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Çré Éçopaniñad
[i]Mantra Contents
Iso Introduction:
Introduction
“Teachings of the Vedas”
[Delivered as a lecture by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta
Swami Prabhupäda on October 6, 1969, at Conway Hall, London, England.
Ladies and gentlemen, today’s subject matter is the teachings of
the Vedas. What are the Vedas? The Sanskrit verbal root of veda
can be interpreted variously, but the purport is finally one. Veda means
knowledge. Any knowledge you accept is veda, for the teachings of the Vedas
are the original knowledge. In the conditioned state, our knowledge is
subjected to many deficiencies. The difference between a conditioned soul and a
liberated soul is that the conditioned soul has four kinds of defects. The
first defect is that he must commit mistakes. For example, in our country,
Mahatma Gandhi was considered to be a very great personality, but he committed
many mistakes. Even at the last stage of his life, his assistant warned,
“Mahatma Gandhi, don’t go to the New Delhi meeting. I have some friends, and I
have heard there is danger.” But he did not hear. He persisted in going and was
killed. Even great personalities like Mahatma Gandhi, President Kennedy—there
are so many of them—make mistakes. To err is human. This is one defect of the
conditioned soul.
Another defect: to be illusioned. Illusion means to accept
something which is not: mäyä. Mäyä means “what is not.” Everyone
is accepting the body as the self. If I ask you what you are, you will say, “I
am Mr. John; I am a rich man; I am this; I am that.” All these are bodily
identifications. But you are not this body. This is illusion.
The third defect is the cheating propensity.
Everyone has the propensity to cheat others. Although a person is
fool number one, he poses himself as very intelligent. Although it is already
pointed out that he is in illusion and makes mistakes, he will theorize: “I
think this is this, this is this.” But he does not even know his own position.
He writes books of philosophy, although he is defective. That is his disease. That
is cheating.
Lastly, our senses are imperfect. We are very proud of our eyes.
Often, someone will challenge, “Can you show me God?” But do you have the eyes
to see God? You will never see if you haven’t the eyes. If immediately the room
becomes dark, you cannot even see your hands. So what power do you have to see?
We cannot, therefore, expect knowledge (veda) with these imperfect
senses. With all these deficiencies, in conditioned life we cannot give perfect
knowledge to anyone. Nor are we ourselves perfect. Therefore we accept the Vedas
as they are.
You may call the Vedas Hindu, but “Hindu” is a foreign
name. We are not Hindus. Our real identification is varëäçrama. Varëäçrama
denotes the followers of the Vedas, those who accept the human society
in eight divisions of varëa and äçrama. There are four divisions
of society and four divisions of spiritual life. This is called varëäçrama.
It is stated in the Bhagavad-gétä (4.13), “These divisions are
everywhere because they are created by God.” The divisions of society are brähmaëa,
kñatriya, vaiçya, çüdra. Brähmaëa refers to the very intelligent
class of men, those who know what is Brahman. Similarly, the kñatriyas,
the administrator group, are the next intelligent class of men. Then the vaiçyas,
the mercantile group. These natural classifications are found everywhere. This
is the Vedic principle, and we accept it. Vedic principles are accepted as
axiomatic truth, for there cannot be any mistake. That is acceptance. For
instance, in India cow dung is accepted as pure, and yet cow dung is the stool
of an animal. In one place you’ll find the Vedic injunction that if you touch
stool, you have to take a bath immediately. But in another place it is said
that the stool of a cow is pure. If you smear cow dung in an impure place, that
place becomes pure. With our ordinary sense we can argue, “This is
contradictory.” Actually, it is contradictory from the ordinary point of view,
but it is not false. It is fact. In Calcutta, a very prominent scientist and
doctor analyzed cow dung and found that it contains all antiseptic properties.
In India if one person tells another, “You must do this,” the
other party may say, “What do you mean? Is this a Vedic injunction, that I have
to follow you without any argument?” Vedic injunctions cannot be interpreted.
But ultimately, if you carefully study why these injunctions are there, you
will find that they are all correct.
The Vedas are not compilations of human knowledge. Vedic
knowledge comes from the spiritual world, from Lord Kåñëa. Another name for the
Vedas is çruti. Çruti refers to that knowledge which is
acquired by hearing. It is not experimental knowledge. Çruti is
considered to be like a mother. We take so much knowledge from our mother. For
example, if you want to know who your father is, who can answer you? Your
mother. If the mother says, “Here is your father,” you have to accept it. It is
not possible to experiment to find out whether he is your father. Similarly, if
you want to know something beyond your experience, beyond your experimental
knowledge, beyond the activities of the senses, then you have to accept the Vedas.
There is no question of experimenting. It has already been experimented. It is
already settled. The version of the mother, for instance, has to be accepted as
truth. There is no other way.
The Vedas are considered to be the mother, and Brahmä is
called the grandfather, the forefather, because he was the first to be
instructed in the Vedic knowledge. In the beginning the first living creature
was Brahmä. He received this Vedic knowledge and imparted it to Närada and
other disciples and sons, and they also distributed it to their disciples. In
this way, the Vedic knowledge comes down by disciplic succession. It is also
confirmed in the Bhagavad-gétä that Vedic knowledge is understood in
this way. If you make experimental endeavor, you come to the same conclusion,
but just to save time you should accept. If you want to know who your father is
and if you accept your mother as the authority, then whatever she says can be
accepted without argument. There are three kinds of evidence: pratyakña,
anumäna and çabda. Pratyakña means “direct evidence.” Direct
evidence is not very good because our senses are not perfect. We are seeing the
sun daily, and it appears to us just like a small disc, but it is actually far,
far larger than many planets. Of what value is this seeing? Therefore we have
to read books; then we can understand about the sun. So direct experience is
not perfect. Then there is anumäna, inductive knowledge: “It may be like
this”—hypothesis. For instance, Darwin’s theory says it may be like this, it
may be like that. But that is not science. That is a suggestion, and it is also
not perfect. But if you receive the knowledge from the authoritative sources, that
is perfect. If you receive a program guide from the radio station authorities,
you accept it. You don’t deny it; you don’t have to make an experiment, because
it is received from the authoritative sources.
Vedic knowledge is called çabda-pramäëa. Another name is çruti.
Çruti means that this knowledge has to be received simply by aural
reception. The Vedas instruct that in order to understand transcendental
knowledge, we have to hear from the authority. Transcendental knowledge is
knowledge from beyond this universe. Within this universe is material
knowledge, and beyond this universe is transcendental knowledge. We cannot even
go to the end of the universe, so how can we go to the spiritual world? Thus to
acquire full knowledge is impossible.
There is a spiritual sky. There is another nature, which is beyond
manifestation and nonmanifestation. But how will you know that there is a sky
where the planets and inhabitants are eternal? All this knowledge is there, but
how will you make experiments? It is not possible. Therefore you have to take
the assistance of the Vedas. This is called Vedic knowledge. In our
Kåñëa consciousness movement we are accepting knowledge from the highest
authority, Kåñëa. Kåñëa is accepted as the highest authority by all classes of
men. I am speaking first of the two classes of transcendentalists. One class of
transcendentalists is called impersonalistic, Mäyävädé. They are generally
known as Vedäntists, led by Çaìkaräcärya. And there is another class of
transcendentalists, called Vaiñëavas, like Rämänujäcärya, Madhväcärya,
Viñëu-svämé. Both the Çaìkara-sampradäya and the Vaiñëava-sampradäya have
accepted Kåñëa as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Çaìkaräcärya is supposed
to be an impersonalist who preached impersonalism, impersonal Brahman, but it
is a fact that he is a covered personalist. In his commentary on the Bhagavad-gétä
he wrote, “Näräyaëa, the Su-preme Personality of Godhead, is beyond this cosmic
manifestation.” And then again he confirmed, “That Supreme Personality of Godhead,
Näräyaëa, is Kåñëa. He has come as the son of Devaké and Vasudeva.” He
particularly mentioned the names of His father and mother. So Kåñëa is accepted
as the Supreme Personality of Godhead by all transcendentalists. There is no
doubt about it. Our source of knowledge in Kåñëa consciousness is the Bhagavad-gétä,
which comes directly from Kåñëa. We have published the Bhagavad-gétä As It
Is because we accept Kåñëa as He is speaking, without any interpretation.
That is Vedic knowledge. Since the Vedic knowledge is pure, we accept it.
Whatever Kåñëa says, we accept. This is Kåñëa consciousness. That saves much
time. If you accept the right authority, or source of knowledge, then you save
much time. For example, there are two systems of knowledge in the material
world: inductive and deductive. From deductive, you accept that man is mortal.
Your father says man is mortal, your sister says man is mortal, everyone says
man is mortal—but you do not experiment. You accept it as a fact that man is
mortal. If you want to research to find out whether man is mortal, you have to
study each and every man, and you may come to think that there may be some man
who is not dying but you have not seen him yet. So in this way your research
will never be finished. In Sanskrit this process is called äroha, the
ascending process. If you want to attain knowledge by any personal endeavor, by
exercising your imperfect senses, you will never come to the right conclusions.
That is not possible.
There is a statement in the Brahma-saàhitä: Just ride on
the airplane which runs at the speed of mind. Our material airplanes can run
two thousand miles per hour, but what is the speed of mind? You are sitting at
home, you immediately think of India—say, ten thousand miles away—and at once
it is in your home. Your mind has gone there. The mind-speed is so swift.
Therefore it is stated, “If you travel at this speed for millions of years,
you’ll find that the spiritual sky is unlimited.” It is not possible even to
approach it. Therefore, the Vedic injunction is that one must approach—the word
“compulsory” is used—a bona fide spiritual master, a guru. And what is
the qualification of a spiritual master? He is one who has rightly heard the
Vedic message from the right source. And he must practically be firmly
established in Brahman. These are the two qualities he must have. Otherwise he
is not bona fide.
This Kåñëa consciousness movement is completely authorized from
Vedic principles. In the Bhagavad-gétä Kåñëa says, “The actual aim of
Vedic research is to find out Kåñëa.” In the Brahma-saàhitä it is also
stated, “Kåñëa, Govinda, has innumerable forms, but they are all one.” They are
not like our forms, which are fallible. His form is infallible. My form has a
beginning, but His form has no beginning. It is ananta. And His form—so
many multiforms—has no end. My form is sitting here and not in my apartment.
You are sitting there and not in your apartment. But Kåñëa can be everywhere at
one time. He can sit down in Goloka Våndävana, and at the same time He is
everywhere, all-pervading. He is original, the oldest, but whenever you look at
a picture of Kåñëa you’ll find a young boy fifteen or twenty years old. You
will never find an old man. You have seen pictures of Kåñëa as a charioteer
from the Bhagavad-gétä. At that time He was not less than one hundred
years old. He had great-grandchildren, but He looked just like a boy. Kåñëa,
God, never becomes old. That is His supreme power. And if you want to search
out Kåñëa by studying the Vedic literature, then you will be baffled. It may be
possible, but it is very difficult. But you can very easily learn about Him
from His devotee. His devotee can deliver Him to you: “Here He is, take Him.”
That is the potency of Kåñëa’s devotees.
Originally there was only one Veda, and there was no
necessity of reading it. People were so intelligent and had such sharp memories
that by once hearing from the lips of the spiritual master they would
understand. They would immediately grasp the whole purport. But five thousand
years ago Vyäsadeva put the Vedas in writing for the people in this age,
Kali-yuga. He knew that eventually the people would be short-lived, their
memories would be very poor, and their intelligence would not be very sharp.
“Therefore, let me teach this Vedic knowledge in writing.” He divided the Vedas
into four: Åg, Säma, Atharva and Yajur. Then he gave the charge
of these Vedas to his different disciples. He then thought of the less
intelligent class of men—stré, çüdra and dvija-bandhu. He
considered the woman class and çüdra class (worker class) and dvija-bandhu.
Dvija-bandhu refers to those who are born in a high family but who are
not properly qualified. A man who is born in the family of a brähmaëa
but is not qualified as a brähmaëa is called dvija-bandhu. For these
persons he compiled the Mahäbhärata, called the history of India, and
the eighteen Puräëas. These are all part of the Vedic literature: the Puräëas,
the Mahäbhärata, the four Vedas and the Upaniñads. The Upaniñads
are part of the Vedas. Then Vyäsadeva summarized all Vedic knowledge for
scholars and philosophers in what is called the Vedänta-sütra. This is
the last word of the Vedas.
Vyäsadeva personally wrote the Vedänta-sütra under the
instructions of Närada, his Guru Mahäräja (spiritual master), but still he was
not satisfied. That is a long story, described in Çrémad-Bhägavatam.
Vedavyäsa was not very satisfied even after compiling many Puräëas and Upaniñads,
and even after writing the Vedänta-sütra. Then his spiritual master,
Närada, instructed him, “You explain the Vedänta-sütra.” Vedänta
means “ultimate knowledge,” and the ultimate knowledge is Kåñëa. Kåñëa says
that throughout all the Vedas one has to understand Him: vedänta-kåd
veda-vid eva cäham. Kåñëa says, “I am the compiler of the Vedänta-sütra,
and I am the knower of the Vedas.” Therefore the ultimate objective is
Kåñëa. That is explained in all the Vaiñëava commentaries on Vedänta
philosophy. We Gauòéya Vaiñëavas have our commentary on Vedänta
philosophy, called Govinda-bhäñya, by Baladeva Vidyäbhüñaëa. Similarly,
Rämänujäcärya has a commentary, and Madhväcärya has one. The version of
Çaìkaräcärya is not the only commentary. There are many Vedänta
commentaries, but because the Vaiñëavas did not present the first Vedänta
commentary, people are under the wrong impression that Çaìkaräcärya’s is the
only Vedänta commentary. Besides that, Vyäsadeva himself wrote the
perfect Vedänta commentary, Çrémad-Bhägavatam. Çrémad-Bhägavatam
begins with the first words of the Vedänta-sütra: janmädy asya yataù [SB 1.1.1]. And
that janmädy asya yataù is fully explained in Çrémad-Bhägavatam.
The Vedänta-sütra simply hints at what is Brahman, the Absolute Truth:
“The Absolute Truth is that from whom everything emanates.” This is a summary,
but it is explained in detail in Çrémad-Bhägavatam. If everything is
emanating from the Absolute Truth, then what is the nature of the Absolute
Truth? That is explained in Çrémad-Bhägavatam. The Absolute Truth must
be consciousness. He is self-effulgent (sva-räö). We develop our consciousness
and knowledge by receiving knowledge from others, but for Him it is said that
He is self-effulgent. The whole summary of Vedic knowledge is the Vedänta-sütra,
and the Vedänta-sütra is explained by the writer himself in Çrémad-Bhägavatam.
We finally request those who are actually after Vedic knowledge to try to
understand the explanation of all Vedic knowledge from Çrémad-Bhägavatam
and the Bhagavad-gétä.
Iso Texts
Iso
Invocation
INVOCATION
TEXT
oà pürëam adaù pürëam idaà
pürëät pürëam udacyate
pürëasya pürëam ädäya
pürëam evävaçiñyate
SYNONYMS
oà—the Complete Whole; pürëam—perfectly complete; adaù—that;
pürëam—perfectly complete; idam—this phenomenal world; pürëät—from
the all-perfect; pürëam—complete unit; udacyate—is produced; pürëasya—of
the Complete Whole; pürëam—completely, all; ädäya—having been
taken away; pürëam—the complete balance; eva—even; avaçiñyate—is
remaining.
TRANSLATION
The Personality of Godhead is perfect and complete, and because He
is completely perfect, all emanations from Him, such as this phenomenal world,
are perfectly equipped as complete wholes. Whatever is produced of the Complete
Whole is also complete in itself. Because He is the Complete Whole, even though
so many complete units emanate from Him, He remains the complete balance.
PURPORT
The Complete Whole, or the Supreme Absolute Truth, is the complete
Personality of Godhead. Realization of impersonal Brahman or of Paramätmä, the
Supersoul, is incomplete realization of the Absolute Complete. The Supreme
Personality of Godhead is sac-cid-änanda-vigraha [Bs. 5.1]. Realization of
impersonal Brahman is realization of His sat feature, or His aspect of
eternity, and Paramätmä realization is realization of His sat and cit
features, His aspects of eternity and knowledge. But realization of the
Personality of Godhead is realization of all the transcendental features—sat,
cit and änanda, bliss. When one realizes the Supreme Person, he
realizes these aspects of the Absolute Truth in their completeness. Vigraha means “form.” Thus the
Complete Whole is not formless. If He were formless, or if He were less than
His creation in any other way, He could not be complete. The Complete Whole
must contain everything both within and beyond our experience; otherwise He
cannot be complete.
The Complete Whole, the Personality of Godhead, has immense
potencies, all of which are as complete as He is. Thus this phenomenal world is
also complete in itself. The twenty-four elements of which this material
universe is a temporary manifestation are arranged to produce everything
necessary for the maintenance and subsistence of this universe. No other unit
in the universe need make an extraneous effort to try to maintain the universe.
The universe functions on its own time scale, which is fixed by the energy of
the Complete Whole, and when that schedule is completed, this temporary
manifestation will be annihilated by the complete arrangement of the Complete
Whole.
All facilities are given to the small complete units (namely the
living beings) to enable them to realize the Complete Whole. All forms of
incompleteness are experienced due to incomplete knowledge of the Complete
Whole. The human form of life is a complete manifestation of the consciousness
of the living being, and it is obtained after evolving through 8,400,000
species of life in the cycle of birth and death. If in this human life of full
consciousness the living entity does not realize his completeness in relation
to the Complete Whole, he loses the chance to realize his completeness and is again
put into the evolutionary cycle by the law of material nature.
Because we do not know that there is a complete arrangement in
nature for our maintenance, we make efforts to utilize the resources of nature
to create a so-called complete life of sense enjoyment. Because the living
entity cannot enjoy the life of the senses without being dovetailed with the
Complete Whole, the misleading life of sense enjoyment is illusion. The hand of
a body is a complete unit only as long as it is attached to the complete body.
When the hand is severed from the body, it may appear like a hand, but it
actually has none of the potencies of a hand. Similarly, living beings are part
and parcel of the Complete Whole, and if they are severed from the Complete
Whole, the illusory representation of completeness cannot fully satisfy them.
The completeness of human life can be realized only when one
engages in the service of the Complete Whole. All services in this
world—whether social, political, communal, international or even interplanetary—will
remain incomplete until they are dovetailed with the Complete Whole. When
everything is dovetailed with the Complete Whole, the attached parts and
parcels also become complete in themselves.
Iso 1
Mantra
One
TEXT
éçäväsyam idam sarvaà
yat kiïca jagatyäà jagat
tena tyaktena bhuïjéthä
mä gådhaù kasya svid dhanam
SYNONYMS
éça—by the Lord; äväsyam—controlled; idam—this;
sarvam—all; yat kiïca—whatever; jagatyäm—within the
universe; jagat—all that is animate or inanimate; tena—by Him; tyaktena—set-apart
quota; bhuïjéthäù—you should accept; mä—do not; gådhaù—endeavor
to gain; kasya svit—of anyone else; dhanam—the wealth.
TRANSLATION
Everything animate or inanimate that is within the universe is
controlled and owned by the Lord. One should therefore accept only those things
necessary for himself, which are set aside as his quota, and one should not
accept other things, knowing well to whom they belong.
PURPORT
Vedic knowledge is infallible because it comes down through the
perfect disciplic succession of spiritual masters, beginning with the Lord
Himself. Since He spoke the first word of Vedic knowledge, the source of this
knowledge is transcendental. The words spoken by the Lord are called apauruñeya,
which indicates that they are not delivered by any mundane person. A living
being who lives in the mundane world has four defects: (1) he is certain to
commit mistakes; (2) he is subject to illusion; (3) he has a propensity to
cheat others; and (4) his senses are imperfect. No one with these four imperfections
can deliver perfect knowledge. The Vedas are not produced by such an
imperfect creature. Vedic knowledge was originally imparted by the Lord into
the heart of Brahmä, the first created living being, and Brahmä in his turn
disseminated this knowledge to his sons and disciples, who have handed it down
through history.
Since the Lord is pürëam, all-perfect, there is no
possibility of His being subjected to the laws of material nature, which He
controls. However, both the living entities and inanimate objects are
controlled by the laws of nature and ultimately by the Lord’s potency. This Éçopaniñad
is part of the Yajur Veda, and consequently it contains information
concerning the proprietorship of all things existing within the universe.
The Lord’s proprietorship over everything within the universe is
confirmed in the Seventh Chapter of the Bhagavad-gétä
(7.4–5), where parä and aparä prakåti are discussed. The elements
of nature—earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence and ego—all belong
to the Lord’s inferior, material energy (aparä prakåti),whereas the
living being, the organic energy, is His superior energy (parä prakåti).
Both of these prakåtis, or energies, are emanations from the Lord, and
ultimately He is the controller of everything that exists. There is nothing in
the universe that does not belong to either the parä or the aparä
prakåti; therefore everything is the property of the Supreme Being.
Because the Supreme Being, the Absolute Personality of Godhead, is
the complete person, He has complete and perfect intelligence to adjust
everything by means of His different potencies. The Supreme Being is often
compared to a fire, and everything organic and inorganic is compared to the
heat and light of that fire. Just as fire distributes energy in the form of
heat and light, the Lord displays His energy in different ways. He thus remains
the ultimate controller, sustainer and dictator of everything. He is the
possessor of all potencies, the knower of everything and the benefactor of
everyone. He is full of inconceivable opulence, power, fame, beauty, knowledge
and renunciation.
One should therefore be intelligent enough to know that except for
the Lord no one is a proprietor of anything. One should accept only those
things that are set aside by the Lord as his quota. The cow, for instance,
gives milk, but she does not drink that milk: she eats grass and straw, and her
milk is designated as food for human beings. Such is the arrangement of the
Lord. Thus we should be satisfied with those things He has kindly set aside for
us, and we should always consider to whom those things we possess actually
belong.
Take, for example, our dwelling, which is made of earth, wood,
stone, iron, cement and so many other material things. If we think in terms of Çré
Éçopaniñad, we must know that we cannot produce any of these building
materials ourselves. We can simply bring them together and transform them into
different shapes by our labor. A laborer cannot claim to be a proprietor of a
thing just because he has worked hard to manufacture it.
In modern society there is always a great quarrel between the
laborers and the capitalists. This quarrel has taken an international shape,
and the world is in danger. Men face one another in enmity and snarl just like
cats and dogs. Çré Éçopaniñad cannot give advice to the cats and dogs,
but it can deliver the message of Godhead to man through the bona fide äcäryas
(holy teachers). The human race should take the Vedic wisdom of Çré
Éçopaniñad and not quarrel over material possessions. One must be satisfied
with whatever privileges are given to him by the mercy of the Lord. There can
be no peace if the communists or capitalists or any other party claims
proprietorship over the resources of nature, which are entirely the property of
the Lord. The capitalists cannot curb the communists simply by political
maneuvering, nor can the communists defeat the capitalists simply by fighting
for stolen bread. If they do not recognize the proprietorship of the Supreme
Personality of Godhead, all the property they claim to be their own is stolen.
Consequently they will be liable to punishment by the laws of nature. Nuclear
bombs are in the hands of both communists and capitalists, and if both do not
recognize the proprietorship of the Supreme Lord, it is certain that these
bombs will ultimately ruin both parties. Thus in order to save themselves and
bring peace to the world, both parties must follow the instructions of Çré
Éçopaniñad.
Human beings are not meant to quarrel like cats and dogs. They must
be intelligent enough to realize the importance and aim of human life. The
Vedic literature is meant for humanity and not for cats and dogs. Cats and dogs
can kill other animals for food without incurring sin, but if a man kills an
animal for the satisfaction of his uncontrolled taste buds, he is responsible
for breaking the laws of nature. Consequently he must be punished.
The standard of life for human beings cannot be applied to
animals. The tiger does not eat rice and wheat or drink cow’s milk, because he
has been given food in the shape of animal flesh. Among the many animals and
birds, some are vegetarian and others are carnivorous, but none of them
transgress the laws of nature, which have been ordained by the will of the
Lord. Animals, birds, reptiles and other lower life forms strictly adhere to
the laws of nature; therefore there is no question of sin for them, nor are the
Vedic instructions meant for them. Human life alone is a life of
responsibility.
It is wrong, however, to think that simply by becoming a
vegetarian one can avoid transgressing the laws of nature. Vegetables also have
life, and while it is nature’s law that one living being is meant to feed on
another, for human beings the point is to recognize the Supreme Lord. Thus one
should not be proud of being a strict vegetarian. Animals do not have developed
consciousness by which to recognize the Lord, but a human being is sufficiently
intelligent to take lessons from the Vedic literature and thereby know how the
laws of nature are working and derive profit out of such knowledge. If a man
neglects the instructions of the Vedic literature, his life becomes very risky.
A human being is therefore required to recognize the authority of the Supreme
Lord and become His devotee. He must offer everything for the Lord’s service
and partake only of the remnants of food offered to the Lord. This will enable
him to discharge his duty properly. In the Bhagavad-gétä
(9.26) the Lord directly states that He accepts vegetarian food from the hands
of a pure devotee. Therefore a human being should not only become a strict
vegetarian but should also become a devotee of the Lord, offer the Lord all his
food and then partake of such prasädam, or the mercy of God. Only those
who act in this way can properly discharge the duties of human life. Those who
do not offer their food to the Lord eat nothing but sin and subject themselves
to various types of distress, which are the results of sin (Bg. 3.13).
The root of sin is deliberate disobedience of the laws of nature
through disregarding the proprietorship of the Lord. Disobeying the laws of
nature or the order of the Lord brings ruin to a human being. Conversely, one
who is sober, who knows the laws of nature, and who is not influenced by
unnecessary attachment or aversion is sure to be recognized by the Lord and
thus become eligible to go back to Godhead, back to the eternal home.
Iso 2
Mantra
Two
TEXT
kurvann eveha karmäëi
jijéviñec chataà samäù
evaà tvayi nänyatheto ’sti
na karma lipyate nare
SYNONYMS
kurvan—doing continuously; eva—thus; iha—during this span of life; karmäëi—work; jijéviñet—one should desire to live; çatam—one hundred; samäù—years; evam—so living; tvayi—unto you; na—no; anyathä—alternative; itaù—from this path; asti—there is; na—not; karma—work; lipyate—can be bound; nare—unto a man.
TRANSLATION
One may aspire to live for hundreds of years if he continuously
goes on working in that way, for that sort of work will not bind him to the law
of karma. There is no alternative to this way for man.
PURPORT
No one wants to die: everyone wants to live as long as he can drag
on. This tendency is visible not only individually but also collectively in the
community, society and nation. There is a hard struggle for life by all kinds
of living entities, and the Vedas say that this is quite natural. The
living being is eternal by nature, but due to his bondage in material existence
he has to change his body over and over. This process is called transmigration
of the soul or karma-bandhana, bondage by one’s work. The living entity
has to work for his livelihood because that is the law of material nature, and
if he does not act according to his prescribed duties, he transgresses the law
of nature and binds himself more and more to the cycle of birth and death in the
many species of life.
Other life forms are also subject to the cycle of birth and death,
but when the living entity attains a human life, he gets a chance to get free
from the chains of karma. Karma, akarma and vikarma are
very clearly described in the Bhagavad-gétä. Actions that are performed
in terms of one’s prescribed duties, as mentioned in the revealed scriptures,
are called karma. Actions that free one from the cycle of birth and
death are called akarma. And actions that are performed through the misuse
of one’s freedom and that direct one to the lower life forms are called vikarma.
Of these three types of action, that which frees one from the bondage to karma
is preferred by intelligent men. Ordinary men wish to perform good work in
order to be recognized and achieve some higher status of life in this world or
in heaven, but more advanced men want to be free altogether from the actions
and reactions of work. Intelligent men well know that both good and bad work
equally bind one to the material miseries. Consequently they seek that work
which will free them from the reactions of both good and bad work. Such
liberating work is described here in the pages of Çré Éçopaniñad.
The instructions of Çré Éçopaniñad are more elaborately
explained in the Bhagavad-gétä, sometimes called the Gétopaniñad,
the cream of all the Upaniñads. In the Bhagavad-gétä
(3.9–16) the Personality of Godhead says that one cannot attain the state of naiñkarmya,
or akarma, without executing the prescribed duties mentioned in the
Vedic literature. This literature can regulate the working energy of a human
being in such a way that he can gradually realize the authority of the Supreme
Being. When he realizes the authority of the Personality of Godhead—Väsudeva,
or Kåñëa—it is to be understood that he has attained the stage of positive
knowledge. In this purified stage the modes of nature—namely goodness, passion
and ignorance—cannot act, and he is able to work on the basis of naiñkarmya.
Such work does not bind one to the cycle of birth and death.
Factually, no one has to do anything more than render devotional
service to the Lord. However, in the lower stages of life one cannot
immediately adopt the activities of devotional service, nor can one completely
stop fruitive work. A conditioned soul is accustomed to working for sense
gratification—for his own selfish interest, immediate or extended. An ordinary
man works for his own sense enjoyment, and when this principle of sense
enjoyment is extended to include his society, nation or humanity in general, it
assumes various attractive names such as altruism, socialism, communism,
nationalism and humanitarianism. These “isms” are certainly very attractive
forms of karma-bandhana (karmic bondage), but the Vedic instruction of Çré
Éçopaniñad is that if one actually wants to live for any of the above
“isms,” he should make them God-centered. There is no harm in becoming a family
man, or an altruist, a socialist, a communist, a nationalist or a humanitarian,
provided that one executes his activities in relation with éçäväsya, the
God-centered conception.
In the Bhagavad-gétä (2.40) Lord
Kåñëa states that God-centered activities are so valuable that just a few of
them can save a person from the greatest danger. The greatest danger of life is
the danger of gliding down again into the evolutionary cycle of birth and death
among the 8,400,000 species. If somehow or other a man misses the spiritual
opportunity afforded by his human form of life and falls down again into the
evolutionary cycle, he must be considered most unfortunate. Due to his
defective senses, a foolish man cannot see that this is happening. Consequently
Çré Éçopaniñad advises us to exert our energy in the spirit of éçäväsya.
Being so engaged, we may wish to live for many, many years; otherwise a long
life in itself has no value. A tree lives for hundreds and hundreds of years,
but there is no point in living a long time like trees, or breathing like
bellows, or begetting children like hogs and dogs, or eating like camels. A
humble God-centered life is more valuable than a colossal hoax of a life
dedicated to godless altruism or socialism.
When altruistic activities are executed in the spirit of Çré
Éçopaniñad, they become a form of karma-yoga. Such activities are
recommended in the Bhagavad-gétä (18.5–9), for
they guarantee their executor protection from the danger of sliding down into
the evolutionary process of birth and death. Even though such God-centered
activities may be half-finished, they are still good for the executor because
they will guarantee him a human form in his next birth. In this way one can
have another chance to improve his position on the path of liberation.
How one can execute God-centered activities is elaborately
explained in the Bhakti-rasämåta-sindhu, by Çréla Rüpa Gosvämé. We have
rendered this book into English as The Nectar of Devotion. We recommend
this valuable book to all who are interested in performing their activities in
the spirit of Çré Éçopaniñad.
Iso 3
Mantra
Three
TEXT
asuryä näma te lokä
andhena tamasävåtäù
täàs te pretyäbhigacchanti
ye ke cätma-hano janäù
SYNONYMS
asuryäù—meant for the asuras; näma—famous by the name; te—those; lokäù—planets; andhena—by ignorance; tamasä—by darkness; ävåtäù—covered; tän—those planets; te—they; pretya—after death; abhigacchanti—enter into; ye—anyone; ke—everyone; ca—and; ätma-hanaù—the killers of the soul; janäù—persons.
TRANSLATION
The killer of the soul, whoever he may be, must enter into the
planets known as the worlds of the faithless, full of darkness and ignorance.
PURPORT
Human life is distinguished from animal life due to its heavy
responsibilities. Those who are cognizant of these responsibilities and who
work in that spirit are called suras (godly persons), and those who are
neglectful of these responsibilities or who have no information of them are
called asuras (demons). Throughout the universe there are only these two
types of human being. In the Åg Veda it is stated that the suras
always aim at the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord Viñëu and act accordingly. Their
ways are as illuminated as the path of the sun.
Intelligent human beings must always remember that the soul
obtains a human form after an evolution of many millions of years in the cycle
of transmigration. The material world is sometimes compared to an ocean, and
the human body is compared to a solid boat designed especially to cross this
ocean. The Vedic scriptures and the äcäryas, or saintly teachers, are
compared to expert boatmen, and the facilities of the human body are compared
to favorable breezes that help the boat ply smoothly to its desired
destination. If, with all these facilities, a human being does not fully
utilize his life for self-realization, he must be considered ätma-hä, a
killer of the soul. Çré Éçopaniñad warns in clear terms that the killer
of the soul is destined to enter into the darkest region of ignorance to suffer
perpetually.
There are swine, dogs, camels, asses, etc., whose economic
necessities are just as important to them as ours are to us, but the economic
problems of these animals are solved only under nasty and unpleasant
conditions. The human being is given all facilities for a comfortable life by
the laws of nature because the human form of life is more important and
valuable than animal life. Why is man given a better life than that of the
swine and other animals? Why is a highly placed government servant given better
facilities than those of an ordinary clerk? The answer is that a highly placed
officer has to discharge duties of a higher nature. Similarly, the duties human
beings have to perform are higher than those of animals, who are always engaged
in simply feeding their hungry stomachs. Yet the modern soul-killing
civilization has only increased the problems of the hungry stomach. When we
approach a polished animal in the form of a modern civilized man and ask him to
take interest in self-realization, he will say that he simply wants to work to
satisfy his stomach and that there is no need of self-realization for a hungry
man. The laws of nature are so cruel, however, that despite his denunciation of
the need for self-realization and his eagerness to work hard to fill his
stomach, he is always threatened by unemployment.
We are given this human form of life not to work hard like asses,
swine and dogs but to attain the highest perfection of life. If we do not care
for self-realization, the laws of nature force us to work very hard, even
though we may not want to do so. Human beings in this age have been forced to
work hard like the asses and bullocks that pull carts. Some of the regions
where the asuras are sent to work are revealed in this verse of Çré
Éçopaniñad. If a man fails to discharge his duties as a human being, he is
forced to transmigrate to the asurya planets and take birth in degraded
species of life to work hard in ignorance and darkness.
In the Bhagavad-gétä (6.41–43) it is
stated that a man who enters upon the path of self-realization but does not
complete the process, despite having sincerely tried to realize his
relationship with God, is given a chance to appear in a family of çuci
or çrémat. The word çuci indicates a spiritually advanced brähmaëa,
and çrémat indicates a vaiçya, a member of the mercantile
community. So the person who fails to achieve self-realization is given a
better chance in his next life due to his sincere efforts in this life. If even
a fallen candidate is given a chance to take birth in a respectable and noble
family, one can hardly imagine the status of one who has achieved success. By
simply attempting to realize God, one is guaranteed birth in a wealthy or
aristocratic family. But those who do not even make an attempt, who want to be
covered by illusion, who are too materialistic and too attached to material
enjoyment, must enter into the darkest regions of hell, as confirmed throughout
the Vedic literature. Such materialistic asuras sometimes make a show of
religion, but their ultimate aim is material prosperity. The Bhagavad-gétä (16.17–18) rebukes such men by calling
them ätma-sambhävita, meaning that they are considered great only on the
strength of deception and are empowered by the votes of the ignorant and by
their own material wealth. Such asuras, devoid of self-realization and
knowledge of éçäväsya, the Lord’s universal proprietorship, are certain
to enter into the darkest regions.
The conclusion is that as human beings we are meant not simply for
solving economic problems on a tottering platform but for solving all the
problems of the material life into which we have been placed by the laws of
nature.
Iso 4
Mantra
Four
TEXT
anejad ekaà manaso javéyo
nainad devä äpnuvan pürvam arñat
tad dhävato ’nyän atyeti tiñöhat
tasminn apo mätariçvä dadhäti
SYNONYMS
anejat—fixed; ekam—one; manasaù—than the mind; javéyaù—more swift; na—not; enat—this Supreme Lord; deväù—the demigods like Indra, etc.; äpnuvan—can approach; pürvam—in front; arñat—moving quickly; tat—He; dhävataù—those who are running; anyän—others; atyeti—surpasses; tiñöhat—remaining in one place; tasmin—in Him; apaù—rain; mätariçvä—the gods who control the wind and rain; dadhäti—supply.
TRANSLATION
Although fixed in His abode, the Personality of Godhead is swifter
than the mind and can overcome all others running. The powerful demigods cannot
approach Him. Although in one place, He controls those who supply the air and
rain. He surpasses all in excellence.
PURPORT
Through mental speculation, even the greatest philosopher cannot
know the Supreme Lord, who is the Absolute Personality of Godhead. He can be
known only by His devotees through His mercy. In the Brahma-saàhitä
(5.34) it is stated that even if a nondevotee philosopher travels through space
at the speed of the wind or the mind for hundreds of millions of years, he will
still find that the Absolute Truth is far, far away from him. The Brahma-saàhitä (5.37) further describes that the
Absolute Personality of Godhead has His transcendental abode, known as Goloka,
where He remains and engages
in His pastimes, yet by His inconceivable potencies He can
simultaneously reach every part of His creative energy. In the Viñëu Puräëa
His potencies are compared to the heat and light that emanate from a fire.
Although situated in one place, a fire can dis-tribute its light and heat for
some distance; similarly, the Absolute Personality of Godhead, although fixed
in His transcendental abode, can diffuse His different energies everywhere.
Although His energies are innumerable, they can be divided into
three principal categories: the internal potency, the marginal potency and the
external potency. There are hundreds and millions of subheadings to each of
these categories. The dominating demigods who are empowered to control and
administer such natural phenomena as air, light and rain are all classified
within the marginal potency of the Absolute Person. Lesser living beings,
including humans, also belong to the Lord’s marginal potency. The material
world is the creation of the Lord’s external potency. And the spiritual sky,
where the kingdom of God is situated, is the manifestation of His internal
potency.
Thus the different energies of the Lord are present everywhere.
Although the Lord and His energies are nondifferent, one should not mistake
these energies for the Supreme Truth. Nor should one wrongly consider that the
Supreme Lord is distributed everywhere impersonally or that He loses His
personal existence. Men are accustomed to reach conclusions according to their
capacity for understanding, but the Supreme Lord is not subject to our limited
capacity for understanding. It is for this reason that the Upaniñads
warn us that no one can approach the Lord by his own limited potency.
In the Bhagavad-gétä (10.2) the Lord
says that not even the great åñis and suras can know Him. And
what to speak of the asuras, for whom there is no question of
understanding the ways of the Lord? This fourth mantra of Çré
Éçopaniñad very clearly suggests that the Absolute Truth is ultimately the
Absolute Person; otherwise there would have been no need to mention so many
details in support of His personal features.
Although the individual parts and parcels of the Lord’s potencies
have all the symptoms of the Lord Himself, they have limited spheres of
activity and are therefore all limited. The parts and parcels are never equal
to the whole; therefore they cannot appreciate the Lord’s full potency. Under
the influence of material nature, foolish and ignorant living beings who are
but parts and parcels of the Lord try to conjecture about the Lord’s
transcendental position. Çré Éçopaniñad warns of the futility of trying
to establish the identity of the Lord through mental speculation. One should
try to learn of the Transcendence from the Lord Himself, the supreme source of
the Vedas, for the Lord alone has full knowledge of the Transcendence.
Every part and parcel of the Complete Whole is endowed with some
particular energy to act according to the Lord’s will. When the part-and-parcel
living entity forgets his particular activities under the Lord’s will, he is
considered to be in mäyä, illusion. Thus from the very beginning Çré
Éçopaniñad warns us to be very careful to play the part designated for us
by the Lord. This does not mean that the individual soul has no initiative of
his own. Because he is part and parcel of the Lord, he must partake of the
initiative of the Lord as well. When a person properly utilizes his initiative,
or active nature, with intelligence, understanding that everything is the
Lord’s potency, he can revive his original consciousness, which was lost due to
association with mäyä, the external energy.
All power is obtained from the Lord; therefore each particular
power must be utilized to execute the will of the Lord and not otherwise. The
Lord can be known by one who has adopted such a submissive service attitude.
Perfect knowledge means knowing the Lord in all His features, knowing His
potencies and knowing how these potencies work by His will. These matters are
described by the Lord in the Bhagavad-gétä, the essence of all the Upaniñads.
Iso 5
Mantra
Five
TEXT
tad ejati tan naijati
tad düre tad v antike
tad antar asya sarvasya
tad u sarvasyäsya bähyataù
SYNONYMS
tat—this Supreme Lord; ejati—walks; tat—He; na—not; ejati—walks; tat—He; düre—far away; tat—He; u—also; antike—very near; tat—He; antaù—within; asya—of this; sarvasya—of all; tat—He; u—also; sarvasya—of all; asya—of this; bähyataù—external to.
TRANSLATION
The Supreme Lord walks and does not walk. He is far away, but He
is very near as well. He is within everything, and yet He is outside of
everything.
PURPORT
Here is a description of some of the Supreme Lord’s transcendental
activities, executed by His inconceivable potencies. The contradictions given
here prove the inconceivable potencies of the Lord. “He walks, and He does not
walk.” Ordinarily, if someone can walk, it is illogical to say he cannot walk.
But in reference to God, such a contradiction simply serves to indicate His
inconceivable power. With our limited fund of knowledge we cannot accommodate
such contradictions, and therefore we conceive of the Lord in terms of our
limited powers of understanding. For example, the impersonalist philosophers of
the Mäyäväda school accept only the Lord’s impersonal activities and reject His
personal feature. But the members of the Bhägavata school, adopting the
perfect conception of the Lord, accept His inconceivable potencies and thus
understand that He is both personal and impersonal. The bhägavatas know
that without inconceivable potencies there can be no meaning to the words
“Supreme Lord.”
We should not take it for granted that because we cannot see God
with our eyes the Lord has no personal existence. Çré Éçopaniñad refutes
this argument by declaring that the Lord is far away but very near also. The
abode of the Lord is beyond the material sky, and we have no means to measure
even this material sky. If the material sky extends so far, then what to speak
of the spiritual sky, which is altogether beyond it? That the spiritual sky is
situated far, far away from the material universe is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gétä (15.6). But despite the Lord’s being so
far away, He can at once, within less than a second, descend before us with a
speed swifter than that of the mind or wind. He can also run so swiftly that no
one can surpass Him. This has already been described in the previous verse.
Yet when the Personality of Godhead comes before us, we neglect Him.
Such foolish negligence is condemned by the Lord in the Bhagavad-gétä
(9.11), where He says that the foolish deride Him, considering Him a mortal
being. He is not a mortal being, nor does He come before us with a body
produced of material nature. There are many so-called scholars who contend that
the Lord descends in a body made of matter, just like an ordinary living being.
Not knowing His inconceivable power, such foolish men place the Lord on an
equal level with ordinary men.
Because He is full of inconceivable potencies, God can accept our
service through any sort of medium, and He can convert His different potencies
according to His own will. Nonbelievers argue either that the Lord cannot
incarnate Himself at all, or that if He does He descends in a form of material
energy. These arguments are nullified if we accept the existence of the Lord’s
inconceivable potencies. Then we will understand that even if the Lord appears
before us in the form of material energy, it is quite possible for Him to convert
this energy into spiritual energy. Since the source of the energies is one and
the same, the energies can be utilized according to the will of their source.
For example, the Lord can appear in the
form of the arcä-vigraha, a Deity supposedly made of earth, stone
or wood. Deity forms, although engraved from wood, stone or other matter, are
not idols, as the iconoclasts contend.
In our present state of imperfect material existence, we cannot
see the Supreme Lord due to imperfect vision. Yet those devotees who want to
see Him by means of material vision are favored by the Lord, who appears in a
so-called material form to accept His devotees’ service. One should not think
that such devotees, who are in the lowest stage of devotional service, are
worshiping an idol. They are factually worshiping the Lord, who has agreed to
appear before them in an approachable way. Nor is the arcä form
fashioned according to the whims of the worshiper. This form is eternally
existent with all paraphernalia. This can be actually felt by a sincere
devotee, but not by an atheist.
In the Bhagavad-gétä (4.11) the Lord
says that how He treats His devotee depends on the devotee’s degree of
surrender. The Lord reserves the right not to reveal Himself to anyone and
everyone but to show Himself only to those souls who surrender unto Him. Thus
for the surrendered soul He is always within reach, whereas for the
unsurrendered soul He is far, far away and cannot be approached.
In this connection, two words the revealed scriptures often apply to
the Lord—saguëa (“with qualities”) and nirguëa (“without
qualities”)—are very important. The word saguëa does not imply that when
the Lord appears with perceivable qualities He must take on a material form and
be subject to the laws of material nature. For Him there is no difference
between the material and spiritual energies, because He is the source of all
energies. As the controller of all energies, He cannot at any time be under
their influence, as we are. The material energy works according to His direction;
therefore He can use that energy for His purposes without ever being influenced
by any of the qualities of that energy. (In this sense He is nirguëa,
“without qualities.”) Nor does the Lord become a formless entity at any time,
for ultimately He is the eternal form, the primeval Lord. His impersonal
aspect, or Brahman effulgence, is but the glow of His personal rays, just as
the sun’s rays are the glow of the sun-god.
When the child saint Prahläda Mahäräja was in the presence of his
atheist father, his father asked him, “Where is your God?” When Prahläda
replied that God resides everywhere, the father angrily asked whether his God
was within one of the pillars of the palace, and the child said yes. At once
the atheist king shattered the pillar in front of him to pieces, and the Lord
instantly appeared as Nåsiàha, the half-man, half-lion incarnation, and killed
the atheist king. Thus the Lord is within everything, and He creates everything
by His different energies. Through His inconceivable powers He can appear at
any place in order to favor His sincere devotee. Lord Nåsiàha appeared from
within the pillar not by the order of the atheist king but by the wish of His
devotee Prahläda. An atheist cannot order the Lord to appear, but the Lord will
appear anywhere and everywhere to show mercy to His devotee. The Bhagavad-gétä (4.8) similarly states that the Lord
appears in order to vanquish nonbelievers and protect believers. Of course, the
Lord has sufficient energies and agents who can vanquish atheists, but it
pleases Him to personally favor a devotee. Therefore He descends as an
incarnation. Actually, He descends only to favor His devotees and not for any
other purpose.
In the Brahma-saàhitä (5.35) it is
said that Govinda, the primeval Lord, enters everything by His plenary portion.
He enters the universe as well as all the atoms of the universe. He is outside
in His viräö form, and He is within everything as antaryämé. As antaryämé
He witnesses everything that is going on, and He awards us the results of our
actions as karma-phala. We ourselves may forget what we have done in
previous lives, but because the Lord witnesses our actions, the results of our
actions are always there, and we have to undergo the reactions nonetheless.
The fact is that there is nothing but God within and without.
Everything is a manifestation of His different energies, like the heat and
light emanating from a fire, and in this way there is a oneness among His
diverse energies. Although there is oneness, however, the Lord in His personal
form still enjoys unlimitedly all the pleasures enjoyed minutely by the tiny
part-and-parcel living entities.
Iso 6
Mantra
Six
TEXT
yas tu sarväëi bhütäny
ätmany evänupaçyati
sarva-bhüteñu cätmänaà
tato na vijugupsate
SYNONYMS
yaù—he who; tu—but; sarväëi—all; bhütäni—living entities; ätmani—in relation to the Supreme Lord; eva—only; anupaçyati—observes in a systematic way; sarva-bhüteñu—in every living being; ca—and; ätmänam—the Supersoul; tataù—thereafter; na—not; vijugupsate—hates anyone.
TRANSLATION
He who sees everything in relation to the Supreme Lord, who sees
all living entities as His parts and parcels, and who sees the Supreme Lord
within everything never hates anything or any being.
PURPORT
This is a description of the mahä-bhägavata, the great
personality who sees everything in relation to the Supreme Personality of
Godhead. The Supreme Lord’s presence is realized in three stages. The kaniñöha-adhikäré
is in the lowest stage of realization. He goes to a place of worship, such as a
temple, church or mosque, according to his religious faith, and worships there
according to scriptural injunctions. Devotees in this stage consider the Lord
to be present at the place of worship and nowhere else. They cannot ascertain
who is in what position in devotional service, nor can they tell who has
realized the Supreme Lord. Such devotees follow the routine formulas and
sometimes quarrel among themselves, considering one type of devotion better
than another. These kaniñöha-adhikärés are actually materialistic
devotees who are simply trying to transcend the material boundary to reach the
spiritual plane.
Those who have attained the second stage of realization are called
madhyama-adhikärés. These devotees observe the distinctions between four
categories of being: (1) the Supreme Lord; (2) the devotees of the Lord; (3)
the innocent, who have no knowledge of the Lord; and (4) the atheists, who have
no faith in the Lord and hate those in devotional service. The madhyama-adhikäré
behaves differently toward these four classes of person. He adores the Lord,
considering Him the object of love; he makes friends with those who are in
devotional service; he tries to awaken the dormant love of God in the hearts of
the innocent; and he avoids the atheists, who deride the very name of the Lord.
Above the madhyama-adhikäré is the uttama-adhikäré,
who sees everything in relation to the Supreme Lord. Such a devotee does not
discriminate between an atheist and a theist but sees everyone as part and
parcel of God. He knows that there is no essential difference between a vastly
learned brähmaëa and a dog in the street, because both of them are part
and parcel of the Lord, although they are encaged in different bodies on
account of the different qualities of their activities in their previous lives.
He sees that the brähmaëa particle of the Supreme Lord has not misused
his little independence given him by the Lord and that the dog particle has
misused his independence and is therefore being punished by the laws of nature
by being encaged in the form of a dog. Not considering the respective actions
of the brähmaëa and the dog, the uttama-adhikäré tries to do good
to both. Such a learned devotee is not misled by material bodies but is
attracted by the spiritual spark within them.
Those who imitate an uttama-adhikäré by flaunting a sense
of oneness or fellowship but who behave on the bodily platform are actually
false philanthropists. The conception of universal brotherhood must be learned
from an uttama-adhikäré and not from a foolish person who does not
properly understand the individual soul or the Supreme Lord’s Supersoul
expansion, who dwells everywhere.
It is clearly mentioned in this sixth mantra that one
should “observe,” or systematically see. This means that one must follow the
previous äcäryas, the perfected teachers. Anupaçyati is the exact
Sanskrit word used in this connection. Anu means “to follow,” and paçyati
means “to observe.” Thus the word anupaçyati means that one should not
see things as he does with the naked eye but should follow the previous äcäryas.
Due to material defects, the naked eye cannot see anything properly. One cannot
see properly unless one has heard from a superior source, and the highest
source is the Vedic wisdom, which is spoken by the Lord Himself. Vedic truths
are coming in disciplic succession from the Lord to Brahmä, from Brahmä to
Närada, from Närada to Vyäsa, and from Vyäsa to many of his disciples. Formerly
there was no need to record the messages of the Vedas, because people in
earlier ages were more intelligent and had sharper memories. They could follow
the instructions simply by hearing once from the mouth of a bona fide spiritual
master.
At present there are many commentaries on the revealed scriptures,
but most of them are not in the line of disciplic succession coming from Çréla
Vyäsadeva, who originally compiled the Vedic wisdom. The final, most perfect
and sublime work by Çréla Vyäsadeva is Çrémad-Bhägavatam, which is the
natural commentary on the Vedänta-sütra. There is also the Bhagavad-gétä,
which was spoken by the Lord Himself and recorded by Vyäsadeva. These are the
most important revealed scriptures, and any
commentary that contradicts the principles of the Bhagavad-gétä
or Çrémad-Bhägavatam is unauthorized. There is complete agreement among
the Upaniñads, Vedänta-sütra, Vedas, Bhagavad-gétä and Çrémad-Bhägavatam,
and no one should try to reach any conclusion about the Vedas without
receiving instructions from members of Vyäsadeva’s disciplic succession, who
believe in the Personality of Godhead and His diverse energies as they are
explained in Çré Éçopaniñad.
According to the Bhagavad-gétä
(18.54), only one who is already on the liberated platform (brahma-bhüta)
can become an uttama-adhikäré devotee and see every living being as his own
brother. This vision cannot be had by politicians, who are always after some
material gain. One who imitates the symptoms of an uttama-adhikäré may
serve another’s outward body for the purpose of fame or material reward, but he
does not serve the spirit soul. Such an imitator can have no information of the
spiritual world. The uttama-adhikäré sees the spirit soul within the
material body and serves him as spirit. Thus the material aspect is
automatically served.
Iso 7
Mantra
Seven
TEXT
yasmin sarväëi bhütäny
ätmaiväbhüd vijänataù
tatra ko mohaù kaù çoka
ekatvam anupaçyataù
SYNONYMS
yasmin—in the situation; sarväëi—all; bhütäni—living entities; ätmä—the cit-kaëa, or spiritual spark; eva—only; abhüt—exist as; vijänataù—of one who knows; tatra—therein; kaù—what; mohaù—illusion; kaù—what; çokaù—anxiety; ekatvam—oneness in quality; anupaçyataù—of one who sees through authority, or one who sees constantly like that.
TRANSLATION
One who always sees all living entities as spiritual sparks, in
quality one with the Lord, becomes a true knower of things. What, then, can be
illusion or anxiety for him?
PURPORT
Except for the madhyama-adhikäré and uttama-adhikäré
discussed above, no one can correctly see the spiritual position of a living
being. The living entities are qualitatively one with the Supreme Lord, just as
the sparks of a fire are qualitatively one with the fire. Yet sparks are not
fire as far as quantity is concerned, for the quantity of heat and light
present in the sparks is not equal to that in fire. The mahä-bhägavata,
the great devotee, sees oneness in the sense that he sees everything as the
energy of the Supreme Lord. Since there is no difference between the energy and
the energetic, there is the sense of oneness. Although from the analytical
point of view heat and light are different from fire, there is no meaning to
the word “fire” without heat and light. In synthesis, therefore, heat, light
and fire are the same.
In this mantra the words ekatvam anupaçyataù
indicate that one should see the unity of all living entities from the
viewpoint of the revealed scriptures. The individual sparks of the supreme
whole (the Lord) possess almost eighty percent of the known qualities of the
whole, but they are not quantitatively equal to the Supreme Lord. These qualities
are present in minute quantity, for the living entity is but a minute part and
parcel of the supreme whole. To use another analogy, the quantity of salt
present in a drop is never comparable to the quantity of salt present in the
complete ocean, but the salt present in the drop is qualitatively equal in
chemical composition to all the salt present in the ocean. If the individual
living being were equal to the Supreme Lord both qualitatively and
quantitatively, there would be no question of his being under the influence of
the material energy. In the previous mantras it has already been
discussed that no living being—not even the powerful demigods—can surpass the
Supreme Being in any respect. Therefore ekatvam does not mean that a
living being is equal in all respects to the Supreme Lord. It does, however,
indicate that in a broader sense there is one interest, just as in a family the
interest of all members is one, or in a nation the national interest is one,
although there are many different individual citizens. Since the living
entities are all members of the same supreme family, their interest and that of
the Supreme Being are not different. Every living being is the son of the
Supreme Being. As stated in the Bhagavad-gétä
(7.5), all living creatures throughout the universe—including birds, reptiles,
ants, aquatics, trees and so on—are emanations of the marginal potency of the
Supreme Lord. Therefore all of them belong to the family of the Supreme Being.
There is no clash of interest.
The spiritual entities are meant for enjoyment, as stated in the Vedänta-sütra (1.1.12): änanda-mayo ’bhyäsät. By
nature and constitution, every living being—including the Supreme Lord and each
of His parts and parcels—is meant for eternal enjoyment. The living beings who
are encaged in the material tabernacle are constantly seeking enjoyment, but
they are seeking it on the wrong platform. Apart from the material platform is
the spiritual platform, where the Supreme Being enjoys Himself with His
innumerable associates. On that platform there is no trace of material
qualities, and therefore that platform is called nirguëa. On the nirguëa
platform there is never a clash over the object of enjoyment. Here in the
material world there is always a clash between different individual beings
because here the proper center of enjoyment is missed. The real center of
enjoyment is the Supreme Lord, who is the center of the sublime and spiritual räsa
dance. We are all meant to join Him and enjoy life with one transcendental
interest and without any clash. That is the highest platform of spiritual
interest, and as soon as one realizes this perfect form of oneness, there can
be no question of illusion (moha) or lamentation (çoka).
A godless civilization arises from illusion, and the result of
such a civilization is lamentation. A godless civilization, such as that
sponsored by the modern politicians, is always full of anxieties because it may
be crushed at any moment. That is the law of nature. As stated in the Bhagavad-gétä (7.14), no one but those who surrender at
the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord can surpass the stringent laws of nature.
Thus if we wish to get rid of all sorts of illusion and anxiety and create
unity out of all diverse interests, we must bring God into all our activities.
The results of our activities must be used to serve the interest
of the Lord, and not for any other purpose. Only by serving the Lord’s interest
can we perceive the ätma-bhüta interest mentioned herein. The ätma-bhüta
interest mentioned in this mantra and the brahma-bhüta interest
mentioned in the Bhagavad-gétä (18.54) are one and
the same. The supreme ätmä, or soul, is the Lord Himself, and the minute
ätmä is the living entity. The supreme ätmä, or Paramätmä, alone
maintains all the individual minute beings, for the Supreme Lord wants to
derive pleasure out of their affection. The father extends himself through his
children and maintains them in order to derive pleasure. If the children obey
the father’s will, family affairs will run smoothly, with one interest and a
pleasing atmosphere. The same situation is transcendentally arranged in the
absolute family of the Parabrahman, the Supreme Spirit.
The Parabrahman is as much a person as the individual entities.
Neither the Lord nor the living entities are impersonal. Such transcendental
personalities are full of transcendental bliss, knowledge and life eternal.
That is the real position of spiritual existence, and as soon as one is fully
cognizant of this transcendental position, he at once surrenders unto the lotus
feet of the Supreme Being, Çré Kåñëa. But such a mahätmä, or great soul,
is very rarely seen because such transcendental realization is achieved only
after many, many births. Once it is attained, however, there is no longer any
illusion or lamentation or the miseries of material existence or birth and
death, which are all experienced in our present life. That is the information
we get from this mantra of Çré Éçopaniñad.
Iso 8
Mantra
Eight
TEXT
sa paryagäc chukram akäyam avraëam
asnäviram çuddham apäpa-viddham
kavir manéñé paribhüù svayambhür
yäthätathyato ’rthän vyadadhäc chäçvatébhyaù samäbhyaù
SYNONYMS
saù—that person; paryagät—must know in fact; çukram—the omnipotent; akäyam—unembodied; avraëam—without reproach; asnäviram—without veins; çuddham—antiseptic; apäpa-viddham—prophylactic; kaviù—omniscient; manéñé—philosopher; paribhüù—the greatest of all; svayambhüù—self-sufficient; yäthätathyataù—just in pursuance of; arthän—desirables; vyadadhät—awards; çäçvatébhyaù—immemorial; samäbhyaù—time.
TRANSLATION
Such a person must factually know the greatest of all, the
Personality of Godhead, who is unembodied, omniscient, beyond reproach, without
veins, pure and uncontaminated, the self-sufficient philosopher who has been
fulfilling everyone’s desire since time immemorial.
PURPORT
Here is a description of the transcendental and eternal form of
the Absolute Personality of Godhead. The Supreme Lord is not formless. He has
His own transcendental form, which is not at all similar to the forms of the
mundane world. The forms of the living entities in this world are embodied in
material nature, and they work like any material machine. The anatomy of a
material body must have a mechanical construction with veins and so forth, but
the transcendental body of the Supreme Lord has nothing like veins. It is
clearly stated here that He is un-embodied, which means that there is no
difference between His body and His soul. Nor is He forced to accept a body
according to the laws of nature, as we are. In materially conditioned life, the
soul is different from the gross embodiment and subtle mind. For the Supreme
Lord, however, there is never any such difference between Him and His body and
mind. He is the Complete Whole, and His mind, body and He Himself are all one
and the same.
In the Brahma-saàhitä (5.1) there is
a similar description of the Supreme Lord. He is described there as sac-cid-änanda-vigraha,
which means that He is the eternal form fully representing transcendental
existence, knowledge and bliss. As such, He does not require a separate body or
mind, as we do in material existence. The Vedic literature clearly states that
the Lord’s transcendental body is completely different from ours; thus He is
sometimes described as formless. This means that He has no form like ours and
that He is devoid of a form we can conceive of. In the Brahma-saàhitä
(5.32) it is further stated that with each and every part of His body He can do
the work of the other senses. This means that the Lord can walk with His hands,
accept things with His legs, see with His hands and feet, eat with His eyes,
etc. In the çruti-mantras it is also said that although the Lord has no
hands and legs like ours, He has a different type of hands and legs, by which
He can accept all that we offer Him and run faster than anyone. These points
are confirmed in this eighth mantra through the use of words like çukram
(“omnipotent”).
The Lord’s worshipable form (arcä-vigraha), which is
installed in temples by authorized äcäryas who have realized the Lord in
terms of Mantra Seven, is nondifferent from the original form of the Lord. The
Lord’s original form is that of Çré Kåñëa, and Çré Kåñëa expands Himself into
an unlimited number of forms, such as Baladeva, Räma, Nåsiàha and Varäha. All
of these forms are one and the same Personality of Godhead. Similarly, the arcä-vigraha
worshiped in temples is also an expanded form of the Lord. By worshiping the arcä-vigraha,
one can at once approach the Lord, who accepts the service of a devotee by His
omnipotent energy. The arcä-vigraha of the Lord descends at the request
of the äcäryas, the holy teachers, and works exactly in the original way
of the Lord by virtue of the Lord’s omnipotence. Foolish people who have no
knowledge of Çré Éçopaniñad or any of the other çruti-mantras
consider the arcä-vigraha, which is worshiped by pure devotees, to be
made of material elements. This form may be seen as material by the imperfect
eyes of foolish people or kaniñöha-adhikärés, but such people do not
know that the Lord, being omnipotent and omniscient, can transform matter into
spirit and spirit into matter, as He desires.
In the Bhagavad-gétä (9.11–12) the
Lord regrets the fallen condition of men with little knowledge who deride Him
because He descends like a man into this world. Such poorly informed persons do
not know the omnipotence of the Lord. Thus the Lord does not manifest Himself
in full to the mental speculators. He can be appreciated only in proportion to
one’s surrender to Him. The fallen condition of the living entities is due
entirely to forgetfulness of their relationship with God.
In this mantra, as well as in many other Vedic mantras,
it is clearly stated that the Lord has been supplying goods to the living
entities from time immemorial. A living being desires something, and the Lord
supplies the object of that desire in proportion to one’s qualification. If a
man wants to be a high-court judge, he must acquire not only the necessary
qualifications but also the consent of the authority who can award the title of
high-court judge. The qualifications in themselves are insufficient for one to
occupy the post: it must be awarded by some superior authority. Similarly, the
Lord awards enjoyment to living entities in proportion to their qualifications,
but good qualifications in themselves are not sufficient to enable one to
receive awards. The mercy of the Lord is also required.
Ordinarily the living being does not know what to ask from the
Lord, nor which post to seek. When the living being comes to know his
constitutional position, however, he asks to be accepted into the
transcendental association of the Lord in order to render transcendental loving
service unto Him. Unfortunately, living beings under the influence of material
nature ask for many other things, and they are described in the Bhagavad-gétä (2.41) as having divided, or splayed,
intelligence. Spiritual intelligence is one, but mundane intelligence is
diverse. In Çrémad-Bhägavatam (7.5.30–31) it is stated that those who
are captivated by the temporary beauties of the external energy forget the real
aim of life, which is to go back to Godhead. Forgetting this, one tries to
adjust things by various plans and programs, but this is like chewing what has
already been chewed. Nonetheless, the Lord is so kind that He allows the forgetful
living entity to continue in this way without interference. Thus this mantra
of Çré Éçopaniñad uses the very appropriate word yäthätathyataù,
indicating that the Lord rewards the living entities just in pursuance of their
desires. If a living being wants to go to hell, the Lord allows him to do so
without interference, and if he wants to go back home, back to Godhead, the
Lord helps him.
God is described here as paribhüù, the greatest of all. No
one is greater than or equal to Him. Other living beings are described here as
beggars who ask goods from the Lord. The Lord supplies the things the living
entities desire. If the entities were equal to the Lord in potency—if they were
omnipotent and omniscient—there would be no question of their begging from the
Lord, even for so-called liberation. Real liberation means going back to
Godhead. Liberation as conceived of by an impersonalist is a myth, and begging
for sense gratification has to continue eternally unless the beggar comes to
his spiritual senses and realizes his constitutional position.
Only the Supreme Lord is self-sufficient. When Lord Kåñëa appeared
on earth five thousand years ago, He displayed His full manifestation as the
Personality of Godhead through His various activities. In His childhood He
killed many powerful demons, such as Aghäsura, Bakäsura and Çakaöäsura, and
there was no question of His having acquired such power through any extraneous
endeavor. He lifted Govardhana Hill without ever practicing weight-lifting. He
danced with the gopés without social restriction and without reproach.
Although the gopés approached Him with a paramour’s feelings of love,
the relationship between the gopés and Lord Kåñëa was worshiped even by
Lord Caitanya, who was a strict sannyäsé and rigid follower of
disciplinary regulations. To confirm that the Lord is always pure and
uncontaminated, Çré Éçopaniñad describes Him as çuddham
(antiseptic) and apäpa-viddham (prophylactic). He is antiseptic in the
sense that even an impure thing can become purified just by touching Him. The
word “prophylactic” refers to the power of His association. As mentioned in the
Bhagavad-gétä (9.30–31), a devotee may appear to
be su-duräcära, not well behaved, in the beginning, but he should be
accepted as pure because he is on the right path. This is due to the
prophylactic nature of the Lord’s association. The Lord is also apäpa-viddham
because sin cannot touch Him. Even if He acts in a way that appears to be
sinful, such actions are all-good, for there is no question of His being
affected by sin. Because in all circumstances He is çuddham, most
purified, He is often compared to the sun. The sun extracts moisture from many
untouchable places on the earth, yet it remains pure. In fact, it purifies
obnoxious things by virtue of its sterilizing powers. If the sun, which is a
material object, is so powerful, then we can hardly begin to imagine the
purifying strength of the all-powerful Lord.
Iso 9
Mantra
Nine
TEXT
andhaà tamaù praviçanti
ye ’vidyäm upäsate
tato bhüya iva te tamo
ya u vidyäyäm ratäù
SYNONYMS
andham—gross ignorance; tamaù—darkness; praviçanti—enter into; ye—those who; avidyäm—nescience; upäsate—worship; tataù—than that; bhüyaù—still more; iva—like; te—they; tamaù—darkness; ye—those who; u—also; vidyäyäm—in the culture of knowledge; ratäù—engaged.
TRANSLATION
Those who engage in the culture of nescient activities shall enter
into the darkest region of ignorance. Worse still are those engaged in the
culture of so-called knowledge.
PURPORT
This mantra offers a comparative study of vidyä and avidyä.
Avidyä, or ignorance, is undoubtedly dangerous, but vidyä, or
knowledge, is even more dangerous when mistaken or misguided. This mantra
of Çré Éçopaniñad is more applicable today than at any time in the past.
Modern civilization has advanced considerably in the field of mass education,
but the result is that people are more unhappy than ever before because of the
stress placed on material advancement to the exclusion of the most important
part of life, the spiritual aspect.
As far as vidyä is concerned, the first mantra has
explained very clearly that the Supreme Lord is the proprietor of everything
and that forgetfulness of this fact is ignorance. The more a man forgets this
fact of life, the more he is in darkness. In view of this, a godless
civilization directed toward the so-called advancement of education is more
dangerous than a civilization in which the masses of people are less
“educated.”
Of the different classes of men—karmés, jïänés and yogés—the
karmés are those who are engaged in the activities of sense
gratification. In the modern civilization, 99.9 percent of the people are
engaged in the activities of sense gratification under the flags of
industrialism, economic development, altruism, political activism, and so on. All
these activities are more or less based on satisfaction of the senses, to the
exclusion of the kind of God consciousness described in the first mantra.
In the language of the Bhagavad-gétä
(7.15), people who are engaged in gross sense gratification are müòhas—asses.
The ass is a symbol of stupidity. Those who simply engage in the profitless
pursuit of sense gratification are worshiping avidyä, according to Çré
Éçopaniñad. And those who play the role of helping this sort of
civilization in the name of educational advancement are actually doing more
harm than those who are on the platform of gross sense gratification. The
advancement of learning by a godless people is as dangerous as a valuable jewel
on the hood of a cobra. A cobra decorated with a valuable jewel is more
dangerous than one not decorated. In the Hari-bhakti-sudhodaya (3. 11.12),
the advancement of education by a godless people is compared to decorations on
a dead body. In India, as in many other countries, some people follow the
custom of leading a procession with a decorated dead body for the pleasure of
the lamenting relatives. In the same way, modern civilization is a patchwork of
activities meant to cover the perpetual miseries of material existence. All
such activities are aimed toward sense gratification. But above the senses is
the mind, and above the mind is the intelligence, and above the intelligence is
the soul. Thus the aim of real education should be self-realization,
realization of the spiritual values of the soul. Any education which does not
lead to such realization must be considered avidyä, or nescience. And to
culture such nescience means to go down to the darkest region of ignorance.
According to the Bhagavad-gétä (2.42,
7.15), mistaken mundane educators are known as veda-väda-rata and mäyayäpahåta-jïäna.
They may also be atheistic demons, the lowest of men. Those who are veda-väda-rata
pose themselves as very learned in the Vedic literature, but unfortunately they
are completely diverted from the purpose of the Vedas. In the Bhagavad-gétä (15.15) it is said that the purpose of the
Vedas is to know the Personality of Godhead, but these veda-väda-rata
men are not at all interested in the Personality of Godhead. On the contrary,
they are fascinated by such fruitive results as the attainment of heaven.
As stated in Mantra One, we should know that the Personality of
Godhead is the proprietor of everything and that we must be satisfied with our
allotted portions of the necessities of life. The purpose of all Vedic
literature is to awaken this God consciousness in the forgetful living being,
and this same purpose is presented in various ways in the different scriptures
of the world for the understanding of a foolish mankind. Thus the ultimate
purpose of all religions is to bring one back to Godhead.
But the veda-väda-rata people, instead of realizing that
the purpose of the Vedas is to revive the forgetful soul’s lost
relationship with the Personality of Godhead, take it for granted that such
side issues as the attainment of heavenly pleasure for sense gratification—the
lust for which causes their material bondage in the first place—are the
ultimate end of the Vedas. Such people misguide others by
misinterpreting the Vedic literature. Sometimes they even condemn the Puräëas,
which are authentic Vedic explanations for laymen. The veda-väda-ratas
give their own explanations of the Vedas, neglecting the authority of
great teachers (äcäryas). They also tend to raise some unscrupulous
person from among themselves and present him as the leading exponent of Vedic
knowledge. Such veda-väda-ratas are especially condemned in this mantra
by the very appropriate Sanskrit words vidyäyäà ratäù. Vidyäyäm
refers to the study of the Vedas because the Vedas are the origin
of all knowledge (vidyä), and ratäù means “those engaged.” Vidyäyäà
ratäù thus means “those engaged in the study of the Vedas.” The
so-called students of the Vedas are condemned herein because they are
ignorant of the actual purpose of the Vedas on account of their
disobeying the äcäryas. Such veda-väda-ratas search out meanings
in every word of the Vedas to suit their own purposes. They do not know
that the Vedic literature is a collection of extraordinary books that can be
understood only through the chain of disciplic succession.
One must approach a bona fide spiritual master in order to
understand the transcendental message of the Vedas. That is the
direction of the Muëòaka Upaniñad (1.2.12).
These veda-väda-rata people, however, have their own äcäryas, who
are not in the chain of transcendental succession. Thus they progress into the
darkest region of ignorance by misinterpreting the Vedic literature. They fall
even further into ignorance than those who have no knowledge of the Vedas
at all.
The mäyayäpahåta-jïäna class of men are self-made “Gods.”
Such men think that they themselves are God and that there is no need of
worshiping any other God. They will agree to worship an ordinary man if he
happens to be rich, but they will never worship the Personality of Godhead.
Such men, unable to recognize their own foolishness, never consider how it is
that God can be entrapped by mäyä, His own illusory energy. If God were
ever entrapped by mäyä, mäyä would be more powerful than God. Such men
say that God is all-powerful, but they do not consider that if He is
all-powerful there is no possibility of His being overpowered by mäyä.
These self-made “Gods” cannot answer all these questions very clearly; they are
simply satisfied to have become “God” themselves.
Iso 10
Mantra
Ten
TEXT
anyad evähur vidyayä-
nyad ähur avidyayä
iti çuçruma dhéräëäà
ye nas tad vicacakñire
SYNONYMS
anyat—different; eva—certainly; ähuù—said; vid-yayä—by culture of knowledge; anyat—different; ähuù—said; avidyayä—by culture of nescience; iti—thus; çuçruma—I heard; dhéräëäm—from the sober; ye—who; naù—to us; tat—that; vicacakñire—explained.
TRANSLATION
The wise have explained that one result is derived from the
culture of knowledge and that a different result is obtained from the culture
of nescience.
PURPORT
As advised in Chapter Thirteen of the Bhagavad-gétä
(13.8–12), one should culture knowledge in the following way:
(1) One should become a perfect gentleman and learn to give proper
respect to others.
(2) One should not pose himself as a religionist simply for name
and fame.
(3) One should not become a source of anxiety to others by the
actions of his body, by the thoughts of his mind, or by his words.
(4) One should learn forbearance even in the face of provocation
from others.
(5) One should learn to avoid duplicity in his dealings with
others.
(6) One should search out a bona fide spiritual master who can
lead him gradually to the stage of spiritual realization, and one must submit
himself to such a spiritual master, render him service and ask relevant
questions.
(7) In order to approach the platform of self-realization, one
must follow the regulative principles enjoined in the revealed scriptures.
(8) One must be fixed in the tenets of the revealed scriptures.
(9) One should completely refrain from practices which are detrimental
to the interest of self-realization.
(10) One should not accept more than he requires for the
maintenance of the body.
(11) One should not falsely identify himself with the gross
material body, nor should one consider those who are related to his body to be
his own.
(12) One should always remember that as long as he has a material
body he must face the miseries of repeated birth, old age, disease and death.
There is no use in making plans to get rid of these miseries of the material
body. The best course is to find out the means by which one may regain his
spiritual identity.
(13) One should not be attached to more than the necessities of
life required for spiritual advancement.
(14) One should not be more attached to wife, children and home
than the revealed scriptures
ordain.
(15) One should not be happy or distressed over desirables and
undesirables, knowing that such feelings are just created by the mind.
(16) One should become an unalloyed devotee of the Personality of
Godhead, Çré Kåñëa, and serve Him with rapt attention.
(17) One should develop a liking for residence in a secluded place
with a calm and quiet atmosphere favorable for spiritual culture, and one
should avoid congested places where nondevotees congregate.
(18) One should become a scientist or philosopher and conduct
research into spiritual knowledge, recognizing that spiritual knowledge is
permanent whereas material knowledge ends with the death of the body.
These eighteen items combine to form a gradual process by which
real knowledge can be developed. Except for these, all other methods are
considered to be in the category of nescience. Çréla Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura, a
great äcärya, maintained that all forms of material knowledge are merely
external features of the illusory energy and that by culturing them one becomes
no better than an ass. This same principle is found here in Çré Éçopaniñad.
By advancement of material knowledge, modern man is simply being converted into
an ass. Some materialistic politicians in spiritual guise decry the present
system of civilization as satanic, but unfortunately they do not care about the
culture of real knowledge as it is described in the Bhagavad-gétä. Thus
they cannot change the satanic situation.
In the modern society, even a boy thinks himself self-sufficient
and pays no respect to elderly men. Due to the wrong type of education being
imparted in our universities, boys all over the world are giving their elders
headaches. Thus Çré Éçopaniñad very strongly warns that the culture of
nescience is different from that of knowledge. The universities are, so to
speak, centers of nescience only; consequently scientists are busy discovering
lethal weapons to wipe out the existence of other countries. University
students today are not given instructions in the regulative principles of brahmacarya
(celibate student life), nor do they have any faith in any scriptural
injunctions. Religious principles are taught for the sake of name and fame only
and not for the sake of practical action. Thus there is animosity not only in
social and political fields but in the field of religion as well.
Nationalism has developed in different parts of the world due to
the cultivation of nescience by the general people. No one considers that this
tiny earth is just a lump of matter floating in immeasurable space along with
many other lumps. In comparison to the vastness of space, these material lumps
are like dust particles in the air. Because God has kindly made these lumps of
matter complete in themselves, they are perfectly equipped with all necessities
for floating in space. The drivers of our spaceships may be very proud of their
achievements, but they do not consider the supreme driver of these greater,
more gigantic spaceships called planets.
There are innumerable suns and innumerable planetary systems also.
As infinitesimal parts and parcels of the Supreme Lord, we small creatures are
trying to dominate these unlimited planets. Thus we take repeated birth and
death and are generally frustrated by old age and disease. The span of human
life is scheduled for about a hundred years, although it is gradually
decreasing to twenty or thirty years. Thanks to the culture of nescience,
befooled men have created their own nations within these planets in order to
grasp sense enjoyment more effectively for these few years. Such foolish people
draw up various plans to render national demarcations perfectly, a task that is
totally impossible. Yet for this purpose each and every nation has become a
source of anxiety for others. More than fifty percent of a nation’s energy is
devoted to defense measures and thus spoiled. No one cares for the cultivation
of real knowledge, yet people are falsely proud of being advanced in both
material and spiritual knowledge.
Çré Éçopaniñad warns us of this faulty type of education, and the Bhagavad-gétä
gives instructions as to the development of real knowledge. This mantra
states that the instructions of vidyä (knowledge) must be acquired from
a dhéra. A dhéra is one who is not disturbed by material
illusion. No one can be undisturbed unless he is perfectly spiritually
realized, at which time one neither hankers nor laments for anything. A dhéra
realizes that the material body and mind he has acquired by chance through
material association are but foreign elements; therefore he simply makes the
best use of a bad bargain.
The material body and mind are bad bargains for the spiritual
living entity. The living entity has actual functions in the living, spiritual
world, but this material world is dead. As long as the living spiritual sparks
manipulate the dead lumps of matter, the dead world appears to be a living
world. Actually it is the living souls, the parts and parcels of the supreme
living being, who move the world. The dhéras have come to know all these
facts by hearing them from superior authorities and have realized this
knowledge by following the regulative principles.
To follow the regulative principles, one must take shelter of a
bona fide spiritual master. The transcendental message and regulative principles
come down from the spiritual master to the disciple. Such knowledge does not
come in the hazardous way of nescient education. One can become a dhéra
only by submissively hearing from a bona fide spiritual master. Arjuna, for
example, became a dhéra by submissively hearing from Lord Kåñëa, the
Personality of Godhead Himself. Thus the perfect disciple must be like Arjuna,
and the spiritual master must be as good as the Lord Himself. This is the
process of learning vidyä (knowledge) from the dhéra (the undisturbed).
An adhéra (one who has not undergone the training of a dhéra)
cannot be an instructive leader. Modern politicians who pose themselves as dhéras
are actually adhéras, and one cannot expect perfect knowledge from them.
They are simply busy seeing to their own remuneration in dollars and cents.
How, then, can they lead the mass of people to the right path of
self-realization? Thus one must hear submissively from a dhéra in order
to attain actual education.
Iso 11
Mantra
Eleven
TEXT
vidyäà cävidyäà ca yas
tad vedobhayaà saha
avidyayä måtyuà tértvä
vidyayämåtam açnute
SYNONYMS
vidyäm—knowledge in fact; ca—and; avidyäm—nescience; ca—and; yaù—a person who; tat—that; veda—knows; ubhayam—both; saha—simultaneously; avidyayä—by culture of nescience; måtyum—repeated death; tértvä—transcending; vidyayä—by culture of knowledge; amåtam—deathlessness; açnute—enjoys.
TRANSLATION
Only one who can learn the process of nescience and that of
transcendental knowledge side by side can transcend the influence of repeated
birth and death and enjoy the full blessings of immortality.
PURPORT
Since the creation of the material world, everyone has been trying
to attain a permanent life, but the laws of nature are so cruel that no one has
been able to avoid the hand of death. No one wants to die, nor does anyone want
to become old or diseased. The law of nature, however, does not allow anyone
immunity from old age, disease or death. Nor has the advancement of material
knowledge solved these problems. Material science can discover the nuclear bomb
to accelerate the process of death, but it cannot discover anything that can
protect man from the cruel hands of old age, disease and death.
From the Puräëas we learn of the activities of
Hiraëyakaçipu, a king who was very much advanced materially. Wanting to conquer
cruel death by his material acquisitions and the strength of his nescience, he
underwent a type of meditation so severe that the inhabitants of all the
planetary systems became disturbed by his mystic powers. He forced the creator
of the universe, the demigod Brahmä, to come down to him. He then asked Brahmä
for the benediction of becoming amara, by which one does not die. Brahmä
said that he could not award the benediction because even he, the material
creator who rules all planets, is not amara. As confirmed in the Bhagavad-gétä (8.17), Brahmä lives a long time, but that
does not mean he is immortal.
Hiraëya means “gold,” and kaçipu means “soft bed.” This
cunning gentleman Hiraëyakaçipu was interested in these two things—money and
women—and he wanted to enjoy them by becoming immortal. He asked from Brahmä
many benedictions in hopes of indirectly fulfilling his desire to become
immortal. Since Brahmä told him that he could not grant the gift of
immortality, Hiraëyakaçipu requested that he not be killed by any man, animal,
god or any other living being within the 8,400,000 species. He also asked that
he not die on land, in the air or water, or by any weapon. In this way
Hiraëyakaçipu foolishly thought these guarantees would save him from death.
Ultimately, however, although Brahmä granted him all these benedictions, he was
killed by the Personality of Godhead in the form of Nåsiàha, the Lord’s
half-lion, half-man incarnation, and no weapon was used to kill him, for he was
killed by the Lord’s nails. Nor was he killed on the land, in the air or in the
water, for he was killed on the lap of that wonderful living being, Nåsiàha,
who was beyond his conception.
The whole point here is that even Hiraëyakaçipu, the most powerful
of materialists, could not become deathless by his various plans. What, then,
can be accomplished by the tiny Hiraëyakaçipus of today, whose plans are
thwarted from moment to moment?
Çré Éçopaniñad instructs us not to make one-sided attempts to win the
struggle for existence. Everyone is struggling hard for existence, but the laws
of material nature are so hard and fast that they do not allow anyone to
surpass them. In order to attain a permanent life, one must be prepared to go
back to Godhead.
The process by which one goes back to Godhead is a different
branch of knowledge, and it has to be learned from revealed Vedic scriptures
such as the Upaniñads, Vedänta-sütra, Bhagavad-gétä and Çrémad-Bhägavatam.
To become happy in this life and attain a permanent blissful life after leaving
this material body, one must study this sacred literature and obtain
transcendental knowledge. The conditioned living being has forgotten his
eternal relationship with God and has mistakenly accepted the temporary place
of his birth as all in all. The Lord has kindly delivered the above-mentioned
scriptures in India and other scriptures in other countries to remind the
forgetful human being that his home is not here in this material world. The
living being is a spiritual entity, and he can be happy only by returning to
his spiritual home.
From His kingdom the Personality of Godhead sends His bona fide
servants to propagate this message by which one can return to Godhead, and
sometimes the Lord comes Himself to do this work. Since all living beings are
His beloved sons, His parts and parcels, God is more sorry than we ourselves to
see the sufferings we are constantly undergoing in this material condition. The
miseries of this material world serve to indirectly remind us of our
incompatibility with dead matter. Intelligent living entities generally take
note of these reminders and engage themselves in the culture of vidyä,
or transcendental knowledge. Human life is the best opportunity for the culture
of spiritual knowledge, and a human being who does not take advantage of this
opportunity is called a narädhama, the lowest of human beings.
The path of avidyä, or advancement of material knowledge
for sense gratification, is the path of repeated birth and death. As he exists
spiritually, the living entity has no birth or death. Birth and death apply to
the outward covering of the spirit soul, the body. Death is compared to the
taking off and birth to the putting on of outward garments. Foolish human
beings who are grossly absorbed in the culture of avidyä, nescience, do
not mind this cruel process. Enamored with the beauty of the illusory energy,
they undergo the same miseries repeatedly and do not learn any lessons from the
laws of nature.
Therefore the culture of vidyä, or transcendental knowledge,
is essential for the human being. Sense enjoyment in the diseased material
condition must be restricted as far as possible. Unrestricted sense enjoyment
in this bodily condition is the path of ignorance and death. The living
entities are not without spiritual senses; every living being in his original,
spiritual form has all the senses, which are now materially manifested, being
covered by the material body and mind. The activities of the material senses
are perverted reflections of the activities of the original, spiritual senses.
In his diseased condition, the spirit soul engages in material activities under
the material covering. Real sense enjoyment is possible only when the disease
of materialism is removed. In our pure spiritual form, free from all material
contamination, real enjoyment of the senses is possible. A patient must regain
his health before he can truly enjoy sense pleasure again. Thus the aim of
human life should not be to enjoy perverted sense enjoyment but to cure the
material disease. Aggravation of the material disease is no sign of knowledge,
but a sign of avidyä, ignorance. For good health, a person should not
increase his fever from 105 degrees to 107 degrees but should reduce his
temperature to the normal 98.6. That should be the aim of human life. The
modern trend of material civilization is to increase the temperature of the
feverish material condition, which has reached the point of 107 degrees in the
form of atomic energy. Meanwhile, the foolish politicians are crying that at any
moment the world may go to hell. That is the result of the advancement of
material knowledge and the neglect of the most important part of life, the
culture of spiritual knowledge. Çré Éçopaniñad herein warns that we must
not follow this dangerous path leading to death. On the contrary, we must
develop the culture of spiritual knowledge so that we may become completely
free from the cruel hands of death.
This does not mean that all activities for the maintenance of the
body should be stopped. There is no question of stopping activities, just as
there is no question of wiping out one’s temperature altogether when trying to
recover from a disease. “To make the best use of a bad bargain” is the
appropriate expression. The culture of spiritual knowledge necessitates the
help of the body and mind; therefore maintenance of the body and mind is
required if we are to reach our goal. The normal temperature should be
maintained at 98.6 degrees, and the great sages and saints of India have
attempted to do this by a balanced program of spiritual and material knowledge.
They never allow the misuse of human intelligence for diseased sense
gratification.
Human activities diseased by a tendency toward sense gratification
have been regulated in the Vedas under the principles of salvation. This
system employs religion, economic development, sense gratification and
salvation, but at the present moment people have no interest in religion or
salvation. They have only one aim in life—sense gratification—and in order to
achieve this end they make plans for economic development. Misguided men think
that religion should be maintained because it contributes to economic
development, which is required for sense gratification. Thus in order to
guarantee further sense gratification after death, in heaven, there is some
system of religious observance. But this is not the purpose of religion. The
path of religion is actually meant for self-realization, and economic
development is required just to maintain the body in a sound, healthy condition.
A man should lead a healthy life with a sound mind just to realize vidyä,
true knowledge, which is the aim of human life. This life is not meant for
working like an ass or for culturing avidyä for sense gratification.
The path of vidyä is most perfectly presented in Çrémad-Bhägavatam,
which directs a human being to utilize his life to inquire into the Absolute
Truth. The Absolute Truth is realized step by step as Brahman, Paramätmä and
finally Bhagavän, the Personality of Godhead. The Absolute Truth is realized by
the broadminded man who has attained knowledge and detachment by following the
eighteen principles of the Bhagavad-gétä described in the purport to
Mantra Ten. The central purpose of these eighteen principles is the attainment
of transcendental devotional service to the Personality of Godhead. Therefore
all classes of men are encouraged to learn the art of devotional service to the
Lord.
The guaranteed path to the aim of vidyä is described by
Çréla Rüpa Gosvämé in his Bhakti-rasämåta-sindhu, which we have
presented in English as The Nectar of Devotion. The culture of vidyä
is summarized in Çrémad-Bhägavatam (1.2.14) in the
following words:
tasmäd ekena manasä
bhagavän sätvatäà patiù
çrotavyaù kértitavyaç ca
dhyeyaù püjyaç ca nityadä
“Therefore, with one-pointed attention one should constantly hear
about, glorify, remember and worship the Personality of Godhead, who is the
protector of the devotees.”
Unless religion, economic development and sense gratification aim
toward the attainment of devotional service to the Lord, they are all simply
different forms of nescience, as Çré Éçopaniñad indicates in the
following mantras.
Iso 12
Mantra
Twelve
TEXT
andhaà tamaù praviçanti
ye ’sambhütim upäsate
tato bhüya iva te tamo
ya u sambhütyäm ratäù
SYNONYMS
andham—ignorance; tamaù—darkness; praviçanti—enter into; ye—those who; asambhütim—demigods; upäsate—worship; tataù—than that; bhüyaù—still more; iva—like that; te—those; tamaù—darkness; ye—who; u—also; sambhütyäm—in the Absolute; ratäù—engaged.
TRANSLATION
Those who are engaged in the worship of demigods enter into the
darkest region of ignorance, and still more so do the worshipers of the
impersonal Absolute.
PURPORT
The Sanskrit word asambhüti refers to those who have no
independent existence. Sambhüti is the Absolute Personality of Godhead,
who is absolutely independent of everything. In the Bhagavad-gétä
(10.2), the Absolute Personality of Godhead, Çré Kåñëa, states:
na me viduù sura-gaëä
prabhavaà na maharñayaù
aham ädir hi devänäà
maharñéëäà ca sarvaçaù
“Neither the hosts of demigods nor the great sages know My origin
or opulences, for in every respect I am the source of the demigods and sages.”
Thus Kåñëa is the origin of the powers delegated to demigods, great sages and
mystics. Although they are endowed with great powers, these powers are limited,
and thus it is very difficult for them to know how Kåñëa Himself appears by His
own internal potency in the form of a man.
Many philosophers and great åñis, or mystics, try to
distinguish the Absolute from the relative by their tiny brain power. This can
only help them reach the negative conception of the Absolute without realizing
any positive trace of the Absolute. Definition of the Absolute by negation is
not complete. Such negative definitions lead one to create a concept of one’s
own; thus one imagines that the Absolute must be formless and without
qualities. Such negative qualities are simply the reversals of relative,
material qualities and are therefore also relative. By conceiving of the
Absolute in this way, one can at the utmost reach the impersonal effulgence of
God, known as Brahman, but one cannot make further progress to Bhagavän, the
Personality of Godhead.
Such mental speculators do not know that the Absolute Personality
of Godhead is Kåñëa, that the impersonal Brahman is the glaring effulgence of
His transcendental body, or that the Paramätmä, the Supersoul, is His
all-pervading plenary representation. Nor do they know that Kåñëa has His
eternal form with its transcendental qualities of eternal bliss and knowledge.
The dependent demigods and great sages imperfectly consider Him to be a
powerful demigod, and they consider the Brahman effulgence to be the Absolute
Truth. But the devotees of Kåñëa, by dint of their surrendering unto Him and their
unalloyed devotion, can know that He is the Absolute Person and that everything
emanates from Him. Such devotees continuously render loving service unto Kåñëa,
the fountainhead of everything.
In the Bhagavad-gétä (7.20, 23) it is
said that only unintelligent, bewildered persons driven by a strong desire for
sense gratification worship the demigods for the temporary relief of temporary
problems. Since the living being is materially entangled, he has to be relieved
from material bondage entirely to attain permanent relief on the spiritual
plane, where eternal bliss, life and knowledge exist. Çré Éçopaniñad
therefore instructs that we should not seek temporary relief of our
difficulties by worshiping the dependent demigods, who can bestow only
temporary benefit. Rather, we must worship the Absolute Personality of Godhead,
Kåñëa, who is all-attractive and who can bestow upon us complete freedom from
material bondage by taking us back home, back to Godhead.
It is stated in the Bhagavad-gétä
(7.23) that the worshipers of the demigods can go to the planets of the
demigods. The moon worshipers can go to the moon, the sun worshipers to the
sun, etc. Modern scientists are now venturing to the moon with the help of
rockets, but this is not really a new attempt. With their advanced
consciousness, human beings are naturally inclined to travel in outer space and
to reach other planets, either by spaceships, mystic powers or demigod worship.
In the Vedic scriptures it is said that one can reach other planets by any one
of these three ways, but the most common way is by worshiping the demigod
presiding over a particular planet. In this way one can reach the moon planet,
the sun planet and even Brahmaloka, the topmost planet in this universe.
However, all planets in the material universe are temporary residences; the
only permanent planets are the Vaikuëöhalokas. These are found in the spiritual
sky, where the Personality of Godhead Himself predominates. As Lord Kåñëa
states in the Bhagavad-gétä (8.16):
äbrahma-bhuvanäl lokäù
punar ävartino ’rjuna
mäm upetya tu kaunteya
punar janma na vidyate
“From the highest planet in the material world down to the lowest,
all are places of misery wherein repeated birth and death take place. But one
who attains My abode, O son of Kunté, never takes birth again.”
Çré Éçopaniñad points out that one who worships the demigods and
attains to their material planets still remains in the darkest region of the
universe. The whole universe is covered by the gigantic material elements; it
is just like a coconut covered by a shell and half-filled with water. Since its
covering is airtight, the darkness within is dense, and therefore the sun and
the moon are required for illumination. Outside the universe is the vast and
unlimited brahmajyoti expansion, which is filled with Vaikuëöhalokas.
The biggest and highest planet in the brahmajyoti is Kåñëaloka, or
Goloka Våndävana, where the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Çré Kåñëa Himself,
resides. Lord Çré Kåñëa never leaves Kåñëaloka. Although He dwells there with
His eternal associates, He is omnipresent throughout the complete material and
spiritual cosmic manifestations. This fact has already been explained in Mantra
Four. The Lord is present everywhere, just like the sun, yet He is situated in
one place, just as the sun is situated in its own undeviating orbit.
The problems of life cannot be solved simply by going to the moon
planet or to some other planet above or below it. Therefore Çré Éçopaniñad
advises us not to bother with any destination within this dark material
universe, but to try to get out of it and reach the effulgent kingdom of God.
There are many pseudo worshipers who become religionists only for the sake of
name and fame. Such pseudo religionists do not wish to get out of this universe
and reach the spiritual sky. They only want to maintain the status quo in the
material world under the garb of worshiping the Lord. The atheists and
impersonalists lead such foolish pseudo religionists into the darkest regions
by preaching the cult of atheism. The atheist directly denies the existence of
the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and the impersonalists support the atheists
by stressing the impersonal aspect of the Supreme Lord. Thus far we have not
come across any mantra in Çré Éçopaniñad in which the Supreme
Personality of Godhead is denied. It is said that He can run faster than
anyone. Those who are running after other planets are certainly persons, and if
the Lord can run faster than all of them, how can He be impersonal? The
impersonal conception of the Supreme Lord is another form of ignorance, arising
from an imperfect conception of the Absolute Truth.
The ignorant pseudo religionists and the manufacturers of
so-called incarnations who directly violate the Vedic injunctions are liable to
enter into the darkest region of the universe because they mislead those who
follow them. These impersonalists generally pose themselves as incarnations of
God to foolish persons who have no knowledge of Vedic wisdom. If such foolish
men have any knowledge at all, it is more dangerous in their hands than
ignorance itself. Such impersonalists do not even worship the demigods
according to the scriptural recommendations. In the scriptures there are
recommendations for worshiping demigods under certain circumstances, but at the
same time these scriptures state that there is normally no need for this. In
the Bhagavad-gétä (7.23) it is clearly stated that
the results derived from worshiping the demigods are not permanent. Since the
entire material universe is impermanent, whatever is achieved within the
darkness of material existence is also impermanent. The question is how to
obtain real and permanent life.
The Lord states that as soon as one reaches Him by devotional
service—which is the one and only way to approach the Personality of
Godhead—one attains complete freedom from the bondage of birth and death. In
other words, the path of salvation from the material clutches fully depends on
the principles of knowledge and detachment gained from serving the Lord. The
pseudo religionists have neither knowledge nor detachment from material
affairs, for most of them want to live in the golden shackles of material
bondage under the shadow of philanthropic activities disguised as religious
principles. By a false display of religious sentiments, they present a show of
devotional service while indulging in all sorts of immoral activities. In this
way they pass as spiritual masters and devotees of God. Such violators of
religious principles have no respect for the authoritative äcäryas, the
holy teachers in the strict disciplic succession. They ignore the Vedic
injunction äcäryopäsana—“One must worship the äcärya”—and Kåñëa’s
statement in the Bhagavad-gétä (4.2) evaà
paramparä-präptam, “This supreme science of God is received through the
disciplic succession.” Instead, to mislead the people in general they
themselves become so-called äcäryas, but they do not even follow the
principles of the äcäryas.
These rogues are the most dangerous elements in human society.
Because there is no religious government, they escape punishment by the law of
the state. They cannot, however, escape the law of the Supreme, who has clearly
declared in the Bhagavad-gétä that envious demons in the garb of
religious propagandists shall be thrown into the darkest regions of hell (Bg.
16.19–20). Çré Éçopaniñad confirms that these pseudo religionists are
heading toward the most obnoxious place in the universe after the completion of
their spiritual master business, which they conduct simply for sense
gratification.
Iso 13
Mantra
Thirteen
TEXT
anyad evähuù sambhaväd
anyad ähur asambhavät
iti çuçruma dhéräëäà
ye nas tad vicacakñire
SYNONYMS
anyat—different; eva—certainly; ähuù—it is said; sambhavät—by worshiping the Supreme Lord, the cause of all causes; anyat—different; ähuù—it is said; asambhavät—by worshiping what is not the Supreme; iti—thus; çuçruma—I heard it; dhéräëäm—from the undisturbed authorities; ye—who; naù—unto us; tat—about that subject matter; vicacakñire—perfectly explained.
TRANSLATION
It is said that one result is obtained by worshiping the supreme
cause of all causes and that another result is obtained by worshiping what is
not supreme. All this is heard from the undisturbed authorities, who clearly
explained it.
PURPORT
The system of hearing from undisturbed authorities is approved in
this mantra. Unless one hears from a bona fide äcärya, who is
never disturbed by the changes of the material world, one cannot have the real
key to transcendental knowledge. The bona fide spiritual master, who has also
heard the çruti-mantras, or Vedic knowledge, from his undisturbed äcärya,
never presents anything that is not mentioned in the Vedic literature. In the Bhagavad-gétä (9.25) it is clearly said that those who
worship the pitås, or forefathers, attain the planets of the
forefathers, that the gross materialists who make plans to remain here stay in
this world, and that the devotees of the Lord who worship none but Lord Kåñëa,
the supreme cause of all causes, reach Him in His spiritual sky. Here also in Çré
Éçopaniñad it is verified that one achieves different results by different
modes of worship. If we worship the Supreme Lord, we will certainly reach Him
in His eternal abode, and if we worship demigods like the sun-god or moon-god,
we can reach their respective planets without a doubt. And if we wish to remain
on this wretched planet with our planning commissions and our stopgap political
adjustments, we can certainly do that also.
Nowhere in authentic scriptures is it said that one will
ultimately reach the same goal by doing anything or worshiping anyone. Such
foolish theories are offered by self-made “spiritual masters” who have no
connection with the paramparä, the bona fide system of disciplic
succession. The bona fide spiritual master cannot say that all paths lead to
the same goal and that anyone can attain this goal by his own mode of worship
of the demigods or of the Supreme or whatever. Any common man can very easily
understand that a person can reach his destination only when he has purchased a
ticket for that destination. A person who has purchased a ticket for Calcutta
can reach Calcutta, but not Bombay. But the so-called spiritual masters say
that any and all paths will take one to the supreme goal. Such mundane and
compromising offers attract many foolish creatures, who become puffed up with
their manufactured methods of spiritual realization. The Vedic instructions,
however, do not uphold them. Unless one has received knowledge from the bona
fide spiritual master who is in the recognized line of disciplic succession,
one cannot have the real thing as it is. Kåñëa tells Arjuna in the Bhagavad-gétä (4.2):
evaà paramparä-präptam
imaà räjarñayo viduù
sa käleneha mahatä
yogo nañöaù parantapa
“This supreme science was thus received through the chain of
disciplic succession, and the saintly kings understood it in that way. But in
course of time the succession was broken, and therefore the science as it is
appears to be lost.”
When Lord Çré Kåñëa was present on this earth, the bhakti-yoga
principles defined in the Bhagavad-gétä had become distorted; therefore
the Lord had to reestablish the disciplic system beginning with Arjuna, who was
the most confidential friend and devotee of the Lord. The Lord clearly told
Arjuna (Bg. 4.3) that it was because Arjuna was His devotee and friend that he
could understand the principles of the Bhagavad-gétä. In other words,
only the Lord’s devotee and friend can understand the Gétä. This also
means that only one who follows the path of Arjuna can understand the Bhagavad-gétä.
At the present moment there are many interpreters and translators
of this sublime dialogue who care nothing for Lord Kåñëa or Arjuna. Such
interpreters explain the verses of the Bhagavad-gétä in their own way
and postulate all sorts of rubbish in the name of the Gétä. Such
interpreters believe neither in Çré Kåñëa nor in His eternal abode. How, then,
can they explain the Bhagavad-gétä?
Kåñëa clearly says that only those who have lost their sense
worship the demigods for paltry rewards (Bg. 7.20, 23). Ultimately He advises
that one give up all other ways and modes of worship and fully surrender unto
Him alone (Bg. 18.66). Only those who are cleansed of all sinful reactions can
have such unflinching faith in the Supreme Lord. Others will continue hovering
on the material platform with their paltry ways of worship and thus will be
misled from the real path under the false impression that all paths lead to the
same goal.
In this mantra of Çré Éçopaniñad the word sam-bhavät,
“by worship of the supreme cause,” is very significant. Lord Kåñëa is the
original Personality of Godhead, and everything that exists has emanated from
Him. In the Bhagavad-gétä (10.8) the Lord says,
ahaà sarvasya prabhavo
mattaù sarvaà pravartate
iti matvä bhajante mäà
budhä bhäva-samanvitäù
“I am the source of all spiritual and material worlds. Everything
emanates from Me. The wise who perfectly know this engage in My devotional
service and worship Me with all their hearts.”
Here is a correct description of the Supreme Lord, given by the
Lord Himself. The words sarvasya pra-bhavaù indicate that Kåñëa is the
creator of everyone, including Brahmä, Viñëu and Çiva. And because these three
principal deities of the material world are created by the Lord, the Lord is
the creator of all that exists in the material and spiritual worlds. In the Atharva
Veda (Gopäla-täpané Upaniñad 1.24) it is
similarly said, “He who existed before the creation of Brahmä and who
enlightened Brahmä with Vedic knowledge is Lord Çré Kåñëa.” Similarly, the Näräyaëa Upaniñad (1) states, “Then the Supreme Person,
Näräyaëa, desired to create all living beings. Thus from Näräyaëa, Brahmä was
born. Näräyaëa created all the Prajäpatis. Näräyaëa created Indra. Näräyaëa
created the eight Vasus. Näräyaëa created the eleven Rudras. Näräyaëa created
the twelve Ädityas.” Since Näräyaëa is a plenary manifestation of Lord Kåñëa,
Näräyaëa and Kåñëa are one and the same. The Näräyaëa
Upaniñad (4) also states, “Devaké’s son [Kåñëa] is the Supreme Lord.”
The identity of Näräyaëa with the supreme cause has also been accepted and
confirmed by Çrépäda Çaìkaräcärya, even though Çaìkara does not belong to the
Vaiñëava, or personalist, cult. The Atharva Veda (Mahä
Upaniñad 1) also states, “Only Näräyaëa existed in the beginning, when
neither Brahmä, nor Çiva, nor fire, nor water, nor stars, nor sun, nor moon
existed. The Lord does not remain alone but creates as He desires.” Kåñëa
Himself states in the Mokña-dharma, “I created the Prajäpatis and the
Rudras. They do not have complete knowledge of Me because they are covered by
My illusory energy.” It is also stated in the Varäha Puräëa: “Näräyaëa
is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and from Him the four-headed Brahmä was
manifested, as well as Rudra, who later became omniscient.”
Thus all Vedic literature confirms that Näräyaëa, or Kåñëa, is the
cause of all causes. In the Brahma-saàhitä (5.1)
also it is said that the Supreme Lord is Çré Kåñëa, Govinda, the delighter of
every living being and the primeval cause of all causes. The really learned
persons know this from evidence given by the great sages and the Vedas,
and thus they decide to worship Lord Kåñëa as all in all. Such persons are
called budha, or really learned, because they worship only Kåñëa.
The conviction that Kåñëa is all in all is established when one
hears the transcendental message from the undisturbed äcärya with faith
and love. One who has no faith in or love for Lord Kåñëa cannot be convinced of
this simple truth. Those who are faithless are described in the Bhagavad-gétä (9.11) as müòhas—fools or asses. It
is said that the müòhas deride the Personality of Godhead because they
do not have complete knowledge from the undisturbed äcärya. One who is
disturbed by the whirlpool of material energy is not qualified to become an äcärya.
Before hearing the Bhagavad-gétä, Arjuna was disturbed by
the material whirlpool, by his affection for his family, society and community.
Thus Arjuna wanted to become a philanthropic, nonviolent man of the world. But
when he became budha by hearing the Vedic knowledge of the Bhagavad-gétä
from the Supreme Person, he changed his decision and became a worshiper of Lord
Çré Kåñëa, who had Himself arranged the Battle of Kurukñetra. Arjuna worshiped
the Lord by fighting with his so-called relatives, and in this way he became a
pure devotee of the Lord. Such accomplishments are possible only when one
worships the real Kåñëa and not some fabricated “Kåñëa” invented by foolish men
who are without knowledge of the intricacies of the science of Kåñëa described
in the Bhagavad-gétä and Çrémad-Bhägavatam.
According to the Vedänta-sütra, sambhüta is the source of
birth and sustenance, as well as the reservoir that remains after annihilation
(janmädy asya yataù
[SB 1.1.1]).
The Çrémad-Bhägavatam, the natural commentary on the Vedänta-sütra
by the same author, maintains that the source of all emanations is not like a
dead stone but is abhijïa, or fully conscious. The primeval Lord, Çré
Kåñëa, also says in the Bhagavad-gétä (7.26) that
He is fully conscious of past, present and future and that no one, including
demigods such as Çiva and Brahmä, knows Him fully. Certainly half-educated
“spiritual leaders” who are disturbed by the tides of material existence cannot
know Him fully. They try to make some compromise by making the mass of humanity
the object of worship, but they do not know that such worship is only a myth
because the masses are imperfect. The attempt by these so-called spiritual
leaders is something like pouring water on the leaves of a tree instead of the
root. The natural process is to pour water on the root, but such disturbed
leaders are more attracted to the leaves than the root. Despite their
perpetually watering the leaves, however, everything dries up for want of
nourishment.
Çré Éçopaniñad advises us to pour water on the root, the source of all
germination. Worship of the mass of humanity by rendering bodily service, which
can never be perfect, is less important than service to the soul. The soul is
the root that generates different types of bodies according to the law of karma.
To serve human beings by medical aid, social help and educational facilities
while at the same time cutting the throats of poor animals in slaughterhouses
is no service at all to the soul, the living being.
The living being is perpetually suffering in different types of
bodies from the material miseries of birth, old age, disease and death. The
human form of life offers one a chance to get out of this entanglement simply
by reestablishing the lost relationship between the living entity and the Supreme
Lord. The Lord comes personally to teach this philosophy of surrender unto the
Supreme, the sambhüta. Real service to humanity is rendered when one
teaches surrender to and worship of the Supreme Lord with full love and energy.
That is the instruction of Çré Éçopaniñad in this mantra.
The simple way to worship the Supreme Lord in this age of
disturbance is to hear and chant about His great activities. The mental
speculators, however, think that the activities of the Lord are imaginary;
therefore they refrain from hearing of them and invent some word jugglery
without any substance to divert the attention of the innocent masses of people.
Instead of hearing of the activities of Lord Kåñëa, such pseudo spiritual
masters advertise themselves by inducing their followers to sing about them.
In modern times the number of such pretenders has increased considerably, and
it has become a problem for the pure devotees of the Lord to save the masses of
people from the unholy propaganda of these pretenders and pseudo incarnations.
The Upaniñads indirectly draw our attention to the primeval
Lord, Çré Kåñëa, but the Bhagavad-gétä, which is the summary of all the Upaniñads,
directly points to Çré Kåñëa. Therefore one should hear about Kåñëa as He is by
hearing from the Bhagavad-gétä or Çrémad-Bhägavatam, and in this
way one’s mind will gradually be cleansed of all contaminated things. Çrémad-Bhägavatam (1.2.17) says, “By hearing of the
activities of the Lord, the devotee draws the attention of the Lord. Thus the
Lord, being situated in the heart of every living being, helps the devotee by
giving him proper directions.” The Bhagavad-gétä
(10.10) confirms this: dadämi buddhi-yogaà taà yena mäm upayänti te.
The Lord’s inner direction cleanses the devotee’s heart of all
contamination produced by the material modes of passion and ignorance.
Nondevotees are under the sway of passion and ignorance. One who is in passion
cannot become detached from material hankering, and one who is in ignorance
cannot know what he is or what the Lord is. Thus when one is in passion or
ignorance, there is no chance for self-realization, however much one may play
the part of a religionist. For a devotee, the modes of passion and ignorance
are removed by the grace of the Lord. In this way the devotee becomes situated
in the quality of goodness, the sign of a perfect brähmaëa. Anyone can
qualify as a brähmaëa if he follows the path of devotional service under
the guidance of a bona fide spiritual master. Çrémad-Bhägavatam
(2.4.18) also says:
kiräta-hüëändhra-pulinda-pulkaçä
äbhéra-çumbhä yavanäù khasädayaù
ye ’nye ca päpä yad-apäçrayäçrayäù
çudhyanti tasmai prabhaviñëave namaù
Any lowborn person can be purified by the guidance of a pure
devotee of the Lord, for the Lord is extraordinarily powerful.
When one attains brahminical qualifications, he becomes happy and
enthusiastic to render devotional service to the Lord. Automatically the
science of God is unveiled before him. By knowing the science of God, one
gradually becomes freed from material attachments, and one’s doubtful mind
becomes crystal clear by the grace of the Lord. One who attains this stage is a
liberated soul and can see the Lord in every step of life. This is the
perfection of sambhava, as described in this mantra of Çré
Éçopaniñad.
Iso 14
Mantra
Fourteen
TEXT
sambhütià ca vinäçaà ca
yas tad vedobhayaà saha
vinäçena måtyuà tértvä
sambhütyämåtam açnute
SYNONYMS
sambhütim—the eternal Personality of Godhead, His transcendental name, form, pastimes, qualities and paraphernalia, the variegatedness of His abode, etc.; ca—and; vinäçam—the temporary material manifestation of demigods, men, animals, etc., with their false names, fame, etc.; ca—also; yaù—one who; tat—that; veda—knows; ubhayam—both; saha—along with; vinäçena—with everything liable to be vanquished; måtyum—death; tértvä—surpassing; sam-bhütyä—in the eternal kingdom of God; amåtam—deathlessness; açnute—enjoys.
TRANSLATION
One should know perfectly the Personality of Godhead Çré Kåñëa and
His transcendental name, form, qualities and pastimes, as well as the temporary
material creation with its temporary demigods, men and animals. When one knows
these, he surpasses death and the ephemeral cosmic manifestation with it, and
in the eternal kingdom of God he enjoys his eternal life of bliss and knowledge.
PURPORT
By its so-called advancement of knowledge, human civilization has
created many material things, including spaceships and atomic energy. Yet it
has failed to create a situation in which people need not die, take birth
again, become old or suffer from disease. Whenever an intelligent man raises
the question of these miseries before a so-called scientist, the scientist very
cleverly replies that material science is progressing and that ultimately it
will be possible to render man deathless, ageless and diseaseless. Such answers
prove the scientists’ gross ignorance of material nature. In material nature,
everyone is under the stringent laws of matter and must pass through six stages
of existence: birth, growth, maintenance, production of by-products,
deterioration and finally death. No one in contact with material nature can be
beyond these six laws of transformation; therefore no one—whether demigod, man,
animal or plant—can survive forever in the material world.
The duration of life varies according to species. Lord Brahmä, the
chief living being within this material universe, lives for millions and
millions of years, while a minute germ lives for some hours only. But no one in
the material world can survive eternally. Things are born or created under
certain conditions, they stay for some time, and, if they continue to live,
they grow, procreate, gradually dwindle and finally vanish. According to these
laws, even the Brahmäs, of which there are millions in different universes, are
all liable to death either today or tomorrow. Therefore the entire material
universe is called Martyaloka, the place of death.
Material scientists and politicians are trying to make this place
deathless because they have no information of the deathless spiritual nature.
This is due to their ignorance of the Vedic literature, which contains full
knowledge confirmed by mature transcendental experience. Unfortunately, modern
man is averse to receiving knowledge from the Vedas, Puräëas and other
scriptures.
From the Viñëu Puräëa (6.7.61) we
receive the following information:
viñëu-çaktiù parä proktä
kñetrajïäkhyä tathä parä
avidyä-karma-saàjïänyä
tåtéyä çaktir iñyate
[Cc. Madhya 6.154]
Lord Viñëu, the Personality of Godhead, possesses different
energies, known as parä (superior) and aparä (inferior). The
living entities belong to the superior energy. The material energy, in which we
are presently entangled, is the inferior energy. The material creation is made
possible by this energy, which covers the living entities with ignorance (avidyä)
and induces them to perform fruitive activities. Yet there is another part of
the Lord’s superior energy that is different from both this material, inferior
energy and the living entities. That superior energy constitutes the eternal,
deathless abode of the Lord. This is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gétä
(8.20):
paras tasmät tu bhävo ’nyo
’vyakto ’vyaktät sanätanaù
yaù sa sarveñu bhüteñu
naçyatsu na vinaçyati
All the material planets—upper, lower and intermediate, including
the sun, moon and Venus—are scattered throughout the universe. These planets
exist only during the lifetime of Brahmä. Some lower planets, however, are
vanquished after the end of one day of Brahmä and are again created during the
next day of Brahmä. On the upper planets, time is calculated differently. One
of our years is equal to only twenty-four hours, or one day and night, on many
of the upper planets. The four ages of earth (Satya, Tretä, Dväpara and Kali)
last only twelve thousand years according to the time scale of the upper
planets. Such a length of time multiplied by one thousand constitutes one day
of Brahmä, and one night of Brahmä is the same. Such days and nights accumulate
into months and years, and Brahmä lives for one hundred such years. At the end
of Brahmä’s life, the complete universal manifestation is vanquished.
Those living beings who reside on higher planets like the sun and
the moon, as well as those on Martyaloka, this earth planet, and also those who
live on lower planets—all are merged into the waters of devastation during the
night of Brahmä. During this time no living beings or species remain manifest,
although spiritually they continue to exist. This unmanifested stage is called avyakta.
Again, when the entire universe is vanquished at the end of Brahmä’s lifetime,
there is another avyakta state. But beyond these two unmanifested states
is another unmanifested state, the spiritual atmosphere, or nature. There are a
great number of spiritual planets in this atmosphere, and these planets exist
eternally, even when all the planets within this material universe are
vanquished at the end of Brahmä’s life. There are many material universes, each
under the jurisdiction of a Brahmä, and this cosmic manifestation within the
jurisdiction of the various Brahmäs is but a display of one fourth of the
energy of the Lord (ekapäd-vibhüti). This is the inferior energy. Beyond
the jurisdiction of Brahmä is the spiritual nature, which is called tripäd-vibhüti,
three fourths of the Lord’s energy. This is the superior energy, or parä-prakåti.
The predominating Supreme Person residing within the spiritual
nature is Lord Çré Kåñëa. As confirmed in the Bhagavad-gétä
(8.22), He can be approached only by unalloyed devotional service and not by
the processes of jïäna (philosophy), yoga (mysticism) or karma
(fruitive work). The karmés, or fruitive workers, can elevate themselves
to the Svargaloka planets, which include the sun and the moon. Jïänés
and yogés can attain still higher planets, such as Maharloka, Tapoloka
and Brahmaloka, and when they become still more qualified through devotional
service they can enter into the spiritual nature, either the illuminating
cosmic atmosphere of the spiritual sky (Brahman) or the Vaikuëöha planets,
according to their qualification. It is certain, however, that no one can enter
into the spiritual Vaikuëöha planets without being trained in devotional
service.
On the material planets, everyone from Brahmä down to the ant is
trying to lord it over material nature, and this is the material disease. As
long as this material disease continues, the living entity has to undergo the
process of bodily change. Whether he takes the form of a man, demigod or
animal, he ultimately has to endure an unmanifested condition during the two
devastations—the devastation during the night of Brahmä and the devastation at
the end of Brahmä’s life. If we want to put an end to this process of repeated
birth and death, as well as the concomitant factors of old age and disease, we
must try to enter the spiritual planets, where we can live eternally in the
association of Lord Kåñëa or His plenary expansions, His Näräyaëa forms. Lord
Kåñëa or His plenary expansions dominate every one of these innumerable
planets, a fact confirmed in the çruti mantras: eko vaçé sarva-gaù
kåñëa éòyaù/ eko ’pi san bahudhä yo ’vabhäti. (Gopäla-täpané Upaniñad 1.3.21)
No one can dominate Kåñëa. It is the conditioned soul who tries to
dominate material nature and is instead subjected to the laws of material
nature and the sufferings of repeated birth and death. The Lord comes here to
reestablish the principles of religion, and the basic principle is the
development of an attitude of surrender to Him. This is the Lord’s last
instruction in the Bhagavad-gétä (18.66): sarva-dharmän
parityajya mäm ekaà çaraëaà vraja. “Give up all other processes and just
surrender unto Me alone.” Unfortunately, foolish men have misinterpreted this
prime teaching and misled the masses of people in diverse ways. People have
been urged to open hospitals but not to educate themselves to enter into the
spiritual kingdom by devotional service. They have been taught to take interest
only in temporary relief work, which can never bring real happiness to the
living entity. They start varieties of public and semi-governmental institutions
to tackle the devastating power of nature, but they don’t know how to pacify
insurmountable nature. Many men are advertised as great scholars of the Bhagavad-gétä,
but they overlook the Gétä’s message, by which material nature can be
pacified. Powerful nature can be pacified only by the awakening of God
consciousness, as clearly pointed out in the Bhagavad-gétä
(7.14).
In this mantra, Çré Éçopaniñad teaches that one must
perfectly know both sambhüti (the Personality of Godhead) and vinäça
(the temporary material manifestation), side by side. By knowing the material
manifestation alone, one cannot be saved, for in the course of nature there is
devastation at every moment (ahany ahani bhütäni gacchantéha yamä-layam).
Nor can one be saved from these devastations by the opening of hospitals. One
can be saved only by complete knowledge of the eternal life of bliss and
awareness. The whole Vedic scheme is meant to educate men in this art of
attaining eternal life. People are often misguided by temporary attractive
things based on sense gratification, but service rendered to the sense objects
is both misleading and degrading.
We must therefore save ourselves and our fellow man in the right
way. There is no question of liking or disliking the truth. It is there. If we
want to be saved from repeated birth and death, we must take to the devotional
service of the Lord. There can be no compromise, for this is a matter of
necessity.
Iso 15
Mantra
Fifteen
TEXT
hiraëmayena pätreëa
satyasyäpihitaà mukham
tat tvaà püñann apävåëu
satya-dharmäya dåñöaye
SYNONYMS
hiraëmayena—by a golden effulgence; pätreëa—by a dazzling covering; satyasya—of the Supreme Truth; apihitam—covered; mukham—the face; tat—that covering; tvam—Yourself; püñan—O sustainer; apävåëu—kindly remove; satya—pure; dharmäya—unto the devotee; dåñöaye—for exhibiting.
TRANSLATION
O my Lord, sustainer of all that lives, Your real face is covered
by Your dazzling effulgence. Kindly remove that covering and exhibit Yourself
to Your pure devotee.
PURPORT
In the Bhagavad-gétä (14.27), the
Lord explains His personal rays (brahmajyoti), the dazzling effulgence
of His personal form, in this way:
brahmaëo hi pratiñöhäham
amåtasyävyayasya ca
çäçvatasya ca dharmasya
sukhasyaikäntikasya ca
“I am the basis of the impersonal Brahman, which is immortal,
imperishable and eternal and is the constitutional position of ultimate
happiness.” Brahman, Paramätmä and Bhagavän are three aspects of the same
Absolute Truth. Brahman is the aspect most easily perceived by the beginner; Paramätmä,
the Supersoul, is realized by those who have further progressed; and Bhagavän
realization is the ultimate realization of the Absolute Truth. This is
confirmed in the Bhagavad-gétä (7.7), where Lord
Kåñëa says that He is the ultimate concept of the Absolute Truth: mattaù
parataraà nänyat. Therefore Kåñëa is the source of the brahmajyoti
as well as the all-pervading Paramätmä. Later in the Bhagavad-gétä
(10.42) Kåñëa further explains:
atha vä bahunaitena
kià jïätena tavärjuna
viñöabhyäham idaà kåtsnam
ekäàçena sthito jagat
“But what need is there, Arjuna, for all this detailed knowledge?
With a single fragment of Myself I pervade and support this entire universe.”
Thus by His one plenary expansion, the all-pervading Paramätmä, the Lord
maintains the complete material cosmic creation. He also maintains all
manifestations in the spiritual world. Therefore in this çruti-mantra of
Çré Éçopaniñad, the Lord is addressed as püñan, the ultimate
maintainer.
The Personality of Godhead, Çré Kåñëa, is always filled with
transcendental bliss (änanda-mayo ’bhyäsät). When He was present at
Våndävana in India five thousand years ago, He always remained in
transcendental bliss, even from the beginning of His childhood pastimes. The
killings of various demons—such as Agha, Baka, Pütanä and Pralamba—were but
pleasure excursions for Him. In His village of Våndävana He enjoyed Himself
with His mother, brother and friends, and when He played the role of a naughty
butter thief, all His associates enjoyed celestial bliss by His stealing. The
Lord’s fame as a butter thief is not reproachable, for by stealing butter the
Lord gave pleasure to His pure devotees. Everything the Lord did in Våndävana
was for the pleasure of His associates there. The Lord created these pastimes
to attract the dry speculators and the acrobats of the so-called haöha-yoga
system who wish to find the Absolute Truth.
Of the childhood play between the Lord and His playmates, the
cowherd boys, Çukadeva Gosvämé says in Çrémad-Bhägavatam
(10.12.11):
itthaà satäà brahma-sukhänubhütyä
däsyaà gatänäà para-daivatena
mäyäçritänäà nara-därakeëa
säkaà vijahruù kåta-puëya-puïjäù
“The Personality of Godhead, who is perceived as the impersonal,
blissful Brahman by the jïänés, who is worshiped as the Supreme Lord by
devotees in the mood of servitorship, and who is considered an ordinary human
being by mundane people, played with the cowherd boys, who had attained their
position after accumulating many pious activities.”
Thus the Lord is always engaged in transcendental loving
activities with His spiritual associates in the various relationships of çänta
(neutrality), däsya (servitorship), sakhya (friendship), vätsalya
(parental affection) and mädhurya (conjugal love).
Since it is said that Lord Kåñëa never leaves Våndävana-dhäma, one
may ask how He manages the affairs of the creation. This is answered in the Bhagavad-gétä (13.14–18): The Lord pervades the entire
material creation by His plenary part known as the Paramätmä, or Supersoul.
Although the Lord personally has nothing to do with material creation,
maintenance and destruction, He causes all these things to be done by His
plenary expansion, the Paramätmä. Every living entity is known as ätmä,
soul, and the principal ätmä who controls them all is Paramätmä, the
Supersoul.
This system of God realization is a great science. The
materialistic säìkhya-yogés can only analyze and meditate on the
twenty-four factors of the material creation, for they have very little
information of the puruña, the Lord. And the impersonal transcendentalists
are simply bewildered by the glaring effulgence of the brahmajyoti. If
one wants to see the Absolute Truth in full, one has to penetrate beyond the
twenty-four material elements and the glaring effulgence as well. Çré
Éçopaniñad points toward this direction, praying for the removal of the hiraëmaya-pätra,
the dazzling covering of the Lord. Unless this covering is removed so one can
perceive the real face of the Personality of Godhead, factual realization of
the Absolute Truth can never be achieved.
The Paramätmä feature of the Personality of Godhead is one of
three plenary expansions, or viñëu-tattvas, collectively known as the puruña-avatäras.
One of these viñëu-tattvas who is within the universe is known as
Kñérodakaçäyé Viñëu. He is the Viñëu among the three principal deities—Brahmä,
Viñëu and Çiva—and He is the all-pervading Paramätmä in each and every
individual living entity. The second viñëu-tattva within the universe is
Garbhodakaçäyé Viñëu, the collective Supersoul of all living entities. Beyond
these two is Käraëodakaçäyé Viñëu, who lies in the Causal Ocean. He is the
creator of all universes. The yoga system teaches the serious student to
meet the viñëu-tattvas after going beyond the twenty-four material
elements of the cosmic creation. The culture of empiric philosophy helps one
realize the impersonal brahmajyoti, which is the glaring effulgence of
the transcendental body of Lord Çré Kåñëa. That the brahmajyoti is
Kåñëa’s effulgence is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gétä
(14.27) as well as the Brahma-saàhitä (5.40):
yasya prabhä-prabhavato jagad-aëòa-koöi-
koöiñv açeña-vasudhädi vibhüti-bhinnam
tad brahma niñkalam anantam
açeña-bhütaà
govindam ädi-puruñaà tam ahaà bhajämi
“In the millions and millions of universes there are innumerable
planets, and each and every one of them is different from the others by its
cosmic constitution. All of these planets are situated in a corner of the brahmajyoti.
This brahmajyoti is but the personal rays of the Supreme Personality of
Godhead, Govinda, whom I worship.” This mantra from the Brahma-saàhitä
is spoken from the platform of factual realization of the Absolute Truth, and
the çruti-mantra of Çré Éçopaniñad under discussion confirms this
mantra as a process of realization. The Éçopaniñad mantra
is a simple prayer to the Lord to remove the brahmajyoti so that one can
see His real face. This brahmajyoti effulgence is described in detail in
several mantras of the Muëòaka Upaniñad
(2.2.10–12):
hiraëmaye pare koçe
virajaà brahma niñkalam
tac chubhraà jyotiñäà jyotis
tad yad ätma-vido viduù
na tatra süryo bhäti na
candra-tärakaà
nemä vidyuto bhänti kuto ’yam agniù
tam eva bhäntam anu bhäti sarvaà
tasya bhäsä sarvam idaà vibhäti
brahmaivedam amåtaà purastäd brahma
paçcäd brahma dakñiëataç cottareëa
adhaç cordhvaà ca prasåtaà brahmai-
vedaà viçvam idaà variñöham
“In the spiritual realm, beyond the material covering, is the
unlimited Brahman effulgence, which is free from material contamination. That
effulgent white light is understood by transcendentalists to be the light of
all lights. In that realm there is no need of sunshine, moonshine, fire or
electricity for illumination. Indeed, whatever illumination appears in the
material world is only a reflection of that supreme illumination. That Brahman
is in front and in back, in the north, south, east and west, and also overhead
and below. In other words, that supreme Brahman effulgence spreads throughout
both the material and spiritual skies.”
Perfect knowledge means knowing Kåñëa as the root of this Brahman
effulgence. This knowledge can be gained from such scriptures as Çrémad-Bhägavatam,
which perfectly elaborates the science of Kåñëa. In Çrémad-Bhägavatam,
the author, Çréla Vyäsadeva, has established that one will describe the Supreme
Truth as Brahman, Paramätmä or Bhagavän according to one’s realization of Him.
Çréla Vyäsadeva never states that the Supreme Truth is a jéva, an
ordinary living entity. The living entity should never be considered the
all-powerful Supreme Truth. If he were the Supreme, he would not need to pray
to the Lord to remove His dazzling cover so that the living entity could see
His real face.
The conclusion is that one who has no knowledge of the potencies
of the Supreme Truth will realize the impersonal Brahman. Similarly, when one
realizes the material potencies of the Lord but has little or no information of
the spiritual potencies, he attains Paramätmä realization. Thus both Brahman
and Paramätmä realization of the Absolute Truth are partial realizations.
However, when one realizes
the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Çré Kåñëa, in full potency after the
removal of the hiraëmaya-pätra, one realizes väsudevaù sarvam iti: [Bg. 7.19] Lord
Çré Kåñëa, who is known as Väsudeva, is everything—Brahman, Paramätmä and
Bhagavän. He is Bhagavän, the root, and Brahman and Paramätmä are His branches.
In the Bhagavad-gétä (6.46–47) there
is a comparative analysis of the three types of transcendentalists—the
worshipers of the impersonal Brahman (jïänés), the worshipers of the
Paramätmä feature (yogés) and the devotees of Lord Çré Kåñëa (bhaktas).
It is stated there that the jïänés, those who have cultivated Vedic
knowledge, are better than ordinary fruitive workers, that the yogés are
still greater than the jïänés, and that among all yogés, those
who constantly serve the Lord with all their energies are the topmost. In
summary, a philosopher is better than a laboring man, a mystic is superior to a
philosopher, and of all the mystic yogés, he who follows bhakti-yoga,
constantly engaging in the service of the Lord, is the highest. Çré
Éçopaniñad directs us toward this perfection.
Iso 16
Mantra
Sixteen
TEXT
püñann ekarñe yama sürya präjäpatya
vyüha raçmén samüha
tejo yat te rüpaà kalyäëa-tamaà
tat te paçyämi yo ’säv asau puruñaù so ’ham asmi
SYNONYMS
püñan—O maintainer; eka-åñe—the primeval philosopher; yama—the regulating principle; sürya—the destination of the süris (great devotees); präjäpatya—the well-wisher of the prajäpatis (progenitors of mankind); vyüha—kindly remove; raçmén—the rays; samüha—kindly withdraw; tejaù—effulgence; yat—so that; te—Your; rüpam—form; kalyäëa-tamam—most auspicious; tat—that; te—Your; paçyämi—I may see; yaù—one who is; asau—like the sun; asau—that; puruñaù—Personality of Godhead; saù—myself; aham—I; asmi—am.
TRANSLATION
O my Lord, O primeval philosopher, maintainer of the universe, O
regulating principle, destination of the pure devotees, well-wisher of the
progenitors of mankind, please remove the effulgence of Your transcendental
rays so that I can see Your form of bliss. You are the eternal Supreme
Personality of Godhead, like unto the sun, as am I.
PURPORT
The sun and its rays are one and the same qualitatively.
Similarly, the Lord and the living entities are one and the same in quality.
The sun is one, but the molecules of the sun’s rays are innumerable. The sun’s
rays constitute part of the sun, and the sun and its rays conjointly constitute
the complete sun. Within the sun itself resides the sun-god, and similarly
within the supreme spiritual planet, Goloka Våndävana, from which the brahmajyoti
effulgence is emanating, the Lord enjoys His eternal pastimes, as verified in
the Brahma-saàhitä (5.29):
cintämaëi-prakara-sadmasu kalpa-våkña-
lakñävåteñu surabhér abhipälayantam
lakñmé-sahasra-çata-sambhrama-sevyamänaà
govindam ädi-puruñaà tam ahaà bhajämi
“I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, the first progenitor, who
is tending the cows fulfilling all desires in abodes filled with spiritual gems
and surrounded by millions of wish-fulfilling trees. He is always served with
great reverence and affection by hundreds of thousands of Lakñmés, or goddesses
of fortune.”
The brahmajyoti is described in the Brahma-saàhitä
as the rays emanating from that supreme spiritual planet, Goloka Våndävana,
just as the sun’s rays emanate from the sun globe. Until one surpasses the
glare of the brahmajyoti, one cannot receive information of the land of
the Lord. The impersonalist philosophers, blinded as they are by the dazzling brahmajyoti,
can realize neither the factual abode of the Lord nor His transcendental form.
Limited by their poor fund of knowledge, such impersonalist thinkers cannot
understand the all-blissful transcendental form of Lord Kåñëa. In this prayer,
therefore, Çré Éçopaniñad petitions the Lord to remove the effulgent
rays of the brahmajyoti so that the pure devotee can see His
all-blissful transcendental form.
By realizing the impersonal brahmajyoti, one experiences
the auspicious aspect of the Supreme, and by realizing the Paramätmä, or
all-pervading feature of the Supreme, one experiences an even more auspicious
enlightenment. But by meeting the Personality of Godhead Himself face to face,
the devotee experiences the most auspicious feature of the Supreme. Since He is
addressed as the primeval philosopher and maintainer and well-wisher of the
universe, the Supreme Truth cannot be impersonal. This is the verdict of Çré
Éçopaniñad. The word püñan (“maintainer”) is especially
significant, for although the Lord maintains all beings, He specifically
maintains His devotees. After surpassing the impersonal brahmajyoti and
seeing the personal aspect of the Lord and His most auspicious eternal form,
the devotee realizes the Absolute Truth in full.
In his Bhagavat-sandarbha, Çréla Jéva Gosvämé states: “The
complete conception of the Absolute Truth is realized in the Personality of
Godhead because He is almighty and possesses full transcendental potencies. The
full potency of the Absolute Truth is not realized in the brahmajyoti;
therefore Brahman realization is only partial realization of the Personality of
Godhead. O learned sages, the first syllable of the word bhagavän (bha)
has two meanings: the first is ‘one who fully maintains,’ and the second is
‘guardian.’ The second syllable (ga) means ‘guide,’ ‘leader’ or
‘creator.’ The syllable vän indicates that every being lives in Him and
that He also lives in every being. In other words, the transcendental sound bhagavän
represents infinite knowledge, potency, energy, opulence, strength and
influence—all without a tinge of material inebriety.”
The Lord fully maintains His unalloyed devotees, and He guides
them progressively on the path toward devotional perfection. As the leader of
His devotees, He ultimately awards the desired results of devotional service by
giving Himself to them. The devotees of the Lord see the Lord eye to eye by His
causeless mercy; thus the Lord helps His devotees reach the supermost spiritual
planet, Goloka Våndävana. Being the creator, He can bestow all necessary
qualifications upon His devotees so that they can ultimately reach Him. The
Lord is the cause of all causes. In other words, since there is nothing that
caused Him, He is the original cause. Consequently He enjoys His own Self by
manifesting His own internal potency. The external potency is not exactly
manifested by Him, for He expands Himself as the puruñas, and it is in
these forms that He maintains the features of the material manifestation. By
such expansions, He creates, maintains and annihilates the cosmic
manifestation.
The living entities are also differentiated expansions of the
Lord’s Self, and because some of them desire to be lords and imitate the
Supreme Lord, He allows them to enter into the cosmic creation with the option
to fully utilize their propensity to lord it over nature. Because of the
presence of His parts and parcels, the living entities, the entire phenomenal
world is stirred into action and reaction. Thus the living entities are given
full facilities to lord it over material nature, but the ultimate controller is
the Lord Himself in His plenary feature as Paramätmä, the Supersoul, who is one
of the puruñas.
Thus there is a gulf of difference between the living entity (ätmä)
and the controlling Lord (Paramätmä), the soul and the Supersoul. Paramätmä is
the controller, and the ätmä is the controlled; therefore they are in
different categories. Because the Paramätmä fully cooperates with the ätmä,
He is known as the constant companion of the living being.
The all-pervading feature of the Lord—which exists in all
circumstances of waking and sleeping as well as in potential states and from
which the jéva-çakti (living force) is generated as both conditioned and
liberated souls—is known as Brahman. Since the Lord is the origin of both
Paramätmä and Brahman, He is the origin of all living entities and all else
that exists. One who knows this engages himself at once in the devotional
service of the Lord. Such a pure and fully cognizant devotee of the Lord is
fully attached to Him in heart and soul, and whenever such a devotee assembles
with similar devotees, they have no engagement but the glorification of the
Lord’s transcendental activities. Those who are not as perfect as the pure
devotees—namely, those who have realized only the Brahman or Paramätmä features
of the Lord—cannot appreciate the activities of the perfect devotees. The Lord
always helps the pure devotees by imparting necessary knowledge within their
hearts, and thus out of His special favor He dissipates all the darkness of
ignorance. The speculative philosophers and yogés cannot imagine this, because
they more or less depend on their own strength. As stated in the Kaöha Upaniñad (1.2.23), the Lord can be known only by
those whom He favors, and not by anyone else. Such special favors are bestowed
upon His pure devotees only. Çré Éçopaniñad thus points to the favor of
the Lord, which is beyond the purview of the brahmajyoti.
Iso 17
Mantra
Seventeen
TEXT
väyur anilam amåtam
athedaà bhasmäntaà çaréram
oà krato smara kåtaà smara
krato smara kåtaà smara
SYNONYMS
väyuù—air of life; anilam—total reservoir of air; amåtam—indestructible; atha—now; idam—this; bhasmäntam—after being turned to ashes; çaréram—body; oà—O Lord; krato—O enjoyer of all sacrifices; smara—please remember; kåtam—all that has been done by me; smara—please remember; krato—O supreme beneficiary; smara—please remember; kåtam—all that I have done for You; smara—please remember.
TRANSLATION
Let this temporary body be burnt to ashes, and let the air of life
be merged with the totality of air. Now, O my Lord, please remember all my
sacrifices, and because You are the ultimate beneficiary, please remember all
that I have done for You.
PURPORT
The temporary material body is certainly a foreign dress. The Bhagavad-gétä (2.20) clearly says that after the
destruction of the material body the living entity is not annihilated, nor does
he lose his identity. The identity of the living entity is never impersonal or
formless; on the contrary, it is the material dress that is formless and that
takes a shape according to the form of the indestructible person. No living
entity is originally formless, as is wrongly thought by those with a poor fund
of knowledge. This mantra verifies the fact that the living entity
exists after the annihilation of the material body.
In the material world, material nature displays wonderful
workmanship by creating varieties of bodies for the living beings according to
their propensities for sense gratification. The living entity who wants to
taste stool is given a material body that is quite suitable for eating
stool—that of a hog. Similarly, one who wants to eat the flesh and blood of
other animals may be given a tiger’s body equipped with suitable teeth and
claws. But the human being is not meant for eating flesh, nor does he have any
desire to taste stool, even in the most aboriginal state. Human teeth are so
made that they can chew and cut fruit and vegetables, although there are two
canine teeth so that primitive humans can eat flesh if they so desire.
But in any case, the material bodies of all animals and men are
foreign to the living entity. They change according to the living entity’s
desire for sense gratification. In the cycle of evolution, the living entity
changes bodies one after another. When the world was full of water, the living
entity took an aquatic form. Then he passed to vegetable life, from vegetable
life to worm life, from worm life to bird life, from bird life to animal life,
and from animal life to the human form. The highest developed form is this
human form when it is possessed of a full sense of spiritual knowledge. The
highest development of one’s spiritual sense is described in this mantra:
One should give up the material body, which will be turned to ashes, and allow
the air of life to merge into the eternal reservoir of air. The living being’s
activities are performed within the body through the movements of different
kinds of air, known in summary as präëa-väyu. The yogés generally
study how to control the airs of the body. The soul is supposed to rise from
one circle of air to another until it rises to the brahma-randhra, the
highest circle. From that point the perfect yogé can transfer himself to
any planet he likes. The process is to give up one material body and then enter
into another. But the highest perfection of such changes occurs only when the
living entity is able to give up the material body altogether, as suggested in
this mantra, and enter into the spiritual atmosphere, where he can
develop a completely different type of body—a spiritual body, which never has
to meet death or change.
Here in the material world, material nature forces the living
entity to change his body due to his different desires for sense gratification.
These desires are represented in the various species of life, from
germs to the most perfected material bodies, those of Brahmä and the demigods.
All of these living entities have bodies composed of matter in different
shapes. The intelligent man sees oneness not in the variety of the bodies but
in the spiritual identity. The spiritual spark, which is part and parcel of the
Supreme Lord, is the same whether he is in a body of a hog or in the body of a
demigod. The living entity takes on different bodies according to his pious and
vicious activities. The human body is highly developed and has full
consciousness. According to the Bhagavad-gétä
(7.19), the most perfect man surrenders unto the Lord after many, many
lifetimes of culturing knowledge. The culture of knowledge reaches perfection
only when the knower comes to the point of surrendering unto the Supreme Lord,
Väsudeva. Otherwise, even after attaining knowledge of one’s spiritual
identity, if one does not come to the point of knowing that the living entities
are eternal parts and parcels of the whole and can never become the whole, one
has to fall down again into the material atmosphere. Indeed, one must fall down
even if he has become one with the brahmajyoti.
As we have learned from previous mantras, the brahmajyoti
emanating from the transcendental body of the Lord is full of spiritual sparks
that are individual entities with the full sense of existence. Sometimes these
living entities want to enjoy their senses, and therefore they are placed in
the material world to become false lords under the dictation of the senses. The
desire for lordship is the material disease of the living being, for under the
spell of sense enjoyment he transmigrates through the various bodies manifested
in the material world. Becoming one with the brahmajyoti does not
represent mature knowledge. Only by surrendering unto the Lord completely and
developing one’s sense of spiritual service does one reach the highest
perfectional stage.
In this mantra the living entity prays to enter the
spiritual kingdom of God after relinquishing his material body and material
air. The devotee prays to the Lord to remember his activities and the
sacrifices he has performed before his material body is turned into ashes. He
makes this prayer at the time of death, with full consciousness of his past
deeds and of the ultimate goal. One who is completely under the rule of
material nature remembers the heinous activities he performed during the
existence of his material body, and consequently he gets another material body
after death. The Bhagavad-gétä (8.6) confirms this
truth:
yaà yaà väpi smaran bhävaà
tyajaty ante kalevaram
taà tam evaiti kaunteya
sadä tad-bhäva-bhävitaù
“Whatever state of being one remembers when he quits his body, O
son of Kunté, that state he will attain without fail.” Thus the mind carries
the living entity’s propensities into the next life.
Unlike the simple animals, who have no developed mind, the dying
human being can remember the activities of his life like dreams at night;
therefore his mind remains surcharged with material desires, and consequently
he cannot enter into the spiritual kingdom with a spiritual body. The devotees,
however, develop a sense of love for Godhead by practicing devotional service
to the Lord. Even if at the time of death a devotee does not remember his
service to the Lord, the Lord does not forget him. This prayer is given to
remind the Lord of the devotee’s sacrifices, but even if there is no such
reminder, the Lord does not forget the service rendered by His pure devotee.
The Lord clearly describes His intimate relationship with His
devotees in the Bhagavad-gétä (9.30–34): “Even if
one commits the most abominable action, if he is engaged in devotional service
he is to be considered saintly because he is properly situated in his
determination. He quickly becomes righteous and attains lasting peace. O son of
Kunté, declare it boldly that My devotee never perishes. O son of Påthä, those
who take shelter in Me, though they be of lower birth—women, vaiçyas
[merchants] as well as çüdras [workers]—can attain the supreme
destination. How much more this is so of the righteous brähmaëas, the
devotees and the saintly kings. Therefore, having come to this temporary,
miserable world, engage in loving service unto Me. Engage your mind always in
thinking of Me, become My devotee, offer obeisances to Me and worship Me. Being
completely absorbed in Me, surely you will come to Me.”
Çréla Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura explains these verses in this way: “One
should regard a devotee of Kåñëa to be on the right path of the saints, even
though such a devotee may seem to be su-duräcära, ‘a person of loose
character.’ One should try to understand the real purport of the word su-duräcära.
A conditioned soul has to act for double functions—namely for the maintenance
of the body and again for self-realization. Social status, mental development,
cleanliness, austerity, nourishment and the struggle for existence are all for
the maintenance of the body. The self-realization part of one’s activities is
executed in one’s occupation as a devotee of the Lord, and one performs actions
in that connection also. One must perform these two different functions along
parallel lines, because a conditioned soul cannot give up the maintenance of
his body. The proportion of activities for maintenance of the body decreases,
however, in proportion to the increase in devotional service. As long as the
proportion of devotional service does not come to the right point, there is a
chance for an occasional exhibition of worldliness. But it should be noted that
such worldliness cannot continue for long because, by the grace of the Lord,
such imperfections will come to an end very shortly. Therefore the path of
devotional service is the only right path. If one is on the right path, even an
occasional occurrence of worldliness does not hamper one in the advancement of
self-realization.”
The facilities of devotional service are denied the impersonalists
because they are attached to the brahmajyoti feature of the Lord. As
suggested in the previous mantras, they cannot penetrate the brahma-jyoti
because they do not believe in the personality of Godhead. Their business is
mostly word jugglery and mental speculation. Consequently the impersonalists
pursue a fruitless labor, as confirmed in the Twelfth Chapter of the Bhagavad-gétä (12.5).
All the facilities suggested in this mantra can be easily
obtained by constant contact with the personal feature of the Absolute Truth.
Devotional service to the Lord consists essentially of nine transcendental
activities: (1) hearing about the Lord, (2) glorifying the Lord, (3)
remembering the Lord, (4) serving the lotus feet of the Lord, (5) worshiping
the Lord, (6) offering prayers to the Lord, (7) serving the Lord, (8) enjoying
friendly association with the Lord, and (9) surrendering everything unto the
Lord. These nine principles of devotional service—taken all together or one by
one—help a devotee remain constantly in touch with God. In this way, at the end
of life it is easy for the devotee to remember the Lord. By adopting only one
of these nine principles, the following renowned devotees of the Lord were able
to achieve the highest perfection: (1) By hearing of the Lord, Mahäräja
Parékñit, the hero of Çrémad-Bhägavatam, attained the desired result.
(2) Just by glorifying the Lord, Çukadeva Gosvämé, the speaker of Çrémad-Bhägavatam,
attained his perfection. (3) By praying to the Lord, Akrüra attained the
desired result. (4) By remembering the Lord, Prahläda Mahäräja attained the
desired result. (5) By worshiping the Lord, Påthu Mahäräja attained perfection.
(6) By serving the lotus feet of the Lord, the goddess of fortune, Lakñmé,
attained perfection. (7) By rendering personal service to the Lord, Hanumän
attained the desired result. (8) Through his friendship with the Lord, Arjuna
attained the desired result. (9) By surrendering everything he had to the Lord,
Mahäräja Bali attained the desired result.
Actually, the explanation of this mantra and of practically
all the mantras of the Vedic hymns is summarized in the Vedänta-sütra
and properly explained in Çrémad-Bhägavatam. Çrémad-Bhägavatam is
the mature fruit of the Vedic tree of wisdom. In Çrémad-Bhägavatam this
particular mantra is explained in the questions and answers between
Mahäräja Parékñit and Çukadeva Gosvämé at the very beginning of their meeting.
Hearing and chanting of the science of God is the basic principle of devotional
life. The complete Bhägavatam was heard by Mahäräja Parékñit and chanted
by Çukadeva Gosvämé. Mahäräja Parékñit inquired from Çukadeva because Çukadeva
was a greater spiritual master than any great yogé or transcendentalist
of his time.
Mahäräja Parékñit’s main question was: “What is the duty of every
man, specifically at the time of death?” Çukadeva Gosvämé answered:
tasmäd bhärata sarvätmä
bhagavän éçvaro hariù
çrotavyaù kértitavyaç ca
smartavyaç cecchatäbhayam
“Everyone who desires to be free from all anxieties should always
hear about, glorify and remember the Personality of Godhead, who is the supreme
director of everything, the extinguisher of all difficulties, and the Supersoul
of all living entities.” (Bhäg. 2.1.5)
So-called human society is generally engaged at night in sleeping
and having sex and during the daytime in earning as much money as possible or
else in shopping for family maintenance. People have very little time to talk
about the Personality of Godhead or to inquire about Him. They have dismissed
God’s existence in so many ways, primarily by declaring Him to be impersonal,
that is, without sense perception. But in the Vedic literature—whether the Upaniñads,
Vedänta-sütra, Bhagavad-gétä or Çrémad-Bhägavatam—it is declared
that the Lord is a sentient being and is supreme over all other living
entities. His glorious activities are identical with Himself. One should
therefore not indulge in hearing and speaking of the rubbish activities of
worldly politicians and so-called big men in society but should mold his life
in such a way that he can engage in godly activities without wasting a second. Çré
Éçopaniñad directs us toward such godly activities.
Unless one is accustomed to devotional practice, what will he
remember at the time of death, when the body is dislocated, and how can he pray
to the almighty Lord to remember his sacrifices? Sacrifice means denying the
interest of the senses. One has to learn this art by employing the senses in
the service of the Lord during one’s lifetime. One can utilize the results of
such practice at the time of death.
Iso 18
Mantra
Eighteen
TEXT
agne naya supathä räye asmän
viçväni deva vayunäni vidvän
yuyodhy asmaj juhuräëam eno
bhüyiñöhäà te nama-uktià vidhema
SYNONYMS
agne—O my Lord, as powerful as fire; naya—kindly lead; supathä—by the right path; räye—for reaching You; asmän—us; viçväni—all; deva—O my Lord; vayunäni—actions; vidvän—the knower; yuyodhi—kindly remove; asmat—from us; juhuräëam—all hindrances on the path; enaù—all vices; bhüyiñöhäm—most numerous; te—unto You; namaù uktim—words of obeisance; vidhema—I do.
TRANSLATION
O my Lord, as powerful as fire, O omnipotent one, now I offer You
all obeisances, falling on the ground at Your feet. O my Lord, please lead me
on the right path to reach You, and since You know all that I have done in the
past, please free me from the reactions to my past sins so that there will be
no hindrance to my progress.
PURPORT
By surrendering to the Lord and praying for His causeless mercy,
the devotee can progress on the path of complete self-realization. The Lord is
addressed as fire because He can burn anything into ashes, including the sins
of the surrendered soul. As described in the previous mantras, the real
or ultimate aspect of the Absolute is His feature as the Personality of
Godhead, and His impersonal brahmajyoti feature is a dazzling covering
over His face. Fruitive activities, or the karma-käëòa path of
self-realization, is the lowest stage in this endeavor. As soon as such
activities even slightly deviate from the regulative principles of the Vedas,
they are transformed into vikarma, or acts against the interest of the
actor. Such vikarma is enacted by the illusioned living entity simply
for sense gratification, and thus such activities become hindrances on the path
of self-realization.
Self-realization is possible in the human form of life, but not in
other forms. There are 8,400,000 species, or forms of life, of which the human
form qualified by brahminical culture presents the only chance to obtain
knowledge of transcendence. Brahminical culture includes truthfulness, sense
control, forbearance, simplicity, full knowledge and full faith in God. It is
not that one simply becomes proud of his high parentage. Just as being born the
son of a big man affords one a chance to become a big man, so being born the
son of a brähmaëa gives one a chance to become a brähmaëa. But
such a birthright is not everything, for one still has to attain the
brahminical qualifications for himself. As soon as one becomes proud of his
birth as the son of a brähmaëa and neglects to acquire the
qualifications of a real brähmaëa, he at once becomes degraded and falls
from the path of self-realization. Thus his life’s mission as a human being is
defeated.
In the Bhagavad-gétä (6.41–42) we are
assured by the Lord that the yoga-bhrañöas, or souls fallen from the
path of self-realization, are given a chance to rectify themselves by taking
birth either in the families of good brähmaëas or in the families of
rich merchants. Such births afford higher chances for self-realization. If
these chances are misused due to illusion, one loses the good opportunity of
human life afforded by the almighty Lord.
The regulative principles are such that one who follows them is
promoted from the platform of fruitive activities to the platform of
transcendental knowledge. After many, many lifetimes of cultivating
transcendental knowledge, one becomes perfect when he surrenders unto the Lord.
This is the general procedure. But one who surrenders at the very beginning, as
recommended in this mantra, at once surpasses all preliminary stages
simply by adopting the devotional attitude. As stated in the Bhagavad-gétä (18.66), the Lord at once takes charge of
such a surrendered soul and frees him from all the reactions to his sinful
acts. There are many sinful reactions involved in karma-käëòa
activities, whereas in jïäna-käëòa, the path of philosophical
development, the number of such sinful activities is smaller. But in devotional
service to the Lord, the path of bhakti, there is practically no chance
of incurring sinful reactions. One who is a devotee of the Lord attains all the
good qualifications of the Lord Himself, what to speak of those of a brähmaëa.
A devotee automatically attains the qualifications of an expert brähmaëa
authorized to perform sacrifices, even though the devotee may not have taken
his birth in a brähmaëa family. Such is the omnipotence of the Lord. He
can make a man born in a brähmaëa family as degraded as a lowborn
dog-eater, and He can also make a lowborn dog-eater superior to a qualified brähmaëa
simply on the strength of devotional service.
Since the omnipotent Lord is situated within the heart of
everyone, He can give directions to His sincere devotees by which they can attain
the right path. Such directions are especially offered to the devotee, even if
he desires something else. As far as others are concerned, God gives sanction
to the doer only at the risk of the doer. But in the case of a devotee, the
Lord directs him in such a way that he never acts wrongly. The Çrémad-Bhägavatam (11.5.42) says:
sva-päda-mülaà bhajataù priyasya
tyaktänya-bhävasya hariù pareçaù
vikarma yac cotpatitaà kathaïcid
dhunoti sarvaà hådi sanniviñöaù
“The Lord is so kind to the devotee who is fully surrendered to
His lotus feet that even though the devotee sometimes falls into the
entanglement of vikarma—acts against the Vedic directions—the Lord at
once rectifies such mistakes from within his heart. This is because the
devotees are very dear to the Lord.”
In this mantra of Çré Éçopaniñad, the devotee prays
to the Lord to rectify him from within his heart. To err is human. A
conditioned soul is very often apt to commit mistakes, and the only remedial
measure to take against such unintentional sins is to give oneself up to the
lotus feet of the Lord so that He may guide one to avoid such pitfalls. The
Lord takes charge of fully surrendered souls; thus all problems are solved
simply by surrendering oneself unto the Lord and acting in terms of His directions.
Such directions are given to the sincere devotee in two ways: one is by way of
the saints, scriptures and spiritual master, and the other is by way of the
Lord Himself, who resides within the heart of everyone. Thus the devotee, fully
enlightened with Vedic knowledge, is protected in
all respects.
Vedic knowledge is transcendental and cannot be understood by
mundane educational procedures. One can understand the Vedic mantras
only by the grace of the Lord and the spiritual master (yasya deve parä bhaktir
yathä deve tathä gurau [ÇU [ii]6.23]). If
one takes shelter of a bona fide spiritual master, it is to be understood that
he has obtained the grace of the Lord. The Lord appears as the spiritual master
for the devotee. Thus the spiritual master, the Vedic injunctions and the Lord
Himself from within—all guide the devotee in full strength. In this way there
is no chance for a devotee to fall again into the mire of material illusion.
The devotee, thus protected all around, is sure to reach the ultimate destination
of perfection. The entire process is hinted at in this mantra, and Çrémad-Bhägavatam (1.2.17–20) explains it further:
Hearing and chanting the glories of the Lord is itself an act of
piety. The Lord wants everyone to hear and chant His glories because He is the
well-wisher of all living entities. By hearing and chanting the glories of the
Lord, one becomes cleansed of all undesirable things, and then one’s devotion
becomes fixed upon the Lord. At this stage the devotee acquires the brahminical
qualifications, and the effects of the lower modes of nature (passion and
ignorance) completely vanish. The devotee becomes fully enlightened by virtue
of his devotional service, and thus he comes to know the path of the Lord and
the way to attain Him. As all doubts diminish, he becomes a pure devotee.
Thus end the Bhaktivedanta Purports to Çré Éçopaniñad, the knowledge that brings one nearer to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kåñëa.
[i]Iso Invocation
Mantra One
Mantra Two
Mantra Three
Mantra Four
Mantra Five
Mantra Six
Mantra Seven
Mantra Eight
Mantra Nine
Mantra Ten
Mantra Eleven
Mantra Twelve
Mantra Thirteen
Mantra Fourteen
Mantra Fifteen
Mantra Sixteen
Mantra Seventeen
Mantra Eighteen
[ii]yasya deve
parä bhaktir
yathä deve tathä gurau
tasyaite kathitä hy arthäù
prakäçante mahätmanaù
“Unto those great souls who have implicit faith in both the Lord
and the spiritual master, all the imports of Vedic knowledge are automatically
revealed.” (Çvetäçvatara
Upaniñad 6.23)
ataù çré-kåñëa-nämädi
na bhaved grähyam indriyaiù
sevonmukhe hi jihvädau
svayam eva sphuraty adaù
“No one can understand Kåñëa as He is by the blunt material
senses. But He reveals Himself to the devotees, being pleased with them for
their transcendental loving service unto Him.” (Bhakti-rasämåta-sindhu 1.2.234)
bhaktyä mäm abhijänäti
yävän yaç cäsmi tattvataù
tato mäà tattvato jïätvä
viçate tad-anantaram
“One can understand the Supreme Personality as He is only by
devotional service. And when one is in full consciousness of the Supreme Lord
by such devotion, he can enter into the kingdom of God.” (Bg. 18.55)
These are
Vedic instructions. One must have full faith in the words of the spiritual
master and similar faith in the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Then the real
knowledge of ätmä and Paramätmä and the
distinction between matter and spirit will be automatically revealed. This ätma-tattva, or spiritual knowledge, will be revealed
within the core of a devotee’s heart because of his having taken shelter of the
lotus feet of a mahäjana such as Prahläda
Mahäräja.