen. When the listeners and speaker are qualified, the ensuing discussion is very pleasing to the mind and heart.
Texts 12-13
sanandana uvaca
sva-srstam idam apiya sayanam saha saktibhih
tad-ante bodhayan cakrus tal-liìgaih srutayah param
yatha sayanam samrajam vandinas tat-parakramaih
pratyuse ’bhyetya su-slokair bodhayanty anujivinah
Translation
Sanandana said, When the Lord inhales, His creation is inhaled inside Him, then He lies down as if asleep and everything, including His energies, lay dormant inside of Him. At the time of the next creation all the personified Vedas sing His glories to wake Him, just as panegyrists wake a king in the morning by singing poems composed from his heroic feats. Similarly the personified Vedas sing the Lord’s glories as if they are waking Him.
Purport
The Lord creates, maintains and dissolves this universe. He has multifarious energies, of which His potency of ‘will’ is called kala or time. When He desires to retract the creation, He inhales and thus everything and everyone is inhaled inside Him and rests. In other words, He mystically rests in absence of any creation. Only the material creation is inhaled inside the Lord, including everything in it starting from the topmost planet in material creation to the bottommost planet, everything enters in the Lord. But the spiritual world, where Lord Krsna and His pure devotees reside permanently and enjoy pastimes, remains as it is.
When time to create comes again the Lord exhales the personified Vedas first and they pray to Him for the creation to begin again. It is important to note that the Vedas do not pray to any impersonal Lord without any features, qualities, senses, desires or because they are in need, but the Vedas pray to a personal God. God is always active, has a personal feature and His desires are completely transcendental in every way. Srimad Bhagavatam states, krsnas tu bhagavan svayam, “Lord Krsna is the original God, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.” Thus prayers are performed to please Him. As stated in the Gopalatapini Upanisad, yo ’sau sarvesu vedesu giyate, “Lord Krsna’s glories are sung by all the Vedas.” It is ridiculous to pray to some formless God, how could someone pray to nothing? Hence, the Vedas pray to the ever pleasing God, who is all- attractive and possesses the personal form, Govinda. He is all-true and everything that comes from Him is true as well. Anyone who thinks the Lord has no form and is just a light, that this world is false and a creation of ignorance are not aware of the real truth. This world has come from the Lord who is eternally true, therefore the creation is also true, but because it is a material creation it is impermanent or temporary and is meant for annihilation in due course of time.
Text 14
srutaya ucuh
jaya jaya jahy ajam ajita dosa-grbhita-gunam
tvam asi yad atmana samavaruddha-samasta-bhagah
aga-jagad-okasam akhila-sakty-avabodhaka te
kvacid ajaya ’’tmana ca carato ’nucaren nigamah
Translation
The personification of the Vedas said, O unconquerable Lord, all glories to You. Please manifest Your mercy to awaken all the moving and nonmoving living entities who posses material bodies so that Your eternal illusory potency, maya, does not influence them. Your original status is full and complete with all opulence. You cannot be defeated by anyone. Your external potency follows Your orders. You always play with Your internal potency. And we, as scriptures, always follow Your commands.
Purport
There are three types of Srutis, Vedic scriptures, one expounds result conscious actions; another speculative knowledge; and the third, devotion to God; and they all are meant as a way to understand Lord Krsna by following three different paths. The result conscious section of the scriptures relates to ritualistic ceremonies, but they keep its followers from knowing God. Its ultimate teaching is directed at reaching heaven by following its injunctions. The second category of the Vedic scripture, the metaphor method, is a speculative method that uses arguments to understand God, but by following it a person cannot find direct pathways to know Him. Only the devotional parts of the Vedas and similar Vedic scriptures illustrate the inner meaning of their knowledge and thus the reader or listener is able to understand God.
In the Srimad Bhagavatam where the Rasa dance is written, the Vedic hymns expressed their ultimate desire in their prayers to the Lord, that they want to follow the path of the Gopis, and thus appeared as Gopis in Vrindaban. These Gopis followed the eternally perfect Gopis’ footsteps and thus obtained direct service to please the Lord. These devotional scriptures glorified the Lord and prayed to Him at the beginning of creation to awaken the living entities of His supremacy, so His eternal illusory potency, maya, does not influence them. The Lord’s external potency, maya, entices the living entities causing them to hanker for sense gratification and thus keeps them away from the Lord. For this reason the Vedas wanted the Lord to be merciful and destroy maya.
There are two sides of maya; one mesmerizes the living entities, enticing them to engage in sense gratification; and the other is to reject anyone that realizes the human goal of life is to become a devotee of the Lord. Any devotee who is rejected by maya will experience many difficulties. Thus both sides of maya are said to be faulty. For example, a prostitute allures a prospect with her affection and thus he falls in love with her and she seemingly reciprocates. But if the person loses all their money or becomes incapable physically, she rejects him and finds another prospect. Therefore both works of a prostitute; entangling the person and rejecting them, are considered faults. Similarly, maya’s causing the living entities to forget the real goal of life is to serve the Lord by alluring them with sense gratification, and then rejecting them if they become aware of their real goal; are both faults of maya.
The Srutis pray to the Lord to destroy maya because she has faulty qualities, so that the living entities that will come forth will be able to develop devotional qualities. If maya, illusion, is removed from the living entities psyche, their original nature of being a devotee will fructify and they will remain always blissful.
Text 15
brhad upalabdham etad avayanty avasesataya
yata udayastamayau vikrter mrdi vavikrtat
ata rsayo dadhus tvayi mano-vacanacaritam
kathama yatha bhavanti bhuvi datta-padani nrnam
Translation
O Lord, after the dissolution of this creation only You remain. The manifestation and dissolution of the creation is in You but You remain unchanged, just as earth is used to form pots that appear different than earth, but becomes earth again and earth stays unchanged. For this reason learned souls identify this perceivable world with You and thus recommend serving You with mind, words and acts. Thus, whenever and wherever a person places his foot, he is living on earth.
Purport
Even though the Vedas openly propagate the supremacy of the Supreme Lord, in some places the Vedas state differently. The Rgveda states, yata indro yato ’vasitasya raja, “Lord Indra (King of heaven) is the cause of all the moving and nonmoving entities.” In other places Varuna (god of water), Agni (god of fire), Siva (god of dissolution) and Durga (Lord Siva’s wife) are stated as being the cause of the whole creation. One may then question how the Vedas can emphatically state that Lord Krsna is the cause of creation? Even though such statements are found in other parts of the Vedas, in the devotional section of the Vedas the Supreme Lord Krsna is stated as the cause. All the great seers and sages have realized the Supreme Lord to be the cause and affect of everything, because after everything is destroyed, only He remains. Even Lord Brahma, all the demigods and everything else enters inside the Lord. Just as when earth is formed into pots, earth may seem to have changed, but it is still earth. Similarly, even thought everything is exhumed from the Lord and taken back in, the Lord is supremely transcendental to this material manifestation and dissolution and remains completely unchanged at all times. For this reason the demigods worship the Lord, engage their minds in thinking about the Lord, use their power of speech to glorify the Lord and always work for the Lord. Wherever a person puts their foot, be it on a brick, stone, wood or metal, the foot is said to be on earth because all these things had come from earth. Therefore, in the Vedas where the demigods are praised, they are actually praising Lord Krsna because He is the source of the demigods and they exist in Him and only because of Him.
Brahman is effulgence and its source is Lord Krsna. The scriptures state that everything rests upon Brahman because he is greatest, but that Brahman effulgence is resting upon Krsna. In another words everything including Brahman is subservient to Lord Krsna. As stated in the Bhagavad Gita, mattah parataram nanyat, “Nothing is superior to Me,” and, brahmano hi pratistha ’ham, “I am the source of Brahman.” All the demigods including Lord Brahma, Lord Siva and the goddesses cannot exist independently. They are all under the control of Lord Krsna. Therefore whenever and wherever the Vedas state anything other than Lord Krsna, it should be understood that they are indirectly speaking about Lord Krsna only.
Text 16
iti tava surayas try-adhipate ’khila loka-mala
ksapana-kathamrtabdhim avagahya tapamsi jahuh
kim uta punah svadhama-vidhutasaya kala-gunah
parama bhajanti ye padam ajasra sukhanubhavam
Translation
O Lord of the three worlds, wise saints dive deep in the nectar-like topics that wash away the contamination of everyone in the universe, thus freeing them from misery. O benefactor of all, O all pervading and merciful Lord, the minds and hearts of those who have realized You by developing spiritual strength have become free from material attachment, greed, other bad qualities as well as old age and death, that are subjected to the time factor. By engaging in devotional service one experiences uninterrupted bliss and it removes all the miseries of this world.
Purport
Lord Krsna is the Lord of all the lords who rule different departments of this universe, therefore when the Vedas praise the demigods, they are actually describing different transcendental glories of the Lord. The wise bypass the chronological events in the ritualistic sections of the Vedas and engage in hearing and chanting the glories and pastimes of the Lord, because they remove all contamination and distress. The wise know that troublesome activities for material result, and speculative knowledge, is irrelevant to spiritual advancement unless they engage in discussions about Lord Krsna, because by doing so they overcome lust, unnecessary anger, material attachments, envy, hatred and even transcend old age, disease, death and the three modes of material nature. This is all due to becoming completely absorbed in the service and melodious pastimes of the Lord’s lotus feet. There is no place for such people to experience misery. Their realizations and practice are based on the following verse from the Padma Purana:
yatha dhrtva sunah puccham tartum icchet sarit-patim
tatha tyaktva harim sevyam anyopasanaya bhavet
“Just as a person wanting to cross the vast ocean by holding a dog’s tail thinking the dog knows how to swim is wasting their life, similarly people wanting to cross over material existence by worshipping someone other than Lord Krsna, thinking they are very powerful and therefore abandon worship of Lord Krsna, are wasting their valuable life.”
Statements in the Vedic scriptures are not speculations; but events stated there have actually been experienced and have been recorded there. If personalities and events described in the Vedas were just speculations and not experienced, the realized souls that have directly seen and experienced God, dealt and interacted with Him, would not hanker to enter into nectar-like discussions about Lord Krsna’s transcendental pastimes. Some of those self-realized souls are Sanaka, Sanandana, Sanatana and Sanat Kumara, Narada Muni and Narayana Rsi, who are discussing the narrations of Lord Krsna and enjoying it immensely.
Text 17
drtaya iva avasanty asu-bhrto yadi te ’nuvidha
mahad-aham-adayo ’ndam asrjan yad-anugrahatah
purusa-vidho ’nvayo ’tra caramo ’nna-mayadisu yah
sad-asatah param tvam atha yad esv-avasesam rtam
Translation
O Lord, the breathing of people that do not follow You is just a waste, like the bellowing of an ironsmith’s bellows, whereas those that become Your sincere devotees are successful. It is You that mercifully activates the sum total of material aggregates, false ego and others things and thus creates this egg shaped universe. You then enter into the five different coverings that make up the material body, like anna-maya, sustained by food, which is the last wrapper of the soul, and appear per that particular form which You entered but remain totally separate from that body and remain always blissful. You are beyond the gross and subtle manifestations and remain after everything is totally destroyed, as You are.
Purport
If eating, sleeping, mating and defending were the goal of human life, human beings wouldn’t be considered any better than an animal. The extraordinary opportunity available in the human body is — it can be used to engage in devotional service of the Lord by hearing, chanting, remembering and performing other devotional practices to please Him. Until one sees the Lord face to face they should not stop practicing spiritual life. People that live to enjoy sense gratification, eating and sleeping, but do not engage in devotional service to the Lord are bound by the shackles of rebirth and death and wander in the eight million four hundred thousands of species of life. Srimad Bhagavatam states, taravah kim na jivanti, “What is the use of living like a tree?” The Brhadaranyaka Upanisad states, na ced avedin mahati vinasti, “If a person doesn’t engage in knowing the Lord, they will experience degradation.” People that engage in devotional service succeed in receiving the Lord’s blessings, whereas the existence of people that do not engage in devotional service of the Lord is like the breathing of bellows, which seems to be inhaling and exhaling, but are always dead. The Adi Purana states, dhik tesam dhik tesam yesam bhaktir na kesave, “Damned are those that do not have real devotion to Lord Krsna, their life is thoroughly condemned.” The Vrhadaranyaka Upanisad states, ye tad vidur amrtas te bhavanty, atha etare duhkham evopayanti, “People that engage in devotional service receive liberation from rebirth and death, whereas people that do not suffer the pangs of maya.” Dead people do not breathe, but non-devotees are seen breathing. Breathing is not the sign of real life, just like the breathing of bellows isn’t proof that it is alive. Thus, such materialistic people are a burden on the earth.
After the Lord in the form of Mahavisnu manifests universes, He glances over the inert matter thus activating and filling them with variegated living entities and necessities required for their existence. As stated in the Brahma Samhita, yasya prabha prabhavato jagad-anda, “By His potency this universe is lit and made active.” Then He also enters in each individual entity and helps them. As stated in the Bhagavad Gita:
isvarah sarva-bhutanam hrd-dese ’rjuna tisthati
bhramayan sarva-bhutani yantrarudhani mayaya
“O Arjuna, the Supreme Lord seated in everyone’s heart is directing the wanderings of every living entity by His potency, as an operator directs his machine.”
Originally each spiritual soul was a real devotee residing in the spiritual world. As stated in the Svetasvatara Upanisad, a ye dhamani divyani tasthuh, “The soul was living in the spiritual abode of the Lord as a devotee.” For further details about the soul please refer to our Svetasvatara Upanisad. It is irrevocably true that the soul is as eternal as the Lord and the Lord always resides by its side desiring that the soul surrenders unto Him. When the soul is sent to this world per its karma, the Lord enters in the five different covering that successively sustain the material body. As stated in the Taittiriya Upanisad, annamayo pranamaya manomayo vijnanamaya anandamaya iti brahman-vid apnoti param, “The spirit soul is covered and sustained by five layers; the physical body is sustained by food; breathing is sustained by the life airs; the mind is sustained by mental support; ideas are sustained by intellectual understanding; and the self is sustained by the innermost cause, bliss. People that learn about and realize the Supreme Lord reach the spiritual world of bliss.” These are the different wrappings the soul is enveloped in, and inside the soul the Lord resides as Supersoul. Everyone can realize Supersoul by accepting a scripturally authentic spiritual authority and becoming a sincere devotee. One may wonder, why worship Lord Krsna? Why not someone else? In answer the Skanda Purana states, vasudevah param brahman brhaty aksara-dhamani, “Lord Krsna, the son of Vasudeva, is the source of the greatest form called Brahman, who is infallible.” The Markandeya Purana states, vasudeva abhidhanasau nirmama tvena drsyate, “Lord Krsna, who is also called Vasudeva, should be worshipped and can be beheld when one becomes free from material attachments.” The Niti Sastra states about such devoted people thus, saphalam jivitam tesam yesam bhaktir janardane, “Their existence in this world is fruitful because they truly have become devotees of Lord Krsna.”
Text 18
udaram upasate ya rsi-vartmasu kurpa-drsah
parisara paddhatim hrdayam arunayo daharam
tata udagad ananta tava dhama sirah paramam
punar iha yat sametya na patanti krtanta-mukhe
Translation
O unlimited Lord, the sages established many paths of spiritual practice. Those whose vision is not yet advanced, worship You in their abdomen as fire, Vaisvanara. The quality of Aruni sages is, they worship You in the center of their heart, from where all the subtle channels of the vital air emanate. Some sages raise their consciousness up towards the top of their head and directly worship You as the source of Brahman. Those who have reached this topmost effulgent stage do not again fall into the cycle of rebirth and death of this world.
Purport
On the path of yoga there are six mystical circles, or diagrams known as chakras situated in an artery called Susumna. This Susumna artery is located in the heart between the Ida (on the right side of the body) and the Pingala (on the left side of the body) arteries. The first chakra is called Muladhara, a mystical circle situated on the rectum below the reproductive organ. The second mystical circle is called Svadhisthana, a chakra situated in the reproductive organ. The third mystical circle is called Manipuraka, a chakra situated on the navel. The fourth mystical circle is called Anahata, a chakra located in the heart. The fifth mystical circle is called Visuddhi, and is located in the pit of the throat. The sixth mystical circle is called Ajna and is situated between the two eyebrows. There is another mystical circle that is away from the Susumna artery called the Sasrara chakra that is situated on the Brahman-randhra, an aperture in the crown of the head through which a practicing pure yogi’s soul leaves the body. Less spiritually advanced yogis worship the Lord in their abdomen and are called sarkarakhya. Arunik yogis subtly reach their heart, where a twelve peddled lotus is located on top of which Brahman is situated, whom they worship. This is confirmed in the Tantra Sastra thus, prasiddham hrdaya-sthitam susumna-madhyastham dvadasa-dala padmam, “It is well known to yogis that there is a twelve peddled lotus situated in the center of the Susumna vessel upon which the Lord sits. As stated in the Mundaka Upanisad, angustha-matram puruso ’ntaratma sada jananam hrdaye sannivisthah, “The size of the Lord sitting in the heart of each living entity is the size of a transcendental thumb.” Some yogis are more advanced and subtly travel through the Susumna vessel to the top of the head to the Sahasrara mystical circle and worship the Supreme Lord.
People that are less spiritually advanced are inclined to worship the Lord by performing Karma-kanda, ritualistic performances stated in the Vedas, along with sacrifices. But those that become very advanced by accumulating immense merits worship Lord Krsna in the form of Govinda. Lord Govinda is a very pleasing form of Lord Krsna. As stated in the Gopalatapini Upanisad, tameka govindam saccidananda vigraham, “One should take shelter of one Lord, Lord Govinda, whose form is completely eternal, full of knowledge and full of bliss.”
Text 19
svakrta-vicitra-yonisu visann iva hetutaya
taratamatas cakassy analavat svakrtanukrtih
atha vitathasv amusv vitatham tava dhama samam
viraja-dhiyo ’nvayanty abhivipanyava eka-rasam
Translation
You apparently enter the variegated living entities that You create so they can exist and You seem to imitate their actions. Your appearance is similar to fire, which changes shape according to the material it burns. Those that are totally free from material attachment and possess fine intelligence are not bewildered by Your impermanent forms, but see Your undifferentiated, eternal and unchanging features in them.
Purport
There is unlimited fear in the material creation; where the living entities that have forgotten their constitutional position as servant of God have been wandering since time immemorial. They remain destitute unless they take shelter of Lord Krsna, who is the only one that can rescue them from the ocean of material existence. One can happily cross over this material world of suffering by taking shelter of the two blossomed lotuses in this creation; the two lotus feet of the Lord. This universe is divided into three layers; the lower, middle and upper planets; where the eight million four hundred thousand species live. There are three categories of species; demigods, humans, and the lower species. Even though the soul experiences the benefits and hardships of a particular body, the Lord living inside that living entity as Supersoul does not experience anything and remains unchanged and unaffected. The living entities are rewarded a particular type of body according to their karma. Just as fire burning a small piece of wood looks smaller than fire burning a large piece of wood, similarly living entities appear differently according to the type of body they inhabit. Fire does not have a fixed form, its form changes according to what it is burning. If fire is burning a crooked piece of wood it looks crooked; if the wood is thick it looks thick; and if the wood is thin it looks thin. To the uneducated eye, the living entities look different, whereas pure hearted devotees of the Lord see Him inside the living entity unchanged and unaffected by their actions.
A living entity’s body is like a mold, wherein whatever kind of mold (body) they exist in, they take up its qualities. They may take up the mold of a horse, parrot, alligator, demigod, man or woman. For example, if clay is put in a mold to make a toy horse, the clay looks like a horse, and if sugar is added to the mold, the toy horse has a sweet quality. Similarly the Lord enters the living entities in the form of activating energy, like sugar put in a mold making a toy horse. When the Lord enters various bodies He seems to take different shapes, but He always remains the unchanged Lord; just as sugar remains sugar regardless of what mold it is cast in. The wise understand that the Lord has nothing to do with the form of body He enters, but remains unchanged, just as sugar has nothing to do with the form it may be cast into. As stated in the Brahman Upanisad, eko devah sarva-bhutesu gudhah, kevalo nirgunas ca, “The one Supreme Lord resides hidden in every type of living entity, but remains totally unchanged.”
Text 20
svakrta-puresv amisv abahir-antara-samvaranam
tava purusam vadanty akhila-sakti-dhrto ’msa-krtam
iti nr-gatim vivicya kavayo nigamavapanam
bhavata upasate ’nghrim abhavam bhuvi visvasitah
Translation
A living entity existing in a particular material body was rewarded that body because of its performed karma and goes through the experiences that type of body entails. But although You live inside them, You remain unaffected by its cause and affect in every way. All the scriptures state that the living entity is Your marginal potency, therefore all the faithful learned sages have concluded that the actual place of offering the results of every Vedic performance is at Your lotus feet. And they are dedicated to Your lotus feet because they remove all the fear of material existence.
Purport
This verse indicates that at the time of annihilation even though all the living entities enter inside Lord Mahavisnu’s abdomen, their performed karma remains with them. And at the time of creation when they are exhumed from Him, they come out having bodies in various species, per their karma. A living entity’s karma is not eradicated unless and until they go through the good and bad experiences of their karma. The Krama Sandarbha states that as long as a living entity has karma, they remain connected to the cycle of rebirth and death. The idea that in the beginning of creation that only one specie was created is here negated by the Vedas. The spirit soul is the marginal potency of the Lord and has the ability to take up spiritual life, but the Lord’s illusory potency, maya, overpowers it with sensual allures and thus entraps it by allowing it to feel comfortable and all the while causing it to experience the whippings of repeated birth and death. The living entity feeling incapable of removing the covering of maya feels helpless. But the Lord mercifully sends His pure devotee to introduce devotional service of the Lord, by which he/she can completely overcome maya’s influence, which is why having firm faith and devotion to the Spiritual Master is paramount. As stated in the Svetasvatara Upanisad:
yasya deve para baktir yatha deve tatha gurau
tasyai te kathita hy artha prakasante mahatmanah
“For anyone who has staunch devotion to the Lord and an equal quality of devotion for the Spiritual Master, all the secrets of scriptural knowledge are automatically revealed in truth unto the heart of that great soul.”
When maya sees a living entity has taken sincere shelter of her husband, the Lord, and is seriously following the path of devotional service, she leaves that living entity alone and goes on to someone else who has not yet taken the pure path. For this reason all the scriptures and all thoughtful sages suggest that the results of every activity should be offered at the lotus feet of the Lord, thereby completely removing all the miseries of this world.
Text 21
duravagamatma tatva nigamaya tavatta tanos
carita mahamrtabdhi parivarta parisramanah
na parilasanti kecid apavargam apisvara te
carana saroja hamsa kula-sanga visrsta grhah
Translation
O Lord, it is very difficult for a living entity to know You in truth, but just to let the living entities know about You, You appear in this world and perform a vast ocean of nectar like transcendental pastimes so that they can grasp some knowledge about You. If they dive in the unfathomable ocean of Your nectar-like pastimes, their exhausting miserable experiences in this world will come to an end. Such people develop close connection with swan-like devotees who are very attached to the lotus feet of the Lord and thus lose the taste for material life, home and everything connected to it. Such great souls do not even desire liberation.
Purport
A person that has tasted molasses but has never tasted sugar candy feels that the taste of molasses is the sweetest thing, but if they taste sugar candy they realize its much sweeter and disregard molasses. Similarly a person that has not tasted the sweetness of the nectar-like pastimes of the Supreme Lord is attracted to material sense gratification and enjoys speaking about it. But if a person gets just a little taste of spiritual life they will be convinced that material sense gratification will lead them to hell. But the full taste of devotional life is experienced by reading, hearing and singing with faith about the Lord. By being continuous involved in devotional activities the sweetness of spiritual life increases.
The Lord is an ocean of mercy and thus appears in this world to let people know and realize His inconceivable transcendental knowledge. Yogamaya, the Lord’s transcendental potency, helps the Lord look, behave and function like an ordinary person while He performs pastimes in this world. While looking and behaving like an ordinary person, the Lord performs supernatural tasks that a normal person could never do and those who participate in or witness those supernatural pastimes are liberated. And hearing them is so wonderful that it purifies the heart. Those who faithfully dive into the ocean of His nectar-like pastimes become free from the fatigue caused by existing in this material world. At this stage of spiritual advancement the practitioner doesn’t even think about anything related to material sense pleasure. Their main focus is their connection to a pure devotee of the Lord, who is like a swan that can detect what is liberating and what is binding to this world. Such devotees only speak pure spiritual philosophy and about the Lord’s pastimes. Any conversation such a devotee is involved in, he directs to a spiritual topic. The pleasure derived by participating in a spiritual discussion in a gathering of sincere devotees is incomparable to anything of this world.
Even though Lord Krsna sometimes functions as an ordinary living entity, He could not be an ordinary living entity because after a sage becomes self-realized, they continue worshiping Him. As stated in Srimad Bhagavatam, atmaramas ca munayo nirgranthapy urukrame kurvanty ahaitukim bhaktim, “Great sages that have become fully self-realized and have broken all ties to this material world perform pure unalloyed devotional service to please Lord Sri Krsna.” Sripada Sankaracharya writes, mukta api lilaya vigraham krtva bhajanti, “Even liberated devotees feel pleasure constructing temples and establishing Lord Krsna’s deity and worshipping Him with pure love.” The Vedanta Sutra states, muktisrpya vyapadesat, “Only self-realized souls who have become the living liberated can obtain the Supreme Lord, who is the source of everyone and everything, therefore He cannot be an ordinary living soul.” The Mundaka Upanisad states, yada pasyah pasyate rukma-varna, “The Lord is only obtainable and personally visible by liberated souls.”
Text 22
tvad anupatham kulayam idam atma-suhrt-priya-vac
carati tathonmukhe tvayi hite priya atmani ca
na bata ramanty aho asad-upasanaya ’’tma-hano
yad-anusaya bhramanty uru-bhaye kusarira-bhrtah
Translation
This human body is very useful for the practice of Your devotional service. But if one identifies with this perishable body they are overcome by delusion and freely identify with themselves, dear friends, and beloved relatives. It is sad that although You are their true affectionate benefactor they don’t serve You, because they are attached to their material body and they decorate and honor it. They kill their own souls by degrading themselves and thus continue wandering in this fearsome material existence.
Purport
After taking birth in the eight million four hundred thousand species of life and wandering all over the universe, one fortunately obtains a human birth, which is why the scriptures state that it is very rare to receive a human birth. If a person adapts their reasoning intellect to spiritual life they can become as happy as a bird that feels safe in its nest high in a tree, where it is protected from heat, cold and rain. Only in the body of a human being is the soul able to collect things required to worship the Lord and obtain liberation. If a person neglects this chance for liberation because of false ego or some material addiction, suffering awaits. Even though the Lord helps the soul in many ways, if the person does not use their rare human body to serve the Lord, it’s like hitting themselves with an iron ax. People that don’t serve the Lord remain in illusion and love themselves, friends and family, thus engage in many kinds of sin and fall, taking birth in the lower species of life.
This material world is very dangerous and fearsome because no one can guarantee what will happen after death. Everyone knows it would be frightening to be helplessly cast in the middle of the ocean where the shores are thousands of miles away, but it is hard to fathom how fearful material existence is because it has no safe shores. There are two shores in material existence; taking birth and dying, and in between many miseries and anxieties are experienced. If there is such fear in human life, how problematic a lower birth must be. If a villain approaches a person with a gun they can call the police or shout out for help, but if the same thing happens to a cow, try to imagine how much fear she must be experiencing. Therefore everyone should make the best use of their human body and seriously adopt spiritual life; while working in this world to get things needed for their maintenance. Avoiding service to the Supreme Lord in this golden opportunity we have as human beings is suicide of the worst kind.
Text 23
nibhrta marunmano ’ksadrdha yoga yujo hrdi yan
munaya upasate udarayo ’pi yayuh smaranat
striya uragendra-bhoga-bhuja-danda-visakta-dhiyo
vayam api te samah samadrso ’nghri saroja-sudhah
Translation
Those who have controlled their breath, minds and senses and intensely perform yoga meditation, whatever destination they crave in their heart, they obtain. Your enemies also obtain that destination just by remembering You. The Gopis, whose minds became very attracted to You and who You embraced with Your long round serpentine arms, always meditate on Your lotus feet as do we, and You see us equally.
Purport
Whether a person eats sugar candy in the dark or light, knowingly or unknowingly, by unjustly acquiring it or purchasing it with legally earned money in the company of friends, any way it is eaten, it tastes sweet. But the happiness experienced when obtaining it honestly in the company of friends and family is more pleasurable. Similarly however a person thinks of Lord Krsna, whether with lusty desires, envy, hatred or enmity, it results in the same type of liberation from this world. But acquiring liberation by thinking about Lord Krsna in such ways is not recommended. The right path to Lord Krsna is to love and please Him by executing devotional service following the instructions found in the ancient scriptures. Affectionate devotion, meditating on His attractively beautiful charming form, serving Him with pious ingredients and paraphernalia, singing His glories, praying to Him with a humble mind, listening to narrations of His pastimes and offering everything one has to please Him are some of the favorable ways to serve Him. As stated in the Bhaktirasamrta Sindhu:
anyabhilasita-sunyam jnana-karmady anavrtam
anukulyena krsnanusilanam bhaktir uttama
“One should render devotional service to Lord Krsna in a favorable mood and should not desire result from their work and should not speculate on philosophical matters. If service is rendered following this rule, it is called pure devotional service.”
The destination sages reach by controlling their minds, their life air through the breathing process, and by controlling their senses by engaging them in spiritual activities; demons like Jarasandha and Kamsa reached even though they envied Lord Krsna. They were great sinners, their minds were contaminated and their senses were not regulated, still they had darsan (behold) of Lord Sri Krsna. They didn’t have loving affection for Lord Krsna, but were killed by Him and reached the transcendental abode where greatly purified yogis who worship the impersonal form of Krsna go.
The Gopis of Vrindaban were followers of Lord Krsna though the process of conjugal love. They experienced the embrace of Lord Krsna, being held with His long round arms and had the opportunity to place His lotus feet on their chests. They enjoyed Lord Krsna’s company directly and ceaselessly. The Srutis, Vedas and scriptural hymns also had this same opportunity the cowherd ladies had. The earnest desire the Srutis spoke to Lord Krsna about and His reply is stated in the Vrhad-vamana Purana thus:
srutaya ucuh
yatha tal-loka vasinyah kama-tattvena gopikah
bhajanti ramanam matva cikirsajani nas tatha
sri bhagavan uvaca
agamani virincau tu jate srsty-artham udyate
kalpam sarasvatam prapya vraje gopyo bhavisyatha
“The Srutis begged the Lord, ‘We have developed a craving to have the same conjugal mood with You that You had with the Gopis, the cowherd ladies of Vrindaban. In the same way they had worshipped You, we also want that same kind of relationship with You.’”
The Supreme Lord replied, “When the next day of Lord Brahma arrives and when he faithfully systematically begins his duties of creation and when the Sarasvata millennium begins it’s duration, you will appear as Gopis in Vrindaban and participate in My loving Rasa dance.”
In whatever way one faithfully remembers Lord Krsna they receive favorable results. As stated in the Gopalatapini Upanisad, yam mam smrtva aputah puto bhavati, yam mam smrtva avrati vrati bhavati, yam mam smrtva niskamah sakamo bhavati, yam mam smrtva asrotri srotri bhavati, “By remembering Me an impure person becomes purified. By remembering Me a frivolous person becomes austere and fixed. By remembering Me a helpless orphan becomes blessed. By remembering Me an atheist becomes learned in the Vedas and becomes theistic.” Such is the power of remembering and serving the Lord faithfully. As stated in the Vrhadaranyaka Upanisad, atma va ’are drastavyah srotavyo mantavyo nididhyasitavyah, “O souls, why waste your time, observe the form of the Supreme Lord, hear about Him and always think and meditate upon Him in all circumstances with fixed concentration.” For this reason the Padma Purana states:
smartavya satatam visnur vismartavyo na jatucit
sarve vidhi-nisedhah syur etayor eva kinkarah
“One should always remember Lord Sri Krsna, who is also called Lord Visnu, and never forget Him in any circumstance because by recollecting Him all the rules and regulations of what should be followed and what should be avoided are included.”
In this regard the Bhaktirasrmrta Sindhu states:
seva sadhaka-rupena siddha-rupena catra hi
tad-bhava lipsuna karyya vraja-lokanusaratah
“One who is desirous to please Lord Krsna in the same mood as the Vrajavasis, the residents of Vrindaban, must follow the Vrajavasis traditionally established mood while executing devotional service and even after becoming self-realized, one should not stop.”
Text 24
ka iha nu veda batavarajanmalayo ’grasaram
yata udagad rsirya manu devagana ubhaye
tarhi na sanna casad ubhayam na ca kalajavah
kimapi na tatra sastram avakrsya sayita yada
Translation
Lord Brahma, the four Kumaras and both kinds of demigods; those who control the senses and those who control material creation, are all born from You. If everything is born after You, how can anyone know You, who is without beginning and is perfect? In this creation the rope of rebirth and death binds everyone. At the time of annihilation when You withdraw this creation inside You and take Your mystical rest, all gross and subtle matter, the total aggregate of creation, the force of time, day and night, senses and life, including all the scriptures enter inside You. Oh, if nothing remains anywhere, how can anyone know You?
Purport
The Srutis indicate here that if one thinks that executing pure devotional service is difficult, it must be understood that knowing the Lord, who is the object of devotional service, is also very difficult to understand. The Lord is eternal, perfect and has no beginning or end. As stated in the Mahanarayana Upanisad, eko ha vai narayana asin na brahma na isanas, “There was only one entity, Lord Narayana. There was no Brahma or Lord Siva. There was only one single personality in the beginning, Narayana.” Srimad Bhagavatam also states, adyo ’vatarah purusah parasya, “The Supreme Lord is the only person that existed before creation.” Therefore, not to mention normal human beings, not even great demigods or realized sages can completely know the Lord. As stated in the Taittiriya Upanisad, yato vaco nivartante aprapya manasa saha, “The Supreme Lord is so far out of reach that every word ever spoken about Him falls short of reaching Him, and the mind cannot conceive Him in any way.” He is hidden in the Vedic hymns and at the time of annihilation, when all the great demigods and this entire creation enters inside the Lord, He performs His pleasing pastimes with His pure devotees in the spiritual world. In other words, only His pure devotees governed by the Lord’s transcendental potency participate in the Lord’s pastimes and only they can understand Him fully and everyone else falls short of completely knowing Him. Therefore the scriptures recommend everyone to follow the rules and regulations of devotional service that are anointed with pure love.
Text 25
janim asatah sato mrtim utatmani ye ca bhidam
vipanam rtam smaranty upadisanti ta arupitaih
tri-gunamayah puman iti bhida yad-abodha-krta
tvayi na tatah paratra sa bhaved avabodha-rase
Translation
Some people think that when temporary things come into existence, permanent things cease to exist. Some people think the soul has gross and subtle qualities. Some people think that by performing ritualistic ceremonies that result in rewarding happiness in this world and the next are real, but such notions are self-imposed illusions and under such illusion some people preach their illusory beliefs to others. Some people believe the soul is composed of the three modes of material nature and conjure up various ideas because they are ignorant about You. You are totally transcendental and illusion does not come near You, which is why duality is not possible for You.
Purport
It’s easy for a real researcher to find the real truth about God. In debate on misunderstood things arguments ensue and continue until the involved parties analyze their own ideas. One person says they’re correct, the other person says they’re correct and the argument continues until they measure their ideas against each others. For example, one person says water quenches thirst; the other person says aqua quenches thirst; yet another person says H2O quenches thirst, but they carry on arguing until they analyze the substance, water. Just as water, aqua and H2O are synonymous and the same substance, similarly God, Krsna, Rama, Buddha, Allah, Jehovah and Christ are synonymous names of one God. The difference here is that some names of God are nonsectarian and some are sectarian. But if everyone analyzes the list of God’s names, they will conclude that all these names are synonyms of one God and thereafter the argument should be resolved and tension should be relieved. It is the preachers that preach differently about the same one God, thus innocent people, not understanding the real truth disagree with messages of faiths other than their own and quarrel.
The Srutis’ statement that temporary things come into existence means, from the permanent thing, temporary things come, and people don’t acknowledge the permanent. For example, earth is permanent, but when earth is formed into a jug people don’t recognize it as earth. In this way some people think temporary things come into existence and permanent things cease to exist.
Some people follow Charvak and think their body is their soul and some think the soul is subtle and separate from the body. Those who think the body to be their self reason, ‘let us enjoy now because after death no one knows what will happen to us. The body is everything, there is nothing beyond this world, there is no higher authority and reincarnation is a myth.’ They want to keep their body fit to enjoy material sense objects, which is their goal of existing in this world.
Some people follow Yajnasutra and think it is best to perform sacrifices to please the demigods, because in return the demigods will please them on earth and after death they will reach heaven and enjoy there. Thus, they perform sacrifices thinking heavenly pleasures are eternal, and being mesmerized by the flowery words of the Vedas they forget the Supreme Lord. Such people get so convinced that following this process is in their best interest that they even encourage others to follow this path.
Some people follow Karma Mimamsa and say that the soul is a composition of the three modes of material nature, because nothing can exist without or beyond the three modes. Such people don’t understand that the soul is part of God and is not made from the three modes. But the wise situated in knowledge understand that the Lord created everything and He has entered in His creation, therefore everything in the creation is related to Him. Just as a goldsmith makes ornaments from gold and knows they are gold, whereas others identify those ornaments as rings, necklaces etc. Similarly the wise see everything in relation to the Lord, whereas the ignorant think otherwise.
Kanada’s philosophy considers this universe to be a creation of atoms. Five thousand years ago Jaimini professed the evolutionary theory, stating that per one’s karma, a living entity evolves to a higher species of life. In 150 B.C., Patanjali believed the entire creation came from nothing; the big bang theory, which later Darwin reiterated that is revered today by material scientists. Logicians think the body, all the senses and their functions, the sense objects, happiness and distress are actually miseries and for them the cessation of acknowledgment of those things is liberation for them. Followers of Sankhya philosophy analytically study material nature and consider the soul has a gross and subtle status. Followers of the law of karma and its results think, per one’s karma one is rewarded after death. Thus, being bewildered by such processes, people preach about things they aren’t perfectly clear on; and thus mislead innocent people that follow them from the real truth. Whereas people that follow the path of devotional service annunciated by Srila Vyasadeva understand the real truth; just as a goldsmith understands that gold ornaments are made of gold.
Text 26
sad iva manas tri-vrt tvayi vibhaty asada manujat
sad abhimrsanty asesam idam atmataya ’’tma-vidah
na hi vikrtim tyajanti kanakasya tad-atmataya
sva-krtam anupravistam idam atmatayavasitam
Translation
Beginning from the human body to the whole creation, everything is governed by the three modes of material nature, which superimposes its nature on the mind. Even though everything is a false reflection of spiritual reality, it was created by and rests on You and You are the real truth, which is why everyone thinks it is real. Those who have realized the Supreme Truth consider this creation to be real and non-different from You. Just as no one rejects ornaments that are made from gold because they consist of gold, similarly this world is created by You and You have entered in it, which is why it is non-different from You; it is another one of Your forms.
Purport
This creation was originally created by the Lord and after creating it, He entered in it, including into every living entity. But Lord Brahma conceived the creation within his mind, then he engineered it to manifest. The example of gold and ornaments made from gold, indicates that even though ornaments are not called gold but identified by the type of ornament it is, no one can deny they are gold. Even after an ornament loses its identity when melted, gold remains. Similarly, everything that is heard or seen was created by the Supreme Soul; and self-realized souls see everything in relation to Him, just as in ice, there is water. One may wonder, what is the difference between the Supreme Self and the individual self. In answer the Padma Purana states:
cetana tu dvividha prokta jiva atma ca sa prabho
jiva brahmadayah prokta atmaikas tu janardanah
“There are two types of life forces; one is called jiva, a breathing soul in a material body; and the other is addressed as the transcendental soul, having no material body. The breathing souls, like Lord Brahma, are created beings; whereas the other type of soul is the creator, called the caretaker of all the breathing souls.”
Whether it be molasses, sugar or candy, in every transformation of sugar, a wise man sees sugarcane juice. In this way the wise see the Supreme Lord in everything in this creation. The Katha Upanisad states, manasa tu visuddhena drsyate, “When the mind has become fully purified everything becomes visualized in its true sense.”
Text 27
tava pari ye caranty akhila-satva-niketataya
ta utapada ’’kramanty aviganayya siro nirrteh
parivayase pasun iva gira vibudhan api tams
tvayi krta-sauhmdah khalu punanti na ye vimukhah
Translation
Those that worship You knowing that You are the shelter of all living entities undoubtedly jump over death by placing their foot over its head. But it doesn’t matter how learned a person is, if they’re not Your devotee, they’re tied to the performance of ritualistic ceremonies mentioned in the Vedas, like an animal tethered to a hook. But those engaged in Your loving service purify their own self and purify others as well, whereas those against You cannot.
Purport
All the instructions and solutions stated in the Vedic scriptures is to teach and direct people how to obtain liberation from this world and thus reach the Supreme Lord. The goal of human life is to reach God and anyone that forgets that goal, even if they are living a pious religious life, their reaching that destination is futile. For example, to reach a distant destination a person has to use a vehicle, but if the person is only concerned with polishing and caring for the vehicle and forgets to drive the vehicle to their destination, they will not reach there. The process of devotional service called, Bhaktiyoga in Sanskrit, teaches that while caring for the vehicle (body), to use it to reach the ultimate destination, the spiritual world. Every ceremony and spiritual process stated in the scriptures is meant to purify the living entity so they can return to the spiritual world and personally sport with the Lord there.
Those that understand that worshipping the Lord’s lotus feet is the ultimate goal of human life become relieved from the entanglement of the rebirth and death in this world. But people not interested in becoming the Lord’s devotees, even if pious, the Lord ties them to some rituals that convinces them it is in their best interest to follow karma-kanda; to do this or do that; to perform this and perform that; and give charity to reach heaven. Such people helplessly follow a church or a priest that doesn’t follow the scriptural statements properly himself and isn’t pure, but artfully extends the end of the rope that he is bound to this material world with, to others, by using flowery words to mesmerize them and thus convince them to follow him. They’re like a helpless animal bound by a rope to a hook and are unable to progress beyond karma-kanda. Whereas lucky people follow a scripturally authentic spiritual teacher whose very life is the epitome of purity and thus become purified; and while marching towards liberation they purify others by convincing them to follow the same path. Even though such people live in this world, which is a place of death, are saved from taking another birth just to die again. Thus, following this path is like placing one foot over their coming death and jumping over their next death to the permanent destination, the spiritual world.
The essence is, even if one performs great austerities, performs fasting vows, fire sacrifices, travels to holy places, regularly studies the scriptures and debates various philosophies, without following the process of devotional service to please Lord Krsna they cannot stop the cycle of rebirth and death. One has to serve Krsna to obtain the ultimate goal of life. The Nrsimhatapini Upanisad states, dehante devah tarakam, “At the time of departure from this world only Lord Krsna helps a person obtain liberation.” In the Srimad Bhagavatam Lord Krsna states, bhaktya ’ham ekaya grahyah, “Only by executing devotional service can one obtain Me.”
Text 28
tvam akaranah svarad akhila karaka sakti-dharas
tava balim udvahanti samadanty ajayanimisah
varsa-bhujo ’khila-ksitipater iva visva-srjo
vidadhati yatra ye tv adhikrta bhavatas cakitah
Translation
O all independent Lord, You do not possess material senses, but control the workings of everyone else’s senses. Just as less powerful kings collect taxes from the citizenry and offer it as a gift to the emperor but enjoys some of it, similarly all the demigods, who are covered with ignorance accept tributes offered to them by people and extend those tributes to You, while enjoying some of it themselves. Indeed, being afraid of You, all the demigods continue to properly perform their duties assigned by You.
Purport
All living entities use their senses to accomplish a task and in so doing, enjoy the endeavor and result. But Lord Krsna doesn’t need an intermediary, like senses, to be able to do anything, He doesn’t even possess any material senses. As stated in the Svetasvatara Upanisad, apani-pado javano grahita, “Even though the Supreme Lord has no material hands, He accepts everything offered unto Him, even from a distant place.” For further information about this verse please refer to our Svetasvatara Upanisad (3.19). The Nyaya Sastra states, sarvatah pani-padam tat, “His hands and legs are everywhere,” indicating the Lord is inside and outside of everything and therefore doesn’t need any working or knowledge acquiring senses to mechanically implement His will, everything He desires automatically takes place. The Bhagavad Gita confirms this thus, sarvatah pani-padam tat sarvatah’ksi-siro-mukham, “His hands, legs, eyes, head and mouth are everywhere,” which is why the scriptures state that He is omnipresent and therefore even though He is seemingly doing something, in fact He is doing nothing. The Lord is the Lord for all eternity; no one has ever elected, selected, appointed or installed Him to any position. He is the Supreme Lord, Supersoul, and guardian of all.
Even though Lord Brahma, Lord Siva, Lord Indra and other great ruling demigods are able to perform all works needed for creation, they fear the Lord because they are elected, selected, appointed and installed to their respective posts to perform duties and the Lord is in control. As stated in the Taittiriya Upanisad thus:
bhisasmad vatah pavate bhisad eti suryah
bhisasmad agnis cendras ca mrtyor bhavati pancamah
“Because of fear of the Lord the wind blows; the sun rises and sets; the god of fire Agni and the king of heavens, Indra, perform their duties; as well as the fifth demigod in line, death personified, who performs his duty of taking lives.”
Except for the Supreme Lord, everyone must perform assigned duties. A demigod’s position is like a small ruler who collects taxes and offers them to the emperor and while doing this and other assigned jobs, takes some as payment and enjoys it in the process. Demigods’ duties are covered with ignorance and stay hidden from living entities, but can be experienced according to their duty, for example, Lord Indra isn’t directly perceived, but is recognized in the form of crop growing rains.
The Lord is not affected by anything. Everyone and everything is working because of fear induced by His sidelong glance, but even though greatly feared, He has a soothing personality. As stated in the Visnu Purana, samasta kalyana gunatmakau ’sau sva-sakti-lesodhrta bhuta-sargah, “The Lord is filled with all good qualities and His desires benefit everyone. Using but a fraction of His power He holds up the whole creation and maintains everyone as well.”
Text 29
sthira-cara-jatayah syur ajottha-nimitta-yujo
vihara udiksaya yadi parasya vimukta tatah
na hi paramasya kascid aparo na paras ca bhaved
viyata ivapadasya tava sunya-tulam dadhatah
Translation
O eternally liberated Lord, when You perform recreational pastimes with Your material energy, maya, You excite her by giving her a sidelong glance, which in turn activates the living entities senses and thus they take birth in moving and nonmoving physical bodies according to their previously performed karma. You are all merciful and are equally present everywhere, like the unseen sky. You are unaffected in every way by everything and You do not differentiate, hence no one is Your intimate friend and no one is a stranger to You.
Purport
The Lord is very dramatic. Thus, even though He is beyond maya, He acts as her husband. As soon as He glances over maya the aggregate of creation becomes agitated and produces varieties of things and living entities that fill the creation, which is why the scriptures state that His glance has the creation inside it. The Etareya Upanisad states, sa eksata lokan asrjata, “His glancing over maya produces everything and everyone.” And by His will He retracts the creation like a spider, who after creating its web retracts it whenever it wants. The Lord’s creating and retracting the creation pastime has been going on since time immemorial and will continue as long as He desires to exhale the creation and inhale to annihilate it. No one can say when this drama of creation and annihilation began or when it will end; and no one will know in the future either. This material world is like quicksand, entangling the living entities in the quagmire of rebirth and death, therefore everyone should dovetail their actions to the Lord’s service to become free. As stated in the Skanda Purana:
duh-svapna iva samsarah sanga-matrena duhkha-dah
tam asangasina chitva prayati paramam padam
“This material world is like a nightmare for the living entity, because it allures and mesmerizes them, causes them misery. But if someone wants to escape this trouble and obtain liberation from material existence, they must sever their connection to it by using the ax of spiritual association and detachment, to cut it.”
As previously discussed, at the time of creation all the living entities appear at once from the Lord and He is unaffected by any of their karma. Just as Lord Indra supplies rain which systematically grows many varieties of vegetation that produces flowers, fruits and vegetables that attract honeybees that make honey and spread pollen for further growth of vegetation that living entities consume to survive, all of which does not affect Lord Indra; similarly Lord Krsna is unaffected by anything that happens when the creation takes place, by anything in the creation or when it is annihilated. Although the Lord does not need to do anything, He creates so that His devotee can take birth and serve Him and participate in His pastimes. As stated in the Padma Purana, mad-bhaktanam vinodartham karomi vividhah kriyah, “Just to please My devotees I perform many activities.” The Lord produces this material world to please His devotees by playing with them there. Even though the Lord is omnipresent like the sky, neither good conditions or calamities in material nature nor anything any living entity does affects Him in any way, which is why He is called the uninfluenced, unattached and non-dualistic Lord.
One may wonder, why does the Lord cast the living entities in this world if it is a place of misery? In answer the Katha Upanisad states, samsara-bandha sthiti moksa-hetuh, “The Lord entangles the living entities in this world and keeps them there to give them the opportunity to endeavor for liberation.” Then the question arises, why don’t people become devotees if that is the only sure way of escaping material misery? The answer is given in the text by Sri Sukadeva Goswami by using the words, sunya-tulam dadhata, like unseen sky, indicating the Lord is unperceivable and has a non physical form, whereas the material world is physically present before the person and they are allured by sense gratification and the necessities of life, and most people aren’t smart enough to relate to problems beyond this life, without the Lord’s mercy.
Text 30
aparimita dhruvas tanu-bhrto yadi sarva-gatas
tarhi na sasyateti niyamo dhruva netaratha
ajani ca yan-mayam tad-avimucya niyantr bhavet
samam anujanatam yad amatam mata-dustataya
Translation
O immutable Lord, if the countless living entities were not born out of You, but were all-pervading and did not change form, they could not possibly be controlled by You. But because they are all born from You and are prone to accept and change bodies is why they are under Your control. The living entities, like sparks emitted from a blazing fire, are born from You and You are seated in their hearts as Supersoul. And those that think they know you through some warped reasoning don’t know You at all.
Purport
The living entities are not a collective, forming one thing as some say, but they are individual entities, therefore because one living entity achieves liberation, does not mean all other living entities achieve liberation. There are countless living entities and they are all individual souls. Each soul has to experience their karma and if their karma isn’t exhausted when they enter the Lord at the time of the annihilation of this universe, even though they entered the pure Lord, they come back out of Him at the time of the next creation to experience the rest of their karma. Except for the great demigods like Lord Brahma and Lord Siva, every living entity comes out of the Lord in each creation. The living entity is infinitesimal and is finite. If the soul were all pervading like the Lord it would not be under the Lord’s control, therefore all the scriptures state that the living entities are under the Lord’s control forever.
Lord Krsna’s internal potency is divided into two parts; the superior and inferior energies. The superior energy is always with the Lord and He sometimes transmits some of it to His personal associates; and the ordinary potency is influenced by time and resides in the living entities. The living entities are like sparks of a huge fire and God is like the huge fire. Just as fire is the source of sparks and do not exist without fire, similarly the Lord is the source of all the living entities and they could not exist without Him. Just as sparks are small bits of fire, similarly living entities are tiny parts of God. The size of a soul is stated in the Srimad Bhagavatam thus, kesagra sata-bhagasya satamsa sadrsatmakam, jivah suksma svarupo ’yam, “If the tip of a hair were divided into one hundred parts and a one of those parts were divided into one hundred parts, that hundredth of a hundredth part is the size of an individual soul.” The Svetasvatara Upanisad also states this in a similar way thus, balagra sata-bhagasya satadha kalpitasya ca, “When the tip of a hair is divided into one hundred parts and one part of that is divided into one hundred parts, one of those parts is understood to be the size of an individual soul.” For further details please refer to our Svetasvarata Upanisad. The Brahmanda Purana states, anu-matro’py ayam jivah sva-deham vyapya tisthati, “Even though the soul is smaller than an atom, it lives in the body and spreads its consciousness all over the body.” This subtle living entity occupies a physical material body and the Lord enters inside it as Supersoul and only because of its presence is the soul able to spread its awareness all over the body. The Gopalatapini Upanisad states, eko devah sarva-bhutesu gudhah, “One Supreme Lord is hidden in every living entity’s heart as Supersoul.” Lord Krsna states in the Bhagavad Gita, mamaivamso jiva-loke jiva-bhutah sanatanah, “All the living entities are My eternal fragmental parts.” Thus, the living entities are subordinate to the Lord and under His control.
Text 31
na ghatata udbhavah prakrti-purusayor ajayor
ubhaya-yuja bhavanty asu-bhrto jala-budbuda-vat
tvayi ta ime tato vividha-nama-gunaih parame
sarita ivarnave madhuni lilyur asesa-rasah
Translation
Material nature and its enjoyer, the Lord, are free from the defect of birth. Just as bubbles are formed when water and air are mixed, similarly when material nature and her enjoyer unite variegated living entities of various kinds and designations take birth. But just as rivers merge into the ocean, and nectar from different flowers is brought together making honey, similarly all the conditioned living entities eventually enter back into You, O Supreme Lord, thus dissolving their names, qualities and positions.
Purport
This text is connected to the previous text, where the living entity is said to be under the control of the Supreme Lord. The living entity’s being under the Lord’s control does not mean it is born from the Lord, because birth means a temporary existence where the body decays and perishes making it impossible to reach the Lord.
The living entity is called the marginal potency of the Lord and it is simultaneously one and different from the Lord, but if it is covered by ignorance it is said to have become entangled in material nature. But if it practices the right spiritual life rightly, the covering of ignorance is cleared away and it receives liberation. At the time of creation Lord Mahavisnu glances over material nature and the universe manifests, bringing forth all the living entities from the Lord’s abdomen and per their karma they take different gross bodies, qualities and designations. But the living entity does not take birth from the Lord, it only comes out of the Lord and depending on its karma gets a particular type of physical body with its particular designations. The living entity does not take birth or dies. As stated in the Bhagavad Gita, na jayate na mriyate va kadacin, “The spirit soul neither takes birth nor dies.”
Just as a bubble is water and is only formed when mixed with air, similarly the Lord does not give birth to the living entities, but He combines them with His material energy and per their karma they get a particular body. Just as a bubble is water but is different from water, similarly the living entity takes birth but does not take birth. At the time of annihilation the living entities enter the Lord’s body with their gross bodies and its designations, and at the time of creation they are exhumed and appear as they had when they entered the Lord. While inside the Lord’s body the living entities are like the nectar of different flowers blended into honey, but the nectar of each flower keeps its own molecular characteristics; similarly when the living entities enter the Lord they mix with others, but they each keep their particular characteristics. As stated in the Prasna Upanisad, ksarida suddhodakayor vibhedas te tayor vastava eva bhedah, “Even though there’s a difference between ‘salt water from the ocean’ and ‘drinking water from springs,’ they are both called water, similarly there is a difference between the Lord and the living entities even while they are inside the Lord.” But if the living entity achieves liberation, its gross and subtle bodies and any actions and reactions associated with them are dissolved like rivers mixing with the ocean.
Text 32
nrsu tava mayaya bhramam amisv avagatya bhrsam
tvyi su-dhiyo ’bhave dadhati bhavam anuprabhavam
katham anuvartatam bhava-bhayam tava yad bhrukutih
såjati muhus trinemir abhavac charanesu bhayam
Translation
The wise understand that the living entities deluded by Your illusory potency, maya, may become seriously attached to You, finding that You are the rescuer from rebirth and death, and thus render intense devotional service to please You. But those that refuse to take shelter of Your sincere devotee remain under the three-rimmed wheel of time, consisting of heat, cold and rain, that are Your strict eyebrows that torment them while in the cycle of rebirth and death. But how can the fear of this material world scare those who have seriously taken shelter of You by becoming Your sincere devotees?
Purport
Maya convinces practically everyone that sense gratification and material life is very pleasing and should be adopted as their goal of life; and others who are not so convinced, settle on some religion that compromises full surrender to the Lord. In this way maya causes people to overlook the real path to beyond rebirth and death and thus they wander throughout the universe taking unlimited births in different species of life. And if someone is a little luckier and develops some real interest in spiritual life, maya can misguide them using the many pseudo yogis and fake heretics that abound, who mesmerize the innocent with psychological jargon, resulting in the same fate, rebirth and death in this world. A sincere person must be very cautions not to be misled to some half-hearted path, because keeping any material consciousness keeps the person in the cycle of rebirth and death. Therefore to avoid bewilderment, one should pray to the Lord and study ancient Vaisnava scriptures to become wise and thus able to detect a real spiritualist from a fake.
The wise seek the association and connection of a real devotee and by following their guidance to serve Lord Krsna’s lotus feet, maya’s allurements are no longer attractive. In this way, the fear of material existence and death is eliminated for the practitioner. According to the Jyotisa Sastra, the wheel of time is called the circle of death and it has a three-layered rim; summer, winter and rainy seasons. This circle of seasons revolves until it’s time for a particular person’s death, and that time comes around when the Lord furrows His eyebrows. But those who have taken shelter of the Lord need not fear maya or the circle of death, which is why devotees pray to the Lord, as stated in the Visnu Purana:
natha yoni-sahasresu yesu yesu bhramamy aham
tatra tatracyuta bhaktir acyutastu drdha tvayi
“O Lord, among the thousands of species, whichever specie I may have to take birth in and helplessly wander, please bless me in each birth to have unwavering devotion unto You.”
Text 33
vijita-hrsika-vayubhir adanta-manas turagam
ya iha yatanti yantum ati-lolupam upaya khidah
vyasana satanvitah samavahaya guros caranam
vanija ivaja santy akrta-karnadhara jaladhau
Translation
O unborn Lord, the mind is more flickering than any relentless horse. It even disturbs those who have regulated their senses by practicing the breathing exercises of the yoga system. People that try to control the restless mind without following the commands of a Spiritual Master fail in all categories of spiritual practices. Such people face hundreds of problems on the spiritual path, like a businessman who sails a boat to the middle of the ocean and experiences difficulties because he didn’t employ an expert captain to sail it.
Purport
Every spiritual process recommends controlling the mind and every Vedic scripture suggests ways to do it. The mind is more restless than a restless horse because the more one tries to control it, the more it sneaks off without the person even noticing. People that attempt to control their mind without the guidance of a spiritual authority will face many troubles on the path, but if the right authority is found and the person humbly follows his directions the mind becomes easy to control. Without a spiritual guide difficulties will be faced.
Only because of precarious circumstances have we obtained this human birth and there is no telling when we will get another one, therefore we should take advantage of it by using it as a vehicle to achieve the greatest thing, reaching the spiritual world where the miseries of this material world are nonexistent. The human body is compared to a perfect boat; a scripturally authentic Spiritual Master is compared to the captain of the boat; and the scriptural injunctions are compared to favorable conditions so the boat travels smoothly. Anyone that doesn’t take advantage of the human facility are considered killers of their own soul. Therefore the wise advise everyone to accept a scripturally authentic Spiritual Master and follow his instructions without doubting success. The Mundaka Upanisad states the following about the Spiritual Master, tad vijnanartham sa gurum evabhigacchet, samit-panin srotriyam brahma-nistham, “To understand and know God properly a person should humbly, with folded hands, reach a srotriya Spiritual Master; meaning one should reach a person born in an authentic traditional Brahmana family, who is learned in the Vedic scriptures and initiated in the Vaisnava tradition of disciplic succession and truly fixed in devotion to God. Such a teacher’s teaching will work on a sincere seeker of the truth.” The word srotriya is defined in the Manu Smruti thus:
janmana brahmano jneyah samskarad dvija ucyate
vidyaya yati vipratvam tribhih srotriya sabda-bhak
“A person born in a Brahmana’s family is addressed as Brahmana by his birthright. After going through the sacred thread ceremony he is called dvija or twice born. By studying the Vedas he becomes vipra, a learned wise Brahmana. Only when he has met all three of these qualifications is he addressed as a srotriya Brahmana, qualified to occupy the position of Spiritual Master.” For further details about Guru please consult our book entitled, ‘The Guru Nirnaya Dipika.’
No one can monopolize living a spiritual life and ultimately reaching the spiritual world regardless of what anyone says, because the spiritual world belongs to God and He allows all in that follow His instructions as stated in the ancient Vedic scriptures.
Text 34
svajana-sutatma-dara-dhana-dhama-dharasu-rarthas
tvayi sati kim nrnam srayata atmani sarva-rase
iti sad ajanatam mithunato rataye caratam
sukhayati ko nv-iha sva-vihate sva-nirasta-bhage
Translation
People who take shelter of You, the Supersoul of all who is the source of all pleasures, derive inconceivable pleasure from it and thus do not care about pleasure gotten from relatives, children, their own body, spouses, wealth, houses, farmland or vehicles. But those that don’t appreciate taking shelter of You remain attracted to pleasures derived from connection to spouses and children and can’t be convinced that anything else in this world could give such happiness. But the truth is, by nature, everything of this world is subject to destruction, therefore what kind of and how much happiness can material things reward?
Purport
The Supreme Lord is the shelter of all and embodiment of all pleasure. Devotees that honestly take shelter of the Lord don’t care about material happiness gotten from material connections, are unattached to kith, kin and possessions and only care about their body as long as it is useful to serve the Supreme Lord. They don’t even care about living unless they can serve the Lord in every possible way. In contrast to such devotees, others become immersed in material sense pleasures and feel that they can’t live without them. They don’t understand the flickering nature of material happiness. Such people don’t know that there is an alternative to the frustrations and anxiety of this world. With material nature being so temporary, one may wonder why a person would become so attached to material pleasures? In answer the Lord states in Bhagavad Gita, ajnanenabrtam jnanam tena muhyanti jantavah, “The living entities become bewildered because their real knowledge is covered by ignorance.” Nothing in the material world has the capacity to give natural and lasting happiness, which is why the Mundaka Upanisad states, pariksya lokan karmacitan brahmano nirvedam ayat, “After examining and learning of the flickering happiness of this world, the wise seriously take sincere shelter of the Lord and remain unattached to material possessions.” No one ever found permanent happiness living a material lifestyle and no one doing so is truly happy now or will be in the future. Material things only reward frustration after frustration; with the only happiness being the break in between. Therefore, the smart dedicate their lives to please the Supreme Lord and enjoy material things without being attached to them, and by doing so they will go back to godhead and enjoy everlasting happiness there. As stated in the Taittiriya Upanisad, sarva-rase sarve rasah sukhani vidyante, “All joy giving pleasures lie in the service of the Lord, therefore those interested in lasting happiness should take shelter of the Lord.” The Bhagavad Gita also states, vairagyena ca grhyate, meaning whosoever becomes detached from material things and becomes attached to the Lord experiences real pleasure. The Bhaktirasrmrta Sindhu states:
anasaktasya visayan pujarhan upayunjatah
nirbandhahkrsna-sambandhe yukta vairagyam ucyate
“A person that accepts and uses everything to please Lord Krsna, including things they own without being attached to any material thing is said to be possessing things rightly.”
Srila Jiva Goswami comments on the above premise in the Durgama Sangamani thus, visayan upayunjato bhunjanasya purisasya yad vairagyam tad yuktam ucyate, “A person that possesses material riches that while using them to serve Lord Krsna, uses some of it for their pleasure, are called rightly situated because they are considered unattached, because most of it is used in the Lord’s service.”
Text 35
bhuvi puru-punya-tirtha-sadanany rsayo vimadas
ta uta bhavat-padambuja-hrdo ’gha-bhidanghri-jalah
dadhati sakrn manas tvayi ya atmani nitya-sukhe
na punar upasate purusa-sara-haravasathan
Translation
The dust of the lotus feet of pure sages who are free from pride and keep Your lotus feet in their hearts, destroys all sin. Such devotees are very pure and purify everyone who connects with them. They move about in holy places that purify everyone. Whoever’s mind becomes engaged in the service of the all-blissful Lord, who is the Supersoul of all, and does not hanker for material household life, which strips away the essence of life, receives liberation.
Purport
The truly saintly keep Lord Krsna’s lotus feet in their heart, from which the false ego of material opulence, good education and high birth is eradicated. Such people don’t have any sin in them and don’t get involved in any material relationships of any kind. As stated in the Gopalatapini Upanisad, hrdi mam samsmaran brahman mat-padam yati niscitam, “O saintly Brahmana, anyone that constantly meditates on Me reaches My spiritual abode.” If they get involved with anyone or are seen at holy places or anywhere in this world, it is only to bring people closer to Lord Krsna. The Padma Purana states, anyesu punya-tirthesu muktir eva mahaphalam, “A person that goes to a holy place that is difficult to reach, that journey certainly results in obtaining great purity that rewards liberation from this world.” Vrindaban is Lord Krsna’s home, where He is known as Govinda, and it is considered the holy place of holy places. As stated by Narada Muni in the Skanda Purana:
tasmin vrndavane ramyam sri-govinda niketanam
tat-sevaka samakirnam tatraiva sthiyate maya
“In the holiest land of Vraja there is a magnificent place called Sri Vrindaban Dhama, where Lord Krsna is addressed by His most charming name, Govinda, and is where His beautiful residing place is located. After reaching there I shall stay there in a serving mood.”
Steadfast devotees even purify holy places, as stated in Srimad Bhagavatam, tirthi kurvanti tirthani svantahsthena gadabhrta, “Pure devotees even purify holy places, because the Supreme Lord who holds a club resides in their hearts in His manifested form.”
Once a person becomes truly attracted to Lord Krsna nothing in this world can allure them away from Him. But unless a person’s mind is completely captivated and dedicated to serving Lord Krsna’s lotus feet, practicing devotional service will not change their attitude. Their heart will remain contaminated by lust, anger, greed, envy, hatred and political maneuvers. Such people cannot tolerate a more advanced person near them, hence when they visit a holy place, where advanced devotees go, material contamination arises in their mind causing them to act pretentious thus committing offenses and becoming more contaminated. Unaware of their arrogance, they form a group of likeminded people and go to a pure place like Vrindaban to stay to obtain liberation, but if their attitude is not right, instead of benefiting from staying at the holy land, they become implicated with unforgivable offense. Their position is stated in the Nyaya Sastra thus, andhenaiva niyamana yathandha, “When a blind person leads another blind person they both fall in the ditch.”
Text 36
sata idam utthitam sad iti cen nanu tarka-hatam
vyabhicarati kva ca kva ca mrsa na tathobhaya yuk
vyavahrtaye vikalpa isito ’ndha-paramparaya
bhramayati bharati ta uru-vrttibhir uktha jadan
Translation
The statement, ‘This universe is generated from the permanent Lord therefore should be accepted as permanent,’ can be refuted logically. There is inconsistency in some Vedic statements and in other places there are falsehoods. A philosophy that has inconsistency and falsehoods is not reasonable. If this is true, is this variegated creation based on speculation and blind faith? The knowledgeable words of the Vedas annunciate metaphorical meanings and their implications keep the less intelligent bewildered and thus they engage in performing ritualistic sacrifices.
Purport
There are two types of opinions concerning the creation; one is the Vedantists opinion, thought based on reality and the belief that this creation is real; and the other is the Mimamsakas opinion, thought based on falsehood and the belief that this creation is totally false. Vedantists say this creation existed in its ‘cause’ or was in a dormant form before it was manifested. As stated in the Chandogya Upanisad, sad eva somyedam agra asid ekam evadvitiyam brahman, “O gentle one, before this creation manifested, it existed as one with the Lord, lying inside Him in its dormant form.” In this philosophy effect depends upon cause. In other words before the creation could be physically perceived, it existed. The Absolute Truth transforms Himself into creation and because of His inconceivable potency He remains unchanged. In truth, the Lord’s external energy, maya, takes the form of this creation, not the Lord, which is why this philosophy is also called evolutionism, because she slowly helps the living entities improve.
The Mimamsakas say that this creation did not exist before it manifested; that it did not exist in a dormant stage before it was manifest. They believe there was nothing and from nothing this creation came to exist. The Vedic scriptures do not agree with this theory, but state that the physical world cannot come from nothing. Then Mimamsakas argue saying that everything that comes out of the eternal Lord doesn’t have to be real. For example, a magician produces many things out of nothing, but the magician is a real person and is permanent, but the magic is a false illusion and is not permanent. Therefore they say that the statement that real things come out of the real Lord is a leery philosophy.
The Vedantists refute this stating that things a magician produces are based on the medium of magic that does not begin with primary material that can be transformed into something permanent. The Vedantists argue that the creation is real and therefore must have come from something real; just as a potter must use the medium of real clay to make a real clay pot, similarly the Lord is real and therefore the creation is real. The Lord is the cause of creation and is real, and the Lord is the chief medium of creation and is also real and therefore this creation cannot be false.
The Mimamsakas refute stating that just as the desert is the cause of the mirage of water in the desert, the mirage is false; similarly the Lord is the cause of this creation, but the creation is false. The Vedantists refute this argument saying a mirage is not real water, but just an illusion of a bewildered person.
The Mimamsakas argue that the creation is false but seems real, just like people mistake a rope for a snake or believe that there is silver in an oyster. Vedantists refute this stating the example of a rope mistaken for a snake or silver being in an oyster are irrelevant examples, because the Lord has a connection with the creation, whereas a snake has nothing to do with a rope and there is no silver in an oyster. It’s impossible for a snake to become rope or a rope to become a snake; and if an oyster is analyzed it will be discovered that there is no silver in it. Such examples are never true. Similar things may be mistaken for one another, but they do not become the other thing. For example, a length of rope arranged crooked may appear like a snake in the dark because that’s how a snake looks when it is moving, but the rope is not a snake. And just because the inside of an oyster may look silver, silver is something else. But the Lord and the creation are not two different things, the creation comes from the Lord, therefore there is no chance of mistaking One for the other. People who give examples of a snake and a rope believe that the Lord is light; impersonal; and has no physical form.
The Vedantists state that everyone does not mistake a rope for a snake in the dark or believe there is silver in an oyster, but everyone sees the world and the living entities in it. Everyone that sees a horse knows it is a horse, a car to be a car, an apple to be an apple. Everything is what it is, it is not something else. If everything we see is false, we couldn’t physically use things to perform tasks. The Sanatkumara Samhita explains, tasmad ramasya rupo ’yam satyam satyam idam jagat, “This created universe is as real as the Lord Himself, but the Lord is permanent and the universe is temporary.” If a person thinks this world does not exist, things in the world couldn’t be used to do things, but so called false things are utilized, therefore things in the physical world are real. Therefore believing the Lord being real and the creation being real is not blind faith, but realized as true through reasoning. Whereas those who believe this world is false have blind faith, because their arguments are futile and for anyone that accepts this blind faith as truth, real truth cannot be realized.
The goal of those who understand the Vedas is to convince everyone to serve the lotus feet of the Lord. Even though they may seem to be telling some people to follow rituals, they are actually guiding them to the Lord by engaging them in what they think the person is capable of doing. Just as a teacher doesn’t begin teaching algebra to a child on their first day of school, similarly a learned devotee evaluates a person’s propensity and engages them accordingly. But people attracted to the flowery words of the Vedas and engage in performing ritualistic sacrifices are less intelligent, whereas realized people serve the two lotus feet of the Lord as their life and soul.
The Vedantists conclude, although this creation has come from the Lord it is not like the Lord, just like a clay pot came from clay but is not referred to as clay. Just as a clay pot is real but temporary, similarly this creation is real but temporary, it is not eternal like the Lord. As stated in the Mundaka Upanisad, yatha urnanabhih srjate grhnate yatha prthivyam ausadhayah samb havanti yatha satah purusat kesa-lomani tatha’ksarat sambhavatiha visvam, “Just as a spider creates and withdraws its web, just as plants and herbs grow from the earth, and just as hair grows from a living person, similarly this universe comes out of the inexhaustible Lord.” Knowing that nonliving things like hair and nails come out of a living entity means the soul does not produce these things, but the body produces them, the soul is just the cause of the body doing it. Sometimes a living scorpion is seen coming out of nonliving cow dung; the scorpion’s body was born from dung, not the soul because the soul never takes birth and is not created. This illustrates the existence of the cause of work is permanent (the Lord) and the existence of effect is temporary (material creation). For example, fire is real and it burns everything supplied to it, but its work is temporary because after burning the fuel it goes out. It is best to guard oneself with knowledge to avoid becoming bewildered with any false philosophy and to always chant the names of Krsna and serve Him with sincere devotion.
Text 37
na yad idam agra asa na bhavisyad ato nidhanad
anu mitam antara tvayi vibhati mrsaika-rase
ata umiyate dravina-jati vikalpa pathair
vitatha-mano-vilasam rtam ity avayanty abudha
Translation
The premise that this creation did not exist before it was manifested and will cease to exist after it is annihilated and in the interim its existence is factitiously seen to be in You, the Personality whose spiritual pleasure never changes, is their conclusion. But just as transformation of various materials into diverse forms does not reduce the original material they were formed from, similarly even though this creation seems different from You, it does not exist separate from You. In this way the less intelligent imagine that this creation is existing falsely in You. This is truly only a mental fantasy.
Purport
Something that exists that is not visible to the naked eye in its present form, but afterward transforms to a perceivable form and is annihilated, doesn’t disprove its relevancy. It only proves that it’s present form is temporary. For example, just as a jug did not exist before a potter created it, it did exist after he made it and in time it decays back to earth, does that mean the jug was not real? No one can deny the jug existed, but it can be said that the jug is a perishable item. This creation has a similar existence. As stated in the Yogavasistha, dirgha-svapnam imam viddhi, “This material creation is like a long lasting dream.” Of the ten proofs of existence, one of them is negativity or the absence of that thing. If a jug is not visible to the physical eye because it is on the other side of a wall doesn’t mean the jug does not exist, it only means it cannot currently be perceived. Similarly when this creation was not physically existent and its variety was not visible to the naked eye, means the whole creation, including all the demigods and living entities existed, but were lying dormant inside the Lord.
Just as a jug is not different from its cause, earth, and jewelry is not different from its cause, gold, even though they are formed into different shapes; similarly the creation is not different from its cause, the Supreme Lord. Prevaricators speculate in many ways using irrelevant examples to try to justify their notion that this creation is not real, but the wise don’t accept this premise, knowing that such people are bewildered and believe a fallacy. Therefore it is best to seriously take up spiritual life because it takes one to the spiritual world. As Lord Krsna states in Srimad Bhagavatam, mat niketam tu nirgunam, “My spiritual abode is free from all material affinities.”
Text 38
sa yad ajaya tv ajam anusayita gunams ca jusan
bhajati sarupatam tad anu mrtyum apeta-bhagah
tvam uta jahasi tam ahir-iva tvacam atta-bhago
mahasi mahiyase ’sta-gunite ’parimeya-bhagah
Translation
A living entity influenced by the Lord’s illusory energy, maya, embraces her and becomes entangled in material nature taking physical forms of various qualities that are products of the three modes of material nature and subsequently lose their original qualities and experience repeated deaths. But You possess unlimited opulence and just as a snake sheds its slough, similarly You avoid material energy from a distance. Thus, being worshipped by the eightfold mystic perfections, You reside in the spiritual world.
Purport
Knowing this material world is prone to be destroyed, a living entity controlled by imprisoning material desires dives further in the pool of sense gratification thus experiencing unlimited miseries and shackles themselves to the cycle of rebirth and death. The living entities are eternal fragmental parts of the Lord, but because the individual souls are minute, the Lord’s external energy, maya, is able to influence it and thus control it by entangling it with material designations. As stated in the Narada Pancaratra, maya mugdham jagat sarvam sarve deha-bhimaninah, “Everyone in this whole creation is bewildered by the external energy, maya, and thus falsely identifies with their material body and lording over material nature.” Identifying with the body and bodily extensions and continuance of enjoying material sense objects, the person actually covers themselves with karma, like a caterpillar covers itself in a cocoon.
The Lord is like the shining sun and maya is like darkness, hence maya cannot come near the Lord. Even though maya is His energy, because she is filled with many faults He separates from her, like a snake shedding its outer skin. The Krama Sandarbha states, yatha bhujangah svagatam api kancukam guna-budhya nabhimanyate tatha tvam ajaa na, “Just like a snake doesn’t identify with its slough and separates from it, similarly the Lord separates from His external energy, maya.” The Dasama Tippani similarly states, yatha tyakte kancuke sarpo drsam api narpayati, tatha tvam avidyaka srsta, “Just as after a snake releasing its slough sees it, but is not interested in it. Similarly after the Lord creates this material nature He separates Himself from it and although He sees it, He keeps a distance from it.”
Text 39
yadi na samuddharanti yatayo hrdi kama-jata
duradhigamo asatam hrdi gato ’smrta kantha-manih
asutrpa yoginam ubhayato ’py asukham bhagavann
anapagatantakad anadhirudha padad bhavatah
Translation
O Lord, people that have adopted the path of yoga and those who have adopted the renounced order of life; neither of who have not yet relinquished the deeply rooted lusty desires in their heart are not considered saintly. Even though You live in their hearts You are unavailable to them, just as a person who has forgotten they are wearing pearls around their neck search everywhere else but around their neck for them. Spiritualists that engage in satisfying their material desires have to suffer in both this life and life after death and thus they remain bereft of reaching the spiritual world.
Purport
Hankering for material sense gratification is the cause of the living entity’s entanglement in material existence and because of it they experience rebirth and death in the eight million four hundred thousand species of life. Therefore every intelligent person should carefully perform spiritual life, thus uprooting the vine of the enjoying spirit from within. The Lord is never far away, He is seated in the heart, and until the spirit to enjoy temporary material pleasure is uprooted, the ultimate pleasure of experiencing the Lord cannot be had. Some spiritualists compromise many spiritual rules to attract followers and collect funds and thus remain spiritually crippled and after death have to face Yamaraja, death personified, for compromising spiritual rules. Such spiritualists remain in the cycle of repeated birth and death. As stated in the Mundaka Upanisad, kaman yah kamayate manyamanah sa karmabhir jayate tatra tatra, “Even if one merely considers having material sense gratification, that karma will force him to take birth repeatedly in different species.” The Bhagavad Gita also states, na kama kami, “A person desiring sense gratification will not have peace.” The Visnu Purana states:
ragadi dusite citte na hrdi madhusudanah
na badhnati ratim hamsah kadacit kardamambhasi
“If the mind and heart are afflicted with attachment to material sense objects then Lord Krsna, the killer of the Madhu demon, cannot be realized; just as a swan is not attracted to a muddy lake.”
Therefore undisciplined spiritualists remain away from the spiritual world until they become fully purified. As stated in the Bhagavad Gita, jitstmanah prasantasya paramatma samahitah, “For a spiritualist who has controlled their mind and is situated in peace, the Supersoul has already been reached.”
Text 40
tvad-avagami na vetti bhagavad-uttha-subhasubhayor
guna-vigunanvayams tarhi deha-bhrtam ca girah
anuyugam anvaham saguna gita-paramparaya
sravana-bhrto yatas tvam apavarga-gatir manujaih
Translation
O Lord, those whose minds are engaged in You in Your personal form do not heed the good or bad reactions to their performed pious or impious deeds, because they are controlled by You alone. They don’t care about how and what people say about them. They hear and glorify Your pastimes that are recited in each age that come down through the unbroken chain of succession of humankind and thus they obtain the ultimate salvation from this world.
Purport
It doesn’t matter what spiritual order a devotee follows, if their mind is fully fixed on the Lord, they will surely receive the Lord’s blessings. Even if there is a flaw in their behavior, because of their dedication they are not punished by divine law. Devotees who realize their goal is to please Krsna aren’t concerned with the good and bad experiences they’ve had because they know those experiences are the waves of this material existence and they will no longer experience them when they reach the spiritual world. Miseries such devotees go through are not reactions of sinful acts from their past, but are given by Lord Krsna to test that devotee’s faith and build their determination. And sometimes He gives His practicing devotees miseries to discourage insincere people from adopting spiritual life to keep spiritual secrets and the pleasure of devotion hidden from those against Him. If there were no trials and tribulations in devotional life devotees could become careless, so just to insure against this and to develop an eagerness in His devotees to serve Him, He creates trouble for them. Sometimes real devotees suffer sickness or some physical problem, which are derived from committing offenses against other real devotees and not from experiencing the result of their previous karma, because Lord Krsna directly supervises His real devotees. Even by chance, if a real devotee does an unwanted deed, their spiritual potency is not reduced in any way. As stated in the Vrhadaranyaka Upanisad, esa nityo mahima brahmanasya na karmana vardhate no kaniyan, “A Brahmana devotee’s perpetual spiritual potency never increases or decreases because of the results of any of his deeds.” The Gopalatapini Upanisad states:
tair aham pujaniyo vai bhadra krsna-nivasibhih
tad dharma-gatihina ye tasyam mayi parayanah
“Because I am their sole worshipable Lord and they are solely dedicated to Me and always think of Me as Krsna, if somehow they misbehave I consider them as fully dedicated and pure as before.” For more details about this point please refer to our Bhagavad Gita, chapter nine, texts and purports of verses thirty and thirty-one.
Sometimes people envious of real devotees find faults, investigate, criticize, humiliate, scar and/or glorify them, but real devotees disavow such things, because to acknowledge them is a distraction from their service to Lord Krsna and they are resolute to serve the Lord to the best of their ability. Real devotees never compromise devotional rules and they guide people who desire to follow spiritual life. No one can buy, bribe, seduce or make a real devotee compromise their spiritual principles. They respect all devotees, but only follow the commands of their scripturally authentic Spiritual Master and cannot tolerate people that mislead others on the spiritual path. Their spiritual initiation, their chanting and their knowledge about God all are based on knowledge from the unbroken chain of disciplic succession of Vaisnavism.
Text 41
dyu-pataya eva ten a yayur antam anantataya
tvam api yad-antaranda-nicaya nanu savaranah
kha iva rajamsi vanti vayasa saha yac-chrutayas
tvayi hi phalanty atan-nirasanena bhavan-nidhanah
Translation
O Lord, You are the unlimited God, which is why great demigods like Lord Indra, other lords in heaven or even You cannot finish explaining Your glories. Just as countless dust particles are blown around in the sky, similarly countless universes rove within You compelled by the wheel of time, each enveloped by seven coverings. We, the Srutis, whose sole shelter and whose merging place is You, are unable to explain everything about You.
Purport
According to the ancient scriptures God is unlimited, hence His glories are unlimited and no one can prove that His glories occurred up until a certain time; or He is only like this or He is like that; or He only has this type of qualities or that many qualities; or He has only this much opulence; or He takes a certain amount of incarnations. Unlimited means, no one, including God Himself, can determine the end of His qualities. The Vedic scriptures reveal only a friction of information about Him.
There are innumerable universes in this creation and they come out of the pores of Lord Mahavisnu, who lies on the Causal Ocean. Each universe has seven coverings: earth; water; fire; air; ether; false ego; and the mahat-tattva, the total aggregate of material elements. Each of the seven coverings of the universe is ten times wider than the preceding one. For example, earth is said to be one billion miles wide and therefore the next layer, water, is said to be ten times wider or ten billion miles wide. Beyond water is a fiery glow which is ten times wider then water or one-hundred billion miles wide. Beyond the covering of fire is air, which is ten times wider than fire. Beyond air is ether, which is ten times wider than air. Beyond ether is ego, which is ten times wider than ether. Beyond ego is the total aggregate of material elements, which is ten times wider than the ego and all these layers are covered with a shell and the universe looks like an egg. In this way Vedic scriptures describe the size of one universe and they state there are innumerable universes floating around in the Lord’s body and we live in this universe. Just as we are not concerned with dust particles in the air, Lord Krsna is not concerned with universes.
If there are innumerable universes in the creation, how many pores must the Lord have, which is why the Srutis, the Vedic scriptures, are unclear about the answer. How could they? No amount of words can describe the unlimited. When the Srutis first see the earth, they claim, “No,” this is not God,” and after seeing movable and immovable living entities they say, “No, none of them are God.” In this way, saying, this is not God and that is not God, eventually they become silent and becoming silent after analysis is a form of disagreement. In this way they rest in the Lord.
The Vedic scriptures state that there is one Supreme God and His name is Krsna and all other gods are either His manifestations or incarnations; or demigods, the departmental heads of the creation. The Vedic scriptures also emphasize that God is transcendental and His senses, feelings, behavior and activities are all transcendental to this world. They state that He is impartial to everyone and very merciful towards His devotees. That there are limitless living entities and they take birth according to their karma in the eight million four hundred thousand kinds of bodies and according to that body’s propensity, the living entity functions. Just as people have different types of vehicles but are not that vehicle but the person inside driving it. Similarly a soul resides in all bodies, be it a bird body, a beast, reptile, aquatic, plant and so on. The communicative abilities in each are different, but all of them have the same hankerings and desires. Just as electricity is the energy that powers a heater, a cooler, radio or television etc., it functions according to what it is powering, similarly the type of body the soul inhabits directs its actions and behavior. All living entities are children of God and all should be dealt with fairly, equally and respectfully. At the time of annihilation the same amount of living entities and various species that came out of the Lord, go back in Him and they remain intact, and when the next creation occurs, they come out as they were, unchanged.
The reason and aim of human existence is to seriously adopt spiritual life and sincerely practice it under the guidance of a scripturally authentic Spiritual Master. One may wonder how important it is to have an authentic Spiritual Master in spiritual life. It is because only a real Guru can relay a person’s service to God, that is the Lord’s system. A real Guru is a Spiritual Master that is authorized according to the necessary qualifications as stated in the Vedic scriptures written in Sanskrit. Unless he qualifies in full as stated in the Vedic scriptures, he is not recognized by God as His representative. A person is not recognized by God as His messenger by an election of his peers, by bribery or if a person monopolizes an organization and demands the honor from his subordinates to be chosen as Guru, but he has to be authorized by the ancient Vedic scriptures and any discussion about who can become Guru based on the ancient scriptures ends here. The reason we repeat this is because getting an authentic Guru is the most important thing for a person to have in order to get to the spiritual world; everything else comes in a far second because the Guru is the person’s connection to the Lord. A devotee must accept and follow the instructions of the Guru, otherwise their spiritual life becomes stagnant.
If a person made the mistake of taking initiation from a scripturally inauthentic Guru, he or she has to accept another initiation from a scripturally authentic Guru for spiritual advancement. Non-vaisnava impersonalists should not be accepted as Guru because he cannot lead them to the spiritual world; because he himself doesn’t know what it is or how to get there. The Vedic scriptures recommend that females not function as Guru for anyone unless she is directly told by God to do so or she is foretold in the scriptures to having been sent by God to earth to act as Guru. We have discussed about who can become Guru and who cannot in detail, in our book entitled, ‘The Guru Nirnaya Dipika.’
Text 42
sri bhagavan uvaca
ity etad brahmanah putra asrutyatmanusasanam
sanandanam athanarcuh siddha jnatva ’’tmano gatim
Translation
Lord Narayana Rsi said, in this way, after hearing about these instructions about the Supreme Lord, the sons of Lord Brahma concluded their final destination, the spiritual world. They were perfectly satisfied and all combined and worshipped Sanandana.
Purport
The four Kumaras churned the vast ocean of Vedic scriptures and brought out its essence of this intricate knowledge in the form of prayers of the Vedas. These four Kumaras never fall in maya, illusion, because maya was born long after their birth. They always remain five years old and wander all over the universe and spiritual world freely. The goal of this spiritual session was to benefit all human beings. The real help that all human beings need is stated in the Gopalatapini Upanisad thus, tasmat krsna eva paro devas tam dharayet tam rasayet tam bhajet tam yajet, “Therefore, it is the duty of every human being to accept Lord Krsna as the only God, keep Him in their hearts, please Him by performing devotional service to Him, chant His holy names, meditate on Him, pay homage and perform every other spiritual ritual to please Him alone.”
Text 43
ity asesa samamnaya puranopanisad rasah
samuddhrtah purva-jatair
vyoma-yanair mahatmabhih
Translation
Thus, these ancient saintly Kumaras, who travel on paths in the upper atmosphere, distilled the vast knowledge of the Vedas, Puranas and Upanisads and brought out the confidential nectar of their essence.
Purport
It is every civilized human being’s duty to accept a scripturally authorized Guru and worship him, as we see Sanandana being worshipped here by the other Kumaras. Although the worshippers are equally qualified and of equal rank, because they accepted Sanandana as their spiritual leader they listened to him and now are worshiping him. There are four Kumaras and they all stay and travel together and reach anywhere they wish. Not only did they discuss the Vedas, they also discussed the Puranas and Upanisads, which are of equal stature as the Vedas. As stated in the Chandogya Upanisad, itihasa puranam pan-camam vedanam vedam, “All the Vedic histories and all the Puranas are called the fifth Veda, among the five Vedas.” The Visnu Purana states, itihasa puranani pancamo veda ucyate, “The Vedic histories and all the Puranas are called the fifth Veda.”
Text 44
tvam caitad brahmadayada sraddhaya ’’tmanusasanam
dharayams ca gam kamam kamanam bharjanam nrnam
Translation
O Narada Muni, you are also a son of Lord Brahma, equal to the Kumaras. You should also faithfully carry this knowledge of the Supreme Lord and move around freely everywhere on earth and preach it, because this knowledge will roast all the material desires of every human being.
Purport
Perfect yogis and spiritual mystics travel per their desire anywhere on earth without the help of any material conveyances. Narada Muni was born from Lord Brahma’s mind, is a pure devotee of the Lord and could also travel the pathways of the upper sky like the Kumaras. Although Narada Muni travels everywhere, he mainly frequents earth. Whereas the Kumaras can travel everywhere, but mainly frequent the heavenly planets and the spiritual world. Lord Narayana Rsi here indicates to Narada Muni to preach the spiritual message to all human beings, which will burn up their material desires. Unless material desires are burnt up they will continue disturbing the person. The word bharjita, roasted, indicates that just as roasted grains cannot fructify when sowed, similarly if a person’s desires are roasted they will still exist, but they can dovetail them in the service of Lord Krsna and thus won’t lead the devotee astray from the spiritual path.
Text 45
sri suka uvaca
evam sa rsina’’distam grhitva sraddhaya’’tmavan
purnah srutadharo rahann aha viravrato muni
Translation
Sri Sukadeva Goswami said, O King Pariksit, Narada Muni’s senses are under control, he is satisfied from within, his vow of celibacy is unbroken and just by hearing he memorizes everything. After hearing the spiritual teachings from Lord Narayana Rsi and obtaining His order, Narada Muni spoke to Him in the following way.
Purport
In previous ages printed books were not required. Everyone was very healthy, they controlled their senses thus their memory was very sharp. They would hear from their teacher and after hearing once, could recollect everything and repeat it like a tape recorder. Narada Muni was a disciple of Lord Brahma, therefore Lord Narayana Rsi was acting as his teacher.
Text 46
narada uvaca
namas tasmai bhagavate krsnayamala kirtaye
yo dhatte sarva-bhutanam abhavayosatih kalah
Translation
Narada Muni said, O spotless personality, O Supreme Lord, O Lord Sri Krsna, to liberate people of this world You appear in many attractive forms. I pay my most humble obeisance unto You.
Purport
After learning something momentous the person should pay some remuneration as a token of appreciation in return. Narada Muni paid his homage to the Lord and accepted His order to teach others what he heard from Him. One may wonder, if the Vedic scriptures state that a disciple should pay his/her foremost obeisance unto their scripturally authentic Guru and Narada Muni’s Guru is not Narayana Rsi, why is he paying Him his foremost obeisance? In answer the Dasama Tippani states, sva gurum hitva tam eva pranamati pratyakse ’pi paroksoktir atyanta gauravat, “Leaving his Guru aside, due to the exceptional honor he got by hearing from Lord Narayana Rsi, Narada Muni pays his physical obeisance directly unto Him, but his words were indirect, which is why his obeisance are unto the Supreme Lord Sri Krsna, who appears in this world taking many forms.”
Texts 47-48
ity adyam rsim anamya tac-chisyams ca mahatmanah
tato ’gad asramam saksat pitur dvaipayanasya me
sabhajito bhagavata krtasana parigrahah
tasmai tad varnayamasa narayana-mukhac chrutam
Translation
(Sri Sukadeva Goswami continued) After saying this, Narada Muni bowed down to the foremost of all the sages, Narayana Rsi, and also paid homage to his students and reached the hermitage of my father, Sage Dvaipayana. The respectable Vyasadeva honorably greeted Narada Muni and after accepting a seat, he repeated everything to him that he had heard from Lord Narayana Rsi.
Purport
In the chain of Spiritual Masters, Narada Muni is the Spiritual Master of Srila Vyasadeva. Narada Muni heard the spectacular secret from Lord Narayana Rsi and he wanted to relate this knowledge to his dedicated disciple, Vyasadeva. Narada Muni immediately reached Vyasadeva’s place to narrate everything exactly as he had heard it. It is the scripturally authentic Spiritual Master’s duty to relate genuine transcendental knowledge that has come down in disciplic succession unchanged to their disciple, so they can spiritually advance and reach the spiritual world.
According to the Brahma Vaivarta Purana, Sri Sukadeva Goswami’s mother was Arani and his father was Srila Vyasadeva. Sri Sukadeva Goswami took birth by Lord Krsna’s order, who guaranteed him that he will not fall into maya.
Text 49
ity etad varnitam rajan yan na prasnah krtas tvaya
yatha brahmany anirdesye nirgune ’pi manas caret
Translation
O King, I have replied to the question you had asked regarding how can the Supreme Lord, who is beyond the reach of one’s mind and words and who possesses no material qualities–be narrated about by the Vedas, that include subject matter pertaining to the three modes of material nature. This was your question.
Purport
The Vedanta Sutra states, tat tu smanvayat, “The Lord is all cognizant and all capable; is the cause to create this universe; and this knowledge was received from the statements in the Vedas.” The Vedas are the Lord’s direct book forms, as stated in the Nyaya Sastra, sabda-brahman parambrahman mamobhe sasvati tanu, “The hymns found in the Vedas and the personal form of Krsna are eternal transcendental forms.” Therefore what the Vedas say should be accepted as the words of Lord Krsna.
Text 50
yo ’syotpreksaka adi-madhya-nidhane yo ’vyakta-jivesvaro
tah srstvedam anupravisya rsina cakre purah sasti tah
yam sampadya jahaty ajam anusayi suptah kulayam yatha
tam kaivalya nirasta yonim abhayam dhyayed ajasram harim
Translation
The One who decided to create, maintain and annihilate this universe; who controls maya and the living entities; who produces the total aggregate and enters in it as the first living entity, Lord Brahma, and creates different kinds of bodies to fill the universe; who watches over all the living entities that just as birds rest only a short time in their nests and then fly away; similarly, since the beginning of creation, the living entities, following their karma, rest inside their various nest-like bodies then relinquish them. Constantly meditating on the Lord and worshipping Him is very beneficial and makes one become free from maya, and as He is in control of everyone’s liberation, by taking shelter of Him makes the living entity become free from all fear.
Purport
The Srimad Bhagavatam is the natural commentary of the Vedanta Sutra and the essence of Srimad Bhagavatam is found in this chapter where the Srutis defeat Mimamsa philosophy and Mayavada philosophy. After Buddha, Lord Siva appeared as Sankaracharya, who drove Buddhism out of India, but he could not even touch Srimad Bhagavatam’s message because of chapters like this one, that refutes Sankaracharya’s preaching. Sankaracharya’s preaching bewildered the populace about the personal form of God, creation and the soul. But his preaching did not last too long because other Vaisnava Acharyas appeared and refuted his preaching, thus establishing the personal form of the Lord and worship of Him. Anyone that follows the Vaisnava Acharyas philosophy becomes purified and obtains liberation from this material world. It is stated in the Bhagavad Gita, dadami buddhi-yogam tam yena mam upayanti te, “I give the understanding by which they can come to Me.”
Thus ends the Vrajavasi purports to Canto Ten, Chapter Eighty-Seven of the Srimad Bhagavatam, in the matter of, Prayers of the Personified Vedas.
Hari Om Tat Sat
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