Srimad-Bhagavatam: Canto 3: “The Status Quo”
by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Chapter Twenty-seven
Understanding Material Nature
SB3.27.1
TEXT 1
sri-bhagavan uvaca
prakrti-stho ’pi puruso
najyate prakrtair gunaih
avikarad akartrtvan
nirgunatvaj jalarkavat
SYNONYMS
sri-bhagavan uvaca—the Personality of Godhead said; prakrti-sthah—residing in the material body; api—although; purusah—the living entity; na—not; ajyate—is affected; prakrtaih—of material nature; gunaih—by the modes; avikarat—from being without change; akartrtvat—by freedom from proprietorship; nirgunatvat—from being unaffected by the qualities of material nature; jala—on water; arkavat—like the sun.
TRANSLATION
The Personality of Godhead Kapila continued: When the living entity is thus unaffected by the modes of material nature, because he is unchanging and does not claim proprietorship, he remains apart from the reactions of the modes, although abiding in a material body, just as the sun remains aloof from its reflection on water.
PURPORT
In the previous chapter Lord Kapiladeva has concluded that simply by beginning the discharge of devotional service one can attain detachment and transcendental knowledge for understanding the science of God. Here the same principle is confirmed. A person who is detached from the modes of material nature remains just like the sun reflected on water. When the sun is reflected on water, the movement of the water or the coolness or unsteadiness of the water cannot affect the sun. Similarly, vasudeve bhagavati bhakti-yogah prayojitah (Bhag. 1.2.7): when one engages fully in the activities of devotional service, bhakti-yoga, he becomes just like the sun reflected on water. Although a devotee appears to be in the material world, actually he is in the transcendental world. As the reflection of the sun appears to be on the water but is many millions of miles away from the water, so one engaged in the bhakti-yoga process is nirguna, or unaffected by the qualities of material nature.
Avikara means “without change.” It is confirmed in Bhagavad-gita that each and every living entity is part and parcel of the Supreme Lord, and thus his eternal position is to cooperate or to dovetail his energy with the Supreme Lord. That is his unchanging position. As soon as he employs his energy and activities for sense gratification, this change of position is called vikara. Similarly, even in this material body, when he practices devotional service under the direction of the spiritual master, he comes to the position which is without change because that is his natural duty. As stated in the Srimad-Bhagavatam, liberation means reinstatement in one’s original position. The original position is one of rendering service to the Lord (bhakti-yogena, bhaktya). When one becomes detached from material attraction and engages fully in devotional service, that is changlessness. Akartrtvat means not doing anything for sense gratification. When one does something at his own risk, there is a sense of proprietorship and therefore a reaction, but when one does everything for Krsna, there is no proprietorship over the activities. By changlessness and by not claiming the proprietorship of activities, one can immediately situate himself in the transcendental position in which one is not touched by the modes of material nature, just as the reflection of the sun is unaffected by the water. SB3.27.2 TEXT 2 sa esa yarhi prakrter gunesv abhivisajjate ahankriya-vimudhatma kartasmity abhimanyate SYNONYMS sah—that very living entity; esah—this; yarhi—when; prakrteh—of material nature; gunesu—in the modes; abhivisajjate—is absorbed; ahankriya—by false ego; vimudha—bewildered; atma—the individual soul; karta—the doer; asmi—I am; iti—thus; abhimanyate—he thinks. TRANSLATION When the soul is under the spell of material nature and false ego, identifying his body as the self, he becomes absorbed in material activities, and by the influence of false ego he thinks that he is the proprietor of everything. PURPORT Actually the conditioned soul is forced to act under the pressure of the modes of material nature. The living entity has no independence. When he is under the direction of the Supreme Personality of Godhead he is free, but when, under the impression that he is satisfying his senses, he engages in sense gratificatory activities, he is actually under the spell of material nature. In Bhagavad-gita it is said, prakrteh kriyamanani: one acts according to the particular modes of nature he has acquired. Guna refers to the qualities of nature. He is under the qualities of nature, but he falsely thinks that he is the proprietor. This false sense of proprietorship can be avoided simply by engaging oneself in devotional service under the direction of the Supreme Lord or His bona fide representative. Arjuna, in Bhagavad-gita, was trying to accept for himself the responsibility for killing his grandfather and teacher in the fight, but he became freed from that proprietorship of action when he acted under the direction of Krsna. He fought, but he was actually freed from the reactions of fighting, although in the beginning, when he was nonviolent, unwilling to fight, the entire responsibility was upon him. That is the difference between liberation and conditioning. A conditioned soul may be very good and act in the mode of goodness, but still he is conditioned under the spell of material nature. A devotee, however, acts completely under the direction of the Supreme Lord. Thus his actions may not appear to be of a very high quality to the common man, but the devotee has no responsibility. SB3.27.3 TEXT 3 tena samsara-padavim avaso ’bhyety anirvrtah prasangikaih karma-dosaih sad-asan-misra-yonisu SYNONYMS tena—by this; samsara—of repeated birth and death; padavim—the path; avasah—helplessly; abhyeti—he undergoes; anirvrtah—discontented; prasangikaih—resulting from association with material nature; karma-dosaih—by faulty actions; sat—good; asat—bad; misra—mixed; yonisu—in different species of life. TRANSLATION The conditioned soul therefore transmigrates into different species of life, higher and lower, because of his association with the modes of material nature. Unless he is relieved of material activities, he has to accept this position because of his faulty work. PURPORT Here the word karma-dosaih means “by faulty actions.” This refers to any activity, good or bad, performed in this material world—they are all contaminated, faulty actions because of material association. The foolish conditioned soul may think that he is offering charity by opening hospitals for material benefit or by opening an educational institution for material education, but he does not know that all such work is also faulty because it will not give him relief from the process of transmigration from one body to another. It is clearly stated here, sad-asan-misra-yonisu. This means that one may take birth in a very high family or he may take his birth in higher planets, among the demigods, for his so-called pious activities in the material world. But this work is also faulty because it does not give liberation. To take birth in a nice place or a high family does not mean that one avoids undergoing the material tribulations, the pangs of birth, death, old age and disease. A conditioned soul under the spell of material nature cannot understand that any action he performs for sense gratification is faulty and that only his activities in devotional service to the Lord can give him release from the reaction of faulty activities. Because he does not cease such faulty activities, he has to change to different bodies, some high and some low. That is called samsara-padavim, which means this material world, from which there is no release. One who desires material liberation has to turn his activities to devotional service. There is no alternative. SB3.27.4 TEXT 4 arthe hy avidyamane ’pi samsrtir na nivartate dhyayato visayan asya svapne ’narthagamo yatha SYNONYMS arthe—real cause; hi—certainly; avidyamane—not existing; api—although; samsrtih—the material existential condition; na—not; nivartate—does cease; dhyayatah—contemplating; visayan—objects of the senses; asya—of the living entity; svapne—in a dream; anartha—of disadvantages; agamah—arrival; yatha—like. TRANSLATION Actually a living entity is transcendental to material existence, but because of his mentality of lording it over material nature, his material existential condition does not cease, and just as in a dream, he is affected by all sorts of disadvantages. PURPORT The example of a dream is very appropriate. Due to different mental conditions, in dreams we are put into advantageous and disadvantageous positions. Similarly, the spirit soul has nothing to do with this material nature, but because of his mentality of lording it over, he is put into the position of conditional existence. Conditional existence is described here as dhyayato visayan asya. Visaya means “an object of enjoyment.” As long as one continues to think that he can enjoy material advantages, he is in conditioned life, but as soon as he comes to his senses, he develops the knowledge that he is not the enjoyer, for the only enjoyer is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. As confirmed in Bhagavad-gita (5.29), He is the beneficiary for all the results of sacrifices and penances (bhoktaram yajna-tapasam), and He is the proprietor of all the three worlds (sarva-loka-mahesvaram). He is the actual friend of all living entities. But instead of leaving proprietorship, enjoyment and the actual position as the friend of all living entities to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, we claim that we are the proprietors, the enjoyers and the friends. We perform philanthropic work, thinking that we are the friends of human society. Someone may proclaim himself to be a very good national worker, the best friend of the people and of the country, but actually he cannot be the greatest friend of everyone. The only friend is Krsna. One should try to raise the consciousness of the conditioned soul to the platform of understanding that Krsna is his actual friend. If one makes friendship with Krsna, one will never be cheated, and he will get all help needed. Arousing this consciousness of the conditioned soul is the greatest service, not posing oneself as a great friend of another living entity. The power of friendship is limited. Although one claims to be a friend, he cannot be a friend unlimitedly. There are an unlimited number of living entities, and our resources are limited; therefore we cannot be of any real benefit to the people in general. The best service to the people in general is to awaken them to Krsna consciousness so that they may know that the supreme enjoyer, the supreme proprietor and the supreme friend is Krsna. Then this illusory dream of lording it over material nature will vanish. SB3.27.5 TEXT 5 ata eva sanais cittam prasaktam asatam pathi bhakti-yogena tivrena viraktya ca nayed vasam SYNONYMS atah eva—therefore; sanaih—gradually; cittam—mind, consciousness; prasaktam—attached; asatam—of material enjoyments; pathi—on the path; bhakti-yogena—by devotional service; tivrena—very serious; viraktya—without attachment; ca—and; nayet—he must bring; vasam—under control. TRANSLATION It is the duty of every conditioned soul to engage his polluted consciousness, which is now attached to material enjoyment, in very serious devotional service with detachment. Thus his mind and consciousness will be under full control. PURPORT The process of liberation is very nicely explained in this verse. The cause of one’s becoming conditioned by material nature is his thinking himself the enjoyer, the proprietor or the friend of all living entities. This false thinking is a result of contemplation on sense enjoyment. When one thinks that he is the best friend to his countrymen, to society or to humanity and he engages in various nationalistic, philanthropic and altruistic activities, all that is just so much concentration on sense gratification. The so-called national leader or humanist does not serve everyone; he serves his senses only. That is a fact. But the conditioned soul cannot understand this because he is bewildered by the spell of material nature. It is therefore recommended in this verse that one engage very seriously in the devotional service of the Lord. This means that one should not think that he is the proprietor, benefactor, friend or enjoyer. He should always be cognizant that the real enjoyer is Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead; that is the basic principle of bhakti-yoga. One must be firmly convinced of these three principles: one should always think that Krsna is the proprietor, Krsna is the enjoyer and Krsna is the friend. Not only should he understand these principles himself, but he should try to convince others and propagate Krsna consciousness. As soon as one engages in such serious devotional service of the Lord, naturally the propensity to falsely claim lordship over material nature disappears. That detachment is called vairagya. Instead of being absorbed in so-called material lordship, one engages in Krsna consciousness; that is control of consciousness. The yoga process necessitates controlling the senses. Yoga indriya-samyamah. Since the senses are always active, their activities should be engaged in devotional service—one cannot stop their activities. If one wants to artificially stop the activities of the senses, his attempt will be a failure. Even the great yogi Visvamitra, who was trying to control his senses by the yoga process, fell victim to the beauty of Menaka. There are many such instances. Unless one’s mind and consciousness are fully engaged in devotional service, there is always the opportunity for the mind to become occupied with desires for sense gratification. One particular point mentioned in this verse is very significant. It is said here, prasaktam asatam pathi: the mind is always attracted by asat, the temporary, material existence. Because we have been associated with material nature since time immemorial, we have become accustomed to our attachment to this temporary material nature. The mind has to be fixed at the eternal lotus feet of the Supreme Lord. Sa vai manah krsna-padaravindayoh. One has to fix the mind at the lotus feet of Krsna; then everything will be very nice. Thus the seriousness of bhakti-yoga is stressed in this verse. SB3.27.6 TEXT 6 yamadibhir yoga-pathair abhyasan sraddhayanvitah mayi bhavena satyena mat-katha-sravanena ca SYNONYMS yama-adibhih—beginning with yama; yoga-pathaih—by the yoga system; abhyasan—practicing; sraddhaya anvitah—with great faith; mayi—unto Me; bhavena—with devotion; satyena—unalloyed; mat-katha—stories about Me; sravanena—by hearing; ca—and. TRANSLATION One has to become faithful by practicing the controlling process of the yoga system and must elevate himself to the platform of unalloyed devotional service by chanting and hearing about Me. PURPORT Yoga is practiced in eight different stages: yama, niyama, asana, pranayama, pratyahara, dharana, dhyana and samadhi. Yama and niyama mean practicing the controlling process by following strict regulations, and asana refers to the sitting postures. These help raise one to the standard of faithfulness in devotional service. The practice of yoga by physical exercise is not the ultimate goal; the real end is to concentrate and to control the mind and train oneself to be situated in faithful devotional service. Bhavena, or bhava, is a very important factor in the practice of yoga or in any spiritual process. Bhava is explained in Bhagavad-gita (10.8). Budha bhava-samanvitah: one should be absorbed in the thought of love of Krsna. When one knows that Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is the source of everything and that everything emanates from Him (aham sarvasya prabhavah), then one understands the Vedanta aphorism janmady asya yatah [Bhag. 1.1.1] (“the original source of everything”), and then he can become absorbed in bhava, or the preliminary stage of love of Godhead. Rupa Gosvami explains very nicely in Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu how this bhava, or preliminary stage of love of God, is achieved. He states that one first of all has to become faithful (sraddhayanvitah). Faith is attained by controlling the senses, either by yoga practice, following the rules and regulations and practicing the sitting postures, or by engaging directly in bhakti-yoga, as recommended in the previous verse. Of the nine different items of bhakti-yoga, the first and foremost is to chant and hear about the Lord. That is also mentioned here. Mat-katha-sravanena ca. One may come to the standard of faithfulness by following the rules and regulations of the yoga system, and the same goal can be achieved simply by chanting and hearing about the transcendental activities of the Lord. The word ca is significant. Bhakti-yoga is direct, and the other process is indirect. But even if the indirect process is taken, there is no success unless one comes fully to the direct process of hearing and chanting the glories of the Lord. Therefore the word satyena is used here. In this connection Svami Sridhara comments that satyena means niskapatena, “without duplicity.” The impersonalists are full of duplicity. Sometimes they pretend to execute devotional service, but their ultimate idea is to become one with the Supreme. This is duplicity, kapata. The Bhagavatam does not allow this duplicity. In the beginning of Srimad-Bhagavatam it is clearly stated, paramo nirmatsaranam: “This treatise Srimad-Bhagavatam is meant for those who are completely free from envy.” The same point is again stressed here. Unless one is completely faithful to the Supreme Personality of Godhead and engages himself in the process of hearing and chanting the glories of the Lord, there is no possibility for liberation. SB3.27.7 TEXT 7 sarva-bhuta-samatvena nirvairenaprasangatah brahmacaryena maunena sva-dharmena baliyasa SYNONYMS sarva—all; bhuta—living entities; samatvena—by seeing equally; nirvairena—without enmity; aprasangatah—without intimate connections; brahma-caryena—by celibacy; maunena—by silence; sva-dharmena—by one’s occupation; baliyasa—by offering the result. TRANSLATION In executing devotional service, one has to see every living entity equally, without enmity towards anyone yet without intimate connections with anyone. One has to observe celibacy, be grave and execute his eternal activities, offering the results to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. PURPORT A devotee of the Supreme Personality of Godhead who seriously engages in devotional service is equal to all living entities. There are various species of living entities, but a devotee does not see the outward covering; he sees the inner soul inhabiting the body. Because each and every soul is part and parcel of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he does not see any difference. That is the vision of a learned devotee. As explained in Bhagavad-gita, a devotee or a learned sage does not see any difference between a learned brahmana, a dog, an elephant or a cow because he knows that the body is the outer covering only and that the soul is actually part and parcel of the Supreme Lord. A devotee has no enmity towards any living entity, but that does not mean that he mixes with everyone. That is prohibited. Aprasangatah means “not to be in intimate touch with everyone.” A devotee is concerned with his execution of devotional service, and he should therefore mix with devotees only, in order to advance his objective. He has no business mixing with others, for although he does not see anyone as his enemy, his dealings are only with persons who engage in devotional service. A devotee should observe the vow of celibacy. Celibacy does not necessitate that one be absolutely free from sex life; satisfaction with one’s wife is permitted also under the vow of celibacy. The best policy is to avoid sex life altogether. That is preferable. Otherwise, a devotee can get married under religious principles and live peacefully with a wife. A devotee should not speak needlessly. A serious devotee has no time to speak of nonsense. He is always busy in Krsna consciousness. Whenever he speaks, he speaks about Krsna. Mauna means “silence.” Silence does not mean that one should not speak at all, but that he should not speak of nonsense. He should be very enthusiastic in speaking about Krsna. Another important item described here is sva-dharmena, or being exclusively occupied in one’s eternal occupation, which is to act as the eternal servitor of the Lord, or to act in Krsna consciousness. The next word, baliyasa, means “offering the results of all activities to the Supreme Personality of Godhead.” A devotee does not act on his personal account for sense gratification. Whatever he earns, whatever he eats and whatever he does, he offers for the satisfaction of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. SB3.27.8 TEXT 8 yadrcchayopalabdhena santusto mita-bhun munih vivikta-saranah santo maitrah karuna atmavan SYNONYMS yadrcchaya—without difficulty; upalabdhena—with what is obtained; santustah—satisfied; mita—little; bhuk—eating; munih—thoughtful; vivikta-saranah—living in a secluded place; santah—peaceful; maitrah—friendly; karunah—compassionate; atma-van—self-possessed, self-realized. TRANSLATION For his income a devotee should be satisfied with what he earns without great difficulty. He should not eat more than what is necessary. He should live in a secluded place and always be thoughtful, peaceful, friendly, compassionate and self-realized. PURPORT Everyone who has accepted a material body must maintain the necessities of the body by acting or earning some livelihood. A devotee should only work for such income as is absolutely necessary. He should be satisfied always with such income and should not endeavor to earn more and more simply to accumulate the unnecessary. A person in the conditioned state who has no money is always found working very hard to earn some with the object of lording it over material nature. Kapiladeva instructs that we should not endeavor hard for things which may come automatically, without extraneous labor. The exact word used in this connection, yadrcchaya, means that every living entity has a predestined happiness and distress in his present body; this is called the law of karma. It is not possible that simply by endeavors to accumulate more money a person will be able to do so, otherwise almost everyone would be on the same level of wealth. In reality everyone is earning and acquiring according to his predestined karma. According to the Bhagavatam conclusion, we are sometimes faced with dangerous or miserable conditions without endeavoring for them, and similarly we may have prosperous conditions without endeavoring for them. We are advised to let these things come as predestined. We should engage our valuable time in prosecuting Krsna consciousness. In other words, one should be satisfied by his natural condition. If by predestination one is put into a certain condition of life which is not very prosperous in comparison to another’s position, one should not be disturbed. He should simply try to utilize his valuable time to advance in Krsna consciousness. Advancement in Krsna consciousness does not depend on any materially prosperous or distressed condition; it is free from the conditions imposed by material life. A very poor man can execute Krsna consciousness as effectively as a very rich man. One should therefore be very satisfied with his position as offered by the Lord. Another word here is mita-bhuk. This means that one should eat only as much as necessary to maintain the body and soul together. One should not be gluttonous to satisfy the tongue. Grains, fruits, milk and similar foods are allotted for human consumption. One should not be excessively eager to satisfy the tongue and eat that which is not meant for humanity. Particularly, a devotee should eat only prasada, or food which is offered to the Personality of Godhead. His position is to accept the remnants of those foodstuffs. Innocent foods like grains, vegetables, fruits, flowers and milk preparations are offered to the Lord, and therefore there is no scope for offering foods which are in the modes of passion and ignorance. A devotee should not be greedy. It is also recommended that the devotee should be muni, or thoughtful; he should always think of Krsna and how to render better service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That should be his only anxiety. As a materialist is always thoughtful about improving his material condition, a devotee’s thoughts should always be engaged in improving his condition in Krsna consciousness; therefore he should be a muni. The next item recommended is that a devotee should live in a secluded place. Generally a common man is interested in pounds, shillings and pence, or materialistic advancement in life, which is unnecessary for a devotee. A devotee should select a place of residence where everyone is interested in devotional service. Generally, therefore, a devotee goes to a sacred place of pilgrimage where devotees live. It is recommended that he live in a place where there is no large number of ordinary men. It is very important to live in a secluded place (vivikta-sarana). The next item is santa, or peacefulness. The devotee should not be agitated. He should be satisfied with his natural income, eat only as much as he needs to keep his health, live in a secluded place and always remain peaceful. Peace of mind is necessary for prosecuting Krsna consciousness. The next item is maitra, friendliness. A devotee should be friendly to everyone, but his intimate friendship should be with devotees only. With others he should be official. He may say, “Yes, sir, what you say is all right,” but he is not intimate with them. A devotee should, however, have compassion for persons who are innocent, who are neither atheistic nor very much advanced in spiritual realization. A devotee should be compassionate towards them and instruct them as far as possible in making advancement in Krsna consciousness. A devotee should always remain atmavan, or situated in his spiritual position. He should not forget that his main concern is to make advancement in spiritual consciousness, or Krsna consciousness, and he should not ignorantly identify himself with the body or the mind. Atma means the body or the mind, but here the word atmavan especially means that one should be self-possessed. He should always remain in the pure consciousness that he is spirit soul and not the material body or the mind. That will make him progress confidently in Krsna consciousness. SB3.27.9 TEXT 9 sanubandhe ca dehe ’sminn akurvann asad-agraham jnanena drsta-tattvena prakrteh purusasya ca SYNONYMS sa-anubandhe—with bodily relationships; ca—and; dehe—towards the body; asmin—this; akurvan—not doing; asat-agraham—bodily concept of life; jnanena—through knowledge; drsta—having seen; tattvena—the reality; prakrteh—of matter; purusasya—of spirit; ca—and. TRANSLATION One’s seeing power should be increased through knowledge of spirit and matter, and one should not unnecessarily identify himself with the body and thus become attracted by bodily relationships. PURPORT The conditioned souls are eager to identify with the body and consider that the body is “myself” and that anything in relationship with the body or possessions of the body is “mine.” In Sanskrit this is called aham-mamata, and it is the root cause of all conditional life. A person should see things as the combination of matter and spirit. He should distinguish between the nature of matter and the nature of spirit, and his real identification should be with spirit, not with matter. By this knowledge, one should avoid the false, bodily concept of life. SB3.27.10 TEXT 10 nivrtta-buddhy-avasthano duri-bhutanya-darsanah upalabhyatmanatmanam caksusevarkam atma-drk SYNONYMS nivrtta—transcended; buddhi-avasthanah—the stages of material consciousness; duri-bhuta—far off; anya—other; darsanah—conceptions of life; upalabhya—having realized; atmana—by his purified intellect; atmanam—his own self; caksusa—with his eyes; iva—as; arkam—the sun; atma-drk—the self-realized. TRANSLATION One should be situated in the transcendental position, beyond the stages of material consciousness, and should be aloof from all other conceptions of life. Thus realizing freedom from false ego, one should see his own self just as he sees the sun in the sky. PURPORT Consciousness acts in three stages under the material conception of life. When we are awake, consciousness acts in a particular way, when we are asleep it acts in a different way, and when we are in deep sleep, consciousness acts in still another way. To become Krsna conscious, one has to become transcendental to these three stages of consciousness. Our present consciousness should be freed from all perceptions of life other than consciousness of Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is called duri-bhutanya-darsanah, which means that when one attains perfect Krsna consciousness he does not see anything but Krsna. In the Caitanya-caritamrta it is said that the perfect devotee may see many movable and immovable objects, but in everything he sees that the energy of Krsna is acting. As soon as he remembers the energy of Krsna, he immediately remembers Krsna in His personal form. Therefore in all his observations he sees Krsna only. In the Brahma-samhita (5.38) it is stated that when one’s eyes are smeared with love of Krsna (premanjana-cchurita), he always sees Krsna, outside and inside. This is confirmed here; one should be freed from all other vision, and in that way he is freed from the false egoistic identification and sees himself as the eternal servitor of the Lord. Caksusevarkam: as we can see the sun without a doubt, one who is fully developed in Krsna consciousness sees Krsna and His energy. By this vision one becomes atma-drk, or self-realized. When the false ego of identifying the body with the self is removed, actual vision of life is perceivable. The senses, therefore, also become purified. Real service of the Lord begins when the senses are purified. One does not have to stop the activities of the senses, but the false ego of identifying with the body has to be removed. Then the senses automatically become purified, and with purified senses one can actually discharge devotional service.